essay - GMAT: Argument 10

Question:

The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper:

“This past winter, 200 students from Waymarsh State College traveled to the state capitol building to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs. The other 12,000 Waymarsh students evidently weren’t so concerned about their education: they either stayed on campus or left for winter break. Since the group who did not protest is far more numerous, it is more representative of the state’s college students than are the protesters. Therefore the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students.”

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author concludes that the state legislature need not heed the appeals of the protesting students by referring the numeric comparison between the number of students gathering at state capitol building to protest, 200, and the number of the other students, 12,000. The logic is that since 12,000 is much bigger than 200, most students don't protest the proposed cuts. Therefore, the state can ignore the 200. However, this argument has significant flaws, leading to a wrong decision.


First and foremost, although the author judge that 12,000 students don't protest against the new legistlation, but there's no proof. The 12,000 students just didn't go to the state capiton, and this doesn't necessariliy mean that these students don't protest against the cuts. Some of them just couldn't attend the demonstration because of other appointments they already had. This irrational inferance damages the argument fervently.


Then, although the auther concludes the state legstrature don't need to heed the appeals of the protesting students just based on the fact that the number of students was just 200, this reasoning has a serious flaw. A legistrator should see the contents, not the number.

(To be continued.)

essay - GMAT: Issue 10

Question:
“Employees should keep their private lives and personal activities as separate as possible from the workplace.”

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 don't agree with the statement that employees should keep their private lives and personal activities as separate as possible from the workplace, because I believe that there are several significant positive effects coming from the opposite policy.

First of all, the situation in which employees know each other's private life can make employee's collaboration much more efficient. Easily understood, knowing each other's wife's name and the number of children can expedite the communication. I also once read an article saying that more and more corporations begin to plan family events and support communication at the private level. Personally speaking, it's clear that communication with a person who I privately know well is much easier and better than one with a person who I don't know well.

Second, we cannot ignore the effect of private acquaintance that curb the attrition rate. Some business analysts advocate that the most vital factor to decrease the overturn rate is to enhance the employees' private communication. If an employee don't satisfy with the workplace, but if he has personal connection with other people in the organization, he remains in the organization. In our increasingly competitive world where the human resource is vitally important, making a good strategy for preventing employees from leaving the company becomes more and more important. This thought also matches my personal experience. I had been working for a company for around ten years, thinking of changing the job everyday, but what had been preventing me from doing so was my good friends working for the same company.

Yet we also pay attention to the negative aspects of personal connection among employees. For instance, it is said as a good practice that bosses should avoid having personal feelings toward their subordinates in order to discipline the organization. And also in case he needs to make a severe decision on his subordinate such as dismissal, personal attachment may spoil the right judgement.

To sum up, although it has some negative impacts, I believe that enhancing private communication among employees is valuable for corporations. Therefore, corporations should plan family picnics or barbecues to achieve its merits that I mentioned above.

essay - GMAT: Argument 9

Question:
The following appeared in the opinion column of a financial magazine:

“On average, middle-aged consumers devote 39 percent of their retail expenditure to department store products and services, while for younger consumers the average is only 25 percent. Since the number of middle-aged people will increase dramatically within the next decade, department stores can expect retail sales to increase significantly during that period. Furthermore, to take advantage of the trend, these stores should begin to replace some of those products intended to attract the younger consumer with products intended to attract the middle-aged consumer.”

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author of the opinion column argues that sales figures of department store will increase in proportion to the increase of population of middle-aged people, who are denoted to spend 39 percent of their retail expenditure to department store products and services. Moreover, the author contends that department store should replace its products for young people with products for middle-aged people based on the fact that middle-aged people will increase within the next decade. The argument has two clear flaws.

