「Question No. 171」

　　A recent sales study indicates that consumption of seafood dishes in Bay City restaurants has increased by 30 percent during the past five years. Yet there are no currently operating city restaurants whose specialty is seafood. Moreover, the majority of families in Bay City are two-income families, and a nationwide study has shown that such families eat significantly fewer home-cooked meals than they did a decade ago but at the same time express more concern about healthful eating. Therefore, the new Captain Seafood restaurant that specializes in seafood should be quite popular and profitable.

　　Instructions:

　　Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be addressed in order to decide whether the conclusion and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to the questions would help to evaluate the conclusion.

　　Introduction

　　略

　　Body

　　逻辑点思路1(常见逻辑疑点：市场饱和问题)

　　The first question is whether there is still a market for the new Captain Seafood restaurant under the circumstance that restaurants that are not specialized in seafood cuisine also sell seafood dishes. The argument provides no information about the size of the market for seafood in the city or about the market share those non-seafood restaurants have taken. It is thus likely that there may be no market left for the new Captain Seafood restaurant, because those non-seafood restaurants have probably fully satisfied the entire market.

　　逻辑点思路2(常见逻辑疑点：“分母不明确”问题)：

　　The second question is whether the 30 per cent represents a great growth in the actual amount of seafood consumed. Although the percentage is considerable, it may however represent a small amount, because the basis on which the consumption has grown may be small. Since the author omits to address this question, it is uncertain that the 30-percent growth represents a market adequate enough for a seafood-specialized restaurant to do business.

　　逻辑点思路3(常见逻辑疑点：它因问题)：

　　Another question is about the reasons behind the growth of seafood consumption. The author apparently believe that the reason is the increased popularity of seafood; however, there may be other reasons. For example, generous discounts on seafood dishes may also invite diners to order the dishes, and it is also likely that diners order some of the dishes out of their curiosity about some seafood they have never tried before. In other words, if the discounts are not available or the curiosity is gone, the consumption of seafood dishes may fall, and as a result, the proposed restaurant would have no market.

　　逻辑点思路4(常见逻辑疑点：地点范围问题)：

　　Moreover, the nationwide study’s result may be overgeneralization of the varying situations in different cities. To put it another way as a question: is Bay City an exception, where the two-income families are unlike those families investigated in the nationwide study? if the answer is affirmative, the situation revealed by the study would not apply to Bay City, and the author cannot base the argument on the study result.

　　逻辑点思路5(常见逻辑疑点：偷换概念问题)：

　　至此，总结段落的写作结构(套路)：Finally, even if the study’s result aligns with the case of Bay City, there remains a question that would those two-income families consider seafood meals healthy. ← 提出问题。 In fact, although seafood dishes may be an alternative choice to the families’ regular food, they may not be deemed healthful. ← 找到对原文逻辑不利的答案/提出反例。 If it is the case, those families, which are concerned about healthful eating, would not opt for seafood. ← 基于这个答案分析对于原文逻辑的影响。

　　其它可能的逻辑点：略

　　Conclusion

　　略