Issue 94 Argument 180

TOPIC: ISSUE94 - "Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field of study because acquiring knowledge of various academic disciplines is the best way to become truly educated."

WORDS: 450 TIME: 00:45:00 DATE: 2008-4-4 21:07:51

Whether university students should take various courses, in fields outside their majors, hinges on the students' special areas. With respect to realms in which outside study is appropriate, I strongly accede to the speaker’s claim. University or college men will stand to gain in a variety of respects, provide that they enrich their specialties with experience in other academic areas.

To begin with, this statement requires qualifications in two aspects. In certain areas, there is no study to speak of outside major. This is especially true in mathematics; after all, what study outside major is there for students to engage in? In certain other academic areas, student's field of study typically involves the kind of learning of the sort that occurs outside specialty. This is particular inerrant in the study of language, which requires their participants actively engage in interacting with the real world.

Aside from these two qualifications, I strongly agree that it is worthwhile for students of universities to dabble in outside field of study in extensive realms. There are three dear benefits of doing so.

Firstly, in my experience as a student, my classmates who are actively engaged in learning all kinds of knowledge can understand principles and theories discussed in textbooks. For example, a student who studies in computer science is better able to produce a marvelous flash if he or she has been educated with necessary notions about aesthetics.

Secondly, by learning about further and broader knowledge, a student will be clearer of how to plan his or her career. For instance, a student who understands physics, music, and literature may have a deep interpretation about what the job he or she is going to find, because this student understands what these jobs of differing kinds entail. After balancing between several opportunities for career, the student may be better able to make a decision which is the best one for this student. After all, university career-planning staffers are neither equipped nor sufficient experienced to provide such professional advice for students.

The third benefit has to do with outcomes the students will ultimately contribute to society. For example, Aristotle, a pupil of Plato, mastered in a great many disciplines--such as logic, ethics, natural sciences, and poetics. It is these various respects of knowledge that catapulted Aristotle to a prominent figure in history of Ancient Greek. Another example is the discovery of alkali medals that were discovered because batteries were invented in physics and used in chemistry experiment. Therefore, students in chemistry should also study certain knowledge in physics.

To summary, aside from certain areas in which outside field of study is unavailable or unnecessary, universities should enrich students' knowledge though interspersing major with other courses.

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TOPIC: ARGUMENT180 - The following is a recommendation from the personnel director to the president of Acme Publishing Company.
"Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the Easy Read Speed-Reading Course has greatly improved productivity. One graduate of the course was able to read a five-hundred-page report in only two hours; another graduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in under a year. Obviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in a single workday. Moreover, Easy Read costs only $500 per employee-a small price to pay when you consider the benefits to Acme. Included in this fee is a three-week seminar in Spruce City and a lifelong subscription to the Easy Read newsletter. Clearly, Acme would benefit greatly by requiring all of our employees to take the Easy Read course."

WORDS: 440 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 2008-4-4 21:07:51

In this argument, the verdict given by the speaker is that Acme Publishing Company should send all of their employees to take the Easy Read course. To support this conclusion, the arguer cites the improved productivity of other companies that have stated having their staffers take the Easy Read Speed-Reading Course. Besides, by comparing the relatively low costs of the courses with the promising benefits to Acme, the speaker believes the conclusion will work. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from several critical blemishes, as discussed below.

Firstly, the idea that the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb is quite ridiculous. As common sense, amount of information a person can interpret in a single day is limited by confines of the basic natural laws. It is impossible for a man or woman to understand everything he or she reads in finite time. Moreover, whether there is a need of surfing so many reports is not supported by the speaker. Perhaps a staffer in Acme merely has to view a two-page report per day.

Secondly, the reason why a graduate of the course rose from an assistant manager to vice president of a company in less than a year is not necessarily the fact that this graduate had taken the course. This quick promotion did have certain other explanations. Probably, that graduate attracted some funds from society and sharply increased the profit of that company. Therefore, this assistant manager received the reward of promotion due mainly to the funds instead of the course.

Thirdly, even though $500 per employee may be a paltry amount of money, the total expense of Acme can be extremely high. Since speaker fails to mention how many employee working in Acme, possibility that 3000 workers have to be sent to join the course, which amounts to 1,500,000 dollars. Then, Acme Company may not be able to afford so much cost. In addition, what function that the free lifelong subscription to the Easy Read newsletter will work is also left untended by the speaker. Without demonstrating that this newsletter will no doubt provide valuable information, the speaker is too cursory to arrive at his or her ultimateness.

