Verb form 8

Tham khảo tài liệu verb form 8, ngoại ngữ, anh ngữ phổ thông phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả
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Verb form 8 – ABOUT THE ANALYTICAL WRITING ASSESSMENT – For example, the Analysis of an Issue essay in the pretest skillfully acknowledged the opposition and thenpresented a rebuttal to that position: Although some may argue that corporations have a responsibility only to their stakeholders and their bottom line and do not legally have a responsibility to “do good” in society, they miss the point that social responsibility is in the best interest of the company. Companies that actively par- ticipate in social programs aimed at curbing crime, fighting poverty and illiteracy, and teaching skills to those in need reap bottom-line benefits from their social programs every day. These pro- grams not only have a positive impact on the local communities where they are enacted, but they also continue to deliver dividends to the organization in positive public relations, building the image of the company in the eyes of the community and developing a more effective employee base. A nalysis of an ArgumentFor your Analysis of an Argument essay, you will be presented with a short argument (one paragraph that isone to five sentences long). Your task will be to critique the reasoning behind that argument. In this essay, youshould not offer your opinion of the issue in the argument; instead, you must offer your assessment of theargument by evaluating the logic (or lack thereof) of the claims.Argument TopicsThe argument in your writing prompt can also be about any topic, although a majority of the topics are some-how related to business. Once again, you will not need to have any specific knowledge about that topic torespond effectively in an essay. For example, the Analysis of an Argument prompt in the pretest is businessrelated, but you do not need to know anything about owning a restaurant to successfully critique the argu-ment. You just need to be able to analyze the argument and present your analysis in an organized and engag-ing manner. The following is a sampling of the kinds of general subjects you might find in argument prompts onthe AWA: strategies for improving business or services ■ which products or services to choose ■ how to spend funds or save money ■ health and environmental issues ■ societal trends ■ 223 AWA Prompt ListWant to see the AWA writing prompts from last year’s GMAT exam? You can download a complete list of the2001–2002 AWA essay prompts from the website www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/Tools/AWATopics2001.htm. Analyzing the Argument On the analysis level, your readers will be looking for evidence that you have considered the following questions: What assumptions underlie the argument? Are they reasonable or problematic? If they are problematic, ■ why? What is the conclusion of the argument? Is it a logical conclusion based on the evidence? ■ Does the argument have any logical fallacies? ■ What evidence would help strengthen the argument? ■ Are there counterarguments or alternative explanations that would weaken the conclusion? ■ Is there any information that would help you better evaluate the conclusion? ■ Although the arguments on the AWA may be somewhat logical, they will usually have at least one sig- nificant flaw that you will need to recognize. The argument may do the following: be based on problematic assumptions ■ jump to conclusions ■ compare apples to oranges ■ ignore alternative explanations ■ show poor reasoning ■ The argument from the pretest, for example, was based on the problematic assumption that location is everything and a move was therefore necessary to improve business. This ignored alternative explanations for the lack of business, including the possibility that customers were simply dissatisfied with the food, price, or service. It also did not consider other possibilities for attracting customers to the current location. Finally, it neglected to consider the high cost of the move. A solid grasp of critical reasoning skills is essential not only for the critical reasoning questions on the Verbal section but also for an effective analysis of the argument on the AWA. To review critical reasoning skills, see pages 87–107. 224 What Makes a Good Essay?To earn a 4, 5, or 6 on the AWA, your essays will need to have the following six characteristics:• A clear main idea (thesis). Do you have something to say? In the issue essay, have you taken a clear posi- tion? In the argument essay, have you expressed your main assessment of the argument? ...