Answers and Explanations

Writing Exercise 5

  1. Funding arts programs is important to student achievement. Studies show that musical training leads to increased student achievement.

    Funding arts programs is important because studies show that musical training leads to increased student achievement [or “academic performance”].

  2. Bilingual education is an important topic in education today. Bilingual education is necessary for students whose first language is not English.

    Bilingual education is an important topic today because public schools serve many students whose first language is not English.

  3. My school allocates too much money to sports programs. I know many students who don’t participate in sports. Money allocated for sports programs doesn’t benefit them. The school could achieve a better balance by allocating more money to programs that promote social activities and creative pursuits.

    My school allocates too much money to sports programs. This funding doesn’t benefit the many students I know who are not athletically inclined. The school could achieve a better balance by directing more resources to social activities and creative pursuits.

  4. School newspapers serve several important functions. One of them is to let students decide what is worthy of publication and what is not. This function of a school newspaper would be completely taken away if a panel of teachers were to take over the decisions about what is worthy of publication.

    School newspapers serve several important functions, one of which is giving students the opportunity to decide what is appropriate for publication. This function would be removed if the determination about what is worthy of publication were made by a panel of teachers instead of students.