To summary, this statement indeed suffers from a few vital fallacies as discussed above. To support the conclusion, the arguer would have to manifest that graduates of the read course have actually contribute to increasing profit of the company, and prove that Acme has sufficient money to send all its staffers to take the Easy Read course. Without considering and ruling out these potential factors, this statement would otherwise be undermined.

Issue 136

TOPIC: ISSUE136 - "The absence of choice is a circumstance that is very, very rare."

WORDS: 517 TIME: 00:45:00 DATE: 2008-4-3 16:20:38

This statement asserts that the situation when no choice is available is rare in daily life. I tend to agree with the speaker. Under the most circumstances, opportunities for selection can be easily checked out provided that we cogitate from a variety of perspectives--whether in politics, sciences, arts, or literature. In effect, absence of choice is the result of lacking sufficient contemplation.

Admittedly, in certain cases, we would be hard-pressed to agree or disagree with a matter, and difficult to say "no" or "yes" to a choice, but only have to accept it passively. For instance, in our common experience as human beings, the family circumstance is one incidence that we are not able to influence. After all, we inherently can not decide where we are born, and what occupation our parents serve to. As a result, even some people are disgruntled with their family--perhaps in wealth, social status, level of education, they have no alternative chances to determine achievements of their parents. Similarly, when faced with diseases, every one would choose to visit a doctor, instead of staying at home and enduring agony.

However, the case in which almost no choice is available actually does not exist pervasively. On the other hand, a great many splendid opportunities for decisions are supported to us, supposing that we take into account the special position, certain time, and particular figures. The speaker might claim that a staffer who works in a global corporation has to obey his or her boss's command and has no right to refuse. Yet, this conceived worker is still authorized by commerce laws that he or she can make an appointment with the manager. The employee may arrive at a choice that is best for him or her through having a talk with the manager or boss. For instance, Jobs, the chief executive of Apple Company, chose to stay back in Apple several years after he was fired by the board.

Furthermore, in the realm of history, the speaker's claim finds even less support. History is replete with examples of people who changed their destiny in tough circumstances. For example, black people were once treated as slaves by white farm owners in the south of America. But these "slaves" did not choose to comply with unfair and prejudice missions originating from their white "masters"; instead, they decided to revolute their fates and fight for their rights. Consequently, the will to select a differing style of life is the very cause of American Civil War which fulfilled the black's libertarian beliefs. Another paradigmatic example is Beethoven. When he began to loose his hearing in his thirties, Beethoven did not yield to his extremely bad ears and decided to continue composing without any hesitation. As a result, Beethoven had accomplished several profound works.

In summary, with few exceptions in which choices are hard to ferret out, opportunities for decisions can be found out, if we carefully consider all relative things, such as persons, time, and scenario, in tough cases. After a period of balancing between these matters, we will no doubt point out a few sound choices.

Argument 233

TOPIC: ARGUMENT233 - The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of a company that builds shopping malls throughout the country.
"The surface of a section of Route 101, paved two years ago by McAdam Road Builders, is now badly cracked and marred by dangerous potholes. In another part of the state, a section of Route 66, paved by Appian Roadways more than four years ago, is still in good condition. Appian Roadways has recently purchased state-of-the-art paving machinery, and it has hired a new quality-control manager. Because of its superior work and commitment to quality, we should contract with Appian Roadways rather than McAdam Road Builders to construct the access roads for all our new shopping malls."

WORDS: 421 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 2008-4-3 19:42:45

In this argument, the verdict is that Appian Roadways should be hired to construct the access roads for all new shopping malls, instead of McAdam Road. To support this conclusion, the speaker compares a section of Route 101 which is now severely damaged and paved by McAdam with a section of Route 66 which is still in good condition and paved by Appian Roadways. Besides, the fact that Appian has employed a new quality-control manager, which is considered as a great effort to guarantee quality, by the arguer. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this statement actually suffers from several critical blemishes, as discussed below.

To begin with, albeit road built two years ago by McAdam is worse than the condition of Route 66 built by Appian more than four years ago, it does not imply McAdam's work is worse than Appian's. Since the speaker fails to mention how heavy the traffic in these two roads, it is quite probable that a myriad of people, bicycles, automobiles use Route 101 while nearly no one go on Route 66. Therefore, it is the heavy traffic that causes the bad situation of Route 11 rather than a low level of quality.

