Argument 051，考前11天

佛爷UID: 2648279

Topic - Argument 51. The following appeared in a medical newsletter.
"Doctors have long suspected that secondary infections may keep some patients from healing quickly after severe muscle strain. This hypothesis has now been proved by preliminary初步的 results of a study of two groups of patients. The first group of patients, all being treated for muscle injuries by Dr. Newland, a doctor who specializes in sports medicine, took antibiotics regularly throughout their treatment. Their recuperation time was, on average, 40 percent quicker than typically expected. Patients in the second group, all being treated by Dr. Alton, a general physician, were given sugar pills, although the patients believed they were taking antibiotics. Their average recuperation time was not significantly reduced. Therefore, all patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain would be well advised to take antibiotics as part of their treatment."

时间：50m
字数：550

The author's claim seems to be reasonable at first glance. After all, it is based on several facts on antibiotics treatment. However, after carefully scrutinizing the speaker, it seems to me that the author's conclusions on those facts are at best plausible to mask several other possibilities.

In the first place, the author incorrectly deduces that secondary infections inevitably prevent the patients who suffer severe muscle strain from quick recovery. The argument does not offer any concrete evidence to support this conclusion. Maybe the process of healing limits by other several factors, such as the daily diet, the schedule of training program which restoring someone to good health and even the sanitary condition of the hospital. It’s possible that some nutrients which highly content in daily diet will promote the production of a specific hormone known to have bad effect on immune function of the body, and extend the recovery process consequently. Or it’s also possible that doctors prepare a training program for patients during the time in hospital, and such stressful training schedule is too excessive to patients’ capacity, which in turn lengthening the duration of the illness. Unless excluding these factors, the author cannot make his recommendation advisable.

What is more, even if patients heavily influenced by secondary infections, it does not follow that antibiotics surely effective. The author is based on the information about a cited study of drug test hold by Dr. Newland and Dr. Alton, however information of the experiment are inadequate and the conclusion is also inconclusive. The author does not mention whether the profession of two doctors would affect the result of the treatment. It is possible that the Dr. Newland who specializes in sports medicine have more experience to nurse the sport injuries rather than general physician Dr. Alton. Therefore, it’s medical skills, not antibiotics treatment, should be considered as decisive factor of the study. And it is also possible that they merely selected ten people as subjects of each group and those patients are different in gender, age and their original physical condition, which means the objectivity and fairness of the study is doubtful, and the result of the study cannot be applied to others. In a word, the author cannot support his claim based on this fact.

Finally, even if the antibiotics are effective, the proposed treatment might not be the best choice of patients with severe muscle strain. It is likely that taking too much antibiotics will do harm to our health and such treatment would causes several side-effects to patients, perhaps individuals who receive treatment with antibiotics would easily be affected with allergies in their later life, or those people would be more likely to subject to secondary infections when they injuriously strain next time. Moreover, perhaps there is another better method to keep patients from infections. Germfree ward, for instance, doctors could nurse sufferers in such sterile environments, which essentially rule out the possibilities that may cause infection. The author does not consider the alternatives and merely emphasize the treatment mentioned, which cannot render his recommendation persuasive.

In sum, the facts cited and the conclusions made cannot support the author's claim. To strengthen the argument, the author should provide stronger evidence to show his suggestion is advisable. Otherwise, it is difficult for people to follow his recommendation.

佛爷UID: 2648279

写成这样能得几分呢