# My Argument Practice
###### tags: `GRE`
# Argument practice 1

<center>


</center>

The president of Acme Publish Company argues that all the employees should take the Easy Read course. Careful scrutiny of the argument reveals numerous potential problems with it – problems that render its author’s position untenable. Thus, before making further decision, some question may need to be answered.

First, the testimony of one graduate of the course able to read a 500-page report in only two hours is unconvincing for lacking of details. How was his reading ability before he took this course? Does the course make significant improvement on his reading pace or efficiency? What kind of report is he reading? Are they elaboration of complex theories, laconic technical reports that need to be digested, or they are just reports with organized and visualized charts and figures? Is reading 500 pages in two hour of “the report” unreachable? With the absence of quantification of prior ability of the graduate before taking this course along with the difficulty of the mentioned reading object clearly defined, the progress of this course is not proved for the description of this graduate is tenuous.

Second, another graduate that advanced to vice president from assistant manager is mentioned, trying to highlight the advantage of having this course. This story, ostensible coveting, is still lack of elaboration. How difficult it is for this guy to have the advance? How large the company is? How many person are there in his/her company? How long has he stayed on his previous position? Are there any other reason that outcome this promotion? Finally, all these question lead to the main tenuousness – does taking the reading course, assumed some ability of reading are improved, really become the important factor in his/her promotion? Before these question being solved, one should doubt the relationship between advantage of reading course and chances on promotion, and take seriously consideration on the purpose of this.

Other than the discussing the improvement the course will give, the necessity of taking course should also be considered. Although the benefit on fast reading mentioned is true, however, might be partially fitted to the company. Not every employee needs fast reading on his/her position, for example, some might rather need to be deliberate on finding errors and amend, while others might is required to have good sense of art or design. Moreover, the technicians, such as those who is responsible for cleaning, the drivers, or even the guards, have nothing to do with great improvement in reading on their position; the investigation on these employees may have little improvement to the productivity.

To fully assess the ultimate claim, I would need reliable details on these question, and hoping that the decision making may be re-considered based on more concrete bolsters.

(451 words)

# Argument practice 2
<center>


</center>

21:37 - 22:20 43 min

In the argument, the speaker propose that Buckingham college should build a number of new dorms for reasons. However, the speaker's argument suffers from several reasoning flaws, which together render the argument unconvincing. It is suggested that once the following evidence can be provided and question answered, the claim may be bolstered. (52 word)

One reason the argument claims for new dorm is that the enrollment will doubled over the next 50 years based on current trends. How ever, the statistic from only a few recent years are not necessarily a good indicator of future trends. How did this anticipation based on? Who did the estimation with the trend? What are the insidious uncertainties that might cause the inaccuracy of the speculation? Most importantly though, without thorough and strictly assumptions and validation, it is too presumptuous to conjure up with this speculation for both fifty years and doubling are a really large scale relative to the current state, and whatever else may be said, most people would agree that using the current trend to predict the growth within the next 50 years is infelicitous. Accordingly, the author's contention is questionable at best. (139 word)

The argument also mentioned that the average rent for an apartment in town has rise, which may lead to the increasing difficulties for student to afford on housing. Yet the mere fact does not necessarily mean that student aren't able to have good study at school, neither lower the willingness to apply this college. For example, if Buckingham College is a community college that a large portion of its students live near the campus, then the rising rent would not be considered as a serious issue for most of the students are impervious for they may just live at there own house. With other possibilities exist, one should provide a more constructive survey firstly to show exactly how many students require renting, and secondly how much the rent give pressure on them to support the speaker's claim. (136 word)

Let us say that the inference for the enrollment is on an growing trend. Still, what should the school do when encounter this situation? If, for one case, as the trend evinces, there's no need to worry about the stable source of students, then why should the college need to build to new dorms to lower the barriers for the coming students? It might not be the most beneficial policy. Or, if the college is well-prestige on its scholarship and research energy, the first thing the college may need to concentrate may be how to hold, or even improve, the quality of faculties and preparing abundant resources and funding for launching pioneering researches. Spending money on dorms may not be the top priority. Thus, before clarify the mission of the school, the assertion may be tenuous. (136 word)

In order to persuade me, the speaker must provide the corresponding evidences and answer to make the claim more persuasive. (20 word)

(483 words)

# Argument Practice 3
2021/02/04 21:11 - 21:46 (35 min)

<center>


</center>

The speaker in this argument suggest an investigation for Consolidated Industries due to several reasons. ~~However, this argument relies on several crucial but unsubstantiated assumptions and is therefore unconvincing as it stands.~~ **Before ramming through the final decision, one need to verify a lot of points they are taking for granted.**(32 words)

