argument145 [中华龙第１６次作业］

Ammmy2000UID: 2265680

TOPIC: ARGUMENT145 - A new study collected data that shows that people who snore are more likely to gain weight than are people who do not snore. It is well known that many people who snore also stop breathing frequently during the night for a few seconds, a condition called sleep apnea. The interruption of breathing wakes the person-often so briefly that the waking goes unnoticed-and can leave the person too tired during the day to exercise. Anyone who snores, therefore, should try to eat less than the average person and to exercise more.
WORDS: 498          TIME: 0:29:26          DATE: 2006-12-28

In this argument, the author recommends that those who snore should try to eat less than the average individual and to exercise more. To support his recommendation, he points out a relationship between snoring and gaining weight from a new study. Moreover, he also cites a number of people would stop breathing during the night, which would wake the person and make them feel tired in the day. Clear scrutiny of these factors, however, reveals that none of them lends credible support to the arguer's recommendation.

To begin with, the cause-and-effect relationship between the snoring and gaining weight is based on a new study. But since the author fails to provide any detailed information about it, the validity of the study is dubious. We are seldom informed about the survey methodology and research scope about it, without which, it is entirely possible that the survey range is limited in a small region and could rarely represent the nation wide, or that the methodology itself has some flaws and could barely be convincing. Furthermore, information about physical conditions of the people is little known to the public. Hence perhaps the weights of two groups between those who snore and who never are distinctive different, which could hardly help us to make a sound conclusion. Without ruling out these reasonable possibilities, the author fails to convince us the validity of the study.

Moreover, whether the snore would make persons fell too tired to exercise is doubt for several reasons. First, the term of 'many' is too vague for us to make any instructive conclusion. Different persons may have various definitions about 'many', some may regard ten or twenty individuals as many, but could it represent the majority of people? Second, the assumption that it is snore that causes the tiredness is unconvincing. Perhaps these people always stay up late and could rarely guarantee adequate sleep, and that may be the main reason why they feel tired. In short, more evidence could need to substantiate his recommendation and eliminate other alternative reasons.

In addition, even though the foregoing two assumptions are reliable, the suggestion itself is open to doubt. The author considers that the best way of getting rid of snore or the feeling of tiredness is to eat less and exercise more. Is there any better method to attain the goal? Resorting to the doctors for advice could be a better approach to cure it thoroughly. Furthermore, whether less eating and more exercise would have side effects or not is dubious. Perhaps eating less could make us powerless during the day and damage our health, or perhaps exercise could influence our muscles if over exercise. Unless the author could provide more information about the feasibility of the recommendation, could we thoroughly believe it.

To sum up, the argument is unpersuasive as it stands. To bolster his suggestion, the author should provide more information about new study and the cause-and-effect relationship between stop breathing and tired feeling. Moreover, to better assess the recommendation, we need extra evidence to evaluate the feasibility of suggestion.