图表7：2002年迪拜黄金销售曲线描述

The diagram illustrates how gold sales in Dubai changed from January to December 2002.

Overall, the figure fluctuated widely before returning to its original level at the end of the year.

Besides, gold sales were at their highest in March, while the weakest figures could be observed

in July and September.

In the first month of 2002, the figure stood at 200 million dirhams and rose slightly to reach about

225 million in February. This was followed by another increase, although much steeper, in March

when sales hit 350 million. However, this upward trend was suddenly broken and sales declined

dramatically over the next 4 months to reach a little over 100 million in July. August sales saw a

significant rise back to January levels as the figure nearly doubled, but it dropped again in

September to the same level as it was in July. There was a small increase of about 100 million

dirhams in October, after which the figure levelled off and remained relatively unchanged over

the last two months of 2002.

(174 words)