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gmattesttaker2
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Hello,
Can you please review this essay? Thanks for your help.
Best Regards,
Sri
The following appeared in a magazine article on trends and lifestyles.
"In general, people are not as concerned as they were a decade ago about regulating their intake of red meat and fatty cheeses. Walk into the Heart's Delight, a store that started selling organic fruits and vegetables and whole-grain flours in the 1960's, and you will also find a wide selection of cheeses made with high butterfat content. Next door, the owners of the Good Earth Cafe, an old vegetarian restaurant, are still making a modest living, but the owners of the new House of Beef across the street are millionaires."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
Response:
In this argument the author is saying that people in general nowadyas are not as concerned as they were a decade ago about controlling their intake of red meat and fatty cheeses. He cites 3 examples to support his argument.
The first example is that of Heart's Delight, a store that way back in the 1960's started off by selling organic fruits and vegetables but now also sells rich cheeses. The second is that of Good Earth Cafe an old vegetarian restaurant whose owners are still making a modest living.
The third example is that of a new beef restaurant whose owners are millionaires.
Thought these are some valid examples which support the author's argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses, more information might be needed to fully ascertain this claim.
Heart's Delight might have started selling rich cheeses because many in the scientific community now believe that some amount of fat is important for the human body. Fruits and vegetables are great but they are mainly good for fiber, calcium and vitamins. Some amount of fat though is necessary for the human body to absorb calcium. Besides even the health pyramid recommends a moderate intake of dairy and cheese as a part of balanced diet. So it can be argued that Heart's Delight is in a way expanding its choices of healthy food items by including fatty cheeses thereby weakening the author's argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
In the case of Good Earth Cafe, it is quite possible that since it is an old vegetarian restaurant, their menu choices might have stayed the same since the time they were started. The fact that the owners of Good Earth Cafe are still making a modest living supports the fact that they probably have the same patrons frequenting their restaurant since the time the restaurant was founded. Hence it is quite possible that potential younger customers might be frequenting other vegetarian restaurants that offer a menu geared more towards the culinary tastes of the younger generation. Hence, this example does not necessarily strengthen the author's argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
The example of the new House of Beef restaurant whose owners are millionaires does lend a bit more strength to the author's argument. But then it can be due to the fact that beef sold in restaurants are in-general expensive and therefore the profit margins are a lot higher for restaurants that sell them. Besides since it is a new restaurant, it could be very well that it is probably just drawing more customers. Also, recent studies have shown that in many developed countries people are in-general trying to shy away from red meat.
Hence, this example by itself does not strengthen the authors argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
The author could strengthen his argument by presenting more solid examples/data showing that people these days are not so much concerned about their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
Can you please review this essay? Thanks for your help.
Best Regards,
Sri
The following appeared in a magazine article on trends and lifestyles.
"In general, people are not as concerned as they were a decade ago about regulating their intake of red meat and fatty cheeses. Walk into the Heart's Delight, a store that started selling organic fruits and vegetables and whole-grain flours in the 1960's, and you will also find a wide selection of cheeses made with high butterfat content. Next door, the owners of the Good Earth Cafe, an old vegetarian restaurant, are still making a modest living, but the owners of the new House of Beef across the street are millionaires."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
Response:
In this argument the author is saying that people in general nowadyas are not as concerned as they were a decade ago about controlling their intake of red meat and fatty cheeses. He cites 3 examples to support his argument.
The first example is that of Heart's Delight, a store that way back in the 1960's started off by selling organic fruits and vegetables but now also sells rich cheeses. The second is that of Good Earth Cafe an old vegetarian restaurant whose owners are still making a modest living.
The third example is that of a new beef restaurant whose owners are millionaires.
Thought these are some valid examples which support the author's argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses, more information might be needed to fully ascertain this claim.
Heart's Delight might have started selling rich cheeses because many in the scientific community now believe that some amount of fat is important for the human body. Fruits and vegetables are great but they are mainly good for fiber, calcium and vitamins. Some amount of fat though is necessary for the human body to absorb calcium. Besides even the health pyramid recommends a moderate intake of dairy and cheese as a part of balanced diet. So it can be argued that Heart's Delight is in a way expanding its choices of healthy food items by including fatty cheeses thereby weakening the author's argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
In the case of Good Earth Cafe, it is quite possible that since it is an old vegetarian restaurant, their menu choices might have stayed the same since the time they were started. The fact that the owners of Good Earth Cafe are still making a modest living supports the fact that they probably have the same patrons frequenting their restaurant since the time the restaurant was founded. Hence it is quite possible that potential younger customers might be frequenting other vegetarian restaurants that offer a menu geared more towards the culinary tastes of the younger generation. Hence, this example does not necessarily strengthen the author's argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
The example of the new House of Beef restaurant whose owners are millionaires does lend a bit more strength to the author's argument. But then it can be due to the fact that beef sold in restaurants are in-general expensive and therefore the profit margins are a lot higher for restaurants that sell them. Besides since it is a new restaurant, it could be very well that it is probably just drawing more customers. Also, recent studies have shown that in many developed countries people are in-general trying to shy away from red meat.
Hence, this example by itself does not strengthen the authors argument that people are not so much concerned these days about regulating their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
The author could strengthen his argument by presenting more solid examples/data showing that people these days are not so much concerned about their intake of meat and fatty cheeses.
