gre- analyzing an argument - copy

8/18/2019 GRE- Analyzing an Argument - Copy

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/gre-analyzing-an-argument-copy 1/84

English Centre

Sample Question and Answer

“In surveys Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating and fishing) among their favorite

recreational activities. he Mason !iver flowing through the city is rarely used for these pursuits,

however, and the city park department devotes little of its budget to maintaining riverside recreational

facilities. "or years there have been complaints from residents about the #uality of the river$s water and

the river$s smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason !iver. %se of

the river for water sports is therefore sure to increase. he city government should for that reason devote

more money in this year$s budget to riverside recreational facilities.&

'rite a response in which you eamine the stated andor unstated assumptions of the argument. *e sureto eplain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the

assumptions prove unwarranted.&

.

Essay Response — Score 6

While it may be true that the Mason City government ought to devote more money to

riverside recreational facilities, this author's argument does not make a cogent casefor increased resources based on river use. It is easy to understand why city

residents would want a cleaner river, but this argument is rife with holes and

assumptions, and thus, not strong enough to lead to increased funding.

Citing surveys of city residents, the author reports city resident's love of water

sports. It is not clear, however, the scope and validity of that survey. For eample,

the survey could have asked residents if they prefer using the river for water sports

or would like to see a hydroelectric dam built, which may have swayed residents

toward river sports. !he sample may not have been representative of city residents,asking only those residents who live upon the river. !he survey may have been "#

pages long, with $ %uestions dedicated to river sports. We &ust do not know. nless

the survey is fully representative, valid, and reliable, it cannot be used to effectively

back the author's argument. ()*)FI! +F !) -+(!



English Centre

dditionally, the author implies that residents do not use the river for swimming,

boating, and fishing, despite their professed interest, because the water is polluted

and smelly. While a polluted, smelly river would likely cut down on river sports, a

concrete connection between the resident's lack of river use and the river's current

state is not effectively made. !hough there have been complaints, we do not know if

there have been numerous complaints from a wide range of people, or perhaps from

one or two individuals who made numerous complaints. !o strengthen his/her

argument, the author would benefit from implementing a normed survey asking a

wide range of residents why they do not currently use the river. C+*0!1C!I2)

I*3!

(uilding upon the implication that residents do not use the river due to the %uality of the river's water and the smell, the author suggests that a river clean up will result in

increased river usage. If the river's water %uality and smell result from problems

which can be cleaned, this may be true. For eample, if the decreased water %uality

and aroma is caused by pollution by factories along the river, this conceivably could

be remedied. (ut if the %uality and aroma results from the natural mineral deposits in

the water or surrounding rock, this may not be true. !here are some bodies of water

which emit a strong smell of sulphur due to the geography of the area. !his is not

something likely to be afffected by a clean4up. Conse%uently, a river clean up may

have no impact upon river usage. 1egardless of whether the river's %uality is able tobe improved or not, the author does not effectively show a connection between

water %uality and river usage. W! IF

clean, beautiful, safe river often adds to a city's property values, leads to increased

tourism and revenue from those who come to take advantage of the river, and a

better overall %uality of life for residents. For these reasons, city government may

decide to invest in improving riverside recreational facilities. owever, this author's

argument is not likely significantly persuade the city goverment to allocate

increased funding.

Reader Commentary for Essay Response — Score 6

!his insightful response identifies important assumptions and thoroughly eamines

their implications. !he proposal to spend more on riverside recreational facilities

rests on three %uestionable assumptions, namely5



English Centre

• that the survey provides a reliable basis for budget planning

• that the river6s pollution and odor are the only reasons for its limited recreational use

• that efforts to clean the water and remove the odor will be successful

(y showing that each assumption is highly suspect, this essay demonstrates the

weakness of the entire argument. For eample, paragraph $ points out that the

survey might not have used a representative sample, might have offered limited

choices, and might have contained very few %uestions on water sports.

3aragraph 7 eamines the tenuous connection between complaints and limited use

of the river for recreation. Complaints about water %uality and odor may be coming

from only a few people and, even if such complaints are numerous, other completelydifferent factors may be much more significant in reducing river usage. Finally,

paragraph 8 eplains that certain geologic features may prevent effective river

clean4up. -etails such as these provide compelling support.

In addition, careful organi9ation ensures that each new point builds upon the

previous ones. For eample, note the clear transitions at the beginning of

paragraphs 7 and 8, as well as the logical se%uence of sentences within paragraphs

:specifically paragraph 8;.

lthough this essay does contain minor errors, it still conveys ideas fluently. *ote the

effective word choices :e.g., <rife with . . . assumptions< and <may have swayed

residents<;. In addition, sentences are not merely varied= they also display skillful

embedding of subordinate elements. For eample, note the sustained parallelism in

the first sentence of the concluding paragraph.

0ince this response offers cogent eamination of the argument and conveys

meaning skillfully, it earns a score of >.

Premise (fact) -> assumption -> Conclusion

4 common failure in argument

- causal argument -> correlation is not causation



English Centre

- sampling argument -> wrong sampling for the population- analogy argument -> what work for a person/thing does not have the

same eects to others- numers argument -> percentage and real numer !"#$%"&&&&

'wo $pproaches

Three-prong assumptions

?uestion

0tudies show that, as we6ve become more technically advanced, our health hasdeteriorated rapidly. eart disease, cancer, diabetes, and virtually every ma&orailment are far more common today than they were thirty years ago. !he primary



English Centre

reason for this deterioration is the sedentary lifestyle associated with today6s high4tech &obs. Clearly, our health will continue to decline as long as we persist in our

technological advances.

!he conclusion of this argument, @Clearly, our health will continue to declineas long as we persist in our technological advances,A rests weakly on threeprimary assumptions. B!)0I0 0!!)M)*! !+3IC60 C+*CD0I+*EFirst, i t assumes that advances in medicine wil l not counteract thedetrimental effects of a lack of eercise. B1)0+* "E 0econd, it re%uires

the tacit belief that the effect of a proper diet on health is insignificant incomparison to the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. B1)0+* $E Finally, itpresumes that whatever holds true for the past and present will also holdtrue for the future. B1)0+* 7E

!he argument assumes that the positive effects of regular eercise onhealth override any positive effects resulting from advances in medicine.B!+3IC 0)*!)*C) F+1 1)0+* "E s society becomes increasingly hightech, we might plausibly argue that medicine will similarly develop andadvance. *onetheless, the validity of the author6s argument depends on theidea that medicine will not advance as rapidly as technology or, at the very

least, on the idea that any advance in medicine wil l have a relativelyinsignificant effect on health, compared to the effects of regular eercise.(ut what might happen if medicine progresses such that health care cancounteract the effects of a sedentary lifestyle Might we imagine a pill or procedure that could easily and effectively combat heart disease, diabetes,and other diseases linked to lack of eercise If this occurs, whether our lives become more sedentary as a result of technology will not matter whenit comes to our health, because medicine will offset the negative effects of alack of eercise. BFI2) 0)*!)*C)0 !! -)2)D+3 *DGH)1)0+* "E

0imilarly, the argument6s conclusion depends on the assumption thatimprovements in diet will not prevent or stave off the decline in wellnessthat results from working at a high4tech &ob. B!+3IC 0)*!)*C) F+11)0+* $E Whether it 6s reasonable to epect our diets to improve astechnology advances is irrelevant to this argument= the fact remains that theauthor assumes that diet has little to no impact on the general well4being of a person who gets no eercise. Get a healthy diet could negate the effects



English Centre

of a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, if a good diet could be shown to improveone6s health, then it would be unreasonable to conclude that a sedentarylifestyle automatically leads to poor health and increased disease ineveryone. !here would be no easy way to show such a correlation betweeneercise and health. Indeed, a sedentary lifestyle coupled with a good dietmight lead to good health. BFI2) 0)*!)*C)0 !! -)2)D+3 *DGH)1)0+* $E

!he most significant assumption made by the author to arr ive at theconclusion is that the past and present are reliable indicators of the future.B!+3IC 0)*!)*C) F+1 1)0+* 7E 0pecifically, the author assumes thatsince our overall health has declined as technology has improved, this

pattern will continue. 0uch an assumption is unwarranted= many trendsreverse direction entirely or eventually cease. For eample, the rapid riseand success of high4tech companies in the late J#s eventually came to ascreeching halt, almost without warning. If the trend toward technologicaladvancements and the sedentary lifestyles with which they are associatedcame to a similar halt, it would be illogical to conclude that our health wouldalso continue to decline. BF+1 0)*!)*C)0 !! -)2)D+3 *DGH)1)0+* 7E

In summary, this argument relies heavily on its assumptions, perhaps tooheavily. -enying any one of these assumptions results in a weakened or, in

some cases, invalid conclusion. *evertheless, the conclusion that our health is in &eopardy may in fact be true, despite its not being proven withthe premises given and assumptions made by the author. B1)C3E !ostrengthen the argument, the author would need to not only address thesethree assumptions but also to more f irmly establish a l ink betweendeteriorat ing health and technological advances. In the words of ippocrates, @ wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings.A n argument conclusively linking rising technology tofailing health would be a strong argument indeed. B)K3*-0 3+0I!I+*E

Two Assumptions and One Survey



English Centre

?uestion

+uperCorp recently moved its head#uarters to Corporateville. he recent surge inthe number of homeowners in Corporateville prove that Corporateville is a superior

place to live than Middlesburg, the home of +uperCorps current head#uarters.

Moreover, Middleburg is a predominately urban area and according to an employee

survey, +uperCorp has determined that its workers prefer to live in an area that is

not urban. "inally, Corporateville has lower taes than Middlesburg, making it not

only a safer place to work but also a cheaper one. herefore, +upercorp clearly

made the best decision.

“'rite a response in which you eamine the stated andor unstated assumptions of

the argument. *e sure to eplain how the argument depends on the assumptions

and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.&

!he argument assumes that the increase in homeowners is directly correlated with

improved living, or, as the argument states, @a superior place to live.A ousing could

simply be cheaper, causing an influ of people. !hat is the increase of population

does not mean that everybody wants to live in Corporateville because it is such a

great place. Indeed low4priced housing and overcrowding clearly would make

Corporatville a less superior place to live.

-nother unstated assumption the argument makes is that what is superior for

residents is the same as what is superior for corporations. hus, even if everybody

wants to move to Corporateville because it is a superior place to live, that doesnt

mean it is a superior place for a company to move its head#uarters. "or instance,

perhaps Corporateville has an ecellent public school system andor natural parks.

either of these would make Corporateville a superior place for a corporation.

%nless the argument can show that there is clear reason that Corporateville is

superior to Middletown for a corporation, then the corporation could be making the

wrong decision in moving to Corporateville.

/astly, the employee survey stating+uperCorps workers prefer to live in an area that

is not urban needs to be #uestioned. here are many ob0ections that can arise from

this survey and its conclusion. "or eample, the type of the employees and their

division need to be clear (for some senior workers, the idea of living away from the

hectic downtown is understandably appealing, but what about the younger



English Centre

generation of employees at +uperCorp1). if this is the case, then the survey is not

representative, rendering it invalid. 2ven if the workers prefer to live in an area that

is not urban, the survey needs to take into account the opinions of the family

members as well.

.

!he argument makes a number of unstated assumptions that seriously undermine

its validity. nless these assumptions are addressed the argument falls apart, and

the corporation could very well make a ma&or mistake shifting operations from

Middleburg to Corporateville.

Language

3".

The author concudes that!!!!!!!!!!!!" #ecause !!!!!!!!$ The author%s ine

of reasoning is that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ This argument is unconvincing for

severa reasons& it is!!!!!!!!!!!! and it uses !!!!!!!!!!!!!$

'($



English Centre

)irst of a" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is #ased upon the *uestiona#e

assumption !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ That !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

however" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ +oreover" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$

',$

Secondy" the author assumes that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$owever" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ .t seems e*uay reasona#e toassume that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$

'/$

)inay" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ The author fais toconsider!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ )or e0ampe"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ 1ecause the author%s argument !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$

'2$

.n sum" . agree that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ owever" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!& on #aance" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$

Pool of $rgument 'opics

Woven baskets characteri9ed by a particular distinctive pattern have previouslybeen found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of 3alea andtherefore were believed to have been made only by the 3alean people. 1ecently,however, archaeologists discovered such a <3alean< basket in Dithos, an ancientvillage across the (rim 1iver from 3alea. !he (rim 1iver is very deep and broad,and so the ancient 3aleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no 3alean boats



English Centre

have been found. !hus it follows that the so4called 3alean baskets were notuni%uely 3alean.

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and eplainhow the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

!he following appeared as part of a letter to the editor of a scientific &ournal.

< recent study of eighteen rhesus monkeys provides clues as to the effects of birthorder on an individual's levels of stimulation. !he study showed that in stimulatingsituations :such as an encounter with an unfamiliar monkey;, firstborn infantmonkeys produce up to twice as much of the hormone cortisol, which primes the

body for increased activity levels, as do their younger siblings. Firstborn humansalso produce relatively high levels of cortisol in stimulating situations :such as thereturn of a parent after an absence;. !he study also found that during pregnancy,first4time mother monkeys had higher levels of cortisol than did those who had hadseveral offspring.<

Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative eplanations that could rival the proposedeplanation and eplain how your eplanation:s; can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.

!he following appeared as a letter to the editor from a Central 3la9a store owner.

<+ver the past two years, the number of shoppers in Central 3la9a has been steadilydecreasing while the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically. ManyCentral 3la9a store owners believe that the decrease in their business is due to thenumber of skateboard users in the pla9a. !here has also been a dramatic increasein the amount of litter and vandalism throughout the pla9a. !hus, we recommendthat the city prohibit skateboarding in Central 3la9a. If skateboarding is prohibitedhere, we predict that business in Central 3la9a will return to its previously highlevels.<

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. (e sure to eplain how the answers to these%uestions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

!he following appeared in a letter from a homeowner to a friend.

