First attempt using ChineseBurned strategy. Please Score.

Question

“Over the past decade, the restaurant industry in the country of Spiessa has experienced unprecedented growth. This surge can be expected to continue in the coming years, fueled by recent social changes: personal incomes are rising, more leisure time is available, single-person households are more common, and people have a greater interest in gourmet food, as evidenced by a proliferation of publications on the subject.”

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

This argument focuses on the recent surge in growth of the restaurant industry in the country of Spiessa. Throughout the argument, the author uses unbacked claims and weak reasoning to reach a conclusion that the restaurant industry will continue to rise. The claims would hold more merit if backed by sounder reasoning and more evidence.

First, the passage states that the recent surge of growth in Spiessa can be expected to continue because of the recent social changes. At first, this claim seems to have merit. However, upon closer examination, this claim is completely unfounded and provides no evidence to support itself. Perhaps the restaurant growth has all been in anticipation of the social changes, and no further growth is to come. Maybe the growth is far too much when compared to the actual demand, and the restaurant bubble that Spiessa has created is soon to pop. There are simply too many possibilities to form a sturdy conclusion from so little information. For example, the author might have included; “Recent polls of the Spiessan population indicate that residents have found that restaurant growth is still not meeting their demand for eating out.” With this sort of evidence, the original claim is much more believable.

Secondly, the passage uses a list of recent social changes to imply that with a rising standard of living, restaurant growth is sure to follow. These improved living conditions might well correlate with restaurant growth some of the time, but the author provides no evidence that they mean growth this time. Things such as increased leisure time and greater interest in gourmet food could just as well lead to the opposite of restaurant growth; with interested residents forsaking dining out in pursuit of learning to cook for themselves. Without evidence that people are using their new standard of living specifically to dine out, there is no reason to jump to the conclusion that growth will invariably continue.

Finally, the passage argues that a surge of new publications regarding gourmet food indicates that the people of Spiessa have a greater interest in it than before. This claim, when seen in the light of the other claims, is not necessarily true. The increased production of publications could just as easily be due to a myriad of other factors. For instance, perhaps the interest in gourmet food has been stagnant for 50 years, but now that people have a higher standard of living, they can afford to purchase publications about their favorite hobbies. If the author had indicated that recent statistics showed an increase in the interest for gourmet food, his argument might have held more water.

Overall, the claims of the article may appear to be valid at first glance. However, when held to any degree of scrutiny, they simply don’t stand up. The author of the passage makes too many claims without ample evidence to back them up. The argument of the passage would be much stronger with hard data and more examples.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

A good response Big, The essay is well structured and well reasoned. You have clearly addressed the task and discussed all the weaknesses of the argument. This should get you a 5 out of 6!

Good luck on your GMAT!

First attempt using ChineseBurned strategy. Please Score.

Score for this AWA

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards