首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Galore, a chain of video rental stores. "In order to reverse the
The following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Galore, a chain of video rental stores. "In order to reverse the
admin
2014-09-18
84
问题
The following appeared in a memorandum from the owner of Movies Galore, a chain of video rental stores.
"In order to reverse the recent decline in our profits, we must reduce operating expenses at Movies Galores ten video rental stores. Since we are famous for our special bargains, raising our rental prices is not a viable way to improve profits. Last month our store in downtown Marston significantly decreased its operating expenses by closing at 6:00 P.M. rather than 9:00 P.M. and by reducing its stock by eliminating all movies released more than five years ago. Therefore, in order to increase profits without jeopardizing our reputation for offering great movies at low prices, we recommend implementing similar changes in our other nine Movies Galore stores."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be addressed in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to those questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
选项
答案
One question which needs to be addressed before implementing the recommendation is whether there are not other ways to improve profits besides cutting operating expenses. Without proof, the author decides, first, that there are only two viable options for increasing the profits of Movies Galore: raising rental prices, and cutting costs. He rules out the first course, and hence claims the second option must be chosen. But it seems there may be alternative methods of increasing profits, such as initiating advertising campaigns or closing unprofitable Movies Galore locations. Even if it is granted that there are only two options for increasing profitability— cutting costs, and raising rental prices—one might wonder why raising rental prices is so unthinkable. The author implies that because Movies Galore is famous for special bargains, raising the rental prices would eliminate this competitive advantage and decrease profitability. However, in making this conclusion, he makes several assumptions without considering questions that need to be addressed. First, he assumes that there is no room to raise current prices and yet maintain lower prices than competitors. One would need to ask if prices could be increased slightly, while keeping them cheap. Even if there is no room for such a strategy, the author assumes that Movies Galore’s reputation for bargain pricing would evaporate if they increased their prices slightly. Perhaps such a reputation would be widespread enough to persist despite a slight increase in prices. And thirdly, even if the reputation for bargains would be eliminated by an increase in prices, the author assumes that Movies Galore cannot change course and be successful in some other way. Perhaps it could instead become known as the store with the friendliest employees. Perhaps it already is, and the author is wrong to believe that a causal relationship between bargain prices and success exists, when the real cause of Movies Galore’s good reputation is entirely independent of its prices. The author needs to answer these questions to convince us that profits are caused by bargains, and not by the other factors that may be involved. Another question that needs to be raised is whether or not the downtown Marston store is truly analogous to the other nine Movies Galore stores. The author seems to assume that because the cost-cutting measures worked at the Marston location, it will work at the others, but this is far from clear. Perhaps the patrons of the other Movies Galore locations would resent such changes in the hours and stock of their local stores. Perhaps the most important question that needs to be asked is whether the Marston location’s changes truly increased profitability. The author writes that the Marston store decreased operating expenses by closing earlier and cutting its stock, but he makes no mention of increased profitability. It is quite possible that the Marston location’s profits decreased as a result of their cost cutting, and this is a question that needs to be addressed. The author then jumps to the conclusion that taking similar measures would increase profitability at other locations, though such a connection has not even been established at the Marston store. Even if the cost-cutting measures increased profitability at the Marston store last month(and a causal relationship, though presumably assumed, is still far from evident), there is no guarantee that such measures would continue to increase profitability over time. One would need to ask: Why not observe how the Marston location’s action affect profitability over several months, before implementing such sweeping changes at every store? A single month is a very short time span, and the habits of customers may change slowly. As word gets around that the Marston store has cut their hours and their selection, they may in fact jeopardize their reputation for offering "great movies at low prices." After all, the name of the franchise is Movies Galore, and by drastically reducing the available selection, they may alienate their customer base. If, as mentioned above, Movies Galore is famous for more than its great bargains—if customers prefer Movies Galore because of its selections, as well — then such a move may drastically reduce profits overtime. It seems extremely rash to implement such a new and relatively untried strategy at every Movies Galore location, before the effects can be fully observed and interpreted.
