题目
The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television
station.
"Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time
to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this period,
most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's
coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to
advertise during our late-night news program have canceled their advertising
contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to our news
programs and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should expand
our coverage of weather and local news on all our news programs."
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated
assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on
these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the
assumptions prove unwarranted.
题目
Two years ago, radio station WCQP in Rockville decided to increase the
number of call-in advice programs that it broadcast; since that time, its share
of the radio audience in the Rockville listening area has increased
significantly. Given WCQP's recent success with call-in advice programming, and
citing a nationwide survey indicating that many radio listeners are quite
interested in such programs, the station manager of KICK in Medway recommends
that KICK include more call-in advice programs in an attempt to gain a larger
audience share in its listening area.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be
answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which
it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these
questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
题目
The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television
station.
"Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time
to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this time
period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our
station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that
used to advertise during our late-night news program have just canceled their
advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to
the program and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should
restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its former level."
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to
evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen
the argument.
题目
The following appeared in a letter from the owner of the Sunnyside Towers
apartment building to its manager.
"One month ago, all the showerheads on the first five floors of Sunnyside
Towers were modified to restrict the water flow to approximately one-third of
its original flow. Although actual readings of water usage before and after the
adjustment are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a
considerable savings for Sunnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay
for water each month. Except for a few complaints about low water pressure, no
problems with showers have been reported since the adjustment. Clearly,
restricting water flow throughout all the twenty floors of Sunnyside Towers will
increase our profits further."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be
answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the
predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would
help to evaluate the recommendation.
题目
The following appeared in an article written by Dr. Karp, an
anthropologist.
"Twenty years ago, Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of
Tertia and concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared
by an entire village rather than by their own biological parents. However, my
recent interviews with children living in the group of islands that includes
Tertia show that these children spend much more time talking about their
biological parents than about other adults in the village. This research of mine
proves that Dr. Field's conclusion about Tertian village culture is invalid and
thus that the observation-centered approach to studying cultures is invalid as
well. The interview-centered method that my team of graduate students is
currently using in Tertia will establish a much more accurate understanding of
child-rearing traditions there and in other island cultures."
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to
evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen
the argument.
题目
According to a recent report, cheating among college and university
students is on the rise. However, Groveton College has successfully reduced
student cheating by adopting an honor code, 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 a system in
which teachers closely monitored students; under that system, teachers reported
an average of thirty cases of cheating per year. In the first year the honor
code was in place, students reported twenty-one cases of cheating; five years
later, this figure had dropped to fourteen. Moreover, in a recent survey, a
majority of Groveton students said that they would be less likely to cheat with
an honor code in place than without. Thus, all colleges and universities should
adopt honor codes similar to Groveton's in order to decrease cheating among
students.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be
answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which
it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these
questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
题目
The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly
diversified company.
"Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as
regional headquarters for two regions. The buildings were erected by different
construction companies—Alpha and Zeta. Although the two buildings had identical
floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build.
However, that building's expenses for maintenance last year were only half those
of Alpha's. In addition, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been
lower than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction. Given
these data, plus the fact that Zeta has a stable workforce with little employee
turnover, we recommend using Zeta rather than Alpha for our new building
project, even though Alpha's bid promises lower construction costs."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be
answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which
it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these
questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
题目
The following appeared in an article written by Dr. Karp, an
anthropologist.
"Twenty years ago, Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of
Tertia and concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared
by an entire village rather than by their own biological parents. However, my
recent interviews with children living in the group of islands that includes
Tertia show that these children spend much more time talking about their
biological parents than about other adults in the village. This research of mine
proves that Dr. Field's conclusion about Tertian village culture is invalid and
thus that the observation-centered approach to studying cultures is invalid as
well. The interview-centered method that my team of graduate students is
currently using in Tertia will establish a much more accurate understanding of
child-rearing traditions there and in other island cultures."
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated
assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on
these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the
assumptions prove unwarranted.
题目
The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the
Parkville Daily
newspaper.
"Throughout the country last year, as more and more children below the age
of nine participated in youth-league sports, over 40,000 of these young players
suffered injuries. When interviewed for a recent study, youth-league soccer
players in several major cities also reported psychological pressure exerted by
coaches and parents to win games. Furthermore, education experts say that long
practice sessions for these sports take away time that could be used for
academic activities. Since the disadvantages outweigh any advantages, we in
Parkville should discontinue organized athletic competition for children under
nine."
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated
assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on
these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the
assumptions prove unwarranted.
题目
A recently issued twenty-year study on headaches suffered by the residents
of Mentia investigated the possible therapeutic effect of consuming salicylates.
Salicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used
to treat headaches. Although many foods are naturally rich in salicylates,
food-processing companies also add salicylates to foods as preservatives. The
twenty-year study found a correlation between the rise in the commercial use of
salicylates and a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by
study participants. At the time when the study concluded, food-processing
companies had just discovered that salicylates can also be used as flavor
additives for foods, and, as a result, many companies plan to do so. Based on
these study results, some health experts predict that residents of Mentia will
suffer even fewer headaches in the future.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be
answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it
is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions
would help to evaluate the prediction.
