GMAT逻辑基础大讲堂之Weaken.

2017-08-11 作者: 371阅读

  GMAT逻辑考试需要考生着重备考的知识点有哪些?以下将由备考达人为大家深入分析和讲解GMAT逻辑的基本知识点,刚刚接触GMAT逻辑考试的同学们不妨来参考一下,或许能够从中得到一些启发。更多相关问题可咨询澳际留学在线专家,如果有任何意见和建议,也请联系我们。

  By now, I hope you have already had a better understanding of the way to identify premises and conclusions and the roles played by each sentence in an argument. In essence, main point, role, and proceed by are Must-Be-True types of questions, which do NOT allow NEW evidence. In the following posts I will talk about a few question types which allow NEW evidence.

  Weaken

  Common Prompts for Weakening questions:

  • Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

  • Similar verbs: attack, call into question, cast doubt on, challenge, contradict, counter, damage, rebut, rute, undermine.

  Bore you look at the answers:

  1. Pinpoint the main conclusion in the passage. (Read my previous Main Point post.)

  2. Separate the premises from everything else. After you find the main point, don’t assume that all the other statements are premises; they might include opposing viewpoints, background information, and concessions.

  3. Ask yourself, “Do the premises (exactly as they are stated in the passage) support the conclusion (exactly as it is stated in the passage)?” In other words, once discard everything else, how well do the premises support the conclusion? The reason you want to focus on exactly what the premises and the conclusion state is that you do not want to subconsciously make the argument better than it actually is. Do not help the author. Look at what he actually said and then decide whether his evidence stacks up:

  • Does the author make any unreasonable assumptions? For example, read the following statements: “We should support the proposed law, which requires government officials to disclose their annual incomes, because it will give ordinary citizens a fair chance to keep an eye on and more control over when and how elected officials receive gifts and benits from lobbyists.” Watch out for should, moral ethical and other loaded conclusions. The test makers like to play off commonly held assumptions about what is right or wrong in our heads. This argument unreasonably assumes that “giving ordinary citizens a fair chance to keep an eye on and more control” is good. If this is the case, the author must clearly point out this premise in his argument.

  • Does the author rely on an unrepresentative survey/samples? For example, read the following statement: “Mr Xi will likely become the next President because over two-thirds of students in Fudan University said that they would vote for him.” Do these students represent fairly of the voters in the political process? Do these students even have the right to elect the next President?

  • Does the author rely on a questionable analogy or comparison? For example, read the following statement: “A terrorist caught by police in Xinjiang with explosives in his backpack should first be given a warning just like a vendor without license caught by urban management officers in Beijing. First offense is not a big deal.” My God. This cannot be happening!

  • Does the author’s conclusion overstate the premises? For example, read the following statements: “Acupuncture has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke. Therore, anyone who undergoes acupuncture treatment will not experience a stroke when they are older.” Do these words sound like a TV commercial? If you are good at CR, you can have a lot of funs to pick apart commercials in Chinese or English.

  Then look for the answer that exploits one of those weaknesses:

  • The correct answer usually offers new evidence that makes you doubt the conclusion without directly contradicting the original evidence in the passage. “Mr. Zhang will be a good addition to our finance department because he has worked in banks in Wall Street.” New evidence: “Mr. Zhang worked as a computer programmer in Wall Street.” This new evidence does not contradict the original premise, but it does cast doubt on the original conclusion. Another possible answer: “Mr. Zhang worked in Wall Street for a total of two weeks bore being let go.” Still another: “Mr. Zhang recently had a big fight with our current finance VP during a M&A discussion.” Notice, this evidence is unrelated to the original premises; it has nothing to do with Wall Street. So do not skip an answer choice because it does not address the points raised in the original argument. Focus on the new unfavorable light shining on the conclusion.

  • Some arguments will tell you that two events are correlated (happened together) and then conclude that one event causes the other. The problem with this kind of causal argument is that it relies on many questionable assumptions. If the conclusion states that A causes B (If reading my posts, a reader’s understanding of CR is increased), look for evidence that says

  - B causes A (A reader with good understanding of CR tends to read my posts).

  - C causes B or A or both (CDer whose English is superb are more likely to read my posts and have better understanding of CR).

  -A and B are not actually correlated (The survey overestimated the increased understanding of CR for most readers after reading my posts).

  Any evidence that supports one of these three possibilities will weaken the conclusion that A causes B. However, I do hope by reading my posts, you can improve your understanding of CR eventually.

  以上为大家详细介绍了GMAT逻辑考试的基本知识点,考生们可据此作为参考,通过针对性的练习来逐步掌握GMAT逻辑的备考要点,掌握解题规律,从而在GMAT考试中取得更好的成绩。

相关链接:

1.GMAT考试上海北考场体验

2.GMAT考试作文机经 6月5日更新(九)

3.780分考生谈如何培养GMAT考试的PACE

留学咨询

更多出国留学最新动态,敬请关注澳际教育手机端网站,并可拨打咨询热线:400-601-0022
  • 专家推荐
  • 成功案例
  • 博文推荐
  • 高国强 向我咨询

    行业年龄 11年

    成功案例 2937人

    留学关乎到一个家庭的期望以及一个学生的未来,作为一名留学规划导师,我一直坚信最基本且最重要的品质是认真负责的态度。基于对学生和家长认真负责的原则,结合丰富的申请经验,更有效地帮助学生清晰未来发展方向,顺利进入理想院校。

  • Tara 向我咨询

    行业年龄 6年

    成功案例 1602人

  • 薛占秋 向我咨询

    行业年龄 10年

    成功案例 1869人

    从业3年来成功协助数百同学拿到英、美、加、澳等各国学习签证,递签成功率90%以上,大大超过同业平均水平。

  • Cindy 向我咨询

    行业年龄 18年

    成功案例 4806人

    精通各类升学,转学,墨尔本的公立私立初高中,小学,高中升大学的申请流程及入学要求。本科升学研究生,转如入其他学校等服务。

  • 墨尔本大学商、法、教育三大学院见面会 & 咨询会 | 北京 · 武汉 · 南京精彩启程!

    1286人阅读 查看原文

  • 活动预告 | 蒙纳士大学携手英国文化教育协会雅思官方与你鹏城有约,飞跃无限

    1075人阅读 查看原文

  • 惊喜加倍|2024蒙纳士大学中国开放日(上海)和中国学生见面会(深圳)共同起航!

    1328人阅读 查看原文

  • 走进世界顶尖学府|悉尼大学中国招生见面会开启报名!

    1367人阅读 查看原文

我要查

澳际服务

我要读

热门国家申请