argument 69/70/115 recommend Zeta over Alpha for building projects due to lower

chrishong119UID：3412641

115) The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly diversified company.
Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regional headquarters for two different regions. The buildings were erected by two different construction companies—Alpha and Zeta. Even though the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build, and its expenses for maintenance last year were twice those of the building constructed by Alpha. Furthermore, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been higher than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction. Such data, plus the fact that Alpha has a stable workforce with little employee turnover, indicate that we should use Alpha rather than Zeta for our contemplated new building project.
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

chrishong119UID：3412641

    TS
    The vice president recommends to use Alpa rather than Zeta for their company`s new building project because it would help to reduce the future costs on buildings built by Alpa, which has a stable workforce. In order to better assess this recommendation and the argument on which it is based, a few assumptions on which the recommendation and the argument are based need to be clarified. And the implications of these assumptions may strengthen or weaken the recommendation and the argument.

    ts1
    The first assumptions need to be addressed are that Alpa-built buildings would always help to low the operating cost in the future and Zeta`s unstable workforce, if it has, would seriously cripple its building and maintaining capacity. 也许，前面所说的那个案例只是个别，后面Alpa可能就要提高价格了，并且，Alpa的其他建筑在花销上并不都占优势的。而且，Z的员工可能挺稳定的，就算是有流动，但并不一定会影响其运行能力。

    ts2
    Second, the recommendation is based upon the assumption that the working conditions of the two buildings are the same. 毕竟两个分部的市场情况及商业规模并不一样，那么，很有可能Z造的建筑，所承载的员工更多，而且，里面的运行设备更多且更耗电，那么有上述结果也是很正常的。

    ts3
    Finally, the critical assumptions on which the recommendation is based are that the required qualities of the two buildings and maintenance in that two regions are definitely the same. 可能，因为区域环境及市场的不同，公司对Z负责的建筑有更高要求，用的都是比较好的材料，而且比起A建筑的地方，Z建筑的地方的基本建筑材料价格更贵，配备的都是国际一流的设备那么，那么建筑成本肯定就高了。而且，后续当中对Z为其负责的建筑的维护有着更高的要求，那维护费用也肯定高了，并且，因为Z建的大厦质量好，所以不用每年都维护（可能三四五年一次），而A建的，每年都要维护。

zsczslUID：2888426

请老师点评以下大纲，多谢！

1 抄题
69. The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly diversified company.

"Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regional headquarters for two regions. The buildings were erected by different construction companies—Alpha and Zeta. Although the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build. However, that building's expenses for maintenance last year were only half those of Alpha's. In addition, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been lower than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction. Given these data, plus the fact that Zeta has a stable workforce with little employee turnover, we recommend using Zeta rather than Alpha for our new building project, even though Alpha's bid promises lower construction costs."

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

2 列出argument的结论和主要证据
claim或结论：we recommend using Zeta rather than Alpha for our new building project, even though Alpha's bid promises lower construction costs.

证据01 Although the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build.   
证据02 However, that building's expenses for maintenance last year were only half those of Alpha's.
证据03 In addition, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been lower than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction.
证据04 Zeta has a stable workforce with little employee turnover.

3 写第一段
TS (pt1, pt2, pt3): In this memo, the vice president of the company suggests that her corporation should select Zeta to construct its new building, mainly comparing the construction cost, expenses for maintenance last year, the energy consumption every year of Zeta’s building and Zeta’s stability of workforce with those of Alpha’s building and Alpha’s stability of workforce. To decide whether her advice is acceptable, the company needs responses to the question about building cost, maintenance spending, energy consuming and whether little employee turnover is beneficial.  

4. 写出中间段的主题句（英语）用汉语解释主要讨论的点

中间第一段
ts (pt1): First of all, the vice president needs to answer whether the data of the spending on maintenance last year can represent the situation in each year.  如果作者的答案是Zeta 建的楼年年都只花Alpha建楼一半的养护费，那么作者的建议就有可能成立了。可要是仅仅去年Zeta楼比Alpha楼花的养护费少，其余年头都是Alpha楼养护费更少，那么作者建议存疑。

中间第二段
ts (pt2): Even if the headquarters built by Zeta costs less money to maintain, the next question how long it takes for the saved maintenance expenses to cover the excessive construction cost entails answer. 就算Zeta楼年年都比Alpha楼花更少的养护费，节省下来的养护费要多久才能赶上建楼十多花的钱，也需回答。如果Zeta那多出的30%建筑花费是个天文数字，即使到二楼使用期满，多出的建筑花费还是比节省的养护费多，那么还是Alpha楼更实惠。

中间第三段
ts (pt3): Furthermore, the author should answer why the Zeta building always consumes less energy than Alpha one.如果答案是两栋楼使用的人数一样，只是由于Zeta楼采用了更节环保的材料和工艺，所以能耗少，那么作者的建议合理。可是如果答案是使用Zeta楼的人数远远低于使用Alpha楼的人数，这才致使Zeta楼能耗少，那么作者的建议就没有多大价值了。

中间第四段
ts (pt4): The final question is whether the Zeta’s stable workforce benefits the vice president’s firm.要是答案为Zeta公司人员稳定，一直都是一群高技术、高效率的员工在那里埋头苦干，那么作者的建议有利。可Zeta公司的人员稳定只是因为抱残守缺，对于技术低劣、效率低下、早该淘汰的员工一味容忍，而Alpha则不断引进最高水平的员工保持高效的话，那么作者的建议就有害无利了。

guoguo100011UID：3547666

我觉得大家都忽略了很重要的两点。首先，数据都是10年前的，现在是否仍然适用。69题中提到A公司承诺了较低的construction fee，应该猜想他们是不是有什么重大变化了吧，比如引进新技术降低成本什么的。还有就是这两个building在不同的地区，建筑成本和能源消耗都很有可能跟地区有关。比如A在地震多发地区，要额外巩固地基，自然成本高。比如A在的地区冬冷夏热需要空调强力调节，自然花费就高。