Sample topic: Some people argue that location is the most important factor for a supermarket to succeed.

Others think it is the human that determine the success of a business. 1) First Paragraph (General Statement) Some people think that _______________________. Other people, however, argue that, ______________________. I agree with the former/latter statement and present the following reasons to support my point of view. Make sure to include this introductory paragraph and keep it clear and concise. You may find that some words repeat the essay topic. They are necessary, however, to demonstrate that you understand the full complexities of the issues. Also, here is your first place to clearly state your position. 2) Second Paragraph (First Example/Reason) First of all, _________________________. If not, _________________________________. In addition, ____________________________. Therefore, _________________________. Make sure you are including the transitional words, such as first, my main reason is, etc. 3) Third Paragraph (Second Example/Reason) Second, _________________________. Since, _________________________________. Furthermore, ____________________________. Thus, _________________________. Provide your second reasons to strengthen your statement. 4) Optional Fourth Paragraph (Third Example/Reason or Counter-Argument) You might argue that, ____________________________. However, ____________________. Others might cite, __________________. But, ,_____________________. Therefore, _____________. This paragraph is optional. You can choose to introduce your third rationale or anticipate a counter-argument. If you introduce a different viewpoint, make sure to rebut it again. 5) Conclusion Paragraph In summary, I believe, _______________________________. Therefore, I strongly support _________________ Use two to three sentences to summarize your reasoning and restate your position. Keep in mind, this is not the place to introduce new evidence or reason.

Some people argue that location is the most important factor for a supermarket to succeed. Others think it is the human that determine the success of a business. Which idea do you agree? Support your opinion with reasons or specific examples. The examples could be from your own work, experiences, or your reading. Some people think that it is the location that determines the success of a supermarket. Others people, however, argue that, it is the people, not location that determine the success of a business. I agree with the former statement and present the following reasons to support my point of view. First, every business needs human. It is the variety of people who introduce a business idea, a product or a service and finally deliver it to customers, who are also human kinds. If no people, a business could not exist. Think of the delicious food, beautiful clothes and styled automobile around us, which of them is not produced by human beings? Secondly, it is the human who identify the need of customers and therefore determine what kind of product to sell. You may argue that a supermarket in downtown is always more popular than that in rural area. While the location is particularly important for a store to attract people, it is the human beings who determine in which district a business to locate. Looking at the Manhattan Business Area, you will get some idea of why people are so important for a business to succeed. The Eastern Ocean is just located in the downtown. But during the past three years, it had experienced the most difficult business. While Western Club is far away from the downtown, it attracted customers by delivering the most popular product and it proved successful to keeping most of the old buyers. Finally, in the new economy of internet e-business, buyers no longer have to wait in a long line. When they are buying something, they just stay at home, open the computer and visit the website. Here, the business location disappears, that means, the location is no longer needed! In summary, I believe, while location is particularly important for a business to succeed, it is human that determine the success of a supermarket.

1) First Paragraph (General Statement) This is the place to fulfil your first assignment to analyse the line of reasoning. Your words will be graded on how well you understand the complexities of the original argument. You are also required to make a general statement on the reasonings effectiveness. If you want, you can also include possible assumption to strengthen the argument. The argument that __________________ is based on __________________. The author tried to convince the reader that __________________. While the line of reasoning is somewhat persuasive, it committed ________ Fallacy, _________Fallacy, and _________Fallacy. Therefore is logically not sound. 2) Second Paragraph (First Faulty) You are about to point out the first logical flaw. Make sure you are including the transitional words, such as first, since, etc. First of all, the argument commits __________ Faulty. The author made conclusion that ______________ by ______________. It is possible that_____________. So, the author should address ________________________. 3) Third Paragraph (Second Faulty) Identify the second logical fallacy. Second, the author failed to address _____________________. When the arguer tried to prove that ________________________, he committed an even more serious fallacy by __________________________. Rather, the author should ______________________. 4) Optional Fourth Paragraph (Third Flaw or Possible Underlying Assumption) This paragraph is optional. You can choose to name the third flaws or what assumption could be used to strengthen the argument. Finally, the argument potentially assumed that __________________________. Actually, it may be ________________________. For example, _______________________. Moreover, even if ___________________, it does not guarantee ______________________. 5) Conclusion Paragraph Use two to three sentences to summarize the logical flaws and restate your general critiques. This is not the place to point out a new fallacy. In sum, the argument is neither sound nor convincing since________________. If it included ______________________, it may be more strong or persuasive.

