[a习作temp] [66's]同题 Argument146 [复制链接]

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发表于 2010-3-19 15:31:41 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

TOPIC: ARGUMENT146 - The following appearedin the editorial section of a local newspaper.

"The librarians in our town's schoolsystem have reported that the number of trips that our students make to theirschool library on a voluntary basis has decreased significantly in recentyears. For example, the average seventh-grade student visited the schoollibrary five times last year, but four of those visits were part of requiredclassroom activities. This shows that our students are reading less than in thepast. To address this problem, our town needs to improve the atmosphere of thelibraries so that they will be comfortable places in which to work. If studentsview the libraries as uncomfortable, then they are unlikely to want to spendmuch time there."
WORDS: 492
TIME: 00:56:15
DATE: 2010-3-19 14:53:18

The author suggests that the atmosphere ofthe libraries should be improved to attract more students. To strengthen hispoint of view, he provides data of student visits on voluntary basis. Howeverthe evidence is flawed and the reasoning are also vulnerable to attack, whichmakes its conclusion untenable through close scrutiny.

First of all, the author gives an exampleof seventh-grade student visits amount and ratio to prove that there are lesstrips to school library on a voluntary basis. For one thing, an example ofseventh-grade is not representative enough for an overall view of the totalstudent poll. It is possible that the seventh-grade students are required tospend more time than others to take part in some extra-curriculum activitiesthat need them to communicate more with people rather than consulting thebooks. For another thing, even assuming that the seventh-grade students canrepresent the overall students, it is unjustified to claim that they went toschool libraries less on a voluntary basis because four of those visits werepart of required classroom activities. Chances are that students are gettingenough information through the required trips to the library, which makes morevoluntary ones unnecessary.

Next, the author unjustified concludes thatour students are reading less than in the past now. However he overlooks thefact the students have more access to reading than simply going to libraries.Thanks to technology development, it is now more and more convenient tosearching and getting information from Internet. The students may now choose toread books at home or in dormitory through network rather than going outphysically to the school libraries to look for a single book meeting his or herrequirement from piles of master pieces. As a result, the number of vulnerabletrips to school libraries decrease is by no means an indication that studentsare reading less now.

Last but not the least, the author claimswithout substantiated that it's the atmosphere of the libraries that repulsethe students from visiting and an alleged improvement can win them back. It isabsurd to make such assumption without ruling out other possibilities. It canalso be interpreted by other explanation, say fees for example. It is possiblethat the school library takes on new policies to charge fees for those whocome, so the students choose to come less as a result. If such is the case, environmentimprovement alone can no way bring back the students.

In summary, the author fails to illustratehis suggestion with sound proof and logic reasoning. If he wants to persuadeus, he needs to provide direct evidence that the students are involuntary to goto school libraries and which is caused by the atmosphere rather than someother explanation. He also has to prove that this makes students read less thanpast and the improvement of environment can win them back. Otherwise, it isunconvincing for me to accept his argument.