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Argument14/118 The following appeared as part of anarticle in a business magazine. "A recent study rating 300 male andfemale advertising executives according to the average number of hours theysleep per night showed an association between the amount of sleep theexecutives need and the success of their firms. Of the advertising firms studied，those whose executives reported needing no more than six hours ofsleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. On the basis ofthis study, we recommend that businesses hire only people who need less thansix hours of sleep per night." Writea response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered inorder to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it isbased are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questionswould help to evaluate the recommendation. In this argument, a conclusion is drawn outthat businesses should hire only people who need less than six hours of sleep. Theauthor claims a recent survey which showed an association between the amount ofsleep the executives need and the success of their companies. The author alsoclaims those whose executives with less than six hours per night can makehigher profits and faster growth to their companies. Although at first glance itmay seem persuasive and reasonable, close scrutiny reveals that the conclusionis unreliable. To begin with, the survey must be shown tobe reliable before I can accept any conclusion the author arrives at based onit. There exists much information not informed of, such as the specificproportion of women and men in the survey, which kind of field or professionthese executives came from, in which age groups young or middle-aged and moreimportantly the sleeping hours except during night. Moreover, the author shouldtell the content of the questionnaire and the way this survey was conducted, sowe can cast doubts about the reliance of the conclusion in the argument. Secondly, supposing the consequence of thesurvey is available that we can almost accept it, it doesn’t necessarily indicatethe association between the amount of sleeping hours the executives need andthe success of their companies. It is likely that most of people participatingin this survey only have six hours or less to sleep for overload working, so wecan imagine that people with over seven hours or even more to sleep may havebetter efficiency and bring about more productivity. The author’s reasoning isdefinitely not comprehensive unless he can demonstrate other possible situationsare not reasonable. Finally, the author assumes that success ofone firm is determined by its profits and the rate of growth. It is actuallynot the case. In fact, there are many other factors that may have influence on acompany’s success. Reputation is always regarded as the most prominent one. Someproducts of ShanZhai can absorb consumers with attractive advertisements, butthey are destined to be bankrupt for their cheating consumers and losing ofreputation. Besides, the quality of a company’s products is also important.Those companies making extravagant profits by manufacturing poor products likesanlu milk powder consequently will incur condemnation and punishments. So theauthor who want to bolster the consensus among us cannot reach his aim withoutconsidering these and other alternative explanations that have to be accountedfor and ruled out. As it stands, the arguer’s argumentmentioned above relies on doubtful evidence or unsound reasoning. To betterevaluate the conclusion, the author should reason more convincingly, cite some logicalevidence, and take every possible consideration into account. | 
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发表于 2013-6-11 16:24:17
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