<+f the two leading real estate firms in our townLdams 1ealty and Fitch 1ealtyL dams 1ealty is clearly superior. dams has 8# real estate agents= in contrast, Fitchhas $, many of whom work only part4time. Moreover, dams' revenue last year wastwice as high as that of Fitch and included home sales that averaged N">O,###,



English Centre

compared to Fitch's N"88,###. omes listed with dams sell faster as well5 ten yearsago I listed my home with Fitch, and it took more than four months to sell= last year,

when I sold another home, I listed it with dams, and it took only one month. !hus, if you want to sell your home %uickly and at a good price, you should use dams1ealty.<

Write a response in which you eamine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. (e sure toeplain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if theassumptions prove unwarranted.

!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of the *almer Island 3a4ette.<+n (almer Island, where mopeds serve as a popular form of transportation, the

population increases to "##,### during the summer months. !o reduce the numberof accidents involving mopeds and pedestrians, the town council of (almer Islandshould limit the number of mopeds rented by the island's moped rental companiesfrom # per day to $ per day during the summer season. (y limiting the number ofrentals, the town council will attain the # percent annual reduction in mopedaccidents that was achieved last year on the neighboring island of 0eaville, when0eaville's town council enforced similar limits on moped rentals.<


rctic deer live on islands in Canada's arctic regions. !hey search for food bymoving over ice from island to island during the course of the year. !heir habitat islimited to areas warm enough to sustain the plants on which they feed and coldenough, at least some of the year, for the ice to cover the sea separating the islands,allowing the deer to travel over it. nfortunately, according to reports from localhunters, the deer populations are declining. 0ince these reports coincide with recentglobal warming trends that have caused the sea ice to melt, we can conclude thatthe purported decline in deer populations is the result of the deer's being unable tofollow their age4old migration patterns across the fro9en sea.




English Centre

)irst of a" the generated concusion is #ased upon the *uestiona#e

assumption that the decine of deer popuation is soey engendered #y the

ina#iity to migrate is the age-od pattern$

Secondy" the author assumes that the migration pattern is defected #y the

go#a warming$

)inay" the author aso assume that the meting of sea ice cover the migration

pattern$

!he following is a recommendation from the (oard of -irectors of Monarch (ooks.

<We recommend that Monarch (ooks open a cafP in its store. Monarch, having beenin business at the same location for more than twenty years, has a large customerbase because it is known for its wide selection of books on all sub&ects. Clearly,opening the cafP would attract more customers. 0pace could be made for the cafPby discontinuing the children's book section, which will probably become lesspopular given that the most recent national census indicated a significant decline inthe percentage of the population under age ten. +pening a cafP will allow Monarchto attract more customers and better compete with 1egal (ooks, which recentlyopened its own cafP.<


)irst of a" the conusion is #ased upon the *uestiona#e assumption that the

decining num#er of chidren wi in reduce the chidren #oo3 popuarity$

Secondy" the author assume what wor3s with Rega 1oo3s appy for +onarch1oo3s

)inay" the author aso assumes that peope wi i3e the cafe more than thechidren #oo3 section$



English Centre

!he following appeared in a memo from the director of student housing at(uckingham College.

<!o serve the housing needs of our students, (uckingham College should build anumber of new dormitories. (uckingham's enrollment is growing and, based oncurrent trends, will double over the net # years, thus making eisting dormitoryspace inade%uate. Moreover, the average rent for an apartment in our town hasrisen in recent years. Conse%uently, students will find it increasingly difficult to affordoff4campus housing. Finally, attractive new dormitories would make prospectivestudents more likely to enroll at (uckingham.<


Firstly, the conclusion is derived upon %uestionable assume that the additional student will live in the dormitory.

0econdly, the author assumes that the attractiveness of the new dormitory influent the number of studentenrolling (C.

Dast, the author also assumes that the only kind of off4campus housing is apartment.

*ature's Way, a chain of stores selling health food and other health4related products,is opening its net franchise in the town of 3lainsville. !he store should prove to bevery successful5 *ature's Way franchises tend to be most profitable in areas whereresidents lead healthy lives, and clearly 3lainsville is such an area. 3lainsvillemerchants report that sales of running shoes and eercise clothing are at all4timehighs. !he local health club has more members than ever, and the weight trainingand aerobics classes are always full. Finally, 3lainsville's schoolchildren represent anew generation of potential customers5 these schoolchildren are re%uired toparticipate in a fitness4for4life program, which emphasi9es the benefits of regulareercise at an early age.


Firstly, the author assumes that running shoes and ecercise clothing will only be worn for .

0econdly, the author also assumes that schoolchildren will continue the habit to eercise until adult.

-oesn6t mean that the buy health products because they have health class



English Centre

Dast, the author assumes that there is no competitor of such store in 3lainville.

!wenty years ago, -r. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of !ertia.sing an observation4centered approach to studying !ertian culture, he concludedfrom his observations that children in !ertia were reared by an entire village ratherthan by their own biological parents. 1ecently another anthropologist, -r. Qarp,visited the group of islands that includes !ertia and used the interview4centeredmethod to study child4rearing practices. In the interviews that -r. Qarp conductedwith children living in this group of islands, the children spent much more time talkingabout their biological parents than about other adults in the village. -r. Qarp decidedthat -r. Field's conclusion about !ertian village culture must be invalid. 0omeanthropologists recommend that to obtain accurate information on !ertian child4rearing practices, future research on the sub&ect should be conducted via theinterview4centered method.

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how theanswers to these %uestions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

Claim doesn6t mean true

Firstly, the conclusion is conducted base on the assumption that the condition remain the same during -r. Fieldand -r. Qarp observation time

0econdly, the author assumes that the habit to talk about the parent shows that the children have better

relationship to their parents.

Dast, the author also assume that interview4centered method is the best way to eamine children4rearingpractice.

!he council of Maple County, concerned about the county's becomingoverdeveloped, is debating a proposed measure that would prevent thedevelopment of eisting farmland in the county. (ut the council is also concernedthat such a restriction, by limiting the supply of new housing, could lead to significantincreases in the price of housing in the county. 3roponents of the measure note thatChestnut County established a similar measure ten years ago, and its housingprices have increased only modestly since. owever, opponents of the measure

note that 3ine County adopted restrictions on the development of new residentialhousing fifteen years ago, and its housing prices have since more than doubled. !hecouncil currently predicts that the proposed measure, if passed, will result in asignificant increase in housing prices in Maple County.



English Centre

While it may be true that the Maple County6s council frowns upon the housing

supply limitation measure, this author's argument does not create a convincing basis

to undermine effort in fostering housing supply restriction. It is easy to understand

why a high rate of housing price can be harmful, but the author6s arguments are

cluttered with inaccurate assumptions, and thus, not strong compelling enough to

deter any supply curtailment.

Firstly, the conclusion was drawn under the assumption that new housingsupply has a salient effect on Maple County6s development. If Maple County6scurrent farmlands are prominently replaced by housing estates, the implication maybe true. (ut if the county6s overdevelopment issue is the result of an ecessiveindustriali9ation, the assumption is flawed. Maple County, located between twoma&or cities, -anville, and Carlsburg, will also be affected by the cities development,such as transforming into both cities industrial area, which will still causeoverdevelopment to Maple County. ousing supply restriction will not bring anyimpact on Maple County6s development level. 1egardless of the issue6s main cause,the author does not effectively show a connection between housing supply andMaple County6s development.

dditionally, the author insinuate that housing prices6 increase is due to thedecrease of housing supply. While a low residential supply will rouse a high demandin dwelling areas, a palpable connection between housing supply level and housing

prices is not effectively made. precipitous increase in housing price can bestimulated by other factors, such as national housing price standari9ation, taesenforcement, and new infrastructure epansion in the area. !o strengthen theauthor6s argument, he/she must conduct a research on several areas, taking intoconsideration the current state of each area, which will show the housing pricetendency toward variation of individual factor.

Dastly, the author, emphasi9ing on the effect of housing supply limitation in3ine County, concludes that Maple County will undergo the same conse%uence. It isnot clear, however, the conditions in both cities, such as the current 0 economy,the level of inflation, and the level of new citi9en inflow, during the constraint6s

enforcement. For eample, fifteen years ago 3ine County might have eperiencedfrom an inflation, causing an increase in prices of housing materials, andconse%uently, raising housing prices. !he observation in 3ine County may be donebefore the $##O6s world recession, while Maple County6s observation was doneduring 06 financial boost period. 3ine County could also have encountered amassive income of new resident, cataly9ing a burgeon in housing demand. We &ustdo not know. nless the conditions can be proven identical, the effect on 3ine



English Centre

undertake the same kind of road improvement pro&ect that (utler County completedfive years ago5 increasing lane widths, resurfacing rough highways, and improving

visibility at dangerous intersections. !oday, ma&or (utler County roads still have a mph speed limit, yet there were $ percent fewer reported accidents in (utlerCounty this past year than there were five years ago.


!he following appeared as part of an article in a business maga9ine.

< recent study rating 7## male and female Mentian advertising eecutives

according to the average number of hours they sleep per night showed anassociation between the amount of sleep the eecutives need and the success oftheir firms. +f the advertising firms studied, those whose eecutives reportedneeding no more than > hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. !hese results suggest that if a business wants to prosper, it should hire onlypeople who need less than > hours of sleep per night.<


!he following memorandum is from the business manager of appy 3ancake ouserestaurants.

<1ecently, butter has been replaced by margarine in appy 3ancake ouserestaurants throughout the southwestern nited 0tates. !his change, however, hashad little impact on our customers. In fact, only about $ percent of customers havecomplained, indicating that an average of JO people out of "## are happy with thechange. Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number of customers whoask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. Clearly, either these customers do not distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine.<


In surveys Mason City residents rank water sports :swimming, boating, and fishing;among their favorite recreational activities. !he Mason 1iver flowing through the cityis rarely used for these pursuits, however, and the city park department devotes little



English Centre

!wo years ago, radio station WC?3 in 1ockville decided to increase the number ofcall4in advice programs that it broadcast= since that time, its share of the radio

audience in the 1ockville listening area has increased significantly. Riven WC?3'srecent success with call4in advice programming, and citing a nationwide surveyindicating that many radio listeners are %uite interested in such programs, the stationmanager of QICQ in Medway recommends that QICQ include more call4in adviceprograms in an attempt to gain a larger audience share in its listening area.


!he following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.<+ver the past year, our late4night news program has devoted increased time tonational news and less time to weather and local news. -uring this time period, mostof the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverageof weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertiseduring our late4night news program have &ust canceled their advertising contractswith us. !herefore, in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoidlosing any further advertising revenues, we should restore the time devoted toweather and local news to its former level.<

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and eplain

how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

!he following appeared in an article written by -r. Qarp, an anthropologist.

<!wenty years ago, -r. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of !ertia andconcluded from his observations that children in !ertia were reared by an entirevillage rather than by their own biological parents. owever, my recent interviewswith children living in the group of islands that includes !ertia show that thesechildren spend much more time talking about their biological parents than aboutother adults in the village. !his research of mine proves that -r. Field's conclusion

about !ertian village culture is invalid and thus that the observation4centeredapproach to studying cultures is invalid as well. !he interview4centered method thatmy team of graduate students is currently using in !ertia will establish a much moreaccurate understanding of child4rearing traditions there and in other island cultures.<




English Centre

ccording to a recent report, cheating among college and university students is onthe rise. owever, Rroveton College has successfully reduced student cheating by

adopting an honor code, which calls for students to agree not to cheat in theiracademic endeavors and to notify a faculty member if they suspect that others havecheated. Rroveton's honor code replaced a system in which teachers closelymonitored students= under that system, teachers reported an average of thirty casesof cheating per year. In the first year the honor code was in place, students reportedtwenty4one cases of cheating= five years later, this figure had dropped to fourteen.Moreover, in a recent survey, a ma&ority of Rroveton students said that they wouldbe less likely to cheat with an honor code in place than without. !hus, all collegesand universities should adopt honor codes similar to Rroveton's in order to decreasecheating among students.


!he following appeared in an article written by -r. Qarp, an anthropologist.

<!wenty years ago, -r. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of !ertia andconcluded from his observations that children in !ertia were reared by an entirevillage rather than by their own biological parents. owever, my recent interviews

with children living in the group of islands that includes !ertia show that thesechildren spend much more time talking about their biological parents than aboutother adults in the village. !his research of mine proves that -r. Field's conclusionabout !ertian village culture is invalid and thus that the observation4centeredapproach to studying cultures is invalid as well. !he interview4centered method thatmy team of graduate students is currently using in !ertia will establish a much moreaccurate understanding of child4rearing traditions there and in other island cultures.<


recently issued twenty4year study on headaches suffered by the residents ofMentia investigated the possible therapeutic effect of consuming salicylates.0alicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used totreat headaches. lthough many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, food4processing companies also add salicylates to foods as preservatives. !he twenty4year study found a correlation between the rise in the commercial use of salicylates



English Centre

and a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by studyparticipants. t the time when the study concluded, food4processing companies had

&ust discovered that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives for foods, and,as a result, many companies plan to do so. (ased on these study results, somehealth eperts predict that residents of Mentia will suffer even fewer headaches inthe future.

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how the answers tothese %uestions would help to evaluate the prediction.

!he following was written as a part of an application for a small4business loan by agroup of developers in the city of Monroe.

< &a99 music club in Monroe would be a tremendously profitable enterprise.Currently, the nearest &a99 club is > miles away= thus, the proposed new &a99 clubin Monroe, the C4*ote, would have the local market all to itself. 3lus, &a99 isetremely popular in Monroe5 over "##,### people attended Monroe's annual &a99festival last summer= several well4known &a99 musicians live in Monroe= and thehighest4rated radio program in Monroe is 'Sa99 *ightly,' which airs every weeknightat T 3.M. Finally, a nationwide study indicates that the typical &a99 fan spends closeto N",### per year on &a99 entertainment.<


!he following appeared in the summary of a study on headaches suffered by theresidents of Mentia.

