new argument topics

　　the following appeared in the business section of a newspaper.

　　"given that the number of people in our country with some form of arthritis is expected to rise from 40 million to 60 million over the next twenty years, pharmaceutical companies that produce drugs for the treatment of arthritis should be very profitable. many analysts believe that in ten years becton pharmaceuticals, which makes xenon, the best-selling drug treatment for arthritis, will be the most profitable pharmaceutical company. but the patent on xenon expires in three years, and other companies will then be able to produce a cheaper version of the drug. thus, it is more likely that in ten years the most profitable pharmaceutical company will be perkins pharmaceuticals, maker of a new drug called xylan, which clinical studies show is preferred over xenon by seven out of ten patients suffering from the most extreme cases of arthritis."

　　the following appeared in a memo from the chief executive of a video game company.

　　"we have recently been offered the opportunity to buy the rights to produce a video game based on the soon-to-be-published children's book "squirrel power," by peter wood. while the cost of the rights is substantial and will place economic constraints on our company in the short-term, there are two reasons that the purchase of these rights will undoubtedly be a wise investment. first, wood's last three books have been best sellers and the movie based on his first book was highly profitable. second, the popular characters and story line in "squirrel power" will save us time in developing our video game, thereby reducing our costs."

　　when ida mcallister ran for mayor of lake city four years ago, she failed to win even 30 percent of the vote. but since then, mcallister has made public her commitment to environmental causes. she would be wise, therefore, to announce her intention to close all lake city parks to automobile traffic, thus following the example of the former mayor of plainsville, alecia yu . on the recommendation of a small group of concerned citizens, mayor yu prohibited automobile traffic in all plainsville parks, and therefore was credited with solving the pollution problem and improving the quality of life in plainsville. this action would have great appeal to the citizens of lake city, most of whom participate in the community's recycling program, and would guarantee mcallister's success in her current quest to be lake city's new mayor.

　　according to information recently reported in the eliottown gazette, the number of people who travel to eliottown has increased significantly over the past several years. so far this year over 100,000 people have arrived on flights to eliottown's airport, compared with only 80,000 last year and 40,000 the year before. eliottown's train station has received more than 50,000 passengers this year, compared with less than 40,000 last year and 20,000 the year before. clearly tourism in eliottown has been increasing, thanks to the new central park and museum of modern art that opened last year. therefore, the funding for the park and museum should be increased significantly.

　　the following appeared in the editorial section of a newsmagazine.

　　"some states are creating new laws that restrict the use of of handheld cell phones by drivers of automobiles. such legislation, however, is sheer folly. although some people with cell phones undoubtedly cause problems on the road, including serious accidents, the majority do not. besides, problems are also caused by drivers who are distracted by any number of other activities, from listening to the radio to disciplining children. since there is no need to pass legislation restricting these and other such activities, it follows that there is no need to restrict people's freedom to use a device that they find convenient—or helpful in emergencies."

　　until recently, people in hiparia did most of their shopping by driving to shopping malls. they are beginning, however, to do more of their shopping by ordering merchandise from mail-order catalogs and the internet. these purchases are delivered to them by mail or by a delivery service. for many purchases, hiparians no longer need to drive to and from shopping malls; there will therefore be a resulting reduction in the consumption of vehicle fuel in hiparia.

　　the following report appeared in an archaeology journal.

　　"the discovery of distinctively shaped ceramic pots at various prehistoric sites scattered over a wide area has led archaeologists to ask how the pots were spread. some believe the pot makers migrated to the various sites and carried the pots along with them; others believe the pots were spread by trade and their makers remained in one place. now, analysis of the bones of prehistoric human skeletons can settle the debate: high levels of a certain metallic element contained in various foods are strongly associated with people who migrated to a new place after childhood. many of the bones found near the pots at a few sites showed high levels of the metallic element. therefore, it must be that the pots were spread by migration, not trade."

　　milk and dairy products are rich in vitamin d and calcium, substances essential for building and maintaining bones. many people therefore believe that a diet rich in dairy products can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease in which the bones weaken significantly with age and that is linked to both environmental and genetic factors. but a long-term study of a large number of people has found that those who have consistently consumed dairy products throughout the years of the study have a higher rate of bone fractures than any other participants in the study. since bone fractures are a symptom of osteoporosis, this study result shows that a diet rich in dairy products may actually increase, rather than decrease, the risk of osteoporosis.

　　the following appeared in the summary of a study on headaches suffered by the residents of mentia.

