Issue 130

TOPIC: ISSUE130 - "How children are socialized today determines the destiny of society. Unfortunately, we have not yet learned how to raise children who can help bring about a better society."

WORDS: 524 TIME: 00:46:44 DATE: 2008-3-27 14:42:24

This statement consists of two claims. The first assertion is that society's destiny relies on how children are socialized, and the second one is that the masses have not yet acquired how to bring up younger generation who can better society. However, in my view neither the former claim nor the latter truly reflects the practical circumstance. Moreover, in effect, both of the speaker's claims fly in the face of empirical evidence.

In the first place, when it comes to whether a child's thought has to do with socialization, I concede that enough opportunities for positive socialization conducted by respectful adults or healthy society indeed influence that child to some extend. As we all know, schools and colleges are the most common places where our next generation receives education. It is in classes that children learn how to negotiate, collaborate and learn the honor way of expressing their own ideas. Moreover, their teachers and docents show them destructive results of violence and other negative social behavior. Therefore, this social knowledge can help children grow up to be good civilian and prominent political officers, as well as wisdom.

However, socialization is just one factor that affects children's thread of growing up. There are a variety of other determinants that may have profound impact on a child. Socialization is far more from the most paramount. History is replete with examples of distinguished scientists and political leaders who were chiefly influenced by other factors, such as religious conviction, parental effect, and a seminal childhood thing. Consider, for instance, Albert Einstein's scientific contributions to the whole human beings were primarily the outcomes of the determination of his inner courage. Or, consider Beethoven's great contribution in the realm of music, which had more to do with parental influence during his childhood.

In the second place, the speaker's second claim that we have not yet learned how to raise children who can better our society is poorly supported by empirical evidence. Any one would agree that a "better" society should be characterized by greater tolerance for distinct ideologies, greater concern for natural environment, and broader communication in culture and education. Thus, the children born in the 1960s are now indeed making society better. For instance, our society is more sensitive to public health, women's rights, differing racial peoples, and disabilities. Moreover, there is even more examples of increasing international cooperation across many states. China and Japan have cooperated ardently in chip research and celestial exploration; multi-national efforts can be easily found out in Afghanistan, Kosovo, etc. Besides, Europe and America have researched innumerous health problems through communal projects. In short, the speaker's second claim does not reflect the truth that is taking place in daily life.

In summary, the pivotal factors that influence a child's upbringing should not be limited merely to socialization but rather to some other factors--such as parental impact, a peculiar event happened in childhood and private ideology. Albeit distinct people may have differing ideas about what consist of a "better" society, I find our society is evolving towards a more tolerant, esteemed, and developed one. Therefore, I tend to disagree with both counts of the statement.

Argument 35

TOPIC: ARGUMENT35 - The following appeared in the summary of a study on headaches suffered by the residents of Mentia.
"Salicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used to treat headaches. Although many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, for the past several decades food-processing companies have also been adding salicylates to foods as preservatives. This rise in the commercial use of salicylates has been found to correlate with a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by participants in our twenty-year study. Recently, food-processing companies have found that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives for foods. With this new use for salicylates, we can expect a continued steady decline in the number of headaches suffered by the average citizen of Mentia."

WORDS: 408 TIME: 00:32:20 DATE: 2008-3-27 20:26:17

The speaker arrives at the conclusion that the number of headaches suffered by the residents of Mentia will surely steadily decrease. To support this conclusion, the arguer lists two reasons in this statement. First, a twenty-year research has discovered that participants reported less headaches when these responders eat food which contains plenty of salicylates. The second reason has to do with a new discovery that salicylates can also be used as additives. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this statement actually suffers from a few critical fallacies that will undermine the credibility of the speaker's ultimateness.

Consider the first reason that the arguer advocates. According to what the speaker says, food-processing enterprises have been adopting salicylates as preservatives for the past several decades; however, the study just began twenty years ago. Thus, the credibility of the study is quite questionable. Whether people in Mentia suffered from severe headaches before the study is not mentioned at all. Perhaps at that time people did not have any head problems. Moreover, the speaker does not provide information about the local medical conditions either. Two decades are quite a long time that standard of living and medicine research have no doubt ameliorated considerably. It is highly possible that higher quantity of living and better method of healing headache contribute conspicuously to the decline of the average number of headaches. In addition, it is equally probable that the twenty-year study does not involve enough participants; thus its verdict is lame. In short, there are several other factors that will weaken the verdict of this statement.

The second reason that the speaker reckons as cogent is, in effect, even more unpersuasive reason than the first one. Albeit salicylates have been found that they can be also used as additives for food, no evidence shows food-processing corporations will use more salicylates in tacking food. Besides, whether excessive salicylates will conduce towards unforeseeable harmful disease that would make patients' headaches even worse is unknown. The arguer fails to demonstrate this possible case has been refuted by medical scientists.

In summary, the statement indeed suffers from several vital flaws as discussed above. To solidify the conclusion, the speaker would have to provide more detailed information about the livings of Mentia, and further manifest that too many salicylates will not contribute to any other side effect. Without considering and ruling out these possible factors, it is too hasty for the arguer to arrive at the conclusion.

Issue 225

TOPIC: ISSUE225 - "People often look for similarities, even between very different things, and even when it is unhelpful or harmful to do so. Instead, a thing should be considered on its own terms; we should avoid the tendency to compare it to something else."

WORDS: 531 TIME: 00:41:27 DATE: 2008-3-26 13:54:01

Whether people should consider one special thing separately or connect this thing with other matter related to this thing, depends primarily on what realm the problem belongs to. In some areas, especially physical sciences, we can benefit from observing natural things from various perspectives. In some other areas, particularly sociopolitical life, it is harmful to connect everything that one might encounter. In still other areas, such as business, whether we should consider questions along with any question else varies from case to case.

To begin with, in the sciences we have to think as many related problems as we can, or we may arrive at a imprecise, even false, conclusion. As we know, all the matter in the universe is related together to some extend. It is impossible to separate the whole object that scientists investigate into several differing and isolated components. For instance, Albert Einstein, a prominent theoretical scientist, worked out the theory of relativity on the foundation of classical theory brought up by Newton. Watson and Crick, the discoverer of DNA, contributed their Noble Prize to achievements made by former chemists. Therefore, people can stand to gain in a variety of thing when they connect objects they study with other things that have already proven to be true.

However, in the realm of social and political issues, it is often harmful to consider several things together. The more we consider, the worse circumstance we may bog down in. For instance, a chancellor in a high school located in my town was sentenced to prison in respect that he misused school fund to build his private house. People in our town ardently discussed every development in the scandal. Besides, the principals of all the other schools in my town were assumed to have abused their rights granted by the masses, and these principals were put in doubt though they were demonstrated to be good citizens and effective leaders. Therefore, neither did the leaders benefit from this scandal, nor the masses actually gained much from their extensive considerations. In effect, we indeed should not connect everything together in societal life.

In the area of business, in some cases we should avoid to compare an activity to another, while in some other cases comparing a thing with similar ones can result in better understanding of business. Consider on the one hand the Apple computer company has manufactured a new product, called Mac Book Air, for the multitudes recently, while at the same time Lenovo also brings their best computer, called ThinkPad X300. Albeit Apple and Lenovo are adversaries in computer market, comparison between these two kinds of computers does not benefit us. In effect, Apple's computer is better suitable for drawing, while Lenovo's commodity is good at numeration. Therefore, comparison between them makes no sense. On the other hand, consider the operating system of Windows and Linux. Both of them have learned much, such as convenience, designing thought, and interfaces with humans, from each other. We ordinary people indeed benefit from this kind of comparing relationship.

In summary, the arguer overlooks many cases in which comparison benefits us. Nevertheless, in social and political activities, we should not connect a thing with another.

Argument 242

TOPIC: ARGUMENT242 - The following appeared as an editorial in the student newspaper of Groveton College.
"To combat the recently reported dramatic rise in cheating among college and university students, these institutions should adopt honor codes similar to Groveton's, which calls for students to agree not to cheat in their academic endeavors and to notify a faculty member if they suspect that others have cheated. Groveton's honor code replaced an old-fashioned system in which students were closely monitored by teachers and an average of thirty cases of cheating per year were reported. The honor code has proven far more successful: in the first year it was in place, students reported twenty-one cases of cheating; five years later, this figure had dropped to fourteen. Moreover, in a recent survey conducted by the Groveton honor council, a majority of students said that they would be less likely to cheat with an honor code in place than without."

WORDS: 381 TIME: 00:30:44 DATE: 2008-3-26 21:49:35

The conclusion of this statement is that the honor codes should be adopted extensively by colleges and universities, who reported considerable rise in cheating. To support this conclusion, the speaker argues that Groveton has seen several positive outcomes since Groveton adopted the plan of honor codes. Besides, the arguer also quotes a recent study lea by the Groveton honor council and this study supports the arguer's conclusion. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this statement actually suffers from a few critical fallacies that would undermine the statement.

