essay - GMAT: Argument 38

The following appeared as part of an article in the business section of a local newspaper:

Motorcycle X has been manufactured in the United States for more than 70 years. Although one foreign company has copied the motorcycle and is selling it for less, the company has failed to attract motorcycle X customers?some say because its product lacks the exceptionally loud noise made by motorcycle X. But there must be some other explanation. After all, foreign cars tend to be quieter than similar American-made cars, but they sell at least as well. Also, television advertisements for motorcycle X highlight its durability and sleek lines, not its noisiness, and the ads typically have voice-overs or rock music rather than engine-roar on the sound track.

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author of the article asserts that the reason why the company selling a similar motorcycle to Motorcycle X fails to gain popularity is not because the product, which is a copy product of Motorcycle X, doesn't produce exhaust sound. Supposedly, only the characteristic that makes different from Motorcycle X is the sound. The reasons that the author introduces are, first, that the difference in noise doesn't make sense in automobile, and second, that the advertisement of Motorcycle X doesn't appeal any noisy characteristics. His argument, however, has serious flaws, and thereby it fails to convince the readers of the newspaper.

First of all, the author fails to establish connection between the reasons that he cites and the unpopularity of the product that the foreign company manufactures. That is, the symptom in cars doesn't have a direct link with the one in motorcycles, and the fact that the Motorcycle X's advertisement doesn't stress the sound nature doesn't necessarily mean that the induction that the lack of similar sound of the counter product is denied. Therefore, to strengthen the argument, the authors should have showed a direct causal relationship between his premises and the symptom.

The biggest problem from a writing structural point of view is that the article lacks a conclusion. He says that the possible cause is not a good explanation for the situation, but he doesn't show any reason that he thinks of as a major cause. He should have at least mentioned his opinion at the article.

In conclusion, his reasoning is weak because of the reasons that he cites, and above all, his reasoning lacks the conclusion, and thereby it is not considered a good argument.

essay - GMAT: Argument 37

The following appeared in an article in a college departmental newsletter:

Professor Taylor of Jones University is promoting a model of foreign language instruction in which students receive 10 weeks of intensive training, then go abroad to live with families for 10 weeks. The superiority of the model, Professor Taylor contends, is proved by the results of a study in which foreign language tests given to students at 25 other colleges show that first-year foreign language students at Jones speak more fluently after only 10 to 20 weeks in the program than do nine out of 10 foreign language majors elsewhere at the time of their graduation.

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The article concludes that the method of foreign language instruction developed by the professor of Jones University is superior to any other programs that other universities have. The reason that the argument stands on is a study conducted at 25 universities showing that students at Jones have abilities of speaking more fluently than other students at other universities. The reasoning, however, has several serous flaws, and thereby fails to make it convincing.

First, and most important, the argument completely ignores a significant difference between a nature of the promoting program and the others, which is considered a major defect of the study. That is, the program that the article supports has a kind of special treatment which is to live abroad for 10 weeks. Supposedly, not all other programs have this kind of special investment that typically costs a large amount of money. This means that the study represents just a result of the students' proficiency, not a superiority of the programs.

Second, we need to scrutinize what proficiencies the study was intended to figure out. The article says that the students can speak more fluently, but what is the definition of speaking fluently? Does the study not focus on a grammatical aspect or not judge the preciousness? Since the article doesn't show this kind of information, we can't measure the level of the students at Jones, and judge whether the instruction method is superior or not.

Finally, we must cast a doubt on reliability of the survey. Since the article doesn't provide any specific information concerning the method of the survey or the interviewed group, we can't ensure whether the survey was properly conducted. What if students at Jones University were all from the country that the surveyed foreign language is spoken? What if students at the other universities take the foreign language courses as a second chose language class, which means that they don't fully focus on the classes? Unless the article shows reliability of the study, we are not in a position to approve that the instruction method has superiority.