First of all, the argument presupposes that young people will have the same preference as middle-aged people currently have, but this premise is unreasonable. Trends are varying as time goes by. That is, preference of middle-aged people varies from time to time, leading to the fact that middle-aged people in ten years would show different purchasing characteristics from ones of current middle-aged people. For instance, in my country, Japan, almost all middle-aged people had strong preference several decades ago forward purchase at department stores, but middle-aged people at present don't show such kind of preference anymore. Since the argument that sales figures of department store will increase stands on this false premise, the argument is invalid.

Second, although the author suggests that department stores change the products to target middle-aged people, this merchandise strategy is wrong not only by the wrong premise that I mentioned above but also by the fact that this strategy would force young people away from department stores. If young people could see department stores targeting older people not themselves, they would change their attitudes toward department stores. This result should be avoided for department stores.

In summary, this argument stands on wrong premise and supports unreliable conclusion. In order to make this argument convincing, the author needs to introduce more reliable reasoning.

essay - GMAT: Issue 9

Question:
The primary responsibility of citizens is to obey their nation’s civil and criminal laws.

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 agree with the opinion that the primary responsibility of citizens is to obey their nation's civil and criminal laws. There are main two reasons why I think so.

First, obedience makes the society more peaceful. If the citizens abide by the civil and criminal laws, unnecessary disturbance can be avoided and people take away from crimes. On the contrary, if people don't obey their laws, unfathomable disorder will be generated.

Second, obeying laws strengthens people's attitudes. Through sticking to various laws, people can equip themselves with order and discipline. This makes their lives more rich and also makes the society more prosperous.

However, two main reasons I mentioned above depends tenaciously on the development of the nation. That is, if the nation is premature like a dictatorial or aristocratic society, obeying the laws will contradict the advance of democracy. In other words, if the laws don't deserve citizen's obedience, unconditional conformity can harm the advance of human beings.

To sum up, I agree with the idea that obeying laws as a citizen is the primary obligation, if the nation can deserve the citizens' obedience.

essay - GMAT: Argument 8

Question:
The following appeared in the editorial section of a corporate newsletter:

“The common notion that workers are generally apathetic about management issues is false, or at least outdated: a recently published survey indicates that 79 percent of the nearly 1,200 workers who responded to survey questionnaires expressed a high level of interest in the topics of corporate restructuring and redesign of benefits programs.”

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
Although in the article the author considers the responses of the survey as a sign of denying the common notion that workers are apathetic about management issues, this argument has two significant flaws.

First and foremost, it's doubtful that employees think the two topics, corporate restructuring and redesign of benefits programs, as management issues. They may see the two topics as their issues. For instance, corporate restructuring itself is a management issue for sure, but for employees it may be a threat to make them lose their jobs. For redesign of benefits programs as well, they may think of only themselves, like "What hotels will be available for my region?" Therefore, the argument is not convincing.

Second, if the demographics of the survey is unclear, the argument is not convincing. That is, in this case, what kind of people mostly answered the survey is a critically important information. For example, if most of the survey takers had been people who were very interested especially in restructuring and benefit plans, the percentage of people showing high interests would have skewed the information. Therefore, the author should have showed clear information of the survey.

In conclusion, since the argument has arbitrary interpretation, which is intended to support the conclusion by the way I mentioned above, the argument becomes so weak. Also, unclear source of the survey makes the argument incredible.

essay - GMAT: Issue 8

Question:
“For hundreds of years, the monetary system of most countries has been based on the exchange of metal coins and printed pieces of paper. However, because of recent developments in technology, the international community should consider replacing the entire system of coins and paper with a system of electronic accounts of credits and debits.”

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:
In this digital era, we enjoy convenient lives such that we have never considered before. For instance, we can pass through entrance gates at stations without paying actual money. This is so convenient that people can never go back to the previous system. However, I contemplate that abolishing coins and paper is too early for our society.

First and foremost, there's still a "digital divide", which is a social gap between ones who have and ones who don't have in terms of being able to enjoy digital lives. I especially stress that initial investments to introduce a digital money system costs too much for impoverished countries to afford. Also, the cost to have an equipment that stores digital money cannot be ignored for ordinary people. These mean that if the digital money system replaces current system in the future, many people will have trouble spending everyday lives.

