Sunday, August 26, 2007

The following was written as a part of an application for a small business loan by a group of developers in the city of Monroe.
"A jazz music club in Monroe would be a tremendously profitable enterprise. Currently, the nearest jazz club is 65 miles away; thus, our proposed club, the C Note, would have the local market all to itself. Plus, jazz is extremely popular in Monroe: over 100,000 people attended Monroe's jazz festival last summer, several well-known jazz musicians live in Monroe, and the highest-rated radio program in Monroe is 'Jazz Nightly,' which airs every weeknight. Finally, a nationwide study indicates that the typical jazz fan spends close to $1,000 per year on jazz entertainment. It is clear that the C Note cannot help but make money."

Unfortunately I don't find the argument and its premises tenable enough to yield to the stated conclusion. The author's contention that opening a new jazz club in Monroe would be tremendously profitable can be challenged on the grounds discussed in the following paragraphs.

The author mentions that the nearest jazz club to the city is located 65 miles away from it, & the city has no other jazz club. He makes this a reason to believe that their new club would have all the local market available to it. However, the absence of a jazz club in the city itself proves that the local dwellers have little interest in the jazz music, otherwise the city would have been packed with such clubs. So the author's claim does little to substatiate his conclusion.

The author states that over 100,000 people attended Monroe's jazz festival last summer. But this again does little to prove that jazz is highly popular in Monroe. It is possible that these people may have come to attend the festival from the nearby areas, & the actual number of locals
who participated in the festival might have been signficantly low. Moreover the fact that several well-known jazz musicians live in Monroe also does little to prove that jazz is a popular form of music there. These musicians may have their origin from some other places, but may have come to live in the city due to better living conditions prevailing there. The author's next point that 'Jazz Nightly' is the highest rated radio program in Monroe can be challenged on the grounds that author has has not mentioned the precise contents of the program. The radio program may have little to do with the actual jazz music & may have some other attractive features for the listeners.

Even if we yield to the fact that jazz is a popular form of music among people in Monroe, we can't directly conclude that people would be motivated & interested enough to visit a jazz club. There is every possibility that people may be ineterested in listening to the jazz music
only on radio or television, & may have other priorities than attending to a jazz club.

Finally, the author refers to a nation wide survey which indicates that the typical jazz fan spends close to $1,000 per year on jazz entertainment. The author's reliance on this survey to support his conclusion is in no way justified. First the survey is nation-wide & does not just represent the tastes of people of Monroe. Secondly, it refers to the typical jazz fan's average expenditure on jazz entertainment, without stating the actual number of such fans. It is plausible that the actual number of such fans may be so meager that their average spending holds
no value.

In a nutshell the argument's conclusion relies on certain doubtful assumptions & specious reasons that render it unconvincing as it stands. The argument can be made more concrete and persuasive if author provides the results of a survey of Monroe's people reaction to the opening of a new jazz club in their city. It should also find out reasons that why no other company has yet launched a jazz club in Monroe.

15

15

Humans arrived in the Kaliko Islands about 7,000 years ago, and within 3,000 years most of the large mammal species that had lived in the forests of the Kaliko Islands had become extinct. Yet humans cannot have been a factor in the species' extinctions, because there is no evidence to suggest that humans had any significant contact with the mammals. Further, archaeologists have discovered numerous sites where the bones of fish had been discarded, but they found no such areas containing the bones of large mammals, so the humans cannot have hunted the mammals. Therefore, some climate change or other environmental factor must have caused the species' extinctions.

The author’s conclusion that the extinction of large mammal species in the Kaliko Islands was caused by climatic factors rather than human intervention, is based on specious reasoning.

The apparent lack of evidence of ‘significant contact’ between humans and mammals is used to bolster the theory that humans played no role in their extinction. However, the author neglects to define what constitutes ‘significant contact’. It is possible, for example, that the human settlers drove the animals away by their mere presence, or cut down the forests inhabited by the animals and caused them to die out. If this were the case, then humans would certainly be a factor in the mammals’ extinction, even without 'significant contact' (actively hunting or consuming them). Simply because, as the author suggests, humans did not *consume* animals, it does not necessarily follow that they did not have an effect on their extinction.