In conclusion, for reasons that I mentioned above, the author of the article fails to convince the readers to regard the instruction method as superior one. To make the argument convincing, the author must at least show the detailed information of the study and then perform reasonable comparison that can make the readers find the method superior.

essay - GMAT: Argument 36

The following appeared as part of a recommendation from the financial planning office to the administration of Fern Valley University:

In the past few years, Fern Valley University has suffered from a decline in both enrollments and admissions applications. The reason can be discovered from our students, who most often cite poor teaching and inadequate library resources as their chief sources of dissatisfaction with Fern Valley. Therefore, in order to increase the number of students attending our university, and hence to regain our position as the most prestigious university in the greater Fern Valley metropolitan area, it is necessary to initiate a fund-raising campaign among the alumni that will enable us to expand the range of subjects we teach and to increase the size of our library facilities.

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author of the recommendation says that Fern Valley University should entice contributions from alumni and invest the money in increasing the number of subjects and the size of its library in order to tackle a recent decline of the number of admissions and enrollments. The premise that the author stands on is a voice of the students saying that teaching is poor and the library resources are inadequate. His reasoning, however, has a significant flaw.

His flaw is that his proposal won't solve issues that the university has. That is, first, whereas the students appoint poor teaching, his proposal suggests expansion of the number of subjects. Will expanding the number of subjects solve students' dissatisfaction toward poor teaching? Probably not. It's precisely because students don't mention the number of subjects as their complain, and mainly because the heart of the problem lies with other places. Improper methods of teaching, a poor system of sharing information among faculty about the status of students, or simply, unhappy and inertia teachers complaining low salaries might be the problem for instance. Therefore, it's plausible that his proposed solution won't achieve his target.

Although his second proposed solution is to increase the size of the library facilities, this will also fail to reach the heart of the problem with a high possibility. The students mention inadequate library resources, not the size of the library. They possibly concern about the balance of genre, or maybe the obsolescent books. Therefore, simply increasing the size of the library and books won't solve the problem with a high prospective.

In conclusion, his proposal is inadequate for combating problems that the university has been suffering from. To make a convincing proposal, the author, in the first place, needs to analyze the root causes again and develop solutions that directly reach the heart of the problems.

essay - GMAT: Issue 42

The best way to preserve the natural environment is to impose penalties?whether fines, imprisonment, or other punishments?on those who are most responsible for polluting or otherwise damaging 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 don't agree with the remark saying that punishment is the best way to preserve natural environment. I, surely, think of it as a way of achieving preservation of natural environment, but it is just one way, not the best way.

Punishment is not a way to reach a heart of problems. Instead, the best way to preserve natural environment is, I believe, to educate people, or in other words, get people fully aware of the imminent troubles. Admittedly, some people restrain themselves from damaging environment if they know they are fined by doing so. What we should recognize is, however, that some people will come up with a sort of loophole to avoid the punishment. And, needless to say, awakened people don't need such punishment in order to discipline themselves. Therefore, I contend that punishment should not be focused; what should be focused is to enlighten people.

Moreover, difficult and realistic problems will appear if the strengthened punishment policy were to be introduced. How to define the scheme of punishment? How to detect the deficiencies? I know that it's relatively easy to measure the amount of noxious wastes from industrial plants, but I bet that it's quite difficult to do so for households. How we can reduce unnecessary wastes and protect our planet is up to people's awareness. Wars have almost disappeared because of people's awareness of the dangerousness and meaninglessness. Racial descrimination has almost been conquered because of people's awareness of what is right, not the penarties.

In sum, although I agree with the opinion that imposing penalties is one of approaches to preserve natural environment, my belief tells me what is more important; people's awareness toward the pressing deteriorating future that we should prevent from happening.

essay - GMAT: Issue 41

With the increasing emphasis on a global economy and international cooperation, people need to understand that their role as citizens of the world is more important than their role as citizens of a particular country.

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:
The remark is oversimplified. Which is important between a role of being a global citizen and a role of being a citizen in a local community varies with situations and contexts where the citizenship is focused.

