GMAT考试写作指导：Argument范文七三

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17.        This ad recommends non-prescription Acid-Ease over non-prescription Pepticaid
for relief of excess stomach acid. The only reason offered is that doctors have written 76
/ g) c# w6 }9 h& _$ amillion more prescriptions for the full-strength prescription form of Acid-Ease than for
full-strength Pepticaid. While this reason is relevant, and provides some grounds for
4 i1 J5 l- U# F" u/ `preferring Acid-Ease over Pepticaid, it is insufficient as it stands because it depends on
) s; ^+ J* a2 F" h% d* Pthree unwarranted assumptions.
3 b/ M) T# J) ~" \, o: q      The first assumption is that the prescription form of Acid-Ease is more popular
: G: F$ _: O6 B0 @: n+ namong doctors. But this might not be the case, even though doctors have written 76
million more prescriptions for Acid-Ease. Acid-Ease may have been available for
* f" p' T) d% ]several more years than Pepticaid; and in the years when both products were available,
  B% T' o; c5 y6 U) xPepticaid might have actually been prescribed more often than Acid-Ease.
      The second assumption is that doctors prefer the prescription form of Acid-Ease
) J  F& z+ _+ V) z$ i& b+ M9 Xfor the reason that it is in fact more effective at relieving excess stomach acid. However,
; c0 G/ c) Z* @; I9 Z, ~. b2 Mdoctors may have preferred Acid-Ease for reasons other than its effectiveness. Perhaps
Acid-Ease is produced by a larger, more familiar drug company or by one that
) @8 B$ U3 a1 b( Ydistributes more free samples. For that matter, the medical community may have simply
) T, O  h& }, @* `" w' fbeen mistaken in thinking that Acid-Ease was more effective. In short, the number of
. y$ h! p2 @% A0 f# ]/ |7 Mprescriptions by itself is not conclusive as to whether one product is actually better than
* a! a' n3 W5 janother.
* k7 `4 q9 k: u) p: H      The third assumption is that the milder non-prescription forms of Acid-Ease and
Pepticaid will be analogous to the full-strength prescription forms of each. But this
might not be the case. Suppose for the moment that the greater effectiveness of
prescription Acid-Ease has been established; even so, the non-prescription form might
not measure up to non-prescription Pepticaid. This fact must be established
) E- s! b4 A1 K: x5 }independently.
      In conclusion, this ad does not provide enough support for its recommending non-
: W: w& W$ _5 c+ l# @& ?1 W! [prescription Acid-Ease over non-prescription Pepticaid. To strengthen its argument, the
promoter of Acid-Ease would have to show that (1) the comparison between the number
of prescriptions is based on the same time period; (2) its effectiveness is the main reason
  F2 Z! S: @4 u3 n1 E" Z/ C# tmore doctors have prescribed it, and (3) the comparative effectiveness of the two non-
prescription forms is analogous to that of the prescription forms.