Hedging Exercise 1 - Paragraph Cloze

Hedging Language Practice – Interactive Exercise

🔹 Task: Using Hedging Language in Academic Writing

Instructions: Rewrite each paragraph using appropriate hedging verbs or modal verbs to avoid expressing absolute certainty. Use the words in brackets to help you. You may use expressions like: seems to, appears to, may, might, could, is likely to, suggests that, etc.

Paragraph 1: Technology and Employment

Recent studies (show) that automation (will replace) many traditional jobs in the next two decades. Millions of workers (will lose) their jobs, particularly in manufacturing and transport. Companies (are) investing heavily in artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. This shift (will require) workers to gain new skills to remain employed. Some experts (argue) that governments (must provide) better training programs to prepare for these changes.

Paragraph 2: Climate Change and Agriculture

Climate models (predict) that rising temperatures (will have) a significant effect on global food production. Certain crops (are) already struggling to survive in hotter conditions. In the future, farmers (will have to) adopt new farming techniques to maintain yield levels. Without intervention, food shortages (are) expected in vulnerable regions. Innovative solutions like vertical farming (offer) hope for urban areas with limited space.

Paragraph 3: Urbanization and Public Health

Reports from major cities (indicate) that rapid urbanization (is leading) to poor air quality and increased respiratory illnesses. Traffic pollution and industrial emissions (cause) thousands of premature deaths each year. Unless changes (are made) to city planning, these health issues (will become) more severe. Promoting public transport and green zones (can improve) both environmental and public health outcomes.