The following appeared in a health magazine published in Corpora Medical experts say that only one quarter of Corpora s citizens meet the current standards for adequate physical fitness even though twenty years ago one half of all of Corpora s citizens me | TOEFL IELTS GMAT GRE SAT ACT PTE ESL

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The following appeared in a health magazine published in Corpora.

“Medical experts say that only one-quarter of Corpora’s citizens meet the current standards for adequate physical fitness, even though twenty years ago, one-half of all of Corpora’s citizens met the standards as then defined. But these experts are mistaken when they suggest that spending too much time using computers has caused a decline in fitness. 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 is most likely the cause, and fitness levels will improve when the economy does.”

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 for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

The argument from the health magazine published in Corpora suggests that the physical fitness of the people is declining and the primary reason for this is the recent decline in the economy and if the economy were to improve, the fitness levels in the population is consequently to be better. The conclusion might hold water but as it stands now it is based on fallacious assumptions. Before we can declare this argument as conclusive, we need to answer three questions.

To begin with, are the old standards from twenty years ago, in any way, comparable to the current standards set for the physical fitness of the people? Can we compare the current situation to the one two decades ago? It is possible that the old standards were lenient and focused mainly on the shallow factors of fitness such as the number of repetitions the person can do a certain exercise or the physical build of the person, whether they are thin or overweight. Whereas, the current fitness standards might be more rigorous than the previous, focusing on a person’s day to day activities as well as the health of his internals such as the condition of their heart, lungs and so on. Such difference in the standards might have resulted in a decrease in the fitness rate in the population.

Furthermore, the argument suggests that one of the reasons for decreasing fitness levels is the reduction in the sales of fitness equipment, following the recent decline in the economy. However, is the economic decline the sole reason for the decrease in the sales of fitness equipment in Corpora? It is possible that people of Corpora might have realized alternatives to using fitness equipment as a more economic way of being fit. Perhaps, the interest in exercises requiring minimal equipment such as Calisthenics or Yoga has increased which led to the sales decrease in health equipment. If this is true, the fitness levels might not increase as expected even if the economic conditions were to be improved.

Moreover, can we simply rule out the possibility that computers might have played a role in the diminishing fitness levels because regions with higher computer ownership have better health? Perhaps, because of the access to computers, and consequently the internet, the people in that region are more aware about their health conditions and hence, they try to moderate their behavior for the better. Also, having the computer ownership might not necessitate better health conditions as many malady are associated with prolonged use of computers. Hence, it cannot be ruled out that computers don’t decrease physical fitness in people.

In conclusion, the argument that the improvement in economic condition will trigger the improvement in physical fitness of the people seems inconclusive. If the author were to analyze the above questions, to clear such fallacies, and research more in the topics leading to a detailed report, then the argument might hold water but as it stands now, we cannot ascertain it.

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GMAT/GRE Argument Task

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Essay evaluations by e-grader

Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 3, column 23, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...ree questions. To begin with, are the old standards from twenty years ago, in ...
^^
Line 5, column 407, Rule ID: ECONOMIC_ECONOMICAL[1]
Message: Did you mean 'economical' (=affordable, cheap)?
Suggestion: economical
...es to using fitness equipment as a more economic way of being fit. Perhaps, the interest...
^^^^^^^^
Line 7, column 487, Rule ID: MANY_NN[1]
Message: Possible agreement error. The noun malady seems to be countable; consider using: 'many maladies'.
Suggestion: many maladies
...necessitate better health conditions as many malady are associated with prolonged use of co...
^^^^^^^^^^^

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, consequently, furthermore, hence, however, if, moreover, so, then, well, whereas, in conclusion, such as, as well as, to begin with

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 22.0 19.6327345309 112% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 16.0 12.9520958084 124% => OK
Conjunction : 12.0 11.1786427146 107% => OK
Relative clauses : 9.0 13.6137724551 66% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 29.0 28.8173652695 101% => OK
Preposition: 65.0 55.5748502994 117% => OK
Nominalization: 19.0 16.3942115768 116% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2509.0 2260.96107784 111% => OK
No of words: 495.0 441.139720559 112% => OK
Chars per words: 5.06868686869 5.12650576532 99% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.71684168287 4.56307096286 103% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.74781192227 2.78398813304 99% => OK
Unique words: 219.0 204.123752495 107% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.442424242424 0.468620217663 94% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 787.5 705.55239521 112% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59920159681 100% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 4.96107784431 121% => OK
Article: 9.0 8.76447105788 103% => OK
Subordination: 4.0 2.70958083832 148% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.67365269461 119% => OK
Preposition: 6.0 4.22255489022 142% => OK

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 19.0 19.7664670659 96% => OK
Sentence length: 26.0 22.8473053892 114% => OK
Sentence length SD: 60.094293404 57.8364921388 104% => OK
Chars per sentence: 132.052631579 119.503703932 111% => OK
Words per sentence: 26.0526315789 23.324526521 112% => OK
Discourse Markers: 7.47368421053 5.70786347227 131% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 3.0 5.25449101796 57% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 15.0 8.20758483034 183% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 2.0 6.88822355289 29% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 2.0 4.67664670659 43% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.190335030871 0.218282227539 87% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0656193602663 0.0743258471296 88% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.05611023592 0.0701772020484 80% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.102545336224 0.128457276422 80% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0560406405275 0.0628817314937 89% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.5 14.3799401198 108% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 45.09 48.3550499002 93% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.1628742515 123% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 13.4 12.197005988 110% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.42 12.5979740519 99% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.69 8.32208582834 104% => OK
difficult_words: 118.0 98.500998004 120% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 14.0 12.3882235529 113% => OK
gunning_fog: 12.4 11.1389221557 111% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.9071856287 76% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.

Essay evaluations by e-grader

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, consequently, furthermore, hence, however, if, moreover, so, then, well, whereas, in conclusion, such as, as well as, to begin with

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments