Argument140 【Persistence 小组】第14次作业

iamstoicUID: 2294314

140The following appeared in a report of the Committee on Faculty Promotions and Salaries at Elm City University.

"During her seventeen years as a professor of botany, Professor Thomas has proved herself to be well worth her annual salary of $50,000. Her classes are among the largest at the university, demonstrating her popularity among students. Moreover, the money she has brought to the university in research grants has exceeded her salary in each of the last two years. Therefore, in consideration of Professor Thomas' demonstrated teaching and research abilities, we recommend that she receive a $10,000 raise and a promotion to Department Chairperson; without such a raise and promotion, we fear that Professor Thomas will leave Elm City University for another college."

In this report, the author recommends that Professor Thomas receive a $10,000 raise and a promotion to Department Chairperson. To bolster this claim, the author provides evidence that her classes are one of the largest at the university and that the money she has brought to the research grants of the university has exceeded her annual salary over the past two years. In addition, the author reasons that the Professor would leave this university should there be no raise or promotion. As it stands, this argument is unconvincing for several reasons.

In the first place, one problem with the argument is that it assumes that Professor Thomas' classes which are among the largest at the university indicate she is popular with students. Yet this might not be the case for it is entirely possible that the lessons given by Professor Thomas are the compulsory courses that all students in Elm City University must attend. It might be the case that despite her largest classes the students do not speak highly of her because she is not adept at teaching. Or perhaps she grades her students so unfairly that the majority of them have to go to the classes again so as to pass the examinations. Without taking into account these possibilities, the author cannot assume that the larger the classes are, the more popular the teacher is.

In the second place, Professor Thomas has brought money exceeding her annual salary to the research funds in the last two years,but it does not necessarily mean that she will be able to continue bringing the same amount of - if not more – money to the research grants in the university. The author overlooks the possibility that she will not be awarded the research grant any more due to her fatal failure in the recent experiments. Additionally, the author also ignores the possibility that the grants she received account for just a tiny proportion of the whole research funds of botany in this university and thus her research abilities are not so great as other professors in the same field. Therefore, the mere fact that in the last two years Professor Thomas brought the research funds surpassing her yearly salary lends scant support to this recommendation.

In the third place, the author unfairly assumes that Professor Thomas will leave Elm City University without a raise and promotion. Yet this might not be the case for this university may have many attractions for her such as the valuable house property, the convenient transportation, the high salary, friendly relations between colleagues and so forth, than which other colleges may hold fewer. If the author had not rule out all other possibilities, it would be unfair to conclude that she would leave for another college without a raise and promotion.

In the final analysis, the reasoning behind the raise and promotion for Professor Thomas seems logical as presented above since the Committee may want to retain persons with abilities for the university. However, before any final decisions are made about the raise and promotion, the university should evaluate all advantages and disadvantages of this change.  

worenleflyUID: 2270315

In this report, the author recommends that Professor Thomas(加上个should呢？我看别人的加了) receive a $10,000 raise and a promotion to Department Chairperson. To bolster this claim, the author provides evidence that her classes are one of the largest at the university and that the money she has brought to the research grants of the university has exceeded her annual salary over the past two years. In addition, the author reasons that the Professor would leave this university should there be no raise or promotion. As it stands, this argument is unconvincing for several reasons.

In the first place, one problem with the argument is that it assumes that Professor Thomas' classes which are among the largest at the university indicate she is popular with students. Yet this might not be the case for it is entirely possible that the lessons given by Professor Thomas are the compulsory courses that all students in Elm City University must attend. It might be the case that despite her largest classes the students do not speak highly of her because she is not adept at teaching. Or perhaps she grades her students so unfairly that the majority of them have to go to the classes again so as to pass the examinations. Without taking into account these possibilities, the author cannot assume that the larger the classes are, the more popular the teacher is.

In the second place, Professor Thomas has brought money exceeding her annual salary to the research funds in the last two years,but it does not necessarily mean that she will be able to continue bringing the same amount of - if not more – money to the research grants in the university. The author overlooks the possibility that she will not be awarded the research grant any more due to her fatal failure in the recent experiments. Additionally, the author also ignores the possibility that the grants she received account for just a tiny proportion of the whole research funds of botany in this university and thus her research abilities are not so great as other professors in the same field. Therefore, the mere fact that in the last two years Professor Thomas brought the research funds surpassing her yearly salary lends scant support to this recommendation.

In the third place, the author unfairly assumes that Professor Thomas will leave Elm City University without a raise and promotion. Yet this might not be the case for this university may have many attractions for her such as the valuable house property, the convenient transportation, the high salary, friendly relations between colleagues and so forth, than which other colleges may hold fewer. If the author had not rule out all other possibilities, it would be unfair to conclude that she would leave for another college without a raise and promotion.

In the final analysis, the reasoning behind the raise and promotion for Professor Thomas seems logical as presented above since the Committee may want to retain persons with abilities for the university. However, before any final decisions are made about the raise and promotion, the university should evaluate all advantages and disadvantages of this change.
(语言还是那么的好，攻击点也都正确，感觉没什么可改的了。感觉第三点应该是主要的问题应该放在第一位，这纯属个人意见，如不妥我们可以探讨)