Moreover, merely because there is an absence of evidence with regard to human/mammal contact, this does not necessarily constitute evidence of absence. The author claims that no sites containing the bones of large mammals have been discovered, yet this does not mean that such sites do not exist. Perhaps the archaeologists have been digging in the wrong places, or perhaps the animal bones were washed out to sea. Furthermore, if the author is using the absence of ossuary evidence to posit the idea that humans could not have caused the extinction, he or she must admit that even an environmental cause would not account for this lack of animal bones.

In order to support the point that humans cannot have hunted the mammals because no bones have been found, the author posits a comparison with the bones of fish, which *have* been discovered on this island. However, on closer inspection, this constitutes a false analogy. Simply because the bones of fish were discarded in a certain way, it does not necessarily follow that the bones of mammals were discarded according to the same procedure. Perhaps it was customary for humans to discard mammal bones – as opposed to fish bones – in a particular way, to which the archaeological record does not attest. There may have been a tradition, for example, in which fish bones were buried, whereas mammalian bones were crushed into a fine powder and scattered to the wind, or cast out to sea.

Even if we are to suspend disbelief and conclude, along with the author, that the presence of humans on the islands has nothing to do with the absence of animals, there is absolutely no evidence to nominate ‘climate change or other environmental factor’ as the reason for the extinction. The author is quick to make this assumption, but does nothing to specify the type of environmental factor (a meteor? Rising sea levels? Global warming?), nor offers any proof to support this assertion. Furthermore, simply because humans have been ruled out as the cause of the mammals’ extinction (according to the author), this does not necessarily mean that the cause is climatic. For example, it is quite possible that a disease could have wiped out the entire mammalian population in those 3000 years.

The argument, as presented in the extract, is deeply flawed. The author assumes that lack of proof is proof of lack, fails to define key words, presents a false comparison between fish and mammals, and neglects to offer evidence to support his or her opinion that the extinction was caused by climate change. He or she would do well to undertake further research, consider other factors, such as mammalian disease, as the cause of extinction, and to remember that merely because there do not *appear* upon first sight to be signs of human intervention, this may not necessarily have been the case

16

The following appeared in a memo from the president of Viva-Tech, a manufacturer of high-tech medical equipment.
"In order to reduce costs, we should close some of our existing small assembly plants and build a large central plant. Grandview would be an ideal location for this new plant. First, of the locations that we have considered, Grandview has the largest adult population, so that we will be able to staff our plant quickly and easily. Second, since the average wage earned by workers in Grandview is less than that in the other locations, we should be able to keep production costs low. Last, as an inducement for us to build there, Grandview's town council has offered to allow us to operate for the first three years without paying city taxes."


ESSAY---
The President of Viva-Tech suggests that the manufacturer should close down the existing small assembly plants and instead open up a large central plant at Grandview. He favours Grandview as the ideal location for the new plant since it has the large adult population that would ensure easy flow of workforce. In addition, the current low wages and city tax exemption for three years convince the President that Grandview would indeed be a good choice. The reasons cited in the memo seem pretty unconvincing and full of loose assumptions to me.

First of all, the assumption that the cost would be reduced, by starting a large plant instead of many small ones, doesn’t hold much weight. No arguments have been given to prove that the central plant would prove more profitable. On the contrary, setting up a larger new plant would require a significant investment and might lead to some additional costs like freight expenses.

Secondly, even the reasons put forth for selecting Grandview as the perfect location are questionable. A large adult population doesn’t necessarily mean a large work-force for the plant. Especially when Viva-Tech is a high-tech medical equipment manufacturer, skillful workers would be needed and people of the required qualifications might not be many in number in Grandview. In such a scenario, they would have to hire people from outside the town and this would only increase the costs. Also, no demographic data about the population has been provided. It might be so that the majority of the population comprises of senior citizens, which are in no way would contribute to the plant's staff.

Thirdly, even though the average wages earned by workers in Grandview might be lesser than that in other locations, this might not be able to keep the production costs low. There is no mention of how less the wages are from the present locations and whether the workers would be willing to work in this particular manufacturing unit for the same wages. In calculating the production costs, factors such as availability of raw materials, transportation, machinery maintenance etc. should be taken into account. It might be possible that Grandview is in a far-flung area and not well connected with the hubs of essential raw materials or that the markets for the final products are situated far away. These causes would then only increase the production costs and make the low wages insignificant.

