縱觀美國的各項(xiàng)入學(xué)考試，從SAT到GRE和GMAT，我們能夠很清晰的看到作文考題的設(shè)計(jì)思路。從中學(xué)開始的教材和作文考試就重在培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的思辨能力，而邏輯思維能力是必不可少的考察內(nèi)容，甚至可以說是最重要的部分——GRE和GMAT的考題充分體現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn)。西方的邏輯方式從最基本來分可分為演繹邏輯(deductive reasoning)，歸納邏輯(inductive reasoning)，非形式推理(informal reasoning/logic)，其中argument的重點(diǎn)在于考查學(xué)生的非形式推理的能力。
其實(shí)各種GMAT寫作指導(dǎo)書的理論部分不外就是把邏輯基礎(chǔ)教材的informal reasoning部分修飾一番搬過來，主要就是講解informal reasoning常見的錯(cuò)誤，根據(jù)不同的書的篇幅和詳細(xì)程度，一般有7-13種，因字?jǐn)?shù)原因，在此不一一詳述。因此考生第一步需要熟悉常見的非形式推理錯(cuò)誤，因?yàn)榭碱}基本上都是根據(jù)這些錯(cuò)誤設(shè)計(jì)的。有些題看上去甚至有點(diǎn)傻，不大會(huì)出現(xiàn)在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中，因?yàn)槭翘匾鉃榭荚嚲帉懗鰜淼�。另外，由于需要適應(yīng)考試環(huán)境的緣故，考題會(huì)稍顯程式化，形式上比較接近三段式(syllogism)，反而方便了考生尋找premises和conclusion。比如下面一道例題：
The following appeared in a memorandum issued by the human-resources department of Capital Bank:
"Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all times while at work.Last month, Capital’s employee absenteeism and attrition rates both reached all-time highs.In order to reverse these trends, Capital should adopt a company-wide "casual Friday" policy, under which all employees would be permitted, and even encouraged, to dress casually for work every Friday.After all, most companies in the software industry allow their workers to dress casually for work anytime they want; and those workers often remark that this policy enhances their job satisfaction.Moreover, most software firms experience lower rates of employee absenteeism and attrition than companies in other industries, including banking."
Discuss how logically convincing you find this argument.In your discussion, you should analyze the argument's line of reasoning and use of evidence.It may be appropriate in your critique to call into question certain assumptions underlying the argument and/or to indicate what evidence might weaken or strengthen the argument.It may also be appropriate to discuss how you would alter the argument to make it more convincing and/or discuss what additional evidence, if any, would aid in evaluating the argument.
一般來說，一個(gè)argument里頭至少有3個(gè)錯(cuò)誤，有些時(shí)候甚至還有5-6個(gè)，而找出來這些問題，作文可以說完成了差不多一半了。由于時(shí)間限制，建議找最主要的問題寫3個(gè)，如還有時(shí)間，可以繼續(xù)寫。
第一步，需要把相應(yīng)的前提和結(jié)論找出來：
Conclusion：
Capital should adopt a company-wide "casual Friday" policy, under which all employees would be permitted, and even encouraged, to dress casually for work every Friday.
Premises：
1.Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all times while at work.Last month, Capital’s employee absenteeism and attrition rates both reached all-time highs.
2.most companies in the software industry allow their workers to dress casually for work anytime they want; and those workers often remark that this policy enhances their job satisfaction.
3.most software firms experience lower rates of employee absenteeism and attrition than companies in other industries, including banking."
注意，這里并非是三個(gè)并列的前提推出最后一個(gè)結(jié)論，前提中間仍然包含小的結(jié)論，因此畫一個(gè)路線圖就是：
Premise 1(premise) Capital bank requires suits ——> (conclusion) high rates
Premise 2 (premise)software companies casual wear ——> (conclusion)1.employee satisfaction and ——>2.low rates————> final conclusion Bank’s casual Friday policy
從上面的分析就可以看出來，每一個(gè)箭頭代表著一個(gè)推理上的漏洞，畫一個(gè)清晰的圖表，有助于理清思路，更容易找到問題所在。這里由于篇幅的原因，就無法一一講解語言組織等比較細(xì)的內(nèi)容了。
最后，雖然這種試題考的是推理能力，但并不是像純邏輯學(xué)那樣只考慮思路是否正確，而是還有對(duì)生活常識(shí)的涉及，兩者結(jié)合才能有效的查找題目中的邏輯漏洞。比如題庫中的一題提到了public TV的收視率與政府撥款的問題，如果不理解與public TV共存的還有cable TV甚至私人頻道，public TV有豐厚的廣告收入，而且后兩者是靠收費(fèi)經(jīng)營、廣告甚少的話，就不可能找到public TV的收視率與政府撥款未必有關(guān)系這個(gè)問題。
雖然網(wǎng)上范文層出不窮，不過模仿范文有可能被判為抄襲，如果全文背誦范文還有可能被當(dāng)做雷同卷判為零分，得不償失。這里還是建議考生留足備考時(shí)間，把題庫都過一遍，問題都找出來，加強(qiáng)練習(xí)，形成自己的模板，考出一個(gè)滿意的成績。畢竟考試只是學(xué)習(xí)的開始。