Sample Essays Our work proves to be very successful. In the past three years, each of our five clients has experienced the fastest growth of sales in their history. Therefore, if your company meets management problems, do not hesitate to call Sigma, since we are the best management consulting company. Discuss how well... The argument that Sigma' consultancy is very successful is based on the unprecedented performance of Sigma's past five clients. The author tried to convey that Sigma's consulting helped its clients increasing their business volume. While the line of reasoning is somewhat persuasive, it committed the Insufficient Sample Fallacy and therefore is logically not sound. First of all, the argument commits the Insufficient Sample Faulty. The author made conclusion that its clients achieved the greatest increase in sales by illustrating only five of their clients. It is possible that the majority of their clients did not experience the mentioned growth of sales. So, the author should address more clients so as to generate the conclusion for its success of consulting job. Second, the author made a wrong comparison. When the arguer tried to prove that their clients performed better than other companies, he committed an even more serious fallacy by comparing its current performance with historical performance. Rather, the author should compare its clients' performance with that of other companies. Finally, the argument potentially assumed that the consultancy is the only factor that determines the success of its clients. Actually, it may be other factors that constitute to the success of these five clients. For example, the board of directors just reappointed a new CEO who has proved successful in his past years of managing career and possess resourceful experience in this kind of industry. Without eliminating other factors, the argument is not sound. Moreover, even if Sigma really proves successful to help its clients in regain wonderful sales history, it does not guarantee its superiority of solving management problems since management is only one of the functions that a company daily encounter and a consulting company can help to solve. In sum, the argument is neither sound nor convincing since it overlooks many possibilities that must be addressed to strengthen its statement. If it included the items described above, it may be more strong or persuasive.

1. Analysis of Issue 1. In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In other countries, there is little or no censorship. In your view, to what extent should government or any other group be able to censor television or radio programs? Explain, giving relevant reasons and/or examples to support your position.

This statement asks for the extent to which the broadcast media should be censored for offensive language and behavior. In my view, the rights of individuals to broadcast this type of content should take precedence over our societal interest in preventing the harm that exposure to obscenity produces. Firstly, the right of free speech is intrinsic to a democracy and necessary to its survival. In my assessment, the survival of a society is more crucial than the interests served by restricting obscenity in broadcast media. Furthermore, it is difficult to define "obscene" or "offensive" language or behavior. Secondly, I believe that exposure to obscene and offensive language and behavior does not necessarily cause similar behavior on those who are exposed to it. Although the obscene and offensive behavior coincides with their exposure to such content, there is no sufficient evidence to establish a sound cause-effect relationship. Thirdly, it is the audience who determine whether or not to watch some TV or radio program. If the programs that contain offensive language and behavior are not welcomed by most audience, then censorship is no longer necessary. In sum, it is not wise to censor broadcast media for obscene and offensive language and behavior. Restrict to such media content tends to harm our right of free expression. 2. It is unrealistic to expect individual nations to make, independently, the sacrifices necessary to conserve energy. International leadership and worldwide cooperation are essential if we expect to protect the worlds energy resources for future generations. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

The statement asserts that international leadership in energy conservation is required for the worlds energy resources to be conserved for future generations and that individual nations are unable to do this on their own. I disagree with this statement. Firstly, individual nations have been driven to adopt energy conservation initiatives without international leadership; they will be motivated to do this simply to preserve energy for the benefit of their nation. Furthermore, often international leadership and worldwide cooperation fail to influence the entire world to conserve energy. Therefore, it is not unrealistic for individual nations to make sacrifices to conserve energy, and international leadership and worldwide cooperation is not always required. Factors other than international leadership or world cooperation have driven individual nations to conserve energy. For example, most nations in Europe develop and use automobiles that are highly energy efficient. This is not the case worldwide. Such nations are motivated to conserve energy purely for the benefit of their own nation as they recognize that the earths resources are limited and must be conserved for future generations. Energy efficient transport in such nations

is not just limited to automobiles but public transport as well. The governments and society in these individual nations have chosen to find ways to conserve energy, which proves that it is not unrealistic to expect the sacrifices necessary to conserve energy. Although the goals of international energy conservations and other environmental initiatives are to encourage all nations of the world to conserve the earths resources, they often fail in reaching their objectives. For example, the Kyoto treaty was designed to redu ce the worlds greenhouse emissions and many countries have signed this treaty. However, the United States refuses to enter the treaty as it believes that following the Kyoto protocol will have negative ramifications on the economy due to loss of jobs and other consequences. In turn, Australia refuses to sign the treaty unless all developed nations are involved, its view being that it will be unable to remain competitive if its energy consumption is limited whilst its competitors will not have such impositions placed on them. McDonalds is an example of a food chain, with franchises in many countries that strives to conserve energy. It has adopted the use of energy saving lights and has tested, only in the United States, 5 advanced energy saving restaurants. Although, this is a great accomplishment for energy conservation, this has not led franchises within other countries to follow suit. These examples show how international leadership is not always able to induce the nations of the world to conserve energy. In conclusion, it is not unrealistic to expect individual nations to make the sacrifices necessary to conserve energy. Furthermore, international leadership and worldwide cooperation that aims to promote energy conservation does not always succeed in finding support from all nations of the world. Therefore such initiatives cannot be relied upon to persuade individual nations to conserve energy and that it still possible to achieve energy conservation without international leadership. 3. Corporations and other businesses should try to eliminate the many ranks and salary grades that classify employees according to their experience and expertise. A flat organizational structure is more likely to encourage collegiality and cooperation among employees. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

The speaker here claims that a flat organizational structure is more likely to encourage collegiality among employees. I disagree with the statement. In support of my position, I would like to present following aspects that constitute to an organizational operating. First, this statement ignores our daily experience in workplace. When there is dispute among coworkers, there should be a clear figure to take authority and to make final decision. If not, disagreement will go unresolved and the congeniality is discouraged. Second, under a flat system, workers have little enticement, if any, to improve their performance and bear responsibility for their assigned tasks. In fact, a flat system might actually discourage productivity and efficiency because workers are not responsible for the quality or quantity of their work. In sum, I disagree the opinion that a "flat" organizational structure is more likely to promote collegiality and cooperation among employees because it breaks the common sense about how people work and it discourage the cooperation among employees.

