Exercise 1:
For each of the following passages:
(a) decide whether it is an argument;
(b) if it is an argument, say what the conclusion is.
1 Pets are good for you. Research has shown that pet owners are less likely than other
people to be depressed or to suffer from high blood pressure.
2 A disease found in the faeces of cats can cause miscarriages if it infects pregnant
women. Most cat owners are probably immune to this disease. Rabbits can spread
listeriosis and salmonella.
3 Children who are good at spelling usually have a good visual memory. Poor spellers
have not learnt to look at words carefully. Practice in reading does not necessarily
help poor spellers.
4 Most examinations impose a tight time limit on candidates. But this is difficult to
justify. It prevents some good candidates from demonstrating their ability in a subject,
and most employers would be happy to employ people who take time to produce
a well thought-out solution to a problem.
5 Millions of pounds of public money are spent defending riverside farmland from
flooding. Some of this money should be given to farmers to compensate them for
taking such land out of production. This would save money and would benefit the
environment, since if rivers were allowed to flood, their natural flood plains would
provide wetland meadows and woodland rich in wildlife.
6 This year the incidence of gale force winds in some parts of Britain has been very
high. The wettest months were January and February. April was very warm, with
average temperatures much higher than in April last year.
7 Although water is the commonest stuff on earth, only 2.53 per cent of it is fresh,
while the rest is salt. And of the freshwater, two-thirds of it is locked up in the
glaciers and permanent snow cover. What is available, in lakes, rivers, aquifers
(ground water) and rainfall run-off, is now increasingly coming under pressure from
several directions at once.
(‘Water scarcity could affect billions: is this the biggest crisis of all?’
Michael McCarthy, The Independent, 5 March 2003)
8 The new Wembley stadium was designed to be used for many different kinds of
event. For a major athletics event, a platform that covers some of the seating can
be used to provide an athletics track. The platform would not be difficult to fit or
remove.
9 The North American Wildlife Federation, which sponsors an annual watch for
endangered species, reports that sightings of the bald eagle between 1978 and 1979
increased by 35 per cent. In the watch of 1979, 13,127 sightings of bald eagles were
reported, 3,400 over the 1978 count. This indicates considerable growth in the bald
eagle population.
(Law School Admission Test, 1981)
10 The presence of security cameras has been shown to reduce crime in areas such as
shopping malls. But security cameras are not an unqualified success. Law-abiding
citizens do not wish to have all their activities observed, and criminals may commit
just as much crime, but do so in areas where there are no cameras.
11 Most voters never read the election manifestos produced by political parties.
Voters are often influenced in their choices by the personalities of party leaders. They
sometimes vote for change because their own interests have not been served by the
government’s policies.
12 We could reduce road accidents by lowering speed limits, and making greater efforts
to ensure that such limits are enforced. But, because this would inconvenience the
majority who drive safely, this would be an unacceptable solution to the problem of
careless drivers who are unsafe at current speed limits.
13 In the Victorian era, cannabis was used to treat all kinds of conditions, such as muscle
spasms, menstrual cramps and rheumatism. Now its use, even for medicinal purposes,
is illegal. It has been found to be helpful in relieving the symptoms of multiple
sclerosis.
14 Training can improve one’s performance in sport, and advances in the technology of
sporting equipment can help athletes to break world records. But this does not mean
that the right training and the right equipment can help anyone to excel. Scientists
have identified genes that give some individuals an advantage in athletics, for example
a gene that helps the body to use oxygen efficiently, and thus helps the muscles to
work well for longer periods.
15 Some social historians have claimed that the 1914–18 war enhanced the status of
women in Britain, because they were able to leave demeaning jobs in domestic service
to work in munitions factories, thus gaining independence and a sense of self-worth.
However, the work in these factories was unskilled, repetitive and dangerous – not
at all the environment to encourage self-belief. And after the war, women workers
were told to give up their jobs to returning soldiers. Many simply returned to
domestic service. The reality was thus quite different from what some social
historians claim.
For each of the following passages:
(a) decide whether it is an argument;
(b) if it is an argument, say what the conclusion is.
1 Pets are good for you. Research has shown that pet owners are less likely than other
people to be depressed or to suffer from high blood pressure.
2 A disease found in the faeces of cats can cause miscarriages if it infects pregnant
women. Most cat owners are probably immune to this disease. Rabbits can spread
listeriosis and salmonella.
3 Children who are good at spelling usually have a good visual memory. Poor spellers
have not learnt to look at words carefully. Practice in reading does not necessarily
help poor spellers.
4 Most examinations impose a tight time limit on candidates. But this is difficult to
justify. It prevents some good candidates from demonstrating their ability in a subject,
and most employers would be happy to employ people who take time to produce
a well thought-out solution to a problem.
5 Millions of pounds of public money are spent defending riverside farmland from
flooding. Some of this money should be given to farmers to compensate them for
taking such land out of production. This would save money and would benefit the
environment, since if rivers were allowed to flood, their natural flood plains would
provide wetland meadows and woodland rich in wildlife.
6 This year the incidence of gale force winds in some parts of Britain has been very
high. The wettest months were January and February. April was very warm, with
average temperatures much higher than in April last year.
7 Although water is the commonest stuff on earth, only 2.53 per cent of it is fresh,
while the rest is salt. And of the freshwater, two-thirds of it is locked up in the
glaciers and permanent snow cover. What is available, in lakes, rivers, aquifers
(ground water) and rainfall run-off, is now increasingly coming under pressure from
several directions at once.
(‘Water scarcity could affect billions: is this the biggest crisis of all?’
Michael McCarthy, The Independent, 5 March 2003)
8 The new Wembley stadium was designed to be used for many different kinds of
event. For a major athletics event, a platform that covers some of the seating can
be used to provide an athletics track. The platform would not be difficult to fit or
remove.
9 The North American Wildlife Federation, which sponsors an annual watch for
endangered species, reports that sightings of the bald eagle between 1978 and 1979
increased by 35 per cent. In the watch of 1979, 13,127 sightings of bald eagles were
reported, 3,400 over the 1978 count. This indicates considerable growth in the bald
eagle population.
(Law School Admission Test, 1981)
10 The presence of security cameras has been shown to reduce crime in areas such as
shopping malls. But security cameras are not an unqualified success. Law-abiding
citizens do not wish to have all their activities observed, and criminals may commit
just as much crime, but do so in areas where there are no cameras.
11 Most voters never read the election manifestos produced by political parties.
Voters are often influenced in their choices by the personalities of party leaders. They
sometimes vote for change because their own interests have not been served by the
government’s policies.
12 We could reduce road accidents by lowering speed limits, and making greater efforts
to ensure that such limits are enforced. But, because this would inconvenience the
majority who drive safely, this would be an unacceptable solution to the problem of
careless drivers who are unsafe at current speed limits.
13 In the Victorian era, cannabis was used to treat all kinds of conditions, such as muscle
spasms, menstrual cramps and rheumatism. Now its use, even for medicinal purposes,
is illegal. It has been found to be helpful in relieving the symptoms of multiple
sclerosis.
14 Training can improve one’s performance in sport, and advances in the technology of
sporting equipment can help athletes to break world records. But this does not mean
that the right training and the right equipment can help anyone to excel. Scientists
have identified genes that give some individuals an advantage in athletics, for example
a gene that helps the body to use oxygen efficiently, and thus helps the muscles to
work well for longer periods.
15 Some social historians have claimed that the 1914–18 war enhanced the status of
women in Britain, because they were able to leave demeaning jobs in domestic service
to work in munitions factories, thus gaining independence and a sense of self-worth.
However, the work in these factories was unskilled, repetitive and dangerous – not
at all the environment to encourage self-belief. And after the war, women workers
were told to give up their jobs to returning soldiers. Many simply returned to
domestic service. The reality was thus quite different from what some social
historians claim.
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