Agrument 37 Palean basket （comment welcome）
Wang Tun
和上篇issue一起写的，算模考吧
本来打算裸写的，打开发现这道题的提纲原来写过~懒得换了，写之~
当时实际情况是最后一段没写完~
看来模板还是必须的~
题目：ARGUMENT37 - Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been unique to the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could only have crossed it by boat, but there is no evidence that the Paleans had boats. And boats capable of carrying groups of people and cargo were not developed until thousands of years after the Palean people disappeared. Moreover, Paleans would have had no need to cross the river-the woods around Palea are full of nuts, berries, and small game. It follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not unique to Palea.
字数：451 用时：0:30:00 日期：2009-8-13
The author wants to overthrow an assertion that the Palean baskets were unique to the Palean people with the new evidence that there are such basket on the other side of the river, but there are obvious flaws in his reasoning.
Firstly, the assertion that ancient Paleans are not able to cross the river is rootless. The author claims there is no evidence till now to show that the Palean people have boats. But it can't be determined that ancient Paleans don't have boats based on such a till-present evidence. And even if Paleans do have no boats, it's too early to conclude that they can't cross the river. Perhaps they are very good at swimming or building bridges instead of building boats, which will also enable them to make it to the other side of the river. And even if the author could substantiate that Paleans actually have no ability to cross the river, one thing needs to be more carefully considered. Maybe the river was not as deep and broad as it is today, or even there were no river at all at that time. Thus the Paleans could get to where the Lithos live on foot, no need of boat.
Secondly, doubtful is the claim of the author that there is no need for the Paleans to get across the river. There are chances that the nuts and berries were not there during the time when Paleans lived, so they indeed had motivation to cross the river. Even if there were nuts and berries, perhaps Paleans don't like eating them; instead, their favorite food might just grow on the other side of the river, which would drive them to get across the river. Apart from food, other factors, maybe just curiosity, could explain the behavior of Paleans’ crossing, because curiosity is human nature.
Thirdly, even the author can provide enough evidence of the inability and non-necessity of the Paleans to cross the river, we still couldn't safely draw the conclusion that the Palean baskets are not unique to Palea. There does exist possibility that the Lithos, who have boats to cross the river, made it to the bank of Palea and brought back a Palean basket, maybe in exchange for something. Moreover, it is entirely possible that an archaeologist first found a Palean basket when he was researching on the Palean cites, and forget it on the other side of river when he went on his research on Lithos. There is no doubt that an archaeologist has alternative means to get across the river. In addition, there is no reason for us to deny the chance that the basket was shifted across the river by some other factors, for example, natural forces, say, a blast of wind or a wild bird.
Therefore, to sum up, from what is analyzed above, the reasoning of the argument is not convincing at all, and the author could not persuade us into abandoning the theory that Palean baskets are unique to Palea.
Sincerely yours,
Wang Tun
ch4w...@gmail.com
2009-08-14
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Wang Tun | 王 暾
Undergraduate of Mixed Honors Class (Engineering)
Chu Kochen Honors College, Zhejiang University
Major: Optoelectronics, Department of Optical
Engineering
Minor: Advanced Class of Engineering Education
(ACEE)
Cell: (+86)136-5667-9099
Email: ch4w...@gmail.com
Address: Room 4073, Lantian 1st Dorm, Zijingang Campus,
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, P. R.
China
chenqu luo
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Luo Chenqu 罗晨曲
_____________________________________
Department of Industrial Engineering
Tsinghua University, P.R.China, 100084
Tel:86-15801338141 86-10-51531256
email: luoche...@gmail.com