<0alicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used totreat headaches. lthough many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, for the pastseveral decades, food4processing companies have also been adding salicylates to



English Centre

foods as preservatives. !his rise in the commercial use of salicylates has beenfound to correlate with a steady decline in the average number of headaches

reported by participants in our twenty4year study. 1ecently, food4processingcompanies have found that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives forfoods. With this new use for salicylates, we can epect a continued steady decline inthe number of headaches suffered by the average citi9en of Mentia.<


!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.

<Commuters complain that increased rush4hour traffic on (lue ighway between thesuburbs and the city center has doubled their commuting time. !he favored proposalof the motorists' lobby is to widen the highway, adding an additional lane of traffic.(ut last year's addition of a lane to the nearby Rreen ighway was followed by aworsening of traffic &ams on it. better alternative is to add a bicycle lane to (lueighway. Many area residents are keen bicyclists. bicycle lane would encouragethem to use bicycles to commute, and so would reduce rush4hour traffic rather thanfostering an increase.<


!he following appeared in the summary of a study on headaches suffered by theresidents of Mentia.

<0alicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used totreat headaches. lthough many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, for the pastseveral decades, food4processing companies have also been adding salicylates tofoods as preservatives. !his rise in the commercial use of salicylates has been

found to correlate with a steady decline in the average number of headachesreported by participants in our twenty4year study. 1ecently, food4processingcompanies have found that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives forfoods. With this new use for salicylates, we can epect a continued steady decline inthe number of headaches suffered by the average citi9en of Mentia.<




English Centre

!he following appeared in an editorial in a local newspaper.

<Commuters complain that increased rush4hour traffic on (lue ighway between thesuburbs and the city center has doubled their commuting time. !he favored proposalof the motorists' lobby is to widen the highway, adding an additional lane of traffic.+pponents note that last year's addition of a lane to the nearby Rreen ighway wasfollowed by a worsening of traffic &ams on it. !heir suggested alternative proposal isadding a bicycle lane to (lue ighway. Many area residents are keen bicyclists. bicycle lane would encourage them to use bicycles to commute, it is argued, therebyreducing rush4hour traffic.<


!he following appeared as a recommendation by a committee planning a ten4yearbudget for the city of Calatrava.

<!he birthrate in our city is declining5 in fact, last year's birthrate was only one4halfthat of five years ago. !hus the number of students enrolled in our public schools willsoon decrease dramatically, and we can safely reduce the funds budgeted for

education during the net decade. t the same time, we can reduce funding forathletic playing fields and other recreational facilities. s a result, we will havesufficient money to fund city facilities and programs used primarily by adults, sincewe can epect the adult population of the city to increase.<


!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of 3arson City's local newspaper.

<In our region of !rillura, the ma&ority of money spent on the schools that moststudents attendLthe city4run public schoolsLcomes from taes that each citygovernment collects. !he region's cities differ, however, in the budgetary priority theygive to public education. For eample, both as a proportion of its overall tarevenues and in absolute terms, 3arson City has recently spent almost twice asmuch per year as (lue City has for its public schoolsLeven though both cities have



English Centre

about the same number of residents. Clearly, 3arson City residents place a highervalue on providing a good education in public schools than (lue City residents do.<


!he following appeared in a memo from a vice president of ?uiot Manufacturing.

<-uring the past year, ?uiot Manufacturing had 7# percent more on4the4&obaccidents than at the nearby 3anoply Industries plant, where the work shifts are onehour shorter than ours. )perts say that significant contributing factors in many on4

the4&ob accidents are fatigue and sleep deprivation among workers. !herefore, toreduce the number of on4the4&ob accidents at ?uiot and thereby increaseproductivity, we should shorten each of our three work shifts by one hour so thatemployees will get ade%uate amounts of sleep.<


!he following appeared in a memorandum from the planning department of anelectric power company.

<0everal recent surveys indicate that home owners are increasingly eager toconserve energy. t the same time, manufacturers are now marketing many homeappliances, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, that are almost twice asenergy efficient as those sold a decade ago. lso, new technologies for better homeinsulation and passive solar heating are readily available to reduce the energyneeded for home heating. !herefore, the total demand for electricity in our area willnot increaseLand may decline slightly. 0ince our three electric generating plants inoperation for the past twenty years have always met our needs, construction of newgenerating plants will not be necessary.<




English Centre

!he vice president of human resources at Climpson Industries sent the followingrecommendation to the company's president.

<In an effort to improve our employees' productivity, we should implement electronicmonitoring of employees' Internet use from their workstations. )mployees who usethe Internet from their workstations need to be identified and punished if we are toreduce the number of work hours spent on personal or recreational activities, suchas shopping or playing games. (y installing software to detect employees' Internetuse on company computers, we can prevent employees from wasting time, foster abetter work ethic at Climpson, and improve our overall profits.<

Write a response in which you eamine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. (e sure to

eplain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if theassumptions prove unwarranted.

!he following appeared in a letter from the owner of the 0unnyside !owersapartment comple to its manager.

<+ne month ago, all the showerheads in the first three buildings of the 0unnyside!owers comple were modified to restrict maimum water flow to one4third of what itused to be. lthough actual readings of water usage before and after the ad&ustment

are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for0unnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month.)cept for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showershave been reported since the ad&ustment. I predict that modifying showerheads torestrict water flow throughout all twelve buildings in the 0unnyside !owers complewill increase our profits even more dramatically.<


!he following report appeared in the newsletter of the West Meria 3ublic ealthCouncil.

<n innovative treatment has come to our attention that promises to significantlyreduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces. study reports that in nearby)ast Meria, where fish consumption is very high, people visit the doctor only once or



English Centre

twice per year for the treatment of colds. Clearly, eating a substantial amount of fishcan prevent colds. 0ince colds represent the most fre%uently given reason for

absences from school and work, we recommend the daily use of IchthaidLanutritional supplement derived from fish oilLas a good way to prevent colds andlower absenteeism.<


!he following appeared in a recommendation from the planning department of thecity of !ransopolis.

<!en years ago, as part of a comprehensive urban renewal program, the city of!ransopolis adapted for industrial use a large area of severely substandard housingnear the freeway. 0ubse%uently, several factories were constructed there, crimerates in the area declined, and property ta revenues for the entire city increased. !ofurther revitali9e the city, we should now take similar action in a declining residentialarea on the opposite side of the city. 0ince some houses and apartments in eistingnearby neighborhoods are currently unoccupied, alternate housing for thosedisplaced by this action will be readily available.<



!he following appeared in a memo from the new vice president of 0artorian, acompany that manufactures men's clothing.

<Five years ago, at a time when we had difficulties in obtaining reliable supplies ofhigh %uality wool fabric, we discontinued production of our alpaca overcoat. *owthat we have a new fabric supplier, we should resume production. !his coat shouldsell very well5 since we have not offered an alpaca overcoat for five years and sinceour ma&or competitor no longer makes an alpaca overcoat, there will be pent4upcustomer demand. lso, since the price of most types of clothing has increased ineach of the past five years, customers should be willing to pay significantly higher

prices for alpaca overcoats than they did five years ago, and our company profits willincrease.<




English Centre

recent sales study indicates that consumption of seafood dishes in (ay Cityrestaurants has increased by 7# percent during the past five years. Get there are no

currently operating city restaurants whose specialty is seafood. Moreover, thema&ority of families in (ay City are two4income families, and a nationwide study hasshown that such families eat significantly fewer home4cooked meals than they did adecade ago but at the same time epress more concern about healthful eating.!herefore, the new Captain 0eafood restaurant that speciali9es in seafood shouldbe %uite popular and profitable.


Milk and dairy products are rich in vitamin - and calciumLsubstances essential forbuilding and maintaining bones. Many people therefore say that a diet rich in dairyproducts can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease that is linked to bothenvironmental and genetic factors and that causes the bones to weaken significantlywith age. (ut a long4term study of a large number of people found that those whoconsistently consumed dairy products throughout the years of the study have ahigher rate of bone fractures than any other participants in the study. 0ince bonefractures are symptomatic of osteoporosis, this study result shows that a diet rich indairy products may actually increase, rather than decrease, the risk of osteoporosis.


!he following appeared in a health newsletter.

< ten4year nationwide study of the effectiveness of wearing a helmet while bicyclingindicates that ten years ago, approimately 7 percent of all bicyclists reportedwearing helmets, whereas today that number is nearly O# percent. nother study,however, suggests that during the same ten4year period, the number of bicycle4related accidents has increased $## percent. !hese results demonstrate thatbicyclists feel safer because they are wearing helmets, and they take more risks asa result. !hus, to reduce the number of serious in&uries from bicycle accidents, thegovernment should concentrate more on educating people about bicycle safety andless on encouraging or re%uiring bicyclists to wear helmets.<



English Centre

Write a response in which you eamine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. (e sure toeplain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the

assumptions prove unwarranted.

!he following is a letter to the head of the tourism bureau on the island of !ria.

<)rosion of beach sand along the shores of !ria Island is a serious threat to ourisland and our tourist industry. In order to stop the erosion, we should charge peoplefor using the beaches. lthough this solution may annoy a few tourists in the shortterm, it will raise money for replenishing the sand. 1eplenishing the sand, as wasdone to protect buildings on the nearby island of (atia, will help protect buildings

along our shores, thereby reducing these buildings' risk of additional damage fromsevere storms. nd since beaches and buildings in the area will be preserved, !ria'stourist industry will improve over the long term.<


!he following appeared in a memorandum written by the chairperson of the West)gg !own Council.

<!wo years ago, consultants predicted that West )gg's landfill, which is used forgarbage disposal, would be completely filled within five years. -uring the past twoyears, however, the town's residents have been recycling twice as much material asthey did in previous years. *et month the amount of recycled materialLwhichincludes paper, plastic, and metalLshould further increase, since charges for pickupof other household garbage will double. Furthermore, over J# percent of therespondents to a recent survey said that they would do more recycling in the future.

(ecause of our town's strong commitment to recycling, the available space in ourlandfill should last for considerably longer than predicted.<




English Centre

!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of a &ournal on environmental issues.

<+ver the past year, the Crust Copper Company :CCC; has purchased over "#,###s%uare miles of land in the tropical nation of West Fredonia. Mining copper on thisland will inevitably result in pollution and, since West Fredonia is the home ofseveral endangered animal species, in environmental disaster. (ut such disasterscan be prevented if consumers simply refuse to purchase products that are madewith CCC's copper unless the company abandons its mining plans.<


!he following is part of a memorandum from the president of umana niversity.

<Dast year the number of students who enrolled in online degree programs offeredby nearby +mni niversity increased by # percent. -uring the same year, +mnishowed a significant decrease from prior years in ependitures for dormitory andclassroom space, most likely because instruction in the online programs takes placevia the Internet. In contrast, over the past three years, enrollment at umananiversity has failed to grow, and the cost of maintaining buildings has increasedalong with our budget deficit. !o address these problems, umana niversity will

begin immediately to create and actively promote online degree programs like thoseat +mni. We predict that instituting these online degree programs will help umanaboth increase its total enrollment and solve its budget problems.<


!he following appeared in a health maga9ine published in Corpora.

<Medical eperts say that only one4%uarter of Corpora's citi9ens meet the currentstandards for ade%uate physical fitness, even though twenty years ago, one4half ofall of Corpora's citi9ens met the standards as then defined. (ut these eperts aremistaken when they suggest that spending too much time using computers hascaused a decline in fitness. 0ince overall fitness levels are highest in regions ofCorpora where levels of computer ownership are also highest, it is clear that usingcomputers has not made citi9ens less physically fit. Instead, as shown by this year's



English Centre

unusually low ependitures on fitness4related products and services, the recentdecline in the economy is most likely the cause, and fitness levels will improve when

the economy does.<


!he following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Ralore, a chainof movie4rental stores.

<(ecause of declining profits, we must reduce operating epenses at MoviesRalore's ten movie4rental stores. 1aising prices is not a good option, since we arefamous for our low prices. Instead, we should reduce our operating hours. Dastmonth our store in downtown Marston reduced its hours by closing at >5## p.m.rather than J5## p.m. and reduced its overall inventory by no longer stocking any-2- released more than five years ago. 0ince we have received very few customercomplaints about these new policies, we should now adopt them at all other MoviesRalore stores as our best strategies for improving profits.<


!he following appeared in a maga9ine article about planning for retirement.

<Clearview should be a top choice for anyone seeking a place to retire, because ithas spectacular natural beauty and a consistent climate. nother advantage is thathousing costs in Clearview have fallen significantly during the past year, and taesremain lower than those in neighboring towns. Moreover, Clearview's mayorpromises many new programs to improve schools, streets, and public services. ndbest of all, retirees in Clearview can also epect ecellent health care as they grow

older, since the number of physicians in the area is far greater than the nationalaverage.<




English Centre

!he following is part of a memorandum from the president of umana niversity.

<Dast year the number of students who enrolled in online degree programs offeredby nearby +mni niversity increased by # percent. -uring the same year, +mnishowed a significant decrease from prior years in ependitures for dormitory andclassroom space, most likely because online instruction takes place via the Internet.In contrast, over the past three years, enrollment at umana niversity has failed togrow and the cost of maintaining buildings has increased. !hus, to increaseenrollment and solve the problem of budget deficits at umana niversity, weshould initiate and actively promote online degree programs like those at +mni.<


n ancient, traditional remedy for insomniaLthe scent of lavender flowersLhas nowbeen proved effective. In a recent study, 7# volunteers with chronic insomnia slepteach night for three weeks on lavender4scented pillows in a controlled room wheretheir sleep was monitored electronically. -uring the first week, volunteers continuedto take their usual sleeping medication. !hey slept soundly but wakened feelingtired. t the beginning of the second week, the volunteers discontinued theirsleeping medication. -uring that week, they slept less soundly than the previous

week and felt even more tired. -uring the third week, the volunteers slept longer andmore soundly than in the previous two weeks. !herefore, the study proves thatlavender cures insomnia within a short period of time.