Secondly, whether the new paving machinery purchased by Roadways will be used in next engineer is unknown. Maybe this action just ironically demonstrates that current paving machinery owned by Roadways is out of date. Moreover, no evidence is given by the speaker to prove that staffers in Roadways are already skilled in operating this new machinery. Their workers may need a large amount of time to master utilizing the new machinery, which may decrease the efficiency of Roadways.

Thirdly, the reason why Roadways signs with a new quality-control manager is also left untended in this statement. In any event, it is quite possible that the former manager was not competent in his or her position, and had constructed some roads that turned out to be bad works. Therefore, the quality constructed by McAdam Road Builders can not satisfy the needs of clientele in effect.

In summary, this statement indeed suffers from a few vital fallacies as discussed above. To solidify the ultimateness, the speaker would have to manifest that traffic on Route 101 and on Route 66 is the same, and prove that the new machinery and the new quality-control manager will undoubtedly contribute to roads which can withstand extraordinary heavy automobiles. Without considering and ruling out the factors aforementioned, the speaker is too cursory to arrive at his or her conclusion.

Argument 140

TOPIC: ARGUMENT140 - The following appeared in a report of the Committee on Faculty Promotions and Salaries at Elm City University.
"During her seventeen years as a professor of botany, Professor Thomas has proved herself to be well worth her annual salary of $50,000. Her classes are among the largest at the university, demonstrating her popularity among students. Moreover, the money she has brought to the university in research grants has exceeded her salary in each of the last two years. Therefore, in consideration of Professor Thomas' demonstrated teaching and research abilities, we recommend that she receive a $10,000 raise and a promotion to Department Chairperson; without such a raise and promotion, we fear that Professor Thomas will leave Elm City University for another college."

WORDS: 446 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 2008-4-3 14:35:45

In this argument, the verdict is that Elm City University should offer a $10,000 additional salary raise to Professor Thomas and promote her to the dean of her department, in order to attract her to still work for Elm City University. To support this conclusion, the speaker cites that Thomas's classes are among the largest at the university and that during the past two years Thomas has brought more research grants than her wage each year. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from several critical fallacies, as discussed below.

To begin with, the fact that plenty of students in Elm City University study in Thomas's classes does not necessarily imply that Thomas is quite popular among college men. Certain other explanations including that many students are required to go to Thomas's class does exist. Or classmates are highly disgruntled with the content and method of Thomas's teaching, which is left untended in this argument.

Secondly, albeit Thomas has brought greater research grants than her wage in each of the past two years, the speaker fails to mention the situation before two years ago. Perhaps for eight or ten years Professor Thomas had not attract even one dollar to university. Besides, the prospect of more research grants from society next year is hard to predict. In addition, provided that money brought to Elm City University by Thomas just slightly exceeds Thomas's payment, it is especially unreasonable that the majority of study funds are paid to Thomas. Furthermore, the speaker also fails to provide sufficient information about Thomas's outcomes of research and publication. We can not rule out the possibility that Thomas achieved no prominent result in the past two years.

Thirdly, since other faculty's wages are not manifested in this statement, Thomas may earn much higher than average level of other professors, including the chancellor of Elm City University. Therefore, a salary of $50,000 is enough for Thomas's daily expense, the university do not have to raise the pay of Thomas, which is already extraordinary high. Moreover, whether Thomas has the ability of managing a department is equally questionable. Maybe Thomas is not suitable for a position which demands a universal idea. And, there is no evidence that Thomas is malcontent with her current wage and is searching for a new job.

To summary, this statement indeed suffers from a few vital blemishes as discussed above. To solidify the ultimateness, the speaker would have to demonstrate that Thomas's classes are highly appraised by her students, and provide more detailed information about the funds out of the university. Without considering these potential factors, the arguer would be too cursory to arrive at the conclusion.

Issue 51 Argument 147

TOPIC: ISSUE51 - "Education will be truly effective only when it is specifically designed to meet the individual needs and interests of each student."
WORDS: 455 TIME: 00:45:00 DATE: 2008-4-2 22:10:31

Is education truly effective only when specialized to cater the demand of each individual, as this statement maintains? However, in my view uniform education is better able to enhance a student's understanding of knowledge and help children develop a respectful manner. On the other hand, educators would be hard-pressed to carry out any practical educational policy when education is specifically designed.