Fourthly, the memo doesn’t state the figures regarding the taxes in Grandview and the current cities. According to me, a comparison is essential here because even though Viva-Tech might be saving on three year's city taxes, the tax rates might be significantly higher in reality. This would render the rebate useless

17

The following recommendation was made by the Human Resources Manager to the board of directors of the Fancy Toy Company.
"In the last three quarters of this year, under the leadership of our president, Pat Salvo, our profits have fallen considerably. Thus, we should ask for her resignation in return for a generous severance package. In Pat's place, we should appoint Rosa Winnings. Rosa is currently president of Starlight Jewelry, a company whose profits have increased dramatically over the past several years. Although we will have to pay Rosa twice the salary that Pat has been receiving, it will be well worth it because we can soon expect our profits to increase considerably."



The argument relying on the assumption that to increase the profits of Fancy Toy Company, the president Pat Salvo should resign and Rosa Winnings, the president of Starlight Jewelry, should be appointed in Pat’s place is not complete and flawed in several critical respects, since it presents fragmentary evidence. Neither are the premises persuasive nor is the conclusion compelling. There are gaps and loop holes in the logic that make the premises and conclusion untenable, since it ignores certain crucial assumptions. Therefore the argument is the result of a hasty generalization and fails to provide a holistic picture. The following essay will expose these flaws and demonstrate how the argument could be strengthened.


The threshold problem with the argument is that whether the president of Starlight Jewelry will make the same increasing in Fancy Toy Company. The speaker omits the reality that there is a huge difference between the jewelry and toy marketing strategies. That is, it is a large flaw to say that Rosa Winnings will increase the profits of the toy company. Consequently, she can be very succesful in a jewelry company but in the toy company the strategies that she will perform may not be as useful as she had done in her previous company. Moreover, the demands are totally different when we compare both companies. The president of a toy company must take the children demands into consideration and should estimate how a child thinks. On the other hand, the president of a jewelry company must take the adults, especially the women, demands into consideration and should follow the last universal jewelry market production and marketing strategies to understand what women want mostly.

The second problem with the argument is that the speaker only mention the last 9 months to judge the president and says that period will be enough to eveluate, but she/he doesn’t mention and give any information about the previous terms under the leadership of their current president. If the speaker doesn’t elaborate that the profits were as low as those of current time and the profits began to decrease at first time by the leadership of Pat Salvo, the argument will be easily rejected out of hand.

To support my view I want to mention the other crucial flaws in the argument. Firstly, that the only way to increase the profits is replacing the president with new one is not convincing. Because the replacing of the president may not result in an estimated situation and they may consider another possible solution to get around the diminishing of the profits. Besides that the president may not be responsible of that loss and the another person in charge might results in that. Without giving and presenting the whole picture, the argument is really weak.

The other problem with the argument is that they will have to pay more than before if they replace the president. By doing that they risk their future profit estimations, since there is no guaranty that they will compensate that added expenditure.

In sum, the author’s argument is logically flawed, weak on several grounds and therefore unconvincing as it stands. Had the author taken the above discussed factors into view, it would have rendered the argument irrefutable. In a nutshell, without closing the gap and fixing the other problems discussed in this essay, the argument is simply vulnerable to critism.

18

The following appeared in an article written by Dr. Karp, an anthropologist.

'Twenty years ago Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of Tertia and concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village rather than by their own biological parents. However, my recent interviews with children living in the group of islands that includes Tertia show that these children spend much more time talking about their biological parents than about other adults in the village. This research proves that Dr. Field's conclusion about Tertian village culture is false, and thus that the observation-centered approach to studying cultures is invalid. Because they are using the interview-centered method, my team of graduate students working in Tertia will establish a much more accurate understanding of child-rearing traditions there and in other island cultures.'

My Response:

Dr. Karp presents the conclusion that his working graduate students in Tertia will establish accurate understanding of the child rearing traditions in Tertia and other islands based on a flawed inference that interview-centered technique is far more superior than observation-centered technique.

