Describing trends in line graphs

I left work early today because I was worried that I might not be able to get home safely because of the snow. My Spanish students tell me that in Spain it has also been very cold with snow even in the south!
I am always looking for good resources practising language for talking about line graphs. This is a popular task in the IELTS exam and students are expected to come up with sentences such as:
The rate of unemployment fell dramatically after 1983..
and
The rate of inflation peaked in 1987 before declining gradually…
What you need to think about is not only the verb (fell, declined, rose, increased) but also the adverbs which go with the verbs (slowly, gradually, sharply).
Here’s a page doing just what we want from our old friend Hong Kong Polytechnic University here.

I thought it might be fun to experiment with an English for University. Com Facebook Group so come and have a look if you fancy it!