Task 1 Compare these two texts on mobile phones. How are opinions and ideas presented in each of the texts? Which do you think is more academic? Text 1 I think that mobile phones have a negative effect on health. Mobile phones emit radiation and we all know that radiation causes cancer. Also, children who live near high tension wires often die of cancer, even though the wires are several hundred metres away. When you use a mobile phone, you put it right next to your head, so the radiation is more concentrated. Experiments with animals suggest that radiation causes birth defects in chickens and reduced production of milk in cows. Also, many humans who develop brain cancers have used mobile phones. Therefore, I think the evidence shows that mobile phones have a negative effect on people’s health. Text 2 There is some evidence to suggest that the use of mobile phones may have a negative effect on health. Mild (1998) studied radiation risk in 11,0000 mobile phone users and found that headaches and fatigue were reported more often by people who made longer phone calls. Braune (1998) reported a rise in blood pressure in a group of ten mobile phone users. Animal studies on the effects of electromagnetic radiation have suggested that exposure to high levels of radiation may be associated with birth deformities in pigs (Smith 1999). However, studies of the effects of radiation are difficult to interpret because of the effects of background rates of disease. For example, as Foster and Moulder (2000) point out, every year brain cancer affects approximately six people per 100,000 in the US regardless of exposure to mobile phones. Studies need to be carefully designed to distinguish between background rates of the disease and elevated occurrent related to the use of mobile phones.