GMAT优秀备考作文素材精选示例

The author concludes that City L has good schools, affordable housing, friendly people, flourishing arts and a safe environment. To support this claim the author cites an annual survey that ranks cities according to quality of life. Two years ago City L was listed 14th in this survey. As it stands this argument is unconvincing.

First, the author fails to indicate what individual characteristics of cities were used as criteria for the ranking. To the extent that the criteria used in the survey were the same as the features listed by the author in the conclusion, the conclusion would b warranted. On the other hand, if the survey employed entirely different criteriafor example, outdoor recreational opportunities or educational achievement levels of adult residentsthen the authors conclusion would be wholly unwarranted.

Secondly, the author provides no indication of how each characteristic was weighted in the ranking. For example, City L may have far and away the most flourishing arts scene among the cities surveyed, but it may have poor schools, unfriendly people, and an unsafe environment. The extent to which the survey accurately reflects City Ls overall quality of life in this case would depend largely on the relative weight placed on the arts as a factor affecting quality of life.