*Question 1

Cam15-Writing-Test2-Task1(1) 15:00

 

In the lecture, it reads "The given data illustrates ..."

The '-s' is attached to the verb, indicating that the subject is the 3rd person singular.

But as far as I am concerned, the word 'data' is a plural form of 'datum',

thus I believe there should be no '-s' attached.

 

So my first question is :

In the sentence above, is this correct to attach '-s'? 

 

*Question 2

The same lecture, 26:00

 

The note reads 'overtaking the counterpart in mid-2015'

 

It it were continuous information, than I think it would be correct to say that overtaking took place in mid-2015.

However, it seems to me that the information is discrete : the information is given by points, year by year respectively,

not by a continuous line.

So in this case, it seems to me that the line connecting two points does not represent any significant information :

it is a mere visual aid.

If that is true, we only have information on each year and we don't know what happens monthly between two years or two points.

 

Thus I wonder if the note above should be 'overtaking the counterpart in 2016'.

 

So my second question is :

Which one is correct, 'overtaking the counterpart in mid-2015' or  'overtaking the counterpart in 2016'?

 

Thank you.