Practice 11: Problem-Solution Paragraphs

Read and analyse:

"Managing Tourism Growth"

• Problem: the development of a tourism industry can bring social and environmental drawbacks.
• Solution A: target wealthier holidaymakers.
• Argument against solution A: limited number of such visitors and it requires considerable investment in infrastructure and training.
• Solution B: rigorously control the environmental standards of any development.
• Conclusion in favour of B: likely to ensure the best outcome for both tourist and locals.

Outline a text:

• Topic: dog mess littering the streets.
• Problem: people who don't clean up after their pets, leading to streets full of dog mess.
• Solution A: place dog waste bags dispensers on the street.
• Argument against A: people are too lazy to worry about cleaning, most won't care about the bags.
• Solution B: increase vigilance and fine those who don't clean up after their dog.
• Argument for B: it might take a bit of time, but after some people have been fined, but as word of it goes around, people will be more careful.
• Conclusion: the only solution seems to be fining people, because most only care about money.

Paragraph:

    While most dog owners are responsible, some people often chose to litter the streets with dog mess. It is a very offensive and unhealthy type of litter, it gives a bad example to young people and it makes it look like nobody cares about living in a clean town. One possible solution would be to place waste bag dispenser in the places where most people walk their dogs; however, most people won't use them because they're too lazy and they just don't care about having a cleaner space. Another remedy, but slightly more expensive, would be to place more police along those places, that way, if they see someone littering, they will be able to fine them. It might seem like a drastic measure or too long term, but once word gets out about people being fined, the rest will be too worried about losing money. There is little more to do if people won't cooperate, but once we have clean streets, the time and resources spent will have been worth it.