Argument 48 【天下无G askme习作】第4次作业

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TOPIC: ARGUMENT48 - The following appeared in a newspaper article published in the country of Corpora.

"Twenty years ago, one half of all citizens in Corpora met the standards for adequate physical fitness as then defined by the national advisory board on physical fitness. Today, the board says that only one quarter of all citizens are adequately fit and suggests that spending too much time using computers may be the reason. But since overall fitness levels are highest in regions of Corpora where levels of computer ownership are also highest, it is clear that using computers has not made citizens less physically fit. Instead, as shown by this year's unusually low expenditures on fitness-related products and services, the recent decline in the economy is most likely the cause, and fitness levels will improve when the economy does."
WORDS: 520          TIME: 0:30:00          DATE: 2007-1-30

Giving some facts and analysis, the argument that asserts a connection between the economy and the fitness level seems logical at first glance; however, a careful reflection will revel how groundless the conclusion is.
First of all, the arguer's inference that the fitness level in Corpora decreased depends on the assumption that during the past twenty years the standard of fitness have remained unchanged. Nonetheless, this is not necessarily the case, nor does the arguer provide any evidence to substantiate this crucial assumption. Such alternatives might include that as the development of science and economy, the standard of fitness has been increasing. Further research in health might cause the board to regard adequate physical exercise, which might be ignored in the past, as a new standard for fitness. If so, the standard naturally excludes a great number of people out from fitness. In short, without ruling out such possibility, the conclusion is unconvincing.

Furthermore, even granted that the standard remains the same as twenty years ago, the arguer falsely equates ownership of computers with using computers. However, common sense and experience tells us that this is not the case and that it is equally possible for people owning computers does not often use computers. For example, in schools, while there are a lot of computers in computer laboratories, students have only a little opportunity and time to use computers. What's more, in many companies, many computers remain idle all day. Under this circumstance, the fact that overall fitness levels are highest in regions of Corpora where levels of computer ownership are also highest lends no credence to support the claim that using computers has not made citizens less physically fit.

Moreover, the arguer falsely depends on the gratuitous assumption that decline in the economy is responsible for the unusually low expenditures on fitness-related products and services. Nevertheless, the arguer fails to substantiate this crucial assumption. Perhaps it is popular for people in Corpora to take free physical exercise, such as walking after dinner, dancing, running, this year. Even if they still often take fitness-related services which do charge, it is possible that more companies providing fitness-related products and services have been set up this year, and drastic competition has greatly decreased the price for these products and services. In short, any of scenarios, if true, would serve to undermine the conclusion.

Finally, even economy improves, it does not follow that more expenditures will be spent on fitness-related products and services, which may lead to improve in fitness level. It is highly possible that people are discontented of the services provided by such companies and prefer to stay at home rather than take a fitness class. If so, improvement in economy bears little relationship with fitness level.

To sum up, the conclusion lacks credibility because the evidence cited in this analysis lends no strong support to what the arguer maintains. To strengthen this argument, the arguer should provide more evidence concerning using of computers in some regions in Corpora. To better evaluate the argument, we need more information regarding the way in which people in Corpora keep fit.

[ 本帖最后由 askme 于 2007-1-30 19:53 编辑 ]