essay - GMAT: Argument 14

The following appeared as part of a newspaper editorial:

"Two years ago Nova High School began to use interactive computer instruction in three academic subjects. The school dropout rate declined immediately, and last year's graduates have reported some impressive achievements in college. In future budgets the school board should use a greater portion of the available funds to buy more computers, and all schools in the district should adopt interactive computer instruction throughout the curriculum."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author concludes that the school which began interactive computer instruction two years ago should buy more computers and all schools in the district should adopt this system by citing two data: a decline of the dropout rate and reports of last year's graduates. Due to the following two reasons, however, the argument is unconvincing.

First, although the author tries to show a causal relationship between the introduction of the interaction computer instruction and the school's dropout rate by using the word, "immediately", he fails to show a direct causal relationship. Since the school dropout rate can be improved by various other factors like improvement of quality of teachers or psycological phenomenon, we cannot judge whether the down of dropout rate was due to the interactive computer instruction without a direct causal relationship, like some reports from students who though to drop out but had second thought owning the program. Therefore, the argument which appeals the benefit of the program fails to be convincing.

Second, though this is simular to the previous flaw, the author fails to show a direct causal relationship between the program and reports of some graduates' impressive achievements. We cannot connect an achievement in the leadership area or in volunteer work with the interactive computer instruction, because we don't think that the program gave the student some merit in such areas. Therefore, the author should show the direct causal relationship. Otherwise, at least, the author should indicate what subjects were held with interactive computer instruction.

In conclusion, due to two lacks of a causal relationship, the author fails to make the argument convincing. If the author includes the information, the suggestion, more computers and program enhancement to other schools, can be persuasive.

essay - GMAT: Issue 14

"Responsibility for preserving the natural environment ultimately belongs to each individual person, not to government."

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 generally agree with the idea that each individual has ultimate responsibility for the natural environment, but at the same time I want to emphasize the importance of government's role for preserving the natural environment.

Although what one person can do is quite small, human beings consisting of each individual are harming the earth at this present moment. Greenhouse gas that human beings are producing is rapidly causing global warming. Wild animals are facing extinction owing to various activities of human beings. Although what one person can do is tenuous, one can try to save the earth through the actions, like using his own bag instead of plastic bags, riding a hybrid vehicle instead of an oil-consuming SUV, or restraining the use of air conditioners by making the temperature lower or higher than usual. The most important thing to preserve the earth is to believe the power of things that one can do for the earth.

Furthermore, I believe that the government is just representing its constituents. That is, we choose senators or councilors, and basically the government acts based on the climate of public opinion. Therefore, ultimately, individuals have responsibility for the natural environment even through the government's actions. Thus, what we should bear in mind is that if the government's action is not appropriate in terms of saving the earth, we should make a big voice to change the course of the action.

On the other hand, we cannot ignore the importance of the government. The representatives of the government attend a meeting of environmental commissions; the people do not. The governments sometimes make decisions without consent of the people. I can cite Bush administration in US as a typical example. I believe that Bush administration has not ratified Kyoto protocol based on the backing of the industries, not the people. Therefore, that we should keep a close eye on the government is very important so as to save the earth.

In conclusion, I believe that ultimate responsibility for saving the earth lies in individuals, not the government. Therefore, we need to have a sense of responsibility and then take actions to save the earth proactively.

essay - GMAT: Argument 13

The following appeared as part of a campaign to sell advertising time on a local radio station to local businesses:

"The Cumquat Café began advertising on our local radio station this year and was delighted to see its business increase by 10 percent over last year's totals. Their success shows you how you can use radio advertising to make your business more profitable."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author tries to convince the readers that the radio advertisement makes the company which advertises on the radio more profitable by citing an example of The Cumquat Cafe which advertised on the radio and made the sales increased by 10 percent last year. However, this argument has two serious flaws.

