Argument105 [April作文互助小组]第三周作业

rita_moyoUID: 2274069

TOPIC: ARGUMENT105 - The following appeared in a health newsletter.

"According to a recent study, people with many social ties report catching colds less often than do people with few social ties. Consequently, researchers conclude that having an active social life probably helps strengthen the immune system. The researchers note that catching a cold-one of a family of highly contagious viruses-gives the cold-sufferer temporary immunity to that virus in the future, but not to the many other related viruses. Merely being exposed to a new cold virus, however, is not enough for a person to catch a cold, since a strong immune system can successfully fight off some new viruses. Thus, in order to prevent catching a cold, people should strengthen their immune systems by becoming more active socially."
WORDS: 435          TIME: 00:30:00          DATE: 2008-4-2 23:00:31

1、所依据的研究没有科学依据
2、很难体现社交与免疫系统的关系
3、实际上，一种疾病的免疫系统无法对另一种病毒有效。即使可以对整体的免疫系统增强，这种免疫增强也是暂时的。

In this newsletter, the arguer contends that more social activity can help people strengthen their immune systems. To support this argument, the arguer cites a recent study indicating that the chances of people with many social ties catching colds are lower than those have few. Then, the arguer provides a further explanation that catching colds gives the sufferers temporary immunity to that virus and other virus can hardly attacks the sufferers in strong immune system. The argument suffers from several fatal fallacies and is meanwhile unreasonable and unscientific as it stands.

First, the study the arguer based on is ridiculous and short of scientific evidence to support it. It is adversarial to our common sense that people actually gain high probability to catch a cold by contacting with others frequently. Else, as no information about the authority of the study is provided, we have great reason to doubt whether the study came from a scientific institution or a meaningless survey of some magazine and whether the participants can be representative of overall. Without more illustration on the authority of the study, the study seems totally false and unreliable.

Second, even assuming that we can assure the accuracy of the study, we can not get a definite relationship between social ties and immune system. There are also many other factors influencing the immune system and a strong one could be probably not formed during socialization. For example, it is entirely possible that participants as people with many social ties have more healthy innate body than the opposite group. Also, it is possible the former group usually do exercise which can also strengthen the immune system. Without ruling out other factors, I am not sure whether it is social ties strengthen the immune system.

Another fallacy the argument involves is that there is no scientific evidence which can demonstrate the immune of one kind of virus can prevent people from other virus even when people are in little exposure to it. Actually, for the most time, the immunity of one virus makes no sense to the other virus. Even if I were to concede that people can acquire various virus’s immunity through more social activity, these immunity are just contemporary, as the arguer claims. In that case, perhaps we should meet ill people for any opportunity to gain constant immunity of all the illness. It sounds terrible.

In sum, to demonstrate this argument well, the auger had better not only demonstrate the authority of the study he/she depends on, but also provide more scientific evidences to illustrate how strong immune system is formed by socialization and how immune of one virus can give people immunity of other virus.

[ 本帖最后由 rita_moyo 于 2008-4-4 00:33 编辑 ]