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TOPIC: ARGUMENT51 - 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 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."
WORDS: 465 TIME: 上午 12:30:00 DATE: 2006-7-28
The arguer concludes that all patients with muscle strain should take antibiotics as part of their treatment. However, the evidence provided throughout the argument fails to bolster his conclusion. As far as I am concerned, this argument suffers the following drawbacks.
To begin with, the author falsely concludes that taking antibiotics will make the patients recuperate more quickly than taking sugar pills. However, the study cited by him fails to convince me of his conclusion. We have no idea about how serious of muscle injuries of the patients of the respective groups. It is entirely possible that patients in the second group have suffered from more serious muscle injuries. Besides, the author fails to take into account other factors that can affect the patients' recuperation. It is likely that the doctor in the first group is more experienced and skilled. It is also likely that other treatment the author does not mentioned used by the doctor in the first group has caused the patients to recover faster. Without ruling out such factors, the author cannot confidently conclude that antibiotics are more effective than normal pills.
Secondly, even assuming that the forgoing assumption is reliable, the author assumes without justification that secondary infections can keep some patients from healing quickly after severe muscle strain. There are a number of possible factors which can prevent the recovery of muscle injures. Even though the study can serve to prove that taking antibiotics can enhance the process of recuperation, the author fails to provide any evidence that it is because taking antibiotics can prevent the infection, thus making the patients recover faster. It is entirely possible the antibiotics have exerted influence on other aspects of the human body, which inspire the muscle to be more active. Lacking more information about the exact function of antibiotics, the author cannot substantiate the hypothesis.
Finally, even assuming that both the study and the hypothesis are reliable, the author's suggestion that all patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain should take antibiotics in order to recuperate more quickly are to be doubtable. From the hypothesis, which only states that secondary infections may keep some patients from healing quickly, the author cannot require that all the patients, no matter whether they are suffering from secondary infections, take antibiotics. In addition, another premise of the hypothesis is severe muscle strain, so it is unreasonable to make all patients to follow the suggestion as some of them are not severe at all. Moreover, the author does not inform us that there may be some side effects in taking antibiotics, thus cannot to bolster his suggestion.
To sum up, this argument is not as reasonable as it stands. To make it more convincing, the author would have to provide more information and more evidence with regard to infection in muscle strain. |
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