Claim: The surest indicator of a great nation is not the achievements of its

rulers, artists, or scientists.

Reason: The surest indicator of a great nation is actually the welfare of all
its people.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you
agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that
claim is based.
When it comes to making of a nation, it takes more than just a
few indicators. The national building process is a mix of evolution
of its cultural, economic, demographic and natural wealth over a
period of time; when coupled with peace, prosperity and capable
admisntrators. The author here seems to be limited to superficial
indicators in claim as that of a great nation. Greatness of nation,
as discussed above, depend on multitude of factors. One nation
that was great in history might not be a leading nation in current
times. Greece is one such example with great rulers in past. With
recent economic recession, crash of political structure had let to a
lot of unrest.
A nations greatness to world is how far it has contributed to
growth and development of mankind. The achievements of
scientists, rulers, artists are a by-product of nations welfare
measures. Had not been there the invention of steam engine,
Gutens press, cloth weaving machines, et cetera there would not
have been industrial revolution which led to Europes prosperity
and opulence. Similarly, the scientific advancements in US in
technology has given it edge over the global powers.
The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) is one such
measure where how good a nation is doing on parameters of
health, education and its economy is measured. It is quite evident
that few nations which top HDI like Netherlands are not the so
called great nation. Big economies like China and India are far
behind on this report. Another such measure is Gross Happiness
Index, where happiness of citizens is measure of nations
progress. Small country like Bhutan, in south Asia, tops the list of
most happiest nations. This is attributed to the lifestyle and

cultural ethos of its citizens, not to the welfare spending and

economic might.
The author here mentions welfare of all people of a nation as a
sure indicator of its greatness. Welfare measures are of
quintessential importance, as they contribute to overall well-being
of a nation. Spending on education, health, welfare programmes
and policies for poverty alleviation provide long term returns in
nations growth. This enables citizens to deliver their best in
contributing to strong economy, better scientific research, higher
growth and productivity. Welfare spending can only be met if,
there are good administrators running the affairs of nation,
natural resources, technological capabilities and strong economic
factors fuelling nations economy.
To conclude, author here contradicts its claim with reason as
welfare measures have direct relationship with the achievements
of rulers. Scientists and artists. The claim here is weak and is
supported by a reason with contrasted view of indicators of
greatness of a nation.

Milk and dairy products are rich in vitamin D and calciumsubstances essential
for building and maintaining bones. Many people therefore say that a diet rich in
dairy products can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease that is linked to both
environmental and genetic factors and that causes the bones to weaken
significantly with age. But a long-term study of a large number of people found
that those who consistently consumed dairy products throughout the years of
the study have a higher rate of bone fractures than any other participants in the
study. Since bone fractures are symptomatic of osteoporosis, this study result
shows that a diet rich in dairy products may actually increase, rather than
decrease, the risk of osteoporosis.
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to
evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or
strengthen the argument.

The argument that diet rich in dairy products may actually increase, rather than
decrease, the risk of osteoporosis is based on a single study. As osteoporosis is
linked with weak and brittle bones, author here links bone fracture as an
indicator of the disease. The details of study are not available which leaves a
large gap and renders the argument weak. The evidences in favour of argument
are missing, which weaken the arguments, need to be discussed in detail.
To begin with, let us consider the causal factors of osteoporosis. It is a disease
which is linked to the environmental and genetic factors. It is also dependent on
sex of an individual. For instance, it is reported that osteoporosis is more
common in menopausal females than in males of same age group. It is also
dependent on lifestyle of an inidividuals. It is reported that individuals with
moderate physical exercise are less likely to be affected by osteoporosis than
individuals with sedentary lifestyle. Also, dietary habits impact the degree of risk
associated with Osteoporosis. Water being one of the major source of calcium in
human diet, consumption of water purified by Reverse osmosis leads to calcium
deficiency in body. Thus, this contributes to higher risk of osteoporosis.
In addition to this, details on race and geographic spread of individuals would
have been helpful in comprehending the rigour and authenticity of the claim
made by study. Moreover, individuals over 45 years of age are at higher risk of
this disease. Age profile of an individual is also a factor of osteoporosis. As
children are involved in playful acitvities and sports more than adults, the
chances of getting a bone fracture is higher for these individuals. It is possible
that the study may have chosen more children than adults as sample. Also, the
long-term study doesnot mention the length of study period. It is probable that
the individuals with higher bone fracture may be involved in sporting activities
largely or would be involved an occupation with accidents as an occupational
hazard. It may also be noted that dairy products constitute a major portion of
diet for children in comparison to adults.
The study mentioned here, does not provide the details mentioned above. This
leads to doubts on the argument based on the study. In absence of these
evidences, the argument is left with no grounding.