argument163 Spring-第八次作业

林周孟UID: 2341714

    Argument163    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."

    Word :671       Time :70 min      Date :2007-12-15

    In this editorial ,the author conclude that the town of Rockingham can save a great amount of money by replacing its century-old town hall with the larger and more energy-efficient building .To support this argument ,the author cites the need to comfortably accommodate the number of people the town employed ,and the expensive cost to heat the old hall in winter and cool it in summer .The author also points out that the new ,larger building not only would cost less per square foot to heat and cool than the old hall ,but also can generate income for the town of Rockingham by renting out some of the space in the new building .Through careful scrutiny ,the argument flaws in several critical respects.

    In the first place , the argument partly rely on the assumption that the new building can generate income by renting out some space .However ,no justifiable evidence is provided to substantiate this assumption .Perhaps the cost to rent the new building will significantly increase due to its comfort and modernization of the new building . Therefore  , people can hardly afford to rent the new building ,which will waste the town a great amount of money ,energy and space ,rather than generating income .And people that used to rent the old hall have to rent another cheap ,may be old ,hall .Thus ,whether the space of the new building can rent out or not is still a problem ,let alone the author’s assumption that the new building can generate income is totally unpersuasive .

    In the second place , the assumption that the new, larger building would cost  less per square foot to heat and cool than the old hall is scant evidence to support the conclusion that the new ,larger building can save a significant amount of money for the town of Rockingham . First of all ,the advanced ,may be expensive ,air condition system may worth dozens of times of the annual cost to heat and cool the old building .Secondly ,since the author offer no compelling evidence to support that the new building would necessarily cost less per square to heat and cool it , it is quite possible that the cost will significantly increase for the sake that the new air condition system may need a great amount of  electricity to normally operate , rather than becomes less .Thirdly , given that it is true that the new, larger building would cost less per square foot to heat and cool than the old hall .However ,it is equally possible that the total cost of the new ,larger building to heat and cool may still outweigh the cost to heat and cool the old hall for the reason that the new building is larger , may be two times or more , than the old hall All of these scenarios ,if true ,would serve to show that the author’s conclusion that the town of Rockingham would save money by building a new building is unconvincing .

    In the third place , the author overlooks the potential ,may be invaluable ,historic and artistic value of the old hall .As the editorial says that the old hall has a long history of one hundred years .In modern times ,as the quick development of modernization , the number of invaluable historical building becomes significantly decreased . Perhaps the old hall is the oldest building with unique historic and artistic value in the town ,which value may significantly overweigh the money that the replacement may save .

    To sum up ,the argument is unconvincing as it stands . To strengthen the conclusion ,the author must provide a detailed survey that the people in the town will rent the new building and the new building can generate income .To better assess the conclusion , the author should offer a detailed analysis about the total cost to heat and cool both buildings .I also need to know that whether the old hall is of great historic and artistic value .