Argument 14 【7\8\9\10】 7.26(第l六次作业) by general

general727UID: 2494818

2008-7-26
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."
WORDS: 394          TIME: 00:40:00          DATE: 2008-7-26 9:30:37

In this memo, the owner of Green Thumb Gardening Center suggests that they should expanding a large amount of vegetable seeds for gardeners this spring for getting more profits. In order to support his suggestion, he cites an national survey and points out that the gardening magazine Great Gardens has been well-sold at the news stand these months. However, there are several logical flaws in this argument, which leads the suggestion unacceptable.

To begin with, the first logical error is that, a national survey that many consumers wouldn't have credit on the quality of fresh vegetables provided in supermarkets couldn't represent the local situation. Perhaps, the local residents like the vegetables sold in supermarket. Or perhaps, there is no supermarket in this town.
And then, even if the author can show that the local residents are dissatisfied with the vegetables in the supermarket, there no evidence to illustrate that the people here will grow their own vegetables. They may choose to buy the vegetables in the farming market, or they can go to the farmers' house to pick up the freshest vegetables. Without ruling out of the possibilities I questioned above, this causality is unjustified.

Another question contained in this argument is that the magazine sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row, doesn't means the people who brought the book like farming. Perhaps, they just enjoy the beautiful pictures on cute cucumbers, yellow bananas. Or perhaps, due to the special reasons of the stand like stopping restore the books, or limiting the numbers of the books, this magazine sells quickly. The owner fails to provide any powerful evidence to explain it, so we can't accept his suggestion.

Finally, even if the owner can substantiate all of the possibilities above, he still fail to take into account that the gardeners who really wants to grow their own vegetables can obtain the seeds from other seeds shops. So whether his suggestion will bring their generous return is still in the air.

In sum, the owner's suggestion is unconvinced. If he wants others to accept his view, more evidence should be provided, such as, the national survey can represent the local situation and the majority people here are dissatisfied with the quality of fresh vegetables and they prefer growing their own vegetable with the seeds provided by the Green Thumb Gardening Center.