It's surely true that the world is connected, globalism surges rapidly, and we face unprecedented crises that require international cooperation. The world is connected in terms of both logical distances and political bonds. The Internet and the end of the Cold War make it happen. As a result, globalism becomes the most remarkable aspect in living in the contemporary era. Besides, such as the recent financial crisis that happened from a bankruptcy of Leman Brothers in U.S., crises that we have never seen before urge us to combat them worldwide cooperatively. This movement can not stop, and thereby the importance of being a global citizen increases according to the time being.

On the other hand, the importance of being one of members of local communities and countries never diminishes. Rather, according that globalism advances, the importance grows. To take an important role in global contexts, you must know your country and represent it as a kind of an envoy. To make the world better, you should first contribute to your local community and serve it as a volunteer. And, the development of your local community and country makes it happen that the world consisting of each country enjoys the prosperity.

To sum up, the remark saying that a role of being a global citizen is more important than a role of a citizen in own countries is completely nonsense, because the argument varies with the contexts, and ultimately both of them are important.

essay - GMAT: Issue 40

It is difficult for people to achieve professional success without sacrificing important aspects of a fulfilling personal life.

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, in general, agree with the remark that a certain amount of personal sacrifice is required to achieve success in the professional life. Surely, not-so-hard achievements can be easily attained without any sacrifices. However, for a great success or an unprecedented achievement, I have reached this conclusion by general deduction and personal observations and experiences.

My principle says that if you want something difficult to achieve, you need to sacrifice something commensurate with what you want. I lately read an article about Codolesa Rice, who is the secretary of state of the United States of America, a young black brilliantly smart woman, which says that she pitched in very hard to achieve the success studying in schools twice as much as others. Besides, we can easily observe that all people who are known for great achievements in history actually sacrificed something, and thereby they spent their lives completely different from others. Edison, an inventor of an electricity bulb, achieved his success saying 99 percent of perspiration is important.

My personal experience also supports the remark. When I achieved something such as winning a big deal in business, I always sacrificed a part of my personal life. I refrained myself from drinking alcohol or going out with my friends. I shortened my sleeping time instead to devote in study. And, I'm sure that I will in the future sacrifice something to achieve my targets. It's because I know that without the sense of sacrifice people cannot realize their dreams at all.

At the same time, we don't need to sacrifice what we can do without sacrificing. I mean, we don't necessarily need to leave our families behind in order to make success in professional lives. We don't need to give up our important activities such as exercising or volunteering at any cases. We can see all the President of the United States of America had and have their families and spent a certain amount of time with them. We can see many competent professionals have their hobbies or their volunteer work. Although a great power comes with a great responsibility, it's not necessarily the case that we always give up our important activities in order to achieve great successes.

To sum up, I generally agree with the claim that professional success requires personal sacrifice, although there are exceptions that we can enjoy both of them at the same time.

essay - GMAT: Issue 39

Courtesy is rapidly disappearing from everyday interactions, and as a result, we are all the poorer for it.

From your perspective, is this an accurate observation? Why or why not? Explain, using reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
I don't think that courtesy is disappearing and we are getting poorer for it. Courtesy is still alive and is thriving as a depth of our civilization advances, and people are getting more polite and compassionate little by little. I'll show my belief toward courtesy and mention how it has been changing through the time.

Courtesy is a kind of oil which makes our interactions better. When people put oil to a machinery device, the machine works better, for the oil makes the cogs and levers inside the machine smooth. Courtesy works as oil does. Anywhere people communicate with others, courtesy is needed to have good communication. People meet their neighbors in the morning, and they greet each other with courtesy. People have meetings with their business partners, and they negotiate and discuss with courtesy in order to build a win-win relationship which is only a way to make the deal thriving. If courtesy were not there, people hate each other and as a result, they devastate themselves as well as their opponents. And courtesy has been developed according that the time goes by. People have acquired it through the development in their civilization and humanity, because they knew that it was critically necessary to develop a good shape of the world.

