story - The Man Was Born 3

The young woman the man met at the time when the man was young was likely to live in a house near his. The woman had a very impressive, lively, high-spirited character. The man thought to himself, "There were a man and a woman in this world."

The man seemed like to be sure about the way he should have followed. The body of the man was built, the soul of the man established, and the brain of the man steeply sharped. The man said to himself, "The time has nearly come."

The time to leave the city seemed to come to the man, because the man spent a certain amount of time in the city. The man felt that was good or bad, but he was still studious and ambitious enough to travel around all the world. The man shouted silently, "The world is waiting for me!"

This meant also the man needed to force himself to say something to the woman he met in the city at a thunderous situation, which would always make him reticent afterward. Since the man was still young, the man happened to have trouble keeping himself disciplined. "But, I need to go." he muttered.


To be continued...

news - Great Sichuan Earthquake

On 12 May 2008, an earthquake with 8.0 magnitude hit sichuan province in China. As of May 31, 68,977 people were killed, 367,854 injured, and 17,974 missed. This is the biggest earthquake in China since 1976.


I feel deeply sorry to the people who passed away in this earthquake and the people who lost their families and friends in this very sad earthquake.

essay - GMAT Analysis of Issue3

Question:
"Corporations and other businesses should try to eliminate the many ranks and salary grades that classify employees according to their experience and expertise. A 'flat' organizational structure is more likely to encourage collegiality and cooperation among employees."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
These days, many companies pursuit organizational excellence in order to achieve high profitability and everlasting growth, resulting in a wide variety of organizational structures being adopted. In terms of classification of employees, it's also said that there's a wide variety of structure model at present.

In the early stage of history of corporation, highly structured organization model was adopted at many companies. There were apparent benefits including a simple chain of command and clear roles and responsibilities. As development of corporate strategies and rapid environmental changes like globalism proceed, however, many companies started adopting flat organizational structure or other advanced structure models like a matrix or project organizational structure.

I agree that flat organizational structure can quickly cope with the changes of business environment or new competitive situations, but I insist that there should be clear classification represented by ranks and salary grades.

Flat organizational structure is good for communication among employees. For instance, one of my client companies got rid of classified grade and promoted flat communication among its employees. They interact each other as equivalent colleagues, and this seemed superficially good at a normal situation.

I mean, however, if something unusual happens, such as a compliant violation or an incident causing its consumers hurt, a clear chain of command and clear roles and responsibilities are required to respond such situations, which is also tantamount to classification of ranks and grades.

Who can take a responsibility of a serious incident that possibly cause the person fired if nobody is at a higher position than others? Who can make a final decision amid great controversy if nobody has power to force others to follow his decision? Therefore, I insist that companies need to have clear grades and ranks to the extent of the level I mentioned above.

In summary, corporations move forward to the era of flat organizational structure, but to some extent corporations need to keep clear ranks and grades in order to respond to various events.

essay - GMAT Analysis of Argument2

Question:
The following appeared in a memorandum from the business department of the Apogee Company.

"When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location, it was more profitable than it is today. Therefore, the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location. Such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees."

Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.

Answer:
Since there are several jumps of logic, the argument doesn't reach the level of convincing people that the proposition will be a good choice for the company.

First, the argument states the correlation between the time when the company had only one location and the fact that the company made good profits at the time, but the correlation cannot be proved in a logical manner. It means that the argument doesn't prove that the profits came from the fact that the company had only one location. Therefore, one can also say that the company generated the profits only because external environment like economic boom contributed to the profitability at the time.

Second, more importantly, although the argument reaches a conclusion that the company will consolidate its branch offices into one location in order to achieve higher profitability and better management carried off by concentrated supervision, but this causal correlation, which is between the action and the result, is not logical enough to make the argument persuasive. It means that even if the company gained high profitability through having only one location, the situation surrounding the company now would be different from one at the time, resulting in the situation that the action will bring a wrong effect like a decrease of its sales.

If the argument has the logical explanations to solve the jumps of logic mentioned above, it will be persuasive enough to convince all stakeholders to agree on and follow the decision. However, if the jumps of logic cannot be wiped out, the conclusion that the argument proposes has a serious flaw that might aggravate the company's condition.

essay - GMAT Analysis of Issue2

Questions:
"It is unrealistic to expect individual nations to make, independently, the sacrifices necessary to conserve energy. International leadership and worldwide cooperation are essential if we expect to protect the world's energy resources for future generations."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
I fully agree on the statement that international leadership and worldwide cooperation are essential for the world's energy resources, but I believe that individual nations can contribute to conserve natural energy without other countries' support.

