【Big Fish】3月4日argument14-By rachelwang712

rachelwang712UID: 2757860

3.04 Argument No.14

The following appeared in a memo from the owner of Green Thumb Gardening Center, a small business serving a suburban town.

"There is evidence that consumers are becoming more and more interested in growing their own vegetables. A national survey conducted last month indicated that many consumers were dissatisfied with the quality of fresh vegetables available in supermarkets. And locally, the gardening magazine Great Gardens has sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row. Thus, we at Green Thumb Gardening Center can increase our profits by greatly expanding the variety of vegetable seeds we stock for gardeners this coming spring."

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提纲
1调查方面，national可能不代表本地，many的定义
2magazine 可能印发的数目本来就不多
3可能会只对某一种蔬菜比较感兴趣

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The memo, though well-presented, is weak in its reasoning. The arguer's failure to clearly illustrate the national survey, to specify the number of magazines sold and to carefully weigh the decision to increase the varieties and stock of seeds undermines his argument.

To begin with, the survey mentioned is feeble in supporting the arguer's point. To be more precise, the survey is conducted nationwide but chances are that it does not reflect the situation in this suburban town that Green Thumb Gardening Center is targeting. Perhaps, despite the general disatisfaction in the country towards vegetables in supermarkets, people in this town still perfer to buy vegetables rather than grow themselves. Also, the word "many" is blurry in its meaning. Does it mean 10,000,000 or only 100 out of 50,000,000 surveyed? If not clearly stated, one can never rush to the conclusion that the majority of people are complaining about vegetables sold in supermarkets. Moreover, even if most of residents in the town like other places in the nation groan about supermarkets vegetables, it does not necessarily mean that they will choose to grow vegetables. Maybe they can buy from local farmers directly.

Furthermore, the memo cites seemingly good sales of gardening magazines to buttress its view, showing ignorance of other possible interpretation of the record. Actually, the arguer needs to inlude more information about how many magazines are exactly bought, which indicates readership in local residents, and whether other stands witness the same sound sales. No claim can be made that local neighbourhood is becoming more interested in gardening without all these.

Lastly, the owner's decision to expand the variety of seeds is not at all reasonable. Albeit local people were getting more fascinated about growing their own vegetables as claimed in the memo, the fascination could be limited to merely several kinds, which the company may have already provided. If that is true, it means that to add in more species is of no use to improve the profit-making ability of the company. And it will be more valuable if the company decides to invest in buying in more seeds that people are most attracted to.

To sum up, it is suggested that the owner of the company think twice before he rushes to the conclusion as the materials listed in the memo can not warrant the decision he arrives at is wise. With more inspection into situation in local community, namely, conducting a comprehensive survey in the town the company is serving to have a better understanding of people's attitude towards buying or growing vegetables, he may find other more effective ways to improve the sales.