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113. The following is a recommendation from the personnel director to the president of Acme Publishing Company. "Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the Easy Read Speed-Reading Course has greatly improved productivity. One graduate of the course was able to read a 500-page report in only two hours; another graduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in under a year. Obviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in a single workday. Moreover, Easy Read would cost Acme only $500 per employee—a small price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three-week seminar in Spruce City and a lifelong subscription to the Easy Read newsletter. Clearly, to improve productivity, Acme should require all of our employees to take the Easy Read course." Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the advice and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the advice.
The personnel director recommends that Acome Publishing Company should equip all its employees with the Easy Read course to improve the company’s productivity. To bolster the conclusion, the director points out a relationship between the faster a person can read and more information he/she can absorb relying on two cases: (1) one graduate is capable to read a 500-page report in only two hours after the course; (2) another graduate get a promoting after learning the course. To further support, the director also lists the cost and services the Easy Read would provide. Well- intentioned the argument maybe, scrutiny of these evidents reveals several problems that would possiblely weaken the responsibility and validity of the recommendation. I find the argument specious in the following ground.
To begin with, threshold problem with the argument involves the reliability of the two cases. The results of the two cases cited amount to scant evidence for what the arguer maintains.Though the first graduate was able to read a 500-page report in only two hours, it accomplishes nothing toward effectiveness or efficiency of this course. Perhaps in that case the graduate has already acquired the fast-reading ability before the coure. Furthermore, the same ambiguity goes to the second graduate, granted that he/she promoted to vice president from an assistant under a year. There is a strong likelyhood that he/she performs better in other grounds such as skills, professionality and sociablity depites the reading speed brought about the rising. Simultaneously, two individual cases could barely stand for the overall situation of the employers. Accordingly, absent either a clear explaination of these two cases, the authorcan not provide compelling braces making the conclusion solid and sound whatsoever.
Another problem with the argument lies in the assumed causality between the faster a person can read and more information would be absorbed. The recommendation provides no information about how efficient the course would increase the productivity. In the opposite, the author seems to equal speed to comprehension. Without ruling out the previous records of tested graduates and their performances after the courses on apprehending the report, the director can not hasty tell the course could contribute to acquiring the meaning along with the high speed. It is the common sense that the forgetting curve would decrease as fast as you read .
Moreover, stated in the recommendation is the claim that Acme only cost small price compared to the benefits may bring to the company. In further supprt of the claim, the director offers description on the services provided by Acme to tell the advantage and goodness for choosing it. However, neither an average level of the industry nor other similar companies information are mentioned to support the superiority. Even if evidences turn out to sustain the anterior problem, whether it is necessary to spend $500 for all employee in the company should be circumspectly considered. It might be reasonable for data analysts or secretaies to enhance their reading speed, nevertheless, would it be dispensible to positions like cleaner and security guards? Otherwise, the author cannot confidently draw any general conclusions to back for the recommendation.
In a nutshell, the reasoning behind the director’s recommendation for Acme Pulishing Company merely scratches the surfaces and lacks persuasive, practical and professional information to furnish some questions and eliminate alternative possiblities. To strenthen, the director demands more samples observation covers the effect of the course and make a comparision with the previous level. Secondly, other similar companies’ information should be documented indeed to figure out average level of the industry. To better evaluate, whether the requirement to extend the course to all over the company need to be over detected. | 
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发表于 2013-4-21 11:59:18
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