_____? This article aims to present my point of view on this question. In his argument, the author asserts that ___. However, there are many people who hold opposing views. According to them, ___. It is no wonder that the seemingly simple and straight question could arouse such fierce debate through society, since the issue is so complex and controversial that different people may have different views due to their distinctive education background, personal experience, emotional concern, culture, value, and so forth. As a matter of fact, there is no universal answer to this question. Whether one choice takes precedence over the other would quite depend on specific situations. The decision, consequently, is not an easy one to make. The final judgment relies on a careful case-by-case analysis. As far as I am concerned, I partially agree with the author that ___. However, I do not agree with him that ___. My positions are based on a deep and fundamental analysis as discussed below.
In the first place, I am quite in favor of the author’s idea that ___. The reason to be presented to support my view is that ___. Without ___, it is almost impossible that ___. Both common sense and personal experience have told us that ___. Thus, it is apparent that ___. Otherwise ___.
In the second place, I disagree with the author that ___. The point for me to argue is that ___. The reason is simple. Unless ___, ___. Coincidentally, a general investigation has been conducted by a research team led by Professor Zhu of business institute of my university recently, discovering that ___. Hence, my conclusion is not mere proverbial wisdom but a fact supported by empirical statistics.
It may sound somewhat convincing for people to argue that ___. In stating this position, they assume that ___. It is further claimed that ___. However, these claims neither substantiate the argument that ___, nor undermine my point that ___.
Taking the above considerations into account, I feel quite comfortable to arrive at the conclusion that ___.作者: tearyfish 时间: 2010-10-13 17:02
AA
In this argument, the author asserts/predicts that ___. To substantiate this conclusion, the author cites statistics showing that/ result of a survey that ___. The author further bolsters his conclusion by evidence/examples that___. Moreover, it is claimed that ___. At first glance, the author's argument appears to be somewhat convincing, but close scrutiny reveals that the line of reasoning employed is invalid and hence the conclusion is probably misleading due to several critical logic flaws. In short, the analysis does not lend strong support to what the arguer maintains, and lack of credibility in reasoning causes the conclusion to be problematic. (90)
In the first place,
In the second place,
In the third place,
To sum up, the author fails to provide adequate justification for this argument. The statistics/survey and evidence/examples cited are not only vague but also incomplete. The logic reasoning is questionable with several mistakes. 3 The absence of essential information on ___ results in unsound conclusion. To strengthen the argument, the author would have to provide additional evidence to demonstrate that ___. Also, further detailed information regarding ___ must be presented to show that ___. In this way we could establish the conclusion that ___. (78)作者: tearyfish 时间: 2010-10-13 17:03
Gratuitous assumption
The author based his claim partly on the gratuitous assumption that ___. However, the author presented no evidence that supports this assumption. Lacking such evidence that links ­A and B, it is equally possible that ___, or that ___. Hence, this argument is unwarranted without ruling out such possibility.
Sufficient-(Necessary)
The author based his claim partly on the assumption that B is all that required for A (there is no variable alternative means of achieving A except B). Yet the author presented no evidence that supports this assumption. Although B is an important factor for A, it is hardly the only element required (alternative available).作者: tearyfish 时间: 2010-10-13 17:03
Sufficient
If it turns out that A was due to a combination of factors, it would be difficult for A if A is in lack of any of those elements. To be specific, in the case of A, factors such as C, D, E, and D also play a significant role in determining A. (If some of those elements remain unchanged in the future, a mere change in B would have no stimulating impact on A.)
Necessary
Common sense tells me that there are a lot of other ways in which A, such as B, C, D, E, to list just a few. (Perhaps one of these would be just as effective as, or even more effective than, the A, the proposed plan.)
Summary
Without ruling out those possibilities (availability of these alternatives), the author cannot persuade me to accept that ___.作者: tearyfish 时间: 2010-10-13 17:03
Non-causal relationship
The author commits a fallacy of causal oversimplification.
Sequence => causal
The line of the reasoning is that because B occurred after A (A and B concurred) (there is positive/negative correlation between A and B), the latter event is responsible for the former. However, the sequence of events (correlation between A and B) does not necessarily suggest a causal relationship. Thus, this is fallacious reasoning unless other possible causal explanations have been considered and ruled out. For example, perhaps C is the cause of these events or perhaps B is simply the result of D. Moreover, probably B is just a reflection of E, and had nothing to do with A.
Causal-Effect
It is possible that the cause has been confused with the effect respecting A. Based on the facts cited, the author concluded that A is responsible for B. However, it is equally likely that A is merely a response to B – B happened because A. Besides, the author failed to account for other possible causes of B. For instance, perhaps C is the cause of A or perhaps B is simply the result of D.作者: tearyfish 时间: 2010-10-13 17:04
Survey
The poll cited by the author is too vague to be informative. The claim does not indicate who conducted the poll, who responded, or when, where and how the poll was conducted. Lacking such information, it is impossible to access the validity of the results. The reason is obvious. For example,
When
When samples are used to make general claims about a particular group, the samples should be close enough in time to the generalization they are used to support, so that historical changes will not invalidate the generalization. The less recent the survey, the less reliable the results to indicate current situation of A.
Who
Respondents may not be representative of A as a whole. People who are interested in the survey may be more likely than others to complete and return their questionnaires. As a result, the example cited, while suggestive of the trends, is insufficient to warrant the truth because there is no evidence that data drawn from this sample is representative of the entire A.
Insufficient Sample
The only evidence provided in support for the conclusion is the fact that ___. The most obvious reasoning error in the argument is the author's use of evidence pertaining to A in X region as the basis for generalization about all A. Unless it can be proved that X is typical of A, the fact that ___ is no ground for concluding that A as a whole will experience similar results.
Summary
Unless further information is provided in detail, the results of the survey are worthless as evidence and may distort the facts which lead to the conclusion.作者: tearyfish 时间: 2010-10-13 17:05
False Analogy
The author commits the fallacy of “false analogy”. The argument rests on the assumption that A is analogous to B in all respects. However, this assumption is weak, since it is highly doubtful that all elements drawn from A are applicable to B. For example, X, Y, Z all affect A, but are virtually in absent in B. Differences between the two clearly outweigh the similarities, thus making the analogy highly less than valid.
All Else Equal
The author commits the fallacy of assuming “all things are equal”. The author assumed that in the future (in the past two years), the background conditions will remain (have remained) the same at different times or at different locations. However, the author failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate this assumption. The current fact (the fact that happened two years ago) that ___ is inefficient by itself to convince me that it represents a trend which will remain unchanged into the future (remained unchanged throughout the past two years. Thus it is impossible to conclude that....
Dilemma
The author assumes that AA and BB are mutually exclusive alternatives and there is no room for a middle ground. Yet the author presented no evidence that supports this either-or choice. Common sense tells us that Implementation of both A and B may produce better results. Without taking these into account and without ruling out these alternatives, the author oversimplifies the solution and cannot persuade me to accept his claim.作者: tearyfish 时间: 2010-10-13 17:05