4. Of all the manifestations of power, restraint in the use of that power impresses people most. Explain what you think this quotation means and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with it. Develop your position with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from history, current events, or your own experience, observations, or reading. Some argue that people admire powerful individuals who do not use their power to the utmost to achieve their goals but rather use only the minimum amount required to attain them. I agree, whatever the power is big or not, restraint in the use of that power does impress people most, because of the following reasons. On one hand, abuse of power can hurt the society. Most people seem to use the power granted to get what they want. For example, a teacher of a primary school once told his students who were only 7 or 8 years old that he would like to let students to choose the exact gift they would send to him for the coming of festival in terms of avoiding repetition. We can imagine the incident influenced the children how much. Power became the tools of the person, who often uses the privilege to do things sometimes harmful to the public. The corruption is the very consequence of the abuse of power and hurts the society and the public most. On the other hand, restraint in the use of power can greatly benefit the public. A great example is George Washingtons resistance to take the third presidency. As the leader of the American Independent War and thereafter the elected first president of United States, Washington would have been able to use his power to continue the leadership. But President Washington resisted to do so and pushed the public to re-elect the third president. It is safe to say that if Washington had not done so, then the rule of less-than-three-presidency cannot be applied in nowadays. Therefore, it is the restraint use of power that leads to the democracy of todays United States and the whole world. Eventually, we should make full use of the positive aspects of power and restrain it in an appropriate scale; as the consequences of power may have a great impact on us such as the belief, the confidence, the trust and so on. 5. All groups and organizations should function as teams in which everyone makes decisions and shares responsibilities and duties. Giving one person central authority and responsibility for a project or task is not an effective way to get work done. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above? Support your views with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from your own work or school experiences, your observations, or your reading. Some people argue that it is not an effective way to give one person central authority and responsibility to get work done. Rather, all groups and organizations should function as teams where everyone makes decisions and shares responsibilities. Although it is true that doing things in team-based environment creates a cooperation spirit which is a powerful motivator for the workers of the company, I still believe that there should be someone who makes decision and share duties. First, a group cannot make decisions. Everyone in a group can bring out suggestions, pros and cons, but only one person can make the final decision and bear the major responsibility for a project or task. This brings my second point that responsibility has to be personal to mean something. Group responsibility means nothing. Another point is that a required step in any large project is to divide the project into smaller parts and to assign them to the team members. Naturally, only a chief person can do that.

Second, most people agree that they are motivated when they are assigned to authorize and bear responsibility for a project or task. If the responsibility is handled by a single individual, there is a high degree of accountability because that person is completely responsible for his actions. Furthermore, projects that require quick response time and intuition should be done by individuals. In this case, there is no time to call a meeting and come to a group discussion on what to do next. In conclusion, although team work is a necessity in any organization, it is best when it is done in the presences of several decision making executives, whom will make the decisions, after consulting with their teams, assign tasks, and carry the responsibility. 6. There is only one definition of success to be able to spend your life in your own way. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this definition of success? Support your position by using reasons and examples from your reading, your own experience, or your observation of others. The speaker defines success simply as the ability of someone to spend his life in his own way. While success generally means more choices, I disagree with this point of view for the following three reasons. First, nearly all people would be regarded as failures under this definition. Most people have limited resources for what they can do and how they achieve it. In this case, they are unable to spend their life in their own way. On the other hand, only a few people, such as tyrannical dictators and ultra-wealthy individuals, have the unlimited resources and therefore are considered successful. Furthermore, even the people who have freedom of choices are not necessarily successful because they may acquire it through uncommon means. For example, lottery winners may have great financial resources and be able to spend their life in any way they choose, but they will not be regarded as successful by most other people. Rather, most people regard success as achieving their goals. The more you achieve, the more successful you are; conversely, the less you achieve the less successful you are. A good example is a very successful chief financial officer at a large company in the Silicon Valley in the United States. When he returned from a week's vacation, he found 2,000 email messages in his computer. He didn't take the trouble of reading them one by one as everyone else might do; instead, he did it in his own way -- erasing them all. His unique theory was that the important communications would be repeated. Couldn't we conclude that his doing things in his way is to some extent related to his success? In sum, "to spend your life in your own way" should not only be the only definition of success. Rather, the word success is better defined in terms of the attainment of goals. 7. The best way to give advice to other people is to find out what they want and then advise them how to attain it. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

