I can collate a wide range of perceptive and astute comments combining overview and detail Advanced Therapy Breaking down the skill: Collate you bring together connected points or ideas from different texts Wide range you find a number of points addressing a range of ideas Perceptive and astute you use inference to identify subtle and less obvious ideas, employing them carefully to answer the question. Focus Question: What do Max Hastings and Mark Hodgson tell us about the issues facing travel and environmental change? (10) The following two texts address the issues surrounding plane travel and climate change. Text A Addressing Binge Flying is Vital for the Climate, Max Hastings Almost all of us are hypocrites about climate change. We know that it is real, and desperately serious. Yet, we are in a shocking muddle about how to relate our personal behaviour to the phenomenon. For those who inhabit the developed world, opportunities for travel represent the most significant new personal freedom of the past half- century. Even as recently as the 1960s, hitch- hiking to Greece or Turkey was a big deal for adventurous young middle class. South America and Australia were almost off the map. Today, it is possible to fly cheaply almost anywhere, and we all do. Every jet arriving at Nairobi or Buenos Aires disgorges crowds of tourists on short breaks, which means intensive plane use is booming. Common sense tells us that all this is environmentally disastrous. Yet common sense also tells us that tourism is doing great things for the economies and people of poor countries all over the world. Carbon emissions soar as a result of flying flowers and vegetables to Europe and America from Africa and Mexico. Yet if that traffic stopped, millions of needy people in the grower s trade would suffer. Guardian Media Ltd Task 1: Complete the table below. Read the prompt questions, then highlight the evidence needed to answer them in the text. Write this into the evidence column, then summarise them in the summary column. The first row has been completed for you.
Question Evidence Summary What is Hastings opinion on the threat of climate change? We know that it is real, and desperately serious. Hastings feels worried about climate change. Does Hastings feel everyone has a responsible attitude? What opportunities for travel are there now? How has travel changed since the 1960s? Is plane travel bad for the environment? Are there any benefits to plane travel? Text B When It s Good to Fly, Mark Hodgson Flying is bad, right? Nobody with a social conscience should fly halfway around the world on holiday, spewing carbon into the atmosphere. Well, it depends. If we were all to stop travelling to developing countries tomorrow, who would suffer? Not just us, but hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on tourism. We ve spent a generation trying to persuade people in poor countries throughout the world that if they protect their local ecosystems, we ll pay them a rewarding visit. So, do we walk away from the rainforest eco- lodges, community- run safari camps and conservation schools just because environmentalists tell us to? This does not give us the right to whizz around the world, but it should remind us that travel, when organised with care, can be a great force for good. The Sunday Times/ Mark Hodgson TURN OVER.
Task 2 repeat the previous exercise for Text B, highlighting the text then completing the evidence and summary columns. Question Evidence Summary How does Hodgson feel about flying? Flying is bad, right? Hodgson seems to think flying has negative impacts. Should people freely travel around the world, according to Hodgson? Would ceasing to fly cause any problems? What eco- friendly attractions could we travel to? How does Hodgson feel our attitude to travel must change? Task 3 making perceptive and astute comments. To achieve the very highest marks, you need to collate information from texts whilst using inference to make perceptive comments. This means reading between the lines to see less obvious ideas. Complete the table below: highlight any zoom words in the quotation given, then make a perceptive comment regarding what the writer is suggesting about flying and climate change. An example has been completed for you. From Text A, Max Hastings
Quotations from Text A Almost all of us are hypocrites about climate change. We know that it is real, and desperately serious. Perceptive Explanation By suggesting that we are hypocrites about climate change, Hastings implies that, while many of us know the problems flying causes, we continue to do it anyway, thus going against our own principles. Every jet arriving at Nairobi or Buenos Aires disgorges crowds of tourists. Common sense tells us that all this is environmentally disastrous. Carbon emissions soar as a result of flying flowers and vegetables to Europe and America from Africa and Mexico. From Text B, Mark Hodgson Quotations from Text B Flying is bad, right? Nobody with a social conscience should fly halfway around the world on holiday, spewing carbon into the atmosphere. Perceptive Explanation Hodgson opens his text with a line that at first appears a statement, but then turns into a question. By asking us, right? Hodgson appears to suggest that, although deep down we know flying is indeed bad, we resist admitting it. Hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on tourism. Do we walk away from the rainforest eco- lodges, community- run safari camps and conservation schools just because environmentalists tell us to?
Task 4 Use the table below to collate your evidence and perceptive ideas from both texts into an astute, organised response. An example has been completed for you. Quotation from Text A hypocrites Connected Quotation from Text B Flying is bad, right? Perceptive Linking Comment Both writers open their texts by putting the reader in an awkward position. While Hastings calls us hypocrites, drawing attention to the way we continue to fly despite the problems it causes, Hodgson tentatively asks flying is bad, right? as if to cast doubt upon the assertion. Quotation from Text A Connected Quotation from Text B Perceptive Linking Comment
Practise Exam Task Write your response to the following question in your exercise book or on lined paper. What do Max Hastings and Mark Hodgson tell us about the issues facing travel and environmental change? (10) Remember you need to collate ideas from both texts, making perceptive comments whilst staying concise. It s a challenge, but you can do it! Commissioned by The PiXL Club Ltd. This resource is strictly for the use of member schools for as long as they remain members of The PiXL Club. It may not be copied, sold, or transferred to a third party or used by the school after membership ceases. Until such time it may be freely used within the member school. All opinions and contributions are those of the authors. The contents of this resource are not connected with, or endorsed by, any other company, organisation or institution. PiXL Club Ltd endeavour to trace and contact copyright owners. If there are any inadvertent omissions or errors in the acknowledgements or usage, this is unintended and PiXL will remedy these on written notification.