1、GRE（ ANALYTICAL WRITING）模拟试卷 2及答案与解析 一、 Analyze an Issue 1 Some people believe that corporations have a responsibility to promote the well-being of the societies and environments in which they operate. Others believe that the only responsibility of corporations, provided they operate within the law,
2、 is to make as much money as possible. Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented. 二、 Analyze an Argument
3、2 You will be given a short passage that presents an argument and specific instructions on how to respond to that passage. You will then have 30 minutes to plan and compose a response in which you evaluate the passage according to the specific instructions. A response to any other argument will rece
4、ive a score of zero. Note that you are NOT being asked to present your own views on the subject. Make sure that you respond according to the specific instructions and support your evaluation with relevant reasons and/or examples. Trained GRE readers will evaluate your response for its overall qualit
5、y, based on how well you: Respond to the specific task instructions Identify and analyze features of the argument relevant to the assigned task Organize, develop, and express your ideas Support your analysis with relevant reasons and/or examples Control the elements of standard written English Befor
6、e you begin writing, you may want to think for a few minutes about the argument passage and the specific task instructions and then plan your response. Be sure to develop your response fully and organize it coherently, but leave time to reread what you have written and make any revisions that you th
7、ink are necessary. Argument Topic The following appeared in an article written by Dr. Karp, an anthropologist. “Twenty years ago, Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of Tertia and concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village rather than b
8、y their own biological parents. However, my recent interviews with children living in the group of islands that includes Tertia show that these children spend much more time talking about their biological parents than about other adults in the village. This research of mine proves that Dr. Fields co
9、nclusion about Tertian village culture is invalid and thus that the observation-centered approach to studying cultures is invalid as well. The interview-centered method that my team of graduate students is currently using in Tertia will establish a much more accurate understanding of child-rearing t
10、raditions there and in other island cultures.“ Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. GRE（ ANALYTICAL WRITING）模拟试卷 2答案与解析 一、 Analyze an Issue 1 【正确答案】 It is not uncommon for
11、 some to argue that, in the world in which we live, corporations have a responsibility to society and to the environment in which they operate. Proponents of this view would argue that major environmental catastrophes(e.g., the oil spill in the Gulf)are key examples of the damage that can be wrought
12、 when corporations are allowed to operate unchecked. Yet within that very statement lies a contradiction that undermines this kind of thinking it is necessary for outside forces to check the behavior of corporations, because we do not expect corporations to behave in such a manner. In fact, the expe
13、ctation is simply that corporations will follow the law, and in the course of doing so, engage in every possible tactic to their advantage in the pursuit of more and greater profit. To expect otherwise from corporations is to fail to understand their puropose and their very structure. The corporatio
14、n arose as a model of business in which capital could be raised through the contributions of stockholders; investors purchases shares in a company, and their money is then used as the operating capital for the company. Shareholders buy stock not because they are hoping to better make the world a bet
15、ter place or because they have a desire to improve the quality of life but because they expect to see a return in their investment in this company. The company may itself have generally altruistic goals(perhaps it is a think tank that advises the government on how to improve relations with the Middl
16、e East, or perhaps it is a company built around finding alternative forms of energy), but the immediate expectation of the investor is that he himself will see dividends, or profits, from the investment he has made. This is even more true in the case of companies that are purely profit driven and wh
17、ich do not have goals that are particularly directed toward social improvement a description that applies to the vast majority of corporations. Is it a bad thing to have a corporation negatively affect the environment(and by extentsion, its inhabitants)? To pump noxious fumes into the atmosphere as
18、a by-product of its manufacturing processes? Of course, and this is why agencies such as the EPA were established and why governments federal, state, and local are expected to monitor such companies to ensure that such practices fall within the boundaries of legal expectations. Any and all corporati
19、ons should be expected to temper their pursuit of profit with the necessity of following those safeguards that have been legislated as protections. But the assumption that corporations have an inherent obligation or responsibility to go above and beyond that to actively PROMOTE the environment and t
20、he well-being of society is absurd. Engaging in practices to adhere to legal expectations to protect society and the environment is costly to corporations. If the very purpose of a corporation is to generate profits, and the obligation to adhere to safety expectations established by law cuts into th
21、ose profits, then to expect corporations to embrace such practices beyond what is required is to presume that they willingly engage in an inherently self-destructive process: the unnecessary lowering of profits. This is antithetical to the very concept of the corporation. Treehuggers everywhere shou
22、ld be pleased that environmental protections exist, but to expect corporations to “make the world a better place“ is to embrace altruism to the point that it becomes delusion. This is not to say that we should reject efforts to hold corporations accountable. In fact, the opposite is true we should b
23、e vigilant with the business world and maintain our expectations that corporations do not make their profits at the EXPENSE of the well-being of society. But that role must be fulfilled by a watchdog, not the corporation itself, and those expectations must be imposed UPON the corporations, not expec
24、ted FROM them. 【试题解析】 This response receives a 6 for developing an insightful position on the issue in accordance with the assigned task, skillfully weaving a position that takes into consideration both of the statements in the prompt. Beginning in the first paragraph, the writer rejects the idea th
25、at corporations themselves “have a responsibility to promote the well-being of the societies and environments in which they operate.“ In the second paragraph, the writer offers compelling reasons for this rejection by discussing the purpose and structure of corporations. The writer then considers th
26、e role of government in promoting corporations social and environmental responsibility, developing the position fully. A cogent statement of the writers position appears at the conclusion of the response: “we should be vigilant with the business world and maintain our expectations that corporations
27、do not make their profits at the EXPENSE of the well-being of society. But that role must be fulfilled by a watchdog, not the corporation itself.“ The response as a whole is logically organized, with each paragraph serving as a stepping stone in the development of the writers position. It also demon
28、strates the writers ability to convey ideas fluently and precisely, using effective vocabulary and sentence variety. This sentence demonstrates the level of language facility seen throughout the response: “If the very purpose of a corporation is to generate profits, and the obligation to adhere to s
29、afety expectations established by law cuts into those profits, then to expect corporations to embrace such practices beyond what is required is to presume that they willingly engage in an inherently self-destructive process: the unnecessary lowering of profits.“ Here the writer has skillfully mainta
30、ined control of complex syntax and diction while making a logically compelling point. The sentence demonstrates the outstanding nature of this response. 二、 Analyze an Argument 2 【正确答案】 It might seem logical, at first glance, to agree with the argument in Dr. Karps article that children in Tertia act
31、ually are raised by their biological parents(and perhaps even, by implication, that an observation-centered approach to anthropological study is not as valid as an interview-centered one). However, in order to fully evaluate this argument, we need to have a significant amount of additional evidence.
