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Argument117
117The following is a memo from the business manager of Valu-Mart stores.
"Over 70 percent of the respondents to a recent survey reported that they are required to take more work home with them from the workplace than they were in the past. Since Valu-Mart has not seen impressive sales in its office-supply departments in the past, we should take advantage of this work-at-home trend by increasing at all Valu-Mart stores the stock of home office machines such as printers, small copy machines, paper shredders, and fax machines. We will also increase stock of office supplies such as paper, pens, and staplers. With these changes, our office-supply departments will become the most profitable component of our stores."

In this memo, the business manager asserts that the office-supply departments will become the most profitable component of all Valu-Mart stores after they increase the stock of home office machines as well as office supplies in every store. To support this opinion, the manager points out that according to a recent survey, most respondents are required to take more work home with them from the workplace than they were in the past, and that they should take advantage of this work-at-home trend. This argument rests on several doubtful assumptions which make it unconvincing.

First, the manager unfairly assumes that people will use office machines and office supplies more frequently as they're required to take more work home. However, the manager doesn't provide any idea about what kind of work is asked to be finished at home, and thus make the assumption dubious. If the respondents are just required to read files on their computers, answer questions from their clients on the phone or report to their bosses through emails, then the quantity of office machines like printers and fax machines or office supplies like pens and staplers in need won't increase evidently. Therefore, without providing more information about the sort of work people are asked to take home presently, the manager fails prove that there will be an increasing usage of those office machines and office supplies.

Secondly, even admitting that the usage of office machines and office supplies is indeed on the rise, whether people choose to purchase them at Valu-Mart stores is still a question. Concerning office machines, the manager fails to consider whether many families have already owned the necessary machines in their homes. Chances are that office machines such as printers, small copy machines, paper shredders or fax machines were popular among most families in the past even though at that time people did not have to work at home as much as today, and as a result few new machines is necessary to be bought. Besides, most consumers prefer to buy the supplies at favorable stores where commodities are of high qualities, prices are acceptable and the service is satisfactory. As the manager provides no evidence that Valu-Mart stores could meet those standards above, there exists a possibility that Valu-Mart stores are relatively unattractive and thus won't see an obvious rise in their sales. Therefore, it is not safe for the manager to conclude that sales of office machines and office supplies will increase largely only due to the fact that people will depend on them more.

Finally, even if we concede that sales of office machines and office supplies will increase impressively at present, I'm still not convinced that the office-supply departments will become the most profitable component of all the stores. After all, profits are not only decided by sales number, but also depend on costs of the product. As the manager doesn't provide enough information, we may assume that costs including taxes, transportation fares, and fees for storage for office machines and office supplies are so high that it leaves fewer profits for the stores compared with other products. In such case, the office-supply departments are unlikely to become the most profitable part of the stores.

To sum up, this argument is based on several ungrounded assumptions, which leave it unconvincing. To strengthen his/her opinion, the manager still needs to provide more evidence to prove that people will actually use office machines and office supplies more often, which will bring them to buy more such products at Valu-Mart stores, and such products are indeed more profitable than others.

谢谢大家！