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修改后,欢迎继续拍,谢谢。
TOPIC: ARGUMENT45 - The following appeared as an editorial in a wildlife journal.
"Arctic deer live on islands in Canada's arctic region. They search for food by moving over ice from island to island during the course of a year. Their habitat is limited to areas warm enough to sustain the plants on which they feed, and cold enough, at least some of the year, for the ice to cover the sea separating the islands, allowing the deer to travel over it. Unfortunately, according to reports from local hunters, the deer populations are declining. Since these reports coincide with recent global warming trends that have caused the sea ice to melt, we can conclude that the decline in arctic deer populations is the result of deer being unable to follow their age-old migration patterns across the frozen sea."
WORDS: 364
In the editorial, the author suggests a causal relationship between the decline of the population of Arctic deer in Canada’s arctic region and the deer’s being unable to follow their migration patterns. Besides, it is implied in the editorial is that the deer cannot follow their age-old migration patterns due to global warming. This editorial seems to be persuasive at first glance, after all, the tendency of global warming is almost known to all. However, there are several fallacies in the argument's logic we should seriously take into consideration.
In the first place, the report that the deer populations are declining is not as believable as the author of this editorial may think. As mentioned in the argument, the report comes from local hunters. Unfortunately, we are not informed the information on which such a report is based. Have these hunters collected enough information to make this statement substantial or is it just an impression from their hunting experience? It is not less possible that some deer just have moved out of their region which gives the hunters the opinion that the population has declined. Hunters are too close to see the whole situation clearly if their hunting is limited to a particular area.
Another point which undermines the editorial is that global warming doesn’t necessarily mean the deer’s being unable to continue their migration tradition. As is said in the argument that the deer's habitat is limited to areas warm enough to sustain the plants on which they feed, it is also possible that the habitat of Arctic deer is extended due to the warming tendency, which is just opposite to the editorial. For example, plants can grow in some of the arctic areas which were too cold for them to grow before or the climate isn’t warm enough to melt the heavy ice layer covering the sea among different islands. Under such circumstance, the habitat of arctic deer will more possibly extend. Therefore, to buttress his argument, the author should provide more details of the meteorological conditions of Canada’s arctic region.
Finally, granted that the population of arctic deer is indeed declining, it is superficial to attribute this to their being unable to follow their migration tradition. There are many other possible explanations for the decline of the population of these deer. For example, if the hunters who live on hunting kill too many deer, the population may also decrease. Or perhaps the pollution of air and water in Canada has destroyed the environment in which arctic deer live. Unless these and other possibilities being ruled out, the argument is far from credible.
In sum, the editorial expresses concern for the reported decline of arctic deer in Canada’s arctic region. However, before a hasty conclusion is made, the author should pay more attention to the validity of the report, the influence of global warming on Canada's arctic region and the specific reason why the number of arctic deer in Canada possibly decline. |
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