Synonyms & Antonyms

	Synonyms	Antonyms
happy	glad, pleased	sad, unhappy, miserable, blue
shout	scream, yell, shriek	whisper
clever	smart, intelligent, bright	dumb, stupid, dull, slow, dim
simple	easy, straightforward	hard, difficult, complex
beautiful	lovely, pretty	ugly
polite	well-mannered	rude, impolite
increase	rise, growth	decrease, drop, fall
ascend	rise, go up	descend, go down
accelerate	speed up, go faster	slow down, decelerate
little	small, minute, tiny, minor	big, large, huge, massive, colossal, enormous, gigantic

Date producing countries in 2001

Top 10 date-producing countries

The bar graph shows date production in tonnes for the world's top producers in 2001. Ten countries in the Gulf region and North Africa are featured.

First, Egypt was responsible for the lion's share of production, with over a million tonnes, but Iran was a close second, with almost 0.9 million. Following them came the UAE and Saudi Arabia, rivalling each other with about 740,000 tonnes each. Pakistan and Iraq, with outputs of approximately 630,000, were not far behind. The rest of the nations, however, were far less productive. Algeria supplied the world with nearly 400,000 tonnes and Oman around quarter of a million. In contrast, the harvests in Libya and Sudan were far less plentiful, yielding under 0.2 million each.

In summary, date production was most abundant in Egypt and Iran. In contrast, the countries with the smallest output were Libya and Sudan.

148 words

Valentine's Day

Two pie charts

These two pie charts show the types of gifts that man and women in the USA buy for each other on 14th February, Valentine’s day.

The most popular gifts bought by both men and women are cards, flowers and candy. Cards are the most popular gift for both genders. More men than women buy flowers, 16% compared to 11%, while more women, 27%, buy cards than men, 18%. Rather surprisingly, more women, around a fifth, buy candy for men than vice versa. Around 10% of both men and women purchase jewelry/jewellery. Over twice as many women than men buy perfume or cologne. Men spend more than women on both lingerie and spa/personal care, which is probably what you’d expect.

In conclusion, the types of gifts bought for each other by men and women in the USA are more or less what you’d expect. The actual percentages, however, are rather more surprising; for example, the fact that a greater percentage of women buy candy and perfume/cologne.

164 words

buy: simple present
bought: simple present passive
ways of comparing/contrasting

UK Budget 1996

The total budget of the UK government in 1996 was £315 billion. This pie chart shows what the government spent the money on. There are ten separate categories shown on the chart.

The biggest item by far was social security. At £100 billion, this was almost twice as much as the next category, health and personal services. Next came education with £38 billion and defence with £22 billion. There was less than £20 billion spent on the next three categories, which were: first, law and order; next, industry, agriculture and employment; then, housing, heritage and environment. Transport had the smallest budget, with £9 billion. Debt interest was £25 billion and other expenditure was £23 billion.

The outstanding feature of the pie chart is that expenditure on social security, £100 billion, was almost as much as the total for the next three categories: health, education and defence, £113 billion.

148 words

P.S. It is worth noting that, according to figures for 2009-10 (HM Treasury Pre-Budget report), the total budget had more than doubled, with education at £88bn, health £119bn & social protection £190bn: eye-watering indeed.

Process/passive

How to change a tyre

Getting a flat tyre is inconvenient, whether it happens in town or in a remote location. It’s important to know how to change a tyre, especially if there is no garage nearby to help out.

This is what must be done. First, the wheelnuts must be loosened. This should be done before the car is raised, using the jack. Next, the car is jacked up. Then the nuts are removed. After that the wheel is removed and the spare tyre is put on. Then the nuts are tightened and the car is lowered. The nuts are tightened one last time for safety. Finally the tools are tidied away. You are now ready to drive on.

As you can see, changing a tyre is a very simple and straightforward process, but you must follow the above steps in the correct order, particularly the first step of loosening the wheelnuts before you raise the vehicle.

158 words.

A long weekend break

Last weekend was a long one to celebrate the UAE National Day. My wife and I decided to drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and stay there for a four-night mini-break.

We left Abu Dhabi on Wednesday afternoon and drove to Dubai. The journey took about one and a quarter hours. We checked into the Holiday Inn Express which is near to Safa Park. This is an attractive and popular recreation area, and quite crowded at weekends. On Wednesday evening we walked to the Metropolitan Hotel and enjoyed a Thai seafood meal. On Thursday morning we jogged in Safa Park and in the afternoon drove out to watch the first day’s play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens. On Thursday evening we took our first ride on the new Dubai Metro, from Business Bay to Union Square. On Friday and Saturday we exercised in the park in the morning and in the afternoon went to watch the international teams competing in the Sevens. The final international match was Saturday evening and it was very exciting for us because England narrowly defeated Samoa to win the tournament for the third time.

On Sunday we celebrated by having lunch on the Boardwalk at the Dubai Sailing Club, overlooking the Creek. We then drove back to Abu Dhabi. As usual it had been a most enjoyable break.

220 words.

Process: orange juice

Orange juice is a very healthy drink, full of vitamin C. The process of producing orange juice for sale in supermarkets is quite long and complicated. Here is how it is done.

First, the fruit is unloaded from lorries. Then the oranges are graded, washed and sized. After that, the juice is extracted and the residual material is sent for use as animal feed. The next step is very important. The juice is evaporated at a high temperature over a short time, producing concentrate. The concentrate is then stored in refrigerated units. Then the juice is canned and shipped overseas to its destination. In the country where it will be sold, water is added to the concentrate. Finally, the orange juice is bottled and sent to supermarkets, where it is sold to the consumer.

As you can see, producing orange juice for sale in shops is a long and complicated process but the final product is worth it.

160 words.

Present passive

Future passive