[a习作temp] ARG53 求拍大家都来拍 [复制链接]

zsn900503
UID: 2945234

初级会员

Rank: 3 Rank: 3

声望: 0
寄托币: 128
注册时间: 2011-2-6
精华: 0
帖子: 2

电梯直达

楼主

发表于 2011-2-24 17:35:30 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

TOPIC: ARGUMENT53 - Thirteen years ago, researchers studied a group of 25 infants who showed signs of mild distress when exposed to unfamiliar stimuli such as an unusual odor or a tape recording of an unknown voice. They discovered that these infants were more likely than other infants to have been conceived in early autumn, a time when their mothers' production of melatonin-a hormone known to affect some brain functions-would naturally increase in response to decreased daylight. In a follow-up study conducted earlier this year, more than half of these children-now teenagers-who had shown signs of distress identified themselves as shy. Clearly, increased levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life.
WORDS: 429
TIME: 00:34:49
DATE: 2011/2/24 17:18:31

In this argument, the author provides that continuous shyness is caused by the increasing level of melatonin before birth. To strengthen this conclusion, the author cites a supporting survey that infants born in early autumn( during which their mothers' production of melatonin naturally increased), they showed mild distress when exposed to unfamiliar atmosphere and still show some kind of shyness when they grow up. The argument might be somehow reasonable at first glance, but close scrutiny reveals that it is in fact ill-conceived. The reasons are stated as follows.

First of all, the arguer assumes that these showing mild distress infants are more likely than other infants to have been conceived in early autumn. Although this is entirely possible, the arguer offers no evidence to substantiate this crucial assumption. It's possible that none of these 25 infants were conceive in autumn.
Common sense informs that when exposed to an unfamiliar atmosphere, it is normal for a child to get nervous, not to mention an infant.
A further example is not very difficult to seek. These 25 infants were exposed to a place where filled with disgusting odor or continuous noise, this will stimulate human brain to escape from this place. Infant's could do nothing to stop this, so crying and show distress is normal. For that matter, the author can not convince me that these kids are more likely to born in autumn.
In the second place, the author assumes that these infants still showing signs of distress when they grow up. Nevertheless, the arguer does not afford any evidence to confirm this assumption. It is quite possible that these teenagers do not know the defination of distress. To illustrate this point clearly, an example is illustrated as follows. Maybe some teenagers think talk less or have no habit in chatting is a sign of shyness, so they conclude them distressed. Without ruling out such possible phenomenon, the arguer can not draw the conclusion that those infants are still distressed when they grow up.
Thirdly, Even if the evidence turns out to support the foregoing assumption, the arguer just simply assumes that the increased level of melatonin before birth is the cause of distress, and no strong evidence is provided to affirm this assumption. It's quite possible that the background of children's life other than the conceiving time play the key role of showing distress. For example, a child grows up in a family which his parents keep quarreling all day long, this will lead this child less happier than some other children and will definitely show a sign of distress. Without eliminating all these possibilities, the author can not convince me that the melatonin is the cause of distress.
All in all, the arguer’s conclusion about continuous shyness is caused by the increasing level of melatonin before birth is not well supported as it stands. In order to draw a better conclusion, the arguer must provide more evidence such as infants that actually conceived in early autumn shows distress when they grow up or justify that it is the melatonin other than some other possibilities leads kids distressful, and take every possible consideration in to account.