Argu67 [Shining Sep 作文组] 8.24

Ajax555UID: 2241288

TOPIC: ARGUMENT67 - The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a newspaper serving the villages of Castorville and Polluxton.

"Both the villages of Castorville and Polluxton have experienced sharp declines in the numbers of residents who pay property taxes. To save money and improve service, the two villages recently merged their once separate garbage collection departments into a single department located in Castorville, and the new department has reported few complaints about its service. Last year the library in Polluxton had 20 percent fewer users than during the previous year. It follows that we should now further economize and improve service, as we did with garbage collection, by closing the library in Polluxton and using the library in Castorville to serve both villages."
WORDS: 433          TIME: 0:39:39          DATE: 2006-8-24

In this argument, the arguer asserts that closing the library in Polluxton and using the library in Castorville to serve both villages can save money and improve service. The arguer gives the example of merging separate garbage collection departments to prove his argument. In addition, to support the conclusion, the arguer points out the fact that last year the library in Polluxton had 20 percent fewer users than during the previous year. However, all these reasons are untenable.

First of all, it is unreasonable to comparing libraries with garbage collection departments. There are two completely different departments. The garbage collection department is used to clean daily waste in the city, and the library is the place of reading and studying. The basic functions of two departments are distinct, and the problems which they faced are not the same. Hence the method of merging separate departments into a single one is not effective to manage the problems of libraries. Moreover, the fact that few complaints about the service of the new garbage collection department can not prove this method is successful. Perhaps the short time of the existence of new department can not reveal the real problems of this new department.

Second, the statistics in the argument is too vague to support the arguer's point. The arguer said that last year the library in Polluxton had 20 percent fewer users than during the previous year, but the detail amount of declined users is not mentioned. It is possible that although the amount of users in library in Polluxtion is decreased with 20 percent, the total of users is still much higher than that of the library in Castorville. If this assumption is true, the decision of closing the library in Polluxton is improper.

Finally, the arguer alleges that merging departments can save money and improve service, but there is no evidence in this argument to demonstrate this assertion. In the example of merging garbage collection departments, although  the arguer indicate that just few people complained this decision, he do not give any strong and clear statistics and evidence to prove that after merging, much money is saved and service is improved. Hence, the authenticity of this assertion is doubtable.

To sum up, the conclusion lacks of credibility because the evidence cited in the analysis does not lend strong support to what the arguer maintains. To strengthen the argument, the arguer would have to give some reasons which can prove the merging method can economize and improve service really. To better evaluate the argument, we would need a survey of people's attitude of two libraries.

littleboy8UID: 202914

There are two completely different departments.---They are two completely different departments and they have different functions in the everyday life .
the decision of closing the library in Polluxton is improper------it will render the conclusion unconvincing as it stands.