I agree that the best way to give advice to other people is to find out what they want and then give them advice about how to attain it. It means that we must understand the person first then give our opinions to him just as reference. First, you must find out what the person's real thought and intention; otherwise, you may give wrong advice or the advice which is nonsense to the person. For example, before I immigrate to Canada I promised to lend my apartment to one of my friends in my home country because he was so poor that he did not have his own apartment yet. But before I left my country, the friend kept telling me that his wife did not like to live in other person's apartment. I misunderstood his idea and gave him the advice: You could borrow loan from bank and buy your own apartment then your wife will live in her own apartment. And I rent the apartment to a tenant other than lent the apartment to the friend. Now, we are not friend any more. He was angry with me. Why? My other friend told me this previous fiend's real intention, when he said that his wife did not like to live in other person's apartment, was to buy my apartment in a discount. Furthermore, only when you find out what the person's real intention is, you can decide if you should give advice or not. I give you the same person's example. When he kept calling me that he did not earn enough money when he worked in his home town and asked my advice. He told me the wage he got in a year and I compare it with my own wage. His wage is just one-tenth of mine. So, I give my advice that he could come to my company. I help him to come to my company. Now, his real intention was revealed: He wanted to live the same living standard as I was or share the money, which I previously earned, with him. If I could really catch his intention at the very beginning. I am sure I will not give him any advice. In conclusion, if you want to give advice to someone, you must know his real intention first. Only in this way, you will give good advice to him. And you must keep in mind that sometimes it is better not to give advice at all. 8. For hundreds of years, the monetary system of most countries has been based on the exchange of metal coins and printed pieces of paper. However, because of recent developments in technology, the international community should consider replacing the entire system of coins and paper with a system of electronic accounts of credits and debits. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. In my opinion, the system of coins and paper shouldn't be entirely replaced with a system of electronic accounts of credits and debts, even though the explosion in technology is exponential. Though the recent developments in technology have undoubtedly brought about dramatic changes in many aspects of the society. They helped put humans on the moon, totally revised people's conceptions of space and time, brought tremendous comforts and conveniences to people. However, we cannot take it for granted that technology changes everything in our life. First of all, the traditional monetary system has deeply rooted in almost all societies. People have long been used to coins and paper money as a medium of exchange and a standard of value. Even in highly developed countries in terms of technology' like the ones in the European community, when they were considering adopting a common monetary system named Euro at the turn of the 21st century, they continued in the use of coins and paper and spent a lot of money in designing and producing them. Secondly, developments in technology may have brought great convenience to people, but convenience is not the only underlying standard or cause for such changes as dramatic as the

entire replacement of the existing monetary system. Such a system, like many other systems in a society such as language system, political system, has a cultural, historical and social background, and therefore becomes difficult, and sometimes impossible to change. Thirdly, technology isn't always foolproof. Disasters involving high-tech like the spaceship Challenger and Chernobyl nuclear station still cast shadow on people. In recent years, it becomes not very uncommon for us to hear about various computer viruses as well as computer crimes. Not a single bank can afford the viruses and crimes in their network. At last, there are emotional factors that cannot be ignored in this case. People have just developed a certain feeling towards coins and paper money. They see coins and paper money as concrete, tangible and as inviting as gold, silver and diamond. While credit cards seem to be more functional than sensational. Besides, the entire replacement of the present coins and paper money system will inevitably hurt millions of coin-collectors as well as those so-called "hightech phobic people", who feel at a loss when dealing with such things as ATM, computer network and the Internet. In sum, although theoretically the replacement may bring convenience to people and can avoid certain problems, in practice, the recent developments in technology can only change some aspects of the existing monetary system, not the entire one. 9. Employees should keep their private lives and personal activities as separate as possible from the workplace. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Whether employees leave their personal lives entirely behind them when they enter the workplace has became a controversial issue since different people hold different opinion due to their respective angles. Some claim that integrating personal life with work can foster a workplace ambiance that helps everyone do a better job. Others, on the contrary, argue that employees should not allow their personal lives to interfere with their jobs. As far as I am concerned, I shall agree that employees should keep their private lives and personal activities as separate as possible from the workplace. My point of view will be strongly supported by the following three reasons. In the first place, the most important reason for my view is that entering the workplace with private affairs and personal activities reduces efficiency of the company. As we know, employees in a company usually have the fixed working hours. If they spend time on private affairs and personal activities, it would undoubtedly reduce the time for working, and thus making the company in a low efficiency. Hence, excessive chatting about non-business topics, and the like, are always distracting. Another point worth noticing is that doing private affairs in the workplace means dishonor to other employees and has bad effects on them. For example, one of my colleagues always telephoned her boyfriend in a loud voice in the office. Working in the same office, we sometimes could not stand such loud voice. Furthermore, it is unfair because we were working hard while she was dealing with private affairs. Soon, other colleagues imitated her to enjoy personal activities in the workplace. Hence, it is obvious that doing personal activities in the workplace is like an infectious disease that can easily spread throughout the whole company.

