1. Argument - Tourism Revenue
August 22, 2007 — tranquilstorm
This was my last essay before GMAT
Last summer saw a 500% increase in tourism at seaside resort, and the national
economic situation is even more favorable this year. This summer’s tourist boom
will surely generate record revenues which will resolve our area’s economic
difficulties.
The author’s argument that summer’s tourism boom will continue and it will resolve area’s
economic difficulties is weak; it rests on many assumptions and fails to substantiate sustainable
evidences. The author assumes that the growth of industry will continue this year. It also
assumes that nothing has changed which could have proved detrimental to the area’s
environment. It fails to justify how it could solve all economic problems of area. In following
paragraphs, I will present these assumptions and weak evidences that weaken the argument
along with the premises which can strengthen the argument.
First, the argument incorrectly assumes that it will have similar increase in tourism this year. It’s
almost impossible to achieve 500% growth in 2 consecutive years. What if the the year before the
last was a disaster and hence last year when the tourism industry recovered the growth was
500% compared to disastrous year. This does not mean that tourism earned much extra money.
At the same time it does not mean that such situation leaves enough room for additional growth
this year.
In addition, the argument assumes that local economic situation will be as good as it was last
year if not better. What if a major tsunami occurred last winter which destroyed all the major
properties of the area? If this had happened then the area will not attract more tourists this year
even though the national economic situation is more favorable this year.
Furthermore, even if we assume that all is well with the area and its tourism and that tourism will
get expected record revenues, there is no strong evidence that states that these record revenues
will be able to resolve the area’s economic difficulties. For instance, if the economic needs of area
is in terms of billions, a few extra millions earned by the tourism will not solve the economic
difficulties.
However, the argument can be strengthened if it’s shown that (1) No unfavorable circumstances,
that can lead to decrease in tourists, occurred this year compared to last year (2) Last year’s
growth was not a recovery from loss but instead a growth because of improved tourist facilities (3)

2. Credible economic survey estimates growth in this area’s tourism industry to be in excess of
500% this year. (4) The growth would provide sufficient money to cover all economic difficulties of
area.
To sum up, as cited in aforementioned paragraphs, the argument rests on weak assumptions and
lacks solid evidences. Unless the argument is strengthened by additional premises, such as the
ones mentioned in previous paragraph, it does not appear credible. Therefore, the argument is
very weak for serious consideration.
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Issue - Redevelopment Proposal
August 22, 2007 — tranquilstorm
This was the last essay before my GMAT.
Although the redevelopment proposal for blighted inner-city neighborhood has
promoted criticism from senior citizens, advocates of low and middle income
housing, and community residents fearful of inconvenience or even displacement,
it promises to create not only a number of upscale apartment buildings but also
numerous construction jobs as well.
The issue of redevelopment of blight inner-city neighborhood is often seen as controversial and
has been a topic of debate in many developing areas in either developed countries or developing
countries. There are some circumstances in which the criticism has truth. For example:
displacement of current owners of old property without providing a new better housing. On other
hand there are many circumstances which lead to redevelopment of old properties. For instance:
when a city is undergoing a makeover to provide better infrastructure. However, after careful
consideration, in my opinion, the redevelopment often brings more benefits than problems. I have
mentioned two points in following paragraphs to support my opinion.
With ever growing human population and expanding global economy bigger and better
infrastructure needs are seen. Since a city can not grow beyond the available land space it has
and people often want to stay close to heart of city as much as they can, it presents a strong case
to redevelop the old inner-city infrastructure which may have inadequate infrastructure capacities
and build upscale apartments that can house more people and more businesses. This will provide
much needed infrastructure to fuel the growth. An appropriate example for this would be Sanghai
redevelopment, which led to incredible growth of the city.

