1. The following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Galore, a chain of movie-rental stores.
"In order to stop the recent decline in our profits, we must reduce operating expenses at Movies Galore's ten movie-rental stores. Since we are famous for our special bargains, raising our rental prices is not a viable way to improve profits. Last month our store in downtown Marston significantly decreased its operating expenses by closing at 6:00 P.M. rather than 9:00 P.M. and by reducing its stock by eliminating all movies released more than five years ago. By implementing similar changes in our other stores, Movies Galore can increase profits without jeopardizing our reputation for offering great movies at low prices."
下面这段文字出自Movies Galore，一家录像租赁店老板的备忘录。
由于利润下降，我们必须压缩Movies Galore十家录像租赁店的营业开支。涨价并不是一个好选择，因为我们就是因特价销售而知名的。因此我们应该缩短营业时间。上个月我们位于闹市区Marston的店营业时间从以前的9点提前到下午6点，并通过不再保留发行五年以上的电影来减少总库存量。通过在我们其他店里实施类似的策略，Movies Galore将会在不影响我们物美价廉的美誉的前提下增加利润。
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
2. The following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Galore, a chain of movie-rental stores.
"In order to reverse the recent decline in our profits, we must reduce operating expenses at Movies Galore's ten movie-rental stores. Since we are famous for our special bargains, raising our rental prices is not a viable way to improve profits. Last month our store in downtown Marston significantly decreased its operating expenses by closing at 6:00 p.m. rather than 9:00 p.m. and by reducing its stock by eliminating all movies released more than five years ago. Therefore, in order to increase profits without jeopardizing our reputation for offering great movies at low prices, we recommend implementing similar changes in our other nine Movies Galore stores."
下面这段文字出自Movies Galore，一家录像租赁店老板的备忘录。
为了扭转利润下降的趋势，我们必须压缩Movies Galore十家录像租赁店的营业开支。涨价并不是一个好选择，因为我们就是因特价销售而知名的。因此我们应该缩短营业时间。上个月我们位于闹市区Marston的店营业时间从以前的9点提前到下午6点，并通过不再保留发行五年以上的电影来减少总库存量。因此，为了在不影响我们物美价廉的美誉的前提下增加利润，我们建议在Movies Galore其他9家店实施类似的策略。
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
3. The following is a recommendation from the personnel director to the president of Acme Publishing Company.
"Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the Easy Read Speed-Reading Course has greatly improved productivity. One graduate of the course was able to read a 500-page report in only two hours; another graduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in under a year. Obviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in a single workday. Moreover, Easy Read would cost Acme only $500 per employee—a small price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three-week seminar in Spruce City and a lifelong subscription to the Easy Read newsletter. Clearly, to improve productivity, Acme should require all of our employees to take the Easy Read course."
下面是Acme Publishing Company人力资源经理写给总裁的建议。
很多其他公司最近指出他们的员工参加了Easy Read的速读课程之后生产效率显著提高。这个课程的一名毕业生能够在两个小时之内读完长达500页的报告，另一名毕业生在一年内从助理经理升到了副总裁。显然，你的阅读速度越快，在一天之内所能吸收的信息量就越大。而且，Easy Read的学费只有每人500元，相对于它给Acme带来的效益是个小数目。这个费用包括在Spruce City举行的为期三周的研讨会和Easy Read新闻刊物的终生赠阅。显然，为了提高工作效率，Acme应该要求所有员工参加Easy Read的课程。
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the advice and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the advice.
4. The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of a food distribution company with food storage warehouses in several cities.
"Recently, we signed a contract with the Fly-Away Pest Control Company to provide pest control services at our warehouse in Palm City, but last month we discovered that over $20,000 worth of food there had been destroyed by pest damage. Meanwhile, the Buzzoff Pest Control Company, which we have used for many years in Palm City, continued to service our warehouse in Wintervale, and last month only $10,000 worth of the food stored there had been destroyed by pest damage. Even though the price charged by Fly-Away is considerably lower, our best means of saving money is to return to Buzzoff for all our pest control services."
下面这段文字出自一家在多地经营食品零售和仓储业务的公司副总裁的备忘录。
最近我们和Fly-Away Pest-Control公司签订了一项合同来为我们在Palm City的快餐食品仓库提供杀虫服务。但上个月我们发现，那里有价值超过$20000的食品被害虫破坏。同时，我们使用多年的Buzzoff Pest-Control公司继续在Wintervale的仓库服务，上个月那里只有价值$10000的食品被害虫破坏。尽管Fly-Away的收费低廉的多，但我们省钱的最好方式就是重新使用Buzzoff公司来提供我们所有的杀虫服务。
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
5. The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly diversified company.
"Ten years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regional headquarters for two different regions. The buildings were erected by two different construction companies—Alpha and Zeta. Even though the two buildings had identical floor plans, the building constructed by Zeta cost 30 percent more to build, and its expenses for maintenance last year were twice those of the building constructed by Alpha. Furthermore, the energy consumption of the Zeta building has been higher than that of the Alpha building every year since its construction. Such data, plus the fact that Alpha has a stable workforce with little employee turnover, indicate that we should use Alpha rather than Zeta for our contemplated new building project."
下面这段文字节选自一个高度多样化的大公司副总裁的备忘录。
10年以前我们公司在两个地区各有一栋地区总部大楼。它们由两家建筑公司--Alpha和Zeta分别建造。尽管两座建筑的平面布局基本相同，由Zeta所建造的建筑造价高出了30%，去年的维护费用是由Alpha建的楼的两倍。而且，Zeta大楼建成以来的能耗每年都比Alpha大楼要多。基于以上这些数据，再加上Alpha公司员工流动性小、团队稳定，尤其是Alpha在投标时承诺给我们更低的建筑成本，我们建议应该使用Alpha而不是Zeta来建造新楼。
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.