At the same time, as the speaker concerns, advance of human beings brings bad aspects in terms of communication. The Internet brought us evolutionary methods to communicate, but it also brought us fewer opportunities to communicate with others in person. Industrization brought us exquisite convenience to live out, but it also brought us solidarity which is caused by the useful lives. And as a result, it may be said that people face a possibility that they undermine their ability to communicate with the others. I believe, however, that good aspects of our evolution overcome bad aspects of it. Therefore, people continuously develop their courtesy as a tool of better communication and as a result, people enjoy their development of humanity and prosperity.

To sum up, the opinion that courtesy is diminishing and people are getting poorer at courtesy is apparently exaggerated. It is just a small aspect of our whole nature. In my belief, people continue developing their ability of communication including courtesy and will enjoy better lives with courtesy.

essay - GMAT: Issue 38

Since science and technology are becoming more and more essential to modern society, schools should devote more time to teaching science and technology and less to teaching the arts and humanities.

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 totally disagree with the opinion that teaching science and technology in schools is more important than teaching arts and humanities today. The speaker premises that contemporary societies require science and technology more and more, but arts and humanities, I believe, are also vital in today's society.

I agree with the statement that teaching science and technology is important, but it is not what can be compared with the importance of teaching arts and morals. Nowadays, it is said that the world is connected by our science in terms of the emergence of the Internet and the progress of globalism. At the same time, however, we can also say that arts and the sense of humanity can connect every place in our world with each other. In my belief, as the level of civilization advances, interests of people expand toward various areas such as arts, music, and sports. In this sense, although science and technology are necessary to teach in schools, it is not necessarily the case that teaching arts and ethics can be underestimated.

People can develop their cultural senses through being familiar with arts. Visiting art museums and enjoying sophisticated paintings, for instance, is a good way to cultivate spirit. In the sense, teaching arts and making students to equip themselves with an ability of enjoying arts is essential in today's world.

Humanity is an indispensable piece in living in today's tightly connected world. After 9.11, it can be observed that the world became a place difficult to live safely, but if I could find out something that could be clue to solving the intricate world, I would say that it is education of humanity. People have to learn the way of living with people who have different religion or belief. People have to learn the sense of compassion in order to remake the world a safe place to live. Teaching humanity is one of the most important factors to make it possible.

To sum up, I believe that teaching arts and humanities are still important, or getting more and more important, in today's world, while science and technology are also necessary. Arts and humanities help people spend better lives and connect themselves with each other.

essay - GMAT: Issue 37

Businesses and other organizations have overemphasized the importance of working as a team. Clearly, in any human group, it is the strong individual, the person with the most commitment and energy, who gets things done.

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 totally disagree with the opinion that working as a team is much inferior to the power of individuals. Working as a team is the most essential for almost all enterprises, even though the importance of individual ability remains unchanged. I'd like to describe the importance of the team below, mentioning differences in various industries and the size of corporations.

Admittedly, the importance of the role of individuals varies with the industries. That is, enterprises providing a certain professional service such as law services and medical cares might not need the strength of forming team as much as the other types of business. A super intelligent attorney can bring big profits to the company, because courts are places where a few attorneys work at any given time. Almost all enterprises, however, need a power of teamwork, because almost all work that the company needs to perform requires a certain amount of employees; in other words, an individual can affect a limited influence. How does a factory of automobiles operate? How does a product such as a candy bar appear in front of customers? Tens and hundreds, or thousands, people need to work as a team to perform a very single task in the business function. In the environment, what an individual can do is limited, and above all, emphasis on individualism should not disturb the sense of cooperation that is essential to form a great team.

A size of the corporation might also be one factor of determining the degree of influence of teams. At a small business, certainly, a competent person can make a big change on the company, because the individual can do a certain work affecting the outcome of the business, and the influence of the individual reaches out a certain degree in the company. On the other hand, at big corporations such as Fortune 500 companies, the range that an individual can affect is limited. Thus, for the employees, it becomes important to work as a team rather than tend to exert his individual influence. From my personal experience, I have worked for both sizes of corporation. At a middle-sized company, I could enjoy my personal significance, while at a big-sized company that I currently belong to, I know the limitation of my personal influence and try to maximize the power of the team that I belong to.

