Tpo 37 One of the threats to endangered sea turtle species is the use of nets by commercial shrimp fishing boats When turtles get accidentally caught in the nets they cannot rise to the surface of the ocean to breathe and they die Some people suggest that

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Tpo-37
One of the threats to endangered sea turtle species is the use of nets by commercial shrimp-fishing boats. When turtles get accidentally caught in the nets, they cannot rise to the surface of the ocean to breathe, and they die. Some people suggest that this problem can be solved through an invention called a turtle excluder device (TED) that is incorporated into the nets. A TED provides a passage through which the turtles can escape. However, TEDs have been criticized for several reasons.

First, some shrimpers (shrimp fishers) argue that turtles get trapped only rarely: it is estimated that on average, one shrimp boat accidentally catches about one turtle every month. On the other hand, using TEDs costs the shrimpers some of their catch. Every time the shrimpers cast the nets, a certain percentage of shrimp manage to escape through the turtle passages. The shrimpers complain that the cost of losing shrimp on a daily basis is too high in comparison with the small chance of saving one turtle.

Second, there are alternative methods of protecting sea turtles that may be more effective than TEDs. One method that can be used is shortening the time limit that shrimp boats are allowed to keep their nets underwater. When the time limit is reached, the nets have to be pulled up to the surface, allowing any turtles caught in the net to get air and also giving shrimpers the opportunity to release the turtles from the nets.

Third, TEDs are not effective for larger species of endangered sea turtles. Some species like loggerhead and leatherback turtles can grow to be quite large and cannot fit through the escape passage that standard TEDs provide. Such turtles cannot escape from the nets even if the nets are equipped with TEDs.

The reading and lecture are both about the Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) which is special equipment attached in the nets of shrimp boats, provides a passage for the turtles to escape. The reading passage claims that the use of these devices will not precisely solve the problem of endangered sea turtles. However, the professor challenges all arguments in the reading and states that TEDs should be a vital device in every shrimp boat.

First of all, the passage suggests that through the big turtle holes in the net, there are more chances of shrimps to escape which consequently leads to economic loss in the shrimp industry. The lecturer refuses this by arguing that there are 1000s of shrimp boats operating on the Southern coast of USA and accidental catches of these turtles in the shrimp nets are too often. Considering the entire population of the declining numbers of the sea turtles, if each boat catches at least one can leads to its extinction. So the number of losses of shrimps is negligible.

Second, implementing a time limit to the shrimp boats in the sea is considered to be more effective than TEDs, but the professor contradicts this by stating that it is not practical as the patrol boats cannot monitor all the boats in the sea regularly. Furthermore, the lecturer thinks that boats with TEDs are inspected when they are in the port is the best way to solve the problem.

Finally, the Turtle Escape Devices may be ineffective to larger endangered sea turtles. On the other hand, the tutor gave a feasible solution to this. TEDs can easily modified for the big turtles without affecting their function. Once these are created, this will no longer be a problem.

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Final score: 25 in 30
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 13 12
No. of Words: 289 250
No. of Characters: 1365 1200
No. of Different Words: 149 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.123 4.2
Average Word Length: 4.723 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.445 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 100 80
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 74 60
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 39 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 26 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 22.231 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 10.504 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.615 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.349 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.579 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.055 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 4 4