Then, we cannot overlook the fact that the digital money system doesn't have well-established security systems. Actually, we have never faced a serious threat in digital monetary systems that we currently have, but in other digital fields such as an electronic mail system or an operating system there are in fact a lot of malice to threaten people's daily activities. Therefore, I think we cannot say that we are safe from threats such as thieving digital money from our digital wallets.

Because of two major reasons that I mentioned above, I cannot agree with the idea to introduce digital money system replacing the current coins and paper system. Only if the digital system prevails more and more and the security technology advances more and more, we will be able to enjoy a full digital era that we currently enjoy a part of it.

news - iPhone phenomenon

I report news that iPhone was finally launched in Japan from Japan.

SoftBank Mobile marketed an iconic mobile phone designed and created by Apple Corp. last week. This release has been desired by many Japanese people since it took place in America last year. SoftBank won this contract by a hard push that other carriers couldn't show enough.

A lot of people waited in lines to buy iPhone on the first day of its release. In my view, this gadget is a five-year-advanced item that was born by a legendary charismatic businessman, Steve Jobs, who also produced Apple computer and iPod.


This is news from Japan where I was born.

essay - GMAT: Argument 7

Question:
The following appeared in the health section of a magazine on trends and lifestyles:

“People who use the artificial sweetener aspartame are better off consuming sugar, since aspartame can actually contribute to weight gain rather than weight loss. For example, high levels of aspartame have been shown to trigger a craving for food by depleting the brain of a chemical that registers satiety, or the sense of being full. Furthermore, studies suggest that sugars, if consumed after at least 45 minutes of continuous exercise, actually enhance the body’s ability to burn fat. Consequently, those who drink aspartame-sweetened juices after exercise will also lose this calorie-burning benefit. Thus it appears that people consuming aspartame rather than sugar are unlikely to achieve their dietary goals.”

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author claims that aspartame cannot be an substitute for sugar by two reasons, which are first that aspartame can make people eat more, then that aspartame doesn't have a benefit that sugar has. Yet, we can find out apparently two flaws that make the argument weak to convince.

First, in the former example, the author mentions "high levels of" aspartame can cause people to feel more appetite, resulting in gaining more weight, but the degree of "high level" is uncertain. Every good stuff has the extent to which people gain the benefit from it. Extending some extent, people will suffer from the stuff that is supposed to be good. Therefore, the author should have clearly mentioned what degree aspartame is in the example, because otherwise the example is considered to have a serious flaw in it.

Then, in the latter example, the author sees a calorie-burning benefit that sugar has as a significant benefit, but this argument is weak. First, it's unclear how beneficial the body's ability to burn fat is. Sugar might equip people with the ability to burn calorie, but at the same time sugar would bring the people calorie. Second, the condition of this story is to exercise at least 45 minutes before taking sugar, but this condition makes gaining the benefit difficult. How many people exercise more than 45 minutes on a regular basis, and how many people don't forget to take sugars after the exercise?

In summary, the argument has obviously weak examples, making the claim unconvincing. The author at least should strengthen the two example that he takes more convincing at the points I mentioned above.

essay - GMAT: Issue 7

Question:
“The best way to give advice to other people is to find out what they want and then advise them how to attain it.”

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

Answer:
I agree with the statement that the best way to give advice to other people is to find out what they want and then advise them how to attain it to the extent that this advice is effective for people who are not mature. My point to this statement is that the best way of advising to adults or people who are already mature is in another place. My opinion consists of two parts.

First, I believe that the best way to give advice is to make them have ability to consider by themselves. Advising what they should do or how they do is just to solve their current problems. That doesn't solve their future problems, because they cannot learn to find their solutions by themselves. And it's because the advisor gives them the solution instead of ability to solve. For instance, suppose there's a man who wants to get a higher score on a certain examination. The advisor, who has already achieved the target score, can tell him how to study or what
he should do. All right. He might make it, but in the near future he will face the same kind of problem because he will still not be able to make a plan for attaining the goal.

