STUDY ANDWRITING SKILLS
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12.5
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OFWORLD POVERTY?
There have been many studies of world poverty and how to
reduce it. However, writers often have different definitions of
the term. This essay focuses on absolute poverty. This can be
defined as a state where people do not have access to basic
human needs such as food, shelter, clothing and adequate health
care. The essay aims to highlight the three main causes of
poverty in the world. If these can be identified, efforts to reduce
it will be more effective.
It can be argued that the most important reason for poverty is
over-population. There are simply too many people in some
countries, or in areas of those countries. As a result, there
are not enough resources to support the population. In many
developing countries, people live by farming, hunting and
gathering food. However, the land can only support a certain
number of people. If there are too many people, the result is
hunger and poverty. It is a vicious cycle: poor families are
often big families because children are a source of labour
and additional income. However, big families increase the
population and create more poverty.
A second reason for world poverty is lack of education. A
large number of people living in poverty must concentrate on
making a living and have no time to educate themselves. Or
it may be that they have no opportunities to learn to read and
write. In many countries, there are no elementary or secondary
schools, therefore their rates of illiteracy are very high. Without
education, it is very difficult for people to get jobs and earn
money, so they fall into the poverty trap. It is often said that
education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to
change the world.’
Finally, the third main cause of poverty is a poor or non-existent
health service in a country. In many poor countries, people
who are sick cannot get good health care. Because of this, they
become unhealthy and contract serious diseases. Without good
health, people cannot work well or learn new skills. Studies
have shown that if a health system in a country is improved,
more people are able to move away from poverty.
It is possible to find many other causes of world poverty
in academic literature, for example, the high cost of living;
economic trends, to name but two. Since the resources to reduce
poverty are limited, it is, therefore, essential to focus on the
main causes of poverty. We should concentrate on controlling
population growth, increasing educational opportunities and
providing a high quality health service, and using our resources
efficiently.
8
Match 1–4 with a–d.
1
The number of students enrolling at university has
increased.
2
One reason why education has increased
3
Pass graded at university have risen recently
4
The country has become wealthier.
a
As a result, there are more schools.
b
because of improvements in teaching.
c
is the support and encouragement given by parents.
d
Consequently, there are more qualified people to
join the workforce.
9
Look at the diagram above. It shows how a cause
(first box) can have effects (second and third boxes).
These boxes can be linked using some of the words
and phrases from Exercise 7. Complete the paragraph
from an academic essay about rising standards of
education below. Use words and phrases from
Exercise 7.
More schools
As a result students get more attention
from their teachers.
Smaller class sizes
1
of rising standards of education is
the increased number of new schools.
2
increase in the number of schools class sizes are
now much smaller than before.
3
,
teachers have more attention to give to individual
students and improve their grades.
10
a
You are going to write an academic essay
with the title:
What are the main causes of rising
educational standards?
In groups, discuss these
possible causes for the rise in educational standards.
Can you think of any others?
• Wealth
• Parental support and encouragement
• Improved training for teachers
• More resources for schools
• Improved teaching materials
• A culture of achievement
10
b
Write the essay using the following structure.
Outline Structure:
Introduction; Three paragraphs for
the main body of the essay; Conclusion
Introduction
: State what the essay is about, define any
difficult terms, show the current relevance of the topic
and say how you are going to organise your essay.
Three main paragraphs
: Select three causes for the rise
in educational standards from the ones you discussed
in Exercise 10a. Using one paragraph for each cause,
describe the effect they have had on educational
standards. Start with the cause you feel has had the
greatest effect.
Conclusion
: Using two or three sentences, summarise
what you have written about.
11
In small groups, read each other’s essays. Mention
the good points of the essays and say how the essays
could be improved. Comment on both the content
and language of the essays.
