Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Critical Thinking & Avoiding Plagiarism1
Critical Thinking & Avoiding Plagiarism1
Critical Thinking & Avoiding Plagiarism1
a. Yes it has.
b. It contains a paraphrase with no direct quotes or references
2. Marine biologists could find holography a useful tool for analysing and
identifying marine organisms as it has several advantages over other
optical and measurement techniques. These include digital recording
over time, in 3D and the ability to capture species that move quickly.
a. This is plagiarised
a. This is plagiarised
4. Early results, after four trials, have indicated that the effectiveness of
data extraction from outside the in-line volume depends on the size
and shape of the object (Sun et al 2007)
The UK is not as windy as the British government thought. The country's first
generation of wind farms, are delivering less power than predicted,
according to an analysis of official data on their output. The finding dents
government hopes that wind turbines could generate up to a fifth of the UK's
energy by 2020.
While Scottish and offshore wind farms generate more than 30 per cent of
their theoretical capacity, no English region does better than 26 per cent, 4
per cent below government predictions. However, the national average of
28.4 per cent, while disappointing, is still the highest in Europe, says the
report, which was released on 8 December.
Most worrying for government strategists, though, may be the discovery that
a network of wind farms across the country would do little to even out total
wind-power production. Much of the time, the weather is either calm or
windy across the whole of the UK. So on some days less than 10 per cent of
capacity would be produced, and on others above 90 per cent - making it
tougher than expected to compensate for the vagaries of the wind.
New Scientist, December 2006: Print Edition (19)
You are familiar with the above from a previous assignment where you
summarised it. You are now going to look at it more critically!
Remember Critical thinking is:
Analysing what we read/are told
o Identifying the underlying line of reasoning the argument.
This is a series of points leading to a conclusion or conclusion
with supporting evidence. It can be:
Brief one sentence
Sustained essay, article, book
Strong leads reader to agree that conclusions are
logical/correct
Weak leaves reader unconvinced
Looking at questions/issues from different angles
Asking questions
Think critically about the above item and answer these questions:
Answer:
Yes as the title states An Ill Wind Blows for wind farms. This gives us the
impression that the use of wind farms is a bad idea and that the writers are
not very for the use of them. The word ill enhances this impression.
2. Who has published the study? Who does this represent? Do you think this
may have had an effect on the bias of the study? How?
Answer:
The study was published by the Renewable Energy Foundation that represents
many local groups opposed to the construction of wind turbines. This may effect
on the bias study as the groups that the Foundation represents are against the
wind farms.
3. Has all the relevant information given? What further information would you
like to have?
Answer:
The views of the community and their thoughts on wind farms.
A study produced by people that are supportive of wind farms, making the
studies less biased.
Alternative solutions to renewable energy.
Answer:
Yes, the data provided could give me two different interpretations. The first being
that although the wind farms arent doing that great at the moment, there can
still be time to improve and move forward and the other being that there is no
hope for the wind farms and that they should be discontinued and abolished
5. Do you think on the basis of the above evidence building wind farms should
be opposed/ stopped? Why?
Answer:
No they shouldnt be stopped. Even if they only create 28.4% of their theoretical
capacity, they are still a good source of renewable energy and they do not
produce anything harmful to the environment.