Skills for Study Level 2 Teacher's Book - Cambridge University Press

2bSuggested answers• Only a little over half of the original sample replied to the postalquestionnaires.• Male respondents are under-represented in the sample.• Burke’s study makes estimates for the entire UK population based on asample size of a little over 2000 people.• The respondents are only estimating how much they think they have spent onherbal medicines, so the answers are unlikely to be very accurate.2cSuggested answers1 This is problematic. No evidence is given for this, but people are likely to feelthat it is the case through common sense.2 Burke’s study isn’t really conclusive enough to warrant the claim that it is‘clear’.3 Not very accurate. Burke’s study is based on only 2,200 responses, mainlyfrom women. Saying ‘English people’ perhaps over-generalizes the findings.Saying ‘respondents’ would make the claim seem like a more objectivestatement of the findings.4 The first is more categorical, using the word ‘shows’, while the secondacknowledges uncertainty by using ‘estimates’.5 b6 Depends to an extent on students, but, as with 2 above, it is hard to say fromthis that the claim is ‘clearly’ true.2d Student discussion3 Avoiding absolute termsNote: ‘Extreme positions’ or ‘absolute terms’ is here understood to mean categoricaltruth claims that are easily disproven, or all-encompassing statements which areunlikely to apply to everything for which the claim is made. E.g.• The Western approach to medicine is the most effective. (Categorical truthclaim)• Everybody can benefit from using traditional medicine. (All-encompassingstatement)3a Students read through several pairs of passages, in the first of which the authorhas used absolute terms, and in the second of which they have used more cautiouslanguage. Students compare the use of language in the passages, then complete thetable of ‘useful expressions’ and ‘words to avoid’.Suggested answersNote: In each passage, key terms have been underlined. In the first passage of eachpair, therefore, the underlining denotes words or phrases that should be used withcare, while in the second passage it denotes alternative phrases which are morecautious.Unit 3 Part C ∙ Investigating 88