　　"salicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used to treat headaches. although many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, for the past several decades food-processing companies have also been adding salicylates to foods as preservatives. this rise in the commercial use of salicylates has been found to correlate with a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by participants in our twenty-year study. recently, food-processing companies have found that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives for foods. with this new use for salicylates, we can expect a continued steady decline in the number of headaches suffered by the average citizen of mentia."

　　the following appeared in an article written by dr. karp, an anthropologist.

　　"twenty years ago dr. field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of tertia and concluded from his observations that children in tertia were reared by an entire village rather than by their own biological parents. however, my recent interviews with children living in the group of islands that includes tertia show that these children spend much more time talking about their biological parents than about other adults in the village. this research proves that dr. field's conclusion about tertian village culture is false, and thus that the observation-centered approach to studying cultures is invalid. because they are using the interview-centered method, my team of graduate students working in tertia will establish a much more accurate understanding of child-rearing traditions there and in other island cultures."

　　woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of palea and therefore were believed to have been unique to the palean people. recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "palean" basket in lithos, an ancient village across the brim river from palea. the brim river is very deep and broad, and so the ancient paleans could only have crossed it by boat, but there is no evidence that the paleans had boats. and boats capable of carrying groups of people and cargo were not developed until thousands of years after the palean people disappeared. moreover, paleans would have had no need to cross the river—the woods around palea are full of nuts, berries, and small game. it follows that the so-called palean baskets were not unique to palea.

　　the following memo appeared in the newsletter of the west meria public health council.

　　"an innovative treatment has come to our attention that promises to significantly reduce absenteeism in our schools and workplaces. a study reports that in nearby east meria, where fish consumption is very high, people visit the doctor only once or twice per year for the treatment of colds. clearly, eating a substantial amount of fish can prevent colds. since colds are the reason most frequently given for absences from school and work, we recommend the daily use of ichthaid, a nutritional supplement derived from fish oil, as a good way to prevent colds and lower absenteeism."

　　the following appeared in a memorandum from the president of humana college.

　　"last year the number of students who enrolled in long-distance degree programs at omni university increased by 50%. during the same year, omni showed a significant decrease from prior years in expenditures for dormitory and classroom space, most likely because instruction in the long-distance programs takes place via interactive video computer connections. in contrast, over the past three years, enrollment at humana college has diminished and costs of maintaining buildings have risen. thus, to increase enrollment and solve the problem of budget deficits at humana college, we should initiate and actively promote long-distance degree programs like those at omni."

　　the following appeared in a memorandum from the president of excello food markets.

　　"in 90 towns where excello has food markets, natural-food stores specializing in organic food products—products containing no chemical preservatives and made with foods grown without pesticides—have opened nearby as competitors. surveys of our own customers reveal a growing concern about foods grown using pesticides or preserved with chemicals. recently our market in sun city participated in a local food tasting fair, and 75 percent of the fair goers who visited the excello booth requested free samples of organic fruit. such evidence indicates that to increase our profits, we should begin to stock a full line of organic food products in all our markets."

　　the following appeared in a memo from the vice president of a food-distribution company with food-storage warehouses in several cities.

　　"recently we signed a contract with the fly-away pest-control company to provide pest-control services at our fast-food warehouse in palm city, but last month we discovered that over $20,000 worth of food there had been destroyed by pest damage. meanwhile, the buzzoff pest-control company, which we have used for many years, continued to service our warehouse in wintervale, and last month only $10,000 worth of the food stored there had been destroyed by pest damage. even though the price charged by fly-away is considerably lower, our best means of saving money is to return to buzzoff company for all our pest-control services."

　　the following appeared in a proposal from the economic minister of the country of paraterra.

　　"in order to strengthen its lagging economy, last year the government of the nearby country of bellegea began an advertising campaign to promote ecologically sound tourism (ecotourism). this year the number of foreign visitors arriving at bellegea's main airport doubled, and per capita income in bellegea increased by ten percent. to provide more income for the population of paraterra and also preserve the natural environment of our tiny country, we too should begin to promote ecotourism. to ensure that our advertising campaign is successful, we should hire the current director of bellegea's national tourism office as a consultant for the campaign."

　　the following appeared as part of a business plan developed by the manager of the rialto theater.

