Integrated and cross-curricular tasks: reading data with a purpose
What is tested
These items combine a short passage with a table, graph, poster or schedule, and ask you to choose the supported statement or write a sentence that uses the data. Topics often touch school life, the environment, or local culture and tourism, so the language of change and comparison appears repeatedly.
Core rules
- Read the question first, then the data, so you know which row, column or year matters.
- Check the units and the legend before reading any number: 人, 千人, %, 円.
- Learn the comparison language exactly: twice as many as means multiply by two; increased by 20 differs from increased to 20; doubled means two times, not two more.
- When a passage and a chart disagree in tone, trust the chart for numbers and the passage for reasons.
- In a written answer, state the number and then the conclusion: The table shows that X, so Y.
Worked example
A table gives the number of visitors to a town: 5,000 in 2015 and 10,000 in 2020. The passage says the town started a night festival in 2016. Question: Which statement is true? (A) The number of visitors doubled between 2015 and 2020. (B) The number of visitors increased by 5%. (C) The festival started in 2015. Reasoning: 5,000 to 10,000 is two times, so (A) holds. (B) confuses the figure 5,000 with a percentage. (C) is one year off; the passage says 2016. Answer: (A).
Traps that cost marks
- Reading the wrong axis or the wrong year under time pressure.
- Confusing a share (percentage) with a total (number of people).
- Choosing a statement that is true in general but not supported by the given data.
- Writing an answer that quotes a number with no conclusion attached.