The conclusion of Dr. Field that childrens of Tertia were reared by the whole community of the island than just by their biological parents is established 20 years ago. This might be the more accurate observation 20 years ago. Things might have changed over these 20 years and community people of Tertia have stopped taking care about other childrens than their own. If this is the case contradictiong the Dr. Field's conclusion and infering that interview-based approach to community study reveals far better details than observation based techniques are highly flawed as he compared the results of study of community that behaved differently over the time.

Moreover the interviews at the most may last for 1 hour. It is natural not just for children for humanbeing of any age to say more about their parents or who they are associated more frequently when someone asks. As far as the observation is considered it takes into consideration of the suffient time that is needed to reveal a paricular detail.
The author makes one more flaw by generalizing that his students will achieve accurate results in studying the other island cultures by using the same interview based technique. Interview based technique work well for islands where people are willing to cooperate with the interviewers. We can't take it for granted that people in all islands are cooperative.
Summarily we can conclude that Dr. Karp is presenting a conclusion based on insufficient and illogically drawn inferences. He might have sthrenghtned his argument by comparing the two techniques results on several island cultures during the same time.

19

the response was written in a timed environment :

The following appeared as a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.

"Five years ago, we residents of Morganton voted to keep the publicly owned piece of land known as Scott Woods in a natural, undeveloped state. Our thinking was that, if no shopping centers or houses were built there, Scott Woods would continue to benefit our community as a natural parkland. But now that our town planning committee wants to purchase the land and build a school there, we should reconsider this issue. If the land becomes a school site, no shopping centers or houses can be built there, and substantial acreage would probably be devoted to athletic fields. There would be no better use of land in our community than this, since a large majority of our children participate in sports, and Scott Woods would continue to benefit our community as natural parkland."

response :
I find that the argument is not well reasoned. The are specific areas where some evidence would strengthen the argument and there are statements which need corraborative evidence or reasoning. The author has also assumed that the argument would be read with some sentiment in mind , which may not be true.

The authors argument rests on the statement that even after the school is built , a substantial acreage would be available as atheletic fields , thus , leaving ample natural parkland for the community. He has not provided any evidence that all schools always devote substantial premises for atheletic fields. Thus , the contention that substantial acreage would probably be devoted to atheletic fields seems specious.

The author alleges that if a school is built on the Scott woods site , no shopping centers can be built there. His statement is not backed with any reasoning or proof. If the author could state some existing law , or give a logical explanation of his statement , his argument would be stronger.

Since 5 years have passed since the decision to keep Scott Woods in an undeveloped state , the author should provide some statistics of how , if at all , this has befitted the community .

The author concludes that there could be no better use of the land than building a school. The author has not talked about the merits and demerits of any other uses of land. Thus , his conclusion that building a school is the best use is merely an allegation which needs corraboration.
He has , in fact ,not even talked about the merits and demerits of building a school. The author assumes that the reader feels that building a school is the best thing for the community. It is possible that Morganton is innundated with public schools and no more are really required. The author should clearly state what the benefits of building a school are. He has stated that a large majority of children participate in sport. Building a school is not the only way of helping chldren play sport. A gymnasium would also suffice the purpose. Thus , the author should clearly state why building a school is required.

In conclusion , I feel the author should more thoroughly investigate the issue and present a clearer , better reasoned argument.

20

The following recommendation was made by the president and administrative staff of Grove College, a private institution, to the college's governing committee.
"We recommend that Grove College preserve its century-old tradition of all-female education rather than admit men into its programs. It is true that a majority of faculty members voted in favor of coeducation, arguing that it would encourage more students to apply to Grove. But eighty percent of the students responding to a survey conducted by the student government wanted the school to remain all female, and over half of the alumni who answered a separate survey also opposed coeducation. Keeping the college all-female, therefore, will improve morale among students and convince alumni to keep supporting the college financially."



The given passage portrays the views of the president and the administrative staff of Grove College regarding the prospective implementation of coeducational system in the college. Although the writer presents certain data to support his views, he fails to make his intentions more cogent by neglecting certain issues.

Primarily, the author fails to educate the reader why the change is intended in the college. The author presents statistics regarding the surveys conducted among the faculty, the students and the alumni to present their views but the reader is in obscurity why the committee has proposed the change. Thus the author would be more informative if he includes the reason for it.

The writer implies in his statements that although a majority of the faculty voted for the new system of education, they must not be paid heed. Thus the decision of the faculty is disregarded in the process. The author fails to deal with the consequences of such a situation, since the faculty usually form the most important section of any academic institution and it would be unwise to challenge their ideas and incur their wrath.

The writer is primarily concerned about the alumni members' opinion for the change, with their financial assisstance in consideration. However, the economic dependency of the college on the alumni is not made evident in the passage. The novel education scheme in the college could as well do away with the monetary obligations of the alumni. Thus evidence that the alumni funds are mandatory for the administration of the college would make the governing committee take notice of the president's voice.

The writer presumes that the all-female system of education would boost the morales of the students. However the writer fails to explain his statements. Coeducational studies could bring in broader thinking and exchange of values among the students. The writer makes a statement about the system that the college has not experienced so far and hence is being presumptuous.

Finally, the writer does not intend to disclose the implementation of his ideas to the new scheme. The writer fails to address the situation faced by the currently studying females in the college, whether the system would be applicable only to the new recruits or will be introduced to existing classes. The position of the students thus hangs in peril.

The writer, though intends to convince the committee to revoke its plans of implementing the coeducational scheme, fails to address certain issues that seem dubious. Hence, only if the author clarifies the aforesaid arguments, does he make himself cogent
“A news report suggests that men and women experience pain differently from one another, and that doctors should consider these differences when prescribing pain medications. When researchers administered the same dosage of kappa opioids a pain killer to 28 men and 20 women who were having their wisdom tooth extracted, the women reported feeling much less pain than men, easing of pain lasted more for women.This research suggests that kappa opioids be given to women during pain a medication is required, whereas men must be given different kinds of medication. In addition, researchers should reevaluate the effects of all medications on men versus women.”




The news report came out with news regarding the pain experienced during medication by men and women. It suggests that men and women experience different orders of pain and accordingly medication should be done and also reevaluation of all effects medications on men versus women should take place. However, the argument is quite fallacious as it is based on some unwarranted assumptions and questionable evidence.

Firstly, it concludes the change in the medication on all the people based on a research on a few. The conclusion drawn is of universal nature and must be done on a whole range of people, and according to the strict norms of experimentation. Generalizing based on a small experiment in regard to extracting the wisdom tooth is hasty. It also fails to give the description of the people in the experiment. The men considered for the experiment may be of younger age and women may be of older age and so the latter were able to bear the pain. Sometimes other psychological factors are also at work. Habitual use of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and taking of tobacco reduces the effect of anesthesia. For example, a alcoholic needs more dosage of anesthetic compared to a sober. Based on these factors dosage of painkiller should be given disregarding the individual differences.

Moreover, the argument assumes that men and women are not identical in all aspects and so Kappa should not be given to men. It is illogical. In terms of medical sciences, the physiological structure is almost similar enough to have same medication for all the diseases. Thus the argument ignores the very basic similarities between men and women or should we say human beings.

Having considered all the factors we conclude that giving different medications for men and women is quite fallacious and unscientific. The argument would have been cogent if the validity of the research, description of the people on whom the experiments were conducted, and any other experiments were conducted to test this phenomenon were provided.

"In the age of television, reading books is not as important as it once was. People can learn as much by watching television as they can by reading bo

Recently, the television technologies develop sharply and play more and more important roles in our society. The speaker draws a conclusion that watching television will take the place of reading books with the phenomenon above. While deep considering the advantages and disadvantages of both television and books, I have a different attitude that although watching television is a important way to get information while reading books does not loss its use in out learning.

At any rate, more and more people have the trend that get information, have a spiritual rest and even pay attention to political by watching television. Admittedly, watching television is really a fast way to learn our society and the world. It is the best method for someone who like learn something with direct video and audio. In other areas in the society, a company or factory could raise their known-degree by advertising on television. Also it is a good way for the one who want to be the president to win the vote playing his/her speak on television. Anyway, we cannot look down on the television for its use in modern.

