¿Qué preguntas hacen en la sección AWA del examen GMAT?
17 de September de 2021 2021-08-15 23:28¿Qué preguntas hacen en la sección AWA del examen GMAT?
Conoce cómo son las preguntas que se hacen en el apartado de escritura analítica del test GMAT, con una respuesta de calificación alta incluida.
Si has aprovechado la pandemia como yo para planificar tu futuro académico y profesional, probablemente hayas llegado a la conclusión de que necesitas presentar el examen GMAT, sobre todo si la meta es destacarte en el mundo de los negocios y las finanzas. Al estar en este punto, surge la incógnita quizá más determinante, que más despierta nuestra curiosidad: ¿Qué preguntas hacen en el examen GMAT?
Saberlo puede marcar la diferencia entre el éxito y el fracaso, pues en el amplio universo del Business no hay nada suave ni sencillo, todo lo contrario, existe mucha competitividad y su fuente se alimenta de un mercado voraz que devora fácilmente a los más débiles.
De allí que sea tan importante aprobar el test con la mejor nota posible, dependiendo siempre de cuáles son las universidades hacia las que apuntas, en las que quieres desarrollar tu carrera de posgrado.
La buena noticia es que no hay nada que temer, solo tomar acciones sobre el asunto y prepararse de la mejor manera. En estos casos, cuando llega el momento de dar ese paso tan importante de comenzar tu preparación y estudiar la prueba de arriba abajo, respondemos todas tus dudas: ¿Qué preguntas hacen en el examen GMAT? ¿Es fácil pasarlo? ¿Cómo son las secciones y lo que piden?
¡Vamos a por ello!
Así son las preguntas GMAT AWA:
Ejemplo 1:
The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods:
“Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its 25th birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits.”
Ejemplo 2:
The following appeared in a memorandum from the business department of the Apogee Company:
“When the Apogee Company had all its operations in one location, it was more profitable than it is today. Therefore, the Apogee Company should close down its field offices and conduct all its operations from a single location. Such centralization would improve profitability by cutting costs and helping the company maintain better supervision of all employees.”
Ejemplo 3:
The following appeared in a memorandum issued by a large city’s council on the arts:
“In a recent citywide poll, 15 percent more residents said that they watch television programs about the visual arts than was the case in a poll conducted five years ago. During these past five years, the number of people visiting our city’s art museums has increased by a similar percentage. Since the corporate funding that supports public television, where most of the visual arts programs appear, is now being threatened with severe cuts, we can expect that attendance at our city’s art museums will also start to decrease. Thus some of the city’s funds for supporting the arts should be reallocated to public television.”
Ejemplo 4:
The following appeared in an announcement issued by the publisher of The Mercury, a weekly newspaper:
“Since a competing lower-priced newspaper, The Bugle, was started five years ago, The Mercury’s circulation has declined by 10,000 readers. The best way to get more people to read The Mercury is to reduce its price below that of The Bugle, at least until circulation increases to former levels. The increased circulation of The Mercury will attract more businesses to buy advertising space in the paper.”
Ejemplo 5:
The following appeared in a report presented for discussion at a meeting of the directors of a company that manufactures parts for heavy machinery:
“The falling revenues that the company is experiencing coincide with delays in manufacturing. These delays, in turn, are due in large part to poor planning in purchasing metals. Consider further that the manager of the department that handles purchasing of raw materials has an excellent background in general business, psychology, and sociology, but knows little about the properties of metals. The company should, therefore, move the purchasing manager to the sales department and bring in a scientist from the research division to be manager of the purchasing department.”
Como puedes apreciar, cada tópico plantea un tema referente al mundo de los negocios. Todos implican situaciones en las que se exige el análisis profundo de los argumentos, por lo que deberás también poner un poco de tu habilidad para identificar los patrones lógicos, utilizando el análisis como base.
Eso sí, no te concentres en dar ideas de negocios más allá de lo que se te presenta de forma genérica, ya que el objetivo de la sección AWA no es deslumbrar con respuestas demasiado elaboradas.
Lo que sí se pide es organización de ideas, claridad, sencillez y contundencia. Por tanto, la mejor recomendación para lograrlo es ir directo al punto y responder siguiendo un esquema estratégico de redacción, planteando un máximo de 2-3 ideas y suministrando ejemplos que sirvan como apoyo para validarlas.
Toma cada uno de los cinco ejemplos que te presentamos en esta guía de preguntas GMAT AWA, como parte del curso de GMAT de American School, y elabora tus propios ensayos de práctica.