<(utter has now been replaced by margarine in appy 3ancake ouse restaurantsthroughout the southwestern nited 0tates. +nly about $ percent of customers havecomplained, indicating that JO people out of "## are happy with the change.Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number of customers who ask forbutter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. Clearly, either thesecustomers cannot distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term 'butter' torefer to either butter or margarine. !hus, to avoid the epense of purchasing butter



English Centre

and to increase profitability, the appy 3ancake ouse should etend this cost4saving change to its restaurants in the southeast and northeast as well.<


!he following appeared in a letter from the owner of the 0unnyside !owersapartment building to its manager.

<+ne month ago, all the showerheads on the first five floors of 0unnyside !owers

were modified to restrict the water flow to approimately one4third of its original flow. lthough actual readings of water usage before and after the ad&ustment are not yetavailable, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for 0unnysideCorporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month. )cept for a fewcomplaints about low water pressure, no problems with showers have been reportedsince the ad&ustment. Clearly, restricting water flow throughout all the twenty floorsof 0unnyside !owers will increase our profits further.<


!he following appeared in a health maga9ine.

<!he citi9ens of Forsythe have adopted more healthful lifestyles. !heir responses toa recent survey show that in their eating habits they conform more closely togovernment nutritional recommendations than they did ten years ago. Furthermore,there has been a fourfold increase in sales of food products containing kiran, asubstance that a scientific study has shown reduces cholesterol. !his trend is alsoevident in reduced sales of sulia, a food that few of the most healthy citi9ensregularly eat.<


umans arrived in the Qaliko Islands about T,### years ago, and within 7,### yearsmost of the large mammal species that had lived in the forests of the Qaliko Islandshad become etinct. Get humans cannot have been a factor in the species'



English Centre

etinctions, because there is no evidence that the humans had any significantcontact with the mammals. Further, archaeologists have discovered numerous sites

where the bones of fish had been discarded, but they found no such areascontaining the bones of large mammals, so the humans cannot have hunted themammals. !herefore, some climate change or other environmental factor must havecaused the species' etinctions.


!he following appeared in an editorial in a business maga9ine.

<lthough the sales of Whirlwind video games have declined over the past twoyears, a recent survey of video4game players suggests that this sales trend is aboutto be reversed. !he survey asked video4game players what features they thoughtwere most important in a video game. ccording to the survey, players prefer gamesthat provide lifelike graphics, which re%uire the most up4to4date computers.Whirlwind has &ust introduced several such games with an etensive advertisingcampaign directed at people ten to twenty4five years old, the age4group most likelyto play video games. It follows, then, that the sales of Whirlwind video games arelikely to increase dramatically in the net few months.<

Write a response in which you eamine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. (e sure to

eplain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if theassumptions prove unwarranted.

!he following appeared in a memo from the vice president of marketing at -ura40ock, Inc.

< recent study of our customers suggests that our company is wasting the money it

spends on its patented )ndure manufacturing process, which ensures that our socksare strong enough to last for two years. We have always advertised our use of the)ndure process, but the new study shows that despite our socks' durability, ouraverage customer actually purchases new -ura40ocks every three months.Furthermore, our customers surveyed in our largest market, northeastern nited0tates cities, say that they most value -ura40ocks' stylish appearance andavailability in many colors. !hese findings suggest that we can increase our profitsby discontinuing use of the )ndure manufacturing process.<



English Centre



!he following appeared in a memo from the vice president of marketing at -ura40ock, Inc.

< recent study of our customers suggests that our company is wasting the money itspends on its patented )ndure manufacturing process, which ensures that our socks

are strong enough to last for two years. We have always advertised our use of the)ndure process, but the new study shows that despite our socks' durability, ouraverage customer actually purchases new -ura40ocks every three months.Furthermore, our customers surveyed in our largest market, northeastern nited0tates cities, say that they most value -ura40ocks' stylish appearance andavailability in many colors. !hese findings suggest that we can increase our profitsby discontinuing use of the )ndure manufacturing process.<


!he vice president for human resources at Climpson Industries sent the following

recommendation to the company's president.<In an effort to improve our employees' productivity, we should implement electronicmonitoring of employees' Internet use from their workstations. )mployees who usethe Internet inappropriately from their workstations need to be identified andpunished if we are to reduce the number of work hours spent on personal orrecreational activities, such as shopping or playing games. Installing software oncompany computers to detect employees' Internet use is the best way to preventemployees from wasting time on the &ob. It will foster a better work ethic at Climpsonand improve our overall profits.<



!he following appeared in a memo from the president of (ower (uilders, a companythat constructs new homes.



English Centre

< nationwide survey reveals that the two most4desired home features are a largefamily room and a large, well4appointed kitchen. number of homes in our area built

by our competitor -omus Construction have such features and have sold muchfaster and at significantly higher prices than the national average. !o boost salesand profits, we should increase the si9e of the family rooms and kitchens in all thehomes we build and should make state4of4the4art kitchens a standard feature.Moreover, our larger family rooms and kitchens can come at the epense of thedining room, since many of our recent buyers say they do not need a separatedining room for family meals.<


!he following appeared in a letter from a firm providing investment advice for aclient.

<Most homes in the northeastern nited 0tates, where winters are typically cold,have traditionally used oil as their ma&or fuel for heating. Dast heating season thatregion eperienced J# days with below4normal temperatures, and climateforecasters predict that this weather pattern will continue for several more years.Furthermore, many new homes are being built in the region in response to recent

population growth. (ecause of these trends, we predict an increased demand forheating oil and recommend investment in Consolidated Industries, one of whosema&or business operations is the retail sale of home heating oil.<


!he following appeared in an article in the 3randview *eacon.

<For many years the city of Rrandview has provided annual funding for theRrandview 0ymphony. Dast year, however, private contributions to the symphonyincreased by $## percent and attendance at the symphony's concerts4in4the4parkseries doubled. !he symphony has also announced an increase in ticket prices fornet year. Riven such developments, some city commissioners argue that thesymphony can now be fully self4supporting, and they recommend that funding for thesymphony be eliminated from net year's budget.<



English Centre

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how the

answers to these %uestions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

!he following appeared in a memo from the director of a large group of hospitals.

<In a laboratory study of li%uid antibacterial hand soaps, a concentrated solution ofltraClean produced a 8# percent greater reduction in the bacteria population thandid the li%uid hand soaps currently used in our hospitals. -uring a subse%uent test of ltraClean at our hospital in Workby, that hospital reported significantly fewer casesof patient infection than did any of the other hospitals in our group. !herefore, to

prevent serious patient infections, we should supply ltraClean at all hand4washingstations throughout our hospital system.<


!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of the 5arkville 6aily newspaper.<!hroughout the country last year, as more and more children below the age of nineparticipated in youth4league sports, over 8#,### of these young players sufferedin&uries. When interviewed for a recent study, youth4league soccer players in severalma&or cities also reported psychological pressure eerted by coaches and parents towin games. Furthermore, education eperts say that long practice sessions for thesesports take away time that could be used for academic activities. 0ince thedisadvantages outweigh any advantages, we in 3arkville should discontinueorgani9ed athletic competition for children under nine.<



Collectors pri9e the ancient life4si9e clay statues of human figures made on QaliIsland but have long wondered how Qalinese artists were able to depict bodies withsuch realistic precision. 0ince archaeologists have recently discovered molds of



English Centre

human heads and hands on Qali, we can now conclude that the ancient Qalineseartists used molds of actual bodies, not sculpting tools and techni%ues, to create

these statues. !his discovery eplains why Qalinese miniature statues were abstractand entirely different in style5 molds could be used only for life4si9e sculptures. Italso eplains why few ancient Qalinese sculpting tools have been found. In light ofthis discovery, collectors predict that the life4si9e sculptures will decrease in valuewhile the miniatures increase in value.


When 0tanley 3ark first opened, it was the largest, most heavily used public park intown. It is still the largest park, but it is no longer heavily used. 2ideo camerasmounted in the park's parking lots last month revealed the park's drop in popularity5the recordings showed an average of only # cars per day. In contrast, tiny Carlton3ark in the heart of the business district is visited by more than "# people on atypical weekday. n obvious difference is that Carlton 3ark, unlike 0tanley 3ark,provides ample seating. !hus, if 0tanley 3ark is ever to be as popular with ourciti9ens as Carlton 3ark, the town will obviously need to provide more benches,thereby converting some of the unused open areas into spaces suitable forsociali9ing.


!he following appeared in a memo from the owner of a chain of cheese storeslocated throughout the nited 0tates.

<For many years all the stores in our chain have stocked a wide variety of both

domestic and imported cheeses. Dast year, however, all of the five best4sellingcheeses at our newest store were domestic cheddar cheeses from Wisconsin.Furthermore, a recent survey by Cheeses of the 'orld maga9ine indicates an increasingpreference for domestic cheeses among its subscribers. 0ince our company canreduce epenses by limiting inventory, the best way to improve profits in all of ourstores is to discontinue stocking many of our varieties of imported cheese andconcentrate primarily on domestic cheeses.<



English Centre

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. (e sure to eplain how the answers to these

%uestions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

!he following appeared as part of a business plan developed by the manager of the1ialto Movie !heater.

<-espite its downtown location, the 1ialto Movie !heater, a local institution for fivedecades, must make big changes or close its doors forever. It should follow theeample of the new pe !heater in the mall outside of town. When the peopened last year, it featured a video arcade, plush carpeting and seats, and a state4

of4the4art sound system. Furthermore, in a recent survey, over O percent ofrespondents reported that the high price of newly released movies prevents themfrom going to the movies more than five times per year. !hus, if the 1ialto intends tohold on to its share of a decreasing pool of moviegoers, it must offer the samefeatures as pe.<


recent study reported that pet owners have longer, healthier lives on average thando people who own no pets. 0pecifically, dog owners tend to have a lower incidence

of heart disease. In light of these findings, 0herwood ospital should form apartnership with 0herwood nimal 0helter to institute an adopt4a4dog program. !heprogram would encourage dog ownership for patients recovering from heart disease,which should reduce these patients' chance of eperiencing continuing heartproblems and also reduce their need for ongoing treatment. s a further benefit, thepublicity about the program would encourage more people to adopt pets from theshelter. nd that will reduce the incidence of heart disease in the general population.


!he following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a large, highly diversifiedcompany.

<!en years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regionalhead%uarters for two regions. !he buildings were erected by different construction



English Centre

companiesLlpha and Heta. lthough the two buildings had identical floor plans,the building constructed by Heta cost 7# percent more to build. owever, that

building's epenses for maintenance last year were only half those of lpha's. Inaddition, the energy consumption of the Heta building has been lower than that ofthe lpha building every year since its construction. Riven these data, plus the factthat Heta has a stable workforce with little employee turnover, we recommend usingHeta rather than lpha for our new building pro&ect, even though lpha's bidpromises lower construction costs.<



<!en years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regionalhead%uarters for two regions. !he buildings were erected by different constructioncompaniesLlpha and Heta. lthough the two buildings had identical floor plans,the building constructed by Heta cost 7# percent more to build. owever, thatbuilding's epenses for maintenance last year were only half those of lpha's.Furthermore, the energy consumption of the Heta building has been lower than that

of the lpha building every year since its construction. 0uch data indicate that weshould use Heta rather than lpha for our contemplated new building pro&ect, eventhough lpha's bid promises lower construction costs.<


!he following is a letter to the editor of the 'aymarsh imes.<!raffic here in Waymarsh is becoming a problem. lthough &ust three years ago a

state traffic survey showed that the typical driving commuter took $# minutes to getto work, the commute now takes closer to 8# minutes, according to the survey &ustcompleted. Members of the town council already have suggested more road buildingto address the problem, but as well as being epensive, the new construction willsurely disrupt some of our residential neighborhoods. It would be better to follow theeample of the nearby city of Rarville. Dast year Rarville implemented a policy thatrewards people who share rides to work, giving them coupons for free gas. 3ollution



English Centre

levels in Rarville have dropped since the policy was implemented, and people fromRarville tell me that commuting times have fallen considerably. !here is no reason

why a policy like Rarville's shouldn't work e%ually well in Waymarsh.<


!he following appeared as a letter to the editor of a national newspaper.

<Gour recent article on corporate downsi9ingU in )lthyria maintains that the ma&orityof competent workers who have lost &obs as a result of downsi9ing face serious

economic hardship, often for years, before finding other suitable employment. (utthis claim is undermined by a recent report on the )lthyrian economy, which foundthat since "JJJ far more &obs have been created than have been eliminated,bringing the unemployment rate in )lthyria to its lowest level in decades. Moreover,two4thirds of these newly created &obs have been in industries that tend to payabove4average wages, and the vast ma&ority of these &obs are full4time.<

U-ownsi9ing is the process whereby corporations deliberately make themselvessmaller, reducing the number of their employees.


!he following appeared on the Mo9art 0chool of Music Web site.

<!he Mo9art 0chool of Music should be the first choice for parents consideringenrolling their child in music lessons. First of all, the Mo9art 0chool welcomesyoungsters at all ability and age levels= there is no audition to attend the school.0econd, the school offers instruction in nearly all musical instruments as well a widerange of styles and genres from classical to rock. !hird, the faculty includes some of

the most distinguished musicians in the area. Finally, many Mo9art graduates havegone on to become well4known and highly paid professional musicians.<




English Centre

!he president of Rrove College has recommended that the college abandon itscentury4old tradition of all4female education and begin admitting men. 3ointing to

other all4female colleges that eperienced an increase in applications after adoptingcoeducation, the president argues that coeducation would lead to a significantincrease in applications and enrollment. owever, the director of the alumnaeassociation opposes the plan. rguing that all4female education is essential to thevery identity of the college, the director cites annual surveys of incoming students inwhich these students say that the school's all4female status was the primary reasonthey selected Rrove. !he director also points to a survey of Rrove alumnae in whicha ma&ority of respondents strongly favored keeping the college all female.



