Overview for GRE Analytical Writing <<Argument Questions>>

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Overview for GRE Analytical WritingltltArgument
Questionsgtgt

• Sections
• I. Introduction to Argument Questions
• (I. ??Argument Questions)
• II. How to Answer Argument Questions
• -- the Pool of Argument Questions
• (II. ?????ETS?????)
• III. Other Useful Tips (III. ??????)
• IV. Related Links and References
• (IV.?????????)

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I. Introduction to Argument Questions
There are two kinds of essay questions in the GRE
test 1) Present Your Perspective on an Issue
1 question, 45 minutes 2) Analyze an
Argument 1 question, 30
minutes GRE??????????-- issue question argument
question,????,???45?????,??30???
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• This file focuses on the second kind argument
  question. ???????argument question
• you analyze a paragraph-length argument,
  pointing out and discussing problems with its
  line of reasoning, adequacy and use of evidence,
  and internal logic.
• ??,?????????,?????????????????,??,??????
  ETS?www.gre.com??????
• ETS has released its official pool of GRE
  Analytical Writing questions on www.gre.org

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II. How to Answer Argument Questions

• Directions for the Argument Writing Task
• Argument Task??????
• Analyze a paragraph-length argument, pointing out
  and discussing problems with its line of
  reasoning, adequacy and use of evidence, and
  internal logic.
• (???sample argument topic and essay???ETS??
• An Introduction to the Analytical Writing
  Section of the GRE General Test.
  http//www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/awintro.pdf
  )

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• Argument Task??????
• Analyze a paragraph-length argument, pointing
  out and discussing problems with its line of
  reasoning, adequacy and use of evidence, and
  internal logic.
• ????????????,??????????????????????,?????????????
  ?????????

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• Specific guidelines
• You are not asked to agree or disagree with any
  of the statement in the argument.
• You should analyze the arguments line of
  reasoning.
• You should consider questional assumptions
  underlying the argument.
• You may discuss what additional evidence would
  help strengthen or refute the argument.

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• ?????????
• ???????????????????
• ??????????????????
• ?????????????????????
• ?????????????????????????????

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???www.gre.com

• Sample Question (ETS?????)
• Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument.
  
• Hospital statistics regarding people who go
  to the emergency room after roller skating
  accidents indicate the need for more protective
  equipment. Within this group of people, 75
  percent of those who had accidents in streets or
  parking lots were not wearing any protective
  clothing (helmets, knee pads, etc.) or any
  light-reflecting material (clip-on lights,
  glow-in-the-dark wrist pads, etc.). Clearly,
  these statistics indicate that by investing in
  high-quality protective gear and reflective
  equipment, roller skaters will greatly reduce
  their risk of being severely injured in an
  accident.

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• Sample Essay (????)
• Introductory part
• The notion that protective gear reduces the
  injuries suffered in accidents seems at first
  glance to be an obvious conclusion. After all, it
  is the intent of these products to either provent
  accidents from occuring in the first place or to
  reduce the injuries suffered by the wearer should
  an accident occur. However, the conclusion that
  investing in high quality protective gear greatly
  reduces the risk of being severely injured in an
  accident may mask other (and potentially more
  significant) causes of injuries and may inspire
  people to over invest financially and
  psychologically in protective gear.
•  

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• Outline of the Main Body (????)
• (1) First of all, as mentioned in the argument,
  there are two distinct kinds of gear -
  preventative gear (such as
• light reflecting material) and protective
  gear (such as helmets).
• (2) The argument above is weakened by the fact
  that it does not take into account the inherent
  differences between skaters who wear gear and
  those who do not.
• (3) The statistic also goes without
  differentiating between severity of injuries.
• (4) Finally, there is absolutely no evidence
  provided that high quality (and presumably more
  expensive) gear is any more beneficial than other
  kinds of gear.

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• Conclusion
• The argument for safety gear based on
  emergency room statistics could provide important
  information and
• potentially saves lives. Before conclusions
  about the amount and kinds of investments that
  should be made
• in gear are reached, however, a more
  complete understanding of the benefits are
  needed. After all, a false
• confidence in ineffective gear could be just
  as dangerous as no gear at all.

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• Before you write
• ? carefully read the argumentyou might want to
  read it over more than once
• ? identify as many of its claims, conclusions,
  and underlying assumptions as possible
• ? think of as many alternative explanations and
  counterexamples as you can
• ? think of what additional evidence might weaken
  or lend support to the claims
• ? ask yourself what changes in the argument would
  make the reasoning more sound

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???????????

• ????????,???????
• ???????????????????????????
• ?????????,??????????????????????????????
• ??????????????????????
• ??????????????????????

