argument14 【today is the day】第11次作业 by revealing

revealingUID: 2507748

TOPIC: ARGUMENT14 - The following appeared in a memo from the owner of Green Thumb Gardening Center, a small business serving a suburban town.

"There is evidence that consumers are becoming more and more interested in growing their own vegetables. A national survey conducted last month indicated that many consumers were dissatisfied with the quality of fresh vegetables available in supermarkets. And locally, the gardening magazine Great Gardens has sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row. Thus, we at Green Thumb Gardening Center can increase our profits by greatly expanding the variety of vegetable seeds we stock for gardeners this coming spring."

In this memo, the arguer attempts to conclude that Green Thumb Gardening Center can increase profits by greatly expanding the variety of vegetable seeds stocked for gardeners. To justify the argument, the arguer cites a national survey which indicated that many consumers were dissatisfied with the quality of fresh vegetables available in supermarkets. Moreover, the arguer points out that the magazine Great Gardens has sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row. As it stands, the argument is well-presented but not thoroughly well-reasoned.

To begin with, it is obvious that the survey quoted in the argument is too vague to be informative. We are told nothing about more details. The survey was conducted nationally while the claim is concluded locally. Maybe the conditions in this town are different from what in the whole country. Perhaps consumers there are satisfied with the quality of vegetables, thus they will not grow their own vegetables. We have good reasons to suspect if the survey is representative enough.

In addition, even if the survey is valid, it is hard to come to the conclusion either. The arguer fails to establish a causal relationship between consumers' dissatisfaction with vegetables quality and their interests in growing vegetables themselves. The argument is unacceptable if there is no compelling evidence to support the connection between the two events. Possibly consumers will buy vegetables from other markets or even from the villages instead. Maybe they will still buy vegetables from supermarkets despite dissatisfaction. Common sense tells us majorities have no time to grow vegetables their own. Without considering and ruling out such alternative aspects, the arguer cannot convince us the conclusion.

Last but not least, there are several other factors which might weaken the argument. The argument is unwarranted because of a hasty generalization. The fact that Great Garden has sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row is doubtful and unreliable. Perhaps the sale in other stands stopped stocking the magazine that all people had to buy it in the Village New stand only. Or, the Village New stand might decrease the original stock of the magazine during the three months.

To sum up, the argument, which is logical at the first glance, have several flaws as mentioned above. To strengthen the argument, the arguer would have to supply us more representative surveys. To better evaluate the argument, we should need more information about other possible aspects.