Firstly, according to the detailed content of the honor codes policy of Groveton, no teacher will monitor students when students are having examinations. Perhaps these students have formed a private "policy": everyone cheats and no one is allowed to notify a faculty member. Thus, the morale of Groveton has become even worse. Besides, the comparison of number of students who cheated between the beginning of honor codes policy and five years later is quite questionable. It is highly possible that a lot of students who cheated in exams were not unmasked because other students concentrated on their own test paper and did not care about whether other students were cheating. In short, any case mentioned above would weaken the conclusion.

Secondly, the survey conducted by the Groveton honor council seems a powerful reason for adopting the policy advocated by the arguer. Nevertheless, the arguer fails to consider certain other factors that contribute to the result; therefore the conclusion of the survey may have alternative explanations. For instance, the survey does not tell us how many participants were covered in it. Perhaps only a few students less than 100 were asked to respond questions. Moreover, the credibility of responses given by students who were conducted is doubtful. Without sufficient evidence that these students had told the true thought in their inner mind, no one would take the results of the survey seriously.

In summary, the statement indeed has a few flaws as discussed above. To solidify the conclusion, the speaker would have to prove that students of Groveton actually conform to the honor codes and report every cheating in academia, and further demonstrate that all the participants in the survey conducted by the Groveton honor council had told the truth and had not lied.

Issue 170

TOPIC: ISSUE170 - "The surest indicator of a great nation is not the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists, but the general welfare of all its people."

WORDS: 392 TIME: 00:50:00 DATE: 2008-3-25 14:53:44

The speaker argues that the manifestation of a great nation is the pervasive felicity of its ordinary folks, instead of prominent achievements made by their elites. However, in my comprehension great advances in politics, arts and sciences actually represent the greatness of a country; on the other hand, the general welfare of the multitudes is one of the positive outcomes aroused by the attainments made by the leaders in every realm. Therefore, I tend to disagree with the statement.

To begin with, when it comes to judge whether a country or a nation is among the first-class ones of the whole world, we may usually refer to certain parameters such as times of seizing a Nobel award, profound policies carried out by the sociopolitical leaders, and distinguished artists. Consider, for instance, the comprehensive recognition of America as a great nation by many people who are not Americans. Friends of mine frequently discussed with me, and they believe that it is the great accomplishments achieved by scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Edison, Wright brothers, and Hubble, that represent the scientific and technological research ability of America. Without the profound influence these achievements have on the American economy and on the modern world, we may not consider America as a vanguard of the world.

In the realm of the arts, a great nation is also characterized by its artistic greatness. In experience as a student, music teachers prefer to enhance our appreciation and understanding of music through explaining peculiar musicians when we discuss the subject of music history, instead of how well the masses could chant. For instance, Mozart's great and prolific composers are reckoned as an indicator of Austria. Tourists who have visited German would admit that symphonies, piano concertos and violin concertos composed by Beethoven have deeply affect their minds, and believe German is a nation that is famous for its illustrious music. In short, the great accomplishments composed by artists are indeed a symbol of a great state.

In summary, the indicator of a great nation is the very achievements attained by distinguished societal leaders, illustrious scientists and prominent artists. On the other hand, however, albeit the pervasive felicity of its masses is one of the benefits of individuals' great achievements, the general welfare of members of society is not powerful enough to be a symbol of a great nation.

Argument 1

TOPIC: ARGUMENT1 - The following appeared in a memorandum written by the vice president of Nature's Way, a chain of stores selling health food and other health-related products.
"Previous experience has shown that our stores are most profitable in areas where residents are highly concerned with leading healthy lives. We should therefore build our next new store in Plainsville, which has many such residents. Plainsville merchants report that sales of running shoes and exercise clothing are at all-time highs. The local health club, which nearly closed five years ago due to lack of business, has more members than ever, and the weight training and aerobics classes are always full. We can even anticipate a new generation of customers: Plainsville's schoolchildren are required to participate in a 'fitness for life' program, which emphasizes the benefits of regular exercise at an early age."
WORDS: 405 TIME: 00:29:09 DATE: 2008-3-25 20:37:22

The vice president of Nature's Way concludes that they should promptly open a new store in Plainsville. To support this conclusion, the speaker chiefly presents three reasons. First, consumers in Plainville will surely merchandise in the store of Nature's Way in light of previous experience. Secondly, the local health club is extremely welcomed among folks in Plainville. Thirdly, a fitness program that requires schoolchildren to take part in will guarantee a new generation of clientele. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this statement actually suffers from a few critical fallacies which would undermine the conclusion.

First, the speaker generalizes the previous experience too cursory. Albeit residents are concerned with their healthy, the speaker's stores can gain much unless the residents want to purchase the commodities supported by the speaker's store. It is highly possible that the multitudes in Plainsville are not interested in spending money on health food or other health-related products. All they want perhaps is just running for a while during morning time. Or people there have already owned a myriad of products that are similar to what Nature's Way sells. Therefore, the conclusion would be weakened, unless the speaker provides more detailed information about residents in Plainsville.

Secondly, the fact that the local club are filled with people who are concerned about health may ironically demonstrate that what multitudes in Plainsville really need is coach, instead of specific sports products or health food. Another factor that may attract local residents is that they enjoy the communication among groups of people.

Thirdly, the program worked out in Plainsville does not mean that schoolchildren will of course go to stores to buy any kind of sports equipment or clothe. The program says: schoolchildren should participate in regular exercise at an early age. Therefore, we can predict that all schools located in Plainsville will offer more PE classes to students, instead of encouraging them to spend money on health-related products. Therefore, students who study in schools of Plainsville would not likely be the potential customers as the speaker assumes. The conclusion thus would be weakened.

In summary, this statement indeed suffers from a few vital flaws as discussed above. To solidify the conclusion, the speaker would have to provide more information about the purchasing habit of residents in Plainsville, and further demonstrate that his or her store will surely overshoot local rivals. Finally, the speaker has to proven schoolchildren are potential clientele in future.

Issue 114

TOPIC: ISSUE114 - "Humanity has made little real progress over the past century or so. Technological innovations have taken place, but the overall condition of humanity is no better. War, violence, and poverty are still with us. Technology cannot change the condition of humanity."
WORDS: 506 TIME: 00:42:41 DATE: 2008-3-24 14:39:57

The speaker asserts that humanity has not progressed during the most recent century, and claims that technological innovations contribute little to the development of humanity. However, I tend to disagree with both counts of the statement. Last century is replete with archetypes that can demonstrate considerable amelioration of human beings. Technological improvements have also indeed change the condition of humanity since the beginning of last century.

To begin with, if we define progress of humanity as one characterized by greater tolerance for distinctive viewpoints, greater respect for individual rights, and more extensive cooperation across multi-cultures, humanity indeed has made prominent attainments during the most recent century. Consider, for example, any one today can freely express his or her social or political perspective, which was hard to imagine in the 1900s. Or consider the fact that people in contemporary are much more tolerant and rational to the phenomenon of homosexuals that were extremely prejudiced by the majority of folks. Moreover, differing cultures in distinct countries of the world are much more easily accepted and appreciated by the masses now, albeit the case in the early of last century was worse. In short, humanity indeed has achieved enormous progress over the most recent century or so.

Consider next the arguer's second claim that technology innovations or ameliorations have not conspicuously influenced social customs, ethics or any other aspect of our daily life. In my observation, this perspective is poorly supported by empirical evidence. In effect, advances of technologies have gradually changed the way in which the multitudes live. For instance, any one would accede to the fact that the invention of cell phone available during the 1940s to 1950s has fabulously altered the method in which humans communicate. People seldom utilize correspondences and gain much from instant message software invented in computer technology. Another paradigmatic example will appear if we consider the great improvements in medicine. People today are much more relax when they have to confront the dental problems than they once were in last century.

The speaker might point out that war, violence and poverty are still pervasive and many folks are suffering from these cataclysms as they were in last century. However, the speaker fails to consider the positive efforts that are masked by these ostensible phenomena. For instance, crisis in Afghanistan has aroused extensive attention coming from all over the world, and multi-nations have sent their soldiers to keep peace in that district. People there are enjoying a peace and more comfortable life than they were before the crisis. Moreover, the most recent century has seen increasing sensitivity in our society towards public security by policing crimes. Farmers who once resided in poor areas are the very beneficiaries of policies carried out by government. Albeit poverty stills exists in certain districts of the world, people are indeed becoming wealthier and blithe.

In summary, empirical evidence strongly confute what the speaker advocates. Since the most recent century, humans have fulfilled innumerous achievements and have benefited much from innovations of technology and science. Therefore, in the final analysis, I fundamentally disagree with the statement.

Argument100

TOPIC: ARGUMENT100 - The following appeared in a memo from the chief operating officer of the Presto Manufacturing Company.
"Since orders for our major product increased by over 200 percent last quarter, we should promptly expand production by building a new manufacturing plant in Summit City. Summit City is the ideal location for the new plant because it has low property taxes, extensive blocks of land available for immediate purchase, and a large number of residents who are not currently employed."
WORDS: 367 TIME: 00:34:10 DATE: 2008-3-24 21:44:16

The chief operating officer concludes that Presto Manufacturing Company ought to immediately construct a additional plant in Summit City. The two chief reasons that the speaker gives are considerably increased orders last quarter and compelling conditions of Summit City. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers a few critical fallacies, which will be discussed below.