Of cause, it maybe true that employees who are too aloof --sharing nothing personal with others -may be resented by coworkers who perceive them as arrogant, unfriendly, or uncooperative. On the other hand, sharing private lives and personal activities in workplace may strengthen the communication among employees that is likely to reinforce the organization in some condition. However, this alone does not constitute a sufficient support to the idea that injects personal life into the workplace. In sum, I believe that employees should keep their personal lives separate from the workplace. Although there are some circumstances in which bringing one's personal life to the job may be productive, for many reasons it is a good idea not to inject personal life into the workplace. 10. In any enterprise, the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. The question at hand is whether the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product. In my opinion, the process of making or doing something is less important than the final products. My position is based on the following three reasons. First of all, when we do something, we want the final result, not the process itself. No matter how perfect the process is, if we can not obtain the desirable products, all of our work will not be paid off. Image when I write this essay, I want you to accept my position. If I am sure that my argument cant persuade you, I will never start to write. Second, many great products have been generated through different manufacturing processes. Consider the same or similar products made by different producers. Today, for nearly every product, there is more than one manufacturer. It is obviously unacceptable to conclude that one product is better than the other because the process to make the first is better than that to make the second. Finally, some enterprise is regarded as the leading provider of some products but actually they do not produce anything. You may think it is unimaginable. However, this phenomenon is common in information technology industry, known as OEM. For example, the world-wide famous company, IBM is regarded as the first and leading provider of personal computer. But since 2002, it has outsourced all of its PC products to Taiwanese manufacturers. This company is still considered to be one of the leading PC providers but it no longer manufactured this product. In sum, the final product is more important than the process of making it. I strongly disagree with the speaker's assertion that the process is ultimately more important than product. 2. Analysis of Argument 1. The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods. Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for oneday service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits.

The author concluded that with long experience of 25 years, Olympic foods will be able to maximize profits and minimize costs because the processing cost has gone down in color film industry. The line of reasoning is that the same approach in film processing industry should be applicable to the other industries. This argument is not sound, however, because it is not necessary that same thing would happen to food industry. It depends upon many other factors. Firstly, the argument assumed that the color film industry is similar to food industry. One must not forget that an Olympic food is an industry for frozen foods or perishable products. These products require fast transportation and special equipments in order to keep fresh or the entire stock will get junked. These requirements can claim substantial costs and it is very likely that they can never be cut. One the other hand, color film is a consumer product which stays much longer and is not perishable. Therefore, it is possible that the cost-cutting approach is not applicable to the food industry. Secondly, the author failed to address other factors that are important to a companys success. It is well known that in the long run maximization of profits occurs due to low cost of production. But its not the only factor they consider. Other factors such as demand for the product, selling price, and overall competition in the market should also be taken into consideration. Today, buyers become the king in the market. If other companies products are available at lower price with same quality or at similar price with higher quality, then people dont buy the Olympics product. Therefore, if most consumers choose other companies products, then the objects of higher profits and lower cost cant be attained. Finally, the speaker did not include any information on Olympic management approach. Rather, it just mentioned the long experience of 25 years in food industry. While there is rough correlation between long experience and ability to maximize profit, it is not always the case. If the Olympic fails to accumulate valuable management experience, such as time-consuming strategic alliance, learning from failure, etc, then Olympic long experience will not enable it to minimize costs and thus maximize profits. In sum, the argument is not compelling because it omitted many other factors that must be addressed in order to make proper conclusion. If the author has considered the difference between color film and food industry, selling price, and product quality, the argument would be more convincing. 2. The following appeared in a memorandum from the business department of the Apogee Company. When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location, it was more profitable than it is today. Therefore, the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location. Such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc.

The author argues that Apogee Company improves profitability by closing down its field offices and conducting all its operations from a single location. To support this argument, the author states that such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees. In addition, the author points out that

Apogee Company enjoyed a more profitable business in the past when it had all its operations in one location. However, the author's argument is flawed in three aspects. In the first place, the author regards a complicated managerial issue as a single-step change in operations and ignores many relevant factors. A company's profitability is determined by a whole bunch of economic, social, political, and cultural factors as well as management skills and employees' attitude. Luck also plays an important role. It can be reasonably assumed that Apogee Company is suffering a low profitability at present. The reasons can be many, so any single adjustment without considering other possible influential factors is incomplete, and any oversimplified conclusion is unfounded. In the second place, it is dangerous for Apogee Company to cut costs deeper and supervise employees better by resorting to centralization. The company may lose its market share because it concentrates its entire resource in one single location and has no direct access to some of those markets that it has offices at present. It will be difficult for the company to get first-hand information and make quick decisions to fight competitors. Moreover, Apogee Company may also lose its customers' interest and trust. People always tend to conduct business with somebody who they can see whenever they want to see. Apogee Company may easily become another unfortunate company that is forgotten by its customers in a region where it does not have a permanent office. In the third place, it is senseless to compare the present operations of Apogee Company with the operations in the past. The world is changing and the business environment is different. Competition is probably more severe than before, for example, so Apogee Company does not have the relative advantage it had. The only way for the company to keep competitive is to keep tighter relationships with its customers and provide better and quicker services to them, but this may require Apogee Company to open more offices rather than to close most of the current offices. In sum, the author's conclusion is unfounded. To improve its profitability, Apogee Company should analyze its business environment carefully and, without losing its current business relationships, explore new opportunities. If it simply closed its current offices, the most possible result is that it loses its customers and therefore suffers even lower profitability. 3. The following appeared in a memorandum issued by a large citys council on the arts. In a recent citywide poll, fifteen percent more residents said that they watch television programs about the visual arts than was the case in a poll conducted five years ago. During these past five years, the number of people visiting our citys art museums has increased by a similar percentage. Since the corporate funding that supports public television, where most of the visual arts programs appear, is now being threatened with severe cuts, we can expect that attendance at our citys art museums will also start to decrease. Thus some of the citys funds for supporting the arts should be reallocated to public television. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc.

