Workers in the small town of Leeville take fewer sick days than workers in the large city of Masonton 50 miles away Moreover relative to population size the diagnosis of stress related illness is proportionally much lower in Leeville than in Masonton Acco | TOEFL IELTS GMAT GRE SAT ACT PTE ESL

Essay topics:

Workers in the small town of Leeville take fewer sick days than workers in the large city of Masonton, 50 miles away. Moreover, relative to population size, the diagnosis of stress-related illness is proportionally much lower in Leeville than in Masonton. According to the Leeville Chamber of Commerce, these facts can be attributed to the health benefits of the relatively relaxed pace of life in Leeville.

Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.

In the given prompt, the author concludes that workers of Leevile take fewer sick leaves than Masonton due to the health benefits of the relatively relaxed pace of life. The author arrives at this conclusion based on the fact that the diagnosis of stress-related illness is proportionally much lower in Leevile than in Masonton. However, while the conclusion drawn by the author might hold water, it rests on several unfounded assumptions that, if not substantiated, weakens the persuasiveness of the argument. Before we could determine to accept or reject the claim, these assumptions must be addressed.

First, the author solely attributes the health conditions, to the fewer sick days by the workers of Leevile. The author fails to take cognizance of other factors that might lead to people opting for sick leaves. All of us know that rather than taking unpaid leave, sick leaves are preferred. It is also possible that citizens of Masonton might have numerous personal reasons that urge them to opt for sick leaves. Most people in cities have other engagements or priorities to attend. For example, a worker in a city is more likely to take sick leave to attend his/her child's annual day. It is highly likely that people from small towns, limited in financial constraints, can afford the liberty to take such leaves. If the above is true, then the conclusion drawn in the original argument does not hold water.

Furthermore, the author assumes that the small town of Leevile is comparable to the large city of Masonton. Although they are just 50 miles apart, both the locations are probably distinctly different. And the comparison is digressing. Perhaps, Leevile is much sparsely populated than Masonton, thus, leading to low levels of pollutions. This could provide a much better environment for the people of Leevile than the city of Masonton. It is also possible that climatic conditions are complementary. Leevile would be prone to severe chilly winters than Masonton. The climate is also a considerable factor in one's health. Other factors that contribute to health include the nature of work, health facilities, health awareness, etc. If either of the above has merit, then the argument is significantly flawed.

Finally, the author fails to furnish the report that attributes the less diagnosis of stress-related illness in Leevile. It is unclear, however, the scope and validity of the report. It is possible that the sample chosen, would not have been the representative of the total population of Leevile. Unless the author provides us with the statistical data and also the methodology used in conducting this survey, we cannot verify the validity and reliability of the report. If the above is warranted, then the argument is weakened.

In conclusion, the argument as it stands now is considerably flawed due to its reliance on several unwarranted assumptions. Also, the author fails to develop an effective and plausible analogy between the sick days and the stress-free lives of the people of the two cities. If the author can address the concerns stated above and perhaps provide pieces of evidence to bolster his claim, it will be possible for us to fully evaluate the viability of the argument whether to attribute the reluctance to take sick leaves to the stress-free lives of workers of Leevile than the workers of Masonton.

Votes

Essay Categories

GMAT/GRE Argument Task

Comments

Essay evaluations by e-grader

Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 5, column 608, Rule ID: ONES[1]
Message: Did you mean 'one's'?
Suggestion: one's
...limate is also a considerable factor in ones health. Other factors that contribute t...
^^^^

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, finally, first, furthermore, however, if, so, then, thus, while, for example, in conclusion

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 24.0 19.6327345309 122% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 12.0 12.9520958084 93% => OK
Conjunction : 9.0 11.1786427146 81% => OK
Relative clauses : 13.0 13.6137724551 95% => OK
Pronoun: 36.0 28.8173652695 125% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 75.0 55.5748502994 135% => OK
Nominalization: 12.0 16.3942115768 73% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2812.0 2260.96107784 124% => OK
No of words: 549.0 441.139720559 124% => OK
Chars per words: 5.12204007286 5.12650576532 100% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.84053189512 4.56307096286 106% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.8110704568 2.78398813304 101% => OK
Unique words: 259.0 204.123752495 127% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.471766848816 0.468620217663 101% => OK
syllable_count: 886.5 705.55239521 126% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59920159681 100% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 10.0 4.96107784431 202% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 11.0 8.76447105788 126% => OK
Subordination: 9.0 2.70958083832 332% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 1.0 1.67365269461 60% => OK
Preposition: 4.0 4.22255489022 95% => OK

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 30.0 19.7664670659 152% => OK
Sentence length: 18.0 22.8473053892 79% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 53.1192055663 57.8364921388 92% => OK
Chars per sentence: 93.7333333333 119.503703932 78% => OK
Words per sentence: 18.3 23.324526521 78% => OK
Discourse Markers: 3.4 5.70786347227 60% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 5.25449101796 19% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 6.0 8.20758483034 73% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 16.0 6.88822355289 232% => Less negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 8.0 4.67664670659 171% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.307689314302 0.218282227539 141% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0724956474296 0.0743258471296 98% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0827796871691 0.0701772020484 118% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.166529004543 0.128457276422 130% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0627732446115 0.0628817314937 100% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 11.8 14.3799401198 82% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 53.21 48.3550499002 110% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.1628742515 123% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 12.197005988 84% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.42 12.5979740519 99% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.61 8.32208582834 103% => OK
difficult_words: 142.0 98.500998004 144% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 11.0 12.3882235529 89% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.2 11.1389221557 83% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.9071856287 76% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Rates: 50.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 3.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.

Essay evaluations by e-grader

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, finally, first, furthermore, however, if, so, then, thus, while, for example, in conclusion

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments