The following is part of a memorandum from the president of Humana University.
"Last year the number of students who enrolled in online degree programs offered by nearby Omni University increased by 50 percent. During the same year, Omni showed a significant decrease from prior years in expenditures for dormitory and classroom space, most likely because online instruction takes place via the Internet. In contrast, over the past three years, enrollment at Humana University has failed to grow and the cost of maintaining buildings has increased. Thus, to increase enrollment and solve the problem of budget deficits at Humana University, we should initiate and actively promote online degree programs like those at Omni."
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.
The memo states that the online degree programs provide Omni University a lot of benefits. The author assumes that Humana University could also gain enough financial incomes by offering online programs. However, the assumptions might not be true and then render the argument a little unconvincing.
First of all, the argument states that the Omni enrollment increased 50 percent for the online courses. The writer assumes that if Humana University offer online programs, they could also gain profits. Nonetheless, if the Humana did achieve the same or a larger amount of enrollments, they might not make the profits they desire for. There is no clear connection between the other school gain abundant students and the Humana could also gain the same amount students. Probably, there are still few students wants to go to the Humana even they have online programs. Thus, the Humana would not obtain the benefits.
Moreover, the memo mentions that the expenditures of spaces decrease dramatically. Nevertheless, there is no obvious causation between lower expense in space and in all. It is possible that the cost of internet facilities might increase significantly, and then the sum of total expense might not drop. If the school provides online courses, they need to purchase computers and network traffic for the internet, which cause another cost. Including all aspects of expense, the Omni University might not acquire copious financial incomes.
Finally, the author claims that the cost increases while student numbers does not grow in Humana. Notwithstanding, the higher expense might not cause by student numbers since it stays the same or less. Perhaps, the school does not process their finance properly and then lead their expense higher when there is no students increasing. There is no relation between gaining more students and handling the finance appropriately. If the school cost more when student number maintain the same, they might cost even more money when they enroll more students.
To sum up, the assumptions which author holds might not hold water. Hence, the Human might not attain the desired result, increasing enrollment and financial income.
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argument 1 -- OK
argument 2 -- OK, but not exactly
argument 3 -- not OK
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read a sample:
http://www.testbig.com/gmatgre-argument-task-essays/following-part-memo…
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Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 3.0 out of 6
Category: Satisfactory Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 21 15
No. of Words: 345 350
No. of Characters: 1780 1500
No. of Different Words: 163 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.31 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.159 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.472 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 139 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 98 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 59 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 29 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 16.429 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 3.995 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.81 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.317 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.537 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.085 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5