Episode 6
【✏ Writing-Wise Series ✒】
[Standardized English exams]
When describing the changes in statistics 📊 over a certain period of time, ups 📈 and downs 📉 are indeed merely the tip of the iceberg. When ups and downs arise, there must be an end, i.e. the highest ⤴ and the lowest ⤵ points respectively. You have to present these termini (the plural form of “terminus”, also spelt as “terminuses”) in your analysis as well, not just stating a certain number was increasing or decreasing.
When it comes to the highest point ⤴, you are expected to state explicitly that number. Besides “the high(est) point”, other nouns like the following can be used to express this number:
🤓 top, peak, summit, the record high, an all-time high, spike, plateau, …
along with verbs like “arrive at”, “reach”, “hit” and others introduced in the previous issue. Alternatively, you may consider verbs like “peak”, “top” and “culminate” to delineate such an increase to the highest, but in this case, the above nouns are not necessary because these three are intransitive verbs (vi.).
Please notice the difference between “plateau” and the rest of the above nouns. A “plateau”, as its name suggests, refers to a high flat area, which means, statistically, a high point staying for a certain period of time – like the end of the orange line in the picture attached, compared to the single high points in the lines with other colors. On the other hand, see the red and blue lines in the picture – the former has only one high point while the latter two. Then, the highest point in the red line is, without doubt, “the high(est) point”. The second highest point (the left one) in the blue line should be called “a high point” while the other one (on the right) is “the high(est) point”.
On the other hand, when outlining the lines with the low(est) point(s) 🎢, it should now not be a difficult task to you, except for me introducing the relevant nouns:
🤓 the record low, an all-time low, a low point, the lowest point, a/the bottom, rock bottom, trough, …
In some situations, the figure is neither a plateau nor the lowest point, but it stays for a certain length of time. Then, we may consider using the following words:
🤓 verbs: remain, maintain, stay, keep, …
🤓 adjectives: constant, steady, stable, unchanged, the same, …