3. In this argument the author concludes that the city should allocate some of its arts
funding to public television. The conclusion is based on two facts: attendance at the
citys art museum has increased proportionally with the increases in visual-arts program
viewing on public television, and public television is being threatened by severe cuts
in corporate funding. White this argument is somewhat convincing, a few concerns need
to be addressed.
To begin with, the argument depends on the assumption that increased exposure to
the visual arts on television, mainly public television, has caused a similar increase in
local art-museum attendance. However, just because increased art-museum attendance
can be statistically correlated with similar increases in television viewing of visual-arts
programs, this does not necessarily mean that the increased television viewing of arts is
the cause of the rise in museum attendance.
Moreover, perhaps there are other factors relevant to increased interest in the local
art museum; for instance, maybe a new director had procured more interesting, exciting
acquisitions and exhibits during the period when museum attendance increased, in
addition, the author could be overlooking a common cause of both increases. It is
possible that some larger social or cultural phenomenon is responsible for greater public
interest in both television arts programming and municipal art museums.
To be fair, however, we must recognize that the authors assumption is a special
case of a more general one that television viewing affects peoples attitudes and
behavior. Common sense and observation tells me that this is indeed the case. After all,
advertisers spend billions of dollars on television ad time because they trust this
assumption as well.
In conclusion, I am somewhat persuaded by this authors line of reasoning. The
argument would be strengthened if the author were to consider and rule out other
significant factors that might have caused the increase in visits to the local art museum.
Dictionary and other words 与“词典”相关的近义词
Shopping for ‘shoes’ 不同种类的“鞋”
Distinguished 和 distinguishable 之间的区别
Spectacle, view, sight, vision, scene, scenery 几个词的区别
Creativity、innovation 和 originality 的区别
Under someone's thumb 受人控制
Is breast cancer linked to night shifts? 乳腺癌与上夜班有关系吗?
Work your socks off 拼命干活
Tasmanian devil milk fights superbugs 袋獾乳汁可对抗“超级细菌”
Pull your socks up 加把劲儿
So far 的用法
Talk nineteen to the dozen 说话很快,喋喋不休
Greetings after a short break 小别后的问候
Take part in, join in, participate, attend 四个表示“参加”的单词或短语
Limit 和 restrict 的区别
Different types of hats 各种帽子的英文说法
Almost, nearly, more or less “差不多”的三个近义词
Accountability, liability and responsibility 的区别
Appreciate 和 recognise 之间的区别
Parcel, sack, box 包裹类词语
Double, treble, triple, quadruple 英语中表示倍数的单词
Labour, labourer, workforce, worker 与“工作”相关的四个单词
Been to vs gone to 语法辨析
Barrier, hurdle, impediment, hindrance 四个表示“障碍”单词的区别
Butterfly numbers drop a mystery, say experts 英国蝴蝶数量下降现象令专家费解
Retailer, wholesaler, distributor, outlet 几个词的区别和用法
Acknowledge and admit 两个表示“承认”单词的区别
Ditch 和 abandon 之间的区别
Have your feet on the ground 脚踏实地
Dressed to the nines 衣冠楚楚