GRE Analytical Writing - Practice Essays

[Source: ETS PowerPrep Practice Test]

A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position

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 As education has risen to prominence as the deciding factor in social mobility, differences in the instructions received have been frequently pointed as taking a larger share of the responsibility for the inequities in society. Given this background, the suggestion of a national curriculum is an appealing remedy. While the stated aim would be to simplify the education system, designing such a curriculum to meet the myriad set of objectives that a national education system would set out to achieve is a herculean undertaking on its own. Given the enormity of the task, it is worth considering what even the goals of such a system would be, and whether a national curriculum would be the best way to achieve those goals.

In the current scenario, most education below college level is administered at the local level. College admissions, especially to centralized government institutions and internationally reputed private ones, are a matter of intense competition between applicants from around the country and in some cases the world. With that in mind, one of the unstated goals of primary education is to level out the differences that might arise from regional, cultural or societal causes. Standardized testing can be seen as a manifestation of this goal, with the SATs and the GREs of the world setting up the minimum threshold that primary education ought to teach a pupil to cross.

From this level downwards, however, primary education is largely controlled, to various degrees by state and local education boards. Since some of these states and regions are large enough to match entire nations, looking at their experiences can be a useful proxy to estimate how a national system would work. The wonder of civilization is that in any large enough area, cultural differences are bound to arise given the diversity of human experience. We can see these underpinnings in the frequent news stories coming out of local and state news boards where proposed changes to curriculum cause furore among a section of the public, capturing political debate. It would not be a stretch to that any attempt at formulating a national curriculum would be fraught with controversy, as we are bound to step on, or even sidestep entire cultures and identities in the process.

A case could be made for a national curriculum, if we were to turn this very argument around. A shared curriculum would certainly help establish a national identity, bringing disparate regional sensibilities together. Indeed, it would make assimilation at the college level smoother, when many students would meet at national institutes as they set out to build their careers. However, carry this take a little further and things start getting murky. Tyrannical regimes have long strived to control education as a pathway to indoctrination, and a national curriculum is possibly one of the most potent tools in their arsenal. Governments in erstwhile communist nations like China are notorious for their stranglehold on the education system, where any diversity of views is flushed out in fear of going against the interests of the government or the ruling class.

[Source: ETS PowerPrep Practice Test]

The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.

"Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have cancelled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to our news programs and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should expand our coverage of weather and local news on all our news programs."

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

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 The author of the given memo makes a case for reverting a change made to the programming of a television station, and to support the claim uses trends in the responses from its two primary benefactors - the audience and the advertisers. Since the said change, and the suggested remedy, both have to do with the allocation of time, it would be useful to examine whether the changes in perception from the two audiences of import are driven by this factor, or there might be other factors at play.

The first evidence the author points to the outsize proportion of complaints regarding the station's coverage of weather and local news. It might be noted, however, that the nature of these complaints is not clear. While it certainly might be about the lesser time devoted to the local subjects, as the context seems to suggest, it might as well have to do with the quality of the coverage itself. It is a safe bet to assume that the nature of local programming was modified in adapting to the reduced time slot, and the incidence of complaints would suggest that these changes have left much to be desired for. Television offers plenty of examples of the wonders that could be accomplished with a shorter time-frame. Indeed, trends in online video platforms like YouTube and Vimeo have pointed to an appetite for short-form content across subject domains. So the amount of viewer complaints is not essentially a strong argument in favour of longer time slots, if anything it might be the opposite. Quality rules the roost when it comes to television programming.

Turning to the other group the author aims to appease - the advertisers. The author notes that local businesses have been cancelling contracts with the network in inordinate numbers, and concludes that this is a response to decline in the amount of time devoted to programming that they might be interested to advertise with. There is precedent to this argument, as advertisers are known to abandon shows in the aftermath of changes that they might not agree with. Most recently, this has been observed in the wholesale abandonment by brands of talk shows where the host was embroiled in a controversy. However, a downturn in advertising contracts might as well point to the state of the local economy as a whole. In times of recession, businesses shy away from taking large operational risks and sticking to the essentials. Funds earmarked for television marketing, which can safely be said to be a non-essential expense, are usually on the chopping block. It might be useful to look at the financials of other television businesses in the same region - if our subject business is doing considerably worse in the advertising revenues department, a change in programming could be a probable cause although by no means a definitive one. Again, advertisers might simply be responding to a general fall in quality of the station's programming and the corresponding decline in viewership, which as we learned might have little to do with time slots.

