General English Level 6 Version 2.1 © 2004 acl Pty Ltd GELEV6 Unit 02 Topic 03.doc Rani writes: Thirdly, your editorial argues that the poor facilities of King George are a good reason for knocking it down. Although I agree that the facilities are poor, I believe there are alternative solutions to demolition. What about renovation of the existing building? Look at Customs House. They've kept its beautiful old exterior and put in a modern interior. Now it's a city landmark. It is true that renovation would be financially costly, but what are the costs of demolition and the construction of the new tower? Rani begins each paragraph with a topic sentence: Thirdly, your editorial argues that the poor facilities of King George are a good reason for knocking it down. The topic sentence is the most general sentence of the paragraph. It gives us the subject of the paragraph and tells us what Rani will say in the paragraph. Find out more about topic sentences in UNIT 01 Eat up! TOPIC 02 Food trends b. Polite ways of disagreeing In her letter Rani refers to the opinions of the editorial. She disagrees with these opinions in a polite way: "Although I agree that the facilities are poor, I believe there are alternative solutions to demolition." This is an adverbial clause of concession. Here Rani is saying that she agrees with some of the opinions, but not all of them. In this way she keeps the discussion open. Another example where Rani agrees with some of the opinions, but not all, is: "It is true that renovation would be financially costly, but what are the costs of demolition and the construction of the new tower?" Look Although Even though While I agree that the facilities are poor, It is true that the facilities are poor, but I believe there are alternative solutions to demolition. c. Giving examples Rani writes: Look at Customs House. They've kept its beautiful old exterior and put in a modern interior. Now it's a city landmark. She uses an example to support her argument that "there are alternative solutions to demolition." It is important to give examples to support our reasons for our opinions. Examples 1. Most successful modern cities have a mix of modern and older architecture. Paris, London and New York are good examples. 2. New developments must consider the effect on the surrounding environment. Some streets in the city, such as King Street, have no natural light because of all the tall buildings. 53