Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　　1.The following appeared in a memorandum written by the vicepresident of Nature's Way, a chain of stores selling health food andother health-related products.
　　"Previous experience has shown that our stores are most profitablein areas where residents are highly concerned with leading healthylives. We should therefore build our next new store in Painesville,which has many such residents. Painesville merchants report that salesof running shoes and exercise clothing are at all-time highs. The localhealth club, which nearly closed five years ago due to lack ofbusiness, has more members than ever, and the weight training andaerobics classes are always full. We can even anticipate a newgeneration of customers: Painesville's schoolchildren are required toparticipate in a 'fitness for life' program, which emphasizes thebenefits of regular exercise at an early age."

　　2.Thefollowing appeared in a letter sent by a committee of homeowners fromthe Deer haven Acres to all homeowners in Deer haven Acres.
　　"Seven years ago, homeowners in nearby Brookville communityadopted a set of restrictions on how the community's yards should belandscaped and what colors the exteriors of homes should be painted.Since then, average property values have tripled in Brookville. Inorder to raise property values in Deer haven Acres, we should adopt ourown set of restrictions on landscaping and house painting."
　　3.The following appeared in a newspaper article about law firms in the city of Megalopolis.
　　"In Megalopolis, the number of law school graduates who went towork for large, corporate firms declined by 15% over the last threeyears, whereas an increasing number of graduates took jobs at small,general practice firms. Even though large firms usually offer muchhigher salaries, law school graduates are choosing to work for thesmaller firms most likely because they experience greater jobsatisfaction at smaller firms. In a survey of first-year students at aleading law school, most agreed with the statement that earning a highsalary was less important to them than job satisfaction. This findingsuggests that the large, corporate firms of Megalopolis will need tooffer graduates more benefits and incentives and reduce the number ofhours they must work."

　　4."Of the two leading real estatefirms in our town---Adams Realty and Fitch Realty---Adams is clearlysuperior. Adams has 40 real estate agents. In contrast, Fitch has 25,many of whom work only part-time. Moreover, Adams' revenue last yearwas twice as high as that of Fitch, and included home sales thataveraged $168,000, compared to Fitch's $144,000. Homes listed withAdams sell faster as well: ten years ago, I listed my home with Fitchand it took more than four months to sell; last year, when I soldanother home, I listed it with Adams, and it took only one month. Thus,if you want to sell your home quickly and at a good price, you shoulduse Adams."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　

　　1.The following was written as a part of an application for a small business loan by a group of developers in the city of Monroe.

　　"A jazz music club in Monroe would be a tremendously profitable enterprise. Currently, the nearest jazz club is 65 miles away; thus, our proposed club, the C Note, would have the local market all to itself. Plus, jazz is extremely popular in Monroe: over 100,000 people attended Monroe's jazz festival last summer, several well-known jazz musicians live in Monroe, and the highest-rated radio program in Monroe is 'Jazz Nightly,' which airs every weeknight. Finally, a nationwide study indicates that the typical jazz fan spends close to $1,000 per year on jazz entertainment. It is clear that the C Note cannot help but make money."

　　2.The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the Clear view newspaper.

　　"In the next mayoral election, residents of Clear view should vote for Ann Green, who is a member of the Good Earth Coalition, rather than for Frank Braun, a member of the Clear view town council, because the current members are not protecting our environment. For example, during the past year the number of factories in Clear view has doubled, air pollution levels have increased, and the local hospital has treated 25 percent more patients with respiratory illnesses. If we elect Ann Green, the environmental problems in Clear view will certainly be solved."


　　3.The following appeared in a memorandum issued by the strategic planning department at Omni Inc.

　　"Mesa Foods, a manufacturer of snack foods that currently markets its products within a relatively small region of the country, has strong growth potential. Mesa enjoyed a 20 percent increase in profits last year, and its best-selling product, Diabolique Salsa, has had increased sales over each of the past three years. Since Omni Inc. is interested in reaching 14-to-25 year olds, the age group that consumes the most snack food, we should buy Mesa Foods, and concentrate in particular on marketing Diabolique Salsa throughout the country."

　　4.The following appeared in a memorandum from a dean at Omega University.

