argument225 继续练习 倒数9天 by pluka

plukaUID: 2721764

TOPIC: ARGUMENT225 - The following appeared as part of a letter to the editor of a local newspaper. 

"During her three years in office, Governor Riedeburg has shown herself to be a worthy leader. Since she took office, crime has decreased, the number of jobs created per year has doubled, and the number of people choosing to live in our state has increased. These trends are likely to continue if she is reelected. In addition, Ms. Riedeburg has promised to take steps to keep big companies here, thereby providing jobs for any new residents. Anyone who looks at Ms. Riedeburg's record can tell that she is the best-qualified candidate for governor."
WORDS: 436          TIME: 00:30:00          DATE: 2010-2-21 10:09:39

The author asserts Ms. Riedeburg(R) to be the best-qualified candidate for governor. However, the evidence he cites fails to verify this conclusion convincingly.

First, by citing the decreased crime, increased employment opportunity and the growing number of residents, the author assumes that the state prospered during past three years. However, ignoring other significant indicators, the author skillfully evades from the presentation of a comprehensive picture. He does not render, for example, the kind and severity of the crime. Perhaps, despite the decline in number, there appeared more severe crimes such as murders and robberies, indicating a（an冠词！） incrased（increased拼写！） danger. Also, no statistic on the unemployeement（unemployment拼写！） rate is given to be compared with the increased number of open positions. Possibly more people were downsized and the redundancy could not be compensated by the increased yet still limited job opportunities. More new comers to the state is（are单复！） not the indicator of improved living conditions as well. The author mentions not the makeup of new residents. If a high proportion of them were but vagrants and the poor, their arrival might be less a suggestion of better local conditions but more the potential source of social unrest.

Even the state indeed flourishes, it is unfair to attribute the success solely to the R. Reasons for prosperity are multifold. The author presumptuous ignores the effort of other departments of the government such as the police, the financial office and various buearus（bureaus拼写！）. Compared with the work of those substantial office（offices单复！）, the influence and contribution of R might not be so significant as the author assumes. Possibly, it is mainly out of the dedication of her subordinates and collegues（colleagues拼写！）, rather than the work of her own, that improves the local conditions. Given no policy R had ever introduced and corresponding results it brought, I can hardly be convinced of her quality and contribution to the state.

Also, the author irrationally reaches to a "best" option without mention, let alone comparison, to possible alternatives. He gives little information of other candidates. Possibly, there are some who are richer in experince（experience拼写！） and talented in policymaking. He also refers little to the policy and plans of others in comparison with that of R. There may be more desirable plans that are suitable for local situations. Lacking so much information, how can he asserts firmly the qualification of R?

In sum, the author unfairly bases his conclusion on seriously insufficient informations of both local state and candidates. To be more persuasive, he should offer concrete evidence that R has indeed contribute significantly to the improvement of local conditions and that she outpaces other candidates in most aspects.