【Flyer杀G】小组-7.4作业ARGUMENT 181

wagner1985UID: 2838595

181. From a letter to the editor of a city newspaper.
"One recent research study has indicated that many adolescents need more sleep than they are getting, and another study has shown that many high school students in our city are actually dissatisfied with their own academic performance. As a way of combating these problems, the high schools in our city should begin classes at 8:30 A.M. instead of 7:30 A.M., and end the school day an hour later. This arrangement will give students an extra hour of sleep in the morning, thereby making them more alert and more productive. Consequently, the students will perform better on tests and other assignments, and their academic skills will improve significantly."
难度：★★★

Citing two research studies which indicated many adolescents need more sleep than they are getting and many students dissatisfied with their own academic performance, the author concludes the adjustment of daily schedule will solve these two problems by giving students more sleep. And more sleep will make students more efficient in the studying and finally get
better skills than before. However, the authors’ argument relied on a series of unproven assumptions and is therefore unconvincing as it stands.
To begin with, the argument assumes that the lack of sleep is the main reason for the students dissatisfied their scores. Yet the mere two studies hardly suffices to infer any causal relationship with these two factors. Without better evidence of shortage of sleeping hours led a poor performance, it is just as likely that there is no such correlation between these two factors. Therefore, the new schedule will probably not bring a better result , as it seems like.
Even if assuming the casual relationship between more sleep could help students make a better performance, the author do not provide enough evidence to prove the teenagers academic work in high school really could and want to be improved from the new school schedule. Because some people, who claims he/she do not satisfy his/her performance, really attain a high level in skills and do not need more guide, and what they only need is accumulating their experience of reading and writing. And people just have no interests to the academic works. Therefore, however the schedule is rearranged, nothing will happen on them.


Nor can author justify the students in high school in fact is in short of sleeping, because the former study cited by the author may includes wider range of age of teenagers than in high school. Or perhaps the students in high school take a really small part of the data in the former research, or perhaps the former research is only relevant with the children under and containing the age of middle school. In short, the author cannot defend the new schedule in the high school on the basis of what might be no typical reflection in the comparison between the two researches.
Even assuming the lack of sleeping led a poor academic performance, the change of class time will not certainly benefit students’ work, especially if students do not change their rest hours along with that. Besides, it is probably the unpleasant performance itself exerts students so much psychological pressure that students spent more time on studying to take up the sleeping time. Without ruling out these and other possibilities that students in high school do not change their schedules eventually. The author could not persuade me the forthcoming schedule will actually increase the students sleeping hours, let alone improvement in academic works.
In sum, the argument relied on unconvincing relationship between the two factors, as well as specific conditions on each side. To strengthen the argument, the author need to provide more evidence that students in high school really need more sleep and their academic performances could be improved from the more rest. Even with these additional evidence, in order to properly evaluate the argument we need to know whether the teenagers in high school will change their time management from the new arrangement.

MaryWongUID: 2619999

181. From a letter to the editor of a city newspaper.
"One recent research study has indicated that many adolescents need more sleep than they are getting, and another study has shown that many high school students in our city are actually dissatisfied with their own academic performance. As a way of combating these problems, the high schools in our city should begin classes at 8:30 A.M. instead of 7:30 A.M., and end the school day an hour later. This arrangement will give students an extra hour of sleep in the morning, thereby making them more alert and more productive. Consequently, the students will perform better on tests and other assignments, and their academic skills will improve significantly."
难度：★★★

Citing two research studies which indicated many adolescents need more sleep than they are getting and many students dissatisfied with their own academic performance, the author concludes the adjustment of daily schedule will solve these two problems by giving students more sleep. And more sleep will make students more efficient in the studying and finally get
better skills than before. However, the authors’ argument relied on a series of unproven assumptions and is therefore unconvincing as it stands.
To begin with, the argument assumes that the lack of sleep is the main reason for the students dissatisfied their scores. Yet the mere two studies hardly suffices to infer any causal relationship with these two factors. Without better evidence of shortage of sleeping hours led a poor performance, it is just as likely that there is no such correlation between these two factors. Therefore, the new schedule will probably not bring a better result , as it seems like.（这里最好举例，假设学生可能因何种原因不满于学习成绩）
Even if assuming the casual relationship between more sleep could help students make a better performance（relationship between+从句且无比较双方，这种句式对吗？）, the author do not provide enough evidence to prove the teenagers academic work in high school really could and want to be improved from the new school schedule. Because some people, who claims he/she do not satisfy his/her performance, really attain a high level in skills and do not need more guide, and what they only need is accumulating their experience of reading and writing. And people just have no interests to the academic works.（这句要表达什么？与上文如何衔接？） Therefore, however the schedule is rearranged, nothing will happen on them.（这段假设请用假定语气，否则将被视为带入个人观点，而不是驳逻辑错误）
Nor can author justify the students in high school in fact is in short of sleeping, because the former study cited by the author may includes wider range of age of teenagers than in high school. Or perhaps the students in high school take a really small part of the data in the former research, or perhaps the former research is only relevant with the children under and containing the age of middle school. In short, the author cannot defend the new schedule in the high school on the basis of what might be no typical reflection in the comparison between the two researches.
Even assuming the lack of sleeping led a poor academic performance, the change of class time will not certainly benefit students’ work, especially if students do not change their rest hours along with that. Besides, it is probably the unpleasant performance itself exerts students so much psychological pressure that students spent more time on studying to take up the sleeping time. Without ruling out these and other possibilities that students in high school do not change their schedules eventually. The author could not persuade me the forthcoming schedule will actually increase the students sleeping hours, let alone improvement in academic works.
In sum, the argument relied on unconvincing relationship between the two factors, as well as specific conditions on each side. To strengthen the argument, the author need to provide more evidence that students in high school really need more sleep and their academic performances could be improved from the more rest. Even with these additional evidence, in order to properly evaluate the argument we need to know whether the teenagers in high school will change their time management from the new arrangement.
补充：这个题目还有个重要的点值得讨论：
睡眠时间不够一定是因为学校上学时间早吗？