First, the author doesn't mention the causal relation between the effect of the advertisement and the sales increase of the company. If the company made its sales increased by 10 percent with other ways than advertising on the radio, like acquiring another company, advertising on another media, or just benefiting from a nationwide economic boom, advertising on the radio doesn't have any benefits to its customers. In terms of not showing such kind of information, this argument is so weak that it cannot convince the readers at all.

Second, the argument fails to convince the readers in terms of the lack of the specific information of the radio station. That is, the readers cannot judge whether advertising on the radio is useful or not, because the statements don't include what kind of program the radio station has, and what kind of people listen to the radio -- like young people or old people. These kinds of information are critical for companies to judge whether the advertisement has value for it or not. Therefore, the author should include such kind of information I mentioned above in the statements.

To sum up, the author insists that the advertisement has value for local companies, but he fails to convince the readers because the statements don't have causal relation between the effect and the example it cites, and don't have useful information with which companies can judge the benefit.

essay - GMAT: Issue 13

"Education has become the main provider of individual opportunity in our society. Just as property and money once were the keys to success, education has now become the element that most ensures success in life."

In your opinion, how accurate is the view expressed above? Explain, using reasons and examples based on your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
I agree with the statement saying that education has become the main provider of individual opportunity in our society. Education is apparently the most important factor in being successful in the society. This belief is based on a wide variety of examples and personal experiences.

We are created equal. This means that everybody has a chance to ensure success through his own efforts. When people are born, they are all equal. If people make efforts to be successful, pursue happiness, and make the lives rich, the efforts must be rewarded. In this sense, education should be only a major factor of success, and we should make it so. Education is gained by his own will, not property he inherited from his parents, not money he just has at any given time. Education makes him to enroll a better school, to get a better job, and to achieve better success. We are created equal in terms of this. To prove this, we can cite many examples. One of them is Barack Obama, who is a candidate for the next American president. He didn't have property when he was born. He didn't have much money when he was a child. He just got good education. And he finally became the first black candidate for the president from major parties in the American history. Such kind of people like him should be rewarded, and be worth success.

I can cite my own experience. My parents didn't have much money, but they gave me education, which made me enroll good schools and join a good company. I didn't have much money, but now I'm getting reasonable money through my education. If I didn't have the education, even though I had a lot of money, I would be loosing the money and would not be able to get success.

In terms of the points I mentioned above, we must assure that education is given to everybody who wants it. Opportunities to get education should be equal. Therefore, especially the government should enact laws in order to make this happen, like setting up funds that support young people to enroll universities.

To sum up, education is a major factor in our society to get success. And at the same time, we must make it so in order to realize our ideal society; all men are created equal.

essay - GMAT: Argument 12

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

"In the first four years that Montoya has served as mayor of the city of San Perdito, the population has decreased and the unemployment rate has increased. Two businesses have closed for each new business that has opened. Under Varro, who served as mayor for four years before Montoya, the unemployment rate decreased and the population increased. Clearly, the residents of San Perdito would be best served if they voted Montoya out of office and reelected Varro.

"Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author of this statement concludes that Varro, previous mayor, is superior to Montoya, current major, for residents of San Perdito by citing two statistical data, the population and the unemployment rate. This argument, however, has serious flaws.

First, although the population and the unemployment rate can be significant indicators for the governance, the argument completely misses mentioning the causes or the other aspects that caused the result. That is, although the author tries to connect the ability of mayor with the two statistical data, it's no doubt that there are the other aspects that affected the population and the unemployment rate, like industrial or demographical changes. For instance, if nationwide depression caused the decrease of the unemployment rate, we cannot say that Montoya is blamed for the decrease. Therefore, in order to make the argument more convincing, the author should include this kind of information.

Second, the argument doesn't mention the nature of a time lag. In other words, the argument is weak, because the causal relationship between a cause and a current result is not articulated. That is, the decrease of the population and the increase of the unemployment rate during the four year of Montoya's ruling might be cause by the preceding four years of Varro's ruling. Therefore, the author should clarify this causal relationship in order to strengthen the argument.