　　"Fifteen years ago, Omega University implemented a new procedure that encouraged students to evaluate the teaching effectiveness of all their professors. Since that time, Omega professors have begun to assign higher grades in their classes, and overall student grade averages at Omega have risen by thirty percent. Potential employers apparently believe the grades at Omega are inflated; this would explain why Omega graduates have not been as successful at getting jobs as have graduates from nearby Alpha University. To enable its graduates to secure better jobs, Omega University should now terminate student evaluation of professors."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　　1.The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a Batavia newspaper.  
　　"The department of agriculture in Batavia reports that the numberof dairy farms throughout the country is now 25 percent greater than itwas 10 years ago. During this same time period, however, the price ofmilk at the local Excello Food Market has increased from $1.50 to over$3.00 per gallon. To prevent farmers from continuing to receiveexcessive profits on an apparently increased supply of milk, theBatavia government should begin to regulate retail milk prices. Suchregulation is necessary to ensure both lower prices and an adequatesupply of milk for consumers."  
              
　　2.The following appeared in a memo from the mayor of the town of West Egg.  
　　"Two years ago, our consultants predicted that West Egg’slandfill, which is used for garbage disposal, would be completelyfilled within five years. During the past two years, however, townresidents have been recycling twice as much aluminum and paper as theydid in previous years. Next month the amount of material recycledshould further increase, since charges for garbage pickup will double.Furthermore, over ninety percent of the respondents to a recent surveysaid that they would do more recycling in the future. Because of ourresidents’ strong commitment to recycling, the available space in ourlandfill should last for considerably longer than predicted."  
  
　　3.The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of Alta Manufacturing.  
　　"During the past year, Alta Manufacturing had thirty percent moreon-the-job accidents than nearby Panoply Industries, where the workshifts are one hour shorter than ours. Experts believe that asignificant contributing factor in many on-the-job accidents is fatigueand sleep deprivation among workers. Therefore, to reduce the number ofon-the-job accidents at Alta and thereby increase productivity, weshould shorten each of our three work shifts by one hour so that ouremployees will get adequate amounts of sleep."   
  
　　4.The following appeared in a memo from the owner of Green Thumb Gardening Center, a small business serving a suburban town.  
　　"There is evidence that consumers are becoming more and moreinterested in growing their own -vegetables. A national surveyconducted last month indicated that many consumers were dissatisfiedwith the quality of fresh vegetables available in supermarkets. Andlocally, the gardening magazine Great Gardens has sold out at theVillage News stand three months in a row. Thus, we at Green ThumbGardening Center can increase our profits by greatly expanding thevariety of vegetable seeds we stock for gardeners this coming spring."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　　1.The following appeared in a newsletter offering advice to investors.
　　"Over 80 percent of the respondents to a recent survey indicated adesire to reduce their intake of foods containing fats and cholesterol,and today low-fat products abound in many food stores. Since many ofthe food products currently marketed by Old Dairy Industries are highin fat and cholesterol, the company's sales are likely to diminishgreatly and their profits will no doubt decrease. We therefore adviseOld Dairy stockholders to sell their shares and other investors not topurchase stock in this company."

　　2.The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper from a citizen of the state of Impecunious.
　　"Two years ago our neighboring state, Lucria, began a statelottery to supplement tax revenues for education and public health.Today, Lucria spends more per pupil than we do, and Lucria' s publichealth program treats far more people than our state's program does. Ifwe were to establish a state lottery like the one in Lucria, theprofits could be used to improve our educational system and publichealth program. The new lottery would doubtless be successful, becausea survey conducted in our capital city concludes that citizens ofImpecunious already spend an average of $50 per person per year ongambling."

　　3.The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the Walnut Grove town newspaper.
　　"Walnut Grove's town council has advocated switching from EZDisposal (which has had the contract for trash collection services inWalnut Grove for the past ten years) to ABC Waste, because EZ recentlyraised its monthly fee from $2,000 to $2,500 a month, whereas ABC's feeis still $2,000. But the town council is mistaken; we should continueusing EZ. EZ collects trash twice a week, while ABC collects only once.Moreover, EZ---which, like ABC, currently has a fleet of 20trucks---has ordered additional trucks. Finally, EZ providesexceptional service: 80 percent of respondents to last year's townsurvey agreed that they were 'satisfied' with EZ's performance."

