Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in
the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been
made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean"
basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep
and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have
been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate
the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.
The following argument is flawed for numerous reasons. Primarily, the argument is based on unwarranted assumption that the Brim River was in the same condition that it is now, and there was no way to commute between these two villages, making its main conclusion, that this particular kind of baskets are not peculiar to Palea invalid.
First, the argument claims without warrant that what holds true now, was hold true many years ago. That river Brim is deep and broad now does not necessarily mean that it was formidable in the past, too. Maybe due to the low seasonal rains, more distributaries, or even drought, it was narrower and shallower. Therefore, people across the river could easily communicate and trade with each other. The argument would have been stronger had it provided information regarding the Brim river's characteristics and status when these villages existed.
Second, the argument fails to consider that there might have been another way of commuting between these villages. Even if the river was deep and broad back then, there might have been some kinds of primitive bridges or a couple of cables stretched over the river, although today there is no remnants of them, allowing people to pass through the Brim river. Besides, the depth and wideness of rivers usually vary along their paths. This fact might have been true about the Brim River, and, so people were able to pass through the river where it was crossable. If these villages were neighbors, then the assumption that they were completely isolated from each other is without basis. The argument could have been more persuasive if it had considered alternatives other than boats to pass through the river.
Finally, not finding traces of ancient boats by archeologists does not confirm the fact that certainly there was no boats at that time. Maybe future advanced investigations and explorations will help to dig out some valuable pieces of boats contemporary and related to Palea Village, providing proof that these villages could have had interactions such trading and exchanging diverse goods including Palean Baskets. Therefore, the found basket was originally from Palea village. Accounting future potential evidences would have made this argument more reasonable.
To sum up, because the argument makes several unwarranted assumptions, it fails to make a convincing case that, since they could not communicate with their neighbor, the found basket was orginally made by people in Lithos village, and so Palean baskets were not unique to Palean Society.
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- TOPIC # 35 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Attending a live performance (for example, a play, a concert, or sporting event) is more enjoyable than watching the same event on television. 82
- TOPIC # 56 A company is going to give some money either to support the arts or to protect the environment. Which do you think the company should choose? 90
- TOPIC # 32 It is better to enjoy your money when you earn it, or is it better to save your money for some time in the future? 80
- TOPIC# 30 It has recently been announced that a new high school may be built in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose? Why? 85
Sentence: First, the argument claims without warrant that what holds true now, was hold true many years ago.
Description: The token was is not usually followed by a verb, base: uninflected present, imperative or infinitive
Suggestion: Refer to was and hold
Sentence: To sum up, because the argument makes several unwarranted assumptions, it fails to make a convincing case that, since they could not communicate with their neighbor, the found basket was orginally made by people in Lithos village, and so Palean baskets were not unique to Palean Society.
Error: orginally Suggestion: originally
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argument 1 -- OK
argument 2 -- OK
argument 3 -- not OK. 'no Palean boats have been found' doesn't mean there are no boats possessed by other culture. They may come to Palean and take the Woven baskets.
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Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 4.0 out of 6
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 1 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 1 2
No. of Sentences: 18 15
No. of Words: 411 350
No. of Characters: 2084 1500
No. of Different Words: 217 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.503 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.071 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.544 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 133 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 108 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 74 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 46 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 22.833 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 12.589 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.722 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.324 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.541 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.074 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5