It's dangerous to state that only if all countries must keep in step altogether, a nation cannot take any action proceeding with natural resource conservation. As a typical example, although this is in terms of greenhouse gas emission, United States of America has been rejecting to ratify the Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997 on the grounds of the inequality in its participants. United States insists that it's unfair that China and India have no obligation of reducing greenhouse gas emission. However, how sad the result from this attitude will be!

I believe that a nation and its people willingly step forward to save the earth even if other countries hesitate to do that. It's getting clearer as time goes that natural resources have been diminishing and eventually will vanish! Especially fossil fuel is in the line of exhaustion, resulting in record high gas oil prices recently observed. We face literally the fierce urgency of now.

International leadership and worldwide cooperation are vitally important, but they come to realize only if the respective nations commit themselves and take concrete actions. Therefore, I'd like to emphasize that an individual action comes first and world cooperation comes second. We need to bear in mind that every single step can change the world.

essay - GMAT Analysis of an Argument1

Question:
The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods.

"Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrates twenty-fifth birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underline the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.


Answer:
This argument contains two clearly illogical elements: ignorance of difference between color firm processing and frozen food processing, and leap of logic in relationship between performance and experience.

First, although the argument cites an improvement in color firm processing as an example of a result of continuous improvement, this example is not enough to prove the effect. Since the improvement might have been brought by a technological invention, not by the experience that the industry had gained, this example can't strengthen the argument.

Second, the argument simply connects age of the company with performance, which is reduced costs in this context, that the company achieves. If this logic were true, all companies in the world would decrease their costs and make profits. However, the fact is different. For instance, as time goes, unexpected issues rise in front of companies and they deteriorate their success in spite of the fact that the companies have been gaining experience. Since experience is merely a part of its performance, the argument is illogical.

The argument needs a better example and a more logical explanation as mentioned above. By exemplifying continuous improvement citing a clear example and strengthening the statement adding some explanations of the profit the company will gain, the argument becomes clearer and more convincing.

essay - GMAT Analysis of an Issue1

Question:
In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In other countries, there is little or no censorship.

In your view, to what extent should government or any other group be able to censor television or radio programs? Explain, giving relevant reasons and/or examples to support your position.

Answer:
I know both types of the country; the United States of America is a typical example for a country whose government has almost no censorship; China, conversely, is a typical example for a country whose government has strict censorship on its media. After explaining and demonstrating both types of censorship using these two countries as the examples, I'll state my conclusion on this issue, which is that government should minimize its censorship to a reasonable extent.

The United States of America found on democracy and liberty. Its people have been enjoying freedom and equality, although there were clear exceptions such as slavery and racial discrimination. I often watch their television program ranging from political news to sitcom. When watching the TV, I always feel in this country there's no taboo or prohibition. For example, at a TV drama named "Friends", people talk about gay or surrogate pregnancy in a light-hearted way. There's a fundamental environment in the country to express anything even considered taboo in other countries.

On the other hand, the United States of America has a problem stemming from its censorship policy. It's too free. For instance, sex and violence are everywhere in the country, and this fact surely affects its people's behaviour. As a tragic example, school shooting at Columbine High School happened years ago in the country can be considered the result of this no censorship policy. We can easily imagine the criminals spent their lives watching violent movies and TV programs, which affected their mental attitude. This is a negative aspect of the country's censorship policy.

I traveled to China two years ago. Although I knew there was censorship in the country even before traveling there, I found a lot of clear evidences that the government exacted censorship and the effects of the censorship through the trip. First of all, I was surprised at the fact that there are nearly no sex and violent materials, as I visited one of bookstores in Beijing. There was no pornography in the shelf at all; on the contrary, in Japan, my country, there are many porno magazines at almost all convenience stores that exist more than 10,000 nationwide. I saw the fact a good aspect of censorship generally thought as a bad system.

I believe, however, that censorship by government clearly has a dangerous aspect that might suppress its people's freedom of expression. Furthermore, there's a possibility of educating its people in a wrong direction. For example, a string of turmoil relating Tibet happened before China Olympic clearly showed us the serious effects of censorship. I couldn't believe why Chinese people strongly believed their justice on Tibet affairs, before I realized that the attitude came from their education the government imposed to them with limited and skew information about its incursion to Tibet after the World War II. This is a serious damage of censorship for its nation.