解析
This outstanding response clearly addresses the specific task directions and presents a cogent, insightful analysis by discussing specific questions that need to be addressed in order to analyze the argument presented. It is worth noting that although the directions ask for questions, it is not necessary that these be phrased in question form. The response articulately discusses the information needed to evaluate whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result and demonstrates how this information would help to evaluate the recommendation. There are many examples of ways in which the writer addresses questions without putting them in question form(e.g., "he assumes that there is no room to raise current prices and yet maintain lower prices than competitors. One would need to ask..." or "it seems there may be alternative methods of increasing profits"). Throughout this response, the writer provides the cogent development typical of a 6 response. For example, the discussion of Movies Galore’s reputation gets at a number of flaws in the argument’s reasoning, making nuanced points(e.g., "Perhaps it could instead become known as the store with the friendliest employees. Perhaps it already is...")that create a compelling case for the writer’s objections. Transitions are natural, and the paragraphs build on one another, succinctly and completely developing the writer’s points. Because of its compelling and insightful development and fluent and precise language, this response fits all of the bullet points for a score of 6.
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/eSdYFFFM
本试题收录于:
GRE ANALYTICAL WRITING题库GRE分类
0
GRE ANALYTICAL WRITING
GRE
相关试题推荐
That’sthereason________Anncouldnotdoherpartofthejob.
Whenthesuspectappearedincourt,thejudgecasta______lookathim.
Halfoftheworld’scoralreefs(珊瑚礁)havediedinthelast30years.Nowscientistsareracingtoensurethattherestsurvive
Peoplesaythatmoneycannotbuyhappiness.ThiswastrueforHowardHughes.Hewasoneoftherichestandmostpowerfulmenof
InWesternculture,anengagementbeginswith"yes"toasimplequestion:"Willyoumarryme?"Theseheart-stoppingwordsoften
Thecomfortzoneisourliving,work,andsocialenvironmentsthatwehavegrownaccustomedto.Itdeterminesthetypeoffriend
Asanyworkingmumcantellyou,runningabusinessandafamilyatthesametimeisanalmostimpossibleact.Therearenevere
Inanoldtownlivedamerchant.Heearnedhugeprofitsbyfairmeansandfoul(恶劣的).Withmoreprofitsflowingin,hebecamemor
Julie:I’mgoingtothesupermarkettopickupfoodanddrinkforSaturday’spicnic.Anysuggestions?Jack:______
Intherectangularfigureabove,theareaoftheshadedregionisequaltotheareaofthenon-shadedrectangle.IfAB=6,BC=4,
随机试题
造成药源性疾病误诊的主要原因是
小儿出齐乳牙的时间在( )个月
女,6岁,主诉:全口牙龈增生2年余,一侧已妨碍咀嚼。诊断为牙龈纤维瘤病。病人可能出现的体征是
男,56岁,护理查房时,责任护士说该病人肝颈静脉回流征阳性,其意思是指
在两差异分析法下,固定制造费用的成本差异可以分解为()。
费用偏差的产生原因很复杂,往往需要对特定项目来进行特定分析。根据以往的经验,我们给出一些费用超支的部分原因:出现重大的技术难题,计划不充分,物价上涨,总工期拖延,工作量大幅增加,政治因素;工作效率低下,返工增多,管理协调不好;沟通不佳,员工素质不高,直接成
终身教育思潮的基本观点是什么?联系我国实际加以举例阐述。(2019年中央民族、2015年北京师大、2012年东北师大、2010年西南大学)
法律关系主体是指法律关系的参加者,即在法律关系中享有权利和承担义务的人或组织。我国社会主义法律关系的主体有()
Despitethescandalsoverleakede-mails,thescientificevidenceforglobalwarmingremainsstrong.Thequestion,then,istow
设有关系歌手(歌手号,姓名,最后得分)和关系评分(歌手号,分数,评委号),每个歌手的最后得分是所有评委给出的分数的平均值,则计算歌手"最后得分"的SQL语句是( )。
最新回复
(
0
)