However, reading books is still the main method for most people to learn the knowledge. One would be used in learn something by reading from childhood to university age. And comparing with the television, the books is easier taken with one and used to learn in a short time. It is hardly to image that one will put out a television from his/her package and watch it when he/she is waiting for a bus. So, although watching television brings us a fast way to get information, reading books is the basically and general way to learn.

Actually, we should judge things with a developing view. In this issue, watching television or reading books is not a problem as a proverb says "A door must be either shut or open" . There are many interactions between them. For example, on one hand, some books like magazines and newspaper can help people know about the event which may be also reported on television. On the other hand, television classroom and multi-media became a useful associate of teaching and learning in a traditional way. One can learn by both watching television and reading books, the former of which brings his/her recent information while the latter of which brings his/her the traditional and universal knowledge, for neither of them could be omit.

To sum up, we can safely draw a conclusion that we need to find a balance between watching television and reading books in our learning and we can not regard them independent with each other. In another word, one watching television could read books too and no one will stop you watching television for you reading books. What we need do is only thinking about how and when to watch television or read books rather to choose one of them and abandon another. If all of us can well deal with finding the balance, we will believe in that our society will develop sharply for the high quantity citizen.

11

The University of Claria is generally considered one of the best universities in the world because of its instructors' reputation, which is based primarily on the extensive research and publishing record of certain faculty members. In addition, several faculty members are internationally renowned as leaders in their fields. For example, many of the faculty from the English department are regularly invited to teach at universities in other countries. Furthermore, two recent graduates of the physics department have gone on to become candidates for the Nobel Prize in Physics. And 75 percent of the students are able to find employment after graduating. Therefore, because of the reputation of its faculty, the University of Claria should be the obvious choice for anyone seeking a quality education.



The argument that university of claria would be the best choice for education based on the facts provided is not entirely convincing.The reasons provided for the reputation of the university are not substantial enough to conclude that it is the best university.

To begin with, deciding the reputation of a university based on the instructers' reputation is illogical.The instructers may be doing excellent research in their respective fields.But that does not imply that the students enrolled will get quality education.Infact the instructers could be pre-occupied with their own research work and may neglect to give proper education to the students.So just the fact that the instructors have published papers or are nobel prize candidates does not conclusively prove that the university of claria is the best of its kind.Also the fact that some of the faculty members teach in other countries regularly only implies that some of the best staff members are not regularly available in the University of claria.Effectively this could be considered a drawback rather than an advantage.

Also even if it is accepted that the instructors' reputation is directly related to the quality of education in the university,the author has failed to mention the proportion of reputed instructors.The author's ambiguous phrases like 'several faculty members','many of the faculty' dont precisely quantify the number of reputed instructors.As terms such as several and many are relative.What if the university is small one with a few faculty members.Had the number of faculty members who are renowned for their research contrubution been mentioned it would have been more convincing.

Also the author speaks solely in terms of the achievements of the university of claria without comparing with other universities .There might be other bigger universities whose staff also have equal or better credentials.A larger proportion of the staff in those universities may be renowned for their research work.So it is not entirely convincing when the author asserts that Claria is the best university without showing how it differs from other universities.Had the author given more information about the ranking of Claria among the universities,comparative data about the achievement of staff of the various universities,it would have been more acceptable that claria is indeed the best choice for quality education.

Also the author's statement that 75% of the students find employment after graduating is rather vague.The author must have given more information about the kind of employments the students get.Whether they get employment in a firm relevant to their field of education,whether they get employment in a reputed firm,etc.Just that 75% of the students got employment is not encouraging without knowing specific details about the type of employment.If another university A's statistics shows that only 50% of its students got employed but those who were employed were absorbed into the best companies(unlike claria) in the respective fields,then chances are prospective students may find University A a better choice than Claria.

In sum ,if the author had given more information about the proportion of reputed faculty members,comparative reputation of university of claria and also the kind of employment ,etc his argument that Claria is the best choice for quality education would have been more convincing

The following appeared in a report of the Committee on Faculty Promotions and Salaries at Elm City University.

"During her 17 years as a professor of botany, Professor Thomas has proved herself to be well worth her annual salary of $50,000. Her classes are among the largest at the university, demonstrating her popularity among students. Moreover, the money she has brought to the university in research grants has exceeded her salary in each of the last two years. Therefore, in consideration of Professor Thomas' demonstrated teaching and research abilities, we recommend that she receive a $10,000 raise and a promotion to Department Chairperson; without such a raise and promotion, we fear that Professor Thomas will leave Elm City University for another college."





In these report the members of faculty Promotions and Salaries at Elm City University recommend Professor Thomson to be assigned to the position of department chairperson and be given an increase of 10000. To support these recommdation committee members cites that her classes are the among the largest at the university which demonstrating her popularity among students. Also she has raised the money for for research purposes. As the argument stands ,it seems convincing but the true scrutiny of the argument lends the argument as specious.

Firstly, the committee sites that Thomson classes are among the largest at the university and that indicates her popularity among students. It is entirely possible that there is no good teacher in the university for the particular subject which Thomson teaches. so the students do not have any option instead of attending her classes. if that is the case than this does not indicate the popularity of miss Thomson among the students. hence to support the argument committee must give some idea about other teacher and why her classes are the largest.

Secondly, the teacher can’t be given pay rise or higher position just because her classes are largest. as common sense suggests me a teacher should be promoted if she is teaching properly and does the results in the university have alleviated due to her teaching. it is entirely possible that professor Thomson is not teaching properly but the students are forced to attend her class due to presently scenario.
Thirdly, the committee provides a claim that she raised the money to the university in research grants has exceeded her salary in each of the last two years. This is entirely possible that to get the position of department chairperson and the pay rise she had raised the money. If that is the case than it would be hard to agree with committee claim that her pay should be raised.

Finally, even if we agree that miss Thomson classes are large and her popularity among student and she teaches properly than it may probably happen that she after being assigned at the position of management chairperson cant concentrate on teaching because of the additional responsibility as the chairperson. And if she is that good teacher than the salary rise of $10000 will keep her from rejecting the author from other universities which is greater than the current salary and the salary rise. unless committee e does covers these points I cant concede with committee.

In sum, as the committee must provide the reason why her classes are all time largest .at the same time what was the intention of raising that much big amount for research. And even if the pay rise is given that will keep her from not leaving the elm city university
"In a recent study, subjects who ate soybeans at least five times per week had significantly lower cholesterol levels than subjects who ate no soy products. By fortifying our Wheat-O cereal with soy protein, we can increase sales by appealing to additional consumers who are concerned about their health. This new version of Wheat-O should increase company profits and, at the same time, improve the health of our customers."


Based on a recent study about ingesting soybeans and lower cholesterol levels, the arguer simply assumes causal relationship between the two things which we take leave to doubt. Then we start to doubt the succedent conclusion. Let us get down to the fundamentals and agree that there maybe exist a sort of correlation that ingesting soybeans can lower individual’s cholesterol levels, but the causal relationship is unwarranted.

First of all, there are many questions about unstated procedure and subjects’ characters of the study. Let’s begin with what the quantity of the subjects is? Is there sufficient number of subjects involved in the study from which we can safely draw conclusion? Then we go on asking how the subjects choose from people? Are these subjects choosed randomly or strictly from the people who have the same initiative cholesterol levels? If the subjects are choosed randomly, then there is good chance that the initiative cholesterol levels of subjects who ate soybeans are lower than subjects who ate no soybeans,then the lower cholesterol levels has nothing to do with whether the subjects ate soybeans or not.

Secondly, we can dig our question deeper by asking: Are there other alternatives contributed to lower cholesterol levels of subjects who ate soybeans (let’s call it “subjects 1”) and comparatively higher cholesterol levels of subjects who ate no soybeans (let’s call it”subjects 2). We are kept from the information about the diet, life habits and practising rates of the two groups of subjects. Compared to subjects1, the higher cholesterol levels of subjects2 is maybe because they usually take too much fat and egg, nearly don’t practise once a week and maybe they are heavy smokers and alcoholic. Each of scenarioes would seriously undermine the validity of result of the study.

