新gre红宝书：GRE作文范文大全（150）
Argument 118
The following appeared in a memorandum from the general manager of KNOW radio station.
"Several factors indicate that radio station KNOW should shift its programming from
rock-and-roll music to a continuous news format. Consider, for example, the number of older
people in our listening area has increased dramatically, while the total number of our listeners
has recently declined. Also, music stores in our area report decreased sales of recorded music.
Finally, continuous news stations in neighboring cities have been very successful, and a
survey taken just before the recent election shows that local citizens are interested in
becoming better informed about politics."
272
This memo recommends that KNOW radio station shift from rock-and-roll (R&R) music
programming to all-news programming. To support this recommendation the manager points
out that the number of KNOW listeners is decreasing while the number of older people in
KNOW's listening area is increasing. The manager also points out that area sales of music
recordings are in decline, and that a recent survey suggests that local residents are becoming
better informed about politics. Finally, the manager cites the success of aU-news stations in
nearby cities. Careful scrutiny of the manager's argument reveals several unproven
assumptions, which render it unconvincing.
First, the manager unfairly assumes that the decline in the number of KNOW listeners is
attributable to the station's current format. Perhaps the decline is due instead to KNOW's
specific mix of R&R music, or to transmission problems at the station. Without ruling out these
and other feasible reasons for the decline, the manager cannot convince me that changing the
format would reverse the trend.
Secondly, the manager's assumption that older people favor all-news programming is
unsupported. Perhaps KNOW listeners are dedicated R&R fans who will continue to prefer this
type of programming as they grow older. Or perhaps as KNOW's regular audience ages it will
prefer a mix of R&R and news programming--rather than one format to the total exclusion of
the other. Besides, the number of young people in the listening area might be increasing as
well. In short, the mere fact that the number of older people in KNOW's listening area is
increasing suggests nothing about KNOW's best programming strategy.
Thirdly, a decrease in local music recording sales is scant evidence that KNOW should
eschew music in favor of an all-news format. Although overall music sales are in decline,
perhaps sales of R&R recordings are actually increasing while sales of all other types of music
recordings are decreasing. For that matter, perhaps people who buy music recordings are
generally not the same people who listen to music on the radio. Either scenario, if true, would
seriously undermine the manager's contention that KNOW should discontinue R&R
programming.
Fourth, it is unfair to conclude from one survey suggesting that local residents are becoming
better informed about politics that they are becoming less interested in listening to R&R music,
or that they are becoming more interested in listening to news. After all, news embraces many
topics in addition to politics. Besides, there is no reason why people interested in politics
cannot also be interested in listening to R&R music. Moreover, a single survey taken just prior
to an election is poor evidence that local residents' piqued interest in politics is sustainable.
Finally, it is unwarranted to infer from the success of all-news stations in nearby dries that
KNOW will also succeed by following the same format. Those stations might owe their success
to their powerful transmitters, popular newscasters, or other factors. Besides, the very success
of these stations suggests that the area's radio listeners might favor those well-established
news providers over the fledgling all-news KNOW. 感谢您阅读《GRE作文范文大全（150） 》一文，出国留学网(liuxue86.com)编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。
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