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.

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.

essay - GMAT: Argument5

Question:
The following appeared in an announcement issued by the publisher of The Mercury, a weekly newspaper.

"Since a competing lower-priced newspaper, The Bugle, was started five years ago, The Mercury's circulation has declined by 10,000 readers. The best way to get more people to read The Mercury is to reduce its price below that of The Bugle, at least until circulation increases to former levels. The increased circulation of The Mercury will attract more businesses to buy advertising space in the paper."

Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.

Answer:
According to a theory advocated by a famous business scholar, Micheal Porter, a corporation needs to focus on either cost leadership strategy or differentiate strategy. The former one is to build superiority against competitors through lower-price products. The latter one is to create a strong entry barrier through valued products coming from technological excellence or brand image.

The Mercury is trying to adapt cost leadership strategy, which was also being adapted by the rival newspaper, The Bugle. In general, this strategy will cause disastrous low profitability through intensive competitiveness with competitors. To avoid that, a corporation should come up with a clear solution giving the corporation unique sources of low costs, like a considerable market share, which strengths economies of scale, or preferential access to raw materials.

The argument says that The Mercury just intends to lower its price, which results in merely lower profitability. More terribly, if The Bugle has an advantage of low prices, it will reduce its prices in proportion to The Mercury's ones. This might make The Mercury very weak, which might lead to bankruptcy. Therefore, The Mercury needs to first research the rival's strategy and cost structure, and then if The Bugle doesn't have any particular strengths in a cost aspect, The Mercury will first be able to move forward to challenge The Bugle with cost reduction.

In summary, the strategy that The Mercury is taking is not appropriate in this circumstance because of the reasons I mentioned above. If The Mercury can come up with a reasonable competitive strategy, then first The Mercury will be able to proceed with either cost leadership strategy or differentiation strategy, while it remains its profitability.

story - The Man Was Born 5

The man was born because he wanted to see what the world was. As was mentioned before, he spent his time in the country where he was born until he became a young man. His belief was simple; Just wanted to be what he should have been. His dream was simple; Just wanted to be as great as possible. He had nothing but the ambitions and dreams.

He fought against enemies, who were mainly mosquitoes, frogs, and devils. Particularly, one of the devils as his enemy was strong enough to beat the young man and depress him deeply into the place like a hell. But, the man never lost his dignity. The man never lost his integrity, pride, and love to his country.

He was keen to make his body strong. In addition of that, he liked to read books. The wiser he was, the more likely it is that the life was exciting. He especially was fond of literature. He was caught up by the stories on dreams, struggles, and loves. He was a dreamer. He was a fighter. And he understood that the world should have been what it should have been.


To be continued ...

news - Stabbing Spree in Akihabara

I report a stabbing spree incident occurred in Japan from Japan.

On June 8, in Akihabara, one of the most famous city in Japan, a stabbing spree caused 7 dead by a man named Kato. The assailant barreled into the street first, which was crowed with many pedestrians, killing 3 people with the truck he rented in his living place, and then after getting off the truck, he killed 4 people with tagger knives he bought at shops.

This is a shocking rampage for all Japanese, since Japan is expected to be the safest place in the world. On the date, Sunday, many foreigners walked in the street to go around shopping electronic devices. What an incident it was!


This is a report from Japan, Tokyo.

essay - GMAT: Issue5

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 this definition of success? Support your position by using reasons and examples from your reading, your own work or school experiences, your observations, or your reading.

Answer:
The statement says that it's better to lower the supervisory level for all groups and organizations. I partly agree with this statement, since empowered employees, which means employees who have been given authorities, make their performance the best. This, however, depends on the circumstance where the organization stands. I mean that if the organization is in a certain circumstance, the approach the sentence proposes will bring a serious problem to the organization.

The first case is the case the organization is not mature. If the employees are incompetent at making decision and leading the organization, or if the employees are not disciplined and are prone to be negligent, the approach of delegating authority and power to the employees at all levels will cause a serious disaster.

The second case is the case the external environment is harsh in competitive and fast in change. For responding to such an environment, the organization has to have a clear chain of command in order to attain quickness of the strategies. If all employees can freely make decisions and moves ahead in directions that they like, the organization will not be able to survive in the harsh environment.

In sum, I agree that empowerment or delegation might be a good choice for a certain type of organizations, which should be mature and the employees can make a wise judgement. I, however, disagree with the statement saying all groups and organizations can adapt this organizational approach. This will result in a catastrophe because of the reasons I mentioned above.

story - The Man Was Born 4

The man knew this fact: he had to leave the city. Time went fast. The earth revolved at a certain speed. The ocean in front of him was too vast to jump over. And the forest where he lived was too deep to get out. He muttered, "This is fierce urgency of the moment."