The speaker adduces the weather forecaster's prediction that the below-normal temperature **pattern** will last several years. This statistics, however, from only a few existing data are not necessarily a good indicator of future trends. How is the forecast done? Is the forecast supported be experts authentically? What is the scale for the mentioned "several" years? 5 or ten or even twenty? The fuzziness with this time duration may also be determining to the decision making. Thus, before I accept the speaker's conclusion, it is preferred that the speaker should demonstrate constructive research or data to support the forecast, and should give a more specific and quantify response to the estimated trend more certainly. (112 words)

The speaker also show that new houses are built to response to recent population growth. With respect to these two incidence, the author attempts here to draw what might amount to a false analogy between the new built homes and rising population. How can one assert the new houses can infer to growing population? Are the houses sold already? Is it confirmed that the owner of the houses are moving in in recent years? Moreover, is there any anticipation for the potential population growth be conducted systematically? Or this conclusion are just a speculation from the construction companies as an advertisement? While this might be the case, the author must provide clear evidence to substantiate this assumption. (117 words)

Even assuming that the prediction are correct some how, the speaker, still, ~~are not enough persuasive to recommend the investment~~**The assumption that the company is still worth investing in is doubtful(讓步的破題要在更強硬)**. The advice are interesting, intriguing even. But what is wanted are the details elaborating the inevitability of this investment. How will the profit be? Are there any other surrogate energy for heating? How is the percentage of the residents that use heating oil in averagely? How is the annual consumption? Before investment, these question should be answered carefully. More importantly, Why should we select Consolidated Industries? Are they superior then others? Are there any other competitors? Does doing retail sales profits? Or should we investigate on the company that produce heating oils? Success stories inspires. Therefore, I remain unconvinced that the decision to investment is doubtful at best. (129 words)

The author needs to ~~come up with the answer to above question to~~ **address the above assumptions to** strengthen his/her argument. (29 words)

(419 words)

* Assumption need to be **ADDRESSED** by the "firm, author, manager, arguer"...... to become **reliable**
* 取代assumption: supposition, conjecture, guess, hypothesis, statement, speculation
* 說明假設有明顯的不確定性：it conceivably is much more difficult to predict.....
* 不妥當的假設
* 對於假設的現制：they do have qualification on the forecast, have undertaken thorough research on the topic.
* 替代方案：alternative
* 多用一點轉折語氣，特別是第二句一開始：However, although, albeit, nevertheless
* 無法從A連結到B：even if ...., it does not follow up that ....; it is not a given that......
* retailer 賺不到錢可以舉例。ex, 賣iphone賺不到大錢而且有太多同行
*

# Argument practice

17:04-17:36, 32 min

discuss one or more alternative explanation that could rival the proposed explanation. (要提出解釋打argument)

The argument recommends that Happy Pancake House should extend the cost-saving change to its restaurants by replacing butter by margarine. However, this argument fails to rule out a series of alternative explanations, and is therefore unpersuasive as it stands. (39 words)

First the argument claims that only about 2 percent of customers have complained about such replacement. This description to the state the customer's satisfaction is tenuous. How is the poll made? Is is made by a rigorous process or it is just a static from the number of complains out of all the customers? Is the poll enough representative? The argument should present a more specific details on the formation of the survey number to make the number speaks more cogent. (81 words)

Moreover, the arguer infer that out of the 2 percent, there should be 98 percent of people are happy with the change. Albeit plausible with the calculation, the indication is still doubtful - the degree of satisfaction may not be dichotomized as it shows. How can one see those without evincing complains as a happy customers? They may not express their criticism in may reasons: Is the mechanism of customer complain clear enough? How is the poll made? Does the poll ask the customer about their range of satisfaction like giving a score fuzzily but not to force them make choice between happy or not. Or, if any possibility exist, may some of the customers have pressure to express their bad feelings through the customer service and post their madness on their own Facebook or Twitter? The presented inference provide no evidence to support on how the customer is happy or not, and it is suggest that more constructive survey details should be showed to make the argument more convincing. (170 words)

Even if the polls exactly reflect what customers think, the arguer's statement on how customer's inability on distinguish butter and margarine may is not suffice to prove a clear trend. It is believed that not every customers are equally asked to express their feeling of taste after buy products from Happy Pancake House. Also, they may not be willing to show their opinion on such change due to several reasons such as lack of information to their expression, they are not that active to finish the poll, or the culture doesn't provide such a direct atmosphere for the shy people to express candidly. Among these reasons, the speculation of the customer reaction should be more prudential. (116 words)

The claim is not convincing without ruling out the alternative explanations as above mention. To fully persuade me, the arguer should elaborate the mentioned details to bolster the statement. (28 words)

(435 words)

### 開頭
* 論述無法有效提供解釋: this argument fails to rule out a series of alternative explanations, and is therefore unpersuasive as it stands.
* However, this argument fails to consider the following possible alternatives.

