A graph in the future
Lesson 14 

As you will see, it runs from 2012 until 2022.

In some graphs you may be given a time frame that includes the past and the future (or possibly only the future). In this case you need to be very careful that you are using the past tense when appropriate and the future tense when appropriate.

These are some common phrases you can use to discuss the future in a graph:

• will + infinitive
  
• is/are expected to + infinitive
  
• is/are predicted to + infinitive

Now take a look at the line graph and the model answer.

In order to see clearly how the past and future time frames have been used, the past is in red, and the future is in green.

Graph in the Future - Model answer

The line graph illustrates the financial position of a New Zealand local authority from 2012 to 2022. It is measured in millions of New Zealand dollars. Overall, it can be seen that while rates revenue and user charges are predicted to increase over the period, borrowings and grants and subsidies will remain much lower.

Rates revenues and user charges will follow a very similar pattern over the time frame. Rates revenue stood at just under 1.5 billion in 2012, which was the highest of the four criteria. Though they remained stable until 2013, they are expected to climb to approximately 2.4 billion dollars in 2022. Like rates revenues, use charges are predicted to continuously increase.  They began the period at 1 billion and will stand at twice this level by 2022.

Borrowings, on the other hand, are expected to show considerable fluctuation. Although having initially increased, they will drop to a low of 600 million in 2016, before reaching a peak of just under 1.5 billion in 2020. Borrowings will finish the period at around the same level that they began. Grant and subsidies were the lowest of the four, at under 500 million in 2012. Despite moving up to exceed borrowing briefly in 2016, this low level will continue until 2022.

(209 words)