In conclusion, my belief shows that working as a team is much more important than exerting personal influence at any organizations. Although the degree depends on the type and size of the business to some extent, how we work effectively and efficiently as a team will make a big difference for all companies.

essay - GMAT: Issue 36

Businesses and other organizations have overemphasized the importance of working as a team. Clearly, in any human group, it is the strong individual, the person with the most commitment and energy, who gets things done.

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 totally disagree with the opinion that working as a team is much inferior to the power of individuals. Working as a team is the most essential for almost all enterprises, even though the importance of individual ability remains unchanged. I'd like to describe the importance of the team below, mentioning differences in various industries and the size of corporations.

Admittedly, the importance of the role of individuals vary with the industries. That is, enterprises providing a certain professional service such as law services and medical cares might not need the strength of forming team as much as the other types of business. A super intelligent attorney can bring big profits to the company, because courts are places where a few attorneys work at any given time. Almost all enterprises, however, need a power of teamwork, because almost all work that the company needs to perform require a certain amount of employees; in other words, an individual can affect a limited influence. How does a factory of automobiles operate? How does a product such as a candy bar appear in front of customers? Tens and hundreds, or thousands, people need to work as a team to perform a very single task in the business function. In the environment, what an individual can do is limited, and above all, emphasis on individualism should not disturb the sense of coorporation that is essential to form a great team.

A size of the corporation might also be one factor of determining the degree of influence of teams. At a small business, certainly, a competent person can make a big change on the company, because the individual can do a certain work affecting the outcome of the business, and the influence of the individual reaches out a certain degree in the company. On the other hand, at big corporations such as Fortune 500 companies, the range that an individual can affect is limitted. Thus, for the employees, it becomes important to work as a team rather than tend to exert his individual influence. From my personal experience, I have worked for both sizes of corporation. At a middle-sized company, I could enjoy my personal significance, while at a big-sized company that I currently belong to, I know the limitation of my personal influence and try to maximize the power of the team that I belong to.

In conclusion, my belief shows that working as a team is much more important than exerting personal influence at any organizations. Although the degree depends on the type and size of the business to some extent, how we work effectively and efficiently as a team will make a big difference for all companies.

essay - GMAT: Argument 35

The following appeared as part of a plan proposed by an executive of the Easy Credit Company to the president:

The Easy Credit Company would gain an advantage over competing credit card services if we were to donate a portion of the proceeds from the use of our cards to a well-known environmental organization in exchange for the use of its symbol or logo on our card. Since a recent poll shows that a large percentage of the public is concerned about environmental issues, this policy would attract new customers, increase use among existing customers, and enable us to charge interest rates that are higher than the lowest ones available.

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author, one of executives of the Easy Credit Company, proposes that the company donate a certain portion of its profits to a well-known environmental organization in order to boost its sales. His logic is that if the company were to put the organization's logo mark on the company's credit card, it would be able to increase the sales through attracting new customers and making current customers use their credit cards more. The assumption on which he bases his argument is that a phenomenon that people highly worry about environmental issues was observed in a survey, and thereby they would be attracted by his new marketing strategy. His reasoning, however, has a serious flaw, and consequently his proposal would not be accepted by the president.

The flaw is that he fails to reasonably connect the increase of credit card usage with people's awareness toward environment. As the poll that he cites says, people certainly become more conscious to environmental matters. More and more people use their own shopping bags instead of plastic bags that they can get at stores for free. More and more people are about choosing fuel-efficient vehicles rather than heavy and sizable SUVs that hugely consume oil and emit green gas. However, all merchandises or services can not necessarily harness this trend. Admittedly, famous organization's logo mark on a credit card might attract a few people, but it can be considered that most of consumers don't pay any attention on how their credit card company donates some portion of its profits to an environment organization. Therefore, his reasoning is too weak to make it convincing.