　　"despite its downtown location, the rialto movie theater, a local institution for five decades, must make big changes or close its doors forever. it should follow the example of the new apex theater in the mall outside of town. when the apex opened last year, it featured a video arcade, plush carpeting and seats, and a state-of-the-art sound system. furthermore, in a recent survey, over 85 percent of respondents reported that the high price of newly released movies prevents them from going to the movies more than five times per year. thus, if the rialto intends to hold on to its share of a decreasing pool of moviegoers, it must offer the same features as apex." 【源文件来自ETS】

[ 本帖最后由 christlulu 于 2007-2-3 12:30 编辑 ]

GRE作文新增的argument题目(2)

the following is a recommendation from the business manager of monarch books.

　　"monarch books should open a cafè in its store to attract more customers and better compete with regal books, which recently opened a cafè. monarch, which has been in business at the same location for more than twenty years, has a large customer following because it is known for its wide selection of books on all subjects. opening the cafè would clearly attract more customers. the cafè would require relatively little space. space could be made for the cafè by discontinuing the children's book section, which will likely become less popular given that the last national census indicated a significant decline in the percent of the population who are under age ten."

　　the following appeared as an editorial in a wildlife journal.

　　"arctic deer live on islands in canada's arctic region. they search for food by moving over ice from island to island during the course of a year. their habitat is limited to areas warm enough to sustain the plants on which they feed, and cold enough, at least some of the year, for the ice to cover the sea separating the islands, allowing the deer to travel over it. unfortunately, according to reports from local hunters, the deer populations are declining. since these reports coincide with recent global warming trends that have caused the sea ice to melt, we can conclude that the decline in arctic deer populations is the result of deer being unable to follow their age-old migration patterns across the frozen sea."

although black bears are common in the eastern canadian province of labrador, grizzly bears—often similar in color, but much larger—were believed to exist only in the western provinces. despite a nineteenth-century explorer's account of having startled and narrowly escaped from a grizzly bear deep in the woods in labrador, modern scientists find no physical evidence that grizzly bears have ever lived in labrador. but recent research into the language and legends of the innu, a people who have lived in labrador for thousands of years, reveals that their language has words for two different kinds of bears, and their ancient legends attribute different characteristics to the two kinds of bears. therefore, there probably were grizzly bears in labrador, and the explorer's account probably accurately identified the bear.

　　scientists studying historical weather patterns have discovered that in the mid-sixth century, earth suddenly became significantly cooler. although few historical records survive from that time, some accounts found both in asia and europe mention a dimming of the sun and extremely cold temperatures. either a huge volcanic eruption or a large meteorite colliding with earth could have created a large dust cloud throughout earth's atmosphere that would have been capable of blocking enough sunlight to lower global temperatures significantly. a large meteorite collision, however, would probably create a sudden bright flash of light, and no extant historical records of the time mention such a flash. some surviving asian historical records of the time, however, mention a loud boom that would be consistent with a volcanic eruption. therefore, the cooling was probably caused by a volcanic eruption.

　　the following appeared in a newspaper article published in the country of corpora.

　　"twenty years ago, one half of all citizens in corpora met the standards for adequate physical fitness as then defined by the national advisory board on physical fitness. today, the board says that only one quarter of all citizens are adequately fit and suggests that spending too much time using computers may be the reason. but since overall fitness levels are highest in regions of corpora where levels of computer ownership are also highest, it is clear that using computers has not made citizens less physically fit. instead, as shown by this year's unusually low expenditures on fitness-related products and services, the recent decline in the economy is most likely the cause, and fitness levels will improve when the economy does."

　　the following appeared in a letter to the editor of a newsletter on health issues.

　　"for the past decade, most health experts have advised teenagers to avoid eating greasy foods in order to prevent acne and related skin conditions, but the number of teenagers who sought medical help for these skin problems has actually risen over the same period. in a recent study, teenagers who avoided greasy foods for a month reported approximately as many outbreaks of acne and related skin conditions as did those who ate an average of two servings of greasy food per day. such data indicate that eating greasy foods is unlikely to be a cause of acne and related skin conditions. therefore, health experts should no longer recommend that people avoid such foods."

　　from a draft textbook manuscript submitted to a publisher.

