Overview of the Analytical Writing Section
The analytical writing section is a new section of the GRE General Test introduced beginning in October 2002 that tests your critical thinking and analytical writing skills. It assesses your ability to articulate and support complex ideas, analyze an argument, and sustain a focused and coherent discussion. It does not assess specific content knowledge. (它评估你清晰地表达和支持复杂观点,分析一个论点以及维持一个集中连贯的论述的能力,而不考量涉及具体内容的知识)
How the Analytical Writing Section is Scored
Your essay responses on the analytical writing section will be reviewed by ETS essay-similarity-detection software and by experienced essay readers during the scoring process. In light of the high value placed on independent intellectual activity within United States graduate schools and universities, ETS reserves the right to cancel test scores of any test taker when there is substantial evidence that an essay response includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:
• text that is substantially similar to that found in one or more other GRE essay responses;
(文章大体上其它一篇或多篇GRE文章相似)
• quoting or paraphrasing, without attribution, language or ideas that appear in published or unpublished sources;
(未标明出处而引用或注释在公开或未公开发表的资料上的语言或观点)
• unacknowledged use of work that has been produced through collaboration with others without citation of the contribution of others;
(没有提及他人贡献而未经许可地使用与他人合作取得的研究成果)
• essays that are submitted as work of the examinee when the ideas or words have, in fact, been borrowed from elsewhere or prepared by another person.
(考生提交的文章中的观点或语言是采用其它文章或由其他人准备的)
这四点归纳都一起就是两个单词:Original和Copyright. 这更说明一个问题:模板得套自己写的。
Understanding the Issue Task
The "Present Your Perspective on an Issue" task assesses your ability to think critically about a topic of general interest and to clearly express your thoughts about it in writing.
(XXXX衡量你批判性地思考一个公众感兴趣的话题以及在写作中清晰的表达你的想法的能力)
Your task is to present a compelling case for your own position on the issue.
(你的任务是为你在issue中的立场提供一个令人信服的理由)
Preparing for the Issue Task
Remember that this is a task in critical thinking and persuasive writing. Therefore, you might find it
helpful to explore the complexity of a claim in one of the topics by asking yourself the following questions:
• What, precisely, is the central issue?
(issue的中心论点到底是什么)
• Do I agree with all or with any part of the claim? Why or why not?
(我同意的是全部论断还是部分论断?为什么?)
• Does the claim make certain assumptions? If so, are they reasonable?
(文中的论断有做假设吗?如果有,这些假设合理吗?)
• Is the claim valid only under certain conditions? If so, what are they?
(这些论断是否在某些特定情况下才正确?如果是这样的,是哪些特定情况呢?)
• Do I need to explain how I interpret certain terms or concepts used in the claim?
(我是否需要解释我如何阐释论断中所用到的特定的术语和概念的?)
• If I take a certain position on the issue, what reasons support my position?
(如果我在issue中采取了特定的立场,有哪些理由可以支持我的立场?)
• What examples—either real or hypothetical—could I use to illustrate those reasons and advance my point of view? Which examples are most compelling?
(哪些例子----不管是真实的还是假设的----可以被我用来阐述那些理由以及促进我的观点?哪些观点非常有说服力?)
Once you have decided on a position to defend, consider the perspective of others who might not agree
with your position. Ask yourself:
• What reasons might someone use to refute or undermine my position?
(别人会用哪些理由来驳斥我的观点?)
• How should I acknowledge or defend against those views in my essay?
(我会怎样认可或反对文中我的观点?)
Understanding the Argument Task
The "Analyze an Argument" task assesses your ability to understand, analyze, and evaluate arguments and to clearly convey your analysis in writing.
(XXXX衡量你理解,分析,评价论点以及在写作中清楚地表达你的分析的能力)
Your task is to discuss the logical soundness of the author's case by critically examining the line
of reasoning and the use of evidence.
(你的任务是通过批判性地考查作者的推理思路和用例来讨论作者观点是否具有逻辑性)
An important part of performing well on the Argument task is remembering what you are not being asked to do. You are not being asked to discuss whether the statements in the argument are true or accurate;(你没有被要求去讨论argument中的陈述是否正确或准确) instead, you are being asked whether conclusions and inferences are validly drawn from the statements.(你应该要去讨论作者的陈述能否正确地得出作者的结论和论断)You are not being asked to agree or disagree with the position stated; (你没有被要求同意或不同意文中的立场)instead, you are being asked to comment on the thinking that underlies the position stated.(你应该去评论构成作者立场的基本思想) You are not being asked to express your own views on the subject being discussed (as you were in the Issue task);(你没有被要求表述你对被讨论主题的观点的看法) instead, you are being asked to evaluate the logical soundness of an argument of another writer (你应该去评价作者论断的逻辑性)and, in doing so, to demonstrate the critical thinking, perceptive reading, and analytical writing skills that university faculty consider important for success in graduate school.
这个有必要和Issue区分开来。
Preparing for the Argument Task
An excellent way to prepare for the "Analyze an Argument" task is to practice writing on some of the
published Argument topics. There is no one way to practice that is best for everyone. Some prefer to start practicing without adhering to the 30-minute time limit. If you follow this approach, take all the time you need to analyze the argument. No matter which approach you take, you should
• carefully read the argument—you might want to read it over more than once
(仔细阅读argument ----你可能需要反复阅读)
• identify as many of its claims, conclusions, and underlying assumptions as possible
(尽可能多的找出文章的主张,结论以及基本的假设)
• think of as many alternative explanations and counterexamples as you can
(想出尽可能多的(引起相同结果的)其他解释以及反例)
• think of what additional evidence might weaken or lend support to the claims
(想出一些能削弱或加强支持论断的额外的论据)
• ask yourself what changes in the argument would make the reasoning more sound.
(问问你自己argument中的哪些改变会使得argument的推理更加合理)