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considerable

on Basic words
4
Towards academic reading

In academic texts, writers often use the word 'considerable' when they don't want to state their ideas too strongly. This is called a 'hedge' or rhetorical understatement, and is one of the ways that writers use to gain acceptance of their ideas.

Read this paragraph and answer the question below.

At the end of the 20th century, two scientists, Rushton and Ankney, published articles claiming that women have smaller brains than men, and therefore women are less successful researchers. Today the ideas of Rushton and Ankney may seem ridiculous, but ideas like these could still cause considerable damage to the ideals of democracy and equality.

In the above paragraph, the writer actually means that such ideas can cause great damage.

Which answers below best complete this sentence? Choose the 3 correct answers.

 

The writer uses the word considerable…

to make her criticism appear less strong.

to state her ideas as clearly as possible.

as a protection against attacks from critics who disagree with her.

in order not to appear too extreme.