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8 Steps to the Argument Writing Task

• (1) Read the argument and identify its
  conclusion.
• (2) Identify and examine the arguments evidence
  to determine how strongly it supports its
  conclusion.
• (3) Organize and prioritize your points of
  critique.
• (4) Compose a brief introductory paragraph
• (5) Compose the main body.
• (6) Compose your conclusion
• (7) Review and revise for coherence
• (8) Proofread for significant mechanical
  problems.
• ??? Stewart, Mark Alan. Writing Skills for the
  GRE/GMAT. Lawrenceville Petersons, 2002.
•  

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???8???

• (1) ??????????????
• (2) ??????????????,?????? ???????
• (3) ???????????????????
• (4) ??????(introductory paragraph) ?
• (5) ???(main body)?
• (6) ???(conclusion) ?
• (7) ???????,??????????
• (8) ??????,????????????,??????,????,??????

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More questions from the pool of argument topics
????(???www.gre.com)

• The following appeared in a health newsletter.
• Eating a heavy meal may increase the risk of
  heart attack. A recent survey of 2,000 people who
  had had a heart attack revealed that 158 of them
  said they had eaten a heavy meal within 24 hours
  before their heart attack, and 25 of them said
  they had eaten a heavy meal within 2 hours before
  their heart attack. Eating and digesting food
  releases hormones into the bloodstream and
  temporarily increases heart rate and blood
  pressure slightly. Both of these things put
  stress on the heart. Therefore, people who are at
  risk of having a heart attack can lower that risk
  by not overeating.

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• The following is a memo from the business manager
  of National Daily News.
• To expand the home delivery service of our
  national newspaper, we should concentrate on the
  state of Urba rather than on the state of Sylva.
  First, the population of Sylva is more widely
  dispersed, which would require us to spend more
  money to deliver our papers in that area,
  resulting in less profit per customer. Second, a
  long-term study of television viewing habits
  suggests that Sylvans prefer local to national
  news, since they spend twice as much time viewing
  local news programs as they do viewing national
  programs. Finally, because events in Urba receive
  more coverage in our newspaper than do events in
  Sylva, we can expect Urbans to be more interested
  in reading our newspaper.

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• The following is a recommendation from the
  president of Appleby College.
• Whereas Appleby College holds class reunions
  every five years, Edelston College holds annual
  reunions for all classes, during which Edelston's
  alumni are treated to banquets, lectures, and
  student performances, enhancing their loyalty to
  the college and their willingness to donate
  money. Edelston College receives most of its
  alumni donations during or shortly after these
  reunions. Therefore, the best way for Appleby to
  increase its alumni donations is to offer similar
  reunion activities and to have each graduating
  class hold annual reunions.

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III. Other Useful Tips ??????

• Phrases you can use in your essay ????
• Acknowledge different sides of argument
• ??????????????
• Some people think that
• Although many people feel that
• It is claimed that
• Some people feel that
• While it is true that I believe
• Despite the fact that , many people think...
• Although many people think that., I feel that
• Although it is often said that, in fact the
  opposite is true
•  

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Acknowledge different sides of argument??????????
????

• It is undoubtedly true that However
• It is often argued that However, it is
• Some people say that They claim Nevertheless,
• Supporters of this viewpoint say that
  Nevertheless, it is

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• To Signal Examples
• ?????
• for example, for instance
• consider, take the case of
• To demonstrate, to illustrate
• As an illustration, in this case, on this
  occasion
• One possible scenario is that

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• To singal conclusion
• ???????
• In sum, in brief, in conclusion
• In essence, in a nutshell
• Summing up, to recapitulate

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• transitional phrases or words
• ???
• after all / as a result 
• at any rate / at the same time 
• in other words / in the second place 
• on the contrary / on the other hand
• in turn, subsequently, consequently,
• previously, beforehand
• simultaneously, concurrently

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IV. Related Links and References ?????????

• ltltGRE Writing Skillsgtgt
• http//www.novapress.net/gre/writing.html
• http//www.west.net/stewart/ws/
• http//www.west.net/stewart/grewa/wa101.htmWhosc
  ores
• ltltETS introduction to GRE Analytical Writinggtgt
• http//web.mit.edu/gso/mymsrp/handouts/internpdfs/
  awintro.pdf
• http//www.ets.org
• http//thedoublee.blogspot.com/2007/04/argument.ht
  ml

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• ltltfree GRE general test materials, including
  scoring details, sample tests and answersgtgt
• http//www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.148851
  2ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid302b66f22c6a
  5010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRDvgnextchanneld687e3b
  5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD
• ltlt????gtgt
• Stewart, Mark Alan. Writing Skills for the
  GRE/GMAT. Lawrenceville Petersons, 2002.

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• ltltwriting suggestions on issue, opinion
  argument essaysgtgt
• http//www.writefix.com/argument/
• http//www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owlwritingcenter/OWL/Arg
  ument.html
• http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/argument.h
  tml
• http//www.studygs.net/wrtstr4.htm