Finally, the author mentions that two businesses closed for each new business that has opened, but this citation makes no sense. Since this type of transformation is a normal phenomenon in the process of business evolution, this doesn't affect any decision of which mayor is better. Therefore, the author should not mention unnecessary statements in order to avoid reader's confusion.

To sum up, since the argument is weak in terms of points I mentioned above, the author should investigate underlying facts or include more information in the argument so that the reader can judge which mayor is eligible for them.

essay - GMAT: Issue 12

"When someone achieves greatness in any field―such as the arts, science, politics, or business―that person's achievements are more important than any of his or her personal faults."

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 believe that great achievements should be followed by personal excellence. Even though a person achieves greatness in a certain field, if the person has serious faults in his personality, the achievement will and should not be admired. This belief comes from several points of view.

First, admitting that achievements are more important than any of personal faults results in a phenomenon that success is only a matter for life. This leads to deteriorating situations. People would pursue only their own successes, not reflecting their personalities. People would not try to improve their personalities. People would hate each other and not be able to live with peaceful minds. In my country, Japan, a strong, young boxer once provoked controversy owning to his personal fault, that is, arrogance. People at a time noticed that his attitude -- showing extensive assaults against others -- had a bad effect toward young people. As a result, he was ousted from the boxing world.

Second, I believe that true achievements come true after people have personal excellence, at least, after people have inclination of improving the personality. Of course, sometimes, a wonderful painting, an astonishing new scientific finding, or a great sales result is produced by a person who doesn't have such traits. I believe, however, that almost all achievements are created by persons who have personal excellence or disposition of pursuing it, even though he or she is not perfect. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Carnegie Melon, Jack Welch, and other achievers in the business world all have personal excellence, even though they might not be perfect. For instance, Bill Gates, a founder of a giant computer company, Microsoft, became a chairman of a foundation that he founded after quitting his job at Microsoft. I think that his attitude is great.

To sum up, I'd like to insist that personal excellence comes first, and an achievement in a particular field comes second. If you have an intention to improve your personality, you will achieve something great in your field, and then it will acquire admiration from people around you for sure.

essay - GMAT: Argument 11

The following appeared as part of a promotional campaign to sell advertising space in the Daily Gazette to grocery stores in the Marston area:

"Advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette will help you increase your sales. Consider the results of a study conducted last month. Thirty sale items from a store in downtown Marston were advertised in The Gazette for four days. Each time one or more of the 30 items was purchased, clerks asked whether the shopper had read the ad. Two-thirds of the 200 shoppers asked answered in the affirmative. Furthermore, morethan half the customers who answered in the affirmative spent over $100 at the store."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The writer of this promotional campaign insists the merit of advertising to the Daily Gazette by citing two statistical data, what percentage of all shoppers who bought advertised items read the advertisement and how much those shoppers purchased at the store. This argument, however, has serious flaws that weaken the conclusion.

First, "two-thirds" certainly seems a considerable figure, but the writer should have showed a figure regarding the other people. That is, the readers cannot judge whether the "two-thirds" is a good figure or not, unless the figure of what percentage of all people in the area read the advertisement. For instance, if the Daily Gazette is a major newspaper in the area and almost all residents there usually read the advertisements, "two-thirds" is not necessarily a good figure. In other words, the advertisement fails to inspire peopleto buy its items. Therefore, the argument is weak and the writer should include the kind of information.

Second, although the writer cites the data that more than half the customers who answered in the affirmative spent over $100 at the store, this citation makes no sense. That is, if the average of amounts that all shoppers spend at the store is also more than $100, the advertisement fails to increase the store's sales, and this means that this citation fails to support the argument. In order to convince the readers, the writer at least should have showed the comparable figure like the average of all shoppers.

To sum up, since the writer fails to show how much value the advertisement has, the argument is very weak. Thus the argument fails to convince the readers to advertise in the Daily Gazzeta. To strengthen the argument, the writer should cite meaningful data that the readers can compare the case of advertising with the case of not.

essay - GMAT: Issue 11

Question:

"In any enterprise, the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product."