　　"as earth was being formed out of the collision of space rocks, the heat from those collisions and from the increasing gravitational energy of the planet made the entire planet molten, even the surface. any water present would have evaporated and gone off into space. as the planet approached its current size, however, its gravitation became strong enough to hold gases and water vapor around it as an atmosphere. because comets are largely ice made up of frozen water and gases, a comet striking earth then would have vaporized. the resulting water vapor would have been retained in the atmosphere, eventually falling as rain on the cooled and solidified surface of earth. therefore, the water in earth's oceans must have originated from comets."

　　the following appeared in a medical newsletter.

　　"doctors have long suspected that secondary infections may keep some patients from healing quickly after severe muscle strain. this hypothesis has now been proved by preliminary results of a study of two groups of patients. the first group of patients, all being treated for muscle injuries by dr. newland, a doctor who specializes in sports medicine, took antibiotics regularly throughout their treatment. their recuperation time was, on average, 40 percent quicker than typically expected. patients in the second group, all being treated by dr. alton, a general physician, were given sugar pills, although the patients believed they were taking antibiotics. their average recuperation time was not significantly reduced. therefore, all patients who are diagnosed with muscle strain would be well advised to take antibiotics as part of their treatment."

　　the following appeared in a memo to the human resources manager at baobob inc., a large architectural firm.

　　"several well-known, retired architects were interviewed in architecture today about changes in the field. only one had earned a college degree in architecture. all others had come into the field at an early age by serving apprenticeships that required them to work under the direct supervision of an experienced architect. several of the colleges that we recruit from report that many promising architecture students leave school early in their undergraduate career. therefore, because finding talented architecture graduates is becoming more difficult, baobob inc. should start an aggressive apprenticeship program and hire students who express an interest in architecture directly out of high school rather than wait for them to get out of college."

　　thirteen years ago, researchers studied a group of 25 infants who showed signs of mild distress when exposed to unfamiliar stimuli such as an unusual odor or a tape recording of an unknown voice. they discovered that these infants were more likely than other infants to have been conceived in early autumn, a time when their mothers' production of melatonin—a hormone known to affect some brain functions—would naturally increase in response to decreased daylight. in a follow-up study conducted earlier this year, more than half of these children—now teenagers—who had shown signs of distress identified themselves as shy. clearly, increased levels of melatonin before birth cause shyness during infancy and this shyness continues into later life.

　　the following appeared in a newsletter on dental health.

　　"a recent research study reported the experience of dentists whose patients had, over a period of five years, regularly used flux dental floss as part of their dental hygiene routine. the report indicates that these dentists had 50 percent fewer cases of gum disease than did dentists whose patients did not use flux regularly. in addition, most of the flux users who were surveyed by their dentists agreed that flux's mint flavor would encourage people to floss more often. thus, even though flux may cost more than other brands of floss, it is clearly a worthwhile investment for those who want to be assured of healthy teeth and gums."

　　the following appeared in a letter to the editor of the shady village newspaper.

　　"commuters are complaining that the rush hour traffic on blue highway between shady village and bright city has doubled their commuting time. some commuters have asked that an additional traffic lane be built, but the recent creation of such a lane on nearby green highway apparently attracted more commuters, judging from the fact that rush-hour traffic jams actually increased there this past winter. to reduce rush-hour traffic on blue highway, a bicycle lane should be added instead of a traffic lane. this approach will succeed because many citizens of shady village are avid bicyclists; 75 percent of respondents to a recent questionnaire distributed there said they would like to bicycle more hours per week than they currently do."

　　collectors prize the ancient life-size clay statues of human figures made on kali island but have long wondered how the kalinese artists were able to depict bodies with such realistic precision. since archeologists have recently discovered molds of human heads and hands on kali, we can now conclude that the ancient kalinese artists used molds of actual bodies, not sculpting tools and techniques, to create these statues. this discovery explains why kalinese miniature statues were abstract and entirely different in style: molds could only be used for life-size sculptures. it also explains why few ancient kalinese sculpting tools have been found. in light of this development, collectors should expect the life-size sculptures to decrease in value and the miniatures to increase in value.

　　the following appeared in a newsletter on nutrition and health.

　　"although the multimineral zorba pill was designed as a simple dietary supplement, a study of first-time ulcer patients who took zorba suggests that zorba actually helps prevent ulcers. the study showed that only 25 percent of those ulcer patients who took zorba under a doctor's direction developed new ulcers, compared to a 75 percent recurrence rate among ulcer patients who did not take zorba. clearly, then, zorba will be highly effective in preventing recurrent ulcers and if health experts inform the general public of this fact, many first-time ulcers can be prevented as well."

　　the following appeared in an article from a popular newsmagazine.