3. Redevelopment provides not only new and better infrastructure but also new job opportunities.
For example, whenever a new construction project starts a lot of construction jobs is created. A
plethora of jobs of other dependent industries is also created. When bigger companies move to
such infrastructures more high paying jobs are also created. So, overall new employment
opportunities are also by-product of redevelopment.
However, there are few concerns with almost each redevelopment proposal. These concerns are
related to all those present owners, such as senior citizen and low-income families, which are
staying at such premises since long. In many cases it is seen that a appropriate new housing
facilities is not given to these people when redevelopment takes place. Many people loose their
businesses on which their earnings are depended. As long as such needs are taken care while
redevelopment is taking place, it will prove more beneficial to community overall.
In a nutshell, after scrupulous deliberation, I believe redevelopment should be encouraged. While
it may create some discomfort when people have to move from their current houses or
businesses, in long run such redevelopment is often more beneficial than detrimental. Naturally,
redevelopment proposal should be accepted.
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Argument - Advertising Services
August 22, 2007 — tranquilstorm
Our service, which includes both designing and placing advertisements, is by far
the most effective in the industry. For instance, we recently designed and placed
a series of advertisements of an apparel company using a golfer as a spokesman.
Before the series of ads, a survey showed that only 8 percent of people who
described themselves as non-golfers had heard of the apparel company. After the
series of ads, despite the golfer making national headlines by becoming the
youngest golfer ever to win a major professional tournament, over 80 percent of
people from a second survey had heard of the apparel company.
The advertising agency’s argument is very weak and does not provide solid evidences to prove
the effectiveness of their advertising abilities. The agency uses a survey result to claim that the
apparel brand was a hit and assumes that the brand was a huge hit only because of
advertisement. The agency does not even strongly justify that it was choice of golfer which made
the brand hit. Thus, the agency’s argument is far too weak for serious consideration and fails to
substantiate convincing evidences.

4. First, the agency cites a survey result to claim that the apparel brand was launched successfully.
However, there is no more information about the credibility of survey. Who all were included in
survey? Did they include only those people who stay near to the company showrooms? If so, it’s
possible that these people heard about the brand because of their proximity to showroom.
In addition, the survey does not state whether the people heard about the advertisement but
rather states that these people heard about the apparel brand. So, even if we assume that survey
was done on credible sample size it’s also possible that the apparel brand became popular
because of its pricing and quality and not the advertisement. Therefore the effectiveness of
advertisement is not proved.
Furthermore, the brochure implies that it was the choice of young golfer as spokesperson which
led to success of apparel using 80% of people surveyed as example however the claim does not
include any information about the people who are not golf fans. It’s possible that majority of
apparel brand customers are non golf fans and they will still not be attracted to brand.
The agency’s claim can be strengthened if it’s shown that: (1) The survey had credible sample
size. (2) The survey includes people of all strata of society. (3) Majority of the people of survey
stated they heard about brand because of new advertisement (4) Most of the people cites their
enticement to brand a result of a choice of golfer as spokesperson.
As cited above, the agency’s claim rests of far too many assumptions and weak evidences.
Unless its claims are strengthened by several factors as stated above, they do not appear
effective. Therefore, I do not agree with agency’s claim of effective advertising.
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Issue - Protecting Consumer
August 22, 2007 — tranquilstorm
Consumers need to be protected from companies that make deceptive claims in
their advertising. However companies should always be allowed to make truthful
claims, even if those claims could be misunderstood by some customers
Author states that consumers should be protected from deceptive advertisements but at the same
time agrees to allow companies to produce such deceptive advertisement as long as their facts
are true. In my opinion, the author presents a self contradicting opinion in two sentences. If
consumers are to be protected from deceptive advertising then companies should be refrained
from using truthful but deceptive facts.

5. For example, several toothpaste manufacturers claim to be number 1 in market and air such
advertisements on TV, radio and internet. However they never specify on which basis they claim
to be number 1. Companies do not specify whether their claim is based on market share. They do
not specify whether results of survey include all strata of society. Consumers usually get attracted
by such boastful claims and end up buying product of such companies. Companies can claim that
their facts were true however less quality product hurts consumer regardless. Hence, the author’s
first statement is contradicted.
Another example, several electronic appliance companies advertise products with guarantees up
to 5 years. However they never specify the tens of conditions that apply before consumer can
avail such guarantees. Unaware of such conditions many consumers buy the products. When the
products malfunction and consumers claim for the benefit of the guarantee the companies refuse
to comply citing numerous conditions in agreement. Here too, I agree that companies did include
the conditions in agreement but they never specified conditions in advertisements that enticed the
consumer to buy products. Again the purpose of protecting consumer is defeated.
In addition, the companies often advertise products and services with their starting price range
excluding the several optional services charges. For instance, almost all major car manufacturers
shows advertisements of their car models with full accessories and uses these accessories to
claim superior than the other cars in market, often at cheaper price! However when a consumer
goes to buy a car he realizes that all the accessories shown in advertisement do not come with
original model and he has to pay another few hundred dollars to buy his dream car.
Each of the abovementioned instance shows that if companies are allowed to make deceitful yet
truthful claim, it’s more likely to harm the consumer in longer run. Such permission, as stated
earlier, contradicts the first statement by the author. Therefore, in my opinion, the companies
should not be allowed to make such misleading claims that can hurt the consumer.
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Argument - school survey
August 22, 2007 — tranquilstorm
I wrote this 3 weeks before GMAT.
A recent nationwide study of high school reveals that percentage of students who
graduate on time is higher for private schools than for public schools. For this
reason, Bedford Falls parents who want their children to graduate from high
school on time should send their children to private schools.

