Sorry, I forgot about this and I have like 10 minutes before I get off work with free time, so here's a couple of points I made for the passage mentioned above:
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."
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions 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.
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First a good tip is to always disagree with the passage if given the chance. If you want to agree, all the information is easily available in the passage already provided so it's not the best way to go.
So let's disagree and find some way to argue all of his points. You don't need solid evidence of your own, you just need a way to make the reader think twice while reading the author's passage and to cast doubt on his assertions.
- Adams is considered superior with 40 agents, yet the competitor Fitch only has 25 and works part time. Consider how efficient and good Fitch must be relative to Adams to only put in a fraction of the effort and still be one of the top real estate firms.
-Last year's revenue is a small sample size, cannot draw accurate conclusions from one year alone.
-Higher prices and faster sales depend entirely on how healthy the housing market is at the moment and where the house is located. The passage does not say whether or nor Adams and Fitch sold in the same area of town, or if Adams sold in a better part of town, etc. In addition, the author tried to sell his home TEN YEARS ago compared to using the other firm just the previous year. Very unfair way to compare.