球拍，Argument114

gengshuotianUID: 2672308

TOPIC: ARGUMENT114 - A recently completed study shows that people dwelling in stairs-only apartment buildings (that is, buildings without elevators) live an average of three years longer than do people who live in buildings with both elevators and stairs. A second study shows that elderly residents of buildings with elevators make, on average, twice as many visits to doctors each year as do elderly residents of buildings without elevators. These findings suggest that even a very moderate amount of daily exercise, such as that required to use the stairs leading to and from one's apartment, can increase people's health and longevity. The findings also suggest that new apartment buildings should be constructed with as few elevators as possible.
WORDS: 286
TIME: 00:30:00
DATE: 2010-3-29 15:20:29

In this argument the speaker recommends that the new apartment buildings should be constructed with as few elevators as possible. Careful examination of the supporting evidence, however, reveals that it lends credible support to the
recommendation.


Firstly, the speaker cite the first study to prove the recommendation. However, the speaker doesn't provide the information about whether the sample is representative enough to reflect the general conditions of all dwellers in apartment buildings. Maybe the group living in the buildings without elevators have higher income and benefit from more health care.In addition, we cannot equate healh with longebity. One can live very long but in his whole life he maybe suffer a terrible disease and we cannot say he is healthy.
So the first study cannot convince me the cause and effect relationship between living in the buildings without elevators and health.


Secondly, in the second study is as groundless as the former one. People visit doctors twice doesn't indicate that they have worse health than those who go to doctors . Maybe they pay more attention to their health and do physical examination frequently. So the second study still cannot provide reasonable evidence.



Finally, the argument conclude the recommendation based on the assumption that people who live in the buildings with elevators do less excise than the one who live in the buildings merely with stairs. Using stairs is not the only way to exercise. People live in the buildings with elevators could possibly do more sports than other people.

In sum, the argument is logically flawed and therefore unconvincing as it stands.. To bloster the recommendation ,the speaker must provide more information
about the two groups including income, age,profession and other factors that affect health and evidence that people living in the building with elevators do less exercise that the other group.