　　"in 1888 a stone was unearthed in northern wisconsin with an inscription in an old scandinavian alphabet and bearing the date 1362. scandinavians were not, however, exploring or emigrating to northern wisconsin in the fourteenth century. recent analysis proves, in fact, that the stone had been buried in the spot where it was found for no more than 100 years. moreover, the community near the discovery site was home to a group of people who had formed a club to study medieval scandinavian culture—a period that includes the fourteenth century. the stone, therefore, is not a genuine artifact of medieval scandinavian culture inscribed in the fourteenth century but most likely a hoax perpetrated by the group."

　　the following appeared in an article in the health section of a newspaper.

　　"according to the available medical records, the six worst worldwide fluepidemics during the past 300 years occurred in 1729, 1830, 1918, 1957, 1968, and 1977. these were all years with heavy sunspot activity—that is, years when the earth received significantly more solar energy than in normal years. people at particular risk for the flu should therefore avoid prolonged exposure to the sun."

　　the following appeared in the health section of glenntown's local newspaper.

　　"several national medical studies suggest that older people who have pets tend to enjoy better health than those who do not have pets: those who have pets have lower rates of high blood pressure and arthritis. it seems clear that having to care for an animal promotes good health for the older person. therefore, glenntown should establish a program to give a small pet such as a dog or cat to all of its citizens who are over the age of 65. this will help to insure that our senior citizens enjoy good health and have fewer medical bills."

　　the following appeared in a report by the school district of eyleria.

　　"nationally, the average ratio of computers to students in kindergarten through grade 12 (k-12) is 1:5. educators indicate that this is very good ratio. this means that across the country, all students have access to and can use computers daily in their classrooms. in eyleria's k-12 schools, the ratio of computers to students is 1:7. this number is sufficient to ensure that all of eyleria's students, by the time they graduate from high school, will be fully proficient in the use of computer technology. thus, there is no reason to spend any of the schools' budget on computers or other technology in the next few years."

　　the following appeared as a letter to the editor of a local solano newspaper.

　　"the solano school district should do away with its music education programs. after all, music programs are not especially popular in our schools: only 20 percent of our high school students participated in music programs last year. furthermore, very few of the solano district's college- bound students are interested in majoring in music at the university level. also, when the school district of our neighboring town of rutherford eliminated its music programs two years ago, the overall grade point average in the high school increased by 10 percent the next year. surely the money spent on solano music programs could be better used to improve the quality of traditional academic courses."

　　the following appeared as part of a memo from the manager of a hazardous-waste disposal company.

　　"our new plan will help us better protect our staff against exposure to toxic chemicals: we are fitting each new safety suit with an alarm that will sound in the main control booth when the suit is punctured. the control booth will notify the managers on duty, who will then take the necessary steps to ensure employees' safety. in addition to the obvious safety-related benefits, the fast reaction time will ensure minimal work stoppage and thus result in increased worker productivity and company profitability."

　　the following appeared as an editorial in one of coleville's city newspapers.

　　"even though a high percentage of coleville city's businesses failed last year, we who live in coleville city should keep in mind the fact that the coleville region has attracted a great many new businesses over the last three years. it is well known that new businesses are, on average, much more likely to fail than are long-established ones, so the business failures should not be considered a sign of poor economic health. indeed, many analysts regard the presence of a significant number of new companies among a region's businesses as a sign of economic health. thus coleville city appears to be in good, not poor, economic shape."

　　the following appeared in the editorial section of a student newspaper.

　　"in a recent survey, most students who were studying beginning russian gave higher course-evaluation ratings to classes taught by non-native russian speakers than to classes taught by native russian speakers. the reason that the non-native speakers were better teachers of russian is easy to see: the non-native speakers learned russian later in life themselves, and so they have a better understanding of how the language can be taught effectively. therefore, in order to improve instruction for all languages and also save money, our university should hire non-native speakers as language instructors instead of trying to find and recruit native speakers."

　　there is a general idea that waiters and waitresses are more likely to receive larger gratuities from large groups of people. a recent research study suggests this is not true. the researchers examined the relationship between the size of tips in restaurants and the number of meals charged on the bill. they found that, while most tips were around 15 percent, the minimum percentage considered appropriate, people dining alone tipped consistently more (19 percent) and those dining in groups of four or more tipped considerably less (13 percent) than this 15 percent standard. these results strongly suggest that people dining in a group are less likely to feel personally responsible for leaving an adequate or generous tip.

