High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 6 · The Graph with Two Stories
Audio track 06
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Listen once before opening the English passage.
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The school paper printed a graph of bicycle accidents near our station. Its line rose sharply, and the headline announced a dangerous new trend. I felt worried until I noticed that the vertical axis began at eight, not zero. The numbers had moved from nine cases to eleven.
That increase mattered to the people involved, but the picture made it look much larger. We also checked the dates: the graph compared only two months, one of which had unusually heavy rain. It could not show whether accidents would continue to rise.
We rewrote the article with the exact numbers and a longer record. We interviewed a crossing guard, who described a corner where drivers often failed to see cyclists. That observation suggested a practical question about the road design.
The graph was neither false nor sufficient. It was one piece of evidence. By examining its scale, period, and missing context, we moved from fear toward a specific change worth discussing.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
校报刊登了一张车站附近自行车事故的折线图。线陡然上升，标题宣布出现了危险的新趋势。我正担心时，注意到纵轴从八开始，而不是零。事故数量其实是从九起增至十一起。
对涉事者而言，多出的两起事故确实重要，但图像让增幅显得更大。我们还核对了日期：图表只比较两个月，其中一个月的雨异常大。仅凭这张图，无法判断事故是否会持续增加。
我们重写文章，列出准确数字和更长时段的记录，还采访了一位路口交通引导员。他说有个转角，司机常看不见骑车的人。这一观察提示我们，应具体讨论道路设计。
图表并非虚假，却也不足以单独说明问题。它只是一份证据。检查比例尺、时间范围和缺失背景后，我们从笼统的担忧转向了值得讨论的具体改进。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- graph
- 图表；校报用线条表现事故数。
- sharply
- 陡然地；折线上升的样子。
- vertical axis
- 纵轴；从八而非零开始。
- increase
- 增加；九起升到十一起。
- involved
- 涉事的；每起事故都影响真人。
- unusually
- 异常地；一个月雨特别多。
- record
- 记录；需参考更长时间的数据。
- observation
- 观察；路口引导员指出视线问题。
- sufficient
- 充分的；单张图还不足以结论。
- scale
- 刻度、比例；决定折线看起来多陡。
Background notes (Chinese)
截断的纵轴会放大视觉变化；只比较两个月也难以说明长期趋势。事故数字应认真对待，但改进方案还需要现场观察和更长记录。