The following appeared in a letter from a homeowner to a friend.
"Of the two leading real estate firms in our town — Adams Realty and Fitch Realty — Adams Realty is clearly superior. Adams has 40 real estate agents; in contrast, Fitch has 25, many of whom work only part-time. Moreover, Adams' revenue last year was twice as high as that of Fitch and included home sales that averaged $168,000, compared to Fitch's $144,000. Homes listed with Adams sell faster as well: ten years ago I listed my home with Fitch, and it took more than four months to sell; last year, when I sold another home, I listed it with Adams, and it took only one month. Thus, if you want to sell your home quickly and at a good price, you should use Adams Realty."
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 author here talks about two leading real estate firms in his town, Adams Realty, and Fitch Realty. It is claimed that Adams Realty is clearly superior but does not provide enough supporting arguments. The statement argues that Adams Realty has a higher number of real estate agents and profits as compared to Fitch Realty but fails to mention any details regarding the efficiency of these agents and the conditions of these houses sold, thus weakening the argument here. A deeper introspection is required before any conclusion can be reached.
The statement has not mentioned any details regarding the two businesses. It is possible that Adam's is an old player and Fitch Realty just ventured into this field. The author has also not mentioned the scale of the business. There is a high chance that Adam Realty has a more widespread business, with offices all around the world, hence the global brand finds it easier to sell houses. Contrary to that, if Fitch Reality is a local or smaller company, the profits of the business are appreciable.
The argument mentions that Adam Realty has more number of real estate agents as compared to Fitch but fails to mention the business or customers bought in by the respective agents. In case the lesser number of agents at Fitch is working efficiently and getting more customers, the number of agents cannot be the deciding factor for the success of businesses. The author needs to provide a complete picture of both the businesses and not just their per annum profits.
Another aspect that the argument has mentioned, is that the houses with the Adams Realty sell faster as compared to Fitch. The statement again fails to make a strong point here. The probability of selling a house depends on many aspects rather than just the name of the real estate firm. If the houses Adam Realty is dealing with are in better locations and are in good condition, the quick sales are obvious. To strengthen the argument author needs to link the work culture and ethics of Adam Realty with the sale of the property. Instances, where Fitch Realty did a poor job in marketing the house, will strengthen the argument. One more instance the author mentions here is about selling his own house with both Fitch and Adam Realty but fails to provide details about the house. If both the houses sold were in similar conditions and equally priced, it will surely make the reader believe the argument.
The statement needs to take into account multiple aspects before reaching to any conclusion regarding the superiority of Adam Realty. The author has not mentioned the number of houses observed, whether the study was statistically significant and variant enough to extrapolate. A higher number of real estate agents and revenues cannot be the only deciding factor. If the author can include details about the type, price, and condition of the houses sold, it will present a more unbiased picture to the reader and strengthen the argument.
Comments
Essay evaluations by e-grader
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 7, column 102, Rule ID: COMP_THAN[3]
Message: Comparison requires 'than', not 'then' nor 'as'.
Suggestion: than
...ouses with the Adams Realty sell faster as compared to Fitch. The statement again ...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, hence, if, regarding, so, then, thus
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 20.0 19.6327345309 102% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 7.0 12.9520958084 54% => OK
Conjunction : 20.0 11.1786427146 179% => OK
Relative clauses : 9.0 13.6137724551 66% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 19.0 28.8173652695 66% => OK
Preposition: 61.0 55.5748502994 110% => OK
Nominalization: 17.0 16.3942115768 104% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2473.0 2260.96107784 109% => OK
No of words: 502.0 441.139720559 114% => OK
Chars per words: 4.92629482072 5.12650576532 96% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.7334296765 4.56307096286 104% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.46222633623 2.78398813304 88% => OK
Unique words: 215.0 204.123752495 105% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.42828685259 0.468620217663 91% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 771.3 705.55239521 109% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.59920159681 94% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 4.0 4.96107784431 81% => OK
Article: 15.0 8.76447105788 171% => OK
Subordination: 4.0 2.70958083832 148% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.67365269461 119% => OK
Preposition: 3.0 4.22255489022 71% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 24.0 19.7664670659 121% => OK
Sentence length: 20.0 22.8473053892 88% => OK
Sentence length SD: 46.1550639752 57.8364921388 80% => OK
Chars per sentence: 103.041666667 119.503703932 86% => OK
Words per sentence: 20.9166666667 23.324526521 90% => OK
Discourse Markers: 1.95833333333 5.70786347227 34% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 5.25449101796 19% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 11.0 8.20758483034 134% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 8.0 6.88822355289 116% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 5.0 4.67664670659 107% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.362408313376 0.218282227539 166% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.109471824756 0.0743258471296 147% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0945507090254 0.0701772020484 135% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.225977488488 0.128457276422 176% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0985838921787 0.0628817314937 157% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.3 14.3799401198 86% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 59.64 48.3550499002 123% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.1628742515 43% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.9 12.197005988 81% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.31 12.5979740519 90% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.84 8.32208582834 94% => OK
difficult_words: 102.0 98.500998004 104% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 10.5 12.3882235529 85% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.0 11.1389221557 90% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.9071856287 84% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
---------------------
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.
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 7, column 102, Rule ID: COMP_THAN[3]
Message: Comparison requires 'than', not 'then' nor 'as'.
Suggestion: than
...ouses with the Adams Realty sell faster as compared to Fitch. The statement again ...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, hence, if, regarding, so, then, thus
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 20.0 19.6327345309 102% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 7.0 12.9520958084 54% => OK
Conjunction : 20.0 11.1786427146 179% => OK
Relative clauses : 9.0 13.6137724551 66% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 19.0 28.8173652695 66% => OK
Preposition: 61.0 55.5748502994 110% => OK
Nominalization: 17.0 16.3942115768 104% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2473.0 2260.96107784 109% => OK
No of words: 502.0 441.139720559 114% => OK
Chars per words: 4.92629482072 5.12650576532 96% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.7334296765 4.56307096286 104% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.46222633623 2.78398813304 88% => OK
Unique words: 215.0 204.123752495 105% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.42828685259 0.468620217663 91% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 771.3 705.55239521 109% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.59920159681 94% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 4.0 4.96107784431 81% => OK
Article: 15.0 8.76447105788 171% => OK
Subordination: 4.0 2.70958083832 148% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.67365269461 119% => OK
Preposition: 3.0 4.22255489022 71% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 24.0 19.7664670659 121% => OK
Sentence length: 20.0 22.8473053892 88% => OK
Sentence length SD: 46.1550639752 57.8364921388 80% => OK
Chars per sentence: 103.041666667 119.503703932 86% => OK
Words per sentence: 20.9166666667 23.324526521 90% => OK
Discourse Markers: 1.95833333333 5.70786347227 34% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 5.25449101796 19% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 11.0 8.20758483034 134% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 8.0 6.88822355289 116% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 5.0 4.67664670659 107% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.362408313376 0.218282227539 166% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.109471824756 0.0743258471296 147% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0945507090254 0.0701772020484 135% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.225977488488 0.128457276422 176% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0985838921787 0.0628817314937 157% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.3 14.3799401198 86% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 59.64 48.3550499002 123% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.1628742515 43% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.9 12.197005988 81% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.31 12.5979740519 90% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.84 8.32208582834 94% => OK
difficult_words: 102.0 98.500998004 104% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 10.5 12.3882235529 85% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.0 11.1389221557 90% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.9071856287 84% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
---------------------
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.