Team members:
● Vũ Thị Ngọc
● Vũ Hương Giang
● Nguyễn Lê Minh Ngọc
● Trần Đức Hạnh
● Nguyễn Thu Giang
● Nguyễn Thị Lan Chi
Unit 1-3 revision
For each passage in this exercise, identify the reasoning structure:
1. Let me tell you why Hank ought not to take that math course. First, it’s too hard,
and he’ll probably flunk it. Second, he’s going to spend the whole term in a state of
frustration. Third, he’ll probably get depressed and do poorly in all the rest of his
courses.
● Issue: Should Hank take that math course ?
● Conclusion: No, he shouldn’t take it
● Reasons:
○ It is too hard. He probably flunk it.
○ He’s going to spend the whole term in a state of frustration.
○ He’ll probably get depressed and do poorly in all the rest of his courses.
2. Pollution of the waters of the Everglades and of Florida Bay is due to multiple
causes. These include cattle farming, dairy farming, industry, tourism, and urban
development. So it is simply not so that the sugar industry is completely responsible
for the pollution of these waters.
● Issue: Is the sugar industry completely responsible for the pollution of the waters
of the Everglades and of Florida Bay?
● Conclusion: No, pollution of the waters of the Everglades and of Florida Bay is
due to multiple causes.
● Reason: The causes include cattle farming, dairy farming, industry, tourism, and
urban development.
3. It’s clear that the mainstream media have lost interest in classical music. For
example, the NBC network used to have its own classical orchestra conducted by
Arturo Toscanini, but no such orchestra exists now. One newspaper, the nolonger-existent Washington Star , used to have thirteen classical music
reviewers—that’s more than twice as many as the New York Times has now. H. L.
Mencken and other columnists used to devote considerable space to classical
music; nowadays, you almost never see it mentioned in a major column.
● Issue: Do the mainstream media have interest in classical music?
● Conclusion: No, they have lost interest in classical music.
● Reasons:
○ The NBC doesn't have any orchestra existing now.
○ One newspaper, the no-longer-existent Washington Star , used to have
thirteen classical music reviewers—that’s more than twice as many as the
New York Times has now.
○ Classical music is not mentioned in a major column. It used to be a
considerable space column.
4. “The United States puts a greater percentage of its population in prison than any
other developed country in the world. We persist in locking more and more people
up despite the obvious fact that it doesn’t work. Even as we build more prisons and
stuff them ever more tightly, the crime rate goes up and up. But we respond, ‘Since
it isn’t working, let’s do more of it’! “It’s about time we learned that fighting
criminals is not the same thing as fighting crime.”
— Richard Parker, radio commentary on CalNet, California Public Radio
● Issue: Is building more prisons a helpful way to reduce crime rate in the United
States?
● Conclusion: No, reliance on imprisonment is not an effective method to reduce
crime.
● Reasons:
○ The United States persists in locking more and more people up despite the
obvious fact that it doesn’t work.
○ Even as they build more prisons and stuff them ever more tightly, the crime
rate goes up and up.
5. In 2007, the Dominican Republic banned the sale of two brands of Chinese
toothpaste because they contained a toxic chemical responsible for dozens of
poisoning deaths in Panama last year. The company that exported the toothpaste,
the Danyang Household Chemical Company, defended its product. “Toothpaste is
not something you’d swallow, but spit out, and so it’s totally different from
something you would eat,” one company manager said.
(Identify the reasoning structure of the manager’s speech)
● Issue: Can toothpaste be eaten?
● Conclusion: No, it’s totally different from something edible.
● Reason: Toothpaste is not something you’d swallow, but spit out.
6. Letting your children surf the Net is like dropping them off downtown to spend the
day doing whatever they want. They’ll get in trouble.
● Issue: Is letting your children surf the Net good ?
● Conclusion: No, they’ll get in trouble
● Reason: Letting your children surf the Net is like dropping them off downtown to
spend the day doing whatever they want.
7. Bilingualism and multilingualism confers many benefits. Speakers of more than one
language have a better understanding of how languages are structured because they
can compare across two different systems. People who speak only one language lack
this essential point of reference. In many cases, a second language can help people
to have a better understanding and appreciation of their first language.
● Issue: Do bilingualism and multilingualism have any benefits?
● Conclusion: Yes, bilingualism and multilingualism confers many benefits.
● Reasons:
○ Speakers of more than one language have a better understanding of how
languages are structured.
○ A second language can help people to have a better understanding and
appreciation of their first language.
8. I cannot agree with people who say that smacking children does them no harm. Of
course, it harms them, both physically and emotionally. Hitting another person is
assault and it would not be tolerated against an adult. Many adults have no sense of
cruelty of smacking precisely because they were smacked themselves as children
and erroneously regard this as normal. They then go on to assault other vulnerable
people, perpetuating a vicious cycle.
● Issue: Does smacking children do them harm?
● Conclusion: Yes, smacking children harms them, both physically and emotionally
● Reasons:
○
Hitting another person is assault.
○ Many adults have no sense of cruelty of smacking because they were
smacked themselves as children and erroneously regard this as normal.
■
They go on to assault others vulnerable.
9. It was found that many drivers become drowsy when travelling and that long
hours at the wheel were a major cause of accidents. As a result, more stopping
places were set up along motorways to enable drivers to take a break.
● Issue: Should we set up more stopping places along the motorway.
● Conclusion: Yes, we should set up more places along the motorway to enable
drivers to take a break.
● Reason: Many drivers become drowsy when travelling and that long hours at the
wheel were a major cause of accidents.