The first powerful excuse that the arguer cited might, however, have alternative explanations which would diminish the credibility of this reason. Albeit customers who want to purchase the major product manufactured by Presto grew by over 200 percentages, the speaker fails to consider the true circumstance that Presto might face. It is highly possible that the current ability of production has far surpassed the needs of clientele. Perhaps the major product can satisfy even more times of orders of last quarter. Therefore, the Presto should decrease plants they have already owns, instead of building new ones.

Consider next the appealing conditions advocated by the speaker. Unfortunately, all those beneficial cases are questionable. Perhaps even so-called "low" property taxes may exceed that Presto can afford. The speaker does not give more information about whether property taxes are the major expense of his or her company. Besides, abundant acres of land do not certainly mean its value is cheap enough that Presto is able to purchase. Summit City may be a developed city, where price of houses and land is quite high. Thus the speaker's company may be unable to afford such expensive land for building a new plant. The fact that a myriad of residents of Summit City are now unemployed may ironically imply that these people lack fundamental expertise to work in the plant about to be opened. Therefore Presto Manufacturing Company probably could not hire enough staffers who are competent in appropriate positions supported by Presto. Reflecting on these three benefits makes clear that the arguer actually fails to take potential factors into account.

In summary, this statement actually suffers from a few vital flaws mentioned above. To solidify the conclusion, the speaker would have to provide more information about compositions of profit of Presto, and further prove that the three conditions are indeed captivating as they seem.

Issue 71

TOPIC: ISSUE71 - "Spending time alone makes one a better companion to others."WORDS: 508
TIME: 01:06:48 DATE: 2008-3-21 15:06:39

The speaker asserts that one person would build a better nexus with his or her companions on condition that he/she runs out of free time alone, instead of actively sharing abundant time with collaborators. However, I tend to disagree with what the arguer alleges, and I do not support the opposite viewpoint that one should actively engage in team activities when leisure time is left. In my view whether one should stay alone or eagerly undertake various public teams depends primarily on specific circumstances.

With respect to some cases when friends or relatives are indulging in their personal or private matters, it is wiser for one to keep silent and does not attempt to disturb others. As a common sense, everyone prefers to veil his or her affairs, and will be somewhat annoying or even angry when someone else continuously visits him or her. Therefore, one who neglects others' tiny change of emotion or body; others may reckon him or her as a bad companion. For instance, teachers of high schools or colleges usually assign some homework and require that students finish these easy or complex works before next class. When a classmate is thinking questions on his/her own and nearly works out difficult problems, his/her thought will interrupted if Jack, for instance, invited him/her to play games. As a result, Jack may be considered as an unfriendly guy by others. In short, one should spend time alone on condition that others are busy with their own matters.

By contrast, with respect to certain other cases when classmates or acquaintances are tackling tough situation and certain help is imperative, one will surely be a good companion provided that he or she tries best to offer the greatest effort to solve the hard situation. Any one who benefits from Tom's, for instance, support on time will of course be grateful to Tom, and Tom is a considered as a better companion than a Tom who is aloof and odd. Moreover, appropriate communication among persons will ameliorate their relationship between them; therefore one is a better guy to others if he or she actively takes part in this communication. For example, it is extensively admitted in NBA, a tournament held in America, that a team player is better accepted by coach and teammates. For instance, Michael Jordan, a player of Chicago Bulls, was aloof and refused to chat with other teammates. Other persons were disgusted towards Jordan's oddness and aloofness. Thereby Michael was even isolated in a few plays. However, Michael's coach and teammates began to pass the ball in games when Michael discarded his original idea. Consequently, Michael became a better teammate to others and achieved several greatnesses under the help of other players.

In summary, neither spending time alone nor spending time with others is surely a good choice. The special occasion decides which way we should make tools of. Generally speaking, one is supposed to take others' practical circumstance and their feelings into account before he or she keeps alone or approaches to affecting others.

Argument 238

TOPIC: ARGUMENT238 - The following appeared in a memorandum from the president of Mira Vista College to the college's board of trustees.
"At nearby Green Mountain College, which has more business courses and more job counselors than does Mira Vista College, 90 percent of last year's graduating seniors had job offers from prospective employers. But at Mira Vista College last year, only 70 percent of the seniors who informed the placement office that they would be seeking employment had found full-time jobs within three months after graduation, and only half of these graduates were employed in their major field of study. To help Mira Vista's graduates find employment, we must offer more courses in business and computer technology and hire additional job counselors to help students with their resumés and interviewing skills."
WORDS: 436 TIME: 00:32:27 DATE: 2008-3-21 21:41:41

The speaker's conclusion is that Mira Vista College ought to offer more business courses, computer-based technology and employ more job consultants to ameliorate their students' performance in interview. The reason the arguer lists is that Green Mountain College has carried out similar policy and students who graduate from Green Mountain College have more promising future than those who graduate from Mira Vista College. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this statement actually suffers from a few fallacies that would undermine this conclusion.

Firstly, albeit Green Mountain College has more business courses and job counselors than does Mira Vista, this is not a persuasive excuse why their students can find more prospective job. There are certain other reasonable reasons that would weaken this conclusion. For example, students who study in Green Mountain College have distinctive skills of computer programming, and their knowledge of business is a subordinate factor. And current job market needs plenty of staffers who program well. Therefore, whether students can seize promising job or not does not depend upon how many business courses they have learned.

Secondly, the speaker does not give evidence that job counselors of Green Mountain College do offer training or some other kind of help to Green Mountain's students. Perhaps those students who graduated last year did not require career-planning staffs for advice at all. Moreover, the arguer merely mentions last year, and he or she fails to tell whether Green Mountain College's advantages was the same in two years ago. It is possible that students graduating from Green Mountain College two years ago have not found job until now. Thus, the arguer's verdict would otherwise be weakened.

Thirdly, the arguer's words about Mira Vista College's students are based on self-report, whose credibility must be carefully taken into account. Maybe the students who informed the placement office of Mira Vista College are just a minority, and do not represent the most majority who may successfully seize good job that may be even more promising than those of Green Mountain College. Furthermore, it is highly probable that the half of graduates who were not employed in their major specialty of study found they themselves were not interested in their major at all and decided to work in distinct job.

In summary, the statement does suffer from a few flaws as presented above. To solidify this conclusion, the arguer would have to prove that the principal of Green Mountain College had not carried out other policies that benefit students, and further demonstrate that those who informed the placement office of Mira Vista College were the majority of Mira Vista College's graduates.

Issue 99

TOPIC: ISSUE99 - "In any realm of life-whether academic, social, business, or political-the only way to succeed is to take a practical, rather than an idealistic, point of view. Pragmatic behavior guarantees survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superceded by simpler, more immediate options."
WORDS: 536 TIME: 00:56:34 DATE: 2008-3-20 14:54:17

Whether a practical view or an idealistic attitude people should hold, in my view, varies from case to case. The real world in which we human beings living is complex and changing all the time, and the correct view we tend to hold may be complete different between various realms. With respect to certain realms, especially in theory discussed in natural science, an idealistic may play a positive role; with respect to certain other fields, people may have to conform to a practical point of view.

To begin with, in the realm of scientific theory, an idealistic ideology may benefit those who are bogging down into mud. Ideal thought deeply trusted by scientists would help themselves keep fortitude, persistent, and optimized when these elites of humans encounter an impossible mission. History is replete with examples of scientists motivated by their inner idealistic conviction. Jingrun Chen, a prominent mathematician of China, was considered as a mentally-challenged young man by esteemed experts of his time. However, Chen insisted learning and researching in respect that he had a great idea that he was a normal one and had the ability of survival. Chen did not follow advice given by experts to live a peace life, but assiduously study mathematical. Eventually he succeeds and becomes the international prominence as an expert in math.

Idealistic point of view can also arouse new unique creative theory that might be never thought by former scientist. This is especially true in the field of physics, in which the idealistic viewpoint of so-called "unifying law" pervasively exists among physic theorists. This ideal thought has brought us many profound physic inventions and discoveries. Consider, for instance, Albert Einstein proved the "relative theory" last century, and this attainment was just one of the benefits the ideal concept brought up. In short, idealistic point of view can be reckoned as a chief source of great achievements in the realm of science--such as mathematical, physics, etc.

By contrast, in architectural and engineering fields, a practical viewpoint may work much better than an idealistic one. There is a common characteristic shared by these two fields: what they are chiefly concerned are related to practical work and real world in our daily life. For instance, the most reliable way of communicating among five computers is to connect each pair of them, which means fifteen wires are needed to make these five computers work. However, this idealistic method has never been put into practice in real world, due to the high cost of this avenue. Engineers will be unable to afford the cost if five computers increase to millions computers. Wires will be messed up and people do not have so much money to connect each pair of them. When it comes to architecture, many great styles of building do not come true and turn up in the front of us, since these idealistic ideals lacks feasibility. Therefore, a practical view is superior to an idealistic thought in real-world fields.