It is also useful to consider that a third factor is proving to be a drain on both viewership and advertising revenues. As newer media platforms emerge, it becomes easier to keep up with niche subjects like local or weather news on other focused platforms. As audiences move to these platforms, advertisers follow.

[Source: Manhattan Prep Practice Test]

People who make decisions based on emotion and justify those decisions with logic afterwards are poor decision makers.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

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 Rationalizing one's choices is one of the defining human traits, regardless of the source of said choice. The presented claim, however, seems to contend that rationalization is a huckster's crutch - a mere afterthought for a decision making process driven by emotion. The conclusion, as presented, is that this inevitably lead to poor decision-making. This perspective is driven by a very blinkered view of the decision making process, seeking to define a false binary of emotion and logic where none exists. A more accurate view will have to recognize that emotion is an inseparable part of the process, and when backed up by sound logic can actually lead to richer decision-making.

A dispassionate arbiter of arguments has been the Enlightenment ideal for any judge worth one's while. While it is an ideal worth striving for, a closer look at any decision making process on the ground would reveal that it is but impossible to separate how one feels from how one argues about the subject. Indeed, both of those things inform, and alter each other rendering this a false dichotomy. A key differentiator then is the pool of knowledge the person has at his, or her, disposal. As the Nobel laureate Daniel Kahnemann has hypothesised, the majority of our functioning is driven by the fast-thinking part of our brain, driven by intuition and emotion, while the slow-thinker that does the rational evaluation of evidence is only rarely directly invoked. However, the deeper that the slow thinker is able to ponder, the more informed are the intuitions of the fast-thinking brain, and this is perhaps our key takeaway.

A cursory survey of the memoirs of any number of great leaders - from domains as varied as business and politics - would reveal the emotionally charged environments under which decisions were made. The hard-charging leader who seemingly makes decisions on a whim but is eventually revealed to have the required knowledge and rationale to back it up - is almost a trope - a trope, one would argue, only reflects societal realities. In spite of this reality, we are not doing as bad as a society as we would be expected to, if going by the claim of the author, we are led exclusively by poor decision makers.

The key condition here, is that the intuition or emotion needs to be backed up by a sufficient body of domain knowledge. Studies in expertise have noted that not all domains possess the kind of structure that can be learned and adapted into an intuitive decision-making process. This, they contend, is the reason that experts are routinely proven wrong in areas such as financial forecasting and political punditry. Meanwhile, experts in domains where such a structure is indeed possible do such fine - think of chess players and firefighters.

[Source: Manhattan Prep Practice Test]

An international development organization, in response to a vitamin A deficiency among people in the impoverished nation of Tagus, has engineered a new breed of millet high in vitamin A. While seeds for this new type of millet cost more, farmers will be paid subsidies for farming the new variety of millet. Since millet is already a staple food in Tagus, people will readily adopt the new variety. To combat vitamin A deficiency, the government of Tagus should do everything it can to promote this new type of millet

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

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 The presented recommendation proposes a multifaceted change to the food supply of the nation of Tagus, and there are multiple questions that would need to be addressed at the level of each stakeholder if this were to have the desired effect. The farmer as the producer would have to evaluate the new crop, ensuring that the yield of the new crop is enough to be financially viable. The consumer would have to know if the new breed of millet, while certainly salubrious, does not take away the benefits of the existing commodity, and would most certainly like to be aware of any unintended effects. Finally, the government as the catalyst would need to ensure that it has the resources to support stakeholders at each level in this massive food security undertaking.

While the author does point to the nutritional superiority of the new breed of millet, we do not know much about how else it differs from the traditional variety. Do the consumers report that it tastes better than the latter, or at least does not taste notably worse? We are informed that millet is a staple food in Tagus, it is only safe to assume that there are a multitude of dishes in the native cuisine that incorporate the traditional millet. Does the newer variety have different physical properties, which would make it more or less suitable as an ingredient for such recipes? If it could stand these two tests, it should certainly be good enough for the consumer. We would, however, need to be certain that the new variety has no unintended side effects. Has the variety been subjected to thorough testing for the same, and does it have the required certifications from reputed institutions for mass distribution? If not, this would be a deal-breaker.