6. The author’s argument that students of private schools usually pass on time compared with
students of public schools rests on several assumptions and lacks sustainable information. The
author merely states the survey results but doesn’t explain the reasons or justify the inference he
makes. In the discussion, I shall present assumptions and missing information which weakens the
argument along with the remedies which can strengthen it.
First, the author does not state whether the nationwide survey include all public schools. It also
does not state whether there were enough number of public schools present in survey compared
with private schools. What if the survey includes 99 private schools and only 1 public school? In
this case, any summarized results can not be useful in making any judgment.
Second, the argument rests on the assumption that it’s the private school environment which
makes the difference in higher percentage of students passing on time. However, what if there
are several other factors which contribute to students’ success in exams. Typically, those
students who attend private schools come of economically better background. They may not be
working while they are studying. In contrast, it’s observed the students of public schools work
along with their studies. Hence they may not be able to give complete attention to studies. So, in
this case one’s financial situation also affects outcome of study.
Finally, the argument does not specify anything regarding admission criterion of private schools.
What if they have a very complex system to select students for future classes? This way they are
denying education to those who may not be able to pass such test. Consequently, this type of
selection procedure ensures that private schools have only relatively brilliant students. On the
other hand public schools generally allow even the poorest of poor to study. So the public schools
generally represent all classes of society. Hence, it’s likely that they might have less percentage
of students passing on time.
The argument can be strengthened if the highlighted missing information is provided. It can also
be strengthened if two equally brilliant students with similar background are chosen. One is
admitted to a private school and other one is admitted to public school. If the student of private
school passes on time and student of public school don’t then the argument holds true. If such
experiment is conducted over a period of time and similar results are found then the argument
can be stronger.
In summary, the author’s argument lacks sustainable grounds and depends upon weak
assumptions as described the paragraphs above. Therefore, I do not accord with the argument
unless it’s strengthened by other contributing factors and suggested survey results, as mentioned
in fifth paragraph.

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AWA Issue - Selfish Action
August 22, 2007 — tranquilstorm
I wrote this almost 3 weeks before GMAT.
Human nature detects that every action, no matter how selfless it appears, is
inspired by a selfish reason.
The author states that every action is inspired by a selfish reason, no matter how selfless it
appears and he suggests that it’s human nature to act selfishly. However, in my opinion not every
human action can be termed selfish just because it’s one’s natural tendency to think about
oneself almost all the time.
There are several examples of servants of mankind which can sufficiently suggest that they
sacrificed themselves for others. One such example is of Mother Teresa. At a very young age,
she chose to be a nun and decided to dedicate her life to mankind. She went to India, an
underdeveloped country in those days, and spent her whole life serving people with frightening
diseases. When others were running away from such people because of fear of contagious
disease she chose to treat them by staying with them. Would the author be able to justify her
efforts and actions over the year as selfish? What did she get out of those efforts for herself? Her
actions were selfless and inspiring for many others, at the least.
Another example could be those countless soldiers on the front, especially those who work for
United Nations. These soldiers have to go to mostly political unstable countries as a part of
peacekeeping army and often have to sacrifice their life at the hand of mindless local strugglers.
These soldiers are not fighting for themselves. They are not fighting for their country also. They
are fighting for peace. They don’t get much out of this. Would the author term these actions
selfish?
In my opinion, one can also not term the actions selfish if those actions are basic need of human
nature to live; especially if those actions are not aimed at harming others. To breathe is a
necessity for a human being. It will not be logical if the author calls this as a selfish action.
However, if the actions are aimed gaining something out a situation at the cost of others then they
could be examples of selfish.

8. In conclusion, as supported by two examples above not every action is inspired by a selfish
reason. Not every actions done out of a need is a selfish action. So the author’s opinion is not
valid for all circumstances and situations.