As a conclusion, except for some areas where censorship are clearly required such as child porn and racial discrimination, I think that government should not censor on its media and should think freedom of expression a vital right of people in this contemporary era, in which people can live for their happiness through knowing the truth of the world.

story - The Man Was Born 2

The young man enrolled a school named School of School, after getting into a land called Land of Land. He seemed satisfied with the school, mainly because he ran into modest, diligent people and quickly immersed himself in the learning environment.

Time passed rapidly. The young man rapidly gained great wisdom that human beings had gained. He tried to learn what he wanted to learn the way the wise learned what they had learned. The way was neither more nor less than a clear way for him. He mused, "The time has come."

At a night, when trees rung, and breeze blew, he finally realized the truth of the world. He at lease could say this, "There are what there is and what there is not." This thunderous idea caught him and consigned him to the world of everlasting contemplation.

But he should have admitted a fact that he encountered another philosophy. The philosophy forced him to be silent than ever before. The young man was a man. And the man met a young woman.


To be continued.

news - Political Mess on Provisional Gas Tax

I'll report a turmoil that happened in Japan.

From March to late April, political disorder caused Japanese people to be furious against their government. Its provisional gas tax expired at the end of March, and then gas prices in Japan went down around 30 yen a liter. Although the nationals enjoyed this windfall profits, it wouldn't last so long.

At the end of April, a new gas tax was introduced, and the gas prices went up steeply around the original prices. People got furious, and their trusts to government collapsed to the ever-worst extent.

The root cause of this matter was a lack of leadership of the ruling party, LDP, and the prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, as well as namely twisted power structure, which is that LDP dominates in the lower house while the opposition party, DPJ, dominates in the upper house.

I, who always see Barack Obama, who has a new kind of leadership, and dynamic American politics, feel deep disappointment in this situation, and hope that new politics will emerge in the near future even in this country presumably considered a developing country in terms of politics.


This is a report from a person who struggles to attain a certain level of language skills.

essay - TOEFL11

Question:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Universities should give the same amount of money to their students' sports activities as they give to their university libraries. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

Answer:
If we can say that school should be a place where students learn, there's no reason that we use the same amount of money into sports activities as libraries at universities. It's because library is a place where students learn, whereas sports activity is just supplement for their studies.

Fist of all, library provides a perfect place where the students can learn. They can read and research a wide variety of books and materials, which they can't take advantage of anywhere other than library. Therefore, universities should invest their funds in their libraries.

Needless to say, sports activities are also important for students learning at universities. A maxim says, "A health mind fits a health body." Agreeing on this, I also agree that universities should invest their money in sports activities. However, it should be to some extent. It means sports activities should not be a major part of school lives compared to studying or other learning activities.

As a conclusion, I'd like to say again that universities should not invest their funds in sports activities at the same amount of investment in their libraries, if they think the places are primarily for studying, not for playing.

story - The Man Was Born

A man was born in a country. The man started walking awhile after his legs touched the ground. The man had no name at the time, since nobody gave him his name. There was nothing surprising.

As years passed, the man became a boy. The boy had two arms and two legs. He was almost a monkey. Because he looked like a monkey. But one day he realized that he was human. He shouted, "I am a man! The time has come!" That was his first remark toward the world where he was born.

Years passed further. The boy became a young man. He started learning new things with unbelievable speed. Then he thought of the situation in which he was, "What's happening on me? What's hope we can have?" Then he started reasoning with astonishing speed. "Yes. There's hope. That is what hope is." He felt he got satisfied gradually.


To be continued...

news - Presidential Election In USA

I'll report the status of the presidential election in the United States.

The race starts with the elections for deciding party's nominee. As of now, there are two major partied in America, The Republican Party and The Democratic Party. The election in 2008 started this January in Iowa. The winner of the Republican Party was Mike Hackabee, the Democratic Party Barack Obama.

As the election goes on, John McCain had won most delegates on the Republican side. On the Democratic side, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, had vied tightly for nomination. As of May 3rd, the result are still unclear.

This election's points of controversy are ranging from Iraqi war to its stark economic situation. Especially, economic issue is getting more important in this election and for the candidates, since economy of USA slumped due to namely subprime mortgage crisis.


