Sunday, April 20, 2008
Do you agree with a boycott of the olympics?

T: politics

I: boycott of the Olympics

C: coming Beijing Olympic games

K: boycott-To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion.
Athletes to skip the Beijing Olympics.

S: No, there should not be a boycott.

Topic sentence(TS)
TS 1: athletes have trained long and hard for the Olympics and their efforts should not go to waste.
TS 2: diplomatic ties between China and the countries involved in the boycott will be strained.
TS 3: China has prepared for the Olympics for a long time and should be allowed to reap the fruits of its success.
TS 4: China should not be blamed for the chaos in Tibet, another country, resulting in a boycott.
Ts 5: there should be a boycott as pollution levels are unsafe.

P: TS 3- There should not be a boycott of the Olympics as the Chinese people have laboured long and hard in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.

El: New buildings have been built specially for the Olympics and money spent on pollution control measures.

Eg: Four great buildings: Water Cube, Bird's Nest, Z crisscross, Eggshell
more than 6 billion pounds spent on pollution control measures.
1100 coal burning power plants switched to gas.
reducing emissions of sulphur and nitrogen dioxide from 5 main electricity generators
cutting production at the biggest company by 4 million tonnes.
2000 buses and 5000 taxis replaced or upgraded
Beijing is even willing to implement extra measures planned for next summer, including the possible closure of factories and restrictions on more than a million cars for the duration of the Games.

Ev: Beijing has sacrificed time, capital and reduced its economic growth to combat pollution and build great works of art, ultimately to make the Olympic games a success. They have kept their promise and displayed a high level of commitment to making the Olympic games a success. The international should give Beijing a chance to prove itself.

L: Therefore i feel that there should not be a boycott of the Olympic games.

Do you agree with a boycott of the olympics?

Topic: Sports/Politics
Issue: Should a boycott of the Olympics stand?
Context: Present; 2008 Beijing Olympics
Keyword: Boycott - to avoid an event
- to avoid to what extent: totally? or still allows the athletes to compete but not under the country name

Topic sentence1 : the boycott of Olympic should not stand for it defeats the olympic spirit.
Topic sentence2 : the boycott of Olympic should not stand for it would strain international relationship of the host and those involved in the boycott
Topic sentence3 : the boycott of Olympic should not stand for it would waste the efforts put in by the athletes for this event.
Topic sentence4: the boycott of Olympic should stand for the host, China, is facing domestic problems

paragraph for topic sentence : I feel that the boycott of the olympic should not be supported for it would defeat the purpose of the olympics. We see from the Olympic flag, that the five rings represents 5 different continents thus signifying the union of all countries during the olympic. Which ultimately goes to show that the main aim of the Olympics is to promote good relations between countries despite the language barrier for sports is an universal event. for example, we see from the times magazine (march 24th; beyond the olympics) that the 'global audiences gather to watch television for 2 reasons; news stories and sporting events' thus from this we can tell that universally sports is an area of concern for everyone no matter where they are or what language they speak. Therefore, since we all have similar interest in sports, the best way to build our relations is through sports and that is why Olympics is started. So we see that if the boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic should stand, it would defeat the purpose of the Olympics which is to unify all the five continents in this event that occurs only every 4 years.

Labels: zhaoqin did it

Saturday, April 19, 2008
Do you agree with a boycott of the Beijing Olympics? Discuss.

Topic: Politics, (in) Sports
Issue: Whether there should be a Boycott of the Beijing Olympics
Context: Beijing Olympics, 2008
The Present
Global Issue
Key words:
“Do you agree”: Yes/No question
“Boycott”: In what ways?
- Not sending athletes to compete
- Officials, referees or umpires not present
- Not participating in one way or another when you are supposed to
“Discuss”: Show a balanced argument
Stand: There shouldn’t be a boycott.

Topic Sentences
1) There shouldn’t be a boycott because it is against the Olympics spirit.
2) There shouldn’t be a boycott because it will strain the relationships between China and the countries involved.
3) There shouldn’t be a boycott because it will disrupt the Olympics.
4) Countries should boycott the Olympics as it has caused many problems already.

Topic Sentence 2
Point: There shouldn’t be a boycott because it will strain the relationships between China and the countries involved.

Elaboration: Bilateral relations and relations between any countries are important to a country. These relationships may have a very important part to play in a countries’ economy. Trade and cooperation between the countries will keep the global economy running.