The author concludes that the city should allocate some of its arts funding to the public television in order for the attendance at the city art museums not to further decrease. The argument is based on the two assumptions: 1) the number of audience of art programs on public television is appropriate to that of local art museums, and 2) the public television faced of severe funding cuts. While this argument is somewhat convincing, it is not sound because its line of reasoning is not compelling.

First of all, the author commits the Confused Cause and Effect fallacy. The argument depends on the assumption that increased exposure to the visual arts on public television has caused a similar increase in local art-museum attendance in the past years. However, the poll that increased art-museum attendance is statistically correlated with similar increases in television viewing of visual-arts programs, does not necessarily mean that the increased television viewing of arts is the cause of the rise in museum attendance. There may be other factors relevant to increased interest in the local art museum during the past years. For example, some larger social or cultural factors may cause greater public interest in municipal art museums. Second, the argument does not address the effectiveness of citywide poll conducted five years ago. The survey may be biased. If the respondents do not properly represent the whole residents, then the poll is not convincing. Moreover, since the survey was conducted five years ago, the statistics can become invalid and can no longer be used as future prediction. In conclusion, the argument is not convincing enough and would be strengthened if the author were to eliminate other significant factors that might have caused the increase in visits to the local art museum, as well as to address the soundness o the survey conducted five years ago. 4. The following appeared in a report presented for discussion at a meeting of the directors of a company that manufactures parts for heavy machinery. The falling revenues that the company is experiencing coincide with delays in manufacturing. These delays, in turn, are due in large part to poor planning in purchasing metals. Consider further that the manager of the department that handles purchasing of raw materials has an excellent background in general business, psychology, and sociology, but knows little about the properties of metals. The company should, therefore, move the purchasing manager to the sales department and bring in a scientist from the research division to be manager of the purchasing department. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc.

The author argued that the company should replace the current manager with a scientist from the research division as the manager of the purchasing department as a result of falling revenues. The argument is based on the two facts: 1) The company revenues fall at the same as do delays in manufacturing; and 2) The current manager who is responsible for purchasing of raw materials knows little about the properties of metals. The line of reasoning is not sound and, therefore the conclusion is not compelling. Firstly, the argument failed to address the casual relationship between falling revenues and delays in manufacturing. The fact that the falling revenues that the company is experiencing coincide with delays in manufacturing does not mean one causes another. It may be other reasons that cause the company to experience the falling revenues. For example, the quality of products does not satisfy its customers, and as a result, many previous clients are turning to its competitors. Furthermore, it is not reasonable to conclude that a scientist can save the poor planning in purchasing metals. If the scientist is skilled in the properties of metals but poor at planning, the delays in manufacturing may be worse. The purchasing manager must know where he could find those kinds of metals, what prices they are, and when they can be transported to his company. In fact, a department manager in business background is really acceptable. Because when he bumps against a technical problem, he can easily seek advice from the engineer team in manufacturing department.

In conclusion, the delays in manufacturing were not necessarily caused by the purchasing manager's poor knowledge about the properties of metals. Maybe the company must replace the purchasing manager; however, a scientist may also not be competent for this job. It must find someone who really knows how to plan and how to buy qualified metals in time. 5. The following appeared in an announcement issued by the publisher of The Mercury, a weekly newspaper. Since a competing lower-priced newspaper, The Bugle, was started five years ago, The Mercurys circulation has declined by 10,000 readers. The best way to get more people to read The Mercury is to reduce its price below that of The Bugle, at least until circulation increases to former levels. The increased circulation of The Mercury will attract more businesses to buy advertising space in the paper. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc.