　　there is a general idea that a translation always fails to preserve some of the qualities that distinguish the original work—i.e., that 'something always gets lost in translation.' writers, critics, and the general reading public unthinkingly accept this clichè. but this belief is unwarranted: translators are sometimes distinguished authors themselves, and some authors may even translate their own works. as the translator pointed out in the preface to an english version of dante's works, the violin and the piano make different sounds, but they can play what is recognizably the same piece of music. 【源文件来自ETS 】

GRE作文新增的argument题目(３)

　the following appeared as part of a recommendation made by a faculty member to the president of a large university.

　　"never once in our 150-year history as a university have we clarified our objectives. how, then, can we hope to adapt as an institution to the new challenges facing higher education. as a first step in this evolutionary process, therefore, we should send out questionnaires asking faculty members why they teach, asking students what they want from this university, and asking former students what they gained from their own education here. when the replies come in, we can tabulate them and formulate an official statement of our educational mission. this will surely result in improved programs at our university."

　　the following appeared in the editorial section of an educational publication.

　　"one study at lee university found that first-semester grades of teenage students who had always attended public, tax-supported schools were slightly lower than the grades of students who had received some home schooling instruction by parents at home, although the grade differences disappeared in the second semester. these results suggest that home schooling is the best way to educate teenage children. therefore, instead of spending more money on public education, the government should provide financial incentives so that home schooling is an option for more parents. after all, children schooled at home receive more attention, since they are taught by the best possible teacher: a parent who has a high stake in educating them well."

　　the following report appeared in a memo from the vice president of the southside transportation authority.

"we should abandon our current five-year plan to purchase additional buses to serve the campus of southside university, because students there are unlikely to use them. consider the results of the recent campaign sponsored by the environmental club at southside university: in a program on the campus radio station, the club asked students to call in and pledge that they would commute to school by bus instead of by automobile at least one day per week. only ten percent of the students called in and pledged. in view of the campaign's lack of success, we can assume that the bus service we currently offer will continue to be sufficient to serve the university."

　　the following appeared in an editorial in the mason city newspaper.

　　"at present, mason city residents seldom use the nearby mason river for any kind of recreational activity, even though surveys of the region's residents consistently rank water sports (swimming, fishing, and boating) as a favorite form of recreation. since there have been complaints about the quality of the water in the river, residents must be avoiding the river because they think that it is not clean enough. but that situation is about to change: the agency responsible for rivers in our region has announced plans to clean up mason river. therefore, recreational use of the river is likely to increase, so the mason city council will need to increase its budget for improvements to the publicly owned lands along the mason river."

　　the following is part of a letter from the brookfree school board.

　　"as part of our new educational reform program, we identified ten schools most in need of immediate improvement. an advisory committee is now recommending that we hire consultants to study further the schools' problems and to propose a plan of action. only two years ago, however, another group of consultants determined that several schools in our district had problems because their principals were inexperienced. thus, if we want to see immediate improvement in our schools and save the district the money it would spend on hiring more consultants, we should replace all the principals in the ten worst schools with ten of our most experienced principals in the district."

　　the following is a memorandum from the business manager of wlss television station.

　　"over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increasingly more time to covering national news and less time to covering weather and local news. during the same time period, most of the complaints we received from viewers were concerned with the station's coverage of weather and local news. in addition, several local businesses that used to run advertisements during our late-night news program have just cancelled their advertising contracts with us. therefore, in order to attract more viewers to our news programs and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should expand the coverage of weather and local news on all our news programs."

　　the following was taken from a guide for aspiring writers.

　　"new writers usually cannot convince large, prestigious publishers that their work is marketable, so they must first publish with smaller, less well-known presses to establish a sales record. but the editors of mystery writers magazine have good news for aspiring writers: the number of mystery novels published in the last two years has grown significantly, and more people read mysteries than any other type of novel. in addition, almost half of the mystery novels published last year were written by first-time novel writers. since there is apparently an expanding market for mystery novels, all publishers will want to increase the number of mystery novels they publish. therefore, new writers should write mystery novels to increase their chances for first-time publication with a larger, prestigious company."

　　the following is a memo from the principal of academia high school.