Al cabo de un mes de preparación, elige repetir uno y compara los resultados. Es esencial que entrenes tus habilidades de escritura en inglés, también conocidas como Writing, con un buen nivel de vocabulario y uso de gramática inglesa.
Para ayudarte a tener una aproximación de cómo podría ser el ensayo de respuesta del GMAT AWA, aquí te dejamos un ejemplo más con respuesta incluida, suministrada por la web oficial del examen:
Ejemplo 6:
“Most companies would agree that as the risk of physical injury occurring on the job increases, the wages paid to employees should also increase. Hence it makes financial sense for employers to make the workplace safer: they could thus reduce their payroll expenses and save money.”
Ensayo de respuesta calificado con excelente puntuación:
This argument states that it makes financial sense for employers to make the workplace safer because by making the workplace safer then lower wages could be paid to employees. This conclusion is based on the premise that as the list of physical injury increases, the wages paid to employees should also increase.
However, there are several assumptions that may not necessarily apply to this argument. For example, the costs associated with making the workplace safe must outweigh the increased payroll expenses due to hazardous conditions. Also, one must look at the plausibility of improving the work environment. And finally, because most companies agree that as the risk of injury increases so will wages doesn’t necessarily mean that all companies which have hazardous work environments agree.
The first issue to be addressed is whether increased labor costs justify large capital expenditures to improve the work environment. Clearly one could argue that if making the workplace safe would cost an exorbitant amount of money in comparison to leaving the workplace as is and paying slightly increased wages than it would not make sense to improve the work environment. For example, if making the workplace safe would cost $100 million versus additional payroll expenses of only $5,000 per year, it would make financial sense to simply pay the increased wages. No business or business owner with any sense would pay all that extra money just to save a couple dollars and improve employee health and relations. To consider this, a cost benefit analysis must be made. I also feel that although a cost benefit analysis should be the determining factor with regard to these decisions making financial sense, it may not be the determining factor with regard to making social, moral and ethical sense.
This argument also relies on the idea that companies solely use financial sense in analyzing improving the work environment. This is not the case. Companies look at other considerations such as the negative social ramifications of high on-job injuries. For example, Toyota spends large amounts of money improving its environment because while its goal is to be profitable, it also prides itself on high employee morale and an almost perfectly safe work environment. However, Toyota finds that it can do both, as by improving employee health and employee relations they are guaranteed a more motivated staff, and hence a more efficient staff; this guarantees more money for the business as well as more safety for the employees.
Finally one must understand that not all work environments can be made safer. For example, in the case of coal mining, a company only has limited ways of making the work environment safe. While companies may be able to ensure some safety precautions, they may not be able to provide all the safety measures necessary. In other words, a mining company has limited ability to control the air quality within a coal mine and therefore it cannot control the risk of employees getting Blacklung. In other words, regardless of the intent of the company, some jobs are simply dangerous in nature.
In conclusion, while at first it may seem to make financial sense to improve the safety of the work environment sometimes it truly does not make financial sense. Furthermore, financial sense may not be the only issue a company faces. Other types of analyses must be made such as the social ramifications of an unsafe work environment and the overall ability of a company to improve that environment (i.e., coal mine). Before any decision is made, all these things must be considered, not simply the reduction of payroll expenses.
Consideraciones finales
En la respuesta de ejemplo, de 598 palabras de extensión, el alumno expone en primer lugar el argumento presentado en el ejercicio, ni más ni menos, lo analiza y señala, demostrando a los evaluadores que ha entendido de qué se trata la asignación.
Acto seguido, comienza a cuestionar dicho argumento, inmediatamente en el segundo párrafo, utilizando la palabra clave “however…”. Pero no solo lo cuestiona, sino que explica por qué duda de él. A la vez, une la premisa que indica dicha afirmación, de modo que no quede nada al aire, sino que todo esté organizado y fundamentado en bases comprobables, tal y como lo pide el examen GMAT.
Después, el estudiante que redacta este excelente ensayo, va desarrollando párrafo por párrafo cada una de las ideas contundentes que debilitan la afirmación del ejercicio suministrado por el test.
Podrás notar que además de exponer todas las ideas con las que pretende debilitar el argumento, en cada una, de forma individual y exclusiva coloca ejemplos lógicos que validan su punto, que apoyan y fundamente su argumentación.
Este es el camino a seguir si deseas pasar eximido en la sección de escritura analítica del GMAT. Te deseamos mucho éxito y… ¡A practicar!
