GRE作文新增的argument题目(3)b

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."