!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of a (atavia newspaper.

<!he department of agriculture in (atavia reports that the number of dairy farmsthroughout the country is now $ percent greater than it was "# years ago. -uringthis same time period, however, the price of milk at the local )cello Food Markethas increased from N".# to over N7.## per gallon. !o prevent farmers fromcontinuing to receive ecessive profits on an apparently increased supply of milk,the (atavia government should begin to regulate retail milk prices. 0uch regulationis necessary to ensure fair prices for consumers.<


!he following appeared in a newsletter offering advice to investors.

<+ver O# percent of the respondents to a recent survey indicated a desire to reducetheir intake of foods containing fats and cholesterol, and today low4fat productsabound in many food stores. 0ince many of the food products currently marketed by+ld -airy Industries are high in fat and cholesterol, the company's sales are likely to



English Centre

diminish greatly and company profits will no doubt decrease. We therefore advise+ld -airy stockholders to sell their shares, and other investors not to purchase stock

in this company.<

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe advice and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how the answers to these%uestions would help to evaluate the advice.

!he following recommendation appeared in a memo from the mayor of the town ofopewell.

<!wo years ago, the nearby town of +cean 2iew built a new municipal golf courseand resort hotel. -uring the past two years, tourism in +cean 2iew has increased,new businesses have opened there, and +cean 2iew's ta revenues have risen by7# percent. !herefore, the best way to improve opewell's economyLand generateadditional ta revenuesLis to build a golf course and resort hotel similar to those in+cean 2iew.<


!he following appeared in a memo from the vice president of a food distributioncompany with food storage warehouses in several cities.

<1ecently, we signed a contract with the Fly4way 3est Control Company to providepest control services at our fast4food warehouse in 3alm City, but last month wediscovered that over N$#,### worth of food there had been destroyed by pestdamage. Meanwhile, the (u99off 3est Control Company, which we have used formany years, continued to service our warehouse in Wintervale, and last month onlyN"#,### worth of the food stored there had been destroyed by pest damage. )ven

though the price charged by Fly4way is considerably lower, our best means ofsaving money is to return to (u99off for all our pest control services.<




English Centre

0ince those issues of ewsbeat maga9ine that featured political news on their frontcover were the poorest4selling issues over the past three years, the publisher

of ewsbeat has recommended that the maga9ine curtail its emphasis on politics tofocus more eclusively on economics and personal finance. 0he points to a recentsurvey of readers of general interest maga9ines that indicates greater readerinterest in economic issues than in political ones.ewsbeat 's editor, however, opposesthe proposed shift in editorial policy, pointing out that very few maga9ines offeretensive political coverage anymore.


!he following is taken from a memo from the advertising director of the 0uper0creen Movie 3roduction Company.

<ccording to a recent report from our marketing department, during the past year,fewer people attended 0uper 0creen4produced movies than in any other year. ndyet the percentage of positive reviews by movie reviewers about specific 0uper0creen movies actually increased during the past year. Clearly, the contents of thesereviews are not reaching enough of our prospective viewers. !hus, the problem liesnot with the %uality of our movies but with the public's lack of awareness that moviesof good %uality are available. 0uper 0creen should therefore allocate a greater shareof its budget net year to reaching the public through advertising.<


!he following appeared in a business maga9ine.

<s a result of numerous complaints of di99iness and nausea on the part ofconsumers of 3romofoods tuna, the company re%uested that eight million cans of itstuna be returned for testing. 3romofoods concluded that the canned tuna did not,after all, pose a health risk. !his conclusion is based on tests performed on samplesof the recalled cans by chemists from 3romofoods= the chemists found that of the



English Centre

eight food chemicals most commonly blamed for causing symptoms of di99iness andnausea, five were not found in any of the tested cans. !he chemists did find small

amounts of the three remaining suspected chemicals but pointed out that theseoccur naturally in all canned foods.<

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be addressed in order to decide whetherthe conclusion and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how the answers tothe %uestions would help to evaluate the conclusion.

!he following appeared in a memo from the vice president of marketing at -ura40ocks, Inc.

< recent study of -ura40ocks customers suggests that our company is wasting themoney it spends on its patented )ndure manufacturing process, which ensures thatour socks are strong enough to last for two years. We have always advertised ouruse of the )ndure process, but the new study shows that despite the socks'durability, our customers, on average, actually purchase new -ura40ocks everythree months. Furthermore, customers surveyed in our largest marketLnortheasternnited 0tates citiesLsay that they most value -ura40ocks' stylish appearance andavailability in many colors. !hese findings suggest that we can increase our profitsby discontinuing use of the )ndure manufacturing process.<


!he following is a letter to the editor of an environmental maga9ine.

<In "JT a wildlife census found that there were seven species of amphibians inKanadu *ational 3ark, with abundant numbers of each species. owever, in $##$only four species of amphibians were observed in the park, and the numbers of each

species were drastically reduced. !here has been a substantial decline in thenumbers of amphibians worldwide, and global pollution of water and air is clearlyimplicated. !he decline of amphibians in Kanadu *ational 3ark, however, almostcertainly has a different cause5 in "JT, troutLwhich are known to eat amphibianeggsLwere introduced into the park.<




English Centre

!he following is a letter to the editor of an environmental maga9ine.<!wo studies of amphibians in Kanadu *ational 3ark confirm a significant decline inthe numbers of amphibians. In "JT there were seven species of amphibians in thepark, and there were abundant numbers of each species. owever, in $##$ only four species of amphibians were observed in the park, and the numbers of each specieswere drastically reduced. +ne proposed eplanation is that the decline was causedby the introduction of trout into the park's waters, which began in "JT. :!rout areknown to eat amphibian eggs.;<


In a study of the reading habits of Waymarsh citi9ens conducted by the niversity ofWaymarsh, most respondents said that they preferred literary classics as readingmaterial. owever, a second study conducted by the same researchers found thatthe type of book most fre%uently checked out of each of the public libraries inWaymarsh was the mystery novel. !herefore, it can be concluded that therespondents in the first study had misrepresented their reading habits.



!he following appeared in a memo at KGH company.

<When KGH lays off employees, it pays -elany 3ersonnel Firm to offer thoseemployees assistance in creating rPsumPs and developing interviewing skills, if theyso desire. Daid4off employees have benefited greatly from -elany's services5 lastyear those who used -elany found &obs much more %uickly than did those who did

not. 1ecently, it has been proposed that we use the less epensive Walsh 3ersonnelFirm in place of -elany. !his would be a mistake because eight years ago, whenKGH was using Walsh, only half of the workers we laid off at that time found &obswithin a year. Moreover, -elany is clearly superior, as evidenced by its bigger staffand larger number of branch offices. fter all, last year -elany's clients took anaverage of si months to find &obs, whereas Walsh's clients took nine.<




English Centre

In a study of the reading habits of Waymarsh citi9ens conducted by the niversity ofWaymarsh, most respondents said they preferred literary classics as readingmaterial. owever, a second study conducted by the same researchers found thatthe type of book most fre%uently checked out of each of the public libraries inWaymarsh was the mystery novel. !herefore, it can be concluded that therespondents in the first study had misrepresented their reading preferences.


!he following appeared in a memorandum written by the vice president of ealth*aturally, a small but epanding chain of stores selling health food and other health4related products.

<+ur previous eperience has been that our stores are most profitable in areaswhere residents are highly concerned with leading healthy lives. We shouldtherefore build one of our new stores in 3lainsville, which clearly has many suchresidents. 3lainsville merchants report that sales of running shoes and eercisee%uipment are at all4time highs. !he local health club, which nearly closed five yearsago due to lack of business, has more members than ever, and the weight4trainingand aerobics classes are always full. We can even anticipate a new generation of

customers5 3lainsville's schoolchildren are re%uired to participate in a program calledFitness for Dife, which emphasi9es the benefits of regular eercise at an early age.<


!he following appeared in a memo at KGH company.

<When KGH lays off employees, it pays -elany 3ersonnel Firm to offer those

employees assistance in creating rPsumPs and developing interviewing skills, if theyso desire. Daid4off employees have benefited greatly from -elany's services5 lastyear those who used -elany found &obs much more %uickly than did those who didnot. 1ecently, it has been proposed that we use the less epensive Walsh 3ersonnelFirm in place of -elany. !his would be a mistake because eight years ago, whenKGH was using Walsh, only half of the workers we laid off at that time found &obswithin a year. Moreover, -elany is clearly superior, as evidenced by its bigger staff



English Centre

and larger number of branch offices. fter all, last year -elany's clients took anaverage of si months to find &obs, whereas Walsh's clients took nine.<


!he following appeared in a memorandum written by the vice president of ealth*aturally, a small but epanding chain of stores selling health food and other health4related products.

<+ur previous eperience has been that our stores are most profitable in areaswhere residents are highly concerned with leading healthy lives. We shouldtherefore build one of our new stores in 3lainsville, which clearly has many suchresidents. 3lainsville merchants report that sales of running shoes and eercisee%uipment are at all4time highs. !he local health club, which nearly closed five yearsago due to lack of business, has more members than ever, and the weight4trainingand aerobics classes are always full. We can even anticipate a new generation ofcustomers5 3lainsville's schoolchildren are re%uired to participate in a program calledFitness for Dife, which emphasi9es the benefits of regular eercise at an early age.<


!hree years ago, because of flooding at the Western 3alean Wildlife 3reserve, "##lions and "## western ga9elles were moved to the )ast 3alean 3reserve, an areathat is home to most of the same species that are found in the western preserve,though in larger numbers, and to the eastern ga9elle, a close relative of the westernga9elle. !he only difference in climate is that the eastern preserve typically hasslightly less rainfall. nfortunately, after three years in the eastern preserve, theimported western ga9elle population has been virtually eliminated. 0ince the slightreduction in rainfall cannot be the cause of the virtual elimination of western ga9elle,



English Centre

their disappearance must have been caused by the larger number of predators inthe eastern preserve.


Workers in the small town of Deeville take fewer sick days than workers in the largecity of Masonton, # miles away. Moreover, relative to population si9e, the diagnosisof stress4related illness is proportionally much lower in Deeville than in Masonton.

ccording to the Deeville Chamber of Commerce, these facts can be attributed tothe health benefits of the relatively relaed pace of life in Deeville.


!he following appeared in a memorandum from the manager of WWC radiostation.

<WWC must change from its current rock4music format because the number oflisteners has been declining, even though the population in our listening area hasbeen growing. !he population growth has resulted mainly from people moving to our area after their retirement, and we must make listeners of these new residents. (utthey seem to have limited interest in music5 several local stores selling recordedmusic have recently closed. !herefore, &ust changing to another kind of music is notgoing to increase our audience. Instead, we should adopt a news4and4talk format, aform of radio that is increasingly popular in our area.<




English Centre

!he vice president of human resources at Climpson Industries sent the followingrecommendation to the company's president.

< recent national survey found that the ma&ority of workers with access to theInternet at work had used company computers for personal or recreational activities,such as banking or playing games. In an effort to improve our employees'productivity, we should implement electronic monitoring of employees' Internet usefrom their workstations. sing electronic monitoring software is the best way toreduce the number of hours Climpson employees spend on personal or recreationalactivities. We predict that installing software to monitor employees' Internet use willallow us to prevent employees from wasting time, thereby increasing productivityand improving overall profits.<



<Five years ago, at a time when we had difficulty obtaining reliable supplies of high4

%uality wool fabric, we discontinued production of our popular alpaca overcoat. *owthat we have a new fabric supplier, we should resume production. Riven the outcryfrom our customers when we discontinued this product and the fact that none of ourcompetitors offers a comparable product, we can epect pent4up consumer demandfor our alpaca coats. !his demand and the overall increase in clothing prices willmake 0artorian's alpaca overcoats more profitable than ever before.<



<Five years ago, at a time when we had difficulty obtaining reliable supplies of high4%uality wool fabric, we discontinued production of our popular alpaca overcoat. *owthat we have a new fabric supplier, we should resume production. Riven the outcry



English Centre

from our customers when we discontinued this product and the fact that none of ourcompetitors offers a comparable product, we can epect pent4up consumer demand

for our alpaca coats. -ue to this demand and the overall increase in clothing prices,we can predict that 0artorian's alpaca overcoats will be more profitable than everbefore.<


!he following appeared in an e4mail sent by the marketing director of the Classical

0hakespeare !heatre of (ardville.

<+ver the past ten years, there has been a $# percent decline in the si9e of theaverage audience at Classical 0hakespeare !heatre productions. In spite ofincreased advertising, we are attracting fewer and fewer people to our shows,causing our profits to decrease significantly. We must take action to attract newaudience members. !he best way to do so is by instituting a '0hakespeare in the3ark' program this summer. !wo years ago the nearby von 1epertory Companystarted a 'Free 3lays in the 3ark' program, and its profits have increased "# percentsince then. If we start a '0hakespeare in the 3ark' program, we can predict that ourprofits will increase, too.<


!he following is a recommendation from the business manager of Monarch (ooks.

<0ince its opening in Collegeville twenty years ago, Monarch (ooks has developed alarge customer base due to its reader4friendly atmosphere and wide selection of

books on all sub&ects. Dast month, (ook and (ean, a combination bookstore andcoffee shop, announced its intention to open a Collegeville store. Monarch (ooksshould open its own in4store cafP in the space currently devoted to children's books.Riven recent national census data indicating a significant decline in the percentageof the population under age ten, sales of children's books are likely to decline. (yreplacing its children's books section with a cafP, Monarch (ooks can increaseprofits and ward off competition from (ook and (ean.<



English Centre



!he following is a recommendation from the business manager of Monarch (ooks.

