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June 09, 2018

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Thank you Simon,by just reading your instruction,helps me assimilate how to use English better and proper bit by bit.I appreciate it.

What is about the use of "plunge"? Is it the same?

@Olga

Looking at "plunged" on google books, it is hard to find it being used in the context of a graph, or statistical results.

Compare this with the usage of "declined", where there is clear evidence of this type of usage:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22plunged%22&lr=lang_en&tbs=lr:lang_1en&tbm=bks&ei=bTYeW-a_EcvS8QX_jYL4CA&start=40&sa=N&biw=1216&bih=958&dpr=1

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22declined%22&tbm=bks&lr=lang_en

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=fell+by%2Cdropped+by%2Cplunged+by%2Cdeclined+by%2Cdecreased+by%2Cdropped+off+by&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cfell%20by%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdropped%20by%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cplunged%20by%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdeclined%20by%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdecreased%20by%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdropped%20off%20by%3B%2Cc0

Examples of "plunged by" as used by native speakers in books about business. This is arguably a different genre to an academic report, which should be objective and non-emotive:

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=gdRWAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA304&dq=%22plunged+by%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjahur9u8vbAhXKkZQKHXqJD-I4KBC7BQguMAE#v=onepage&q=%22plunged%20by%22&f=false

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=qqA4DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT134&dq=%22plunged+by%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK_7nlu8vbAhVDl5QKHXBGC2I4HhDoAQhKMAc#v=onepage&q=%22plunged%20by%22&f=false

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=TjZCfzng62IC&pg=PA151&dq=%22plunged+by%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMnq-fvMvbAhWLJZQKHVxOCfY4PBC7BQg_MAQ#v=onepage&q=%22plunged%20by%22&f=false

Kandi, thanks a lot for this full and detailed explanation!!

Dear Simon,

you are truly amazing, I must say. I love the way you guide your students. May God reward you for this.
I am preparing for Academic module. I am interested in buying ebook for Academic task 2.
Thanks

Kind Regards
Sidra

Hi, Simon.

Can I use 'ascend' to describe the uptrend of figures?

Regards,
Thanks

@Teresa:

There are 3200 results on Google books for the phrase "figures increased by", so this looks like a normal phrase:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22figures%20increased%20by%22&tbm=bks&tbas=0

By comparison, there are only two instances of "figures ascended by" on google books, so it is probably better simply to avoid "ascended", as it is so seldom used in this type of context, and consequently the examiner might be left wondering why it was chosen when a more normal word would have sufficed:

https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=%22figures+ascended+by%22&num=10

@Teresa

IELTS writing is quite short and one needs to create the right impression. Using rare vocabulary without any good reason may give the impression that you are unaware of what is normal, so I would use the following first as they are much more common:

"reach"
"increase"
"rise"
"grow"
"peak".

@ Gabi

Thanks for detailed explanation!

Thanks Sidra!

Simon, You are fantastic, I love your lessons. It's very detail and easy to understand. The best wishes for you. Thanks a lot!

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