Argument167 飞越dreams小组第5次作业

Marvelous_czUID: 2451875

167.A folk remedy* for insomnia, the scent in lavender flowers, has now been proved effective. In a recent study, 30 volunteers with chronic insomnia slept each night for three weeks on lavender-scented pillows in a controlled room where their sleep was monitored. During the first week, volunteers continued to take their usual sleeping medication. They slept soundly but wakened feeling tired. During the second week, the volunteers discontinued their medication. As a result, they slept less soundly than the previous week and felt even more tired. During the third week, the volunteers slept longer and more soundly than in the previous two weeks. This shows that over a short period of time lavender cures insomnia. A folk remedy is usually a plant-based form of treatment common to traditional forms of medicine, ones that developed before the advent of modern medical services and technology.

一种治疗失眠的偏方--薰衣草花香，现在被证明是有效的。在一次最近的调查中，30名患有慢性失眠的志愿者在三周之内每晚都在一个受监视的控制室内睡在带薰衣草花香的枕头上。在第一周，志愿者继续服用他们常用的安眠药。他们睡得很沉但醒来时很累。在第二周，他们不服用药物。结果与前一周相比他们睡得不那么沉并且感觉更累。在第三周，他们睡得比前两周时间长而且更深。这表明薰衣草在短时间内治愈了失眠。
*偏方通常是一种在传统医药中常见的植物治疗形式，这些传统医药是在现代医药服务和科技出现之前发展起来的。

The author asserts that a folk remedy for insomnia, the scent in lavender flowers, has now been proved effective by a recent study, which requires 30 volunteers with chronic insomnia slept in a monitored room and observe them for three weeks. However, there still some problems that remains questionable.

Firstly, the study is not support well since it just requires 30 volunteers and observes them for three weeks. This deduction based on the study which just is an elementary research. It can not defer much evidently conclusion of medicine. To get a conclusion of medicine, the researchers should do more widely and careful study, and then exclude other factors which would influence the result of this study, such as the health of these volunteers and the temperature of the room. If the study does not include the information and consider other factors, this conclusion is unacceptable.

Secondly, the study points out that the volunteers sleep in different grades for three weeks and the author asserts it is the effect of the lavender-scented pillows but does not provide more evidence to prove it. Perhaps the sleeping status of volunteers is affect by the environment where they sleep. During the first week, the volunteers may do not be familiar with the new environment, so they must take the sleeping medicine to help them sleep. And during the third week, the volunteers have been familiar with the environment and never feel nervous when they are sleeping, so they could sleep longer and more soundly, which is not the function of the lavender-scented pillows. This scenario, if true, would render the conclusion, lavender-scented pillows would help for sleeping, untenable.

Thirdly, the most fatal problem in this study is that the process of this deduction is questionable. The study does not provide any information about the sleeping status after the volunteers waking up in the third week. It cannot judge the volunteers whether feel easier or more tired than the first two weeks and then the researchers cannot evaluate the sleeping quality. In fact, the study shows that the volunteers slept not well in the second week, which may be the reason why they slept longer and more soundly in the third week. Because the volunteers feel too tired in the second week, they would need more rest. If the author cannot provide more evidence and information to prove this point, the conclusion is not compelling.

To sum up, the author’s conclusion is not well supported. To strength it the author should provide more evidence to support that the environment where the volunteer sleep would not influence the result of the study and the volunteers would feel easier and better in the third week. To make the study more compelling, the author should consider more factors which would affect the study. It would necessarily for the author to consider these scenarios before we could better evaluate the conclusion.      

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[ 本帖最后由 Marvelous_cz 于 2008-2-9 00:34 编辑 ]

wxtxxmUID: 2339833

The author asserts that a folk remedy for insomnia, the scent in lavender flowers, has now been proved effective by a recent study, which requires 30 volunteers with chronic insomnia slept in a monitored room and observe them for three weeks. However, there are still some problems that remain questionable.

Firstly, the study is not supported well since it just requires 30 volunteers and observes them for three weeks. This deduction based on the study which just is an elementary research. It can not defer much evidently conclusion of medicine. To get a conclusion of medicine, the researchers should do more widely and careful study, and then exclude other factors which would influence the result of this study, such as the health of these volunteers and the temperature of the room. If the study does not include the information and consider other factors, this conclusion is unacceptable. 首句是说研究的样本太小，时间太短，而后边的句子并没有从这方面去批驳，感觉挺别扭~~

Secondly, the study points out that the volunteers sleep in different grades for three weeks and the author asserts it is the effect of the lavender-scented pillows but does not provide more evidence to prove it. Perhaps the sleeping status of volunteers is affected by the environment where they sleep. During the first week, the volunteers may do not be familiar with the new environment, so they must take the sleeping medicine to help them sleep.感觉怪怪的，不是那么恰当，患者服用安眠药是研究的控制条件之一，这处就认为是患者不得不服用安眠药，再讨论~And during the third week, the volunteers have been familiar with the environment and never feel nervous when they are sleeping, so they could sleep longer and more soundly, which is not the function of the lavender-scented pillows. This scenario, if true, would render the conclusion, lavender-scented pillows would help for sleeping, untenable.

Thirdly, the most fatal problem in this study is that the process of this deduction is questionable. The study does not provide any information about the sleeping status after the volunteers waking up in the third week. It cannot judge the volunteers whether feel easier or more tired than the first two weeks and then the researchers cannot evaluate the sleeping quality. In fact, the study shows that the volunteers slept not well in the second week, which may be the reason why they slept longer and more soundly in the third week. Because the volunteers feel too tired in the second week, they would need more rest.这处论证蛮不错的~ If the author cannot provide more evidence and information to prove this point, the conclusion is not compelling. 批驳了研究过程存在的缺陷
To sum up, the author’s conclusion is not well supported. To strength it the author should provide more evidence to support that the environment where the volunteer sleep would not influence the result of the study and the volunteers would feel easier and better in the third week. To make the study more compelling, the author should consider more factors which would affect the study. It would necessarily for the author to consider these scenarios before we could better evaluate the conclusion.
你似乎忽视了一个问题，就是研究采取的患者是慢性失眠患者，而结论确实推导至整个失眠患者人群，慢性失眠应该是失眠的一种吧？？