To strengthen the argument, the author needs to show clear evidence that supports his conclusion. It might be a customer awareness survey or a case study of the other company that adapted the similar strategy. In doing so, his argument becomes convincing, and he will be a position of persuading the president.

In conclusion, although his proposal might attract a little bunch of consumers who strongly have environmental concern, since it fails to show any apparent link between a logo mark of environmental organization on the credit card to a sales increase, his argument is weak.

essay - GMAT: Issue 35

All citizens should be required to perform a specified amount of public service. Such service would benefit not only the country as a whole but also the individual participants.

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 statement saying that all citizens should engage in a certain amount of public service. I also support the idea that engaging in public service benefits both the public and the individual. But, at the same time, I'd like to mention a necessary mechanizm that expedites volunteering spirits.

The first reason why I emphasize the importance of engaging in public service is that I believe that through the experience a person can acquire a broad sense of comtemporary society.

The next reason is that people benefit themselves through engaging in such activity as the statement asserts.

What I'd like to mention is that a society needs a certain mechanism of boosting the spirits of volunteering.

To sum up, I agree with the statement as a whole.

essay - GMAT: Argument 34

The following appeared in an editorial from a magazine produced by an organization dedicated to environmental protection:

In order to effectively reduce the amount of environmental damage that industrial manufacturing plants cause, those who manage the plants must be aware of the specific amount and types of damage caused by each of their various manufacturing processes. However, few corporations have enough financial incentive to monitor this information. In order to guarantee that corporations reduce the damage caused by their plants, the federal government should require every corporation to produce detailed annual reports on the environmental impact of their manufacturing process, and the government should impose stiff financial penalties for failure to produce these reports.

Discuss how well reasoned . . .etc.

Answer:
The author asserts that the federal government should require corporations to submit annual reports regarding environmental dameges that the manufacturing process in their plants could cause. Besides, if a corporation fails to do that, the government should impose financial penalty on the corportion. The assumption that he bases his argument on is that environmental damage is caused by corporate management's unawareness of their plants' manufacturing processes harming the damage. His argument, however, has serious flaws and thereby is weak.

First, the solution that he deduced from his argument is too indirect to accomplish the ultimate target, which is to preserve environment. I mean, just requiring corporations to submit annual reports on their manufacturing processes is not enough to protect environment. For instace, despite corporate management's awareness of the manufacturing process, without conclete corrective actions such as improving the plant's desposing process, submitting reports makes no sense.

Second, although his plan says that corporations need to submit the report annually, I believe that it is not enough from a time point of view. I mean, in today's fact-changing world, the timing can't catch up most of changes that occur on corporations' manufacturing processes. For instance, during the period, a lot of plants could be built and they could emitted huge hazardous byproducts.

In conclusion, he fails to make his plan convincing for reasons that I mentioned above. To strengthen the idea, he must clarify a clear link between his plan and the outcome (the outcome must be targeted on environmental preservation), and consider more appropriate timeframe that the government requires any action of corporations.

blog - About My Future

I performed my "final" TOEFL and GMAT. I also got the results. TOEFL is 102. GMAT 610 (AWA: 5.0).

This is bad, so I cannot go to top MBA schools with this scores. I was disappointed. But, I decided to take one more exam in December. Besides, I decided to knock on a door of MBA consultant agency. And I decided to start further applying process. I need to set off writing essays.

I need do.

blog - Judgement Day Come! (Obama 2008)

(Translated Speech Movie. Just One More Day.)

I know it will come. But this day makes me nervous until it decides.

One thing is clear. America has been excited about this election. Many, many people cast their ballots at this histroic election. Enthusiasms come.

Yes, we can.

essay - GMAT: Issue 34

People are likely to accept as a leader only someone who has demonstrated an ability to perform the same tasks that he or she expects others to perform.

