kiskopata

Anyybody in this thread who has already given gmat? I gave last week, scored a 710....barely average!

i think 5. Introduce the topic in the 1st para

THanks I will review your essays...whatever I can do :) The question says :what changes would make the argument more logically sound. "....so I had introduced new material in the conclusion. Are we supposed to improve the logic, or is that crossing the boundaries of the essay?

SR Apart from OG, Manhattan SC, Kaplan 800 (math) and Powerscore CR are helpful. RC is pretty much based on luck! I wish there were some magic book for RC.

“As technological development continues to intensify business competition, the quality of customer service is likely to become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage.” Explain what you think this quotation means and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with it. Develop your position with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from history, current events, or your own experience, observations, or reading. RESPONSE The given statement implies that as business competition is increasing, each business unit tries to match the quality of the product with their competitors. The statement further explains that after the stage is achieved, in which, two business competitors have the same good quality product, there is only one factor that determines who gets the most customers. This factor is customer service. I would disagree with the statement and explain my reasoning as follows: Firstly, I believe that there would always be a value addition to any product. Through new technological developments, it would always be possible to optimize the manufacturing, logistics, or make the product more useful for the customer by including additional features. Secondly, the market is global now unlike before. It may be possible to reduce the cost of a product by outsourcing manufacturing or labor to countries such as India and China. Consider for example manufacturing of laptop computers. United States is currently the largest consumer of laptops, but a majority of them are made in Taiwan and China. So if a manufacturer in the United States provides builds a laptop with the same quality product with identical features to a laptop built in Taiwan, the US company will have less profit margin due to higher labor costs. Thirdly, improving the quality of customer service may itself be an innovation. There could be new technology to improve response time of ambulances to emergency patients, or a new method of electronic payment for a bank that can improve customer service. Improving customer service itself is also a technology development product. Fourthly, expanding the market is also a viable option for a growing company looking to improve its business. As Asian markets are growing, their demand for Hi tech products is increasing. It will be vital to capture these growing markets, for a company to increase it's profits. For some low technology products it may be true that all technological developments in the quality of the product have being achieved. However, there always will be room for improvement in logistics, supply management, inventory control, and expanding to other markets for these products. Since the economic conditions are always dynamic, and customers change their needs from time to time, there would always be room for improvement in technology areas of the product and expand to new markets.

Hi When you get a moment, please grade (vote) my essay. It is here: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/gmat-awa-analysis-argument/92595-investment-precious-metals-please-grade.html Thanks!

The following appeared in a strategy memorandum of an investment company: “Over the past several years, investment in precious metals, such as gold and silver, has proven to be one of the most profitable investment strategies for our firm. Over the next decade, the demand for these metals is expected to be strong, largely driven by the economic growth of large emerging markets--China, India, and Russia. Thus, our investors are best served by increasing their exposure to precious metals to take advantage of this unique profit-making opportunity.” Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound. Response: The investment company asserts to invest more in precious metals, such as gold and silver and sees that as the best option to maximize profits for its investors. There are several flaws in this argument, and I would like to discuss them one by one. Firstly, we can not conclude that investment in precious metals is always the most profit making option. Other than precious metals,there are several options of investment, viz. stocks, real estate, foreign investment, etc. Each of these can be more profitable than the other depending on the economy. The argument does not indicate the profit return of the other modes of investment. The investment company should explore all options before deciding the investment policy. Secondly, this argument will not hold true if the economies change in the future. The argument depends on the prediction of growing markets at India, China and Russia. Even though, these markets are improving currently, it can not be deducted that they would continue to grow in the future. There can be change in government policy, environmental factors, emergence of other national economies, etc., which can hamper the growth of the economies of India China and Russia. Thirdly, if it is really true that investment in precious metals is most profitable, market dynamics would indicate a sharp rise in the demand of precious metals. If the demand exceeds supply, the cost of precious metals will rise, resulting in reduced profits for the firm. This would revert back to the first reason that other options may prove more profitable at that time. I suggest that the investment firm invest for short term in precious metals, to take advantage of the good returns, but it can not make this a long term plan of over a decade. It would be better for the investment firm to have a flexible investment policy based on the market dynamics and invest in the most suitable option to maximize the profits of their investors. Since the argument indicates that the economies of India, China and Russia are growing, it may also be more profitable to invest directly in those markets, instead of investing in the precious metals market.

