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07 Feb 2021, 13:14
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The following appeared in a newspaper editorial during the holiday shopping season:
"Americans spend far too much of their time buying and consuming non-essential goods. Studies show that, on average Americans spend over a quarter of their leisure time shopping. As such, it is no secret why America is losing its competitive edge relative to other countries. Instead of spending their time productively, Americans are wasting time through frivolous consumption. In order to counteract this trend, Americans should spend more time focused on personal and communal development--by, for example, pursuing educational advancement or participating in volunteer opportunities."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
Response: (bolded words are misspelled)
The argument claims that Americans, who on average spend over a quarter of their leisure time shopping, waste their precious time buying and consuming non-essential goods and that this habit ultimately leads to a decrease in America's competitive edge. Stated in this way the argument manipulates facts and conveys a distorted view of the situation and fails to mention several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion of the argument relies heavily on assumptions for which there is no clear evidence. Hence, the argument is weak, in other words flawed, and falls apart at the seams.
First, the argument readily assumes that any amount over a quarter of the total leisure time is too much. This statement is a stretch since one cannot derive the total time spend on such activity in absolute terms. For example, there would be a huge difference between the scenarios in which this one quarter equals to one hour or 1000 hours. Additionally, the author implies that his spending is weakening the American economy. However, to make such a statement one should also consider the financial benefits of consumer spending on the economy as a whole. The reason is the movement of financial goods from demanders to suppliers keeps an economy alive. The argument would be much clearer if the author explicitly gave some information regarding these points.
Second, the author does not mention what do Americans do on their remaining leisure time. If they already spend all of their remaining leisure availabilty on the activites that the author expects them to do, then we may argue that Americans may need some other activities to do to relax. However, the author neither explicitly nor implicitly mentions the possible positive effects of leisure activity. In my point of view, to perform better at any demanding activity people should relax their brains and thus start whatever they would do with mindfullness.
Third, the author states that if Americans were to spend more time focused on personal and communal development, then the dark clouds around the America's competitiveness will fade away. Again, this has no basis. The author does not provide any data or research finding to support his claim. To counteract the author's argument, one may say that spending more time on such activities may not lead to the desired results because such activities indeed are the main reason why America is loosing its competitive edge. If the argument had provided evidence or some related data to support the author's claims, then the argument would have been a lot more convincing.
In conclusion, the argument is flawed for the above-mentioned reasons and is therefore unconvincing. It could be considerably strengthened if the author clearly mentioned all the relevant facts or supported his claims with relevan data or findings. In order to assess the merits of a certain situation, it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors. Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.
"Americans spend far too much of their time buying and consuming non-essential goods. Studies show that, on average Americans spend over a quarter of their leisure time shopping. As such, it is no secret why America is losing its competitive edge relative to other countries. Instead of spending their time productively, Americans are wasting time through frivolous consumption. In order to counteract this trend, Americans should spend more time focused on personal and communal development--by, for example, pursuing educational advancement or participating in volunteer opportunities."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
Response: (bolded words are misspelled)
The argument claims that Americans, who on average spend over a quarter of their leisure time shopping, waste their precious time buying and consuming non-essential goods and that this habit ultimately leads to a decrease in America's competitive edge. Stated in this way the argument manipulates facts and conveys a distorted view of the situation and fails to mention several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion of the argument relies heavily on assumptions for which there is no clear evidence. Hence, the argument is weak, in other words flawed, and falls apart at the seams.
First, the argument readily assumes that any amount over a quarter of the total leisure time is too much. This statement is a stretch since one cannot derive the total time spend on such activity in absolute terms. For example, there would be a huge difference between the scenarios in which this one quarter equals to one hour or 1000 hours. Additionally, the author implies that his spending is weakening the American economy. However, to make such a statement one should also consider the financial benefits of consumer spending on the economy as a whole. The reason is the movement of financial goods from demanders to suppliers keeps an economy alive. The argument would be much clearer if the author explicitly gave some information regarding these points.
Second, the author does not mention what do Americans do on their remaining leisure time. If they already spend all of their remaining leisure availabilty on the activites that the author expects them to do, then we may argue that Americans may need some other activities to do to relax. However, the author neither explicitly nor implicitly mentions the possible positive effects of leisure activity. In my point of view, to perform better at any demanding activity people should relax their brains and thus start whatever they would do with mindfullness.
Third, the author states that if Americans were to spend more time focused on personal and communal development, then the dark clouds around the America's competitiveness will fade away. Again, this has no basis. The author does not provide any data or research finding to support his claim. To counteract the author's argument, one may say that spending more time on such activities may not lead to the desired results because such activities indeed are the main reason why America is loosing its competitive edge. If the argument had provided evidence or some related data to support the author's claims, then the argument would have been a lot more convincing.
In conclusion, the argument is flawed for the above-mentioned reasons and is therefore unconvincing. It could be considerably strengthened if the author clearly mentioned all the relevant facts or supported his claims with relevan data or findings. In order to assess the merits of a certain situation, it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors. Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.
18 Feb 2021, 22:18
Kudos
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Hi. I ran it through the online rater GMATAWA tool (old but free) and it evaluated it as 6 out of 6!
Coherence and connectivity: 5/5
Paragraph structure and formation: 5/5
Vocabulary and word expression: 5/5
An impressive job with such a long essay in only 30 mins!
Also, it did a summary of 7 bullets, which evaluates how well the essay is written:
Summarized Version:
Coherence and connectivity: 5/5
Paragraph structure and formation: 5/5
Vocabulary and word expression: 5/5
An impressive job with such a long essay in only 30 mins!
Also, it did a summary of 7 bullets, which evaluates how well the essay is written:
Summarized Version:
- The argument claims that Americans, who on average spend over a quarter of their leisure time shopping, waste their precious time buying and consuming non-essential goods and that this habit ultimately leads to a decrease in America's competitive edge.
- First, the argument readily assumes that any amount over a quarter of the total leisure time is too much.
- Second, the author does not mention what do Americans do on their remaining leisure time.
- If they already spend all of their remaining leisure availabilty on the activites that the author expects them to do, then we may argue that Americans may need some other activities to do to relax.
- Third, the author states that if Americans were to spend more time focused on personal and communal development, then the dark clouds around the America's competitiveness will fade away.
- To counteract the author's argument, one may say that spending more time on such activities may not lead to the desired results because such activities indeed are the main reason why America is loosing its competitive edge.
- If the argument had provided evidence or some related data to support the author's claims, then the argument would have been a lot more convincing.
19 Feb 2021, 15:36
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bb
Thank you very much bb
Can you please share the link to GMATAWA tool you speak of? I seached it on Google but could not make sure of which...