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, in general, agree with the statement saying that people are likely to accept as their leader a person who can perform the same job that he or she wants others to perform, although some complementally explanations are required.

My belief in leadership is aligned with the statement. Only a person who can convince others that he has an ability of performing the job well can obtain their supports. In other words, a person who doesn't have any knowledge or understanding in the specific area that he belongs to can't exert leadership, since his colleagues and subordinates don't show their respects to him. In my country, Japan, this is tremendously true. Only great artisans can have apprentices. Only business persons who have great innovative minds can be accepted as great leaders.

The statement, however, needs some corrections. First, a person who can't perform a certain job anymore can also exert leadership. No wonder that almost all coaches in professional sports such as baseball or football don't have the same ability to play the sport as the players. Yet it is possible that they can exert their leadership. Why? It's because they have deep knowledge and experience in the area and as a result they can apply them to the present situation. Moreover, look at industries where technological changes frequently happen, say, Information Technology industry. Most of senior level managers don't know any specific products such as Windows Vista, which is the latest dominant operation system working on personal computers, but they can be respected by their colleagues or subordinates because of their ability of quickly catching a concept of state-of-the-art technologies and their fundamental understandings toward basic principles.

Finally, I would like to mention serious situation that can be happened in case an inappropriate person is in a leader's position. Remember many MBA, which stands for Master of Business Administration, graduates who doesn't have specific knowledge or experience failed to operate the business that had been acquired in M&A, Merger and Acquire. Since they could not exert leadership, they failed.

To sum up, my belief toward leadership matches the statement as a whole, although some complements are required.

essay - GMAT: Argument 33

The following is part of a business plan being discussed at a board meeting of the Perks Company:

It is no longer cost-effective for the Perks Company to continue offering its employees a generous package of benefits and incentives year after year. In periods when national unemployment rates are low, Perks may need to offer such a package in order to attract and keep good employees, but since national unemployment rates are now high, Perks does not need to offer the same benefits and incentives. The money thus saved could be better used to replace the existing plant machinery with more technologically sophisticated equipment, or even to build an additional
plant.

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author asserts that the company, Perks Company, should stop providing its employee beneficial program on the ground that the national unemployment rate is high and thereby the company doesn't need to provide the program to attract new employees anymore. He also advocates that the company could use the money thus saved in other investments such as procuring new equipment or building new plants. The argument, however, has serious flaws, so that it fails to be convincing.

First, although the author cites data of national average unemployment rate, this survey can be considered to be a survey targeting all industries, not a specific industry. That is, the survey must have been conducted for businesses ranging from manufactures, and wholesalers, to retailers. And also it can be inferred that all industries ranging from department operators to oil industry were the targets. In evaluating his plan, this type of data can mislead the judgment. In this case, what is needed is data showing unemployment rate for the particular industry that Perks Company belongs to. Therefore, since the argument stands on the wrong assumption that the survey shows the unemployment rate that can be the basis for the judgment, it fails to be convincing.

Second, the argument is weak because of the fact that the risk has not been assessed in the argument. I mean, inferentially, the policy of stopping the beneficial program would cause a certain bad effect on the company. It might happen that the current employees would start thinking of changing the job. It might also happen that even those who are seeking a new job in the environment that unemployment rate is high would embrace unpreferable image toward the company. Therefore, the author should assess what kind of risk could be happened by implementing his proposal. After disclosing the risk and taking the mitigation plan in place, the proposal can obtain persuasive power.

In conclusion, the argument is weak for the reasons that I mentioned above. To strengthen the argument, the author needs to provide industry-specific statistical data and include risk mitigation plan to tackle by-products generated by implementing his plan.

essay - GMAT: Issue 33

You can tell the ideas of a nation by its advertisements.

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:
I think that the quotation says that advertisements can represent the ideas of a nation. People see advertisement, TV commercials, radio ones, bulletin boards, whatever, at their homes, at offices, or on trains, and only advertisements that can attract people's attention can survive. In this sense, advertisements can show what the people prefer, what the people are interested in. I agree with this notion.