In summary, both practical and idealistic viewpoint are useful in their special fields, and neither of these two ideologies should be put in the first place. To the contrary, we should take the distinctions which pervasively exist among various fields into account.

ISSUE190

TOPIC: ISSUE190 - "As long as people in a society are hungry or out of work or lack the basic skills needed to survive, the use of public resources to support the arts is inappropriate-and, perhaps, even cruel-when one considers all the potential uses of such money."
WORDS: 588 TIME: 01:02:52 DATE: 2008-3-19 14:56:41

The speaker claims that basic needs of the masses are much more paramount than the development of the arts, and that government should accentuate the former instead of the latter. However, in my view unemployment, poor family circumstances, and starvation exist throughout human history, despite how high the proportion of budget is spent in improving standard of living. Therefore, I tend to disagree with what the arguer says and insist that using public resources to support the arts is imperative.

To begin with, generally speaking the arts include three mainstream realms, which are music, painting and dancing. All these categories of arts play a pivotal role in human's daily life and most politicians in history and contemporary support the arts through not only words but also deeds. For instance, music can serve to eliminate tension and express emotion from one's heart and mind. In the past eras, political leaders hired a myriad of musicians, so that these officers would ease their tired bodies and minds under the "treatment" of music when they were free from various matters after work. Therefore, members of a government would have a good sleep before they went on tackling sociopolitical events next day. Besides, the efficiency would be highly ameliorated and more basic needs of the masses would be satisfied. In short, music can indeed serve to solve certain public problems indirectly.

Furthermore, paintings can record characteristics of a society, and these records are quite useful to descendants, which is much more critical than demands of ordinary folks. For example, our ancestors recorded their experiences through a method of painting on a board or paper, which are precious fortune for the masses today. Shizhen Li, a prominent medical in Chinese history, drew every raw material that he had detailed researched on paper. Therefore his apprentices did not have to repeat what Li had discovered and could make even greater attainments upon the foundation of Li's contributions. Eventually paintings of Li and his descendants are involved various medical materials that are extensively applied to physic patients today. In conclusion, investing on paintings will ultimately benefit the masses.

When it comes to dancing, the speaker's claim finds less support from historical record. In older times, people had nothing to do after they had meals. Gradually, folks began to play specific games around a pile of fractured wood which were lighted on fire. Populace could express their ideas and emotions through playing games. Then they restricted what kind of action was graceful and every one would have to obey this confine. Ultimately, the dancing of art was invented. Dancing indeed can profit the masses; therefore it is worthwhile to support both labors and funds to dancing. In contemporary, government's fundraising to movies is also evidence that art is indispensable. Albeit several sociopolitical problems are easy to find, such as scandals, water-pollution, and unemployment, movies are playing a more and more vital role in changing these problems aforementioned. Artists express their wills of living a better life through scenarios in films which are available all over the world. For example, The Truth which aims to arouse public attention to natural environment has successfully gained certain effects. Most people today are more concerned with our earth than ever before, which profit both contemporaries and descendants.

In summary, the arts are dispensable in societal life. Arts appreciation can reveal special issues to political leaders that would otherwise be ignored. Therefore standard of living will be gradually improved. In final analysis, then, I tend to disagree with the speaker's claim.

Argument222

TOPIC: ARGUMENT222 - The following article appeared in a recent issue of a college newspaper.
"Among all students who graduated from Hooper University over the past five years, more physical science majors than social science majors found permanent jobs within a year of graduation. In a survey of recent Hooper University graduates, most physical science majors said they believed that the prestige of Hooper University's physical science programs helped them significantly in finding a job. In contrast, social science majors who found permanent employment attributed their success to their own personal initiative. Therefore, to ensure that social science majors find permanent jobs, Hooper University should offer additional social science courses and hire several new faculty members who already have national reputations in the social sciences."
WORDS: 360 TIME: 00:34:02 DATE: 2008-3-19 21:23:23

At first glance, it seems sound and convictive that Hooper University ought to offer additional social science courses and employ new distinguished professors in the social sciences, so as to guarantee that social science majors would find permanent jobs. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from a few critical fallacies, which will be detailed discussed and respectively.

To begin with, over the past five years more physical science majors seized permanent careers than social science majors did within a year after they graduated from university, and the speaker owes this phenomenon to special physical science programs reported by students. However, the credibility of the survey is questionable. This survey is based on self-report, therefore participants might not tell the truth or students may mistakenly accentuate minor respect which is physical science programs. The arguer fails to consider the probability that permanent job opportunities of physical science in society are quite enormous and appealing, while there are much less demands of staffers who research social science. Thus, the conclusion would otherwise be weakened.

Secondly, the comparison between physical science students and social science students is incomplete and selective. The survey is not involved with the number of students who major in physics and those who major in social sciences. Perhaps physics majors are several times of social science majors, which explains why permanent jobs are found by physics college men.
Thirdly, the speaker fails to take into account that the differences in inner characteristics between physics adherents and social science fans. It's common sense that students who are used to rationally reasoning tend to fix their career and will not easily change jobs, while social science ones are more likely to be moved by societal issues and may not persist in working in a permanent environment.

In conclusion, the argument actually suffers from vital flaws as discussed above. To solidify the verdict, the arguer would have to demonstrate that the survey is fair and the number of students who major in physics is the same as the number of social science students, and further prove that the attitude towards career of these two distinct groups is equal.

ISSUE176

TOPIC: ISSUE176 - "The function of science is to reassure; the purpose of art is to upset. Therein lies the value of each."
WORDS: 529 TIME: 00:57:59 DATE: 2008-3-18 15:04:29

I find the speaker's claim specious on both counts. Generally speaking, both science and art could reassure or upset the masses. With respect to certain traditional areas, especially physics, sciences can usually serve to reveal the truth and eliminate people's doubt. With respect to special modern technologies, populace may be upset with possible outcomes of these technologies. The art, including music, painting, and literature can also serve these two opposite influences.

In study of scientific development, it is extensively believed that science stem from philosophy, which aims to explain natural phenomena people in certain era would have observed. Therefore the function of science serves chiefly to interpret that what are the rules all the matte in the world obey under the surface of natural phenomena from this perspective. For instance, the earth has been experiencing day and night in turn for several millions of years. People at first were confused about why it sometimes is cold in certain period of a year but sometimes hot in certain other period. Consequently, folks turned to science for help. In ancient era, people concluded that the sun moves around the earth and the earth is the center of the universe in light of their observation. Though this theory has proven to be false according to today's accurate calculus, however, it did reassure people's doubt under certain circumstance.

Fairly speaking, science does have brought to us upset in specific realms. This is especially true in modern society. Consider, for example, the clone technology in biology has even influenced our common ethnics to some extend. It will be hard-pressing to identify a friend one has ever been familiar with, in respect that the original friend and the duplicated one are the same in appearance and accent. More horribly, the copy may be completely different from the original one in what they thinks, which is harmful to our community and society.

People may find that these two functions of science also can be discovered in the realm of art. Not only does art make people upset, but art also can relieve masses' uncertainty. In the first place, various arts play a key role in arising multitude's upset in several aspects. For example, perhaps paradigmatic modern example is the so-called "non-mainstream" art that becomes popular in recently years. This art encourages adolescents to wildly show their inner moods, no matter whether they are delighted or upset, and this art rarely confines behavior of juvenile, which is reckoned as an anti-social category of art. In the second place, art can also serve positively to our daily life. Too many instances support this perspective. Classical music can make people feel better about themselves and calm down; great pictures painted by prominent artists can expand people's fantasy; and fluent and beautiful sentences will bring a person into dream. All these functions of art serve to reassurance.

In summary, the functions of science and art should not be limited to a special field, and the values of science and art vary from person to person, which are greatly supported by empirical evidence. What a role do science and art play should only be judged by a person himself or herself.

Argument 237

TOPIC: ARGUMENT237 - The following appeared as part of an article in a local Beauville newspaper.
"According to a government report, last year the city of Dillton reduced its corporate tax rate by 15 percent; at the same time, it began offering relocation grants and favorable rates on city utilities to any company that would relocate to Dillton. Within 18 months, two manufacturing companies moved to Dillton, where they employ a total of 300 people. Therefore, the fastest way for Beauville to stimulate economic development and hence reduce unemployment is to provide tax incentives and other financial inducements that encourage private companies to relocate here."
WORDS: 413 TIME: 00:41:47 DATE: 2008-3-18 21:32:05

The arguer urges that Beauville should provide tax incentives, as what has been done in Dillton, to attract more private corporations to relocate in Beauville, therefore economy of Beauville will be considerably ameliorated. This seems sound and convictive at first glance; however, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from critical flaws that undermine the validity, which will be discussed in detail and respectively.

