keannu
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- Dec 27, 2010
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Source : Korean SAT English 2021 by Korean Education Broadcasting System - 191p.12
Vagueness is an obstacle to efficient communication. Sometimes people who want to avoid committing themselves to a particular course of action use vagueness as a ploy. For instance, a politician asked how precisely he intends to save money in the public sector might make vague generalisations about the need for improved efficiency, which, while true, don’t commit him to any particular way of achieving this. A good journalist would then press for further information about precisely how this efficiency was to be achieved, forcing him to come out from behind this veil of vagueness. Or someone who was late for an appointment but didn’t want to admit that this was because he’d stopped for a drink on the way might say ‘Sorry I’m late, I had something I needed to do on the way here and it took slightly longer than I expected’, deliberately leaving the cause of the delay vague, and exercising a particular kind of economy with the truth.
1. What does "vague generalisations" mean in this passage?
It is a remark that doesn't set a goal or objective in terms of figures or convincing data, showing a vague range of the goal.
2. What does "vague generalisations" result in?
It makes people who said it avoid committing themselves to a particular course of action.
If you find the answer incorrect, please correct it.
Vagueness is an obstacle to efficient communication. Sometimes people who want to avoid committing themselves to a particular course of action use vagueness as a ploy. For instance, a politician asked how precisely he intends to save money in the public sector might make vague generalisations about the need for improved efficiency, which, while true, don’t commit him to any particular way of achieving this. A good journalist would then press for further information about precisely how this efficiency was to be achieved, forcing him to come out from behind this veil of vagueness. Or someone who was late for an appointment but didn’t want to admit that this was because he’d stopped for a drink on the way might say ‘Sorry I’m late, I had something I needed to do on the way here and it took slightly longer than I expected’, deliberately leaving the cause of the delay vague, and exercising a particular kind of economy with the truth.
- This question and answer are made by me to practice for expected essay questions in my students’ finals.
1. What does "vague generalisations" mean in this passage?
It is a remark that doesn't set a goal or objective in terms of figures or convincing data, showing a vague range of the goal.
2. What does "vague generalisations" result in?
It makes people who said it avoid committing themselves to a particular course of action.
If you find the answer incorrect, please correct it.