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 believe that the final product is ultimately more important than the process of making or doing something, although the process or the procedure is indispensable for the company. This belief constitutes the following points.

First, what customers buy is the final product. Even though the company has brillient processes and practices, if the final product cannot satisfy the customers' needs, then it's equal that the company doesn't deliver any value to the customers. For instance, I can take a typical example from the famed book, "The Innovator's Dilemma", saying that even if a company manufacturing 5-inch disk drives has a process that may satisfy the customer like marketing and development function, there's a possibility that the company cannot respond to new customer's needs like a 3.5-inch disk drive.

Second, focusing on process might cause companies to be cost-inefficient. Defining, creating, and maintaining processes that a company has comes with high costs. The company may need to hire additional human resouces like consultants or business analyists. In general, a process itself doesn't have any value that the customer can receive. Therefore, adhering to the process forces the customers to pay additional costs.

I, however, want to insist that the process is indispensable for companies. Excellent processes make the company excellent. In other words, every excellent company has brillient processes that make the company be able to produce brillient final products. For instance, Toyota, one of the best automakers, has a well-known process named "Kanban" system. The final product like Prius can be produced, because Toyota has such kind of process.

To sum up, I believe that companies should focus on its products rather than its processes, because the customer can be satisfied with the final product, not the process. In addition to this, the excessive focus on processes makes the cost structure burdened for the company and the customer.

India - Summary 7: India and my future

(A shot of myself with a mark)

The trip might have had a big impact on my life. I changed my job around 1 and half year ago. The company was an Indian company. At the beginning of the work, there were many things that I was surprised at. Looking back the decision from now, it was good to choose the nation's company, because I could see the nation and the relation with the world.

It was good in terms of the fact that I have been in the environment where I can use English. English proficiency was what I needed to attain as soon as possible in order to show my presence toward the world. In order to contribute to the world. Yet, I'm still wondering. Can I reach the place where I can be satisfied. Is the journey not lasting nearly forever? But, I'll just go on.

This trip changed my mind a little. It made it long to work for the company. As I know, I like to work in the new environment. I like new challenges. I like to see myself improved and valued. Keeping this job might bring me more value than I expected. I saw the nation. I saw the true colleagues. Time seems to come, and I slowly wake up myself for the moment.

India - Summary 6: India and English

(A shot of the Bangalore City Station)

Almost all Indian people can speak English as a native speaker. No. This may be a little exaggerated. Technically speaking, especially educated people can do that. This means that non-educated people, who don't go to school, don't speak English, only speak their native language. And educated people can do that because they use English in daily life and take classes at school in English for all subjects like math, science, and literature.

Therefore, at the training session I joined, I struggled to catch up with them speaking English. They speak fast with a little bit different accents. Anyway, this aspect contributes to the strength of India in the IT industry in terms of the fact that they can communicate with US and UK people at a level of a native speaker.

By the way, as I mentioned on my Japanese blog, what I need to do right now the most is to hone my English ability. At least, I need to be able to discuss, make a speech, and have a debate with native speakers. Since I work for an Indian company, not only do I have minimal English language skills, but also I should excel in the communication area. Since I'm here, I'll go.

India - Summary 5: The future

(A shot of a temple)

As I described at the thread of the economy, if India can continue its strong slides in the export industries like information technology and agriculture industry, I can say that the future is bright. Their strengths are language capability and the high educational level. Unless the leaders make serious mistakes in the direction, the nation can keep its northeastern direction for a long time.

As all the other nations have, however, India has several important risks that the leaders need to take a close look at. First, the disposition of the people. Japan made a great recovery from the disastrous defeat of the World War II. According to some experts and my personal recognition, the recovery came true because the people had strong determination, and inclination to improve their lives and qualities. In other words, in case Indian people make a choice that they remain the current steady state rather than step forward to the next stage, the progress would be stuck in the not-so-distant future.