To be continued ...

news - Obama clinches Democratic nomination

I report the news that Obama clinches Democratic nomination along with my personal feeling.

At last, Barack Obama who tries to be the first black President of the United States of America clinched Democratic nomination on the day when the last primaries were held in South Dakota and Montana. The Illinois Senate has reached the critical delegate points which had been a bit raised after the decision regarding Florida and Minnesota vote recounting.

After a few days of the declaration, New York Senator Hillary Clinton stated to concede and endorse her ex-rival Barack Obama with full support. With these two events, the presidential election is now going into a neck-and-neck match between Barack Obama and one-time Vietnam hero John McCain. Intensive debates on Iraq war and other political differences are expected to be held in the near future.


I'm looking forward to it. This is from me writing this now.

essay - GMAT: Argument4

Question:
The following appeared in a report presented for discussion at a meeting of the directors of a company that manufactures parts for heavy machinery.

"The falling revenues that the company is experiencing coincide with delays in manufacturing. These delays, in turn, are due in large part to poor planning in purchasing metals. Consider further that the manager of the department that handles purchasing of raw materials has an excellent background in general business, psychology, and sociology, but knows little about the properties of metals. The company should, therefore, move the purchasing manager to the sales department and bring in a scientist from the research division to be manager of purchasing department."

Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.

Answer:
The part of the argument regarding the relation between the falling revenues and the cause is understandable, only if other symptoms corresponding the sales decline don't exist. Also, the part of the argument regarding the root cause of delays in manufacturing, which is poor planning in purchasing metals, is reasonable, since if purchase of material delays, production also delays. The latter part of the argument, however, is irrational and unconvincing.

The argument identifies the purchasing manager as the cause of poor planning, but the validation is insufficient to connect them. Particularly, although the argument says that the problem is the purchasing manager's lack of knowledge on properties of metals, it's not sure how important the knowledge is in terms of planning purchase. A clearer evidence should be in place, because if the analysis of cause is wrong, the proposed solution, which is to bring in a scientist, will cause a serious negative impact on the purchase department. It can be deduced that the scientist has only knowledge of properties of metals, not other administrative skills that the predecessor had.

In summary, the argument might have a wrong deduction. If the argument had a clear explanation about the relation between delays in purchasing and the purchasing manager, the argument could be much more reasonable.

essay - GMAT: Issue4

Question:
"Of all the manifestations of power, restraint in the use of that power impresses people most."

*manifestations: apparent signs or indicators

Explain what you think this quotation means and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with it. Develop your position with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from history, current events, or your own experience, observations, or reading.


Answer:
A manifestation of power takes various forms ranging from exerting authority to showing respect. Although this depends on the maturity of the targets like subordinates or friends, delegating power or trusting the targets is the best to motivate the targets. This means that I agree with the quotation, "Of all the manifestations of power, restraint in the use of that power impresses people most".

The primary reason why I agree with the statement is that I believe that the time people can achieve the highest goals is the time people have their own power, not are forced by other person's power. This is clear with the following analogy: "There are two men; The one has his own house, and another has a house rent. Which person treats the houses better?" The answer is easy to mention, "The more power people have, the better the performance is."

The condition is apparently there. For instance, if the people delegated are immature, the delegate doesn't go well. It's because they cannot wield the power well. Therefore, if people with power can see the target mature, they should try to delegate the power to the target. It's worth it.

essay - GMAT: Argument3

Question:
The following appeared in a memorandum issued by a large city's council on the arts.

"In a recent citywide poll, fifteen percent more residents said that they watch television programs about the visual arts than was the case in a poll conducted five years ago. During these past five years, the number of people visiting our city's art museums has increased by a similar percentage. Since the corporate funding that supports public television, where most of the visual arts programs appear, is now being threatened with severe cuts, we can expect that attendance at our city's art museums will also start to decrease. Thus some of the city's funds for supporting the arts should be reallocated to public television."

Discuss how well reasoned ... etc.

Answer:
Since there's not necessarily a connection between an increase of people watching television programs about the visual arts and an increase of people visiting the city's art museums, the argument is flawed.

The argument just regards the same percentage as an evidence of the correlation between them, so there are other possibilities of the causes of the increase of people visiting the art museums. It's not necessarily the case that people who like to enjoy visual arts necessarily like to visit art museums. The people might like watching TV, because they don't like going out to a museum.

Therefore, what the city council is thinking might a wrong decision, resulting in the fact that the argument cannot convince people with authorities to go about the decision.

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.