OG13的推出大大降低了写作部分的难度,保留Analysis of an Argument(论证分析)部分,删除Analysis of an Issue(立论文章),因此同学们可以有更多的时间备考主体部分。当然,必要的准备是不可缺少的,本文将对新OG中的Argument部分进行简单的问答式攻略解析。
几个非常常见的问题
1 AA部分要求我们写一篇什么样的文章?
Analysis of an Argument 是分析一个论证过程,所以我们需要写出一篇评论。由于题目所给的Argument一般是不完整因而不可信的,所以我们的文章是以削弱为主要形式的评论型文章
2 什么是Argument?
Argument译为论证过程,指的是作者为了说服他人而使用一个前提——结论式结构得出自己观点的推理过程
一个完整的Argument包含以下四个要素
Premise——前提,能直接退出结论的一个条件
Assumption——假设,为了使论证更可信而额外设定的条件
Evidence——论据,为了使论证更可信而引用的客观事实
Conclusion——结论,作者最终用于说服他人而得出的观点、立场
一个说服力较强的,完整的argument通常包含多个Assumption+Evidence来支持P——C结构。
3 为什么要写Analysis
从Argument结构角度来讲:我们题库中的Argument文章一般是Assumption和Evidence大量缺失甚至出现错误,导致原文的结论很容易无法得出的文章。
所有的AA文章的基本表现形式为:“原文作者无法得出结论(因为)——削弱条件1+削弱条件2+削弱条件3——因此作者结论无法得出,如果想得出结论,就必须考虑到可能的削弱条件(123)”。
明确了这些问题我们就可以很好地进行Argument的解题了。
例题 【例题解析】
The following appears as part of an article in the travelsection of a newspaper.
“Overthe past decade, the restaurant industry in the country of Spiessa hasexperienced unprecedented growth. This surge can be expected to continue in thecoming years, fueled by recent social changes: personal incomes are rising,more leisure time is available, single-person households are more common, andpeople have a greater interest in gourmet food, as evidenced by a proliferationof publications on the subject.”
在这道题中我们看到了一篇论证文章,所以首先需要梳理的是原文逻辑结构:作者认为本国正在发生一系列变化,这些变化“会在未来十年中一定促进本国餐饮业发展”。
所以我们作为读者可以根据原文信息进行如下质疑:
1. 社会发生变化不一定会带来作者所预期的发展
2. 作者预测未来十年的变化是一定发生的,根据何在
3. 作者所预测的发展发生在本国,有没有其他的可能性导致餐饮业不会发展
【例文】
This article cites that as a result of the increasingpersonal incomes, and the rising leisure time, the growing universality ofsingle-person households, and the increasing interest in gourmet food, thesurge of the restaurant industry in the country of Spiessa can be expected tocontinue in the coming years. However, careful scrutiny of these evidencesreveals numerous potential problems and critical flaws that render its author’sposition untenable.
It is mentioned inthe article that the personal incomes in the country of Spiessa has beenincreasing. By this factor, the speaker is attempting to inform us thatcitizens will spend most of their increased incomes having dinner in the restaurants.However, this belief has distorted a plain truth. Consider, for example, peoplein this country tend to pay more attention on education, rather than eating,and they are more likely to invest their extra money on their children’seducation. Under such circumstances, it is unlikely for the restaurant industryto meet a continue surge.
Except for the fourreasons, the author also guaranteed that the surge of increasing food industrywill "continue" within the next years. The basis of his prediction issimple: all aspects concerned with food industry would remain during thisperiod. But it might turn out that his expectation could be vague. Thedevelopment of certain industries depends on complex issues, such as the costof raw materials or market condition. If either of the elements tends to beworse, the food industry could suffer from the crash and would not continue thesurge of "unprecedented growth".
The article made its own view for local R industry based oninterest of local residents in a travel section of magazine. This lead us tobelieve domestic consumption is a major portion within S r industry. But ifoverseas travellers spend more money on gourmet food in S, and they simplybecame less willing to visit S for food in the coming years, we can expectthese visitors as major consumer for S. Perhaps even domestic consumptioncouldn't make any contribution to boosting local R industry.
By way of conclusion, this argument has not succeeded inproviding compelling reasons to support the relationship described by theauthor. To strengthen the conclusion, the author should have to provide additionalevidences to support that the increase in all the four areas will have directproportional relationship with the sales of restaurants, and MAKE FURTHERSTATEMENT THAT more information linking the sales and the cost of therestaurants.
点评:这篇文章就是简单叙述了原文作者没法达成论证目的的一个情形,因此比起Issue,Argument文章的难度会低一些,但是考生一定要理解,两篇文章的本质是一样的——在文章中体现批判性思维。
总之,作文需要注意的最重要的一个知识体系就是批判性思维的灵活熟练应用,在此基础上进行文章架设,同学们会发现写作能够变得很轻松,所以在复习的时候,请注意批判性思维的体系我们是否已经熟练掌握和理解,以及我们是否做到了知无不言,言无不尽。我们相信,有了这一知识体系,各位在复习GMAT的道路上会感觉更加轻松。