　　"academia high school should abolish its after-school performing-arts programs and replace them with computer-technology programs. when nearby techno high school did so last year, total enrollment in all of its after-school activities remained about the same. moreover, on entering college, many techno students chose a major directly related to their after-school activities. on the other hand, last year only 10 percent of academia's graduating seniors chose performing arts as their major field of study in their first year of college, clearly indicating that most students do not have a strong interest in the performing arts."

　　the following appeared in an editorial in the local newspaper of workville.

　　"workers should be allowed to reduce their workload from 40 to 25 or even 20 hours per week because it is clear that people who work part-time instead of full-time have better health and improved morale. one store in workville, which began allowing its employees to work part-time last year, reports that fewer days of sick leave were taken last year than in previous years. in contrast, the factory in workville, which does not allow any of its employees to work part-time, had a slight increase in the number of days of sick leave taken last year. in addition, a recent survey reports that most of the store employees stated that they are satisfied with their jobs, while many of the factory employees stated that they are dissatisfied with their jobs."

　　the following appeared in an environmental newsletter published in tria island.

　　"the marine sanctuary on tria island was established to protect certain marine mammals. its regulations ban dumping and offshore oil drilling within 20 miles of tria, but fishing is not banned. currently many fish populations in tria's waters are declining, a situation blamed on pollution. in contrast, the marine sanctuary on omni island has regulations that ban dumping, offshore oil drilling, and fishing within 10 miles of omni and omni reports no significant decline in its fish populations. clearly, the decline in fish populations in tria's waters is the result of overfishing, not pollution. therefore, the best way to restore tria's fish populations and to protect all of tria's marine wildlife is to abandon our regulations and adopt those of omni."

　　the following appeared in the annual report of a chain of stores that sell supplies for do-it-yourself home improvements.

　　"current reports indicate that sales of new homes nationwide declined by 9 percent during the past year, while sales of existing homes increased by 16 percent. thus we can expect that the percentage of homeowners who will be making repairs or improvements to their homes will also increase. in addition, people who buy existing homes will have more money left over after the purchase to spend on home improvements. finally, people who buy existing homes are more likely to make improvements themselves, as opposed to paying someone else. these factors combined indicate we can expect an increasing demand for products in all our stores nationwide, thus increasing our profits in the coming year."

　　the following appeared in the sherwood times newspaper.

　　"a recent study reported that pet owners have longer, healthier lives on average than do people who own no pets. specifically, dog owners tend to have a lower incidence of heart disease. in light of these findings, sherwood hospital should form a partnership with sherwood animal shelter to institute an 'adopt-a-dog' program. the program would encourage dog ownership for patients recovering from heart disease, which will help reduce medical costs by reducing the number of these patients needing ongoing treatment. in addition, the publicity about the program will encourage more people to adopt pets from the shelter, which will reduce the risk of heart disease in the general population."

　　the following appeared in an editorial in the garden city gazette.

　　"to address the parking problems in our downtown business district, it has been proposed that the city increase parking capacity by building a four-story parking garage. however, this project would cost more than it would to improve the downtown pedestrian plaza. because the pedestrian plaza is an important attraction that draws people to the downtown area, improvements to it will increase business for downtown merchants. the merchants' higher profits will ultimately produce increased tax revenues for the city. therefore, we should invest in the plaza improvements first and then use the revenues thus generated to pay for the construction of the parking garage."

　　the vice president for human resources at climpson industries sent the following recommendation to the company's president.

　　"in an effort to improve our employees' productivity, we should implement electronic monitoring of employees' internet use from their workstations. employees who use the internet from their workstations need to be identified and punished if we are to reduce the number of work hours spent on personal or recreational activities, such as shopping or playing games. by installing software to detect employees' internet use on company computers, we can prevent employees from wasting time, foster a better work ethic at climpson, and improve our overall profits."

　　the following appeared in a health magazine.

　　"it has long been believed that getting at least eight hours of sleep a night is good for health. but a recent six-year study of adult sleeping habits found that people who reported sleeping eight or more hours a night had a higher rate of certain health problems than did those who reported sleeping seven hours a night. people who reported sleeping five hours a night also had an increased rate of the health problems, but this increase was slight compared to that for people who reported sleeping eight or more hours a night. clearly, people should try to get seven hours of sleep, and they should worry more about getting too much sleep than too little." 【源文件来自ETS】