AA017

yukon

17. The following appeared in an article in a consumer-products magazine.

“Two of today’s best-selling brands of full-strength prescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid, Acid-Ease and Pepticaid, are now available in milder nonprescription forms. Doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for full-strength Acid-Ease than for full-strength Pepticaid. So people who need an effective but milder nonprescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid should choose Acid-Ease.”

In the argument, the author concludes that people who need an effective but milder nonprescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid should choose Acid-Ease. To justify the argument, the author cites that the Acid-Ease and Pepticaid are two of today’s best-selling brands of full-strength prescription medication for the relief of execess stomach acid and they are also available in milder nonprescription forms, but doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for full-strength Acid-Ease than for full-strength Pepticaid. However, the reasoning in this argument is questionable in several respects.

To begin with, the author assumes that the high effectiveness of Acid-Ease alone has caused the medicine’s popularity with doctors. However, no evidence is offered that this is the case. It is possible that most people who choose the Acid-Ease as full-strength prescription medication have suffered the serious side effects since taking the medication. Or possibly, some doctors often prescript the Acid-Ease to their patients are motivated by the commission promised by the manufacturers who produce Acid-Ease. Because the author ignores the aforementioned possibilities, the argument is not very sound and persuasive.

Moreover, it is highly groundless that the factors drew from the past experience and statistics of full-strength prescription can be applicable to the cases of nonprescription. The differences between the cases of nonprescription and those of full-strength prescription may dramatically diminish the effects of Acid-Ease. Because no evidence is provided to prove that the effects of Acid-Ease are strong than those of Pepticaid in any situation, the author’s recommendation is unacceptable.

Last but not the least, the author just mentions that doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for full-strength Acid-Ease than for full-strength Pepticaid, but does not supply evidence to prove that the trend will continue. It is possible that when the Pepticaid was invented, Acid-Ease has been used for several years and that the Pepticaid has prevailed Acid-Ease, becoming the most popular medication last year. If so, it is hard to say that Acid-Ease is a better choose than Peptocaid, thereby the author’s conclusion will be undermined seriously

In sum, the argument is weak. To substantiate the argument, the author would have to supply more statistics and detailer information to prove that Acid-Ease is more effective than Pepticaid in every aspect and that the popularity of Acid-Ease is resulted from its own effectiveness alone.

这篇AA是掐时间写的，我觉得这三段的前后顺序变一变会更好，但是...保持历史真实性吧！请版主看看大概几分吧。谢谢！写的不好直说也无妨