The Bermuda Triangle	

Task:
You are a journalist. Your editor has asked you to check the following ‘facts’ about the Bermuda Triangle before writing a report. Change the sentences using hedging and other language where necessary to reflect the quality of evidence there is to support them.
	
The Bermuda Triangle is a region in the western Atlantic Ocean between the coast of Florida and the Caribbean.	
The area includes some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and flight paths.	
An unusually high number of ships and aircraft have been lost in the region.	
A large number of books and TV documentaries have been produced on the topic.	
The topic is extremely popular with the public.	
There are many tropical storms in the region.	
Research by various authors proves the area is the site of mysterious disappearances.	
The crew of the tanker SS VA Fogg disappeared mysteriously after an explosion in 1972.	
There are many reports of UFOs in the area.	
Magnetic compasses behave strangely in the Triangle.	
The disappearances can be attributed to pirates.	
Human error explains most of the disappearances	
The Triangle disappearances are best explained by huge underwater bubbles of natural gas. 	
US Navy Flight 19 disappeared as the result of strange phenomena.	
The ship SS Marine Sulphur Queen sank because it was in poor condition.	

Some possible answers and comments	
1	The Bermuda Triangle is a region in the western Atlantic Ocean between the coast of Florida and the Caribbean.	This is an uncontested fact*.
Don’t change. T1, L11-13	
2	The area includes some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and flight paths.	This is an uncontested fact.
Don’t change. T1. L13-17	
3	There is no evidence that an unusually high number of ships and aircraft have been lost in the region.	T2, L16-17; L21-22
T3, L3-5; L68	
4	A large number of books and TV documentaries have been produced on the topic.	This is an uncontested fact.
T1, L32-35; T3,L16	
5	The topic is extremely popular with the public.	This can be inferred from (4) above. Also, T3. L15	
6	There are many tropical storms in the region.	This is an uncontested fact.
T2, L18	
7	Research by various authors provides little evidence that the area is the site of mysterious disappearances. It would seem more likely that authors have merely tried to cash in on the public appetite for the paranormal	T2, L 26-28; L 1 -3
T3. L9-12	
8	There is no evidence that the crew of the tanker SS VA Fogg disappeared mysteriously after an explosion in 1972. 
It would seem that the tanker exploded as a result of poor practices on board when dealing with dangerous material	T3, L 11-14
T4, L22-24	
9	There is no evidence of UFOs in the area	T3, L23-27	
10	There is no evidence that magnetic compasses behave strangely in the Triangle.	T4, L3-10	
11	There is some / little evidence that (some of) the disappearances can be attributed to pirates.	T4, L12-16	
12	There is some evidence / It would seem/appear that human error explains most of the disappearances	T4, L18-24
T5, L14-24	
13	There is no evidence that the Triangle disappearances are best explained by huge underwater bubbles of natural gas. 	T4, L24-36	
14	There is no evidence that US Navy Flight 19 disappeared as the result of strange phenomena. It seems/appears likely that the leader of the squadron lost his way.	T5, L11-13; L24-25	
15	There is some evidence / It seems/appears that ship SS Marine Sulphur Queen sank because it was in poor condition.	T5, L33 - 35	

* Uncontested facts

There is no need to use hedging language when we are talking about things that everybody accepts. This would normally include geographical locations and many other common facts.
Beijing is the capital of China   not, There is no doubt / It is widely accepted that Beijing is the capital of China.

We only use expressions such as ‘there is no doubt’, when somebody might contest the fact.