argument36

legenderek

题目：
36. The following report appeared in thenewsletter of the West Meria Public Health Council.
"An innovative treatment has come to ourattention that promises to significantly reduce absenteeism in our schools andworkplaces. A study reports that in nearby East Meria, where fish consumptionis very high, people visit the doctor only once or twice per year for thetreatment of colds. Clearly, eating a substantial amount of fish can preventcolds. Since colds represent the most frequently given reason for absences fromschool and work, we recommend the daily use of Ichthaid—a nutritionalsupplement derived from fish oil—as a good way to prevent colds and lowerabsenteeism."
Write a response in which you discuss whatspecific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how theevidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

提纲：
1.     Study 的可信性
2.     吃很多鱼和很少去医院是否是因果关系
3.     East Meria与作者希望推广的这两地是否具有可比性（faulty analogy）
4.     吃ichthaid 和吃鱼效果是不是一样


Inthis argument the author recommended that the daily use of Ichthaid—a nutritional supplement derivedfrom fish oil—as a good way to prevent colds and lower absenteeism. Atthe first glance, this argument appears to be somewhat forceful. However, close scrutiny of the evidence reveals that it accomplishes little toward supporting thedirector’s claim. From the logical perspective, this argument suffersfromthree logical flaws.


To begin with, the threshold problem with this argument is that the author made therecommendation based on a study report with little evidence such as statisticaldata and the description of the methodology to support its validity. In suchcase, it is possible that the company producing Ichthaid conducted this study. Theyexaggerated the benefits of eating fish to promote their own product. To makethis report more convincing, detailed statistical data, description ofmethodology and some other important information proving its neutrality need tobe provided.


Even if the report was reliable: people in nearby East Meria consume quite a lot fish usuallyvisit doctor once or twice per year for treatment of colds. It is unreasonable forthe author to conclude the former caused the later. It is entirely possiblethat the perfect climate condition and the effort of the local government maintaininga high level of hygiene condition contribute to people’s good health condition.Another study: analyse the people in nearby East Meria who seldom eating fish ontheir frequency of getting cold, to rule out other possible factors makingpeople healthier, will be helpful to make this argument more persuasive.


Even assuming that consuming a lot fish can decrease the possibility getting cold wasconvincing, in order to reasonably arrive at the author's conclusion, the assumption thatpeople in the West Meria would benefit the same as people in East Meria on eatingfish. Such assumption was not reasonable as the diet habits are oftendifferent. Perhaps people from West Meria prefers to drink wine each meal  and alcohol will damage the effectivenutrition in fish, which making eating fish or consuming Ichthaid useless forpreventing getting cold. Hence the author needs to provide a report studyingthe life style of West and East Meria people before recommend people to intakemore fish product.


To sum up, this arguer fails to illustrate his claim as the evidence cited in the analysis does not providestrong support to what the arguer maintains. More specific datavalid evidence need to be provided to make this recommendation persuasive.

竹林中人

我感觉ＬＺ这篇ａｒｇｕ还是很不错的，条理逻辑很清晰。
你的提纲可以作为这种类比建议类题目的模板。
中间段的论述，你也做得比较好，比如这句It is unreasonable forthe author to conclude the former caused the later. It is entirely possiblethat the perfect。。。在指出漏洞和提出其他的可能性之间有一个自己的分析性的话，这样能表现自己的逻辑是清醒的，然后我的建议是这种分析性的话，可以适当扩充加强下，显得更加有力度
ＬＺ继续努力，加油！

普渡哥

理由列得还挺好的。

legenderek

请问向这篇的话大概能多少分？应该在哪方面应该再努力？谢谢指教~

竹林中人

请问向这篇的话大概能多少分？应该在哪方面应该再努力？谢谢指教~

-- by 会员 legenderek (2012/7/25 13:30:09)

语言可以继续锤炼，然后我上面的建议你可以多多试试。你可以好好写写Issue