Level 4 — Upper Intermediate · Argument Writing
Task 35: Writing the Same Fact in Two Different Tones
Write two short paragraphs reporting the same fact in a neutral tone and then a skeptical tone, without changing the underlying evidence — the writing side of Lesson 35's tone, bias, and objectivity skills.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this task, you should be able to:
- Write the same underlying fact in a neutral, analytical tone and then a skeptical tone
- Change only word choice and framing between the two versions, not the evidence itself
- Show bias through selective inclusion, not through invented facts
Introduction
Lesson 35 taught you to detect an author's tone and bias from word choice, sentence structure, and what a passage chooses to include or leave out. This task makes that mechanism visible from the inside: you will report one fact twice, keeping the evidence completely identical while shifting only the tone.
The Rule, for Writing
Core Concept
Tone lives in word choice, not in the facts themselves. To write the same fact neutrally, use plain reporting verbs (found, reported, shows) and avoid evaluative adjectives. To write it skeptically, keep every fact identical but add distancing language (claims, allegedly, has yet to show) and point to what the evidence doesn't cover. The two versions should never disagree about what happened — only about how much trust the wording extends to it.
Example
Neutral: "The company's internal report found that the new software reduced processing time by fifteen percent." Skeptical, same fact: "The company's own internal report claims the new software reduced processing time by fifteen percent — a finding that has yet to be confirmed by anyone outside the company that built the software."
Your Turn
Your Turn
Choose one real or plausible fact or finding (from work, a report, or general knowledge). Write it twice: first in a neutral, analytical tone using plain reporting verbs, then in a skeptical tone using distancing language and a note about what the evidence doesn't cover. Do not change or add any fact between the two versions — only the tone should shift.
Vocabulary in Context
distancing languagenoun phrasetechnical
wording (claims, allegedly, has yet to show) that signals the writer isn't fully vouching for a reported claim (দূরত্ব সৃষ্টিকারী ভাষা)
Often with use distancing language, distancing language such as, signal with distancing language
“'Allegedly' is distancing language: the writer does not vouch for the claim.”
objectivitynounformal
reporting facts and their real limits without letting word choice quietly push the reader toward belief or doubt (নিরপেক্ষতা)
Often with maintain objectivity, journalistic objectivity, lack of objectivity
“Objectivity requires reporting the limits of the data as well as the results.”
Model Answer
Show a model answer
Neutral: A survey of the port's trucking partners found that the new online booking slot system reduced average gate waiting time by twenty minutes. Drivers using the system reported fewer unplanned delays during peak hours.
Skeptical: The port claims its new online booking slot system cut average gate waiting time by twenty minutes, based on a survey it conducted itself. No independent study has yet confirmed the figure, and drivers who didn't adopt the system weren't included in the results.
Self-Check
Self-Check
- Did both versions report the exact same underlying fact, with nothing added or removed?
- Does your neutral version use plain reporting verbs, free of evaluative adjectives?
- Does your skeptical version use genuine distancing language and name a real limit in the evidence?
- Did you write this directly in English, without translating from Bangla first?
Next: Writing 36 — Context, Meaning & Ambiguity: carrying this same attention to word choice into resolving a genuinely ambiguous sentence with nothing but the surrounding context to guide you.