　　4.The following appeared in an editorial in a Prunty County newspaper.
　　"In an attempt to improve highway safety, Prunty County recentlylowered its speed limit from 55 miles per hour to 45 on all majorcounty roads. But the 55 mph limit should be restored, because thissafety effort has failed. Most drivers are exceeding the new speedlimit and the accident rate throughout Prunty County has decreased onlyslightly. If we want to improve the safety of our roads, we shouldinstead undertake the same kind of road improvement project that ButlerCounty completed five years ago: increasing lane widths and resurfacingrough roads. Today, major Butler County roads still have a 55 mph speedlimit, yet there were 25 percent fewer reported accidents in ButlerCounty this past year than there were five years ago."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument.　　1.The following appeared in a letter from the manager of a rock band named Double Rice.　　"One year ago, tickets for Double Rice's concerts in stadiums around the country took, on average, at least 24 hours to sell out, if they sold out at all. But the band has been enjoying a surge in nationwide popularity among 14 to 25 year olds, and the 30,000 tickets for a recent concert in Megalopolis sold out in 12 minutes. Clearly the ticket sales in Megalopolis are a result both of the band's increased popularity and of the advertising campaign run in Megalopolis by the Ad Lib advertising agency. Thus, in order to ensure that the band's success in Megalopolis is repeated across the country, the band should hire Ad Lib to duplicate the Megalopolis ad campaign on a nationwide scale."  　　2.The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the Balmer Island Gazette.　　"The population of Balmer Island increases to 100,000 duing the summer months. To reduce the number of accidents involving mopeds and pedestrians, the town council of Balmer Island., should limit the number of mopeds rented by each of the island's six moped and bicycle rental companies from 50 per day to 30 per day during the summer season. By limiting the number of rentals, the town council is sure to attain the 50 percent reduction in moped accidents that was achieved last year in the neighboring island of Torseau, when Torseau's town council enforced similar limits on moped rentals."  　　3.The following appeared in a memo from the new vice president of Sartorian, a company that manufactures men's clothing.　　"Five years ago, at a time when we had difficulties in obtaining reliable supplies of high-quality wool fabric, we discontinued production of our deluxe alpaca overcoats. Now that we have a new fabric supplier, we should resume production. This coat should sell very well: since we have not offered an alpaca overcoat for five years and since our major competitor no longer makes an alpaca overcoat, there will be pent-up customer demand. Also, since the price of most types of clothing has risen in each of the past five years, customers should be willing to pay significantly higher prices for alpaca overcoats than they did five years ago, and our company profits will increase." 　　4.The following appeared in a memo from the president of a company that builds and sells new homes in Steel City.　　"Over the past five years, the population of Steel City has increased by more than 20 percent, and family incomes in Steel City have risen much faster than the national average. Nationwide, sales of houses priced above $150,000 have increased more than have sales of lower-priced houses. Such data indicate that we should make changes in our business to increase company profits. First, we should build fewer low-priced houses than we did last year and focus instead on building houses designed to sell at above $150,000. Second, we should hire additional workers so that we can build a larger total number of houses than we did last year."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　　1.A recent sales study indicated that consumption of seafooddishes in Bay City restaurants has increased by 30 percent over thepast five years.
　　Yet there are no currently operating city restaurants thatspecialize in seafood. Moreover, the majority of families in Bay Cityare two-income families, and a nationwide study has shown that suchfamilies eat significantly fewer home-cooked meals than they did adecade ago but at the same time express more concern about eatinghealthily. Therefore, a new Bay City restaurant specializing in seafoodwill be quite popular and profitable.
　　
　　2.The following appeared in a memo from the president of Viva-Tech, a manufacturer of high-tech medical equipment.
　　"In order to reduce costs, we should close some of our existingsmall assembly plants and build a large central plant. Grandview wouldbe an ideal location for this new plant. First, of the locations thatwe have considered, Grandview has the largest adult population, so thatwe will be able to staff our plant quickly and easily. Second, sincethe average wage earned by workers in Grandview is less than that inthe other locations, we should be able to keep production costs low.Last, as an inducement for us to build there, Grandview's town councilhas offered to allow us to operate for the first three years withoutpaying city taxes."

　　3.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 golfcourse and resort hotel. During the past two years, tourism in OceanView has increased, new businesses have opened there, and Ocean View'stax revenues have risen by 30 percent. The best way to improveHopewell's economy, and generate additional tax revenues, is to build agolf course and resort hotel similar to those in Ocean View."