Thirdly, even if we concede that soybean is actually beneficial to the health of people. This does not necessarily mean that by adding soy protein to Wheat-O cereal one can attact more consumers who are concerned about their health. Before buying some product, consumer would consider many aspects of this product especially its taste and price. If Wheat-O cereal tastes worse or price is very higher than other brands of cereal which also are fortified with soy protein, I am afraid adding soy protein to Wheat-O cereal can not open the more market. Even if the new Wheat-O cereal is popular in the market, gain profits is still not the case if the increasing cost cover the profits from the sales.

Finally, we still need to discuss the term of ‘soybean’ with ‘soy protein’. Commen sense tells us that soy protein is distilled from soybean. But soy protein is as the same good effectiveness as soybean concerning to health of individuals. In the study, It is possible that some other substance in soybean is responsible for the lower cholesterol levels. The arguer fails to convince us again.

In conclusion, before extend use of soy protein to product like cereal, more well-rounded and thoroughly analysis should be done.
A recent sales study indicated that consumption of seafood dishes in Bay City restaurants has increased by 30 percent over the past five years. Yet there are no currently operating city restaurants that specialize in seafood. Moreover, the majority of families in Bay City are two-income families, and a nationwide study has shown that such families eat significantly fewer home-cooked meals than they did a decade ago but at the same time express more concern about eating healthily. Therefore, a new Bay City restaurant specializing in seafood will be quite popular and profitable.


At a first glance the argument “specializing seafood dishes in a new Bay City restaurant will be quite popular and profitable” is an obvious conclusion. But there are some assumptions that make the argument weak.

First of all, as mentioned the consumption of seafood dishes in Bay City restaurants has increased by 30 percent over five years. And the majority of families in Bay City are two-income families. This does not mean that they always preferred seafood dishes. So they may not be responsible for increments of seafood dishes. So there is no valid reason for the Increment of seafood dishes.

In the first line the author writes about the recent sales study of that consumption. No supporting sentence is there for that line. So there is no valid proof for that we can assume seafood dishes in Bay City restaurants have really increased by 30 percent.

Two-income families don’t mean that Father and mother is the only income holder. There may be another combination possible, such as father and son. So in this case the family will prefer to eat home-cooked meals than Bay City restaurant meals. So there is no valid survey is there.

Lastly, if there will be a new Bay City restaurant specializing in seafood dishes. These may not be quite popular and profitable. Because specializing in seafood dishes cause higher cost. This makes less the seafood dishes less popular and less profitable also.

The argument for specializing seafood dishes for making it profitable and popular could provide more information. This will make the argument stronger. After all, a false confidence towards the profit and popularity could take anybody a sheer loss.

The following appeared in a memo from the president of a company that builds and sells new homes in Steel City.

"Over the past five years, the population of Steel City has increased by more than 20 percent, and family incomes in Steel City have risen much faster than the national average. Nationwide, sales of houses priced above $150,000 have increased more than have sales of lower-priced houses. Such data indicate that we should make changes in our business to increase company profits. First, we should build fewer low-priced houses than we did last year and focus instead on building houses designed to sell at above $150,000. Second, we should hire additional workers so that we can build a larger total number of houses than we did last year."


At a first glance the argument for changing strategy in company policy towards company’s profit is an obvious conclusion. But there are some assumptions that make the argument weak.

First of all, as mentioned over the past years the population of Steel City has increased by more than 20 percent. This is because of the building of the new houses. And many of newly arrived people may have already purchase a house. So there are a few possibilities of purchasing a new one. So the population increment is not a vital cause for company’s profit.

As mentioned by the author that the sales of houses priced above $150,000 have increased more than have sales of lower-priced houses. There is no sufficient data for those points. It will be useful if the author provide some valid survey as an example.

Lastly, if the company invests some more money for building house of price above $150,000 , may not get the right kind of profit. The sales of that company will be high suddenly, but there is assurance that the company may get the same ratio of gain. Because for building those houses the company has to hire some specialist additional workers, which is cost effective. And there is more risk involved in building those houses then lower-priced houses.
The argument for changing strategy in company policy towards company’s profit could provide more information. This will make the argument stronger. In order to lack of sufficient data and proper analysis the argument seems to be weak. After all, a false confidence towards the profit could take the company a sheer loss.