<0ince its opening in Collegeville twenty years ago, Monarch (ooks has developed alarge customer base due to its reader4friendly atmosphere and wide selection ofbooks on all sub&ects. Dast month, (ook and (ean, a combination bookstore andcoffee shop, announced its intention to open a Collegeville store. Monarch (ooksshould open its own in4store cafP in the space currently devoted to children's books.Riven recent national census data indicating a significant decline in the percentageof the population under age ten, sales of children's books are likely to decline. (yreplacing its children's books section with a cafP, Monarch (ooks can increaseprofits and ward off competition from (ook and (ean.<



<Sa99 music is etremely popular in the city of Monroe5 over "##,### peopleattended Monroe's annual &a99 festival last summer, and the highest4rated radioprogram in Monroe is 'Sa99 *ightly,' which airs every weeknight. lso, a number of

well4known &a99 musicians own homes in Monroe. *evertheless, the nearest &a99club is over an hour away. Riven the popularity of &a99 in Monroe and a recentnationwide study indicating that the typical &a99 fan spends close to N",### per yearon &a99 entertainment, a &a99 music club in Monroe would be tremendouslyprofitable.<




English Centre

!here is now evidence that the relaed pace of life in small towns promotes betterhealth and greater longevity than does the hectic pace of life in big cities.

(usinesses in the small town of Deeville report fewer days of sick leave taken byindividual workers than do businesses in the nearby large city of Masonton.Furthermore, Deeville has only one physician for its one thousand residents, but inMasonton the proportion of physicians to residents is five times as high. Finally, theaverage age of Deeville residents is significantly higher than that of Masontonresidents. !hese findings suggest that people seeking longer and healthier livesshould consider moving to small communities.



<Sa99 music is etremely popular in the city of Monroe5 over "##,### peopleattended Monroe's annual &a99 festival last summer, and the highest4rated radioprogram in Monroe is 'Sa99 *ightly,' which airs every weeknight. lso, a number ofwell4known &a99 musicians own homes in Monroe. *evertheless, the nearest &a99

club is over an hour away. Riven the popularity of &a99 in Monroe and a recentnationwide study indicating that the typical &a99 fan spends close to N",### per yearon &a99 entertainment, we predict that our new &a99 music club in Monroe will be atremendously profitable enterprise.<




English Centre

!here is now evidence that the relaed pace of life in small towns promotes betterhealth and greater longevity than does the hectic pace of life in big cities.(usinesses in the small town of Deeville report fewer days of sick leave taken byindividual workers than do businesses in the nearby large city of Masonton.

Furthermore, Deeville has only one physician for its one thousand residents, but inMasonton the proportion of physicians to residents is five times as high. Finally, theaverage age of Deeville residents is significantly higher than that of Masontonresidents. !hese findings suggest that the relaed pace of life in Deeville allowsresidents to live longer, healthier lives.


!he following appeared in a memo from a vice president of a manufacturingcompany.

<-uring the past year, workers at our newly opened factory reported 7# percentmore on4the4&ob accidents than workers at nearby 3anoply Industries. 3anoplyproduces products very similar to those produced at our factory, but its work shiftsare one hour shorter than ours. )perts say that fatigue and sleep deprivationamong workers are significant contributing factors in many on4the4&ob accidents.3anoply's superior safety record can therefore be attributed to its shorter work shifts,

which allow its employees to get ade%uate amounts of rest.<Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative eplanations that could rival the proposedeplanation and eplain how your eplanation:s; can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.



English Centre

!he following appeared in a memo from the vice president of (utler Manufacturing.

<-uring the past year, workers at (utler Manufacturing reported 7# percent more on4the4&ob accidents than workers at nearby 3anoply Industries, where the work shiftsare one hour shorter than ours. recent government study reports that fatigue andsleep deprivation among workers are significant contributing factors in many on4the4

&ob accidents. If we shorten each of our work shifts by one hour, we can improve(utler Manufacturing's safety record by ensuring that our employees are ade%uatelyrested.<


!he following appeared in a memo from the (oard of -irectors of (utlerManufacturing.

<-uring the past year, workers at (utler Manufacturing reported 7# percent more on4the4&ob accidents than workers at nearby 3anoply Industries, where the work shiftsare one hour shorter than ours. recent government study reports that fatigue and

sleep deprivation among workers are significant contributing factors in many on4the4 &ob accidents. !herefore, we recommend that (utler Manufacturing shorten each ofits work shifts by one hour. 0horter shifts will allow (utler to improve its safety recordby ensuring that its employees are ade%uately rested.<


!he following appeared in a memo from the business manager of a chain of cheesestores located throughout the nited 0tates.

<For many years all the stores in our chain have stocked a wide variety of bothdomestic and imported cheeses. Dast year, however, all of the five best4sellingcheeses at our newest store were domestic cheddar cheeses from Wisconsin.Furthermore, a recent survey by Cheeses of the 'orld maga9ine indicates an increasing



English Centre

preference for domestic cheeses among its subscribers. 0ince our company canreduce epenses by limiting inventory, the best way to improve profits in all of our

stores is to discontinue stocking many of our varieties of imported cheese andconcentrate primarily on domestic cheeses.<Write a response in which you eamine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. (e sure toeplain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if theassumptions prove unwarranted.

!he following appeared in a memo from the owner of a chain of cheese storeslocated throughout the nited 0tates.

<For many years all the stores in our chain have stocked a wide variety of bothdomestic and imported cheeses. Dast year, however, all of the five best4sellingcheeses at our newest store were domestic cheddar cheeses from Wisconsin.

Furthermore, a recent survey by Cheeses of the 'orld maga9ine indicates an increasingpreference for domestic cheeses among its subscribers. 0ince our company canreduce epenses by limiting inventory, the best way to improve profits in all of ourstores is to discontinue stocking many of our varieties of imported cheese andconcentrate primarily on domestic cheeses.<


!he following appeared in a memorandum from the general manager of Q*+Wradio station.

<0everal factors indicate that radio station Q*+W should shift its programming fromrock4and4roll music to a continuous news format. Consider, for eample, that thenumber of people in our listening area over fifty years of age has increaseddramatically, while our total number of listeners has declined. lso, music stores inour area report decreased sales of recorded music. Finally, continuous newsstations in neighboring cities have been very successful. !he switch from rock4and4roll music to $84hour news will attract older listeners and secure Q*+W radio's

future.<Write a response in which you eamine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. (e sure toeplain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if theassumptions prove unwarranted.



English Centre

!he following appeared in a memorandum from the manager of Q*+W radio station.

<0everal factors indicate that Q*+W radio can no longer succeed as a rock4and4rollmusic station. Consider, for eample, that the number of people in our listening areaover fifty years of age has increased dramatically, while our total number of listenershas declined. lso, music stores in our area report decreased sales of rock4and4rollmusic. Finally, continuous news stations in neighboring cities have been verysuccessful. We predict that switching Q*+W radio from rock4and4roll music to $84hour news will allow the station to attract older listeners and make Q*+W radiomore profitable than ever.<



<In order to stop the recent decline in our profits, we must reduce operatingepenses at Movies Ralore's ten movie4rental stores. 0ince we are famous for ourspecial bargains, raising our rental prices is not a viable way to improve profits. Dastmonth our store in downtown Marston significantly decreased its operating epensesby closing at >5## 3.M. rather than J5## 3.M. and by reducing its stock by eliminatingall movies released more than five years ago. (y implementing similar changes inour other stores, Movies Ralore can increase profits without &eopardi9ing ourreputation for offering great movies at low prices.<



<In order to reverse the recent decline in our profits, we must reduce operatingepenses at Movies Ralore's ten movie4rental stores. 0ince we are famous for ourspecial bargains, raising our rental prices is not a viable way to improve profits. Dastmonth our store in downtown Marston significantly decreased its operating epensesby closing at >5## p.m. rather than J5## p.m. and by reducing its stock by eliminatingall movies released more than five years ago. !herefore, in order to increase profits



English Centre

without &eopardi9ing our reputation for offering great movies at low prices, werecommend implementing similar changes in our other nine Movies Ralore stores.<


!he following is a recommendation from the personnel director to the president of cme 3ublishing Company.

<Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the

)asy 1ead 0peed41eading Course has greatly improved productivity. +ne graduateof the course was able to read a ##4page report in only two hours= anothergraduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in undera year. +bviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in asingle workday. Moreover, )asy 1ead would cost cme only N## per employeeLasmall price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three4week seminar in 0pruce City and a lifelong subscription to the )asy 1eadnewsletter. Clearly, to improve productivity, cme should re%uire all of ouremployees to take the )asy 1ead course.<

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe advice and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how the answers to these

%uestions would help to evaluate the advice.


<1ecently, we signed a contract with the Fly4way 3est Control Company to providepest control services at our warehouse in 3alm City, but last month we discovered

that over N$#,### worth of food there had been destroyed by pest damage.Meanwhile, the (u99off 3est Control Company, which we have used for many yearsin 3alm City, continued to service our warehouse in Wintervale, and last month onlyN"#,### worth of the food stored there had been destroyed by pest damage. )venthough the price charged by Fly4way is considerably lower, our best means ofsaving money is to return to (u99off for all our pest control services.<



English Centre




<!en years ago our company had two new office buildings constructed as regionalhead%uarters for two different regions. !he buildings were erected by two different

construction companiesLlpha and Heta. )ven though the two buildings hadidentical floor plans, the building constructed by Heta cost 7# percent more to build,and its epenses for maintenance last year were twice those of the buildingconstructed by lpha. Furthermore, the energy consumption of the Heta building hasbeen higher than that of the lpha building every year since its construction. 0uchdata, plus the fact that lpha has a stable workforce with little employee turnover,indicate that we should use lpha rather than Heta for our contemplated newbuilding pro&ect.<



<1ecently, we signed a contract with the Fly4way 3est Control Company to providepest control services at our warehouse in 3alm City, but last month we discoveredthat over N$#,### worth of food there had been destroyed by pest damage.Meanwhile, the (u99off 3est Control Company, which we have used for many yearsin 3alm City, continued to service our warehouse in Wintervale, and last month onlyN"#,### worth of the food stored there had been destroyed by pest damage. !hisdifference in pest damage is best eplained by the negligence of Fly4way.<




English Centre


<1ecently, we signed a contract with the Fly4way 3est Control Company to providepest control services at our warehouse in 3alm City, but last month we discoveredthat over N$#,### worth of food there had been destroyed by pest damage.Meanwhile, the (u99off 3est Control Company, which we have used for many yearsin 3alm City, continued to service our warehouse in Wintervale, and last month onlyN"#,### worth of the food stored there had been destroyed by pest damage. )venthough the price charged by Fly4way is considerably lower, our best means ofsaving money is to return to (u99off for all our pest control services.<


!he following appeared as part of an article in a business maga9ine.

< recent study rating 7## male and female advertising eecutives according to theaverage number of hours they sleep per night showed an association between theamount of sleep the eecutives need and the success of their firms. +f theadvertising firms studied, those whose eecutives reported needing no more than

si hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. +n thebasis of this study, we recommend that businesses hire only people who need lessthan si hours of sleep per night.<


)vidence suggests that academic honor codes, which call for students to agree not

to cheat in their academic endeavors and to notify a faculty member if they suspectthat others have cheated, are far more successful than are other methods atdeterring cheating among students at colleges and universities. 0everal years ago,Rroveton College adopted such a code and discontinued its old4fashioned system inwhich teachers closely monitored students. nder the old system, teachers reportedan average of thirty cases of cheating per year. In the first year the honor code wasin place, students reported twenty4one cases of cheating= five years later, this figurehad dropped to fourteen. Moreover, in a recent survey, a ma&ority of Rroveton



English Centre

students said that they would be less likely to cheat with an honor code in place thanwithout.


0everal years ago, Rroveton College adopted an honor code, which calls forstudents to agree not to cheat in their academic endeavors and to notify a facultymember if they suspect that others have cheated. Rroveton's honor code replaced asystem in which teachers closely monitored students. nder that system, teachersreported an average of thirty cases of cheating per year. !he honor code has provenfar more successful5 in the first year it was in place, students reported twenty4onecases of cheating= five years later, this figure had dropped to fourteen. Moreover, ina recent survey, a ma&ority of Rroveton students said that they would be less likely tocheat with an honor code in place than without. 0uch evidence suggests that allcolleges and universities should adopt honor codes similar to Rroveton's. !hischange is sure to result in a dramatic decline in cheating among college students.



