review this argument essay

[meghav]

The following opinion was provided in a letter to the editor of a national aeronautics magazine:

“Manned space flight is costly and dangerous. Moreover, the recent success of a series of unmanned space probes and satellites has demonstrated that a great deal of useful information can be gathered without the costs and risks associated with sending men and women into space. Therefore, we should invest our resources in unmanned space flight."

 

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

 

RESPONSE :-

 

The magazine article claims that as manned spacecrafts are more costly and dangerous , future investments should be made on unmanned flights . The writer proposes a opinion taking into the dangers involved in manned flights . however the writer fails to propose a cogent argument to support the case . 

 The article mentions that quote 'manned flights are costly and dangerous ' While this may be true , the writer does noit mention how costly , a clear data backing this assertion is needed . what is cost  difference between the manned and unmanned flights ? Is it too much ?It is possible that it may of negligent amount . The article also discusses the safety of the manned space flights . However there is no specific details on the the plausible hazard of the flight . Has there been any recent incident where the safety of the astronaut was jeopardy ? Has there been any virtual simulations that prove manned flights are dangerous ? Thus the assertion of the writer is incomplete . 

further , the article mentions the recent success of the unmanned probes . But what was so successful about the unmanned probe . Was the data collected more accurate and precise than the manned space craft . or is it just a compromise between security and accuracy . Author maintains that a series of unmanned satellites have been successful . Considering this as true , there is no information on where and how many space probes were sent  . Isn't it possible that all the space probes were sent to the same space destination for eg to the moon . While this might marka successful unmanned probe to the moon , nothing can be inferred about the success these unmanned probes might have on other planets and on their other ventures . .  A unmaaed space probe which is allegedly so successful on the moon might prove to be futile when sent to mars 
What was the complexity of the missions . Was the mission as convoluted and conundrum as the human missions . was it easier than than ?  No comparison has been made  .. 
Without the clear distinctions and accolades of unmanned space crafts , the argument is based on incomplete reasoning and can be considered to be naive at best . 

On of the most important advantage of man over algorithm run machines is intelligence and ability to thinbk . A computer is more accurate than human but it cannot be considered wiser than humans . the ability to improvise is non existent in machines . If the idea of the writer of unmanned space probe is to be accepted  , We need 'thinking' machines . Has ehe technology been implemented ? was it successful ? We need clear answers to these questions before reaching to any conclusion . 

 

 

 

[PeakPerformance]

First off, this does not appear to be an official ETS argument prompt. You are best off practicing only with the official prompts made available on the ETS website. There are common fallacies featured in the official arguments with which you need to become familiar. Prompts provided in test prep books and by companies like Princeton or Kaplan are poor imitations.

 

Second, you are not focusing specifically on the assumptions the argument relies on, as the instructions require. The argument essay instructions never ask you to focus on whether an argument is weak or strong: the instructions always focus on the process of evaluating the questions, evidence, or assumptions in an argument. Your thesis should identify the 3 primary assumptions that you will focus on in the body paragraphs, and the topic sentence for each body paragraph should introduce a specific assumption. You should be addressing at the end of the paragraph how the argument would be weakened if the specific assumption you are examining proves unwarranted. 

 

Third, you should not be using questions to counter the claims in the argument. You should be pointing out possibilities ignored by the argument and supporting the counterpoints. For instance, rather than simply stating what is the cost difference between manned and unmanned space flight, you should be saying something like: Unmanned space flight may in fact be more costly...and then explain why to support.

 

Finally, there are numerous grammatical errors: run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, missing articles/words. Be sure to capitalize new sentences properly on real exam and to proofread.

 

Overall, I think this essay would earn a 3.5 or a 3.