GRE写作argument写作思路路及例文

14 The following appeared as part of an article in a business magazine.

"A recent study rating 300 male and female advertising executives according to the average number of hours they sleep per night showed an association between the amount of sleep the executives need and the success of their firms. Of the advertising firms studied, those whose executives reported needing no more than six hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. On the basis of this study, we recommend that businesses hire only people who need less than six hours of sleep per night."

Study, report

↓

higher profit margins and faster growth

↓reputation

广告公司雇佣睡6h以下的主管+成功

↓

广告公司雇佣睡6h以下的主管→成功

↓

所有公司雇佣睡6小时以下的人→成功

↓

建议所有公司雇佣睡6小时以下的人

1.证言

假设：study report靠谱

反例：biased sample (下班以后调查，留在公司的人很容易工作多睡得少)；report (to leave their bosses a better image, 所以虽然睡10小时，但只报6小时)

2.因果

反例：wildest imagination, interesting designs, hired a new manager who is an expert in team work, employees hard-working, 因为公司本身成功，所以multiple tasks 所以睡得少

3.类比

假设：people deal with with similar tasks

反例：广告公司雇佣睡得少的主管可以，反正也是work in the office; In factories, fatigue sleep deprivation on-the-job accidents 对于工厂工人就不行

132

The following appeared in a letter to the school board in the town of Centerville. "All students should be required to take the driver's education course at Centerville High School. In the past two years, several accidents in and around Centerville have involved teenage drivers. Since a number of parents in Centerville have complained that they are too busy to teach their teenagers to drive, some other instruction is necessary to ensure that these teenagers are safe drivers. Although there are two driving schools in Centerville, parents on a tight budget cannot afford to pay for driving instruction. Therefore an effective and mandatory program sponsored by the high school is the only solution to this serious problem."

The author concludes that the CHS should take the driver’s education course for teenagers. Her conclusion mainly based on …her argument relies on unsound assumptions which can undermine her reasoning.

To begin with, the author mentions that there were accidents happened in and around C which involved teenage drivers recently, so the author claims that students in CHS led to these accidents. Obviously, the author unwarrantedly assumes that the students in these accidents were from CHS and they were responsible for these accidents. Although the accidents involved teenagers, they may not be the students from CHS, but those from other cities. It is highly likely that the C city has a lot of interesting places which attract many people including teenagers. And these teenagers rather than CHS students are involved in the accidents. Furthermore, probably the accidents are not due to the teenagers but adults drivers. Usually the teenagers obey the traffic rules strictly while the adults drive after heavily drinking. Therefore, according to her problematic assumptions, the author cannot conclude that CHS student caused the accidents.

Furthermore，the author refers to the fact that parents in C said that they have no time to teach their children to drive, and then rushes to conclude that it is necessary for CHS to teach students to drive. The author has wrong turning when she assumes that these parents’words are representative and that the school has to teach students driving if the parents are busy. Probably, there are only few of the parents who complain that their spare time is not enough to teach driving. Besides, although the parents have no tome to do, it is not necessary for CHS to do. As we all know, the main work for school is to teach students knowledge, there is no responsibility to teach students others, such as driving. Therefore, if the author cannot provide further evidence, this argument is full of loopholes.

Finally, the author mentions that there are two driving school in C city and the parents whose budgets are tight might be unable to afford the expensive tuition, concluding that the CSH should open the driving lessons. Clearly, the author unwarrantedly assumes that the school has to teach driving if the parents cannot afford the tuitions. It is possible that the parents who cannot afford the driving lessons may also have no ability to afford a car. So it is also not necessary for their children to learn driving when they are teenagers, and if they have learnt how to drive, they may