　　4.The following appeared in a memo from the chairperson of the school board in the town of Saluda.
　　"For the past five years, Mr. Charles Schade has been the musicdirector at Steel City High School, and during that time the schoolband from Steel City High has won three regional band competitions. Inaddition, the quality of the music rehearsal facilities and musicalinstruments at Steel City High has improved markedly over the past fiveyears. Because of such successes at Steel City High, the Saluda schoolboard should hire Mr. Schade to plan and direct the general musiceducation programs for the entire Saluda school system."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　　1.The following appeared as part of a memo from the president of Automate, a company that manufactures automobiles. 　　"It has come to my attention that Sparks, Inc., the manufacturingcompany that just moved into our state, is advertising job openings atsalaries that are twice as high as those paid to our experiencedassembly-line workers. Some of our employees have already left to workfor Sparks. In order to keep our best staff, we must pay them salariesequal to those Sparks pays its employees. Otherwise we will continue tolose employees in the future, because Sparks must staff the additionalnew plants that it plans to build in the state."  　　2.The following is a memo from the superintendent of the Mylar school district. 　　"A recent six-month study, in which breakfast was made availableat school for 100 schoolchildren ages five to twelve, found thatchildren on the breakfast plan were less likely than other children tobe absent from or late for school. Clearly, eating breakfast beforeschool plays a role in reducing student absenteeism and tardiness. Itis also well known that children who regularly eat a healthfulbreakfast tend to perform better in school. Therefore, in order toreduce absenteeism and tardiness and to improve academic performance inall of Mylar's elementary and secondary schools, we should providebreakfasts for all students before each school day." 　　3.The following appeared in a popular health and fitness magazine. 　　"A ten-year study of a group of 552 men from Elysia showed thatlong-term consumption of caffeinated black tea was associated with amuch lower risk of stroke. Of these men, those who drank more thanthree cups of black tea a day had a 70 percent lower risk of strokethan those who drank no tea. These results suggest thathealth-conscious people should consume at least three cups of black teaa day, beginning early in life."  　　4.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, ProfessorThomas 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 shehas brought to the university in research grants has exceeded hersalary in each of the last two years. Therefore, in consideration ofProfessor Thomas' demonstrated teaching and research abilities, werecommend that she receive a $10,000 raise and a promotion toDepartment Chairperson; without such a raise and promotion, we fearthat Professor Thomas will leave Elm City University for anothercollege."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　　1.The following appeared in a newsletter distributed at a recent political rally.
　　"Over the past year, the Consolidated Copper Company (CCC) haspurchased over one million square miles of land in the tropical nationof West Fredonia. Mining copper on this land will inevitably result inpollution and environmental disaster, since West Fredonia is home toseveral endangered animal species. But such disaster can be preventedif consumers simply refuse to purchase products that are made withCCC's copper until the company abandons its mining plans."
　　2.The article entitled 'Eating Iron' in last month's issue ofEating for Health reported that a recent study found a correlationbetween high levels of iron in the diet and an increased risk of heartdisease. Further, it is well established that there is a link betweenlarge amounts of red meat in the diet and heart disease, and red meatis high in iron. On the basis of the study and the well-establishedlink between red meat and heart disease, we can conclude that thecorrelation between high iron levels and heart disease, then, is mostprobably a function of the correlation between red meat and heartdisease. The following appeared as a letter to the editor of a nationalnewspaper.  

　　3."Your recent article on corporate downsizing in the UnitedStates is misleading. The article gives the mistaken impression thatmany competent workers who lost jobs as a result of downsizing faceserious economic hardship, often for years, before finding othersuitable employment. But this impression is contradicted by a recentreport on the United States economy, which found that since 1992 farmore jobs have been created than have been eliminated. The report alsodemonstrates that many of those who lost their jobs have found newemployment. Two-thirds of the newly created jobs have been inindustries that tend to pay above-average wages, and the vast majorityof these jobs are full-time."
　　Downsizing is the process in which corporations deliberately reduce the number of their employees.

　　4.According to a poll of 200 charitable organizations, donations ofmoney to nonprofit groups increased by nearly 25 percent last year,though not all charities gained equally. Religious groups gained themost (30 percent), followed by environmental groups (23 percent),whereas educational institutions experienced only a very small increasein donations (3 percent). This poll indicates that more people arewilling and able to give money to charities but that funding foreducation is not a priority for most people. These differences indonation rates must result from the perception that educationalinstitutions are less in need of donations than are other kinds ofinstitutions.

