HopefulAcademic

Hello wonderful www.urch.community! I am taking my GRE in one week and would love to see how you guys would rate this essay. Thanks a lot! The following appeared in a memo from the economic minister of the small country Paucia. "Using a newly developed variety of seed, farmers in our neighboring country Abundia produced 80 percent more rice last year than in any previous year. To increase the income of farmers in our own country, we should encourage them to cultivate this new variety of rice rather than some of their traditional crops. Such high yields of rice will also improve our country's balance of trade by enabling us to begin exporting it." The Economic Minister of Paucia released a memo in which he cited the development of a new variety of seed. The new seed had allowed neighboring country, Abundia, to produce 80 percent more rice than in the previous year, inciting possibilities of this new seed within Paucia. But the Economic Minister should be quick to recognize that a whole gamut of factors ought to be considered before any thought of the potential of the new seed improving economic conditions and trade imbalances for Paucia. Among the forgotten factors are: 1) whether the new seed could thrive in Paucia’s climate and conditions, 2) whether Paucia can produce rice at a competitive price within a global market occupied by large rice producing nations such as Vietnam and China, 3) the effects a new rice exporting nation will have on the aggregate supply of rice within the global market and how that will affect the price level of rice. It is still unclear whether Paucia possesses the proper climate and conditions to produce this new variety of rice. As it is mentioned in the memo, Paucia’s agricultural industry has largely been centered on the farming of traditional crops. Meaning that these crops probably have long histories to the land and climate of Paucia, and have either been manipulated or were naturally predisposed to possess characteristics that would allow them thrive in Paucia’s climate. The second factor the Economic Minister fails to remember is whether or not Paucia is capable of producing rice at competitive prices. Paucia is entering a market in which other more prominent rice producing countries have been growing and exporting rice for hundreds of years. Because of their long history in producing and exporting rice, these countries hold a distinct advantage in technology and technique that allows them to produce rice and price it as a science. For any new country to try and enter into this market, the primary way in which they would be able to compete is through offering similar products at lower prices, which seems challenging especially given the production capabilities of countries such as China and Vietnam. Leading off from the second point, it is still unknown how an influx of rice to the aggregate supply will affect the price level. It is the classic adage, supply versus demand, which negotiates the price level. If there is a sudden influx of rice to the aggregate demand, the conversely related curve of price will move the price level down. The lowered price level of rice might be marginal enough to where other countries with extensive rice producing histories could survive, but might be too difficult for an upstart rice producing country like Paucia. In conclusion, the Economic Minister of Paucia would be better served if he were to consider the environmental conditions of Paucia, as well as the economic conditions of the global rice market before developing any strategies to utilize the new variety of seed. A gamut of hurdles exist, ranging from the viability of the conditions in Paucia to even grow this variety of rice, other long standing rice producing countries which hold a clear technological and production advantage, and if these hurdles can be cleared, whether the lowered price level of rice will make the process make economic sense.

Yeah, the last sentence threw me off as well, but when you look back the thrust of his argument, while excited, the author didn't really seem to try to persuade the reader towards one particular theory

I was thinking more in the lines of function. The teeth of a saw allow it to cut into objects. The cog allows the wheel to be functional but it does not perform a similar task as the teeth on a saw. But I am a noob.

hey thanks a lot for the input!

Hi everyone! First, I am a total noob when it comes to GRE Math. I took the SAT's in high school just to appease my parents, but didn't do well on it, and found every way possible to snake and slither my way through high school and college by doing the minimum amount of math. Well I've changed a lot since, especially in my study habits and have graduate school aspirations, but unfortunately I am still behind the 8 ball as far as my math skills are concerned. I've perused some of the math questions on this forum and haven't gotten close to any of the answers the posters got to, and wasn't even close to begin to applying the right methods. I was wondering for a noob like me, where would be a good place to start? Also finances are pretty tight, so i won't be able to sign up for Kaplan, Princeton Review, or other GRE courses. Thanks!