Progress with and without disagreement
Original practice source: a commentary about disagreement and progress.
A challenge can reveal an assumption which agreement has left untouched. Someone asks why a plan depends on one condition, and the group discovers a better way to proceed. Disagreement may improve the work when its purpose is to examine a claim.
Conflict can also become its own activity. People repeat positions, protect reputations or reject a suggestion mainly because it came from the other side. Progress may require shared ground, a practical test or time spent carrying out something already understood. The value lies in what the disagreement changes, not simply in its existence.
A national newspaper is running an essay competition on the statement: “Without disagreement, there can be no progress.”
Write an essay for the competition arguing your view. You may use ideas from the source and your own ideas.
60 exam-style questions on Oxford AQA IGCSE English Language 2.2.1 Writing for audience and purpose. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.