Argument163 [Victors小组]十二周作业 by H-Kevin

H-KevinUID: 2182070

163. The following is taken from the editorial section of the local newspaper in Rockingham.

"In order to save a considerable amount of money, Rockingham's century-old town hall should be torn down and replaced by the larger and more energy-efficient building that some citizens have proposed. The old town hall is too small to comfortably accommodate the number of people who are employed by the town. In addition, it is very costly to heat the old hall in winter and cool it in summer. The new, larger building would be more energy efficient, costing less per square foot to heat and cool than the old hall. Furthermore, it would be possible to rent out some of the space in the new building, thereby generating income for the town of Rockingham."

提纲：

1。不能舒适的工作也不是不能工作，而且舒适也没有一个标准
2。加热和制冷节省下来的费用能够抵消新大楼的建设费用吗？如果冬天和夏天的时间比较短，那么这个费用也很少
3。并没有实际数据和调查表明有人愿意租赁空域的新大楼的房间，说不定会造成浪费
4。百年历史的市政厅本身有一定的历史价值

TIME: 40  NUMBERS: 582

The article argues that the larger and more energy-efficient hall should be build and replace the Rockingham's century-old town hall. To support this argument the article cites that the old town hall is too to comfortably accommodate the number of employers by the town, and that the new hall will more energy-efficient than the old one. The article also claims that renting the spare space would generate the income for the Rockingham. This argument flaws in several critical respects.

To begin with, the old town hall could not provide a comfortable work place does not mean that employers can not work there. After all, we do not have a standard about the comfortable, so the new hall perhaps even could not be comfortably accommodating the employers. And that if some employers said they feel narrow in the old hall because they can not work in sofa and each one have a separated rooms is unreasonable. Thus I can not accept that uncomfortable work place without clearly and logical reasons could be the support of this argument.

The articles reliance on that old town hall is very costly to heat the old hall in winter and cool it in summer than the new hall is also problematic in two aspects. First, the article does not give the data comparing the cost in heating and cooling and the cost of building new town hall. If the building cost is much higher than the heating and cooling fee, we could neglect this energy-efficient reason. Second, if Rockingham city have a very short winter and summer, even very costly expense each day in heating and cooling would not be a serious problem. Thus it is unfair to infer from the energy-efficient that building new town hall would be reasonable.

In further support of the argument, the article cites that it would be possible to rent out some of the space in the new building, thereby generating income for the town of Rockingham. However, there is no survey show us that how many people want to rent these spare houses. Although they have the plan rent it now, they might change their mind once the expenses much higher than the expected number after finish building construction.

Finally, as a century-old building, the Rockingham's town hall would have the historical and cultural value in itself. Whether we have the responsibility in keeping this historical building is not only depend on utilize in the daily work but the social status. So tearing it down without any evaluation might cause the lost in the historical and cultural aspect.

In conclusion, the argument is poorly supported. To strengthen it the article must convince me--perhaps by way of a reliable survey--that majority employer in the old hall feel uncomfortable and, hence, have low work efficiency. The article must also explain that building a new town hall is much economic than keep the expense in the heating and cooling. The article must also provide better evidence that people like to rent these spare spaces after the building finished. Finally, to better assess the argument I would need to know whether the disappear of this century-old building would not cause lost in the historical and cultural value for Rockingham city.