Please read it naturally but not too fast, and pay close attention to those "increase" words.
Thesaurus Article: AN INCREASE
By Colin McIntosh, Cambridge English Thesaurus
These words are used to refer to the fact of something getting bigger in number, amount, level, or degree.
One of the most common words for this is increase /ˈɪŋkriːs/.
There has been a sharp increase in municipal taxes this year.
The opposite of increase is decrease /ˈdiːkriːs/.
There has been a steady decrease in the number of visitors.
For more opposites of increase, see the article at decrease.
When talking about an increase in numbers, amounts, rates, or activities, you can use rise /raɪz/.
Last month saw a rise in the rate of inflation.
We have a sharp rise in share prices this quarter.
The opposite of rise is fall /fɔːl/.
We likely won’t see a fall in the prices of manufactured goods this year.
A gain /ɡeɪn/ or a boost /buːst/ is a positive increase in something.
We are not seeing the gains in productivity that we expected.
The dollar made gains against the euro this week.
We are hoping for a boost in sales this year.
A rapid increase can be called a jump /dʒʌmp/, a leap /liːp/, a surge /sɜːrdʒ/, or a spike /spaɪk/. Spike is often used to refer to a very high but temporary increase in something.
The jump in prices was generally expected.
The sudden leap in petrol prices took motorists by surprise.
There has been a surge in demand for avocados.
The city has seen a spike in drug deaths recently.
In business contexts you can talk about growth /ɡrəʊθ/ in sales, a market, etc. to refer to an increase in the size or importance of something. Growth is generally used in a positive way.
We are anticipating modest sales growth.
In business and economic contexts, an upturn /ˈʌptɜːrn/ or an upswing /ˈʌpswɪŋ/ is an increase in the level of something, especially in economic figures.
Some sectors of the economy have seen a sharp upturn.
Natural gas production is on the upswing.
The opposite of upturn is downturn /ˈdaʊntɜːrn/. The opposite of upswing is downswing /ˈdaʊnswɪŋ/. These two words, like upturn and upswing, are often used in business or economic contexts.
The economic downturn is likely to continue.
We’re seeing a downswing in auto manufacturing.
A pickup /ˈpɪkʌp/ is an increase or improvement in something to a previously high level after being low.
We’re beginning to see a pickup in exports at last.
