General Studies Article and Questions

identify the different stages in the argument in the passage:
proposition, conclusion and argument.

To what extent are the arguments used supported by evidence?
They are supported by a fairly large extent due to the analysing the validity and justification of the argument. It also includes anecdotes to provide real-life data along with statistics to give the argument evidence which is more reliable and accurate.

How reliable is the evidence provided?
The evidence is fairly reliable due to the information being from personal accounts; however this can be doubted whether or not these people are providing accurate analytical observations and information necessary to obtain the argument.

Find 2 examples of argument based on authority. In what ways might the claim to be “authority” be A. justification, B. Unjustified Give reasons for your answer?
An expert in one field is not necessarily an expert in others, this makes their claim to authority of justified by their type of field and instead being able to critique on all areas, therefore the topic matter is highly important.
Also, Experts are no more entitled to claim authority than any other person, which means that anyone can have the right to authority based argument being easily justified, yet the explanation given can vary to be unjustified to whether or not it makes sense.

Examples from text: “Club bosses believe…” They have authority justified by being bosses, yet their view can be bias or unreliable.
“Jenny Brannigan, 18” shares her view, which suggests she is not of a particular authority but the claims in which any person can have the right supports this idea and gives it justification.

Examples of deductive and inductive reasoning in the passage:Inductive: “If you allow two women into the same cubicle they’ll talk forever” who has rejected idea.
Deductive: “it is fact that young women like to go toilet together”.

To what extent is the conclusion of the passage implicit rather than explicit? How far is it justified?The conclusion considers two points of views which makes it explicit by considering more than one alternative. However, it can be implicit because it is quite vague and therefore not considering the information as effectively

Life Changes

Individuals ‘life chances’ are the opportunities each person has to improve their quality of life.

2 factors influence your life chances:

—  Social factors (nurture) – e.g. your family / access to money, type of school you go to / the environment you have been brought up in.

—  Genetic factors (nature) – e.g. your levels of intelligence / your physical, cognitive and psychological capabilities.

Genetic Factors

Do parents have the right to influence a child's characteristics in order to improve life chances? (for example make choices about what kind of child they want at conception or chose not to continue with a pregnancy if they detect abnormality.)

In a way I think parents do have the right to influence their child's characteristics, for example if they are aware of a possibility of abnormality, it is their decision as to whether they feel they will be able to support the child's needs. Also, if they feel that this abnormality could cause problems for the child's life and perhaps may mean they lack life chances, then they could decide it is in the child's best interest to prevent this. However I think that parents should love their child no matter what is detected before birth - whether it be a preference in gender or ability.

Social Factors 

Your life chances are mainly effected by your circumstances. It is a question of who you know not who you are!

Case Study - Education

 The proportion of young people from working class families taking part in higher education is less than young people among better off families.

Why do you think this is the situation?

I think that people from better off families are lead to believe that higher education isn't as important for them as they are perhaps starting life into the working world with more of an advantage than those from working class families, who may feel that without a university degree they will get nowhere and earn no money. People from better off families may have parents in high up jobs who have connections, so that they can start on the career ladder straight away.

Is it nature or nurture? What is the key determination in life chances?

I think this is nurture - it's how the person is brought up and what their families views are like on higher education, aswell as their financial state.

The UK government use ‘mean test’ so that only certain groups are given benefits.

The government ‘Means tests’ focuses on offering financial support

to the most needy.

The government argue that a universal benefits scheme would mean supporting

Many people who do not need financial support.

Debate the argument above of a universal benefit scheme.

What do you think?

I think that the universal benefit scheme is in some ways a bad idea, as it can be a waste of money for the government as some people receiving benefits don't necessarily need them, when instead we can give those with larger financial issues more money in benefits so everyone is more equal. However for those that are only slightly above the income limit for benefits, it can seem unfair as this money could therefore help them out a lot. 

‘Some people are born to be leaders and should get all the privileges society has to offer’

How far and in what ways does evidence support the view above?

Nature vs Nuture

Nature: Our abilities and successes are determined at birth though inherited traits.

Nurture: Our abilities and successes are determined by the environment we are brought up in and the influences we are exposed to.
Various factors about our environment effect our lives, for example:

1.Family structure

2.Education

3.Health choices/lifestyle

4.Income

5.Gender

6.Social Class

7.Immigrant status 

“To give all children an equal chance of a good education, all secondary school places in a local authority area should be allocated by ballot, even if that means bussing students around the authority”

Discuss the usefulness of this view (7marks) 

         I think that if children all had an equal opportunity being based on their area good be a good thing. This is because they would all have the same facilities and accessibility to developing their education. However this idea is not guaranteed being students may use options that are outside the area in order to pursue education further or receive help therefore perhaps making them more likely to be intelligent or talented at particular sports and hobbies. So this may be useful, but only to an extent due to not preventing the limitations into how educational developement can be secured.