Second, I mention difficulty that the advisor can surely understand the advice taker's problem. In general, an advisor can give the other people an insightful opinion that they haven't noticed, but I believe that a person who understand the someone's problem the most is the someone himself. Therefore, just giving the answer might prevent people from finding a true solution. For example, I have an experience to give my young brother a wrong advice regarding his job through my misunderstanding for his true desire.

In summary, I agree with the idea that giving clear advices is helpful for especially young people. Yet I believe that the best way to give advice should be the same as the way to give people their growth.

essay - GMAT: Argument6

Question:
The following appeared as part of an article in a magazine devoted to regional life.

"Corporations should look to the city of Helios when seeking new business opportunities or a new location. Even in the recent recession, Helios's unemployment rate was lower than the regional average. It is the industrial center of the region, and historically it has provided more than its share of the region's manufacturing jobs. In addition, Helios is attempting to expand its economic base by attracting companies that focus on research and development of innovative technologies."

Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.

Answer:
The article's intention is to attract companies to locate the offices in the city. To achieve the purpose, the article appeals its low unemployment rate, its industrial aspect, and its economic base especially for research and development. Each point has weak logical support.

A low unemployment rate, which is lower than the average of the region the city belongs, is certainly a good condition for its economy. For enterprises, however, it might be a disadvantage in terms of difficulty of hiring new employees necessary when the enterprise decides to locate the branch office there.

Although the article emphasizes that the city is an industrial one which provides engineering jobs, this is also good for local economy, but might be meaningless for enterprises intending to come, because they are not ones which want jobs. Moreover, this industrial aspect doesn't make sense for companies which belong to the other industries such as pharmaceutical or apparel industry.

The city is trying to expand through attracting companies which see research and development as a pivotal ingredient. This is also good for such kind of company, but cannot be an advantage for companies which don't have research and development function such as retailers or wholesalers.

The article is a weak argument because of the lack of clear selling points. If it focuses on manufacturers, rather than focusing on all companies, the argument will become more convincing and more logical.

story - The Man Was Born 6

The man thought of not only himself but also the world he was born. The man saw the world as a place at which men and women lived. There were numerous people in the world, and the fact seemed to result in the clear evidence that the man had been feeling at times. He muttered, "The world should be the world it is."

As time goes by, the man attained more intelligent, more cogent abilities that supported the meaning of his existence. The man said to himself, "The world is big. I must go on stretching out the degree of the importance of the fact that the world exists. Yes. I am a man who struggles, stumbles, and moves forward."

The relation between the world and the existence of human beings always fascinated him in terms of the findings relevant to his existence. The world was full of amazing facts and unknown adventures. The world was primitive one that he could observe. He again muttered, "I came across the world. This fact will bring me out of the previous space in which I once existed."


To be continued...

news - Toyako Summit

I report the latest news from around the world.

G8 Toyako Summit took place in Toyako, Japan, from July 7 to 9. G8 leaders including the US President George W. Bush gathered and discussed various topics. Global warming was especially focused on at the summit. Prior to the summit, several activists were arrested because of disturbance to the event. Actually, I'm not sure why some people hold a demonstration against this summit.

Anyway, this summit was accused by almost all media, since the upshots were not satisfactory in terms of preventing upcoming global warming. It seems like a fixed race for me.


This is from haruy02 in Japan.

essay - GMAT: Issue6

Question:
"All groups and organizations should function as teams in which everyone makes decisions and shares responsibilities and duties. Giving one person central authority and responsibility for a project or task is not an effective way to get work done."

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above? Support your views with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from your own work or school experiences, your observations, or your reading.

Answer:
I agree that team work or delegation is quite important for all organizations. On the other hand, I also agree that a clear command of chain or an existence of charismatic leader is essential for all organizations. The most substantial thing for designing an organizational structure is, I believe, to adjust it to the development level of the organization.


I think I don't need to say anymore.