argument200 天道酬勤小组7.6作业

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题目：ARGUMENT 200 - Statistics collected from dentists indicate that three times more men than women faint while visiting the dentist. This evidence suggests that men are more likely to be distressed about having dental work done than women are. Thus, dentists who advertise to attract patients should target the male consumer and emphasize both the effectiveness of their anesthetic techniques and the sensitivity of their staff to nervous or suffering patients.
字数：423          用时：0:56:32          日期：2007-7-7

The author asserts that dentists should target the male consumer and empasize both the effectiveness of their anesthetic techniques and the sensitivity of their staff to nervous or suffering patients because a statistics showing that men are more likely to be distressed. At the first glance, the argument sounds reasonable, but there are several flaws from a scrutiny.

To begin with, the statistisc collected from denists is open to doubt. First, there is no envidence suggests the number of and the porportion of the sample is large enough. If the dentists investigated touched only a small number of patients to the totality of patients, statistics collected from them is not convincing. Secondly,if men come to denists much more than women,then more men than women faint is common. For example, if there are 100 men and 30 women come to denists, while 30 men and 10 women fainting doesn't mean men are more likely to faint. Before we are provided more information about the statistics, it can convince us nothing.

What is more, even if men are likely to faint, it doesn't show men are likely to distressed. It is completely because men are suffered more severely from dental weakness than women because of smoking and drinking. Or women are distressed in other ways like heartache or psychological and mental hurt. What is even more likely, more women are so distressed that they refused to come to the denists. If the author intend to convice us, he/she must provide more to demonstrate men are more likely to be distressed.

Also, the advertisement dentists are suggested  is doubtful. First, there is no evidence showing male denists are more than female and there is probably more female dentists who don't come to denists need advertisements to give them advisement to come. Secondly, the patients may care more about the denists' reputation but not noticing advertisements at all. Thirdly, both the effectiveness of their anesthetic techniques and the sensitivity of their staff to suffering patients maybe not cater the patients most demands. What the patients really need is prossibly the charge of the denists ,the environment and what is more important, whether the denists can cure the dental disease. The advertisement and the emphasizatiom mentioned in the argument may not work at all.

To sum up, the argument is unconvincing for several flaws. To make it more of persuasion, the author must provide more evidence to support the statistics, to suggest that men are more likely to be distressed compared with women and effection of the advertisement.