<In a controlled laboratory study of li%uid hand soaps, a concentrated solution ofetra strength ltraClean hand soap produced a 8# percent greater reduction inharmful bacteria than did the li%uid hand soaps currently used in our hospitals.-uring our recent test of regular4strength ltraClean with doctors, nurses, andvisitors at our hospital in Worktown, the hospital reported significantly fewer cases of

patient infection :a $# percent reduction; than did any of the other hospitals in ourgroup. !herefore, to prevent serious patient infections, we should supply ltraCleanat all hand4washing stations, including those used by visitors, throughout ourhospital system.<




English Centre


<In a controlled laboratory study of li%uid hand soaps, a concentrated solution ofetra strength ltraClean hand soap produced a 8# percent greater reduction inharmful bacteria than did the li%uid hand soaps currently used in our hospitals.-uring our recent test of regular4strength ltraClean with doctors, nurses, andvisitors at our hospital in Worktown, the hospital reported significantly fewer cases of

patient infection :a $# percent reduction; than did any of the other hospitals in ourgroup. !he eplanation for the $# percent reduction in patient infections is the use of ltraClean soap.<



< ten4year nationwide study of the effectiveness of wearing a helmet while bicyclingindicates that ten years ago, approimately 7 percent of all bicyclists reportedwearing helmets, whereas today that number is nearly O# percent. nother study,however, suggests that during the same ten4year period, the number of accidentscaused by bicycling has increased $## percent. !hese results demonstrate thatbicyclists feel safer because they are wearing helmets, and they take more risks asa result. !hus, there is clearly a call for the government to strive to reduce thenumber of serious in&uries from bicycle accidents by launching an educationprogram that concentrates on the factors other than helmet use that are necessaryfor bicycle safety.<





English Centre

<In a controlled laboratory study of li%uid hand soaps, a concentrated solution ofetra strength ltraClean hand soap produced a 8# percent greater reduction in

harmful bacteria than did the li%uid hand soaps currently used in our hospitals.-uring our recent test of regular4strength ltraClean with doctors, nurses, andvisitors at our hospital in Worktown, the hospital reported significantly fewer cases of patient infection :a $# percent reduction; than did any of the other hospitals in ourgroup. !herefore, to prevent serious patient infections, we should supply ltraCleanat all hand4washing stations, including those used by visitors, throughout ourhospital system.<



< ten4year nationwide study of the effectiveness of wearing a helmet while bicyclingindicates that ten years ago, approimately 7 percent of all bicyclists reportedwearing helmets, whereas today that number is nearly O# percent. nother study,however, suggests that during the same ten4year period, the number of accidentscaused by bicycling has increased $## percent. !hese results demonstrate thatbicyclists feel safer because they are wearing helmets, and they take more risks asa result. !hus there is clearly a call for the government to strive to reduce thenumber of serious in&uries from bicycle accidents by launching an educationprogram that concentrates on the factors other than helmet use that are necessaryfor bicycle safety.<



<Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the)asy 1ead 0peed41eading Course has greatly improved productivity. +ne graduateof the course was able to read a ##4page report in only two hours= anothergraduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in undera year. +bviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in asingle workday. Moreover, )asy 1ead would cost cme only N## per employeeLa



English Centre

small price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three4week seminar in 0pruce City and a lifelong subscription to the )asy 1ead

newsletter. Clearly, cme would benefit greatly by re%uiring all of our employees totake the )asy 1ead course.<



<Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the)asy 1ead 0peed41eading Course has greatly improved productivity. +ne graduateof the course was able to read a ##4page report in only two hours= anothergraduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in undera year. +bviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in asingle workday. Moreover, )asy 1ead would cost cme only N## per employeeLasmall price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three4week seminar in 0pruce City and a lifelong subscription to the )asy 1eadnewsletter. Clearly, to improve overall productivity, cme should re%uire all of ouremployees to take the )asy 1ead course.<



<+ne month ago, all the showerheads in the first three buildings of the 0unnyside!owers comple were modified to restrict maimum water flow to one4third of what it

used to be. lthough actual readings of water usage before and after the ad&ustmentare not yet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for0unnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month.)cept for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showershave been reported since the ad&ustment. Clearly, modifying showerheads to restrictwater flow throughout all twelve buildings in the 0unnyside !owers comple willincrease our profits further.<



English Centre



<Dast week, all the showerheads in the first three buildings of the 0unnyside !owerscomple were modified to restrict maimum water flow to one4third of what it used tobe. lthough actual readings of water usage before and after the ad&ustment are notyet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for0unnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month.)cept for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showershave been reported since the ad&ustment. Clearly, modifying showerheads to restrictwater flow throughout all twelve buildings in the 0unnyside !owers comple willincrease our profits further.<



<(utter has now been replaced by margarine in appy 3ancake ouse restaurantsthroughout the southwestern nited 0tates. +nly about $ percent of customers havefiled a formal complaint, indicating that an average of JO people out of "## arehappy with the change. Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number ofcustomers who ask for butter do not complain when they are given margarineinstead. Clearly, either these customers cannot distinguish butter from margarine orthey use the term 'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine. !hus, to avoid theepense of purchasing butter, the appy 3ancake ouse should etend this cost4

saving change to its restaurants throughout the rest of the country.<




English Centre


<(utter has now been replaced by margarine in appy 3ancake ouse restaurantsthroughout the southwestern nited 0tates. +nly about $ percent of customers havecomplained, indicating that an average of JO people out of "## are happy with thechange. Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number of customers whoask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. Clearly, either

these customers cannot distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine. !hus, we predict that appy 3ancakeouse will be able to increase profits dramatically if we etend this cost4savingchange to all our restaurants in the southeast and northeast as well.<


!he following appeared in a letter to the school board in the town of Centerville.

<ll students should be re%uired to take the driver's education course at Centervilleigh 0chool. In the past two years, several accidents in and around Centerville haveinvolved teenage drivers. 0ince a number of parents in Centerville have complainedthat they are too busy to teach their teenagers to drive, some other instruction isnecessary to ensure that these teenagers are safe drivers. lthough there are twodriving schools in Centerville, parents on a tight budget cannot afford to pay fordriving instruction. !herefore an effective and mandatory program sponsored by thehigh school is the only solution to this serious problem.<




English Centre


<(utter has now been replaced by margarine in appy 3ancake ouse restaurantsthroughout the southwestern nited 0tates. +nly about $ percent of customers havecomplained, indicating that an average of JO people out of "## are happy with thechange. Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number of customers whoask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. Clearly, either these customers cannot distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine. !hus, to avoid the epense of

purchasing butter and to increase profitability, the appy 3ancake ouse shouldetend this cost4saving change to its restaurants in the southeast and northeast aswell.<


!he following appeared in a letter to the school board in the town of Centerville.<ll students should be re%uired to take the driver's education course at Centervilleigh 0chool. In the past two years, several accidents in and around Centerville haveinvolved teenage drivers. 0ince a number of parents in Centerville have complainedthat they are too busy to teach their teenagers to drive, some other instruction isnecessary to ensure that these teenagers are safe drivers. lthough there are twodriving schools in Centerville, parents on a tight budget cannot afford to pay fordriving instruction. !herefore an effective and mandatory program sponsored by thehigh school is the only solution to this serious problem.<





English Centre

!he data from a survey of high school math and science teachers show that in thedistrict of 0anlee many of these teachers reported assigning daily homework,whereas in the district of Marlee, most science and math teachers reportedassigning homework no more than two or three days per week. -espite receivingless fre%uent homework assignments, Marlee students earn better grades overalland are less likely to be re%uired to repeat a year of school than are students in0anlee. !hese results call into %uestion the usefulness of fre%uent homeworkassignments. Most likely the Marlee students have more time to concentrate onindividual assignments than do the 0anlee students who have homework every day.!herefore teachers in our high schools should assign homework no more than twicea week.


!he following appeared in a letter to the school board in the town of Centerville.

<ll students should be re%uired to take the driver's education course at Centervilleigh 0chool. In the past two years, several accidents in and around Centerville have

involved teenage drivers. 0ince a number of parents in Centerville have complainedthat they are too busy to teach their teenagers to drive, some other instruction isnecessary to ensure that these teenagers are safe drivers. lthough there are twodriving schools in Centerville, parents on a tight budget cannot afford to pay fordriving instruction. !herefore an effective and mandatory program sponsored by thehigh school is the only solution to this serious problem.<




English Centre

While the -epartment of )ducation in the state of ttra recommends that highschool students be assigned homework every day, the data from a recent statewidesurvey of high school math and science teachers give us reason to %uestion theusefulness of daily homework. In the district of 0anlee, O> percent of the teachersreported assigning homework three to five times a week, whereas in the district ofMarlee, less than $ percent of the teachers reported assigning homework three tofive times a week. Get the students in Marlee earn better grades overall and are lesslikely to be re%uired to repeat a year of school than are the students in 0anlee.!herefore, all teachers in our high schools should assign homework no more thantwice a week.


!he following appeared as an editorial in the student newspaper of RrovetonCollege.

<!o combat the recently reported dramatic rise in cheating among college students,

colleges and universities should adopt honor codes similar to Rroveton's, which callsfor students to agree not to cheat in their academic endeavors and to notify a facultymember if they suspect that others have cheated. Rroveton's honor code replacedan old4fashioned system in which teachers closely monitored students. nder thatsystem, teachers reported an average of thirty cases of cheating per year. !hehonor code has proven far more successful5 in the first year it was in place, studentsreported twenty4one cases of cheating= five years later, this figure had dropped tofourteen. Moreover, in a recent survey conducted by the Rroveton honor council, ama&ority of students said that they would be less likely to cheat with an honor code inplace than without.<




English Centre

!he following appeared in a memo from a budget planner for the city of Rrandview.<+ur citi9ens are well aware of the fact that while the Rrandview 0ymphony+rchestra was struggling to succeed, our city government promised annual fundingto help support its programs. Dast year, however, private contributions to thesymphony increased by $## percent, and attendance at the symphony's concerts4in4the4park series doubled. !he symphony has also announced an increase in ticketprices for net year. 0uch developments indicate that the symphony can nowsucceed without funding from city government and we can eliminate that epensefrom net year's budget. !herefore, we recommend that the city of Rrandvieweliminate its funding for the Rrandview 0ymphony from net year's budget. (y doing

so, we can prevent a city budget deficit without threatening the success of thesymphony.<


While the -epartment of )ducation in the state of ttra suggests that high school

students be assigned homework every day, the data from a recent statewide surveyof high school math and science teachers give us reason to %uestion the usefulnessof daily homework. In the district of 0anlee, O> percent of the teachers reportedassigning homework three to five times a week, whereas in the district of Marlee,less than $ percent of the teachers reported assigning homework three to fivetimes a week. Get the students in Marlee earn better grades overall and are lesslikely to be re%uired to repeat a year of school than are the students in 0anlee.!herefore, we recommend that all teachers in our high schools should assignhomework no more than twice a week.

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whether

the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how theanswers to these %uestions would help to evaluate the recommendation.



English Centre

!he following appeared in a memo to the board of the Rrandview 0ymphony.<!he city of Rrandview has provided annual funding for the Rrandview 0ymphonysince the symphony's inception ten years ago. Dast year the symphony hired aninternationally known conductor, who has been able to attract high4profile guestmusicians to perform with the symphony. 0ince then, private contributions to thesymphony have doubled and attendance at the symphony's concerts4in4the4parkseries has reached new highs. *ow that the Rrandview 0ymphony is an establishedsuccess, it can raise ticket prices. Increased revenue from larger audiences andhigher ticket prices will enable the symphony to succeed without funding from thecity government.<


ospital statistics regarding people who go to the emergency room after roller4skating accidents indicate the need for more protective e%uipment. Within that groupof people, T percent of those who had accidents in streets or parking lots had notbeen wearing any protective clothing :helmets, knee pads, etc.; or any light4reflecting material :clip4on lights, glow4in4the4dark wrist pads, etc.;. Clearly, the

statistics indicate that by investing in high4%uality protective gear and reflectivee%uipment, roller skaters will greatly reduce their risk of being severely in&ured in anaccident.


!he following appeared in a memo from a budget planner for the city of Rrandview.

<When the Rrandview 0ymphony was established ten years ago, the city ofRrandview agreed to provide the symphony with annual funding until the symphonybecame self4sustaining. !wo years ago, the symphony hired an internationallyknown conductor, who has been able to attract high4profile guest musicians toperform with the symphony. 0ince then, private contributions to the symphony havetripled and attendance at the symphony's outdoor summer concert series has



English Centre

reached record highs. *ow that the symphony has succeeded in finding anaudience, the city can eliminate its funding of the symphony.<


!he citi9ens of Forsythe have adopted more healthful lifestyles. !heir responses to arecent survey show that in their eating habits they conform more closely togovernment nutritional recommendations than they did ten years ago. Furthermore,there has been a fourfold increase in sales of food products containing kiran, a

substance that a scientific study has shown reduces cholesterol. !his trend is alsoevident in reduced sales of sulia, a food that few of the healthiest citi9ens regularlyeat.


!he following appeared in a memo to the board of directors of a company thatspeciali9es in the delivery of heating oil.

<Most homes in the northeastern nited 0tates, where winters are typically cold,have traditionally used oil as their ma&or fuel for heating. Dast heating season, thatregion eperienced J# days with below4normal temperatures, and climateforecasters predict that this weather pattern will continue for several more years.Furthermore, many new homes are being built in the region in response to recentpopulation growth. (ecause of these trends, we can safely predict that this regionwill eperience an increased demand for heating oil during the net five years.<




English Centre

!he following appeared in a memo to the board of directors of a company thatspeciali9es in the delivery of heating oil.

<Most homes in the northeastern nited 0tates, where winters are typically cold,have traditionally used oil as their ma&or fuel for heating. Dast heating season, thatregion eperienced J# days with below4normal temperatures, and climateforecasters predict that this weather pattern will continue for several more years.Furthermore, many new homes are being built in the region in response to recentpopulation growth. (ecause of these trends, we can safely predict that this regionwill eperience an increased demand for heating oil during the net five years.<



!he following recommendation was made by the president and administrative staffof Rrove College, a private institution, to the college's governing committee.

<We recommend that Rrove College preserve its century4old tradition of all4femaleeducation rather than admit men into its programs. It is true that a ma&ority of facultymembers voted in favor of coeducation, arguing that it would encourage morestudents to apply to Rrove. (ut O# percent of the students responding to a surveyconducted by the student government wanted the school to remain all female, andover half of the alumnae who answered a separate survey also opposedcoeducation. Qeeping the college all female will improve morale among studentsand convince alumnae to keep supporting the college financially.<



<We recommend that Rrove College preserve its century4old tradition of all4femaleeducation rather than admit men into its programs. It is true that a ma&ority of facultymembers voted in favor of coeducation, arguing that it would encourage more



English Centre

students to apply to Rrove. (ut O# percent of the students responding to a surveyconducted by the student government wanted the school to remain all female, and

over half of the alumnae who answered a separate survey also opposedcoeducation. Qeeping the college all female will improve morale among studentsand convince alumnae to keep supporting the college financially.<



<We recommend that Rrove College preserve its century4old tradition of all4femaleeducation rather than admit men into its programs. It is true that a ma&ority of facultymembers voted in favor of coeducation, arguing that it would encourage morestudents to apply to Rrove. (ut O# percent of the students responding to a surveyconducted by the student government wanted the school to remain all female, andover half of the alumnae who answered a separate survey also opposedcoeducation. Qeeping the college all female will improve morale among students

and convince alumnae to keep supporting the college financially.<Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whetherthe recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. (e sure to eplain how the answers to these%uestions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

!he following appeared in a letter from a firm providing investment advice to a client.

