Writing Sample Answer Key, Part 2

11. There are a variety of different situations in which this particular statement would be incorrect and it would be necessary for an individual to act intelligently rather than simply appear intelligent. However, one of the best examples of a situation where this statement would be incorrect is if an individual attempted to work as an electrician or other skilled laborer without any knowledge related to the job that he or she is performing. For example, it might be relatively easy for an individual to convince a potential client that he or she is actually a skilled electrician, but it would still be nearly impossible for the individual to actually perform the job without the necessary skills. In fact, it would not only be extremely difficult for the individual to perform electrical work without the necessary skills, but it would be incredibly dangerous as well.

12. In order to determine whether this statement is true or false for a particular situation, the two most important factors to consider are whether or not the individual will need to prove his or her claims, and whether or not the individual is capable of actually backing up the claims that he or she makes. If the individual or business has simply had a difficult year and the individual or business is having difficulty finding employment opportunities or investors because of previous mistakes, then it may make sense to try to change the individual's or the business' image. However, if the individual or business does not have the knowledge or skills necessary to perform a particular task, then it is usually a good idea for the individual or business to learn those skills or seek out a different task rather than merely attempting to "look the part."

13. This particular statement is referring to the idea that there is no such thing as luck. In other words, everything that happens to a particular individual or group of individuals is a direct result of the actions of that specific individual or group and there is nothing that happens simply by chance. For example, an individual that was not accepted to a particular school may blame the fact that he or she was not accepted on bad luck. However, it is more than likely that the student was not accepted because his or her exam scores, GPA, and other merits were not as impressive as the merits of some of the other applicants that applied for entrance into the school. As a result, it was not merely chance that the student was not accepted, but rather a result of his or her own inability to perform up to the expectations of the school.

14. There are countless situations in which this particular statement would be incorrect and a specific event occurs by chance rather than by direct action. However, one of the best examples of a situation in which this statement would be incorrect is in the case of an unforeseen natural disaster. For example, an individual might have spent years carefully building his or her dream home and taken every possible precaution to safeguard his or her house, but still end up losing the house to a natural disaster. In fact, this particular individual may have been so careful that he or she has placed his or her home on top of a hill, on a carefully constructed rise to avoid flooding, with carefully placed reinforced walls surrounding the property to prevent cars from hitting the home, and taken every other precaution no matter how ridiculous and the individual's home could still be destroyed in an instant by a lightning strike or a tornado.

15. In order to determine whether this statement is true or false for a particular situation, the most important factor to consider is whether or not the event could have been avoided. If the event could have been avoided by any foreseeable action, such as by performing better in school in order for an individual to get into the university of his or her choice, then the event did not occur by chance and it is directly related to the actions of the individual. On the other hand, if the event could not have been avoided by any foreseeable action, such as in the case of a freak storm that destroyed a home in spite of every possible precaution, then the event occurred by chance in spite of the individual's actions.

16. This particular statement is referring to the idea that the simplest way to perform a task is the best way to perform that task. In other words, if an individual can choose to use one of a wide range of different methods to perform a particular task, that individual should use the method that is the most straightforward and least demanding. For example, if an individual breaks a ceramic vase that he or she made by hand, that individual may have to decide between fixing the vase, purchasing a new vase, or making a new vase. Since making a new vase could be extremely time-consuming, it is probably a much better idea to fix the vase by gluing the pieces back together or to purchase a new one rather than attempting to make a new vase from scratch.

17. There are a variety of situations in which this particular statement would be incorrect and it would be better to use a more complex method rather than the simplest method. However, one of the best examples of a situation in which this statement would be incorrect is in the case of an engineer designing a bridge or other similar structure. For example, an engineer designing a bridge may have to decide between two different basic designs for the bridge, which might include a simple design that simply consists of a thick metal ramp that just covers the gap and a more complex design that requires an arched bridge with supports that can support a large amount of weight. If the bridge needs to support a lot of weight, such as the weight of large trucks or a large number of cars at once, then the engineer may want to choose the more complex method in order to make sure that the bridge can withstand the weight.

18. In order to determine whether this statement is true or false for a particular situation, the most important factor to consider is whether the simplest method will achieve the desired result or not. If the simplest method will achieve the same result as the complex method and the result will be of at least similar quality to the more complex method, then the simpler method is almost always the appropriate choice. However, if the simplest method will not achieve the same result, or the result will not be as effective or as high quality as the result obtained from the complex method, then the simplest method may not be the appropriate method for that particular situation. In other words, if the simplest method will complete the task, but the task will be completed in an unsafe or substandard fashion, then the simplest method is usually the wrong method for the task.

19. This particular statement is referring to the idea that it is always better for an individual to try something rather than to just idly stand by or give up. In other words, if an individual is presented with a serious problem that he or she does not know how to handle, the individual should always try to do something to solve that problem rather than just stand by and wait for someone else to solve the problem. For example, if an individual encounters someone lying on the side of the road with no one else around as the individual is driving by, the individual should pullover and make sure that the person is alright rather than simply assuming that someone else will stop to aid them. This is because the individual may be able to help the injured person even if the individual doesn't know how to help.

20. There are a variety of situations in which this particular statement would be incorrect and it would be a better idea to do nothing rather than attempt something. However, one of the best examples would be in the case of a doctor that has a patient that needs surgery immediately, but the doctor is not trained in the particular type of surgery that the doctor would need to perform. For example, a cardiac patient may be quickly going downhill and the physician on duty realizes that the patient needs surgery immediately if the patient is going to survive. However, if the physician on duty does not know how to perform the appropriate surgery, he or she may end up killing the patient if he or she attempts surgery. As a result, it may be much wiser for the physician on duty to try to keep the patient stable until a trained cardiac surgeon can arrive and perform surgery if the doctor has no idea how to proceed.