ARGUMENT ANALYSIS

"In order to save a considerable amount of money, Rockingham's century-old town hall should be torn down and replaced by the larger and more energy-efficient building that some citizens have proposed. The old town hall is too small to comfortably accommodate the number of people who are employed by the town. In addition, it is very costly to heat the old hall in winter and cool it in summer. The new, larger building would be more energy efficient, costing less per square foot to heat and cool than the old hall. Furthermore, it would be possible to rent out some of the space in the new building, thereby generating income for the town of Rockingham."

Energy efficient buildings are the requirement of today’s era. The old town hall of Rockingham is an obsolete structure and consumes a lot of resources for its working. Most of them can be saved by using latest energy efficient devices. Heating in winters and cooling in summers of the structure is very expensive as the equipment being used is obsolete. The built up area has not been used as efficiently as it could have been used. The town hall is too small and it can’t even accommodate the people employed in the town. Hence the overall maintenance cost is very high for a town hall which is very small. According to the people of the town, building a new town hall would be an appropriate decision.

As the given passage suggests the town hall of Rockingham is a century old town hall, but now due to various factors using it as town hall is not economical. The town hall being very old could be used as a historical site for the town and tourism could be developed based on it. The old town hall could be used for any other purpose if not a historical site. The new town hall could be built someplace else in the town. Taking down the old town hall, then removing its remains would mean additional expenditure which can be avoided.

Building the new town hall elsewhere would mean developing the surrounding areas of the place as town hall is a center of business of any town. If the old town hall is taken down and the new one is built at the same place then during that period where would be the daily activities be conducted? If a town hall is built in a new place this problem won’t be faced. Building a new structure would mean a lot of initial investment, which the town government will need bear.

The new town hall if built at a new location would mean a bigger and a much more energy efficient, self sustaining structure. It can have the town hall, office complex, malls, sports club etc this would help in creating this complex as a business hub for the town. Building a new complex would mean a big investment initially but much larger returns at a later stage. The new building can have spaces which could be rented out or sold out hence generating income for the town. Selling out space would generate money so that the initial cost can be recovered and the rents will generate money for the daily expenditure of the complex. The old town hall can be kept intact and investing a bit in renovating it would be a better option. This would help in putting the old town hall to some better usage.

"Laws should not be rigid or fixed. Instead, they should be flexible enough to take account of various circumstances, times, and places."

Laws are a set of rules that need to be followed by the people. Laws are made by a government or the ruling body so that a decorum of the society is maintained. Breaking the law is a punishable offence and some form of penalty is implied to the breaker. Sometimes it does happen that a glitch is present in the law which is at times taken advantage of by the law breakers to get away with it. This happens because the law is not rigid enough. But if the law is made flexible then glitches will become more prominent.

For example, a law exists that a person cannot own more than some X acre of land. Now if a person has more than X acre under his name then he has to pay extra tax, in order to save tax he keeps X with him and transfers the rest to his spouse. This way he saves the tax and the land is still with him. The government made such a law so that ownership of the land is more widespread but the loophole was evident. Had the law been cannot own more than X acres then the law would solve the purpose. There are many such examples but the point is this should not happen.

The Laws are the reflection of the society in which it would be applicable. The laws are formed taking into account all the parameters that the society stands for. For example, In Saudi Arabia women cannot move out of the house without a burkha, had it been any other country it would be highly offensive to do so. Hence Laws change as the place changes same set of laws are not applicable in two different countries or may be two different states of a same country but it is not mandatory.

The laws should be such that they do not disrupt the growth of the society in any manner in fact they should contribute to it. The law should be formulated in a way that it should be flexible enough to take account of various circumstances, times, and places. While formulating the law the various probable loopholes must be considered and rectified. As the time passes the law would become obsolete, the conditions of the society in which the law is applicable would change. Earlier in some countries same sex marriage was not allowed but observing the recent trends many countries have now made it legal to marry a person of same sex. Hence effective up gradation of law must be done as and when required.

The law must be made flexible but its flexibility should not hamper the efficiency of the law. Instead of having one law with various circumstances, times and places, the governing body of a place should formulate a law considering various circumstances and upgrade the law regularly to avoid the glitches. Being the governing body of a place they would have better idea about the society for whom the law is being formulated so more efficiently the law can be worked out.

The most vital and the hardest part of a law is its implementation. All the efforts go waste if the law is not implemented the way it should have been. The law should be strictly followed by the society and if a loop hole is found the up gradation must be speedy. Flexibility of the law must be present but not at the cost of the effectiveness of it.

A recent study shows that people living on the continent of North America suffer 9 times more chronic fatigue and 31 times more chronic depression than do people living on the continent of Asia. Interestingly, Asians, on average, eat 20 grams of soy per day, whereas North Americans eat virtually none. It turns out that soy contains phytochemicals called isoflavones, which have been found to possess disease–preventing properties. Thus, North Americans should consider eating soy on a regular basis as a way of preventing fatigue and depression.

Chronic fatigue and chronic depression are the most commonly encountered diseases all over the world. But apparently they are not that wide spread in Asia as it is in North America according to the figures provided. As the writer mentions that people suffering from chronic fatigue in North America are nine times the people suffering from it in Asia. Asia is the biggest and the most densely populated continent of all. Hence it’s clear that many people are suffering from it in North America. Asia’s major countries are India and China, both the countries are major agro based economies, we can say that most people are into farming. Being a farmer a lot of physical labor is involved hence the physical fitness increases. In North America this is not the case fewer people are involved in physical labor, hence lower level of fitness. Chronic Fatigue will definitely be there in later stages if physical labor (Exercise) is not done at young age.

