“Two years ago, City L was listed 14th in an annual survey

The following appeared as part of an article in a magazine on lifestyles.
“Two years ago, City L was listed 14th in an annual survey that ranks cities according to the quality of life that can be enjoyed by those living in them. This information will enable people who are moving to the state in which City L is located to confidently identify one place, at least, where schools are good, housing is affordable, people are friendly, the environment is safe, and the arts flourish.”
Discuss how well reasoned... etc.

The above passage quotes that two years ago City L was rated 14th in an annual survey and that this information will help people, who plan to move to this city, to choose a place where they can settle. Even though the claim may be true but there are few assumptions which need to be addressed. I will be addressing them in the following paragraphs.

First of all, author made an assumption that the ranking given to city L, two years ago, is still valid. It leads us to another assumption that there is no change in the conditions or living style of City L. Based on the same ranking, people can make decisions to move this year too.

Further, there was no detail of the survey made. It simply states it as an “Annual survey” without providing information such as, who participated in the survey, what were the various agenda in the survey and the like.

Finally, it goes on to make assumption that by the ranking alone, people can get a good picture of all the important aspects of daily life such as schooling, community, people, environment and so on, which can help them to decide whether they can move to city L .

To conclude, I would feel that the ranking of City L will make more sense if we get the most recent one. Additionally, the annual survey should provide details about the participants and the different criteria on which they are being surveyed. Further more, the ranking should provide more relavant and detailed information on the other factors like schooling and community. If all the above assumptions are addressed, people planning to settle in City L, will have lot more data in their hand to make a judicious decision.

MY Scrap :
Assumption
1) Ranking made before 2 years is still valid
2) Ranking gives a detailed picture of all the essential factors viz: housing, school, people, environment etc