Graph 26

The charts below show the percentage of their food budget the average family spent on restaurant meals in different years. The graph shows the number of meals eaten in fast food restaurants and sit-down restaurants.

You should write at least 150 words.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

model answer:

Over the past 30 years, the average family has dramatically increased the number of meals that they eat at restaurants. The percentage of the family's food budget spent on restaurant meals steadily climbed. Just 10 percent of the food budget was spent on restaurant meals in 1970, and 15 percent in 1980. That percentage more than doubled in 1990, to 35 percent, and rose again in 2000 to 50 percent.

Where families eat their restaurant meals also changed during that 30-year period. In 1970, families ate the same number of meals at fast food and sit-down restaurants. In 1980, fam¬ilies ate slightly more frequently at sit-down restaurants. However, since 1990, fast food restaurants serve more meals to the families than do the sit-down restaurants. Most of the restaurant meals from 2000 were eaten at fast food restaurants. If this pattern continues, eventually the number of meals that families eat at fast food restaurants could double the number of meals they eat at sit-down restaurants.