The line graph compares the average price of a barrel of oil with the food price index over a period of 11 years.

It is clear that average global prices of both oil and food rose considerably between 2000 and 2011.

Furthermore, the trends for both commodities were very similar, and so a strong correlation (93.6%) is suggested.

In the year 2000, the average global oil price was close to $25 per barrel, and the food price index stood at just under 90 points.

Over the following four years both prices remained relatively stable, before rising steadily between 2004 and 2007.

By 2007, the average oil price had more than doubled, to nearly $60 per barrel, and food prices had risen by around 50 points.

A dramatic increase in both commodity prices was seen from 2007 to 2008, with oil prices reaching a peak of approximately $130 per barrel and the food price index rising to 220 points.

However, by the beginning of 2009 the price of oil had dropped by roughly $90, and the food price index was down by about 80 points.

Finally, in 2011, the average oil price rose once again, to nearly $100 per barrel, while the food price index reached its peak, at almost 240 points.

 

Sample #29

Some governments say how many children a family can hare in their country. They may control the number of children someone has through taxes.

It is sometimes necessary and right for a government to control the population in this way. Do you agree or disagree?

model answer:

It is certainly very understandable that some governments should start looking at ways of limiting their populations to a sustainable figure.

In the past, populations were partly regulated by frequent war and widespread disease, but in recent years the effects of those factors have been diminished.

Countries can be faced with a population that is growing much faster than she nation's food resources or employment opportunities and whose members can be condemned to poverty by the need to feed extra mouths.

They identify population control as a'means to raising living standards.

But how should it be achieved? Clearly, this whole area is a very delicate personal and cultural issue.

Many people feel that this is not a matter for the state.

They feel this is one area of life where they have the right to make decisions for themselves.

For that reason, it would seem that the best.

approach would be to work by persuasion rather than compulsion This could be done by a process of education that points out the way a smaller family can mean an improved quality of life for the family members, as well as less strain on the country's perhaps very limited, resources.

This is the preferred way.

Of course if this docs not succeed within a reasonable time scale, it may be necessary to consider other measures.

such as tax incentives or child-benefit payments for small families only. These are midway between persuasion and compulsion.

So. yes. it is sometimes necessary, but governments should try very hard to persuade first.

They should also remember that this is a very delicate area indeed, and that social engineering can create as many problems as it solves?