To begin with, the arguer owes the glorious economy of Dillton to the tax incentives that was carried out last year. However, there is no evidence that supports the speaker's conclusion. Perhaps the corporate tax rate was quite high before it was decreased by 15%, and now corporate tax rate of Beauville and Dillton is the same. Therefore, tax rate is not the chief reason why old companies relocated in Dillton. Besides, There is an obvious possibility that natural environment in Dillton was so poor years ago that none of companies would stand. As a result companies had kept moving out of Dillton until government of Dillton improved air pollution, health-care, etc.

Secondly, the report quoted by the arguer refers to a special fact: two manufacturing companies employ a total of 300 people, which means that these two companies need cheap massive labors. Therefore, it is quite possible that it is a myriad of cheap massive labors in Dillton that attract the leaders of the two companies’ attention. Low salaries may be a much more paramount factor than relatively low corporate tax rate in the managers' consideration.

Thirdly, the arguer advocates that the policy of decreasing corporate tax rate will surely work in Beauville as what are expected. However, even the ultimate reason of Dillton's healthy economy is the relatively low corporate tax rate; the arguer must take more negative cases into account. Perhaps the tax rate is already quite low in Beauville, and even light decrease is impossible to be made. Moreover, the majority of people in Beauville may be old ones who have already retired from work, thus Beauille might be unable to supply enough staffers for enterprises that are about to relocate in Beauile. Corporations are therefore not willing to relocate in Beauville.

In summary, the argument actually has several flaws as discussed above, and is not convincing as it stands. To solidify the argument, the arguer would have to carry out a further investigation of the true reasons for Dillton's glorious economy, and take into account the local environment before the final decision is made.

ISSUE210

TOPIC: ISSUE210 - "Most people choose a career on the basis of such pragmatic considerations as the needs of the economy, the relative ease of finding a job, and the salary they can expect to make. Hardly anyone is free to choose a career based on his or her natural talents or interest in a particular kind of work."
WORDS: 543 TIME: 01:10:56 DATE: 2008-3-17 14:50:44

The speaker proclaims that most people put more emphasis on pragmatic considerations rather than personal talents or interest when they go to job market. However, in my view society today is replete with various sorts of jobs, which are great opportunities for assiduous persons who are eager to exhibit their talents and interests. That is to say, I tend to disagree with what the speaker says. The populace can choose a job in light of their real interests.

With the development of modern community and society, a myriad of categories of professions arise, which is far different from the past eras. Ideal opportunities of occupation will be discovered almost in any realm of current life, such as teacher, factory worker, programmer, to name just a few. For example, in a high school located in my city has expanded the campus of the school in order to satisfy the needs of more and more students. As a result, more and more teacher positions (physic teacher, chemistry teacher, history teacher, for example) are available, which is the best occasion for graduates who are interested in becoming a teacher. Moreover, chancellor of this high school also needs more assistants to tackle daily issues: water-supply, power-ensure, etc, where people can show their talents of management. All of these jobs will supply a high salary so that applicants do not have to worry about living. In short, a variety of jobs in which interests can be satisfied do exist.

As so many appropriate positions lack persons, people are free to choose a career based on their talents and interests. For example, one older brother of mine is highly interested in programming in front of a computer, and has seized lots of awards including the award of ACM--a high level contest of coding. At the time he was about to graduate from his Alma Mater, there were innumerous and appealing occupations available in job market, such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle, etc. Eventually, my brother picked a position offered by Microsoft. Now my older brother frequently tells me that he is greatly content with his job.

Furthermore, certain other realms also supply appropriate for graduates who are willing to accomplish their dreams. For instance, additional positions for drivers can be easily applied by those who want to be drivers, due to quick development of society. The principal of a university resided in Beijing has decided to construct a new campus to cater to increasing number of enrollment. However, the point where the new campus lies is in the suburbs of Beijing, and is far away from the original campus. Therefore, several school buses will be on the schedule of the university accounting department, and corresponding drivers are needed. Besides, rewards of school bus drivers are quite appealing to certain persons who are raising a family. Consequently, people do not have to reckon pragmatic considerations as the first when they are choosing a job.

In summary, in effect there are plenty of appropriate job opportunities for people today, hence most people indeed accentuate whether there is a chance for them to demonstrating talents and interests. Interests are put in the first place and the needs of the economy second. Therefore, in the fundamental analysis I tend to disagree with the speaker.

Argument192

TOPIC: ARGUMENT192 - The following is a letter to the editor of the Roseville Gazette.
"Despite opposition from some residents of West Roseville, the arguments in favor of merging the townships of Roseville and West Roseville are overwhelming. First, residents in both townships are confused about which authority to contact when they need a service; for example, the police department in Roseville receives many calls from residents of West Roseville. This sort of confusion would be eliminated with the merger. Second, the savings in administrative costs would be enormous, since services would no longer be duplicated: we would have only one fire chief, one tax department, one mayor, and so on. And no jobs in city government would be lost-employees could simply be reassigned. Most importantly, the merger will undoubtedly attract business investments as it did when the townships of Hamden and North Hamden merged ten years ago."
WORDS: 448 TIME: 00:40:51 DATE: 2008-3-17 21:34:45

At first glance, it seems sound and convincing that the townships of Roseville and West Roseville should merge in light of the speaker's four reasons. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from a few critical flaws that undermine the validity. For example, the real reason of residents' confusion is questionable. Besides, outcomes of merging the townships of Roseville and West Roseville may be different from what the arguer imagines. Aside from these two vital flaws, there are still other pitfalls. The aforementioned flaws will be discussed in detail and respectively.

To begin with, the arguer presents that residents in both townships are confused to contact authority when they need a service as a powerful reason. But the arguer fails to show persuasive evidence. As a common sense, the telephone number of all police department is the identical, which may be 911. The only explanation to this people's confusion is that government fails to forward resident's calls to appropriate police department, which has nothing to do with ordinary residents. The arguer must demonstrate that this possibility of technical failure rarely happens before he or she lists residents' confusion as evidence.

Secondly, the speaker deeply believes that the merger will eliminate duplication under current circumstance and that no employee will suffer from the merger. However, the merger will surely conduce towards larger township, nearly doubled population, and also more crimes. As a result, "mayor" of the merged town has much more matters to tackle, which may make case even worse. It is possible that "mayor" fails to put everything in order, therefore efficiency of government will not be ameliorated.

Admittedly, Roseville and West Roseville might be sharply distinct in area and population, which would hardly induce disorders after these two townships are merged. Ironically, this possibility just defends against or disproves the third excuse that the speaker lists. The merger will not attract more investor's eyes since Roseville, for instance, is so relatively paltry that investors do not benefit from the merger. Moreover, it is absurd of the speaker to take the merger of Hamden and North Hamden for example, in respect that ten years' time is so long that everything may take place. Besides, the townships of Hamden and North Hamden may both are glorious ones and thereby residents there benefit from Hamden and North Hamden's merger.

In conclusion, the argument actually has several flaws as discussed above, and is not convincing as it stands. To solidify the argument, the arguer would have to provide evidence that the confusion of residents in Roseville and West Roseville is posed by government, and further show that every outcome of the merger will be positive to society.

ISSUE88

TOPIC: ISSUE88 - "Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."
WORDS: 459 TIME: 01:00:26 DATE: 2008-3-14 14:43:38

The speaker proclaims that technologies are vital in forming both social customs and ethics in the present as well as the past. I concede that social customs are more or less influenced by modern technologies; however, basic human ethics has nothing to do with how developed technologies are. In effect, people's traditional conception about ethics is largely determined by the environment where they grow up--i.e., a person's parents, teachers and friends play a key role during the procedure of he or she forms his or her own Weltanschauung.

Admittedly, developed technologies today are affecting people's social customs to some extent. For example, the appearance of automobile last century conspicuously changes the way people walk. Without convenient traveling tools, multitude had to spent plenty of time in walking from point A to point B; by contrast, populace would find that traveling is an activity filled with entertainment under the help of automobile and navigation system built in auto. Another obvious change that modern technologies have brought to society is involved with the way in which the masses communicate. In the former eras, people could merely exchange information through mail, which may consume several days; however, the E-Mail invented today allows two person to communicate much more efficient: what they need to do is just to type on a keyboard and click the "Send" button. In short, in the areas of social customs, modern technologies have influenced much.

However, in the areas of ethics, technology does not play as well as it does in social customs. The reason for this is simple: ethics can only be influenced by the heart and mind of human, instead of technique. Technologies are no more than substantial matter created by folk's wisdom, and it is human ourselves that determine our ethnics. Both history and contemporary are replete with examples of ethics determined by humans. Consider, for instance, the up-to-date technique of clone once caused controversy among populace. The key crux lies in whether human should clone human. Supposing that a person who is identical to another exists in this world, innumerous trouble of ethics will arise. For instance, parents can not distinguish between these two persons; friends may be confused with talking to them and the copy of original person may be abetted to commit a crime. Fortunately, these bad sequences do not take place, because scientists strictly conform to the confines of ethics.

