35. The following appeared as part of a recommendation from the financial planning office to the administration of Fern Valley University.
“In the past few years, Fern Valley University has suffered from a decline in both enrollments and admissions applications. The reason can be discovered from our students, who most often cite poor teaching and inadequate library resources as their chief sources of dissatisfaction with Fern Valley. Therefore, in order to increase the number of students attending our university, and hence to regain our position as the most prestigious university in the greater Fern Valley metropolitan area, it is necessary to initiate a fund-raising campaign among the alumni that will enable us to expand the range of subjects we teach and to increase the size of our library facilities.”
Discuss how well reasoned... etc.
財政計劃辦公室給Fem Valley大學的建議書：
在過去的幾年里，Fem Valley大學經受了入學人數和入學申請的雙重下降。原因可以從我們的學生那里找到，他們經常將低劣的教學和不適當的圖書館資源作為他們對學校的主要不滿之處。因此，為了提高想加入我們學校的學生數，從而重新獲得我們在大Fem Valley地區(qū)的最有聲望的大學的地位，在校友中發(fā)動一個基金募集計劃使我們能擴展教學科目改善圖書館的設備是十分必要的。
1， 增加教學科目和圖書館的型號并不一定就能使學生變得滿意因為他們可能并不是對教學和圖書館的這兩個方面感到不滿
2， 入學人數和入學申請的下降可能是因為整個外部環(huán)境導致的而不是學校自己的問題
3， 沒有提供學生對教學質量和圖書館不滿意的具體證據.
4， 調查的本身就值得懷疑.
ability attract customer merit alleviate inadequate unfavorable economical conditions hearsay rumour scant anecdotal evidence
The financial-planning office at Fern Valley University concludes that it is necessary to initiate a fund-raising campaign among alumni that will enable the university to expand the range of subjects it offers and increase the size of its library facilities. Its argument is based on a five-year decline in enrollments and admission applications together with the claim that students cite poor teaching and inadequate library resources as their chief sources of dissatisfaction with Fern Valley. The conclusion of the financial-planning office is not strongly supported by the reasons given.
To begin with, this argument depends on the assumption that providing a greater range of subjects and a larger library will alleviate the students’ chief sources of dissatisfaction. However, the students have not complained about inadequate course offerings or about the size of the library; their complaint is that the existing courses are poorly taught and that library resources are inadequate. Offering more kinds of classes does not improve teaching quality, and increasing a library’s size does nothing to enhance its holdings, or resources. Accordingly, the recommendation does not bear directly on the problem as stated.
Secondly, the proposal unfairly assumes that the recent enrollment and application decline was caused by poor teaching and inadequate library resources. It is equally possible that all colleges, regardless of teaching quality and library resources, have experienced similar declines. These declines may have been due to unrelated factors, such as unfavorable economic conditions, or an increase in high-paying computer jobs not requiring a college education.
Thirdly, the author provides no support for the claim that students are dissatisfied with the teaching and library resources at Fern Valley. It is possible that the claim is based on hearsay or on scant anecdotal evidence. Without more information about the basis of the claim, we cannot be sure that the financial-planning office is addressing the real problems.
In conclusion, the advice of the financial planning office is not well supported. To strengthen the argument, the planning office must provide evidence that students are dissatisfied with the range of subjects and with the library’s size, and that this dissatisfaction is the cause of the recent decline in enrollment and the number of admission applications. To better assess the argument as it stands, we would need to know whether the students’ attitudes were measured in a reliable, scientific manner.
“In the past few years, Fern Valley University has suffered from a decline in both enrollments and admissions applications. The reason can be discovered from our students, who most often cite poor teaching and inadequate library resources as their chief sources of dissatisfaction with Fern Valley. Therefore, in order to increase the number of students attending our university, and hence to regain our position as the most prestigious university in the greater Fern Valley metropolitan area, it is necessary to initiate a fund-raising campaign among the alumni that will enable us to expand the range of subjects we teach and to increase the size of our library facilities.”
Discuss how well reasoned... etc.
財政計劃辦公室給Fem Valley大學的建議書：
在過去的幾年里，Fem Valley大學經受了入學人數和入學申請的雙重下降。原因可以從我們的學生那里找到，他們經常將低劣的教學和不適當的圖書館資源作為他們對學校的主要不滿之處。因此，為了提高想加入我們學校的學生數，從而重新獲得我們在大Fem Valley地區(qū)的最有聲望的大學的地位，在校友中發(fā)動一個基金募集計劃使我們能擴展教學科目改善圖書館的設備是十分必要的。
1， 增加教學科目和圖書館的型號并不一定就能使學生變得滿意因為他們可能并不是對教學和圖書館的這兩個方面感到不滿
2， 入學人數和入學申請的下降可能是因為整個外部環(huán)境導致的而不是學校自己的問題
3， 沒有提供學生對教學質量和圖書館不滿意的具體證據.
4， 調查的本身就值得懷疑.
ability attract customer merit alleviate inadequate unfavorable economical conditions hearsay rumour scant anecdotal evidence
The financial-planning office at Fern Valley University concludes that it is necessary to initiate a fund-raising campaign among alumni that will enable the university to expand the range of subjects it offers and increase the size of its library facilities. Its argument is based on a five-year decline in enrollments and admission applications together with the claim that students cite poor teaching and inadequate library resources as their chief sources of dissatisfaction with Fern Valley. The conclusion of the financial-planning office is not strongly supported by the reasons given.
To begin with, this argument depends on the assumption that providing a greater range of subjects and a larger library will alleviate the students’ chief sources of dissatisfaction. However, the students have not complained about inadequate course offerings or about the size of the library; their complaint is that the existing courses are poorly taught and that library resources are inadequate. Offering more kinds of classes does not improve teaching quality, and increasing a library’s size does nothing to enhance its holdings, or resources. Accordingly, the recommendation does not bear directly on the problem as stated.
Secondly, the proposal unfairly assumes that the recent enrollment and application decline was caused by poor teaching and inadequate library resources. It is equally possible that all colleges, regardless of teaching quality and library resources, have experienced similar declines. These declines may have been due to unrelated factors, such as unfavorable economic conditions, or an increase in high-paying computer jobs not requiring a college education.
Thirdly, the author provides no support for the claim that students are dissatisfied with the teaching and library resources at Fern Valley. It is possible that the claim is based on hearsay or on scant anecdotal evidence. Without more information about the basis of the claim, we cannot be sure that the financial-planning office is addressing the real problems.
In conclusion, the advice of the financial planning office is not well supported. To strengthen the argument, the planning office must provide evidence that students are dissatisfied with the range of subjects and with the library’s size, and that this dissatisfaction is the cause of the recent decline in enrollment and the number of admission applications. To better assess the argument as it stands, we would need to know whether the students’ attitudes were measured in a reliable, scientific manner.