[同主题temp] Argument240,感觉意犹未尽，请大家拍砖 [复制链接]

sniper613
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发表于 2004-3-6 20:11:05 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

Argument240 The following appeared in a memo written by a dean at Buckingham College.
'To serve the housing needs of our students, Buckingham College should build a new dormitory. Buckingham's enrollment is growing and, based on current trends, should double over the next fifty years, thus making existing dormitories inadequate. Moreover, the average rent for an apartment in our town has increased in recent years. Consequently, students will find it increasingly difficult to afford off-campus housing. Finally, an attractive new dormitory would make prospective students more likely to enroll at Buckingham.'

In this argument, the author's conclusion that Buckingham College should build a new dormitory is neither credible nor cogent. In the following discussion, I would like to present some important considerations, which the author fails to take into account and must be addressed to prove.

First of all, the author commits a fallacy of ungrounded assumption that the Buckingham's enrollment will double over the next fifty years. As known to all, 50 years is a so long time that it is difficult to decide whether the enrollment of Buckingham would continue to increase. Maybe the current trends are based on the increasing people, who should go to college for studying, and it is quite possible that after several years the total number of people decrease. Therefore, less people choose to go to Buckingham College. Meanwhile, the author cannot prove that the current dormitories do not accommodate the number of students. If the current dormitories are enough, there is no need to build a new dormitory. Unless considering these possibilities, the author's claim is unwarranted.

In addition, the author thinks that due to the increasing rent the students would not afford off-campus housing. But this thought is lack of any evidences. Even the rent for an apartment in the town is increasing, which is just an ungrounded assumption; no evidences can prove that the students cannot afford off-campus housing. Maybe the students have the ability to pay for the rent, thus the new dormitory is a waste of money. The author also fails to compare the fees of the college dormitory with the rent for off-campus housing. It is possible that the fee for the dormitory is still much higher than the rent for off-campus housing, so students continue to choose to rent off-campus housing. If the author considers these factors, the conclusion can be valid.

The last but not the least, the author says that an attractive new dormitory would make prospective students more likely to enroll at Buckingham. There are so many other factors, which might be related to the enrollment of this college. When a student chooses a college, he or she may not only consider the dormitory. And the dormitory is likely a minor consideration. Students usually take into account other factors, such as the reputation, the faculty, the library, and so on. Without considering and ruling out these factors, the author's conclusion cannot be convincing.

To sum up, though this argument appears somewhat plausible, as a matter of fact, it neither constitutes logical analysis nor presents convincing evidences. If the author considers the factors mentioned above, the claim concluded by the author could be more cogent.

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princessmia
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沙发

发表于 2004-3-6 20:30:53 |只看该作者

Argument240 The following appeared in a memo written by a dean at Buckingham College.

'To serve the housing needs of our students, Buckingham College should build a new dormitory. Buckingham's enrollment is growing and, based on current trends, should double over the next fifty years, thus making existing dormitories inadequate. Moreover, the average rent for an apartment in our town has increased in recent years. Consequently, students will find it increasingly difficult to afford off-campus housing. Finally, an attractive new dormitory would make prospective students more likely to enroll at Buckingham.'

In this argument, the author's conclusion that Buckingham College should build a new dormitory is neither credible nor cogent. In the following discussion, I would like to present some important considerations, which the author fails to take into account and must be addressed to prove.

First of all, the author commits a fallacy of ungrounded assumption that the Buckingham's enrollment will double over the next fifty years. As (is) known to all, 50 years is (such a) long time that it is difficult to decide whether the enrollment of Buckingham would continue to increase during this period. Maybe the current trends are based on the increasing number of people who want to go to college, and it is quite possible that after several years the total number of such people would decrease. Therefore, (it is also possible that fewer people would ) choose to go to Buckingham College. Meanwhile, the author cannot prove that existing dormitories do not accommodate current students. If these dormitories are enough, there is no need to build a new (one). (Without) considering these possibilities, the author's claim is unwarranted.

In addition, the author thinks that due to the increasing rent of (apartments in the town ), the students cannot afford off-campus housing. However, this thought is not reasonably supported. Even though the rent for an apartment in the town is increasing, which is just an ungrounded assumption, no evidences can prove that the students cannot afford off-campus housing. Maybe the students have the ability to pay for the rent, thus the new dormitory is a waste of money. The author also fails to compare the fees of the college dormitory with the rent for off-campus housing. It is possible that the fee for the dormitory is still much higher than the rent for off-campus housing, so students continue to choose to rent off-campus housing. The conclusion can be valid only after (the author considers these factors).

(Last )but not the least, the author says that an attractive new dormitory would make prospective students more likely to enroll at Buckingham. There are so many other factors, which might be related to the enrollment of this college. When a student chooses a college, he or she may not only consider the dormitory. (And based on common sense, the dormitory is only a minor consideration in such significant choice.) Students usually take into account other factors, such as the reputation, the faculty, the library, and so on. Without considering and ruling out these factors, the author's conclusion cannot be convincing.

To sum up, though this argument appears somewhat plausible, as a matter of fact, it neither constitutes logical analysis nor presents convincing evidences. If the author considers the factors mentioned above, the claim concluded by the author would be more cogent.

有很多时候，我觉得自己生活在很多假象里，外表热热闹闹，红红火火，其实里面一团糟。

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