4分作文：

    I find the response to the complaint more compelling. Although the complaint is valid¹, it is most often the case the building a product to last forever will indeed cost more than the average consumer is willing to pay. Creating such a product would require more materials and/or more heavy-duty wear resistant² materials which inherently are more expensive. Another factor that would drive costs up is the fact that demand for products would decrease. The demand would decrease since people do not have to replace old products with new products as often. With the increased variable costs for materials combined with a reduction in the production volume associated with lower demand, manufacturers must raise prices to break even or maintain the current level of profits.

    Although a few producers may make products to last, it is understandable how these companies can be driven out of existence. If a new competitor enters the market with a similar product that has a shorter life but a substantially lower price, then they will probably steal major portions of the other company's market share. The effects depend heavily upon the consumer’s perception of quality and what the customers requirements from the product actually are.

    For example, consumers may decide between two types of automobiles⁴. One car may be built to last a long time but may not have the performance or be as comfortable as another car that is cheaper. So most consumers would purchase the cheaper car even though it may not last-as long as the heavy-duty car. Consumers may not realize that the more expensive car is of higher quality in the sense that it will last longer and will not be willing to pay the extra cost.

    Consumer decisions also depend on what consumers are actually looking for in a product. Consumers typically get tired of driving the same car for many years and want to buy new cars fairly often. This tendency forces producers to keep costs low enough to allow low enough prices for people to buy cars often. People don’t want cars to last forever.

    In conclusion, producers are in the situation that they're in due to external forces from the consumers.  Producers must compete and they have found the best way satisfy the majority of the consumers.

 6分作文：

    Many people feel that products are not made to last, and correspondingly, many natural and human resources are wasted. On the other hand, it can be noted⁵ that such manufacturing practices keep costs down and hence stimulate⁶ demand. In this discussion, I shall present arguments favoring the former statement and refuting the latter statement.

    Products that are not made to last waste a great deal of natural and human resources. The exact amount of wasted natural resources depends on the specific product. For example in the automobile³ industry, the Yugo is the classic example of an underpriced vehicle that was not made to last. Considering that the average Yugo had (not “has” since they are no longer produced! ) a life expectancy⁷ of two years and 25, 000 miles, it was a terrible waste.

Automobile industry standards today create vehicles that are warranted for about five years and 50, 000 miles. By producing cheap Yugos that last less than half as long as most cars are warranted, the Yugo producer is wasting valuable natural resources. These same resources could be used by Ford⁸ or Toyota to produce an Escort or Tercel that will last twice as long, thereby⁹ reducing the usage of natural resources by a factor of two.

    Human resources in this example are also wasteful¹⁰. On the production side, manufacturers of a poor quality automobile, like the Yugo, get no personal or profession satisfaction from the fact that their product is the worst automobile in the United States. This knowledge adversely¹¹ affects the productivity of the Yugo workers.

    Conversely, the workers at the Saturn¹² plants constantly receive positive feedback on their successful products. Saturn prides itself with its reputation for quality and innovation as is seen in its recent massive recall to fix a defect. This recall was handled so well that Saturn's image was actually bolstered¹³. Had a recall occurred at a Yugo plant, the bad situation would have become even worse.

    Another factor in the human resources area is the reaction by the consumer.  A great deal of human resources have been wasted by Yugo owners waiting for the dreaded¹⁴ tow truck to show up to haul away the Yugo carcass. Any vehicle owner who is uncertain of his/her vehicle's performance at 7 AM as he/she is about to drive to work, senses a great deal of despair.  This is a great waste of human resources for the consumer.

    While the consumer senses the waste of natural and human resources in a poor quality product, so does the manufacturer. People who argue that low quality manufacturing processes keep costs low for the consumer and hence stimulate demand should look at the Yugo example. In the mid-1998’s the Yugo was by far the cheapest car in the United States at $ 3995. By 1991, the Yugo was no longer sold here and was synonymous with the word “lemon.”