「Question No. 4」

　　The brief passage:

　　The following appeared in a letter from a homeowner to a friend.

　　“Of the two leading real estate firms in our town — Adams Realty and Fitch Realty — Adams Realty is clearly superior. Adams has 40 real estate agents; in contrast, Fitch has 25, many of whom work only part-time. Moreover, Adams' revenue last year was twice as high as that of Fitch and included home sales that averaged $168,000, compared to Fitch's $144,000. Homes listed with Adams sell faster as well: ten years ago, I listed my home with Fitch, and it took more than four months to sell; last year, when I sold another home, I listed it with Adams, and it took only one month. Thus, if you want to sell your home quickly and at a good price, you should use Adams Realty.”

　　Instruction:

　　Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions←指令核心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.

　　Your analytical essay should respond to the specific instruction.

　　「Introduction」

　　01、完成两个目的即可：

　　● 目的一：说明brief passage里的结论是什么。

　　● 目的二：应对指令的套话。

　　According to the argument, Adams Realty is deemed superior to Fitch Realty, and thus is recommended as a realty that sells homes quickly and at a good price. However, the recommendation may be unadoptable, because there are multiple questionable assumptions in the line of reasoning leading to it. ←红色部分为套话

　　「Body」

　　02、起码分析四个逻辑疑点(当然，全文中可能不只四个逻辑疑点)。

　　一般说来，分析一个逻辑疑点写一个独立段落。

　　It is assumed that the 40-member staff, for its greater number of realtors, certainly outperforms the 25-member staff. This is a dubious assumption, because the number of members of a staff is only one of the multiple variations contributing to the staff’s performance. A number of other factors, such as a realtor’s experience and level of expertise, also play decisive roles. At this point, it is unsafe to assume that full-time employees have work performance than part-time employees. In fact, working on a full-time basis or a part-time basis may be subject to the personal arrangement of time rather than the level of productivity or expertise. In other words, part-time staff may work better than their full-time counterparts. ← 如果两个点的逻辑关系紧密或者这两个点出现在同一句里，就有可能合并在一个段落里讨论

　　Another questionable assumption is that the higher average price means a better ability of selling homes. As a matter of fact, the average price can be decided by a number of factors, such as different styles, sizes and locations of homes. For example, if Adams Realty sold homes that have larger sizes than do homes listed with Fitch, it was the sizes that contributed to the higher average price. At this point, it is also likely that Adams sold homes that were worth more than the prices at which they were sold and the opposite was the case with Fitch. If this was case, Adams Realty is inferior to Fitch Realty, despite the higher average price. In addition, the higher average price may be driven by a few expensive homes or the lower average price may be caused by a few poor deals, and if those homes are excluded in the calculation, Adams’ average may be actually lower than that of Fitch. ← 这是一个大点，里面里讨论了三种情况

　　覆盖不同逻辑类型的点： In addition, the author should not assume that last year’s situation represents the usual situation. In fact, it is likely that Adams outperformed Fitch in selling homes in last year alone. In other words, the likely case is that Fitch had been selling homes at better prices than had Adams until last year, and its better sale of homes may be restored in the future. ← 时间问题

　　覆盖不同逻辑类型的点： Moreover, the author assumes the faster sale of last year’s home indicates better ability to sell homes. This is a questionable assumption, because the author omits a number of factors that also decide how fast a home could be sold, including the size, location, and the condition of the real estate market. With those other contributors considered, it is likely that the sale of the home ten years ago that took four months was however fast whereas the sale of last year’s home that took one month was actually slow. ←它因问题

　　覆盖不同逻辑类型的点： Lastly, the author assumes that the town’s two leading real estate firms are the only options a home seller has. In fact, some of the homes for sale may have features or conditions that Adams or Fitch is unable to deal with properly, and those homes may be sold faster or at better prices by realties other than Adams and Fitch, because those other firms may have specialty in selling those homes. ←范畴问题

　　「Conclusion」

　　03、完成两个目的即可：

　　● 目的一：应对指令的套话。

　　● 目的二：依据套话讨论brief passage里的结论。

　　Because the assumptions made by the author are indefensible, the recommendation of using Adams Realty may be unadoptable. As a result, the desired fast sale of home at a good price may not be achieved.