Problem and Solution
Writing problems and solutions
When we discuss the problem of an issue, we often include three major ideas,
they are situation / background information leading to the formation of the
problem, the problem itself, the solution to the problem and its evaluation.
The following is an illustration of the three components in a problem:
Situation Employers have difficulties recruiting suitable workers.
Problems School leavers do not have clear career goals.
They are not proficient in numerical and verbal skills.
Possible solutions Employers can team up with educational institutions to
design career-oriented programmes.
Employers should invest in in-service training courses
for their employees.
Students should try hard to improve their
mathematical and language skills
Look at the text below. In it the writer discusses the problem faced by
employers who have difficulties finding the right school leavers to fill job
vacancies. As you read it, identify the components.
Nearly 60 % of the employers surveyed in 1999 said that secondary school
leavers did not have the skills to succeed at work in the service and technical
industries. They reported that 70 % of the young people did not have
adequate mathematical skills which are required to do their work properly
while 80 % of them were not proficient in English and Chinese to
communicate with their clients and to carry out clerical duties. The employers
in the service and technical industries predict that these business sectors
would create most new jobs over the next 10 to 15 years.
If businesses were to get the work force they need to succeed in the future,
there are at least two things they could do: 1) by partnering with the
educational institutions and the education authority to design realistic career-
preparation programmes and 2) by investing in training their own employees
and developing them by encouraging lifelong learning. To enhance their
chances of securing a suitable job, secondary school students must try hard
to be proficient in both Chinese and English, and numerical skills.
Task Below is a text about problems and possible solutions. As you read
it, put the verbs in the correct place and in the correct form.
IMF’s role in the Asian Crisis3
leave damage deal arrange shift
normalize be tighten counter provide
IMF had a very crucial role in (1) _________________ with the Asian
Crisis. There (2) _________________ three elements in the basic
strategy of the IMF supported programs in this unstable time. In the
initial stage to stop depreciation, capital flight and inflation,
macroeconomic policies (3) _________________ and scaled down.
As soon as market stabilization was achieved, the second strategy
was
(4) _________________ to expansionary macroeconomic policies.
The reason for exercising this constrastive strategy was that (5)
_________________ the recession was seen immediately
necessary. Finally, there (6) ______________________
the structural problems to be solved, in particular the rehabilitation of
a
(7) _________________ financial sector.
The strategy in fact has some additional features. Through official
financing packages (8) __________________ partially by the IMF,
foreign financing can
(9) ___________________. At the same time, open trade and capital
markets are maintained, (10) _________________ economic growth
over the medium term.
3
The IMF’s Opening Statement on its supported programs in Indonesia, Korea and Thailand [Online]
available http://www.info.org/external/country/THA/index.htm,28.2.2000