But on the other hand, no doubt that advertisements have a limitation in showing the ideas of a nation or people. For instance, in a country, there are a lot of well-manufactured TV ads promoting pregnant testers. A person cannot judge whether the people living in the country support abortion or oppose it, while he can conceive that pregnancy is a high-focused topic in the country.

To sum up, I agree partly with the quotation, but it is apparently oversimplified.

essay - GMAT: Argument 32

The following appeared as part of the business plan of an investment and financial consulting firm:

Studies suggest that an average coffee drinker fs consumption of coffee increases with age, from age 10 through age 60. Even after age 60, coffee consumption remains high. The average cola drinker fs consumption of cola, however, declines with increasing age. Both of these trends have remained stable for the past 40 years. Given that the number of older adults will significantly increase as the population ages over the next 20 years, it follows that the demand for coffee will increase and the demand for cola will decrease during this period. We should, therefore, consider transferring our investments from Cola Loca to Early Bird Coffee.

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

Answer:
The author says that the company should discuss a strategy of shifting the investment from the coffee brand to the cola brand. The based argument is twofold: first, recent trends for both cola and coffee toward population ages supports the conclusion, and then a prediction that older adults will increase for the next 20 years also supports his suggestion. The argument, however, is unconvincing because of two unwarranted assumption that the argument is relying on.

The first unwarranted assumption is that the trend of consumer's preference will continue for the next 20 years. Admittedly, a trend that has lasted for the past 40 years can be considered to last continuously, but it cannot also be denied that the trend may change in the future. Therefore, the author needs to show clear information that the argument can stand on.

The second unwarranted assumption is that the author assumes that young population will decrease for the next 20 years whereas old one will increase. But the article doesn't show the information (it says old population will increase, but dome fs say about young one). It can be possible that whereas the number of older adults will increase, young people will also increase. Since the argument is based on this unwarranted assumption, the argument is weak.

In conclusion, although the reasoning seems rational and logical, in terms of basing on two unwarranted assumption, the argument is unconvincing. To strengthen the argument, and to make his business associates to consider his proposal, the author needs to provide evidence that supports the two assumptions, such as an analyst report that predicts that the current trend will last for next more than two decades and the exact demographic statistical data that shows that young population will declaim.

essay - GMAT: Issue 32

Financial gain should be the most important factor in choosing a career.

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:
The speaker says that financial gain should be the most important factor in choosing a career. I don't agree with him at all. I'd like to state my opinion below.

First, I believe that the financial incentive should not be the first place for those who are seeking jobs. That should be personal preference, or the sense of contribution. I mean, the sense of that I like this job is indispensable in choosing the career. If a man likes a certain job, I bet that he can continue the job and will be able to gain higher reward and higher salary in his career. On the other hand, if he doesn ft like the job although the job brings him unbelievably high payment, I bet that the situation cannot last long and eventually he will face difficulty that possibly forces him to make a serious decision, leave the job. Therefore, from this perspective, I disagree with the speaker.

Second, I believe that people should not choose the career based on the salary, because how he can gain financial reward from the job is uncertain at a time when he chooses the career. I mean, people have a limitation in forecasting the future, and the fact that he can gain high financial gain today doesn't necessarily mean the fact that he can continue gaining it for a long time. Therefore, as I mention earlier, people should act based on their inner voices: what do you like, and what do you do for the world.

Finally, although financial gain should not come first, I believe that the financial factor is very important. That can be an evaluator or a gauge of whether the job is valuable or not. I mean that, remember the law of supply and demand, if there are few people who can engage in a certain job, the payment of the job will rise up in proportion to the population. In other words, if the job that he is choosing brings him higher salary, the job can be considered a precious one and the man who can do the job can be considered a person who can contribute to the outer world. In the sense, I admit that financial gain can be a very important factor for people in choosing the work.

In conclusion, although I admit that financial gain is an important aspect for people, I believe that financial gain should not be on the first place and that people should think what they want to do first.