Admittedly, distinct individual has differing characteristic from any one else. Besides, the ability of acquiring basic skills of learning and understanding further knowledge--such as advanced mathematical may be considerably different among a group of students. Therefore, these children or college men need special way of teaching and distinct parameters for evaluation. Without fostering them through various perspectives, educationalists may have difficulty in gracefully teaching students what they actually want to announce. For instance, in China, ancient method of teaching in class was to gather large group of people, typically 60 persons, and to explain principles and theories tediously. Not only did students feel bored about knowledge, teachers were depressed to find their students' negative feelings.

However, uniform education is a must in contemporary--whether in styles of teaching, what are explained and how grades are judged. The reason for this is simple: there are so innumerous learners that excessive specialized education lacks feasibility while the number of educators is far less than the number of students. For instance, in a high school located in my hometown, typically a physic teacher has to tackle problems arisen from about 150 students. This teacher would have no time to sleep provided that every two students demand a particular kind of education, or 75 categories of differing education must be worked out by this teacher.

Generally speaking, sometimes standard examination that all students should engage in has no alternative selections in special country or district. For instance, the entrance examination of university is just a archetype. Under this circumstance, perhaps no test taker wants to have special tests that are differing from a unique one, because fair chance of studying in a prominent university or college is the first factor to be considered. In addition, unique extensive form of education that concerns various realms can help an individual better master the basic knowledge about sciences, arts, humanities, and politics. Diverse textbooks concentrated in a variety of respects may better help a person expand his or her understanding in knowledge than a specialized education.

In summary, albeit specifically designed education can satisfy certain individuals' needs, universal style of teaching has more advantages that will guarantee fair competition, comprehensive knowledge from science to politics. Consequently, only by integrating special education and universal teaching together, education will be truly effective to influence students and thus satisfies differing needs and interests of each individual.
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TOPIC: ARGUMENT147 - The following appeared in an editorial in a business magazine.
"Although the sales of Whirlwind video games have declined over the past two years, a recent survey of video-game players suggests that this sales trend is about to be reversed. The survey asked video-game players what features they thought were most important in a video game. According to the survey, players prefer games that provide lifelike graphics, which require the most up-to-date computers. Whirlwind has just introduced several such games with an extensive advertising campaign directed at people 10 to 25 years old, the age-group most likely to play video games. It follows, then, that the sales of Whirlwind video games are likely to increase dramatically in the next few months."
WORDS: 392 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 2008-4-2 22:10:31

In this argument, the verdict is that the sales of video games produced by Whirlwind are likely to sharply increase in the next few months. To support this conclusion, the speaker cites the result of a survey which demonstrates that Whirlwind's new video games just satisfy the demands of market. Besides, advertising campaign is also reckoned as powerful evidence by the arguer. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this statement actually suffers from several critical fallacies, as discussed below.

To begin with, the credibility of the survey is quite questionable since no detailed information is given. For instance, whether participants of this study were random sampled is unknown. Perhaps these respondents were just a minority and thus did not represent the current consumers. Besides, the number of players was also left untended by the speaker. Maybe merely a few boys were asked what kind of video games they were fond of.

Secondly, the fact that lifelike graphics which require the most up-to-date computers may be just a sound reason for undermining the speaker's ultimateness. As common sense, price of the most recently computers is quite high, which may exceed the purchasing power of many people. Without owning a computer powerful enough, it seems that few people will purchase up-to-date video games, including those games designed by Whirlwind. Therefore, the sales of Whirlwind's video games may not have a considerable increase.

Thirdly, whether the extensive advertising campaign will conduce toward increasing purchases among people 10 to 25 is equally hard to say. People who are in their 10 to 25 may still study in school and they do not have substantial economic income as a result. Thus, even though these adolescents are quite eager to contribute to the profit of Whirlwind, they will not do so simply because they are not rich enough. Besides, whether this group of people actually is most likely to play video games lacks sufficient evidence. In addition, perhaps video games from rivals of Whirlwind are much more attractive to this age-group, which is not ruled out in this statement.

In summary, this statement indeed suffers from a few vital blemishes as discussed above. To solidify the conclusion, the speaker would have to demonstrate that the survey reflected the true ideas of the majority, and prove that people 10 to 25 have enough money to buy Whirlwind's products.

Issue 207

TOPIC: ISSUE207 - "Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."

WORDS: 445 TIME: 00:45:00 DATE: 2008-4-1 16:19:12

The speaker asserts that it is the public activity, such as rituals and ceremonies, that define a culture, and that groups of people may dismiss themselves without turning to these public activities for reference. I strongly agree with this statement. Culture is a spiritual matter that manifests itself in people's enduring engaging in sociopolitical activities. Moreover, any one who fails to observe their surroundings may tend to obscure their values.

