The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.
“Commuters complain that increased rush-hour traffic on Blue Highway between the suburbs and the city center has doubled their commuting time. The favored proposal of the motorists' lobby is to widen the highway, adding an additional lane of traffic. But last year's addition of a lane to the nearby Green Highway was followed by a worsening of traffic jams on it. A better alternative is to add a bicycle lane to Blue Highway. Many area residents are keen bicyclists. A bicycle lane would encourage them to use bicycles to commute, and so would reduce rush-hour traffic rather than fostering an increase.”
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.
五問:
(1)“Commuters complain that increased rush-hour traffic on Blue Highway between the suburbs and the city center has doubled their commuting time. The favored proposal of the motorists' lobby is to widen the highway, adding an additional lane of traffic. But last year's addition of a lane to the nearby Green Highway was followed by a worsening of traffic jams on it”和“ Many area residents are keen bicyclists”是事實, “A better alternative is to add a bicycle lane to Blue Highway”是結(jié)論,值得反駁嗎?
(2)擴建高速公路和增加自行車道,兩者是替代品還是互補品?抑或是處于這兩種關(guān)系的中間地帶?還有其他解決方案嗎?例如:增加公共交通工具。
(3)鄰近的 Green Highway和當?shù)氐?Blue Highway所面臨的情況一定是一樣的嗎?例如車流量。在 Green Highway采用擴建高速公路的方法效果不理想,能說明這種方法在 Blue Highway也不會有好的效果嗎?
(4)造成交通擁堵的原因有哪些?除了本段提及的原因外,你能再羅列一兩個原因嗎?例如:紅綠燈設(shè)置不合理,路況不好經(jīng)常導致車禍造成堵車。所以,交通狀況變得更糟不一定是擴建高速公路造成的。
(5)喜歡騎自行車的人是那些需要通勤的人嗎?鼓勵人們這樣做,他們就一定會這樣做嗎?這樣做一定是合理的嗎?你能羅列一兩個方面嗎?例如:騎自行車比開車耗時更長,在高速公路上騎自行車會產(chǎn)生安全隱患等。