<omes in the northeastern nited 0tates, where winters are typically cold, havetraditionally used oil as their ma&or fuel for heating. Dast year that region eperiencedJ# days with below4average temperatures, and climate forecasters at Waymarshniversity predict that this weather pattern will continue for several more years.Furthermore, many new homes have been built in this region during the past year.(ecause these developments will certainly result in an increased demand forheating oil, we recommend investment in Consolidated Industries, one of whosema&or business operations is the retail sale of home heating oil.<



English Centre



(enton City residents have adopted healthier lifestyles. recent survey of cityresidents shows that the eating habits of city residents conform more closely togovernment nutritional recommendations than they did ten years ago. -uring thoseten years, local sales of food products containing kiran, a substance that a scientificstudy has shown reduces cholesterol, have increased fourfold, while sales of sulia, a

food rarely eaten by the healthiest residents, have declined dramatically. (ecause of these positive changes in the eating habits of (enton City residents, we predict thatthe obesity rate in the city will soon be well below the national average.


!he following appeared in a memo to the board of directors of (argain (randCereals.

<+ne year ago we introduced our first product, (argain (rand breakfast cereal. +urvery low prices %uickly drew many customers away from the top4selling cerealcompanies. lthough the companies producing the top brands have since tried tocompete with us by lowering their prices and although several plan to introduce their own budget brands, not once have we needed to raise our prices to continue makinga profit. Riven our success in selling cereal, we recommend that (argain (rand nowepand its business and begin marketing other low4priced food products as %uicklyas possible.<




English Centre

!he following appeared in a memo to the board of directors of (argain (randCereals.

<+ne year ago we introduced our first product, (argain (rand breakfast cereal. +urvery low prices %uickly drew many customers away from the top4selling cerealcompanies. lthough the companies producing the top brands have since tried tocompete with us by lowering their prices and although several plan to introduce their own budget brands, not once have we needed to raise our prices to continue makinga profit. Riven our success in selling cereal, we recommend that (argain (rand nowepand its business and begin marketing other low4priced food products as %uicklyas possible.<



<omes in the northeastern nited 0tates, where winters are typically cold, havetraditionally used oil as their ma&or fuel for heating. Dast year that region eperiencedtwenty days with below4average temperatures, and local weather forecastersthroughout the region predict that this weather pattern will continue for several more

years. Furthermore, many new homes have been built in this region during the pastyear. (ased on these developments, we predict a large increase in the demand forheating oil. !herefore, we recommend investment in Consolidated Industries, one ofwhose ma&or business operations is the retail sale of home heating oil.<



<omes in the northeastern nited 0tates, where winters are typically cold, havetraditionally used oil as their ma&or fuel for heating. Dast year that region eperiencedtwenty days with below4average temperatures, and local weather forecasters



English Centre

throughout the region predict that this weather pattern will continue for several moreyears. Furthermore, many new homes have been built in this region during the past

year. (ecause of these developments, we predict an increased demand for heatingoil and recommend investment in Consolidated Industries, one of whose ma&orbusiness operations is the retail sale of home heating oil.<



<1ecently, there have been discussions about ending Rrove College's century4oldtradition of all4female education by admitting male students into our programs. t arecent faculty meeting, a ma&ority of faculty members voted in favor of coeducation,arguing that it would encourage more students to apply to Rrove. owever, Rrovestudents, both past and present, are against the idea of coeducation. )ighty percentof the students responding to a survey conducted by the student governmentwanted the school to remain all female, and over half of the alumnae who answereda separate survey also opposed coeducation. !herefore, we recommendmaintaining Rrove College's tradition of all4female education. We predict thatkeeping the college all4female will improve morale among students and convincealumnae to keep supporting the college financially.<


!he following appeared in a memo from the marketing director of !op -og 3et

0tores.<Five years ago Fish )mporium started advertising in the maga9ine 2otic 5ets Monthly .!heir stores saw sales increase by " percent after their ads began appearing in themaga9ine. !he three Fish )mporium stores in Rulf City saw an even greaterincrease than that. (ecause !op -og 3et 0tores is based in Rulf City, it seems clearthat we should start placing our own ads in2otic 5ets Monthly . If we do so, we will besure to reverse the recent trend of declining sales and start making a profit again.<



English Centre



!he following appeared in a memo from the marketing director of !op -og 3et0tores.

<Five years ago, Fish )mporium started advertising in the maga9ine 2otic 5ets

Monthly . !heir stores saw sales increase by " percent. !he three Fish )mporium

stores in Rulf City saw an even greater increase than that. (ecause !op -og hassome of its largest stores in Rulf City, it seems clear that we should start placing ourown ads in 2otic 5ets Monthly . If we do so, we will be sure to reverse the recent trendof declining sales and start making a profit again.<


!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of the *almer Island 3a4ette.<!he population on (almer Island increases to "##,### during the summer months.!o reduce the number of accidents involving mopeds and pedestrians, the towncouncil of (almer Island plans to limit the number of mopeds rented by each of theisland's si moped rental companies from # per day to 7# per day during thesummer season. Dast year, the neighboring island of !orseau enforced similar limitson moped rentals and saw a # percent reduction in moped accidents. We predictthat putting these limits into effect on (almer Island will result in the same reductionin moped accidents.<

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be answered in order to decide whether

the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how the answers tothese %uestions would help to evaluate the prediction.



English Centre

!he following appeared in a recommendation from the 3resident of the mburgChamber of Commerce.

<Dast +ctober, the city of (elleville installed high4intensity lighting in its centralbusiness district, and vandalism there declined almost immediately. !he city of

mburg, on the other hand, recently instituted police patrols on bicycles in itsbusiness district. owever, the rate of vandalism here remains constant. 0ince high4intensity lighting is clearly the most effective way to combat crime, we recommendusing the money that is currently being spent on bicycle patrols to install suchlighting throughout mburg. If we install this high4intensity lighting, we willsignificantly reduce crime rates in mburg.<



<Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the)asy 1ead 0peed41eading Course has greatly improved productivity. +ne graduateof the course was able to read a ##4page report in only two hours= another

graduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in undera year. +bviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in asingle workday. Moreover, )asy 1ead would cost cme only N## per employeeLasmall price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three4week seminar in 0pruce City and a lifelong subscription to the )asy 1eadnewsletter. Clearly, cme would benefit greatly by re%uiring all of our employees totake the )asy 1ead course.<


!he following appeared in a memo from a budget planner for the city of Rrandview.



English Centre

<It is time for the city of Rrandview to stop funding the Rrandview 0ymphony+rchestra. It is true that the symphony struggled financially for many years, but last

year private contributions to the symphony increased by $## percent andattendance at the symphony's concerts4in4the4park series doubled. In addition, thesymphony has &ust announced an increase in ticket prices for net year. For thesereasons, we recommend that the city eliminate funding for the Rrandview 0ymphony+rchestra from net year's budget. We predict that the symphony will flourish in theyears to come even without funding from the city.<


!he following memo appeared in the newsletter of the West Meria 3ublic ealthCouncil.

<n innovative treatment has come to our attention that promises to significantlyreduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces. study reports that in nearby)ast Meria, where consumption of the plant beneficia is very high, people visit thedoctor only once or twice per year for the treatment of colds. Clearly, eating asubstantial amount of beneficia can prevent colds. 0ince colds are the reason mostfre%uently given for absences from school and work, we recommend the daily use of

nutritional supplements derived from beneficia. We predict this will dramaticallyreduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces.<


!he following was written by a group of developers in the city of Monroe.

< &a99 music club in Monroe would be a tremendously profitable enterprise. tpresent, the nearest &a99 club is over ># miles away from Monroe= thus, ourproposed club, the C *ote, would have the local market all to itself. In addition, thereis ample evidence of the popularity of &a99 in Monroe5 over "##,### people attendedMonroe's &a99 festival last summer, several well4known &a99 musicians live inMonroe, and the highest4rated radio program in Monroe is 'Sa99 *ightly.' Finally, anationwide study indicates that the typical &a99 fan spends close to N",### per year



English Centre

on &a99 entertainment. We therefore predict that the C *ote cannot help but makemoney.<


umans arrived in the Qaliko Islands about T,### years ago, and within 7,### yearsmost of the large mammal species that had lived in the forests of the Qaliko Islands

were etinct. 3revious archaeological findings have suggested that early humansgenerally relied on both fishing and hunting for food= since archaeologists havediscovered numerous sites in the Qaliko Islands where the bones of fish werediscarded, it is likely that the humans also hunted the mammals. Furthermore,researchers have uncovered simple tools, such as stone knives, that could be usedfor hunting. !he only clear eplanation is that humans caused the etinction of thevarious mammal species through ecessive hunting.


!he following memo appeared in the newsletter of the West Meria 3ublic ealthCouncil.

<n innovative treatment has come to our attention that promises to significantlyreduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces. study reports that in nearby)ast Meria, where fish consumption is very high, people visit the doctor only once or twice per year for the treatment of colds. !his shows that eating a substantialamount of fish can clearly prevent colds. Furthermore, since colds are the reason

most fre%uently given for absences from school and work, attendance levels willimprove. !herefore, we recommend the daily use of a nutritional supplement derivedfrom fish oil as a good way to prevent colds and lower absenteeism.<




English Centre

!he following appeared in a memo from a vice president of lta Manufacturing.

<-uring the past year, lta Manufacturing had thirty percent more on4the4&obaccidents than nearby 3anoply Industries, where the work shifts are one hourshorter than ours. )perts believe that a significant contributing factor in manyaccidents is fatigue caused by sleep deprivation among workers. !herefore, toreduce the number of on4the4&ob accidents at lta, we recommend shortening eachof our three work shifts by one hour. If we do this, our employees will get ade%uateamounts of sleep.<


!he following is a letter that recently appeared in the 7ak City 3a4ette, a localnewspaper.<!he primary function of the Committee for a (etter +ak City is to advise the citygovernment on how to make the best use of the city's limited budget. owever, atsome of our recent meetings we failed to make important decisions because of the

foolish ob&ections raised by committee members who are not even residents of +akCity. 3eople who work in +ak City but who live elsewhere cannot fully understandthe business and politics of the city. fter all, only +ak City residents pay city taes,and therefore only residents understand how that money could best be used toimprove the city. We recommend, then, that the Committee for a (etter +ak Cityvote to restrict its membership to city residents only. We predict that, without theinterference of non4residents, the committee will be able to make +ak City a betterplace in which to live and work.<


!he following appeared in a memo from the mayor of (rindleburg to the city council.

<!wo years ago, the town of 0easide 2ista opened a new municipal golf course andresort hotel. 0ince then, the 0easide 2ista !ourism (oard has reported a $#V



English Centre

increase in visitors. In addition, local banks reported a steep rise in the number ofnew business loan applications they received this year. !he amount of ta money

collected by 0easide 2ista has also increased, allowing the town to announce plansto improve 0easide 2ista's roads and bridges. We recommend building a similar golf course and resort hotel in (rindleburg. We predict that this pro&ect will generateadditional ta revenue that the city can use to fund much4needed publicimprovements.<


!he following appeared in a memo from the vice president of a company that buildsshopping malls around the country.

<!he surface of a section of 1oute "#", paved &ust two years ago by Rood Intentions1oadways, is now badly cracked with a number of dangerous potholes. In anotherpart of the state, a section of 1oute 8#, paved by ppian 1oadways more than fouryears ago, is still in good condition. In a demonstration of their continuingcommitment to %uality, ppian 1oadways recently purchased state4of4the4art pavingmachinery and hired a new %uality4control manager. !herefore, I recommend hiring

ppian 1oadways to construct the access roads for all our new shopping malls. I

predict that our ppian access roads will not have to be repaired for at least fouryears.<


!he following appeared as a letter to the editor from the owner of a skate shop inCentral 3la9a.

<!wo years ago the city voted to prohibit skateboarding in Central 3la9a. !heyclaimed that skateboard users were responsible for the litter and vandalism thatwere keeping other visitors from coming to the pla9a. In the past two years,however, there has only been a small increase in the number of visitors to Central3la9a, and litter and vandalism are still problematic. 0kateboarding is permitted inMonroe 3ark, however, and there is no problem with litter or vandalism there. In



English Centre

order to restore Central 3la9a to its former glory, then, we recommend that the citylift its prohibition on skateboarding in the pla9a.<


!he following appeared in a recommendation from the president of mburg'sChamber of Commerce.

<Dast +ctober the city of (elleville installed high4intensity lighting in its central

business district, and vandalism there declined within a month. !he city of mburghas recently begun police patrols on bicycles in its business district, but the rate ofvandalism there remains constant. We should install high4intensity lightingthroughout mburg, then, because doing so is a more effective way to combatcrime. (y reducing crime in this way, we can revitali9e the declining neighborhoodsin our city.<


!he following appeared in a letter to the editor of the *almer Island 3a4ette.<!he population on (almer Island doubles during the summer months. -uring thesummer, then, the town council of (almer Island should decrease the maimumnumber of moped rentals allowed at each of the island's si moped and bicyclerental companies from # per day to 7# per day. !his will significantly reduce thenumber of summertime accidents involving mopeds and pedestrians. !heneighboring island of !orseau actually saw a # percent reduction in mopedaccidents last year when !orseau's town council enforced similar limits on moped

rentals. !o help reduce moped accidents, therefore, we should also enforce theselimitations during the summer months.<


recent sales study indicates that consumption of seafood dishes in (ay Cityrestaurants has increased by 7# percent during the past five years. Get there are no



English Centre

currently operating city restaurants whose specialty is seafood. Moreover, thema&ority of families in (ay City are two4income families, and a nationwide study has

shown that such families eat significantly fewer home4cooked meals than they did adecade ago but at the same time epress more concern about healthful eating.!herefore, the new Captain 0eafood restaurant that speciali9es in seafood shouldbe %uite popular and profitable.

Write a response in which you discuss what %uestions would need to be addressed in order to decide whetherthe conclusion and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. (e sure to eplain how the answers tothe %uestions would help to evaluate the conclusion.

gre- analyzing an argument - copy

Documents