32、 The argument could end up being much weaker than it seems, or it might actually be quite valid. In order to make that determination, we need to know more then analyze what we learn. The first piece of evidence that we would need in order to evaluate Dr. Karps claims is information about whether or
33、not Tertia and the surrounding island group have changed significantly in the past 20 years. Dr. Field conducted his observational study 20 years ago, and it is possible that Tertia has changed significantly since then. For example, if we had evidence that in teh intervening years Westerners had set
34、tled on the island and they introduced a more typical Western-style family structure, it would certainly weaken Dr. Karps argument. In that case, the original study could have been accurate, and Dr. Karps study could be correct, as well, though his conclusion that Dr. Fields method is ineffective wo
35、uld be seriously weakened. Another piece of evidence that might help us evaluate this claim involves the exact locations where Dr. Karps interviews took place. According to this article, Dr. Karp and his graduate students conducted interviews of “children living in the group of islands that includes
36、 Tertia.“ If we were to learn that they never interviewed a single Tertian child, it would significantly weaken the conclusion. It could turn out to be the case, for example, that children on Tertia are raised communally, whereas children on other islands nearby are raised by their biological parent
37、s. In order to fully evaluate this article, we would also need to learn more about the interview questions that Dr. Karps team used. What exactly did they ask? We dont know, nor do we know what the childrens responses actually were. What did they say about their biological parents? The mere fact tha
38、t they speak more frequently about their biological parents than they do about other adults does not meant hat they are raised by their biological parents. It would significantly undermine Dr. Karps argument if it turned out that the children said things like how much they missed their parents or ho
39、w their parents had left them in a communal environment. Without knowing WHAT the children said, it is hard to accept Dr. Karps conclusion. It is slightly more difficult to discuss teh evidence we might need in order to evaluate the more interesting claims in Dr. Karps article, namely his extension
40、of the results of his study to a conclusion that interview-centered methods are inherently more valid than observational-centered approaches. In order to fully evaluate this claim, in fact, we would need to look at many more examples of interview-based and observation-based anthropological studies a
41、nd we would also need to look into different study designs. Perhaps Dr. Field did not conduct an effective observational study, but other observational approaches could be effective. In order to make such grandiose claims, Dr. Karp really needs a lot of additional evidence(ideally a metaanalysis of
42、hundreds of anthropological studies). Clearly, then, we need to have additional evidence in order to get a more complete understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Dr. Karps article. We need to know about Tertia and the surrounding islands, whether or not they have changed over the past 20 yea
43、rs. We also need to know about study design(Dr. Karps and Dr. Fields). And we really need a lot more information if we want to extend the results of a study about one island culture to all anthropological fieldwork. 【试题解析】 This outstanding response clearly addresses the specific task directions and
44、presents a cogent, insightful analysis by specifically detailing the impact that different pieces of evidence would have on the argument. The introductory paragraph sets up the organization of the response, and each body paragraph provides the sort of compelling development typical in responses that
45、 receive a score of 6. For example, after the writer discusses possible evidence that Tertian child-rearing practices have changed over the past 20 years, he or she clearly explains the impact information about those changes might have on the argument, saying, “In that case, the original study could
46、 have been accurate, and Dr. Karps study could be correct, as well, though his conclusion that Dr. Fields method is ineffective would be seriously weakened.“ Not only is this argument compelling, but it also demonstrates sophisticated syntax and facility with language. There is more insightful devel
47、opment in the fifth paragraph, in which the writer examines Dr. Karps claims about interview-based studies. Although there are a few typos and minor errors here, nothing in the response distracts from the overall fluency of the writing. Sentences like this one demonstrate the fluent and precise dict
48、ion and varied syntax that are evident throughout the response: “It could turn out to be the case, for example, that children on Tertia are raised communally, whereas children on other islands nearby are raised by their biological parents.“ Because of its compelling and insightful development and fluent and precise language, this response fits all of the bullet points for a 6.