The consumer is not the only arbiter, as the producer also needs to see the value. The author already points to higher costs as an issue, but does not specify who would bear this cost. Would the cost be picked up by the international development organization, or any other source of external funding - or would the local government have to foot the bill for the subsidy? The latter might be a non-starter, given we are told that Tagus is an impoverished nation. Even if it is addressed, the input cost is not the only concern for the farmer who is ultimately taking care of production. He would also need to be sure that the yields for the new crop are enough to justify any investment at all. Does the new breed of millet respond well to the climatic conditions in Tagus, or at least does not do worse than the traditional food grains? Would it require extra inputs, for instance, higher levels of irrigation and if so, is the infrastructure present to ensure that the new needs are met? How does it compare to the native varieties when it comes to ease of storage and transportation? Is the food supply market receptive to the new crop? Is it incentivising or punishing farmers who cultivate the new crop? A negative answer to any of those would see farmers unwilling to take up the new crop, even if subsidies are offered.

[Source: ETS PowerPrep Practice Test]

As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

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 The impact of the ease and comfort offered by the latest wave of technological advancement on the average human's capabilities is a familiar refrain, and one that is not without merit. As intellectual tasks come to exemplify the pinnacle of human achievement more and more, attention spans are increasingly the focus of this debate. Indeed, the most active ingredient for a meaningful intellectual task is the ability of humans to think for themselves without significant aid for a time period long enough to have a shot at cracking the problems that face us at any given moment. On that front, the scenario is not rosy. Both the academic with a sample group and a casual observer of the zeitgeist can agree to a conclusion - attention spans are on the decline. Social media has only exacerbated the problem, with algorithms favouring ever smaller, shareable content, be it text, audio or video.

It would, however, be a blinkered take if we focus all our attention on attention spans. If we were to zoom out for a bit, we will identify that the arguments against technology are as old as the first machines. 18th Century Luddites were infamous for burning threshers, nor were the weavers too happy with the mills. While it can be argued that there was a loss of some degree of complexity, it does lead us to the hidden boon - the time and mental capacity freed by the machines have been used by enterprising humans to focus on problems that were too niche or simply not urgent enough. It is not a great leap to see that all that realigned focus has paid off handsomely. Not only have we developed airplanes, the television and the internet - these things themselves have opened up the feedback loop that frees up more time - time which is then used to better and perfect these very technologies, or focus on larger problems, such as poverty and healthcare.

[Source: ETS PowerPrep Practice Test]

In surveys Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating, and fishing) among their favourite recreational activities. The Mason River 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. For years there have been complaints from residents about the quality of the river's water and the river's smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason River. Use of the river for water sports is, therefore, sure to increase. The city government should for that reason devote more money in this year's budget to riverside recreational facilities.

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

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 The author is concerned with the lost opportunity presented by Mason City's natural endowment, namely the Mason River, as a possible recreational venue and revenue source, and highlights the state of the river water and insufficient budget devoted to maintenance of recreational facilities as possible culprits. In doing so, the author makes two major assumptions about the cause of the residents' non-interest in existing facilities, and the effect of remedying the two major hindrances the author identifies.

Starting with the causes of non-interest, the author points out first to the low proportion of the budget earmarked for maintenance of riverside facilities. The major assumption here is that the amount is insufficient for maintenance, and although unstated, hints to the fact that the facilities might be in a state of disrepair. While we have no way of confirming the same, the author would point to their low usage as probable evidence. The hygienic status of the river's water is not encouraging either, according to the author, and this assumption rests on the longstanding and frequent complains of the residents as evidence. Clearly, the second cause stands on more solid ground, but as the author points, state funds are already earmarked for river cleaning, and as such his central conclusion for more funds from the city's budget is unaffected by it.

