刘文勇GRE写作Argument题库 Day 86

Day 86 When XYZ lays off employees, it pays Delany Personnel Firm to offer those employees assistance in creating résumés anddeveloping interviewing skills

The following appeared in a memo at XYZ company.

“When XYZ lays off employees, it pays Delany Personnel Firm to offer those employees assistance in creating résumés and developing interviewing skills, if they so desire. Laid-off employees have benefited greatly from Delany's services: last year those who used Delany found jobs much more quickly than did those who did not. Recently, it has been proposed that we use the less expensive Walsh Personnel Firm in place of Delany. This would be a mistake because eight years ago, when XYZ was using Walsh, only half of the workers we laid off at that time found jobs within a year. Moreover, Delany is clearly superior, as evidenced by its bigger staff and larger number of branch offices. After all, last year Delany's clients took an average of six months to find jobs, whereas Walsh's clients took nine.”

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

五问：

（1）“When XYZ lays off employees, it pays Delany Personnel Firm to offer those employees assistance in creating résumés and developing interviewing skills, if they so desire”“last year those who used Delany found jobs much more quickly than did those who did not”“eight years ago, when XYZ was using Walsh, only half of the workers we laid off at that time found jobs within a year”和“its bigger staff and larger number of branch offices. After all, last year Delany's clients took an average of six months to find jobs, whereas Walsh's clients took nine”是事实，本段信息点比较多，结论可总结为： Using the less expensive Walsh Personnel Firm in place of Delany would be a mistake，值得反驳吗？

（2）在证明 Delany公司业务能力强的时候，原文中所给出的第一个支持论据是： last year those who used Delany found jobs much more quickly than did those who did not。大家应该思考的是“ last year”这个年份是否具有普遍性呢？基于相同的道理，原文在论述 Walsh的服务不如 Delany的时候，也提到了一个年份“ eight years ago”，同样需要引起注意。

我们一直在反对时间轴论证，因为随着时间的变化，很多环境因素都可能随之发生改变。去年的情况与八年前的情况一样吗？可以进行比较吗？

（3）原文提及 Walsh公司帮助“only half of ”下岗员工在一年内找到工作，文中是否给出了对比数据呢？在 Delany公司接手的时候情况如何呢？原文并没有给出 Delany公司帮助多少下岗员工找到工作的数据，只说使用 Delany服务项目的下岗员工比没有使用的员工找工作更快，信息显然不够充分。而且，使用 Delany服务项目的下岗员工找到工作一定要归功于 Delany公司的服务吗？也可能是这些员工通过自己的人际关系获得了工作机会。

（4）我们能否仅凭 staff and offices来判定哪个公司更加优秀？这是否可能未必是好的指标？即便这真的是指标之一，是否还有其他指标能证明一家公司的好坏？原文中给出了相应的信息吗？例如：公司提供的就业服务项目的实用性、合作的企业数量、信息资源的获取等。

（5）文章最后提及两家公司的业绩分别为： “Delany's clients took an average of six months to find jobs, whereas Walsh's clients took nine.”但是原文是否给出了信息来证明这两家公司所服务的客户情况是否一致呢？找工作花费的时间长是否有可能是客户比较挑剔或者是没赶上招聘旺季呢？