刘文勇GRE写作Argument题库 Day 18

Day 18 Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time tonational news and less time to weather and local news

The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.

“Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to our news programs and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should expand our coverage of weather and local news on all our news programs.”

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

五问：

（1）“Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to our news programs and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should expand our coverage of weather and local news on all our news programs”是结论，其余部分是事实，值得反驳吗？

（2）大部分抱怨来自对天气和本地新闻报道的关心，就意味着观众认为这些节目时间太短了吗？你能想想对一个节目的抱怨还有哪些方面吗？例如：新闻的真实性、主持人的水平等。有人对节目调整表示支持吗？喜欢节目调整的人是否有可能比抱怨的人更多呢？观众总数是否有可能增加了？

（3）本地商家取消广告合同，一定是因为电视节目的时间调整吗？是否可能有其他的原因？你能罗列其中的一两个吗？例如：可能因为公司自身的财政出现了问题，无力继续投放广告，或者因为公司在其他时间段投放了广告，无须在夜间时段继续投放。有没有新增的广告客户？节目时间调整有可能吸引了新的广告客户。

（4）一个方案是否可能同时达到两个效果？是否可能起到“吸引更多的观众”与“减少或取消广告合同”两个相悖的作用？例如：广告太多可能会导致观众减少。

（5）去年的情况一定和今年的情况一致吗？和明年的情况也一致吗？我们能否简单地进行时间轴论证，认为每一年的情况都会趋于一致，或者认为某种趋势将会延续呢？