Dear everyone, I am taking GRE in 10 days. Please help me succeed with my essay. Big thanks from China!
The following appeared in a letter from the owner of the Sunnyside Towers apartment complex to its manager.
"One month ago, all the showerheads in the first three buildings of the Sunnyside Towers complex were modified to restrict maximum water flow to one-third of what it used to be. Although actual readings of water usage before and after the adjustment are not yet available, the change will obviously result in a considerable savings for Sunnyside Corporation, since the corporation must pay for water each month. Except for a few complaints about low water pressure, no problems with showers have been reported since the adjustment. I predict that modifying showerheads to restrict water flow throughout all twelve buildings in the Sunnyside Towers complex will increase our profits even more dramatically."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.
My response:
The owner is arguing for adjusting the showerheads in all twelve buildings in the Sunnyside Towers complex, say that restricting the maximum water flow in the first three buildings will obviously result in considerable savings, has not attracted many complaints, and do that in all the apartment building will increase their profits dramatically. The manager should be convinced if all these premises are proved reliable. However, the author doesn't do a good job in this respect, and there is number of questions needed to be answered to evaluate the prediction.
Although the actual readings of the water usage of the first three buildings have not come out yet, the owner is confident enough to believe there will be a big decrease of water usage. However, people might want to ask, when they maximum water flow is reduced to one third of before, will the residents still take showers for the usual length of time? Maybe people will just prolong their shower time so that they can make themselves with the showering experience, or, to retaliate the unpopular change, which is essential for their living, they will use even more water that before. Therefore, the owner could simply rule out these possibilities, which may well lead to totally different results. If these proved to be true, that is, the adjustment of the showerheads has not actually saved water, the manager should not do the same thing to the other buildings and it will not increase profits for them.
The second question needs to be addressed is that if the people in the first three buildings with showerheads adjusted really do not have problems with the change or not. The owner claims that no problems have been reported, saying few complaints have been received. As a matter of fact, a month might be to short for people to feel the pain of not enough water flow for their showers. As time passed, the residents might finally find the change unbearable, taking numerous complaints to the owner. By then, it would be too late to react, I am afraid. So the owner might want to do a door-to-door survey of residents who are affected, and find out how they truly feel this problem. If they were ok, that would be great. If not, the owner might not want to so optimistically predict they will increase their profits, since they will have to change it back, otherwise, the residents could choose to leave.
The third question is that if all the apartment buildings are occupied by similar groups of people. It might be the residents of the first three buildings don't have such high expectations for their living facilities, or they pay much less than others, so they are fine with the change. In contrast, residents in other buildings might pay much more and therefore expect much more, so that any negative change will cause serious complaints and protests. Therefore, the answer to this question is extremely important for the manager to decide whether it is really worthwhile to make the same adjustments to other buildings. If not, they might lose profits as a result.
The apartment building owner's conclusion is the showerhead adjustment will increase their profits. However, he or she fails address the questions I have listed, namely the actual readings of the water usage, the true opinions of the residents of the first three buildings, and the likely reactions of the other buildings of the other buildings with the expected reduced water flow. If the answers to any of these questions don't turn to the owner's favor, he or she may not conclude that the showerhead adjustments will reduce their costs and thereby increase their profits.
The essay makes a good argument as a whole. But a few suggestions:
I have just finished GRE so as far as I know, it is not necessary to repeat the instructions in the first paragraph. The viewers already know it clearly. It is a waste of time and words.
The arguments are strong. If you want to add more points, I suggest to look on 1. Whether the water cost is a large cost? If it just accounts a small part, it might not be a good recommendation considering the potential complaints. 2. It was carried out last month. What if it happens to be in winter, when people do not take much shower? Then what will happen in the summer?
Hope it helps!