Second, the structure of the industries. As I mentioned several times, the nation currently counts on several industries. If these industries face unexpected situation leading to serious depression, the future of the nation would face dark clouds on the horizon. For instance, if the cost structure of information technology industry drastically changes worldwide and this brings a new type of competition to the industry, the industry might be forced to take another way to survive.

To sum up, although there are several vital risks that the leaders of the nation should respond to in a proper manner, the future seems enough bright as the people are convinced. And I believe that working with people from the nation is a great experience in terms of the rareness to work in the environment with the rapidly developing country.

India - Summary 4: The food

(I missed taking a photo of Indian food. Instead, this is a Mac.)

I had a lot of curry there :-) As I heard before, all three meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) are curry. People eat curry in the morning around 7 o'clock, and eat curry at noon around 1 o'clock, and eat curry in the eveing around 8 o'clock. Also, between each meal, they have so-called tea time having very sweet coffee or tea and some light meal like cookies or beans.

Around 80 percent of the people are vegetarians. They don't have any meat. (And non-vegetarians eat especially chicken and muton.) As everybody watching my blog already knows, I used to be a vegetarian. Then to my surprise, most of them are a little bit fat, especially over 30 years. The hypothesis which can be induced from these facts is that Indian people have too much carbohydrate and sweet stuff.

To keep a slim body, people must have a light breakfast like fruits and raw vegetables, and must not have any sweet stuff at the time of tea break. This is my conclusion that comes from my experiences on this trip. Anyway, Indian food is very good.

India - Summary 3: The economy

(A shot of a corner of a town)

People say that the economy is booming up. I got there to confirm this point. How fast the Indian economy is growing up? How strong the Indian economy is building up? I stood up there to look into these points.

I think that the economy is on a fast track as many says, but I expect that the speed strongly depends on the exporting power, which is the power of how the export industries like information technology or industrial sectors can make progress. This factor will drive the development of the economy.

After the primary industries and the secondary industries establish, which seems to take more 10 years, the tertiary industries (a.k.a. service industries) will evolve, I believe. At the time, dawn of the new India, people will believe the economy is strong enough to enjoy and is heading for the northeast direction for a long term.

India - Summary 2: The people

(A shot of a scene of a street)

To be honest, I saw two types of people: successful people and struggling people. My colleagues I met there were sophisticated, talented, decent people who had good presentation skills and of course good English proficiency. They are leaders who lead the industry and the nation.

On the other side, I walked around the city looking into the people living there. The people were at the bottom of the city. They were struggling and having difficult times. I was sometimes called to give money by beggars, little boys, girls, the disables, mothers carrying babies.

I also saw youngsters strolling downtown with fashionable clothes. I saw young ladies wear jeans and hip shirts like Westerners. The wave of change had come to the city. On the other side, I also saw people with Indian traditional dresses. I saw religious minds and beautiful aspects of the people.

They need some more time. But I believe that some day they will have strengthened minds and more sophisticated way to live. Because that is a way of people walking. Because that is a way of human beings evolving.

India - Summary 1: The infrastructure

(A shot from an auto rickshaw)

I have to first mention the infrastructure: the roads, the transportation system, the buildings, and so forth. The infrastructure represents the level of civilization of the nation, I believe. In the sense, I needed to take a close look at the infrastructure during this trip.

In conclusion, the infrastructure has a broad room to improve. Someone says that India needs around 20 years to hold Olympics in the nation. I suppose he is right. The city, Bangalore, is one of the most advanced cities in the nation, but the level of the infrastructure is much less developed than the others, like Tokyo, New York, and Beijing.

The roads should be further developed. Certainly, the roads are getting more and more paved, but more highways and more good roads should be constructed. The transportation system is somehow devastating in terms of the level of industrialization. Auto rickshaws should be driven in a safer way. Buildings and houses should be built in a more contemporary way.

I, however, felt that the time is coming. I mean that I saw the brilliant new Bengaluru Airport, I saw several big buildings, I saw a good highway on the way to the airport. The people are heading for the place that any developed countries touched. I believe again that the time will come.