VTgrad2010

In surveys Mason City residents rank water sports (swimming, boating and fishing) among their favorite recreational activities. The Mason River flowing through the city is rarely used for these pursuits, however, and the city park department devotes little of its budget to maintaining riverside recreational facilities. For years there have been complaints from residents about the quality of the river's water and the river's smell. In response, the state has recently announced plans to clean up Mason River. Use of the river for water sports is therefore sure to increase. The city government should for that reason devote more money in this year's budget to riverside recreational facilities. Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on the assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted. While Mason City residents want the city to pay for more river maintenance, the author’s argument is flawed because he or she assumes river activities will increase once the water is cleaner. Although it’s easy to see why residents want cleaner water, it does not mean the city should necessarily increase spending on water maintenance. The author assumes that the city is not spending enough money for recreational facilities. What constitutes as “enough money?” In order to prove this assumption, the author should mention the amount of money the city government should spend and mention how much the government actually spent. The author should also mention the city’s budget for maintaining facilities. Not only should the argument list the government’s budget, but it should also release the results of the survey taken by the Mason City residents. The argument generalizes the results by saying most Mason City residents rank water sports as their most favorite recreational activities. The argument fails to list other recreational activities and also fails to realize that river can be used in other ways. In order to bolster the argument, the author should say the percentage of those who ranked water activities as their favorite recreational activity. The argument should also list other recreational activities the residents like to take part in. Speaking of survey results, the author fails to mention how many residents participated in the survey, which could be detrimental to the validity of this survey. Also, we do not know how many Mason City residents there are or the demographics of those residents. Saying how many people participated in the survey may augment or may enfeeble the survey. The author states if the government spends more money to maintain the Mason River, the use for water sports will increase. However, the author fails to recognize that it is hard to quantify what “enough money” is. He or she also fails to take into account that location may impact the amount of recreational activity. If we are to believe the author’s argument, then more factors and research will be needed.

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In parallelogram ABCD below, find the following. A. Area of ABCD B. Perimeter of ABCD C. Length of diagonal BD For B, I got 32 as my answer by using 2(w+h), but the answer key says 24 + 4 sq root 5. How do I get that answer? [ATTACH=CONFIG]6501[/ATTACH]

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I'm interested in a study partner. Prep tools: Magoosh, GRE official guide, Kaplan, Barron's vocab book Time zone: Eastern (UTC-4/5 - depending on daylight savings)