The second chronic mentioned is depression which is much more perilous, mental torture is worse than physical torture. Physical fitness and mental stability are interdependent if one goes down it will take the other down too. Noticing the mindboggling figures stated by the writer, there are 31times more people suffering from depression in North America than people in Asia. The reason behind it could be many, few of them might be lack of physical fitness, work pressure etc. The only way it can be taken care of is mending the weak link. Why less people in Asia are affected by depression? Most people in Asia still live in villages and are evolved in lesser mental pressure, but if people from the cities are taken into account then most of the cases of depression will be encountered here.

The writer fails to mention the age group in which the diseases were observed, the phenomenon of fatigue could be more prominent in older ages than in young and middle aged people. This would take place because in later stages the body becomes weak, hence fatigue. The depression can happen to anyone if not able to bear the metal stress.

What you eat? Where do you eat? When you eat? Are the most vital questions which control the health of a person. Writer specifies that the Asians tend to eat 20gms of soy per day where as Americans have none. Soy has phytochemicals called isoflavones , which have disease preventing properties. Americans should try and include this in their daily diet plan in order to improve their health. Keeping one’s self healthy, physically as well as mentally must be of highest priority.

"Originality does not mean thinking something that was never thought before; it means putting old ideas together in new ways."

The newest discoveries and inventions are all products of the thought and the originality of a spark. Every thought is a spark; if the gas is around it will become fire or else it will just glint. Originality does not necessarily mean a new thought that will drive a completely new field; it means a new way to look at the idea that preexists. As the idea is worked upon and it starts taking shape its originality comes to picture. Now if it is an improvement then working on it is worth the efforts or else discard it just by learning from it. If at all that idea is an absolutely a new one and could drive a completely new field then it becomes a future driving event. Nano-technology is the example of such an event.

Originality might not mean thinking something new but it does not refrain from thinking in a different manner. Earlier the science was explained in the form of force i.e. magnetic force, sound force, light force etc. Faraday in his early years came up with an idea of energy to explain all the forces and integrate them. Here in this incident the idea of connecting all the forces together lead him to explain the concept of energy. All the things preexisted they were just thought upon and explained. Music is also an excellent example to show how originality of thought works out into beautiful melody. There are many instruments which give out millions of different sounds. These sounds when put in their ideal place make an new composition. Here also idea of the song is original, instruments pre exist what is done is only the new way the old instruments were arranged. Daily hundreds of new compositions are created with all the instruments each different from the others.

In music the basic beats remain same but the melodies change similar is the case of science. As the knowledge in a field increases the basics become more and more prominent in the understanding of a concept. When this happens the unexplained concepts become questionable and a new explanation develops to give rise to a discovery. Today the progress of any field is dependent on the discovery or invention that takes place in the field. Any idea that sprouts does not go wasted even if it is not new it gives a chance to think about it which adds to the knowledge bank and helps in the later stage. Today all the leading companies are racing for newer ideas which will drive the future. Every day newer ideas are thought upon worked out and later thought deeper for some productivity or discarded if of no use, but the experience with it is retained.

ARGUMENT ANALYSIS

“Bayside citizens need to consider raising local taxes if they want to see improvements in the bay side school district. Test scores, graduation and college admission rates and a number of other indicators have long made it clear that bayside school district is doing a poor job educating the youth. Our school looks rundown. Windows are broken, bathrooms unusable, classroom equipment hopelessly out of date. Yet just across the bay, in New Harbor, school facilities are up-to-date and in good condition. The difference is money; new harbor spends twenty seven percent more per student than Bayside does, and test scores and other indicators of student performance are stronger in New Harbor as well.”



Analyzing the problem the root cause can observed very easily i.e. lack of resources. There could be many probable reasons for lack of funds to the school. Probably the people of the district may not be earning much due to which they pay less taxes hence low income to the district and finally less amount is spent on education of the students. Paying extra taxes would mean extra burden on those who earn less. If we know that existing taxes are not fulfilling the needs of district the central government could provide monitory help to the district. This would mean the residents of the district don’t have to pay extra taxes and the education system will also improve. Another angle to the cause of the problem could be that enough funds are coming to the school but the administration does not utilize the funds judiciously.
Most of the funds of an institute are devoted to maintenance of the infrastructure. Shortage of funds would obviously mean degradation of the infrastructural facilities. No doubt the school would look rundown. Problems like broken windows, unusable bathrooms, hopelessly out of dated classroom equipments will have to be faced. These problems are short-term, as soon as money comes to the disposal of the authorities these can be mended in a couple of hours.
Now, coming to the academic record of the school. The basic criteria of judging a school is its students test scores and college admission rates; more admissions to college from that school will improve the social image of the school. Again the bayside school district has failed to give good performance in this sector of education. Growth of any community is solely dependent on how educated the people of that community are if they are highly qualified then the community will catch popularity very fast or else it will be like any other unnoticed one. Students will study further only when they develop interest in some particular field; that interest development is to some extent dependent on well that teacher teaches or how interesting the subject becomes because of the teacher? Surprisingly the teachers at Bayside school district probably have not been able to teach the students very well as very few students opted to pursue further studies.
Comparing the Bay side school and the new harbor school, New Harbor is doing better than Bay Side because they are having more funds. The new harbor school is spending more money than the Bay side school. The teachers are using the infrastructure in a much more efficient manner as all the indicators show satisfactory response.
The Bay Side school district should figure out a long term solution to their problem and hence educate students in an even better manner. The Youth are assent to a country if utilized in a proper manner.