- 最后登录
- 2021-6-18
- 在线时间
- 4685 小时
- 寄托币
- 6214
- 声望
- 912
- 注册时间
- 2006-2-26
- 阅读权限
- 50
- 帖子
- 2367
- 精华
- 4
- 积分
- 8271
- UID
- 2191404
- 声望
- 912
- 寄托币
- 6214
- 注册时间
- 2006-2-26
- 精华
- 4
- 帖子
- 2367
|
发表于 2014-12-16 21:41:18
|显示全部楼层
Clearview as a top choice for retirement
The following appeared in a magazine article about planning for retirement.
"Clearview should be a top choice for anyone seeking a place to retire, because it has spectacular natural beauty and a consistent climate. Another advantage is that housing costs in Clearview have fallen significantly during the past year, and taxes remain lower than those in neighboring towns. Moreover, Clearview's mayor promises many new programs to improve schools, streets, and public services. And best of all, retirees in Clearview can also expect excellent health care as they grow older, since the number of physicians in the area is far greater than the national average.”
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.
According to the article, Clearview is an ideal place for retirement for a number of reasons. We need more information about Clearview to decide if this is indeed the case.
To begin with, more evidence is needed to decide if the natural beauty and the consistent climate are suitable for retired people. For one thing, we need to know how accessible the natural beauty is in Clearview. If the natural beauty can only be enjoyed through hiking trips that are physically demanding, the place would not be very attractive for senior citizens. Also, being consistent in climate may not be good enough for life after retirement. As the elderly are often vulnerable to colds and common flu, it is important for have a mild climate. If Clearview has consistently inclement winters, one has to think twice before choosing it for retirement.
The author points out that the housing prices have fallen and taxes are lower than towns nearby. But we also need to know the exact prices of the kinds of housing suitable for retired people and the tax rates that are applicable for people who are about to retire. Maybe the housing prices, despite the recent fall, are still unaffordable for the elderly. Or perhaps, even though the average housing prices in Clearview have decreased, the apartments for elderly had not become inexpensive. Also, it is possible that taxes in Clearview are particularly heavy for retired people living on pension. Therefore, we need more detailed information about Clearview tax system to decide if it is financially reasonable to move to Clearview for retirement.
The promises made by Clearview Mayor have to be regarded with some skepticism. It is easy for politicians to make all sorts of promises. But when it comes to materialize the promises, the mayor may have to persuade the local legislators for the funding. We need to know if the mayor has a good relationship with the local legislator and whether the city government can afford the proposed new programs. Of course, we also need to look into the programs to see if they are actually relevant to the retired people. If the programs are oriented to children or young people, Clearview would not be very attractive, either.
Finally, the above-average number of physicians is meaningless unless we take into account the number of people living in the region. We need to calculate the physician-patient ratio to assess the availability of physicians. In addition, to better evaluate the quality of health care for retirees in Clearview, we need to look beyond the number of physicians in the area. We need information about a host of factors that would affect what level of health care a retiree can expect in Clearview. For example, among the physicians in the region, how many are experts in areas that the elderly are more likely to need care. If more physicians in Clearview are paediatricians or gynaecologist, it would not be very helpful. On the other hand, if Clearview has a large number of gerontologists, maybe it is worth considering. Also, we need to know how expensive it is to see the doctors. It is pointless to have a large number of physicians if their services are not affordable.
In conclusion, information about Clearview as discussed above has to be collected to decide if the argument is convincing or not.
|
|