标题: ARGUMENT214 by mobius.x64 [打印本页] 作者: mobius.x64 时间: 2009-8-4 22:22:22 标题: ARGUMENT214 by mobius.x64
本帖最后由 mobius.x64 于 2009-8-4 22:26 编辑
Argument 214
In each city in the region of Treehaven, the majority of the money spent on government-run public school education comes from taxes that each city government collects. The region's cities differ, however, in the value they place on public education. For example, Parson City typically budgets twice as much money per year as Blue City does for its public schools-even though both cities have about the same number of residents. It seems clear, therefore, that Parson City residents care more about public school education than do Blue City residents.
By citing the comparison of budgets on public schools, in which the Parson city doubled the Blue city, and the amount of residents, the arguer makes a seemingly clear conclusion that Parson city residents care more about the public school education than do residents in Blue city. However close scrutiny reveals several critical flaws that undermine its validity as it stands.
Firstly, the financial situation of the governments in both cities, which is the crucial precondition of the budget evidence, was not provided in the argument. Thus we have no idea about the proportion of public school education in the budget of each city government. It might be the case that the financial incomes of Parson city is, or even more than, twice as much as the one of Blue city, the proportion of public school education in total budget could be at most equals the one of Blue city. And it is likely that residents and government in Blue city pay more attention to public schools due to the higher proportion in this case.
Secondly, even granted that the financial circumstance is almost the same for both cities, the conclusion without reference of the population structure is still unpersuasive. The society of Blue city may be facing the process of population aging and the amount of teenagers and younger is much less than the one in Parson City. For example, if the amount of students in public schools of Parson city triples the one in Blue city, the money spent on each student may be still less then the one of Blue city. Thus the doubled budget on public school education cited in the argument fails to convince people that residents in Parson care more about public schooling.
Finally, even if the population structure is similar for both cities, the arguer fails to present solid evidence to prove that government's policy on public schools really stands for the common will of the residents. The public schools in Parson City may fail to earn sufficient support from local residents, and the government has to provide more financial supports to maintain their functioning. It seems likely, therefore, that Parson city residents have little believes in their public schools and care less about them than do Blue City residents.
In sum, although the argument attempts to cite important financial evidence to prove the residents in Parson City pay more attention to public school education, some missing crucial evidence make it plausible and inconvincible. To reflect the common will of residents in the city requires plenty more information, while the arguer fails to represent adequate one to validate the conclusion.作者: 丫头小娇 时间: 2009-8-13 09:53:01