The 24-Hour Gym Flyer and the Resident's Letter
A small town is consulting on a proposed 24-hour gym. Two texts are circulating. Text A is a flyer from Flex24: 'Overwhelming community support! In our survey of 50 local members, 92% said they would use a 24-hour gym. Noise will be minimal - our doors and walls are fully soundproofed. Property values near quality fitness facilities rise by up to 8%. Don't let a vocal minority hold our town back. Say yes to progress.' Text B is a letter to the editor from a resident: 'I submitted an Official Information Act request. The council received 32 public submissions: 27 opposed, 3 supported and 2 neutral. The gym's own acoustic report, filed with its resource consent, predicts 48 dB at the nearest boundary at 11 p.m.; the district plan's night-time limit is 45 dB. Flex24's survey polled its own members, not residents. The consent hearing is on 12 June.'
1. Which text gives stronger evidence about community opinion? Explain using specific details from both.
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Text B gives the stronger evidence about community opinion, but it is not perfect. It reports 32 submissions to the council: 27 opposed, 3 supported, 2 neutral. Those submissions were made to the decision-maker and are a matter of public record, so they can be checked. Text A's '92%' comes from a survey of 50 'local members' - that is, people already connected to Flex24. They are not a representative sample of the town, and the flyer does not say how many members were asked or how the survey was run. A self-selected group of gym members is likely to favour a gym. Text B's 32 submissions are also self-selected, so neither is a scientific poll, but Text B is closer to the relevant community and reports the actual consent process.
2. The flyer says noise will be 'minimal'. How reliable is this claim?
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The claim is unreliable as stated. 'Minimal' is vague, and the flyer gives no measurement. Text B says Flex24's own acoustic report, filed with its resource consent, predicts 48 dB at the nearest boundary at 11 p.m., while the district plan's night-time limit is 45 dB. That is a predicted breach of the limit, not 'minimal' noise. 'Fully soundproofed' is also an absolute claim that a building with doors and ventilation rarely achieves. The acoustic report is a more reliable source because it is a technical document submitted for scrutiny and it gives a number and a location. We would still want to know who wrote the report, but it is stronger evidence than the flyer's adjective.
3. Identify one language feature in Text A and explain how it tries to influence the reader.
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'Overwhelming community support!' uses an exclamation mark and the intensifier 'overwhelming'. It presents a contested claim as settled and exciting, so readers may accept it without checking the 50-member sample. 'Don't let a vocal minority hold our town back' sets up an 'us versus them' frame: supporters are the community, opponents are a noisy minority, and the reader is urged to join the winning side. 'Say yes to progress' is an imperative that makes disagreement sound like opposition to progress itself. These features aim to create momentum and make the reader feel that refusal is unreasonable, rather than encouraging them to weigh the evidence.