ClearTips: Powerful paragraphs
Imply the point by presenting two sides
Sometimes you may want to present two sides
without taking a stand—either because of ignorance
or diplomacy. You might also do this to suggest the complexity
of a debate, thus allowing you:
- to set up your point (choosing one side)
in the following paragraph
- to avoid alienating readers when discussing
a sensitive issue.
Not many people know it, but India is sitting on a mountain
of 30m tonnes of grain; it could increase to 36m tonnes by the end of
June, when the wheat harvest ends. The sceptics say this merely
shows that the poor can no longer afford to buy grain, which is 60%
dearer than it was when India started its economic liberalization in
1991. The supporters of reform retort that, reform having made
many people richer, they are changing their eating habits and switching
from cereals to superior foods such as meat, eggs, milk, and vegetables.
Should trade barriers be lowered before, or after, enterprises
have been restructured? Before, say those who argue that the
sudden introduction of freer trade offers domestic monopolies competition
from abroad and introduces world prices, helping to correct the price
distortions inherited from central planning. After, say those who
argue that the introduction of foreign competition, though necessary,
can be too sudden to allow lumbering domestic enterprises to adjust,
threatening a general collapse of output and employment like that seen
in East Germany. Poland lowered barriers quickly and now has one of
the lowest tariff regimes in the world. Czechoslovakia and Hungary have
eliminated most import quotas, though they have retained high tariffs
on some products.
In both examples, an issue is presented in the first
sentence and then interpreted in two ways. Notice that neither writer
signals which side will be taken.
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