Mock Paper

January 2010 Unit 1 - General Studies

How does society look upon these issues?

Carrying of firearms? – It’s acceptable for police in most societies however not for normal people in places like the UK. Where as in the USA it’s seen as protection of yourself.

Women wearing what they like in public? – In the UK it’s seen as acceptable as everyone has different tastes, where as in countries like India this is seen as completely disrespectful to those around you.

Freedom of expression in terms of religion? – In countries like Dubai everyone has to follow strict rules e.g. Women have to cover their bodies, fasting at certain times of the year etc. In the UK we have many different religions as we’re a multi-cultural society and so expressing your religious views is acceptable.

Independent Research

'Oldest dinosaur' found in Natural History Museum

Fossil specimen in the museum's collection identified as most likely coming from a dinosaur that lived about 245m years ago

Researchers have found what could be the earliest known dinosaur to walk the Earth lurking in the corridors of London's Natural History Museum.
A mysterious fossil specimen that has been in the museum's collection for decades has now been identified as most likely to have come from a dinosaur that lived about 245m years ago - 10 to 15m years earlier than any previously discovered examples.
The creature was about the size of a labrador dog and has been named Nyasasaurus parringtoni after southern Africa's Lake Nyasa, today called Lake Malawi, and Cambridge University's Francis Rex Parrington, who collected the specimen at a site near the lake in the 1930s.

"It was a case of looking at the material with a fresh pair of eyes," Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum, who worked on the study, told Reuters. "This closes a gap in the fossil record and pushes back the existence of dinosaurs."

The London fossil was studied by researchers in the 1950s but no conclusion was reached and nothing was published, said Barrett. "It was a mystery what it was … It just became this mythical animal."
Two features of the London fossil, together with a similar sample subsequently spotted at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town, are strong evidence that the animal belongs with the dinosaurs, the researchers said.
The bone tissues in the upper arm show marks of rapid growth, common in dinosaurs, and they also have a feature known as an elongated deltopectoral crest that anchored the upper arm muscles, a feature unique to dinosaurs.
"Although we only know Nyasasaurus from fossil fragments, the anatomy of its upper arm bone and hips have features that are unique to dinosaurs, making us confident that we're dealing with an animal very close to dinosaur origin," said Barrett.
The researchers believe Nyasasaurus probably stood upright, was a metre tall at the hip, two to three metres long from head to tail, and weighed 20-60kg.

When it was alive, the world's continents were joined in a vast land mass called Pangaea, and the area of Tanzania where the fossils were found would have been part of the southern Pangaea that included Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia.

Theorists have long argued there should have been dinosaurs walking the Earth in the Middle Triassic period, which ended about 237m years ago, but until now the evidence has been ambiguous, said Sterling Nesbitt at the University of Washington in Seattle who led the study, published in the journal Biology Letters.

"If the newly named Nyasasaurus parringtoni is not the earliest dinosaur, then it is the closest relative found so far," said Nesbitt.
"What's really neat about this specimen is that it has a lot of history. Found in the '30s, first described in the 1950s … Now 80 years later, we're putting it all together."
The researchers plan further field work in Tanzania to find more fossils and build a better picture of the animal's anatomy.

The Law and Civil Liberties Part II

There are offences of criminal law which can lead to fines or imprisonment and are investigated by the police. Civil law is when an individual takes action through the courts to determine responsibilities or to seek damages. Civil liberties are freedoms which protect individuals from state abuse or government power. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it cannot abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens In this country we enjoy certain rights such as freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to due process, to a fair trial, to own property and to privacy. 

1.Right to Life 
2.Prohibition of torture 
3.Prohibition of slavery and forced labour 
4.Right to liberty and security 
5.Right to a fair trial 
6.No punishment without law 
7.Right to respect for private and family life 
8.Freedom of thought, conscience and religion 
9.Freedom of expression 
10.Freedom of assembly and association 
11.Right to marry 

CCTV cameras - the U.K has more surveillance equipment than the whole of Europe put together. 

ASBOs – Anti Social Behaviour Orders restrict movements and control offenders. 

Mosquito Repellers (low level sonic devices that only affect young people)