What is an academic style?

1. Get the right “verb”(心中有動詞 挖哈哈哈哈^^)
* The preferred choice is a “SINGLE” verb whenever possible.
Examples:
help out  assist
goes up  increases
look into  investigate
bring up  raise
cut down  reduce
get rid of  eliminate
meet with  encounter

2. Avoid idiomatic language
Examples:
A lot of  numerous
Sort of  quite/somewhat
Nice  helpful/positive
Big  considerable/major
Things  event
Outside  external

3. Use “Nominalizations”
Examples:
The chances of disease are much reduced because of….
 The reduction in the chances of disease is result of
** The -ion in/of

4. Avoid contractions
Examples:
Won’t  will not
Shouldn’t  should not
(引述別人的話就無須改變)

5. Use more appropriate formal negative forms
Examples:
Not…any  no
Not…much  little
Not…many  few
6. Limit the use of “run on” expressions such as “and so forth(on)” and “etc”
Examples:
A, B, C,…..or A, B, C , and etc.
 A, B, C, and other related .
or such as a, b, and c.

7. Avoid addressing the reader as “you”
* use the passive terms
Examples:
You can apply the same principles in many educational settings.
 The same principles can be applied~~~
or use “there are/is assumption(s)

8. Consider carefully the use of “I” and “we”
 不代表不能用，只是要小心的用(用於表達自己立場時可以用，但不要一直強調自己看法，不過在argument裡，是可以用的….)

9. Limit the use of direct question

10. Avoid redundancy

11. Avoid the use of the generic “one
”
12. Use non-sexist language
Examples:
Policeman  officer
Chairman  Chairperson
Spokesman  spokesperson
He or she  s/he
Or they, their and themselves

Writing an argumentative essay

What are assessors looking for?
 To be told clearly what you have learned about a specific topic.
* When writing the essay, answer the question but ask!!
* When you are writing an argumentative essay you should
have a position/ view/ stance on the topic
* When to state your position?
 CLEARLY in the “BIGNIINIG” of the essay
it is for practical purpose : to help the markers to evaluate the essay
* AVOID “generalization” : EVIDENCES must be provide
1) examples
2) Statistics data
* How to organize?
1) State the criteria (Vertical)
2) Find out the pros and cons (Horizontal)

STEPS:
1. Position
2. Evidences(pros and cons)
3. Decision(Restate the position)
* Position can be “it depends brabra…..” but the conclusion must be clear!!

GMAT AWA：ARGUMENT

The following appeared in an Avia Airlines departmental memorandum.
"On average, 9 out of every 1,000 passengers who traveled on Avia Airlines last year filed a complaint about our baggage-handling procedures. This means that although some 1 percent of our passengers were unhappy with those procedures, the overwhelming majority were quite satisfied with them; thus it would appear that a review of the procedures is not important to our goal of maintaining or increasing the number of Avia's passentere."
Discuss how well reasoned...etc.

Gina's argument:

This memorandum begins with the impressive statistic that on average, 9 out of every 1,000 passengers who traveled on Avia Airlines last year filed a complain about its baggage-handling procedures. This less than perfect rating has led the writer of the memo to conclude that a review of the procedures is not important to its goal of maintaining or increasing the number of Avia's passengers. I do not find this memo well reasoned because the statistics presented here misrepresent the seriousness of the problem.

First of all, it is a well-known fact that not all unhappy customers file a compleint. The complaint filed by 9 out of every 1,000 passengers is like to be seen as merely the tip of the iceberg. Therefore, Avia Airlines should not take such a complacent attitude toward its baggage-handling service. Second, a passenger angry enough to file a complaint is most likely not going to be an Avia frequent flyer. That is, if 9 out of every 1,000 passengers never choose Avia Airlines again, the memo's claim that no review of its current service is necessary is wrong. Last but not least, word-of-mouth is by far the most potent form of advertising as well as the cheapest. The unsatisfied customers will undoubtedly tell their friends and co-workers to avoid travelling on Avia, thereby contributing to a decline in passengers.

In conclusion, the argument is not entirely logically convicing because it ignores the so-called silent majority. The fact that only one percent of the passengers were unhappy with Avia's service does not necessarily mean that the overwhelming majority were quite satisfied with the airline. Finally, it is hoped that success-oriented airlines should strive toward a goal of flawlessness to serve their passengers.