### 忽略細節的說法
* The memo states..... However, it's entirely possible that ..... Perhaps...
* The argument say..... Still, **another possibility cannot be exclude that**...
* Still, Why ....? There is a good chance that.....
* Still, the author **overlooks** the possibility that....

### 引述報告
* Citing XXX survey, the arguer claims that .... However, here the arguer **fails to take into account for the strong ability that**...

## Comparison between estate

The arguer suggest her friend that using Adams Realty would be recommended due to her experience and other information. However, there are several assumption behind the statement that need to be discussed and elaborated to make the further advice more convincing.

One should question on the big overall sight: are the two company comparable on the provided evidence? First, it is mentioned that Adams has 40 real estate agents, while Fitch only has 25 with some part-time included. This ostensible quantity difference, however, is too tenuous to say that Adams is a better and professional team. How do the team work? Are they serving the people in the same way? How is the efficiency of their sales? Surely, the number of agent may reflect the size of their company or the how much is their service spot, but it may not have strong connection to how "good" the company is.

Second, the arguer are making comparison on the annual revenue of the two: $168000 versus $ 144000. The comparison may be unfounded back to our point of view: are the two company comparable? Do they share the same target audience? Do they sell the same type of house? Or maybe one is selling office building and the other is focusing on residential housing, which leads to a totally different amount on revenues. More, do they use the same strategy on gleaning target audiences? Is the intensity on spreading advertisement the same? To make the assumption more persuasive, these are the aspects that the arguer should scrutinized carefully.

The arguer also shares he/her own experience on the time difference when using the two realty, stating that Adams do sell the house faster than Fitch. However, it is doubtful that the two situation might not be comparable as well. The two testimony, with a ten year gap between, may be situated under a totally disparate circumstances. Is the willing for people to buy house remain constant during the ten years? Who is buying the house? Are the two sold houses the same type? Who is the buyer of the house? Do they buy house for the same reason? For investigation or residence? The most critical of all, the propagation of information has changed dramatically during the decade, and no doubt it impact the way and efficiency on sales. Thus, the comparison from the arguer's experience is not enough convincing to me.

Even if the two company are comparable, the arguer should provide the exact benefit to the house owner to show that they can earn more on choosing Adams. How much does the percentage of service fee account for both of the companies? Is choosing Adams, more importantly, can engender largest profit the the seller? What is the requirement for the seller to sell his/her house? As fast as it can? or can wandering for a while to find a better evaluation? These question also need to be answered.

I suggest that the arguer should address on the above assumptions, providing more constructive and quantitative information to bolster the statement and make it more cogent.

### Dr. Karp
#### Argument
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.

#### response
The author of the passage claims that the interview-centered method proposed by their research team is better and more valid than the observation-centered approach applied by Dr. Field due to the mentioned reasons. However, the assumptions made in the argument are rife with holes, and I suggest that the author should address them at best.

First, the author assumed that the interview done by their research team is valid. The reliability of the result, however, is dubious unless the details are elaborated. How is the interview done? What is the portion of the children from Tertia that are interviewed ? What kind of question is asked? Do the questions focus on the interaction with their biological parents? Or the questions are just designed to scan their childhood quotidian lifestyle? These two may lead to a totally different result. Also, the uncertainty and confidence of the result is not given. Due to variation in different family, what is the uncertainty that might effect the result? Maybe the interviewed children other than Tertia loss their parents for some reason. Unless the result of interview is proved to be fully representative, valid , and reliable,or it may not be used effectively to support the argument.

Second, even if the interview is valid, the inference that Dr. Field's approach is invalid is not proper. The main assumption behind the inference is that the author assumed that the society of Tertia remain constant during the twenty years. This may, without providing enough evidence, be tenuous. Also, the basic assumption of how the village rear children is unclear: Do their parent participate no more in their childhood? Until how old are the children reared by the entire village? 6? or 12? Maybe the parent still participate a lot along with the caring by the entire village. There is no evidence to strong enough to show that the assumption both on the immutable society and the exact interaction between biological parents and the children from Tertia is identical as the author described.

At last, the claim by the author that interview-centered method will establish much more accurate understanding of child-rearing traditions is not persuasive at all. Even though the investigation in Tertia is valid, it can not be proved to be valid to all the case. Interview-centered method, proposed by graduate students, is just undergoing an inchoate stage, and is still far from being tested as a more valid approach. It is too early to boast that the interview-centered method is better and having a prosperous future unless it is validated through several cases.

The author is expected to answer the above question in order to consolidate the assumptions made in the passage. It is believed with the assumption fully addressed, the argument would be more convincing.