In sum, although technologies might influence social customs to some extend, people's spirits are not determined by any technique. Instead, only human can shape our common ethics through thousands of years. This is a law that all the matter in the world would obey. As a result, human should carefully conform to priceless ethics and make our single earth work better.

Argument 169

TOPIC: ARGUMENT169 - The following appeared in a letter from a department chairperson to the president of Pierce University.
"Some studies conducted by Bronston College, which is also located in a small town, reveal that both male and female professors are happier living in small towns when their spouses are also employed in the same geographic area. Therefore, in the interest of attracting the most gifted teachers and researchers to our faculty and improving the morale of our entire staff, we at Pierce University should offer employment to the spouse of each new faculty member we hire. Although we cannot expect all offers to be accepted or to be viewed as an ideal job offer, the money invested in this effort will clearly be well spent because, if their spouses have a chance of employment, new professors will be more likely to accept our offers."
WORDS: 436 TIME: 00:47:59 DATE: 2008-3-14 22:07:17

At first glance, it seems reasonable that governors at Pierce University should offer profession for to the spouse of every fresh professor they hire, as the issue presents. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers a few critical flaws. For example, the credibility of studies conducted by Bronston College is questionable; besides, the speaker is too cursory to assert the conclusion aforementioned. Aside from these two pitfalls, there are still certain other flaws, which will be discussed in detail and respectively.

In the first place, the speaker does not give enough information about participants referenced in Bronston College's studies. It is possible that those who are required to fill tables are altogether old men or women, and they are in their afterlife. Naturally, these senior citizens prefer to share more time with their partners, instead of considering about salary, location and the like. Another possible case is that the studies are not involved with enough participants, which would otherwise weaken the credibility of the studies. Supposing that faculty at Bronston College merely investigate no more 10 professors who age from sixties to eighties, the result of the studies is then meaningless.

In the second place, the speaker mistakenly assumes a correlation amounts to a causal nexus. Bronston College may be complete different from Pierce University in many respects, thus the policy of offering work opportunity for new members' spouses may not work in Pierce University. Consider, for example, Pierce University is a women-based campus, while Bronston College belongs to ordinary ones. Therefore, governors at Pierce University will bog down to a embarrassed circumstance that almost no suitable position for men. And another possible case does exist. Bronston College is among top 50 in state, while Pierce University ranks beyond 200. Thus, prominent professors may reckon Bronston as their first choice. In any of these cases, effect of this policy will not be so conspicuous as the speaker asserts.

Thirdly, the speaker fails to demonstrate that positions in Pierce University are appealing to distinguished researchers. It is possible that teaching facilities in this university is out of date, thereby not many teachers will take Pierce University into account. Besides, there are also many other factors that may disgust researcher--such as low salary, bad office environment and vulgar culture of Pierce University.

In conclusion, the argument actually has several flaws as discussed above, and is not convincing as it stands. To solidify the argument, the arguer would have to provide evidence that the studies conducted by Bronston College is credible, and demonstrate that Bronston College and Pierce are more or less the same in many respects.

Argument 188

TOPIC: ARGUMENT188 - A new report suggests that men and women experience pain very 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 painkiller-to 28 men and 20 women who were having their wisdom teeth extracted, the women reported feeling much less pain than the men, and the easing of pain lasted considerably longer in women. This research suggests that kappa opioids should be prescribed for women whenever pain medication is required, whereas men should be given other kinds of pain medication. In addition, researchers should reevaluate the effects of all medications on men versus women.
WORDS: 420 TIME: 00:36:35 DATE: 2008-3-13 21:45:43

At first glance, it seems somewhat reasonable that ... as the issue presents; however, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from a few critical flaws. For instance, the reliability of the research conducted in this argument is questionable; besides, the conclusion that kappa opioids is suitable for healing all women who get a pain is too cursory to be made. Aside from these two vital flaws, there are still other subordinate pitfalls in this argument, which will be discussed in detail and respectively.

In the first place, the credibility of the research needs to be suspected. For example, besides the same dosage of kappa opioids are introduced to both men and women, it is not mentioned whether other medicine is also used during women's treatment. Suppose that Aspirin, a kind of medicine aiming to relieve pain, is taken by the women in this research, then, women surely feel much less pain than the men. Moreover, the research does not take into account that men typically are more or less larger than women in body type. Thus, unless men take more kappa opioids than women, men will conspicuously feel much more pain than women.

In the second place, the speaker concludes that kappa opioids should be prescribed for women in any event when pain arises. However, the arguer is too hasty to give this conclusion. Consider, for instance, certain special women are sensitive to kappa opioids--i.e., these women may feel uncomfortable or exhibit allergic phenomenon after taking kappa opioids, which is harmful for their health. Therefore, the result of the research, if supposed to be correct, should not be generalized without positive enough support of a myriad of experiments.

Thirdly, even the research is inerrant and accurately conforms to the fact, the action of reevaluating the effects of all medications on men versus women lacks possibility of practical operating. The reason for this is simple: innumerous categories of medications exist in the current world. Comparison between men and women may consume several years, which is unacceptable by both patients and doctors. Moreover, some medicines are for women or men only, and reevaluation on men versus women is unlikely to be worked out.

In conclusion, the argument actually has several flaws as discussed above, and is not convincing as it stands. To solidify the argument, the arguer would have to provide evidence that the research is credible and conforms to reality. Furthermore, the arguer would have to consider practical circumstances before reevaluation of all medications is scheduled.

ISSUE103

TOPIC: ISSUE103 - "The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."
WORDS: 561 TIME: 01:30:16 DATE: 2008-3-13 15:11:47

The speaker asserts that people ought to research history related to our daily lives, otherwise research is meaningless. In my view, with respect to some realms, especially in the ancient literatures, people may not gain valuable ideals that are useful for current lives; with respect to certain other areas, however, great experiences summarized by our ancestors indeed benefit for today's lives. Therefore, I tend to agree with the speaker in some realms; but in specific fields I do not.

In contemporary, rapid change of modern technology and science has made the historical events and experiences much less valuable than they did in their times. This is especially true in literatures and sciences. For example, the oracle characters, one of Chinese out-line literature, does not contribute to the development of our economy today. People have not discovered any article that is written in oracle characters, and masses cannot benefit from oracle. The same things happen in sciences. In fact, our ancestors made a lot of mistakes during their exploring physical, chemistry and so on. For example, the earth was once considered as one constitute of only five elements--gold, wood, water, fire and clay in the history of China, which has already been proven to be false conclusions. In short, the study of historical literature and physics is of no value for contemporary society.

By contrast, procedures of history development can help people today abstract certain developing rules that hold through thousands of years in human history. If experts put emphasis on political figures, what they did and the consequences of what these political figures did, multitude surely will gain abundant knowledge about human beings. Consider, for example, Geliang Zhu, a prominent military counselor in Chinese history, helped his master, Liu, win a myriad of battles under tough circumstances. Therefore Liu appreciated Zhu and conformed to what Zhu said. But everything changed after Shan, Liu's older son, took the place of his father after Liu died. Shan was a man of ego and fired Ge. Without Ge's advices, Shan failed to defend his country. As a result, his country was occupied by another country's king. Consequently, people can learn how to manage a country or a corporation from Shan's experiences.

Furthermore, in the areas of environment, people must pay enough attention to historical events occurred in the most recent century. Wood, oil as well as gas have been largely utilized since the start of last century, the 1920s. However, at that time people didn't obey the law of natural and engendered innumerous huge damages to our natural environment, and nature began to revenge in the 1950s. Today, water in many districts of the world are no longer suitable for drinking; atmosphere is filled with harmful gas around chemical factories; and innumerous acres of forest disappear in less than one-quarter century. People approach to understanding destructive outcomes and they attempt to research historical development of nature in time. Fortunately, historical experiences help us. People today actively engage in protecting water, reducing consumption of forest, and carefully making tools of other finite resources.

In sum, certain historical events, such as political figures and environment cases, are valuable for today's research; while in some other areas, especially ancient literature, the masses need not to pay too much attention to. In the final analysis, then, I fundamentally insist that the study of history should be selective.

Argument51

TOPIC: ARGUMENT51 - The following appeared in a medical newsletter.
"Doctors have long suspected that secondary infections may keep some patients from healing quickly after severe muscle strain. This hypothesis has now been proved by preliminary results of a study of two groups of patients. The first group of patients, all being treated for muscle injuries by Dr. Newland, a doctor who specializes in sports medicine, took antibiotics regularly throughout their treatment. Their recuperation time was, on average, 40 percent quicker than typically expected. Patients in the second group, all being treated by Dr. Alton, a general physician, were given sugar pills, although the patients believed they were taking antibiotics. Their average recuperation time was not significantly reduced. Therefore, all patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain would be well advised to take antibiotics as part of their treatment."
WORDS: 420 TIME: 00:33:27 DATE: 2008-3-11 22:02:17

At first glance, it seems reasonable that patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain would take antibiotics as part of their treatment. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from a few critical flaws. For example, the comparison between two groups, undertaken by two doctors, is incomplete and selective. Besides, the arguer mistakenly assumes a correlation amounts to a causal relationship. There are still other subordinate pitfalls. The flaws above would be discussed in detail and respectively.