Evidence: China is the fourth largest country in the world with regards to their exchange rate. China is actively involved with trade with many countries around the world. Their value of global trade is about $1.758 trillion as of 2007. From this statistics, we can tell that China is very much actively involved in trade, especially with countries like USA and Japan.

Evaluation: Since the political relationship with China is beneficial to their economy, countries should maintain close ties with China and not strain it just because of boycotting the Olympics. Not only this, if relationships strain, it may lead to further conflict which may cause chaos in the global context.

Link: Therefore, there shouldn’t be a boycott of the Olympics so as to maintain political ties with China.

-Tan Wenjie

Friday, April 18, 2008
Do you agree with a boycott of the Beijing Olympics? Discuss.

Topic(s)- Sports, Politics

Issue- Boycotting the Olympics

Context- Present, 2008 Olympics in Beijing

Keywords-
Do you agree: yes/no
boycott: abstain from participating
Olympics: 
discuss: both sides of the issue

Stand- I do not agree

Topic sentences:
1) With a boycott, the efforts of atheletes who have trained so hard prior to the Olympics will be put to waste.
2) A boycott will inevitably harm China both economically and socially.
3) A boycott will strain diplomatics ties between China and countries involved in the act.
4) Ironically, a boycott will defeat the purpose of the Olympics, that is to promote international harmony.

Paragraph for TS 1

Point: With a boycott, the efforts of atheletes who have trained so hard prior to the Olympics will be put to waste.

Elaboration: Hundreds of atheletes have put in their best efforts to train for days, months and even years just to qualify and participate in this prestigious event. A boycott will deprive many from achieving this dream.

Evidence: In the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, about 60 countries boycotted in the event. The boycott declared by various nations did not benefit the situation in any way but instead, penalised more than 100 innocent atheletes from participating in the prestigious competition. The trainings and efforts of the atheletes were wasted as a result.

Evaluation: It does not make sense to deprive atheletes from joining the Olympics simply because of political issues. There should be a distinct line between politics and sports. From the 1980 Olympics, it can be seen that the boycott did not achieve its aim. It only deprived atheletes from participating in the once-in-four-years event.

Link: Therefore, i see no reason to boycott the Beijing Olympics as it will ultimately affect no one except the atheletes.

Shi Xiong (9)

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Do you agree with a boycott of the Olympics? Discuss.

Topic
Sports. Politics.

Issue
Do you agree with a boycott of the Olympics?

Context
Olympics in general.

Key Words
-do you agree?
-boycott
-Olympics
-Discuss

Stand
I do not agree to the boycott of the Olympics.

Topic sentences
1) I do not agree to the boycott of the Olympics. If a boycott is declared, it will cost activists whatever ongoing leverage they have over the host country.

2) Furthermore, a boycott will result in strained ties with the host country.

3) The boycott of the Olympics might also ruin the dreams of athletes who have been training for years just for it.

4) Another reason against the boycott is that the boycott itself holds no power, and the locals from the host country might suffer instead due to the drop in tourism.

Full paragraph for Topic Sentence 4

Point - Another reason against the boycott is that the boycott itself holds no power, and the locals from the host country might suffer instead due to the drop in tourism.

Elaboration - Tourism industry is responsible for the creation of jobs in the service sector. If a boycott is declared, hotels and restaurants, which have hired many more workers in expectation of the rush of tourists, will be forced to retrench the surplus amount of workers. This results in an increase in unemployment rates in the host country.

Evidence - An example would be the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics due to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The United States threatened to boycott the Olympics unless Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan. Moscow refused and the boycott was declared.

Evaluation - This showed that uselessness of the boycott in fulfilling the demands of another country. It is ironic that instead of improving the situation, the boycott has caused the suffering of the locals.

Link - From this, it is obvious that a boycott of the Olympics will not have the desired effect and might cause more harm than good.

Labels: Oswell did this.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Group topic.

'Films which have the greatest appeal are usually those which have the least value.' By reference to specific examples, consider how far this is a fair assessment.

Topic
Mass Media.

Issue
Is the value of a film inversely related to the appeal it has?

Context
Everywhere, from anytime.

Key Words
-Greatest appeal vs Least value
-usually
-specific examples
-how far

Stand
It is to a larger extent that films with little value have the greatest appeal.

