=七月流火=小组第3次小组作业 ARGU101 by 流氓高手 请高手拍拍 谢谢

流氓高手UID: 2686529

TOPIC: ARGUMENT101 - The following appeared in a memo from the president of a company that makes breakfast cereals.

"In a recent study, subjects who ate soybeans at least five times per week had significantly lower cholesterol levels than subjects who ate no soy products. By fortifying our Wheat-O cereal with soy protein, we can increase sales by appealing to additional consumers who are concerned about their health. This new version of Wheat-O should increase company profits and, at the same time, improve the health of our customers."

In this argument, the author recommends that the lavender can cure insomnia in a short period of time. To support this recommendation, the author cites a study of 30 volunteers with chronic insomnia for three weeks. Careful scrutiny of the evidence, however, reveals that it leads little credible to the author’s recommendation, as discussed below.

To begin with, the author makes and supports his assertion that lavender can cure insomnia just by the survey and its result. But maybe it is not the case because the author cannot give the reader some explanation of the problem in the survey. The volunteers with only lavender pillows in the second week slept less soundly and felt more tired than the volunteers with lavender pillows and sleeping medication in the first week, does it mean the lavender pillows are useless to the volunteers? We are not informed with the feeling of the volunteers in the third week, did they feel tired even with a long and sound sleep. Any of these scenarios, if true, could cast considerable doubt on the argument’s conclusion.

Similarly, one serious problem lies in the survey design, in which the survey director fails to put the control group into the research. As a medicine study, it is more reliable and reasonable to get the conclusion of the effect of something with the compare of control group. Without the control group which do not use lavender it is hasty to rush to this conclusion and maybe there e some other factors which affect the study and its outcome. Perhaps it is the health living environment and relaxing atmosphere that cure these patients’ insomnia. Or perhaps it is their psychological effect from researchers’ monitor that makes them sleep better and deeper than before. All in all, without putting into the control group or ruling out these possibilities, it cannot convince me that the recommendation is reasonable.

In addition, another problem in the argument involve in the definition of “a short period of time”. The author fails to take out a precise description of “a short period of time” does it mean three weeks, or just a couple of days. If it is the first one, then the conclusion which relies on the survey may be reasonable. Otherwise, it would not. In short, without a more clear definition of “a short period of time” it is important to assess the strength of argument.

In sum, the argument is unconvincing as it stands. To bolster it the author must provide better explanation and some new proof to prove the lavender’s effect to curing insomnia. To better assess the argument, I would also want to know more information about these volunteers and the survey.

好久没写argument了，感觉写的很差，请各位大侠拍拍 谢谢