First of all, the comparison between two groups of patients lacks credibility, as the arguer have not given more details about patients. Perhaps all the members in the first group, who are covered by Dr. Newland, are adolescents, while those in the second group are composed of old men who are among their seventies or eighties. Apparently, young people need much less time to recover than that aging ones need. Thus, the study of two groups is meaningless unless the arguer take enough dissimilarities into account.

Secondly, even if the study is credible, the argument is still questionable. The arguer simply assumes that taking antibiotics will surely reduce average recuperation time after severe muscle strain. However, the speaker fails to provide that antibiotics are appropriate for each individual. It is possible that certain patients are allergic to antibiotics; therefore antibiotics will bring to these patients certain side effects that are harmful for these special patients. In short, it is questionable that everyone should take antibiotics as part of their treatment.

Thirdly, the arguer fails to consider alternative possibilities in the analysis. For example, patients in the first group are merely slightly injured, while the second group is made up of persons who are severely injured. Thus, patients of the second group will certainly become healthy much slower than the first group. Furthermore, the doctors of two groups differ in their abilities. The doctor of the first group is an expert in sports medicine, while the second one is merely a general physician. Thereby, the fist doctor undoubtedly has more experiences of treating muscle strain than the second one, and patients in the first group will recover much faster than the persons in the second group.

In conclusion, the argument actually has several flaws as discussed above, and is not convincing as it stands. To solidify the argument, the arguer would have to provide evident that patients in the two groups are among the same age period, and further prove antibiotics are suitable for everyone who suffers from muscle strain.

ISSUE 16

TOPIC: ISSUE16 - "Although many people think that the luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life are entirely harmless, in fact, they actually prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals."
WORDS: 463 TIME: 01:13:29 DATE: 2008-3-11 15:21:42

The arguer proclaims that luxuries and conveniences today actually prevent multitude from becoming really strong and independent. In my view, on the one hand, the luxuries and easy life would make people decay; on the other hand, luxuries and conveniences would encourage the masses to be assiduous to pursue better life. Consequently, it is important to justify functions of expensive goods and easy life created by modern technology fairly.

In the first place, luxuries and conveniences indeed bring harmful impacts to individuals and society to some extend. In some cases, some people, especially those who grow up in wealthy family circumstances, sometimes completely hinge on luxuries. Therefore these people fail to live on their own when they grow up. A current vivid example involves a rich family in my town. The son of this family began to spend innumerous money even since his birth. Moreover, the son would not learn knowledge by heart, since he does not worry about living. Nevertheless, as his parents died of disease not long ago, the son runs out of his family's fortune eventually, and he can not find a job as a result of his inability.

Furthermore, the luxuries and conveniences may also play a key role in phenomenon of a society's corruption. Officers of government may easily indulge in achievement they have gained, without actively engaging in innovations of improving standard of living to a higher level. Consequently, the country will be beaten down, or the government will be overthrown by populace. History is replete with examples of society's decay. For example, officials of Qing, a period during China's history, were satisfied with their accomplishment. They did not work out any policy benefit for the masses in the last five years of their governing time. Power of the country was weakened; hence officials did not withstand foreigners' intrusion and were beaten down.

However, in the second place, luxuries and conveniences can show the positive influences on society at the same time. Because luxuries will bring great content to individuals and easy life will ease the tension of multitude, and because people are mostly profit-driven, populace are eager to create conditions to enjoy their fantastic life, therefore standard of social living will be conspicuously improved. Once the masses have experienced the apparently differences between conveniences life and poor life, they will surely keep on ameliorating the status of living.

In summary, not only would the luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life induce negative affections to society and individuals, but also easy life and expensive goods would induct multitude to pursue better life. Of course, merely the positive influences reconcile with what people have been expecting for thousands of years. Therefore, government should pay more attention to next generation's education and act as a pioneer in the mainstream.

Argument25

TOPIC: ARGUMENT25 - The following appeared in a memo from the mayor of the town of Hopewell.
"Two years ago, the town of Ocean View built a new municipal golf course and resort hotel. During the past two years, tourism in Ocean View has increased, new businesses have opened there, and Ocean View's tax revenues have risen by 30 percent. The best way to improve Hopewell's economy, and generate additional tax revenues, is to build a golf course and resort hotel similar to those in Ocean View."
WORDS: 423 TIME: 00:37:32 DATE: 2008-3-10 21:50:20

At first glance, it seems somewhat reasonable that there is a need for the town of Hopewell to build a golf course and resort hotel as Ocean View did two years ago. However, close scrutiny of the evidence unveils that the argument actually suffers from several vital pitfalls. For example, the argument is fraught with unwarranted assumptions that a golf course and resort would ameliorate Hopewell's economy. Besides, the comparison in this argument is incomplete and selective, etc. These flaws above would be discussed respectively.

To begin with, the increase of tourists in Ocean View may be not the result of the golf course and resort hotel built two years ago. There is an alternative explanation: tourists are favor of food produced in the town of Ocean View. That is to say, golf course and resort hotel are not the direct and main factors of tourists' consideration. These two new building are just a superficial factor in tourists’ decision. Moreover, the speaker mentions that new businesses have opened in Ocean View. Consider, for example, tourists prefer to swim in the swimming pools, which are among those new businesses.

Secondly, the speaker contributes Ocean View's tax revenues' boom to the new businesses newly developed in that town. Accurately speaking, the arguer may make an unwarranted assumption. The speaker do not tell more about what are taking pale in Ocean View in recent two years, therefore the mayor of Ocean View might have signed in a new law that aims to emphasize attractions on outputs of Ocean View. For example, the masses in Ocean View are being urged to plant more trees since two years ago. Thus, the better economy benefits from the trees have been planted.

Thirdly, albeit a new golf course and resort may influence Hopewell's financial status to some extent, more details about the compositions of Hopewell's economy must be given. Consider, for instance, if Hopewell's economy is far less developed than Ocean View's, the mayor of Hopewell may get into trouble of accumulating capital and negotiating with investors. And admittedly, no constructive outcomes may be attached. Consequently, it is fantastic to build a golf course and resort hotel that cost much more than Ocean View can afford.

In sum, the argument actually has several flaws as discussed above, and is not convincing as it stands. To solidify the argument, the speaker would have to take more factors into account before the final decision is made, and further demonstrate that Hopewell has the ability of build a golf house and resort hotel.

ISSUE50

TOPIC: ISSUE50 - "In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach."
WORDS: 441 TIME: 00:45:24 DATE: 2008-3-10 16:46:02

The speaker proclaims that faculty should work outside their academic realms, in professions related to what they teach. In my view, the speaker fails to take into account that great differences exits between every academia. In some academic areas faculty should work outside, while in certain other areas they should not.

With respect to certain academic domains, there is no occupation to speak out of academia at all. This especially true in the artistic fields, in which professors create work from daily life. For example, in the music area, experts may sniff certain feelings benefit for creation even during dream. A dimming silence may attract their attentions; therefore a great achievement arises from this relatively paltry behavior. For the professors, everything in daily life is the element in their work.

The same things are also common in the field of literature, where anything professors see or participate in may become professor's composing source. For instance, an author goes on a journal at his or her vacation. When this author is fishing beside a river, an old woman protected by a young girl is ambling by the author. As a result, this author is deeply moved by this scenario and immediately composes an essay focusing on love. Life indeed is the origins of these professors' academia researches.

By contrast, in certain other areas, there is an apparent difference between academia and work outside academia. I strongly accede to what the speaker asserts. It is worthwhile for professors to actively engage in profession out academia.

In my experience as a college man, professors who are actively engaged in outside work relevant to their specialty will bring us fresh insights and up-to-date notions. On the one hand, A computer professor in my university participate in various of conventions held all over the country. Not only did students benefit from his interesting experiences he had to tell, the professor himself has published many prominent articles and get a high value.

On the other hand, professors in researching cults may gain a myriad of benefits on condition that they undertake outside work related to their specialties. For example, a physical teacher in my university enthusiastically takes part in outside work--to take practical exercises and make teaching tools himself. We all get a better understanding of principles and theories discussed in class on account of this professor's vivid explaining method and models he used.

In sum, whether the faculty should work outside their academic areas primarily relies on what realm they are teaching. In some cases, especially in art, they do not have to work outside; while in certain other cases, they should actively participate in outside work.

