The following appeared in a magazine article about planning for retirement. "Because of its spectacular natural beauty and consistent climate, Clearview should be a top choice for anyone seeking a place to retire. As a bonus, housing costs in Clearview ha

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The following appeared in a magazine article about planning for retirement.

"Because of its spectacular natural beauty and consistent climate, Clearview should be a top choice for anyone seeking a place to retire. As a bonus, housing costs in Clearview have fallen significantly during the past year, and real estate taxes remain lower than those in neighboring towns. Nevertheless, Clearview's mayor promises many new programs to improve schools, streets, and public services. Retirees in Clearview can also expect excellent health care as they grow older, since the number of physicians in the area is far greater than the national average." - GRE Argument 102

This article argues that anyone seeking a place to retire should choose Clearview. To support this argument the article cites Clearview's consistent climate and natural beauty; it's falling housing costs; its low property taxes compared to nearby towns; and the mayor's promise to improve schools, streets, and services. The article also claims that retirees can expect excellent health care because the number of physicians in Clearview greatly exceeds the national average. This argument is flawed in several critical respects.

To begin with, although consistent climate and natural beauty might be attractive to many retirees, these features are probably not important to all retirees. For many retirees it is probably more important to live near relatives, or even to enjoy changing seasons. Thus I cannot accept the author's sweeping recommendation for all retirees on this basis.

Also, Clearview's declining housing costs do not necessarily make Clearview the best place to retire for two reasons. First, despite the decline Clearview's housing costs might be high compared to housing costs in other cities. Secondly, for wealthier retirees housing costs are not likely to be a factor in choosing a place to retire. Thus the mere fact that housing costs have been in decline lends scant support to the recommendation.

The article's reliance on Clearview's property-tax rates is also problematic in two respects. First, retirees obviously have innumerable choices about where to retire besides Clear view and nearby towns. Secondly, for retirees who are well-off financially property taxes are not likely to be an important concern in choosing a place to retire. Thus it is unfair to infer from Clearview's property-tax rates that retirees would prefer Clearview.

Yet another problem with the argument involves the mayor's promises. In light of Clearview's low property-tax rates, whether the mayor can follow through on those promises is highly questionable. Absent any explanation of how the city can spend more money in the areas cited without raising property taxes, I simply cannot accept the editorial's recommendation on the basis of those promises. Besides, even if the city makes the improvements promised, those improvements--particular the ones to schools--would not necessarily be important to retirees.

Finally, although the number of physicians in Clearview is relatively high, the per capita number might be relatively low. Moreover, it would be fairer to compare this per capita number with the per capita number for other attractive retirement towns--rather than the national average. After all, retirees are likely to place a relatively heavy burden on health-care resources. Besides, the article provides no assurances that the number of physicians in Clearview will remain high in the foreseeable future.

In conclusion, the recommendation is poorly supported. To strengthen it the author must convince me--perhaps by way of a reliable survey--that the key features that the vast majority of retirees look for in choosing a place to live are consistent climate, natural beauty, and low housing costs. The author must also provide better evidence that Clear view's property taxes are lower than the those of cities in other areas. The author must also explain how the city can make its promised improvements without raising property taxes. Finally, to better assess the argument I would need to now how the per capita number of physicians in Clearview would compare to the national average in the future.

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Score: 4.5 out of 6
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No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 28 15
No. of Words: 553 350
No. of Characters: 2915 1500
No. of Different Words: 231 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.849 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.271 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.711 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 240 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 179 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 120 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 62 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 19.75 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 7.74 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.75 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.298 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.556 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.081 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 7 5