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument.　　1.A new study collected data that shows that people who snore are more likely to gain weight than are people who do not snore. It is well known that many people who snore also stop breathing frequently during the night for a few seconds, a condition called sleep apnea. The interruption of breathing wakes the person---often so briefly that the waking goes unnoticed---and can leave the person too tired during the day to exercise. Anyone who snores, therefore, should try to eat less than the average person and to exercise more . 　　2.The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper.　　"The librarians in our town's school system have reported that the number of trips that our students make to their school library on a voluntary basis has decreased significantly in recent years. For example, the average seventh-grade student visited the school library five times last year, but four of those visits were part of required classroom activities. This shows that our students are reading less than in the past. To address this problem, our town needs to improve the atmosphere of the libraries so that they will be comfortable places in which to work. If students view the libraries as uncomfortable, then they are unlikely to want to spend much time there."  　　3.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."　　4.The following appeared in the editorial section of Monroetown's local newspaper.　　"Mayor Brown was recently re-elected by a clear majority of 52 percent of Monroetown's voters. Her re-election, however, does not show that most people in our town favored Mayor Brown's proposal for tax reduction over that of her opponent, Mr. Greene, who proposed raising taxes to improve education. It has been shown that voters nationwide tend to re-elect people already in office, regardless of candidates' proposals. In fact, a local survey after the election showed most people in Monroetown disagreed with Mayor Brown's proposal. Clearly most people in Monroetown favor improving education and therefore approve of Mr. Greene's proposal despite the fact that they did not vote for him."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. 　　1.The following is a memorandum from the director of personnel to the president of Get-Away Airlines. 　　"Since our mechanics are responsible for inspecting andmaintaining our aircraft, Get-Away Airlines should pay to send them tothe Quality-Care Seminar, a two-week seminar on proper maintenanceprocedures. I recommend this seminar because it is likely to be a wiseinvestment, given that the automobile racing industry recently reportedthat the performance of its maintenance crews improved markedly aftertheir crews had attended the seminar. These maintenance crews performmany of the same functions as do our mechanics, including refueling andrepairing engines. The money we spend on sending our staff to theseminar will inevitably lead to improved maintenance and thus togreater customer satisfaction along with greater profits for ourairline."  　　2.The following is a letter to the editor of an environmental magazine. 　　"The decline in the numbers of amphibians worldwide clearlyindicates the global pollution of water and air. Two studies ofamphibians in Yosemite National Park in California confirm myconclusion. In 1915 there were seven species of amphibians in the park,and there were abundant numbers of each species. However, in 1992 therewere only four species of amphibians observed in the park, and thenumbers of each species were drastically reduced. The decline inYosemite has been blamed on the introduction of trout into the park'swaters, which began in 1920 (trout are known to eat amphibian eggs).But the introduction of trout cannot be the real reason for theYosemite decline because it does not explain the worldwide decline." 　　3.The following is a letter to the editor of the Atticus City newspaper. 　　"Former Mayor Durant owes an apology to the city of Atticus. Boththe damage to the River Bridge, which connects Atticus to Hartley, andthe traffic problems we have long experienced on the bridge wereactually caused 20 years ago by Durant. After all, he is the one whoapproved the construction of the bridge. If he had approved a wider andbetter-designed bridge, on which approximately the same amount ofpublic money would have been spent, none of the damage or problemswould have occurred. Instead, the River Bridge has deteriorated farmore rapidly over the past 20 years than has the much longer DerbyBridge up the river. Even though the winters have been severe in thepast several years, this is no excuse for the negligence andwastefulness of Durant."  　　4.The following is a letter to the head of the tourism bureau on the island of Tria. 　　"Erosion of beach sand along the shores of Tria Island is aserious threat to our island and our tourist industry. In order to stopthe erosion, we should charge people for using the beaches. Althoughthis solution may annoy a few tourists in the short term, it willreduce the number of people using the beaches and will raise money forreplenishing the sand. Replenishing the sand, as was done to protectbuildings on the nearby island of Batia, will help protect buildingsalong our shores, thereby reducing these buildings' risk of additionaldamage from severe storms. And since the areas along the shore will bemore attractive as a result, the beaches will be preserved and thearea's tourist industry will improve over the long term."