Argument195

TOPIC: ARGUMENT195 - The following is a letter from an editor at Liber Publishing Company to the company's president.
"In recent years, Liber has unfortunately moved away from its original mission: to publish the works of regional small-town authors instead of those of big-city authors. Just last year, 90 percent of the novels we published were written by authors who maintain a residence in a big city. Although this change must have been intended to increase profits, it has obviously backfired, because Liber is now in serious financial trouble. The only way to address this problem is to return to our original mission. If we return to publishing only the works of regional small-town authors, our financial troubles will soon be resolved."
WORDS: 472 TIME: 00:48:50 DATE: 2008-3-9 21:30:58

At first glance, it seems somewhat reasonable that Liber have certain excuses to return to publishing works of small-town authors as the speaker presents; however, close scrutiny of the evidence the arguer cites unveils that the argument actually suffers from several vital flaws. For instance, a fact, 90 percent of the novels written by authors from big cities, does not indicate Liber's main profits come from novels, where other literatures are possible. Moreover, ways to address Liber's financial trouble should not be limited merely to publishing works of regional small-town authors. Besides, some other flaws exist. These flaws above would be discussed in details respectively.

As a thresh matter, the speaker makes a mistake that he attributes current financial trouble to what they did in last year, in which 90 percent of novels were written by authors of big cities. In effect, it is possible that novels is not the majority of publications by Liber. The true case, for instance, may be that textbooks are the most important publications, instead of novels. Consequently, whether novels are among the best-selling list is not paramount when textbooks have been sold out at a number of 100,000, but novels only a number of 100. Under this circumstance, Liber would not blame their financial problem to novels, and whether these novels are composed by authors from small-town or big-city does not matter at all.

Secondly, the speaker urges that Liber should undoubtedly return to publishing what they did years ago. In effect, the arguer fails to take into account that the most comprehensive readers play a key role in Liber's profits. Because flavor of readers may vary from year to year, Liber's decision goes the wrong direction. For instance, poet is becoming more and more broadly popular among the masses in recent years, and this trend will withstand in predicted future. Therefore, Liber's financial trouble will surely be deteriorated if Liber returned to publishing more novels written by big-city authors.

A third flaw has to do with the number of writers in regional small town. Consider, for instance, most of small-town novel authors have moved their houses to other districts as a result of unfortunately recognizing that Liber has moved away from its original policy of publishing. The number of authors who compose novels is relatively much small. If Liber resumes publishing only the works of regional small-town authors, they may embarrassedly discover that no one in small town composes novels and then send novels to Liber for publishing. Thereby, Liber's financial problem will be even worse.

In sum, the argument actually has several flaws as discussed above, and is not convincing as it stands. To solidify the argument, the arguer would have to provide evidence that the majority of Liber's publications is novel, and demonstrate that novel authors in small town still live where they were.

ISSUE43

TOPIC: ISSUE43 - "To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards."
WORDS: 458 TIME: 00:58:47 DATE: 2008-3-8 22:16:59

Whether public officials should conform to the highest ethical and moral criteria, in every scenario and under each condition, depends primarily on the specific occasions they put them in. With respect to some conditions, public officials ought to obey the ethical and moral standards; with respect to certain other cases, they should pay more attention to practical circumstances.

First, when public officials work out political policies and latter judge the masses' activities
according to what they rules, officials should maintain the highest moral criteria. Besides, they themselves should have the sense that they are also under the confines of laws. Officials would be put into prison or receive somewhat punishment in respect that they fail to obey certain moral standards. A mayor in my hometown, for instance, have the rights of improving subordinate officials' position, therefore certain staffers secretly give cash or deal gifts to the mayor on purpose of getting to be improved. Of course, the mayor did not flee away from the punishment of rigorous rules and live for a content life, which is to the contrary of what the multitude must expect. In effect, this mayor had not been delighted for even a month before he was arrested and accused for corruption. Therefore, as this instance demonstrates, any leader of any department certainly must conform to highest moral standards without exception.

By contrast, in certain other cases (frontier of science, power of army, for example), public officials may not have to maintain the highest ethical and moral criteria. It is probable, in these cases, political officials may have to lie or veil the fact, and no alternative choices are available. An ancient example in the history of my motherland happened in the era of Qing, approximately one thousand years ago. The king of Qing, Jian Gou, was put into prison on account of his failing to fight against intrusion leaded by another country's King, Wu. Under this circumstance, Gou would surely be killed on condition that he refused to abnegate in order to maintain the highest moral standards. However, Gou selected the alternative way--to abjure and pretend to be mad, opposite of ethical and moral standards. Wu let Gou go free on respect that Wu confide in Gou's abnormal activities with no doubt. Wu went to a confidential place and advocated his persons altogether to fight back under the name of revenge. Finally, Wu managed it. This is a vivid example that shows public officials may not have to obey strict moral standards.

In sum, public officials should base their choices on practical conditions. They ought to conform to moral standards in respect that they are addressing the problem inside a country. On the other hand, public officials should choose the correct selection that is benefit for the masses.

ISSUE113

TOPIC: ISSUE113 - "It is primarily through our identification with social groups that we define ourselves.
"WORDS: 427 TIME: 00:58:01 DATE: 2008-3-6 21:38:51

The speaker proclaims that we could define ourselves fundamentally by means of actively engaging in social groups. I strongly accede to the arguer's statement. This is especially true in modern society in which various perspectives of evaluating a person exist. It is teams composed of the masses that make us be ware of what kind of people we are and how successful we can be.

To begin with, social groups are places where the multitude would make their dreams come true. Consider, for instance, the physical association, one of the most welcome groups, in which young people can accomplish their wishes formed during their childhood. For instance, a prominent individual in the realm of basketball, Alonso Jordan, once said he was of much confusion of his career planning when he was a little boy. No one gave him imperative instructions in respect that his parents died not long after Jordan's birth. Fortunately, he was lead to the NBA, a tournament in America, when he graduated from local university in his hometown. In this group, his coach and friends take Jordan as their indispensable student and player, Jordan soon find out that this group is just the place he has been looking for, according to what he says in a TV program. Finally, he achieves great accomplishment with the help of friends.

Secondly, in certain other social groups, colleague's apparently affection on individuals are also indispensable. This function is greatly expressed in The Veteran, a TV series being broadcasted in my country. The hero, Sanduo Xu, in this art was ordinary person who watered cabbages in his family's garden before he joined army. However, his life has completely reversed after his taking part in the groups of army, where he succeeds to find where his value lies. Xu's advantages that distinguish him from others are tolerance and contribution. Once in a battle, his friends all died, but he survived from sever fight because he lied in bog for three days and none of his friends could do this. Xu is the real hero. Undoubtedly, it is the group where Xu's talents can be exhibited only.

In sum, we can find our values of existence only by actively engage in various social groups consciously or unconsciously. In groups, where a variety of characteristic persons can be found, we may find out our own advantages and shortcomings through reacting with other persons in groups. To the contrary, we will be uninspired individuals on condition that we refuse to identify with social group. In deed, we need teams to define ourselves.

ARGUMENT208

TOPIC: ARGUMENT208 - The following appeared in a memorandum from the planning department of an electric power company.
"Several recent surveys indicate that homeowners are increasingly eager to conserve energy and manufacturers are now marketing many home appliances, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, that are almost twice as energy-efficient as those sold a decade ago. Also, new technologies for better home insulation and passive solar heating are readily available to reduce the energy needed for home heating. Therefore, we anticipate that the total demand for electricity in our area will not increase, and may decline slightly. Since our three electric generating plants in operation for the past 20 years have always met our needs, construction of new generating plants should not be necessary.
"WORDS: 391 TIME: 00:58:54 DATE: 2008-3-5 21:31:04

At first glance, it seems somewhat reasonable that additional construction of generating plants is not dispensable as the statement presents, however, close scrutiny of the evidence unveils that the argument actually suffers from several vital flaws. For instance, the reliability of the recent surveys is questionable, and even if the surveys are credible, the arguer is too hasty to make the conclusions, where some alternative explanations exist. These flaws will be discussed respectively.

As a threshold matter, the sample masses that the surveys have investigated might not represent the typical composition of multitude that is the mainstream in society. Consider, for example, people asked to respond questions in the so-called surveys may altogether poor peasants living in undeveloped districts. They are eager to conserve a variety of energy, including electric power, by nature and all the time. Consequently, the outcomes of surveys are of no practical sense in respect of credibility.

Secondly, although passive solar heating systems are ready to use, according to what the speaker says, whether these new systems alike will undoubtedly change the demands of electric power energy is still questionable. Solar heating is merely said ready to be bought in ordinary stores, nevertheless which is not to say every family has such manufacture in practical utilizing. How would solar heating system lower demanding electric power, to some extent, needs to be calculated in details, and results may not as surprisingly conspicuous as the arguer proclaims.

A third flaw has to do with the necessity of constructing new generating plants. The arguer considers that it is unnecessary to build new plants in result of the surveys which merely focus on homeowners, who might not be the major users of electric power. On the other hand, it is enterprises that consume the most part of electric power. The surveys have no idea about the demands of such departments. It is probable that these enterprises are right expanding their operating scales, under which circumstance demanding of electric power may increase sharply in predictably future. Hence, there is definitely a need to construct new generating plants.

On balance, the arguer fails to consider that the surveys do not reflect the actual fact from several perspectives, and works out erroneous conclusions. To support his or her statement, the speaker might provide more information about the accurate current demands of demands of electric power.