To begin with, we must have a clear notion about what is a culture. From the developments of history, culture may be defined as one characterized by ideology, attitudes about politics, and ethics. Besides, when it comes to certain detailed realm, such as sciences, arts, and politics, culture's influence on their prominent elites can be easily found. For example, Western culture and civilization owes its very existence to a special activity held in monasteries, in which many people acquired artifacts, art works and manuscripts together, when the Roman Empire was declining from its apex.

In ancient Greek, people almost always gathered in a particular space, such as a artistic hall, where they discussed a variety of questions. For example, Aristotle and Plato just actively engaged in classes, which defines the ancient thought on sciences and arts of Greek. In the realm of society and politics, civilization is especially characterized by various activities celebrated by people. For instance, in China, the Spring Festival is the most paramount ceremony in almost the whole people's minds. In this festival, people invite their intimate friends to have dinner together and give some presents to the youngest members of families. Therefore, through this certain activity, Chinese traditional culture is defined to be a respectful and tolerant one, in which concord is easily to be found.

In contemporary, more and more kinds of cultures appear in the form of groups of adherents, and differing people who have distinct cultural ideologies may seek to discover their own values of existence by actively taking part in these groups. This is especially true among young generations. Consider the Hip-Hop culture which is quite popular among young persons in America. Members of the group of Hip-Hop typically wear extremely huge and large costume, in order to display their inner unrestrained convictions. Moreover, from the Hip-Hop group, we can conclude that the general American culture is a tolerant and civilized one in respect that Hip-Hop is reckoned as a normal culture among most Americans.

In summary, various rituals and ceremonies have played a pivotal role in defining a culture, through joining which many people clearly evaluate themselves. On the other hand, culture can represent a nation's pervasive attitudes and values towards society, ethics and politics.

Argument 203

TOPIC: ARGUMENT203 - The following appeared in a newspaper feature story.
"At the small, nonprofit hospital in the town of Saluda, the average length of a patient's stay is two days; at the large, for-profit hospital in the nearby city of Megaville, the average patient stay is six days. Also, the cure rate among patients in the Saluda hospital is about twice that of the Megaville hospital. The Saluda hospital has more employees per patient than the hospital in Megaville, and there are few complaints about service at the local hospital. Such data indicate that treatment in smaller, nonprofit hospitals is more economical and of better quality than treatment in larger, for-profit hospitals."

WORDS: 404 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 2008-4-1 14:37:57

In this argument, the speaker concludes that treatment in larger, for-profit hospitals is less economical and of worse quality than treatment in smaller, nonprofit hospitals. To support this verdict, the arguer compares the hospital in the town of Saluda and the hospital in the nearby city of Megaville in several aspects--for example, cure rate, number of employees per patient and patients' complaints. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this argument actually suffers from several critical blemishes, as discussed below.

To begin with, albeit the average length of a patient's stay in the hospital of Meagville is three times as the period of average stay in Saluda, it does not necessarily imply that efficiency of doctors in Saluda is far higher than those in Megaville. It is quite probable that doctors in Saluda chiefly tackle common disease, such as flu, headache, etc, while the hospital in Megaville is mainly curing cancer, fracture, to name just a few, which would otherwise undermine the conclusion. Moreover, from the cure rate of these two differing hospitals, the possibility aforementioned may actually reflect the truth.

Secondly, the fact that Saluada hospital has more doctors and nurses per patient than the hospital in Megaville may have alternative explanations. This fact fails to tell us how many patients per day each hospital will receive. Perhaps merely a few patients go to Saluda hospital for medical care; on the other hand, a myriad of people who are sick visit the hospital in Megaville. Therefore, though the number of doctors in Megaville hospital is indeed less than the number in Saluda hospital, we could not conclude that patients in Megaville hospital are not sufficiently coddled.

Thirdly, more complaints about Megaville hospital than Saluda hospital also is not powerful evidence of the speaker's culmination. This statement does not mention the proportion of patients who complain about service at each hospital. Therefore, it is quite possible that the result of a great number of patients in Megaville plus a much small proportion surpasses the number of complaints in Saluda. In effect, the Megaville hospital indeed has a better service than Saluda hospital.

In summary, this statement actually suffers from a few vital fallacies as discussed above. To solidify the conclusion, the speaker would have to demonstrate that the numbers of patients who go to Saluda hospital or Megaville hospital is the same, and further prove these two hospitals tackle the same kinds of diseases.