北美范文精析Argument 44 范文精析.pdfVIP

Argument 44 、Over the past year, the Crust Copper Company (CCC) has purchased over 10,000 square miles of land in the tropical nation of West Fredonia. Mining copper on this land will inevitably result in pollution and, since West Fredonia is the home of several endangered animal species, in environmental disaster. But such disasters can be prevented if consumers simply refuse to purchase products that are made with CCCs copper unless the company abandons its mining plans. The author of this newsletter excerpt concludes that if consumers refuse to buy products made with Consolidated Copper Company (CCC) copper the company will eventually abandon its mining plans in the nation of West Fredonia, thereby preventing pollution and an environmental disaster in that country. To justify this conclusion the author points out that CCC has recently bought more than a million square miles of land in West Fredonia, and that West Fredonia is home to several endangered animal species. I find this argument specious on several grounds. First, the author provides no evidence that the West Fredonia land that CCC has acquired amounts to a significant portion of land inhabited by endangered animal species, or that CCCs land is inhabited by endangered animal species at all. Nor does the author provide clear evidence that CCCs mining activities are of the type that might cause pollution, the extinction of animal species, or any other environmental damage. Lacking such evidence the author simply cannot convince me that CCC must abandon its plans in order that such damage be prevented. Secondly, even assuming CCCs planned mining activities in West Fredonia will cause pollution and will endanger several animal species, it is nevertheless impossible to assess the authors broader contention that CCCs activities will result in environmental d