This is a report on American presidential election with my linguistic limitation.

blog - My Plan For Building Vocabulary

This is my plan for building my vocabulary that sustains me in speaking and writing English. I've been feeling it's very tough to pull words from my inner brain and speak out them fluently. But there's nothing impossible in the world as you know. So, let's scrutinize my plan.

1. Writing essay every day. (ongoing)

Since last month, I've been writing essays on this blog by using TOEFL material. This will eventually get reward in proportion to the hard work. Besides, the function of spell check on this Blogger is really helpful to notify me of the mistake if any.


2. Writing anything from a news to a story.

I'm sure that I need to do something else other than what I'm doing now in order to bring a wide variety of vocabulary from my memory. I mean there are tons of words I've never used in reality even though I know them. Especially, I've never used high-level words as we can see on newspaper, or light, conversational words as we can see in novels. So I decided to write news and stories myself. Don't you think this is a good idea?


3. Reading tons of books and newspaper. (ongoing)

Needless to say, getting new words into the brain is critical to expand its vocabulary. These days, I read newspaper and books checking a dictionary everyday. This will contribute to deepen my inner vocabulary, and one day they will be brought out from the storage.


This is my plan for honing my vocabulary.

essay - TOEFL10

Question:
"When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success." Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.

Answer:
I totally agree on the idea that success depends on hard work, not luck. Whereas luck has influence on relatively small matters, hard work makes big achievement possible.

The first reason why I stress the importance of hard work is that I believe hard work can go beyond influence of luck. Several years ago, I took a exam for getting a certification regarding business consultancy. The percentage of passing the exam was around just three percent, and the coverage was wide-ranging. So, the applicants cannot hope a good result without hard work. Since I was convinced about it strongly, I spent much time to study the wide variety of the subjects. As a result, it seemed like the hard work was rewarded.

The second reason why I stress the importance of hard work is that I believe that luck can be increased by adequate preparation. Needless to say, luck exists everywhere in this world. You might be able to win one million dollars at a lottery, or you might be elected as a president of United States by accident. However, from my experience, we can control the luck with sufficient preparation. I invested my money in stocks. At the stock market, people can rely on luck, but intelligent investors relies on their knowledge and preparation coming from hard work, not luck. Thanks to this attitude, I could make decent fortune at the market.

In summary, I believe that big successes come from hard work, not from luck. This belief stems from my experience and principle. Hard work easily overpasses luck and can bring a great success to ones who believe the value of hard work.

essay - TOEFL9

Question:
Some people prefer to live in a small town. Others prefer to live in a big city. Which place would you prefer to live in? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

Answer:
I definitely prefer to live in a small town despite the disadvantages like the inconvenience to commute or the lack of fancy departments. The main reasons for that lie in the following factors: quietness, good relationship with local people, and the reasonable costs to live.

First of all, I don't like hustle and bustle of a big city. There are a lot of cars and people generating noisy sound disturbing my private life. Since I'd like to read a book and think of various matters in a quiet environment, I'd like to live in a small town definitely more peaceful than a big city.

Second, I think that smaller the town to live is, deeper the relationship with the local residents is. Whereas deep communication in a big city tends to be rare, it's relatively easy to communicate with the residents in a small town. It's because people can get familiar with each other thanks to the small amount of population.

Third, I'm convinced that required costs to live in a small town is much more reasonable than do in a big city. For instance, house rent dramatically goes down as the size of city goes down. Moreover, food costs are reasonable while the ones of a big city are sometimes unbelievable.

To sum up, I surely choose to live in a small town rather than living in a big city, although there are some disadvantages. Especially quietness is critically important to me when choosing the place to live.

essay - TOEFL8

Question:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television has destroyed communication among friends and family. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinions.

Answer:
I totally disagreed with the statement that television has destroyed communication among friends and family. Television promotes communication rather than deteriorates it.

First, television can provide topics that people can share and discuss among them. For example, an episode from a TV drama may cause meaningful discussion among people.

Moreover, television provides communication space to people. A family can gather in front of TV and have same time with them. For example, a news from TV may make the family gather in front of TV and make them talk with each other, resulting in better communication.

Needless to say, spending too much time to watch TV brings negative effects. Or if family concentrates on TV too much, the family doesn't have any conversation among them. Therefore, people need to keep in mind that television is not a perfect media.

As a whole, television has been playing a vital role in communication in this contemporary era. Although there are several setbacks, television can contribute to people in terms of making them communicate with each other through the existence.