Task 1 (6 marks) reasons and conclusions

For each of the following arguments, identify and write out which sentence is the conclusion and write out two reasons. (You do not need to write out the complete sentence)

‘Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists’

John Vidal, environment editor 26 August, 2012

Source: http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/news-lessons/monthly-topical-news-lessons/news-lesson-food-shortages-could-force-world-into-vegetarianism-warn-scientists/552371.article

Water scientists have given one of the strongest warnings ever about global food supplies. They say that the world’s population may have to change almost completely to a vegetarian diet by 2050 to avoid catastrophic shortages.

Humans get about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now. However, this may need to decrease to just 5% to feed the extra two billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world’s top water scientists.

“There will not be enough water to produce food for the expected nine-billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in western nations,” the report by Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said.

Changing to a vegetarian diet is one way to increase the amount of water available to grow more food in a world where the climate is becoming increasingly erratic, the scientists said.

Conclusion a vegetarian diet is one way to increase the amount of water available to grow more food in a world

Reason 1 they will not be enough water to produce food for the population in 2050, if the trend towards diets will not change. (Falkenmark)

Reason 2 in order to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive in 2050 – people need to get only about 5% of protein from animal-based product.

Task 2 Establishing credibility

Here is the background information on the author John Vidal and the sister newspapers ‘The Guardian and the Guardian Weekly’ from Task 1, page 2.

Establish the credibility and reliability of the source. (3 MARKS)

Establish the credibility and reliability of the author. (3 MARKS)

NOTE: No marks will be awarded unless there is analysis and/or description beyond stating the RAVEN words.

The Guardian (founded 1821), is a British national daily newspaper. The newspaper's online offering is the second most popular British newspaper website. It has become an international media organisation with affiliations to other national papers with similar aims.

The essential qualities that the owner of the newspaper believed should form the character of a newspaper are: honesty; cleanness (today interpreted as integrity); courage; fairness; and a sense of duty to the reader and the community.

Among the many well-known lines from their statement of values is ‘Comment is free, but facts are sacred’, that newspapers have ‘a moral as well as a material existence’ and that ‘the voice of opponents no less than that of friends has a right to be heard’

The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, contains articles from The Guardian and its sister Sunday paper The Observer, as well as reports, features, and book reviews from The Washington Post and articles translated from Le Monde. John Vidal is the Guardian's environment editor. He joined the paper in 1995 after working for Agence France Presse, North Wales Newspapers and the Cumberland News. He is the author of ‘McLibel: Burger Culture on Trial’ (1998) and has contributed chapters to books on topics such as the Gulf war, new Europe and development.

Evaluation:

John Vidal has a good reputation, as he works in well-known newspaper, moreover it appears the he has no vested interest in the topic he writes about, therefore the reliability increases. However, he was not quite neutral, as he brought up only one side of the issue. As he is only a journalist, he has not got an ability to see. Hу is not an expert, however he quotes Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), who claim that nowadays trend will lead to water shortages. As they are specialists in this area, this argument is quite trustworthy. Although, John Vidal works as the Guardian’s environment editor, this article was published on the /www.onestopenglish.com/, which is a commercial cite and therefore, the credibility of a source decreases. Moreover, he cited only one research done by water scientists and this weakens the reliability of a source, as one piece of evidence is not enough.