Now for the presumed effects if the suggestions are taken up, namely that the use of river for water sports will increase. A survey of the residents is our major source for this conclusion, as water sports are ranked highly in preference by residents. Aside from the ways that river itself is rendered unfit for these activities per the author, one could also argue that the reason recreational water sports are down in popularity is that residents have lesser and lesser time to pursue these activites for whatever reasons. Even if they did, the author assumes that Mason River would be their preferred destination, which is rather unsure. After all, people are more likely to take up recreational activities when traveling, compared to when they are in their hometown. That said, water sports facilities can be said to be more of a tourist attraction than a luxury for the residents themselves.

[Source: Princeton Review Practice Test; Graded 4/6]

Men and women, because of their inherent physical differences, are not equally suited for many tasks.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

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The division of roles and responsibilities between men and women has been a defining feature of societies since the beginning of civilizations, and these divisions in turn have rested on certain assumptions about the strengths and capabilities (or lack thereof) of either. Much of that is certainly inspired from nature - for instance, the outsize role of women in the upbringing of the family unit, while a lot has come up as a result of the way civilizations have evolved. Regardless of the origin, these roles are deeply entrenched, and some would point to the relative stability and progress of society as a testament to the effectiveness and accuracy of this form of division.

It cannot be denied that the sexes are not biologically equal in every respect - males in most mammals test higher on physical measures on average, while women in general have had an advantage in terms of soft skills. That sporting events to this day are segregated by gender is a most compelling evidence of the same. That being said, physical sports are not by any measure a representative sample of the tasks involved in the running of a society. The physical differences that manifest in sport largely disappear as tasks become less extreme.

One might point out, not inaccurately, that even today in most spheres, not just sports, the participation rates differ greatly between men and women and that this might be a manifestation of the physical differences. While plausible-sounding, such a generalization largely ignores the rigid societal structures that have played the role of the invisible hand. Indeed, as peace and economic prosperity has prolonged and societal restrictions have loosened up as a result, we are witnessing these gaps disappear. More and more women now make up the decision making bodies in both business and government institutions. Only recently, the United States Congress saw the most number of women elected to higher offices ever. The academics might be another area where a chasm between men and women is served as evidence for differences, but recent studies have showed that the causality might run another way - namely, that women avoid certain fields not because they don't do as well in them, but because they have a larger set of options outside of those fields.

[Source: Princeton Review Practice Test; Graded 5/6]

Manned space flight is costly and dangerous. Moreover, the recent success of a series of unmanned space probes and satellites has demonstrated that a great deal of useful information can be gathered without the costs and risks associated with sending men and women into space. Therefore, we should invest our resources in unmanned space flight.

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

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The author makes a compelling point about the relative costs and benefits of unmanned and manned space flights, clearly preferring the former stating it can deliver the same benefits without many of the associated costs. The major underlying assumption in this statement of course is that the objectives of manned and unmanned space flights are perfectly aligned, and consequently, one is substitutable for the other. Insofar as the output concerns gathering scientific data about our planet's celestial neighbours, the assumption largely holds. With the drastic progress in communications technology, it has become possible for us to manoeuvre scientific probes and instruments to highly precise measures from millions of miles away. The photographs and data sent to us by our probes from the far reaches of our solar system are a testament to this capability.

One could, however, argue that the goals of manned space flight transcend what could be achieved with merely sending out instruments into space. An immediate, although boring example, would be repair and maintenance. International space agencies have maintained a skeleton crew at the International Space Station for many years now, and routine visits by astronomers have proved vital to the smooth functioning of our space instruments. When the author points out to the successes of recent series of probes and satellites, he makes an assumption that the pace of technological progress is going to mean that many of such tasks will be perfectly capable of being performed by machines without the need for a human being present.

The assumption of continued technological progress is a fair one, as evidenced by Moore's law and the advent of pioneering communications technologies such as the internet, not to mention the massive logistical infrastructure needed to support it. However, manned space flight has also served the larger purpose of a societal milestone - mankind's first forays into the Earth's orbit, and indeed, the first steps on the moon, the first space walks serve as important touchstones for human progress, inspiring millions and imbibing a global perspective in the general population. While no smaller a technological feat, mere satellites in space do not inspire that kind of awe.

The assumption of technological progress, however, cuts both ways. While it makes satellites and instruments more efficient and cost-effective, it simultaneously brings down the risks associated with manned space flights. We routinely send out astronauts to orbit, and any major accidents are now decades in the past. One can look to commercial flights as an analogy, as it has spread far and wide, technological progress has kept pace, bringing down both costs and risks.

In order to help small businesses thrive, government should play a minimal role in private business matters.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

--- Business versus government is one of the most enduring dichotomies of modern times. Institutions that have made sweeping societal and cultural changes in our times have usually fallen under the umbrella of one of these two. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that laying down the ground rules for how the two should interact in an economy has been the defining partisan issue in modern nation-states, with the so-called 'pro-business' factions calling for private business to be free from any obligations that would prevent them from functioning at the pinnacle of their capacity, and the other side being skeptical of the effects of the free rein of the markets on society and culture.

Small businesses make for a most interesting case in this political crossfire, with both sides co-opting the proverbial entrepreneur to make their own case. The pro-business side argues that the burden of government regulation is disproportionately borne by the 'small guy' and is the principal impediment to their growth. The opposing argument paints the government in a more benign, protective role - guarding the small businessperson against the excesses of the free market and ensuring that the big businesses do not use their market power to distort the playing field.

Political grandstanding aside, economists tend to agree that regulation incurs a cost on innovation, and for burgeoning businesses every cost adds up. The big businesses are more capable of handling the added costs of new government oversight at the margins, if only for reluctant compliance. Some basic economics will also tell you that the public enterprise backed by investors with diversified portfolios will always come ahead in the cost-benefit game compared to the private businessperson who in most scenarios has all of his capital invested in the business he owns, if not for the checks introduced by government oversight. This is the contradiction of the government wielding its power to distort markets.

A recent study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that employees with paid sick leave are 28 percent less likely to be involved in a work-related accident than employees who do not receive payment for sick leave. Researchers hypothesize that employees with unpaid sick leave feel pressured to work during time of illness for fear of lack of pay. On-the-job accidents are then spurred by impaired judgment or motor skills due to illness or illness-related medications. The highest-risk occupations, such as construction, showed the highest discrepancy between paid and unpaid leave.

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to determine whether the researchers’ hypothesis is reasonable. Be sure to explain what effects the answers to these questions would have on the validity of the hypothesis.

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The researchers make two related claims about workplace hazards for workers who are self-reportedly not in their best health, based on two observations from a study. The primary claim is that the cause of work-related incidents for such employees would be the impaired judgement and motor skills brought about as a result of illness or medication. To ascertain if the claim holds, we will need to know if the discrepancy in incident involvement holds for within-workplace samples. If, for workplaces within the same sector, there are measurable differences between reported discrepancies, another plausible conclusion could be lax safety standards or poor workplace safety design. As reported by the study, the discrepancy is significant for the entire employee sample, and that the amplitude of the discrepancy is highest for the construction sector. The latter observation reveals to us that the study differentiates between sectors, but that leaves the possibility that there might be significant differences in safety levels between workplaces in the same sector.

The second claim of the hypothesis concerns the added pressure of loss of pay in an employee's decision to continue working despite not being in a condition to do so. Here again, the tidbit about the construction industry buttresses this claim, if we consider that the wages offered by this particular industry are not very high and there is significant churn among the workforce. If the workers stand to lose more by missing a day's work, including possibly their job, there will be added pressure to not miss work regardless of one's health condition. Add to it that this industry is among the most accident-prone and dependent on the very motor skills most likely to be affected by drugs, and you would expect the added work pressure to translate to more workplace accidents. If this trend would hold up for other low-paying sectors with high employee churn, it would significantly bolster the researcher's hypothesis.

There is however an interesting case to be considered when talking about work pressure, namely the prestige factor in white-collar jobs. As an example, one of the major storylines of the TV show House of Cards is how an impeachment case is brought about the sitting president because he fails to reveal that he is on medication that could impair his judgement. Highly competitive, or highly visible public jobs carry the added time pressure, and losing out on even a day's worth of work would mean losing out in the workplace. Pay is not a big consideration in this case, as one can expect most white collar jobs to be offering paid leaves. If we could display that the white collar jobs have the same incidence of employees reporting to work despite health issues, it would take away some teeth from the hypothesis' claim of added work pressure due to loss of pay.