PROMPT: A pet food company recalled 4 million pounds of pet food in response to complaints that pets that had consumed the food experienced vomiting, lethargy, and other signs of illness. After the recall, the pet food company tested samples from the recalled food and determined that all chemicals found in the food were chemicals that are approved for use in pet food. Thus, the recalled food was not responsible for these symptoms, and the company should not devote further resources to the investigation.
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 these assumptions and what the implications are if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
A pet food company got a recent recall on their pet food product and a test on their product showed that their pet food was chemically safe. The company argues to not go into further investigation to prove that they are responsible for the accusation. Before this argument is made we need to identify all the assumptions that weaken and question the argument. Specifically we need to know where the complaints are coming from, whether the pet food test results are reliable, and consider the various external factors that could have lead to the complaints.
There were complaints of pet's being sick after eating the company's pet food. The assumption here is that the complaints are a significant issue to the value of the company. We do not know where the complaints are coming from. If the complaints were from loyal customers that are familiar with the company's products, that should be a problem. However, if the complaints were from a few people, or even people that work at other rival pet companies, these complaints would be bias and not sufficient to consider the issue serious. We need to know how many people complained, which population complained (general or specific) to be able to understand the cope of the issue. If we do not know the specifics of the complaint, then the argument remains valid for these reasons.
The company has also ran some tests on their recalled pet food and it was approved that it was chemically safe. The assumption here is that the tests are reliable to determine the safety of their product. This lab testing will be weak if the company's testing standards were done without a third party, specifically lab researcher that test according to a non-biased standard. In order for the test to be considered sound, it must be repeated more than once and whether the chemicals in the food is safe for all pets, not just considered "safe." For the argument fails apart with their claims, unless it is justified by reliable test measures on their pet food.
Lastly, the test is the only evidence we have to prove that the pet foods are chemically safe. The pet foods passing the test points to the ingredients in the pet food as the result of the pet's becoming sick by the complaints. In contrary, we do not whether external factors could have influenced pet sickness. What is the workers that bagged the pet food had unsanitary practices? If may also be possible that the food was expired and mislabeled. Without ruling out other variables, the argument is not valid if it only relies on the food test results.
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This essay was written under 30 minutes timed. Please provide helpful feedback and how you would grade my essay based on the GRE scale (0-6) Thank you very much!!
Link below:
ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/argument/scoring_guide
Dear justooridoori,
unfortunately I do not know well how GRE works and how are scores assigned to each production.
However, I tried to check what I could. I think that your english is good, you're extremely formal and you make only occasional errors, which seem to be related to the word-formation part (vocabulary). I do not know if you have to follow a specific format, and, if you have to, just forget what I am about to say, but there are a lot of repetitions in your work. I have outlined some of them so that you can see the frequency of each word you use in your writing.
Therefore I would suggest you focusing more on the vocabulary part.
A pet foodcompany got a recent recall on their pet foodproduct and a test on their product showed that their pet food was chemically safe. The company argues to not go into further investigation ...
There were complaints of pet's being sick after ...
We do not know where the complaints are coming from. If the complaints were from loyal customers that ...
... these complaints would be biased and not sufficient to consider the issue seriously. We need to know how many people complained , which population complained (general or specific) to be able ...
If we do not know the specifics of the complaint , then the argument remains valid for these reasons.
I hope this can be of help!
Hi Stacy, as much as I want to rate your essay, I don't have the expertise when is comes to GRE grading system, however, here's what I can say about your essay.
You were able to create an argument in much detail, the facts featured are base, not only on your personal opinion, but base on facts and realistic occurrence in our daily lives, recalling pet food is indeed as much harmful as recalling human food, pets are are part of human existence,therefore , they should be treated with utmost importance.
Moreover, the writing style you showcased in this argument is very comprehensive, you made sure that the words are simple, easy to understand and more importantly, the argument is well presented with a very sequential progress of ideas. If I were to rate your essay base on the English language and its use, I would give it a 9, this is because I know that you can still strengthen the argument by choosing to include only the very important details to your essay.
I hope to review more of your writing and the best of luck to your GRE!!!