Friends I think it would be helpful for all to share their practice test scores? Here are mine..please add yours GMATPrep 1.1 680 MGMAT 1 680 MGMAT 3 650:( Kaplan 1 560:mad: GMAtPrep 1.2 710 Popwerprep 1 680:( MGMAT 4 700 In the last MGMAT, I managed to get a 51 sectional score in quant, but only got 35 sectional score in verbal. Any tips from you are appreciated.

How much are you scoring in practice tests? I also finished all of that just now. Thanks.

Friends I think it would be helpful for all to share their practice test scores? Here are mine..please add yours GMATPrep 1.1 680 MGMAT 1 680 MGMAT 3 650:( Kaplan 1 560:mad: GMAtPrep 1.2 710 Popwerprep 1 680:( MGMAT 4 700

Actually my blog got messed up so I had to pull it off. I was trying a new firefox extension scribe fire and unfortunately, it has modified all my posts and I have several repeated posts as well. And on a 2nd note, I am not even able to comfortably cross 700 yet, so I feel hesitant to share my blog, as it may not be a good source... As I see, here is what you need for RC: (7) Reading for the Structure of the Passage. The first paragraph is usually the most important paragraph in the passage because that is where the author introduces the topic and scope of the passage, along with the purpose and main idea. We've seen that RC questions ask for three types of information. Use that to your advantage. When you're finished reading the passage, you should be able to answer a few basic questions: 1. The overview -- what was the function of the passage? Advocate, explain, compare, etc. 2. What was the function of each paragraph? One sentence summary of each (mental or jotted) as you read. 3. What were all of the viewpoints? Critic's, Author's, Character's, etc. According to some critics, for example. 4. What evidence do the entities use to support their viewpoints? 5. Did the author agree with any of the viewpoints? Which one? If you get that much from the reading the questions should be easy. Don't try to memorize every line or every piece of evidence; you don't need to because you can look at the passage again any time.

Hi itspc 1 is better. 'to come' is probably not. I don't know why though, I just feel it is not right. May be concision error in 2?

The big G: RC Power Tools Goodluck! :tup:

Hi I have just started using the forum. I am aiming for ISB 09 too. Gmat on July 12th....Let us see what I can do...Goodluck all! ___ My blog d4dial.blogspot.com

Hi I have scheduled it for July 12th!! Feeling very nervous but excited.

Hello world! Have being a member here since forever, but here is my first post. Gmat is in sight within 1 month now!:crazy:

Thanks! and congrats on clearing the toefl. I gave it about 4 years back and there was no speaking test at that time. I got lucky!

Hello! Although I have being a member of this site for ages, I have never really posted anything:whistle:. Now, I am going for my first attempt on Gmat in end of May. I will keep you all posted and hopefully get a good score to post a testimonial! Thanks;)

all Qs have answers. please put Qs with no answers. Use spoiler!

Great Q kov "Get rid of the middle man" Consider the line : The computer software...has/have the versatility and power of facilitating.... Clearly we should use has here, so I choose A

yourself is wrong because who is used earlier => xABD among C and E, E is more wordy, so I choose C , the concise answer.

I vote for A also.

i see as a rule, if "that" is used, the phrase following "that" is required to make total sense of the statement, whereas, use of "which" imples an optional statement. So whenever in confusion between "which" and "that", try to remove the phrase following them. The sentence that most truly replicates the original context is the correct answer Following that logic, we can omit "which" I go with B also Secondly, we need "number"in the answer, so as to claify the meaning in the sentence as Gagan pointed out.

A construction is such that 8.1gms can be eminated without altering the sentence meaning. On second thoughts the placement seems right, but construction is redundant...wordy

I go with D too In A,B,C, no idea what "it" refers too, so eliminated E eliminated because "Although" in the sentence, so "saying" is incorrect