The announcement concludes that the best option for increasing Mercury's circulation to former levels is to lower its price below that of its competitor, The Bugle. This conclusion is based on the fact that since The Bugle was introduced, circulation has declined substantially. This argument is not convincing as the author has made some questionable assumptions that may or may not be true, given the data provided. Firstly, the factors as to why the circulation has declined are unknown, this may not have been related to the introduction of the Bugle at a lower price. Furthermore price is not the only factor taken into consideration by readers when deciding which paper to buy. Finally, the goal of the Mercury is to attract more business to buy advertising space and increased circulation is not necessarily the best way to achieve this goal. First of all, the fact that the Mercury has lost 10,000 readers since The Bugle first appeared on the market five years ago implies nothing. Other factors may have contributed to this decline. For example, it would be correct to say that for the last five years, or more, the information revolution has changed the way that people access information. More and more people are becoming Internet literate and perceive it as a source of free and easily accessible information. News is readily available on the Internet, leading readers away from traditional forms of news such as newspapers. There is no indication in the argument as to whether circulation has been declining even before The Bugle. If so, then it will be apparent that factors, other than The Bugle, have contributed to the poor performance of the paper. Furthermore, the author did not rule out other factors that caused the decreasing circulation. Price may not be the only factor influencing readers whether or not to read a certain newspaper. Consider the following situation. The Bugle is a tabloid newspaper while the Mercury is aimed at a more educated audience. Lowering the price, although this may result in a slight increase in readers, may not attract those readers who prefer tabloid newspapers. This invalidates the assumption that lowering the price of The Mercury will allow circulation to return to former levels. Finally, the newspapers wishes to achieve its ultimate goal of attracting more business, and as a result increasing profits, to buy advertising space it needs to take into consideration the other factors that entice a business to advertise with a newspaper. The newspaper's audience is an obvious example. An educated audience will attract a specific, perhaps more prestigious class of business to advertise at a high price. To lower the price of the newspaper, and in turn risk changing the type of readers that buy the paper, will affect the number, and type, of businesses that are willing to advertise.

In sum, the authors conclusions can not be drawn from the data that has been provided. The Mercury may not be losing readers as a direct result of the introduction of The Bugle. Lowering its price, to below that of The Bugle, may not increase the circulation of The Mercury to former levels or help the paper to achieve its goals of attracting more business to buy advertising space and thus increasing revenues.

6. The following appeared as part of an article in a magazine devoted to regional life. Corporations should look to the city of Helios when seeking new business opportunities or a new location. Even in the recent recession, Helioss unemployment rate was lower than the regional average. It is the industrial center of the region, and historically it has provided more than its share of the regions manufacturing jobs. In addition, Helios is attempting to expand its economic base by attracting companies that focus on research and development of innovative technologies. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc. In this article, corporations are encouraged to settle their business in the city of Helios when seeking new business opportunities or a new location. The recommendation is based on the fact that Helios is the industrial center of the region, given that the city provided more than its share of manufacturing jobs and its unemployment rate is lower than average. Furthermore, the city is taking efforts to expand the economic base of the city by attracting companies that focus on research and development of innovative technologies. This argument is somewhat persuasive but not convincing for the following two reasons. First, lower-than-average unemployment rate seems attractive to job applicants, but actually not good for corporations. Because of the lower than average unemployment rate in Helios, companies that should recruit large numbers of employees would not find Helios a great place. Lower unemployment rate means that the incoming corporations will have to recruit new workers outside the city of Helios or lure the existing workers away from their current jobs with higher wages. Both of these two alternatives will result in higher recruiting costs, and therefore make Helios a BAD place for business. Second, it is questionable whether the available labor in Helios could support all types of business. Even though the city of Helios has great environment for industrial and manufacturing companies, it is likely that the local prospective employees are not suitable for other types of corporations, such as financial service companies. Furthermore, the citys attempt to attract companies that focus on research and development of innovative technologies does not necessarily result in the expanding economic base as it expect. In sum, the author did not provide compelling reasons for why Helios is a great site for a company wishing to relocate. Nor has the author provided compelling reasons for companies seeking new business opportunities to choose Helios. If the author had included the above items, it may be more convincing. 7. The following appeared in the health section of a magazine on trends and lifestyles. People who use the artificial sweetener aspartame are better off consuming sugar, since aspartame can actually contribute to weight gain rather than weight loss. For example, high levels of aspartame have been shown to trigger a craving for food by depleting the brain of a chemical that registers satiety, or the sense of being full. Furthermore, studies suggest that sugars, if consumed after at least 45 minutes of continuous exercise, actually enhance the bodys ability to burn fat. Consequently, those who drink aspartame-sweetened juices after exercise will also lose this

calorie-burning benefit. Thus it appears that people consuming aspartame rather than sugar are unlikely to achieve their dietary goals. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc. The article concludes that it is better to use sugar than the artificial sweetener aspartame for those people who want to lost weight. The author uses two reasons to support his viewpoints. First, high levels aspartame will cause people to eat more. Second, sugar can help fat-burning if used properly. These reasons can only tell reader that aspartame has some bad side-effect while sugar has some good effect, but they can't prove that sugar is better than aspartame for weight-control. Therefore, the reasoning is less than sufficient and the argument is not convincing. In the first reason, author fails to define what the level of amount is high. The normal dose of aspartame that people consuming may be very low. If most people use artificial sweetener that contains lower level of aspartame than the one that will trigger a craving for food, then the advantage of consuming sugar no long exists. Moreover, the author didn't mention whether sugar will also contain that chemical. If it is the case, people should turn to the third product. The second reason is also not sound, because it requires people not to drink until 45 minutes after exercise. This procedure is difficult to follow because most people drink juices immediately after or during excise. If they have to wait for 45 minutes, they may not need drink any longer. Also, the author didn't mention whether the calorie that sugar itself generates is less than the amount it helps to burn. Finally, the article fails to address whether the aspartame's side-effect, if any, is bigger than sugars. In conclusion, the argument is nor sound or convincing. However, if it had included the above mentioned items, it would be more compelling. 8. The following appeared in the editorial section of a corporate newsletter. The common notion that workers are generally apathetic about management issues is false, or at least outdated: a recently published survey indicates that 79 percent of the nearly 1,200 workers who responded to survey questionnaires expressed a high level of interest in the topics of corporate restructuring and redesign of benefits programs. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc. In this argument, the arguer claims that workers are becoming more and more enthusiastic about management issues. To substantiate this conclusion, the arguer provides the result of a survey, which point out that more than half of the workers asked were considerably interested in the topics of certain corp9orate programs, While this argument has several merits, there are some logical errors that seriously undermine the reasoning. In the first place, the procedure of the sampling is unclear. With different views on management issues, the 1,200 workers should come from different fields. If they worked in the same department, however, the results of the survey would be unreliable. In addition, the arguer must provide a more detailed process of the questionnaire. In the second place, no evidence is offered to indicate that most of the other workers take the same level of interest in those programs as the ones asked, for the reason that the 1,200 workers are not representative of all of the workers. Hence, the arguer must present much more data such as the total number of worker. Last but not least, the arguer makes a hasty generalization about the types of issues that the

workers are interested in. It is entirely possible, for example, that most of the 1,200 workers were concerned about only the corporate restructuring and redesign of benefits programs and still apathetic about other issues. If so n the survey on which the argument relies would lack credulity and therefore would not lend strong support to the argument. In conclusion, the arguer fails to demonstrate that the results of the survey are reasonable and convincing. To solidify the argument, the arguer must present more concrete information about the procedure and many other samples of the survey. Furthermore, the arguer would have to provide a clearer definition of management issues so that the workers might have more choices when answering the questions of the survey. 9. The following appeared in the opinion column of a financial magazine. On average, middle-aged consumers devote 39 percent of their retail expenditure to department store products and services, while for younger consumers the average is only 25 percent. Since the number of middle-aged people will increase dramatically within the next decade, department stores can expect retail sales to increase significantly during that period. Furthermore, to take advantage of the trend, these stores should begin to replace some of those products intended to attract the younger consumer with products intended to attract the middle-aged consumer. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc. The speaker concluded that department stores should replace some of their products intended to attract the younger consumer with those intended to attract the middle-aged consumer. The argument is based on the following two facts: 1) the middle-age consumers devote more percent of their retail expenditure to department store than do younger consumers; and 2) the number of middle-aged people will increase dramatically in the next decade. The above argument omits some paramount items that must be involved in the reasoning process; therefore, it does not constitute a logical argument in favor of the conclusion and it certainly is not persuasive and sound. First, it is questionable that middle-aged consumers will increase greatly within the next decade. According to the above argument, one can not get the conclusion that the middle-aged consumers will increase during the next decade. The population of the present young people should be presented. If now the number of younger people surpasses the number of middle-aged people greatly, then one can get the above conclusion. If not, the conclusion is wrong. The above article gives its reader the impression that middle-aged customers will increase just because the young people will become middle-aged patronages in ten years. So, it is illogical. Second, the author assumes that the average expenditure to department store products and service of middle-aged customers is greater than those of young ones. In fact, young people usually spend more money than older ones. So, if the author wants to convince others that the opposite is right, he must present related information or data collected in some surveys. In summary, the article leaves out the paramount issues mentioned above. Hence it is not thorough or convincing. If it had included persuasive information that could eliminate its readers' doubts, it would have been more sound and compelling. 10. The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper. This past winter, 200

students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs. The other 12,000 Waymarsh students evidently werent so concerned about their education: they either stayed on campus or left for winter break. Since the group who did not protest is far more numerous, it is more representative of the states college students than are the protesters. Therefore the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students. Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc. The article concludes that the state legislature does not need to consider the positions of protesting students. To support this argument, the author cited that only 200 of the 12,000 students traveled to the state capitol to claim their concerns on the proposed cuts in college programs. The remaining students do not participate in this protest and therefore are not interested in this issue. The argument is not convincing for the following two reasons. First, the author assumes that because less than one-tenth of the students participated in the protest, only less than one-tenth of the students proposed against the funding cut programs. This assumption is questionable since if the protesting students were selected randomly from the entire student body, their views would correctly reflect the views of the entire college. Without further information regarding the way by which the protesting students were selected, it is questionable to conclude that their opinions fail to reflect the opinions of their colleagues. Second, the author points out that the other 12,000 students stayed on campus or left for winter break and concludes that they are not concerned on fund-cutting program. The line of reasoning is not solid because there may be other reasons that they did not participate. For example, they probably think their opinions will be expressed by the protesting students. Without addressing why the remaining 12,000 students did not attend the campaign, the argument that the remaining 12,000 students are not concerned about their education is unacceptable. In conclusion, the argument is neither sound nor convincing. To make it logically acceptable, the author should point out what is the point of view of the remaining 12,000 students.