Writing for an Academic Discussion What do you think is an invention that the world would benefit from in the next couple of decades? - revised -

Considering the challenges the world is facing now, what do you think is an invention that the world would benefit from in the next couple of decades? (a technology class)

 

 

☆Let’s Think

What issues have you learned at school lately? What do we need to do to solve the problem?

 

 

☆Hints for Points

・a totally clean and safe reusable energy source

・an invention that cleans nuclear waste safely and quickly

・an AI that will prevent the spread of hate speech

・a cure for cancer

・a medicine which makes alcoholic drink harmless

 

 

☆Ideas and Expressions

Make a presentation by answering the following questions.

1.     Describe the issue of your concern that the world is facing.

e.g. The problem of food shortage is worsening because of global warming.

 

 

 

 

2.     What kind of invention would benefit the world for that matter?

e.g.  Agricultural robots would increase productivity.

 

  

 

 

3.     What would be the counterargument and how would you deal with it?

e.g.  Politics is actually the main cause the serous starvation, but it takes time to change political situations.

  

 

 

 

 

 

☆Sample Answer for Ideas and Expressions

【Thesis】I believe that agricultural robots would benefit the world in the coming decades with a great magnitude.

【The issue】Famine is the problem humans have not overcome yet. In addition, the impact of climate crisis is getting stronger. Growing the same crops in the same ways as before is getting increasingly difficult year by year due to rising temperatures, changes of weather patterns, and unusual and severe disasters. Moreover, industrialization, urbanization, and aging have decreased farm workers. More than 700 million people are already starving, and residents in cities in industrialized countries are also vulnerable, since food shortage will hit the area seriously in emergency.

【The Invention】Inventions of agricultural robotics would help increase food production. It would raise the productivity of farmland by not only making up for the shortage of farmers but also working more efficiently and powerfully than humans.

【Counterargument-treatment】It is true that politics is actually the main cause of the serious starvation. The catastrophic hunger in places like Gaza, Yemen, Congo, and Sudan are man-made. Also, the primary cause of the recent price hike and shortage of rice in Japan is the government-lead reduction of rice-farming that lasted for decades. Last but not least, all of the starving children in developed countries can be saved by legislation. If the leaders were not inhuman, and if the public were less ignorant, most people would not be hungry now. Unfortunately, the political situation would not change overnight and the climate crisis is an imminent issue.

【Conclusion】Therefore, robotic farming would be the area that should be focused on seriously.

 (262 words)

Write your response in 10 minutes. Show each other your responses. Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s response.

 

 

                                                   DRAFT