Essay Writing and Advanced Punctuation in English
Replacing gaps with commas
Now that I have introduced my new paragraph with two short statements and have continued with my paragraph thesis, I have to give one or more reasons to support it.
Naturalness is generally claimed to be a model for our treatment of animals. Of course, both species need to survive. And as animals kill other animals to feed on them, a generally positive attitude towards killing animals and eating meat has formed. However, the way animals are kept and killed can not be regarded as natural, for the simple reason that when humans began producing meat on a large scale, killing animals has become industrial, even automated, causing animals to suffer on a scale unseen in nature. Today more than 1bn animals are kept and killed worldwide each year (Boell Stiftung, Fleischatlas 20181). Furthermore, it also aggravates environmental destruction. According to Gerber (2013), the meat production sector plays a significant role in global warming, being responsible for 14.5 per cent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions, of which beef and milk production constitute the majority.2
1 https:// www.boell.de/sites/default/files/2019-10/fleischatlas_2018_V.pdf
2 Pierre Gerber et al. Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock: A Global Assessment of Emissions and Mitigation Opportunities, FAO (2013), Rome (www.fao.org/3/a/-i3437e.pdf)
By putting a comma, I can show that one or more words have been left out in places where words used earlier would only be repeated. And we hardly ever like repetition in texts. The gapping comma here shows that the words I might have repeated have instead been omitted. The following sentences mean the same. I would recommend you to do the five exercises before you move on. Make sure you understand the gapping comma, because you will learn later when to leave it out.
It is generally claimed that the nature of animals can be seen as model for our nature, and animals can be seen as models for human beings.
It is generally claimed that nature of animals can be seen as model for our nature, and animals, as models for human beings.