TASK 4 Identifying author stance on the main ideas

Highlight the sentences in the text where the authors express their stance on points 1-5 below. Complete column A of the table with notes on the authors' stance.

A Authors' stance

1) The part of the economy most under The sector of the economy that seems

pressure likely to unravel first is food.

2) The ability of farmers to increase None provided

food production

3) Reducing world hunger by 50%

4) The success of the World Food Summit's goal

5) The standard of living for humans

Identify the evidence the authors use to support their stance on each point and complete column В of the table.

Use your notes from the table to summarize the authors' stance on each point.

Example: Food supplies are the area most likely t<p collapst first, because of our continuing

over-use of resources.

 

TASK 5 Identifying details in a text to support an argument

Work in pairs. Discuss whether you agree with the statement in the essay title.

TITLE: 'The world has a maximum number of people that it can support, and we have already passed that point.' Discuss.

2 Read the essay plan. Does the writer plan to agree or disagree with the statement?

1) Introduction: main stance - The world has reached maximum capacity because resources are being used so quickly that they are not naturally being replaced.

2) Paragraph 1 - The growth in population and demand on resources

3) Paragraph 2 - Growth is good for economic prosperity and ultimately for standards of living, especially in areas such as health and education.

4) Paragraph 3 - The environment is being destroyed by human activity.

5) Paragraph 4 - We are no longer able to support everyone on the planet with the amount of food we produce.

6) Conclusion - Consumption patterns or the overall population size need to change in order for human existence to continue.

3 What is going to be the writer’s main line &f argument, a or b?

a The effect of humans on the world’s resources means that future growth is not sustainable.

b The demand for resources needs to change to ensure sustainable growth.

Read the text on page 083 again and identify any details that the writer of the

Essay could use to support their main argument.

Compare the details you identified with another student. Give reasons for

Your selection.

INDEPENDENT

STUDY

When you are preparii an essay, think about stance on the issue, a what type of informal you need to find in or to support your argun ► Identifying your si will give you a purp for reading, and gui you to the sources \ need to use.

UNIT 6C READING

 

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE

► Language Reference page 182

Prepositions (1) Referring to time and quantity

Prepositions have many different functions in academic texts. Many of the prepositions in the text on page 083 refer to different periods of time or to changes in quantity. For example:

• over and during both refer to periods of time; over can also mean more than (quantity)

• in refers to a fixed period of time such as a particular year, month, or century

• from and to are used together to indicate a starting and finishing point

• by indicates the latest time something can happen (time) or the amount of change (quantity)

Population growth and rising incomes together have tripled world grain demand over the last half-century, pushing it from 640 million tons in 1950 to 1,855 million tons in 2000.

World population grew from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 6.1 billion in 2000. The growth during those 50 years exceeded that during the 4 million years since we emerged as a distinct species.

... 185 countries plus the European Community agreed to reduce hunger by half by 2015.

TASK 6 Using prepositions to refer to time and quantity

1 Find other examples of the prepositions from Academic Language in the text, and notice how they are used.

2 Use the prepositions in the list and notes 1-5 to write complete sentences showing a change in time or quantity.

Example: China’s livestock population / tripled / 1950 / 2002

China’s livestock population tripled from 1950 to 2002. over from to in during by

4 grain harvest / fall /10 per cent / 2050

5 Californian population / increase / 26 million today / 40 million / 2030

6 the last 50 years / Gobi desert / expanded / 52,400 square kilometres

7 global temperatures / higher / the last century

8 1972 / wheat prices / went up / $70 / $181 per tonne

TASK 7 Reflecting on reading for a purpose

1 Work in pairs and discuss questions 1-3.

6 Which of these specific skills are practised in this unit?

• Understanding essay questions

• Identifying the relevance of a text to a writing task

• Understanding main ideas in a text

• Understanding supporting details in a text

• Understanding key terms in a text

• Using a text to support your stance in a writing task *

7 How can you continue to practise these skills?

8 What makes this way of reading a text more challenging than the skills you practised in earlier units?

2 Read statements 1-5 and discuss which you agree with. Give reasons and examples.

1 I know a lot about my subject area so I don't need to support my ideas.

2 Using sources such as texts makes an essay stronger.

3 Essays are just a way of showing the teacher you have learnt something from your research.

4 You can use any source you find in an essay.

5 Using sources such as texts helps you write a more complete and balanced essay.

 

UNIT 6C READING 085

6D Writing Using sources

 

When you write an academic assignment such as an essay, you will need to use material from other sources, such as textbooks and academic articles. The material from these sources adds details and evidence that support your main points. You need to select the source material carefully so that it is useful, relevant, and coherent (clear and well-organized). Each use of a source is known as a citation. You need to include a reference for each citation, to make clear where the material is from, and to avoid plagiarism (see page 186).

This module covers:

• Analysing the use of sources in a text

• Understanding and using ways of referring to sources

• Selecting and synthesizing sources to use in a paragraph

•

TASK 1 Analysing the use of sources in an essay extract

3 Work in pairs. Read the essay title and note down at least two ‘challenges’ that you could include in this essay.

TITLE: What are the main challenges facing the world today as a result of economic and technological growth?

4 Read the paragraph from an essay on this title and answer questions 1-4.

9 Is this paragraph from the beginning of the essay, or near the middle?

10 How many different sources are used?

11 What are the two main views discussed in the paragraph?

12 What is the main idea of the paragraph?

³As we have seen, recent economic and technological growth has led to a number of environmental problems. ²However, it has also led to a number of social challenges, the most important of which is inequality. ³0ne view is that in capitalist countries people’s incomes have risen steadily (Bowles, Edwards, and Roosevelt, 2005, p.8). ⁴This means that countries have become richer over the past two hundred years. ⁵However, an opposing view is that some people have become richer very quickly while others have not. ⁶ln other words, inequality has increased. ⁷A Marxist perspective supports this view. ⁸As reported by Wetherly and Otter (2011, p.341), Marx believed that 'the social system of capitalism is very unequal'. ⁹lt seems that although incomes have risen generally, the gap between rich and poor people has increased.

References:

3 Bowles, S., Edwards, R„ and Roosevelt, F. 2005. Understanding Capitalism: Competition, Command, and Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

4 Wetherly, P. and Otter, D. 2011. The Business Environment: Themes and Issues 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Match the sentences with features a-d.
Sentence 2:	a	a cftation
Sentences 3 and 8:	b	an explanation
Sentences 4 and 6:	c	the concluding sentence, including evaluation
Sentence 9:	d	the topic sentence

[1] Look at the two citations in the paragraph and answer questions 1-4.

Which citation...

9 is a direct quotation, using exactly the same words as the source?

10 is a paraphrase of an idea in the source, using the student’s own language?

11 is a statement followed by a reference to the authors of the source text?

12 refers to the authors of the source text, followed by a statement?

[1] Underline the language that introduces each statement in the two citations.

086 UNIT 6D WRITING