Definite or indefinite article in this sentence?

FaridMember

Hello, everyone!

I am reading IELTS band 9 writing samples, and I came across this sentence:

"Passenger numbers peak 3 times during the day. For example, the number at 6am is 480, rising to 690 by 8am before falling again. There is then a peak of 700 at midday, followed by an afternoon decline to a low of 230 at 4pm. A third spike is at 6pm, reaching 670 before tailing off."

This is from the book Get IELTS Band 9 Writing Task One by Cambridge Consultants

Since it has been mentioned before that there are three peaks, shouldn't the article the be used here?

Eagerly waiting for your replies!

Thanks, Farid

1/5/212:34 PM

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Original Post

Gustavo, Co-ModeratorProfessor of Legal and Financial Translation

Hi, Farid,

@Farid posted:

"Passenger numbers peak 3 times during the day. For example, the number at 6am is 480, rising to 690 by 8am before falling again. There is then a peak of 700 at midday, followed by an afternoon decline to a low of 230 at 4pm. A third spike is at 6pm, reaching 670 before tailing off."

Both "a third peak" and "the third peak" would be fine. Think of the verb "is" as synonymous with "takes place": A third spike takes place at 6 pm.

Even if the events have been mentioned before, with ordinal numbers we can use the indefinite article to allow, I think, for the possibility of there being more spikes, in this case.

1/5/213:55 PM

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