WRITING Report 2 You may be asked to write a report that is like a survey, for example on how people in your country spend their leisure time, where they go on holiday, etc. You will probably not have this information, but you can use your imagination. If you are simply reporting 'factual' information, the style should be neutral. Avoid emotional, poetic or informal language. A Sample task You have been asked by your careers teacher to find out what happened to people from your school after they left. Write a report of about 180 words for the careers department, explaining what you found out. B In the following sample answer there are eleven extra words that you do not need. Find these. This report looks at the careers of students who have left from St Anthony's, and is based on questionnaires were received from over 300 former students. Over the past few years, the majority of students (63%) have continued on with their education after they leaving school. Most of these have gone to the university, and the others have done vocational courses at Colleges of Further Education. About a quarter part of the students have found jobs after leaving school. Some of these jobs are with employers in the local area, but others are in London or even in abroad. About half of the students said that they were unemployed for several of months before finding work. A small minority of students (1.5%) went straight into their family businesses. About 12% of the students were been unable to find work and have been unemployed for over a year. Most of these were students who were failed their examinations, although a few had passed with reasonable grades. In general, more and more leavers are going on to university or further education, and this trend will probably continue as long as the unemployment is high. C Look at some of the words and phrases we can use when presenting the results of a survey. All of Some of Most of (Just over) a quarter of The majority of A minority of Over 90% of A small number of Three quarters of A few of A significant number of Very few Many of None of Half of Rewrite the following sentences using the word in bold. An example is given (0). 0 60% of people go abroad once a year, majority The majority of people cjo abroad once a year", 1 3 % of people go to the same place every year, very _ 2 26% of families with children stay in England, over _ 3 49% of travellers hire a car when they are abroad, half _ 4 75% of families with children travel by car. three _ D Writing task You have been asked by your local tourist office to carry out a survey of where people who live in your area go for their summer holidays. Write them a report giving your findings. E Write a paragraph on each of the following points. The paragraph order can be changed, so that what the majority of people do comes in the first paragraph after the introduction. 1 Introduction: Say what your report was meant to find out and what your information is based on. 2 Say how many local people go abroad. You could mention some of the destinations - for example, the Far East. 3 Explain how many people stay in your country, what sort of people they are, and where they tend to go on holiday. 4 Talk about people who do not fall into the two categories above - for example, people who have to work or cannot afford to have holidays. 5 Write a short conclusion, saying what general patterns or trends you have found. Remember to keep the style fairly neutral, as you are simply reporting 'facts'. 120 • UNIT 15 FOCUS FOUR report presenting statistics [fat first you don't succeed, try, try and try again! Most people who successfully give up smoking have tried more than once before 1 activating background knowledge Discuss the following questions together. 1 Do you, or does anyone you know, smoke? 2 Have you / they ever tried to give up? For what reasons? How long did you / they manage to stop for? 3 Have you, or has anyone you know, successfully given up smoking? What helped you / them to do it? (e.g. pressure from family, nicotine chewing gum, acupuncture, etc.) 2 interpreting statistical information Working with a partner, use table 1 below to find the answers to these questions: 1 Who are more likely to give up smoking: • men or women? • older or younger people? 2 What percentage of smokers do not intend to give up? Table 1 Views on giving up smoking by sex and age for 2001 Views on giving up smoking Men Women 16-24yrs 25-44yrs 45-64yrs 65+ yrs Total Would like to give up: - very much indeed 29% 27% 16% 29% 35% 16% 28% - quite a lot 18% 26% 25% 24% 22% 11% 22% - a fair amount 17% 14% 20% 14% 14% 12% 15% - a little 8% 7% 13% 6% 7% 5% 7% TOTAL would like to give up 72% 73% 76% 74% 78% 44% 72% would not like to give up 28% 27% 24% 26% 22% 56% 28% Note: The row or column of percentages may add up to 99% or 101% because of rounding. PHOTOCOPIABLE © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 31 3.3 writing 3 presenting statistical The report below presents the data from table 1. Complete it with words from information the box. amongst strongest total interestingly only saying dropped overall survey said significant seems «ses between Views of current smokers on giving up smoking Introduction This report (1) uses figures collected by the Office for National Statistics for the Department of Health in a (2)_to investigate attitudes to smoking (3)_a representative sample of smokers. Findings There were no (4)_ (5)- differences men and women in the desire to give up smoking. 72% of men and 73% of women (6)_they would like to give up, compared with 28% and 27% respectively who had no desire to stop. The age group with the (7)_desire to give up was 45-64, with a total of 78% of respondents (8)_they would like to stop, 35% 'very much indeed'. This was followed by the 16-24 age group, with a (9)_of 76%. (10)- number (11)_ , in the 65 and over age group, the _dramatically to only 44%. Conclusions It (12)_ that, (13). most smokers (over 70%) would like to give up smoking, with only older people (65+) showing less interest in stopping. (14)_28% of the respondents expressed no intention at all of giving up. Look at table 2 below and answer the questions. 1 Who are more likely to use sources of help or advice: • men or women? • older or younger people? 2 What kinds of help / advice were used by the respondents? | Table 2 Sources of help and advice used in 2001 by sex and age Men Women 16-24yrs 25-44yrs 45-64yrs 65+yrs 2001 Proportion who have: Total Read leaflets on how to stop 23% 37% 27% 34% 30% 17% 30% Asked for professional help 7% 12% 2% 13% 10% 6% 10% Called a smoker's helpline 2% 6% 5% 4% 4% 1% 4% Joined a stop smoking group 2% 4% - 3% 4% 2% 3% Used prescribed drugs to help 11% 16% 16% 15% 15% 7% 13% Sought any help or advice 32% 44% 44% 43% 39% 22% 38% Not sought help or advice 68% 56% 56% 57% 61% 78% 62% Note: UK success rates show that the best chance of giving up is combining NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy in the form of gum or patches) with going to a smokers' clinic (20%). This compares with a 6% success rate for people who use NRT alone or 3% for people using only will power. y Writingtask You have recently given a presentation on stopping smoking, using the figures in this table. Now summarize the statistics in a report. The title is: Factors influencing smokers to give up: a report based on statistics for the UK in 2001. Include the answers to the questions in exercise 4 and comment on any interesting data. Summarize the main findings in the conclusion. 4 generating ideas for writing 32 PH0T0C0PIABLE © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 13