Topic sentences

1) In the genre of "Action", Die Hard (1988) was voted greatest action movie of all time. Such an example of a film has proved the statement to be true.

2) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), which was voted the best comedy movie of all time on two separate polls in 2006, is another example that further illustriates the inverse relationship between the value of the film and the appeal it has.

3) However, films such as the Matix (1991) in the genre of science fiction has proved it's value despite it having received four Academy Awards in the technical categories.

4) Another reason why the statement above is not a fair statement is that several documentaries have been well received by the public. Examples: Bowling for Columbine(2002) and Seven Up!(1964)

Full paragraph for Topic Sentence 3


However, films such as the Matix (1991) in the genre of science fiction have proved its value despite it having received four Academy Awards in the technical categories. The Matrix has been a thought provoking film that has made many think deeply about the consequences of heavy reliance of technology and the selfishness of man. Here's a quote from The Matrix: "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure." This quote has successfully summed up all that we as humans have done for years. Forests has been roved over and replaced with artificial concrete jungles, the once clean air has been polluted with hazardous fumes and to make matters worse, little has been done about it. This film serves as a wake up call: Do something about it now or live to regret it. With such an important message behind the film, it is indubitably the case that films with great appeal do not necessarily mean that it has little value.


-AJ 27/08 Group 4.

Is our environment suffering? Yes, a resounding yes. we see in the recent years, that there has been reports of the ice-caps melting and the air quality worsening. All these reports shows that our environment is indeed suffering at the moment.
from the above statistics, we are able to see that that over the years, the overall emission of gas is increasing and this proves to be harmful for the environment. we see from the second picture, that the emission of gases like nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide have negative effects
on the environment for these are greenhouse gases. and we see that these green house gases will cause environmental problems like the 'greenhouse effect'. And we see that from the first figure, we can tell that the the overall temperature has been constantly rising over the recent years, this is part of the global warming effect that has resulted from the greenhouse effect.
We see that the cause behind environmental is mainly the result of modernization yet we can't reduce environmental pollution without modernizing. thus we must try and do all we can to save the environment. Saving the environment starts with you and me! so start now =)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

* Includes 70,000 tonnes used as fuel in cogen plants

Table 1

Graphs and statistics: http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/climate_change/images/global_temp1.jpg

http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn11638/dn11638-2_640.jpg

http://app.nea.gov.sg/

-Tan Wenjie

Monday, April 7, 2008
Is the Environment Suffering?

Duh. Global temperatures are on the rise, ice caps are melting, sea levels are slowly creeping up, massive deforestation are cropping up all over the world and pollution is widespread. It is without a single doubt that the environment is suffering. So what is causing all this? The answer is industrialistion. All over the world, factories and cars are pumping out huge quantities of carbon dioxide and churning out poisonous by-products everyday. People are razing forests to build farms or factories. Irresponsible dumping of nuclear waste is also common. Although nature tries to offset the amount of harm we have done, the rate of "fixing" is too slow to match up with the rate of "breaking" caused by us humans.

So how can we combat this? It's always the same answer. Take the public transport, save paper, use less electricity and anything else you can think of that saves electricity. So the bottomline is save the environment. No one else is going to do it for us.

HUG A TREE TODAY!!

Labels: Oswell did this.

Is the Environment Suffering?

There is no doubt that our environment is suffering today. With globalisation and industrialisation, the quantity of pollutants (air and water) in our environment have increase indefinitely in recent years.

For this post, i will focus on air pollution as it is one of the main environmental concerns in the world today. From the pie chart shown above, the main source of air pollutants is on-road mobile. Vehicles emit alot of air pollutants, one of which is carbon 
dioxide, a greenhouse gas. These air pollutants should not be taken likely as it will have an
adverse effect on our environment. In this case, it is air pollution and global warming. In my opinion, we, the inhibitants, and our environment are interlinked. Therefore, if one of which will to suffer, the other one will definitely be dragged along in the suffering process. Air pollution will cause serious problems like breathing difficulty, sorethroat, skin itchiness and other air-related health problems while global warming will ultimately affect our climate and hence our agriculture economy. Stating these much, it will make us ponder why have we not done our part to save our environment and ironically doing more to pollute it. Therefore, it is time for us to do something to solve this urgent matter. STOP DRIVING CARS.

Shi Xiong (9)

Sunday, April 6, 2008
environmental suffering