Directions: You should spend about 20 minutes on Academic Writing task. The graph below shows the lifespan of South African citizens from 1960 to 2015. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and making comparisons where relevant.

Academic Writing Example

Write at least 150 words.

The line graph displays the expected life span at birth for South African citizens measured in years over a course of 45 years (1960 – 2015) and includes data for both men and women. 

Overall, the graph indicates an upward progression of increasing life spans among all three categories (Male, Female, and All). This trend rose steadily, peaking around 1992 and then rapidly declined by 2005. At this point, life expectancy began increasing rapidly until all categories recovered in 2015. Another important feature is that men had the highest average life expectancy at birth and women had the least.

 When considering the All category (both males and females), the values for each year were approximately equidistant between the other two categories. Males in 1960 had a life expectancy of 54 years which rose steadily to reach its highest in 2005 (66 years). From there, it drastically declined to approximately 55 years (in 2005). At this point, life expectancy for males increased and recovered by 2015 (around 66 years).

Women began the period with an expected life span of 50 years. Following a similar pattern as males, life expectancy peaked in 1992 (around 58 years). Just like males, it decreases to its lowest level by 2005 (nearly 50 years). Female life expectancy also recovered and was about 58 years by 2015