5.Free Trade And Fair Trade

Question 1

Identifying a point of view

Answer 1

A writer may wish to:

■support an argument

■be critical of an argument

■ evaluate an argument critically

It is important you can identify the writer’s point of view. Look for the number of arguments presented. Are there:

■more for or more against?

■a balanced number for and against?

Question 2

Supporting a point of view

Answer 2

When you are presenting a written argument, include:

■the main point(s) in a topic sentence, e.g. Fair trade should be supported.

support, e.g. It helps small producers in the developing world.

■a specific example, e.g. For example, Lami, a fair trade fisherman from Indonesia, now has a small co-operative business with four other fishermen from his village.

Use expressions such as for example, an illustration of this is…. one example of this is…

Question 3

Distinguishing between facts, speculation, and reported opinions

Answer 3

Facts are statements which are certain or true. Speculation is something which is not necessarily certain or true. To speculate, a writer will use:

generalizations, e.g. in general, tend to, have a tendency to

■ expressions showing caution, e.g. it would seem/appear

adverbs and adjectives to show varying degrees of certainty, e.g. probably, possibly, likely, unlikely

■modal verbs to show uncertainty, e.g. may, might

When a writer wishes to make clear that an opinion is not their own, they use:

■verbs for reporting opinions, e.g. suggest, believe, argue, claim, maintain

It is important in your reading to be able to distinguish between facts and opinions.

Question 4

Using a dictionary (3)

Answer 4

Words in English can have more than one meaning, pronunciation, or part of speech. For example, they can be a verb and an adjective.

They live near the university.

The programme was live from the football stadium.

■Decide what part of speech a word is. This helps you choose the correct entry in a dictionary.

■When you look up a word in the dictionary, look for numbers which show you if there is more than one main entry or more than one meaning.

■Look at the pronunciation. It can change when the word is used in different ways.

Question 5

Presenting arguments (1)

Answer 5

In academic writing it is important to present arguments in a consistent way.

You can do this:

■by topic, e.g. a paragraph on food (positive and negative), then a paragraph on cars (positive and negative)

or

■by viewpoint, e.g. paragraph(s) on the positive points, then paragraph(s) on the negative points

Question 6

Presenting arguments (2)

Answer 6

It is important to stage your arguments clearly. Use words and phrases such as:

The main argument (for/against…) is/In the first place…./Firstly….. Another strong argument is…/ In the second place,…/Secondly… It is also important to note that…/Another point is.. Lastly…/Finally…