GMAT考试作文资料-AA七宗罪的记忆方法：因、果、证

海清荷艳

分析了两个晚上的AA，发现“七宗罪”确实是好东西，就是那些“罪”太多、而且过于零散，很难记忆。因此将七宗罪分类整理了一下，按照论证的原因、结果、论证过程三部分，归为三个类别：

因、果、证



1、因

就是原因上的问题，有以下三个：

可疑调查
样本不足
结论无据
2、果

就是结论上的问题，有以下两个：

无因果联系
二者择一
3、证

就是论证过程上的问题，有以下两个，纵向横向各一个：

错误类比（横向）
时地全等（纵向）


这样，只要记住了三字诀：因、果、证，就很容易记牢全部七宗罪了。

海清荷艳

第四宗罪 时地全等 all things are equal<纵向>
The author commits the fallacy of “all things are equal”. The fact that happened two years ago is not a sound evidence to draw a conclusion that.... The author assumes without justification that the background conditions have remained the same at different times or at different locations. However, it is not clear in this argument whether the current conditions at AA are the same as they used to be two years ago. Thus it is impossible to conclude that....

第五宗罪 二者择一 Either-Or choice
The author assumes that AA and BB are mutually exclusive alternatives and there is no room for a middle ground. However, the author provides no reason for imposing an either-or choice. Common sense tells us that adjusting both AA and BB might produce better results.

第六宗罪 可疑调查 survey is doubtful
The poll cited by the author is too vague to be informative. The claim does not indicate who conducted the poll, who responded, or when, where and how the poll was conducted. (Lacking information about the number of people surveyed and the number of respondents, it is impossible to access the validity of the results. For example, if 200 persons were surveyed but only 2 responded, the conclusion that...would be highly suspect. Because the argument offers no evidence that would rule out this kind of interpretations,) Until these questions are answered, the results of the survey are worthless as evidence for the conclusion.

第七宗罪 结论无据 gratuitous assumption
The author falsely depends on gratuitous assumption that.... However, no evidence is stated in the argument to support this assumption. In fact, this is not necessarily the case. For example, it is more likely that.... Therefore, this argument is unwarranted without ruling out such possibility

海清荷艳

附：七宗罪

第一宗罪：无因果联系
The author commits a fallacy of causal oversimplification. The line of the reasoning is that because A occurred before B, the former event is responsible for the latter. (The author uses the positive correlation between A and B to establish causality. However, the fact that A coincides with B does not necessarily prove that A caused B.) But this is fallacious reasoning unless other possible causal explanations have been considered and ruled out. For example, perhaps C is the cause of these events or perhaps B is caused by D.

第二宗罪 样本不足 Insufficient-sample
The evidence the author provides is insufficient to support the conclusion drawn from it. One example is logically unsounded to establish a general conclusion (The statistics from only a few recent years are not necessarily a good indicator of future trends), unless it can be shown that A1 is representative of all A. It is possible that.... In fact, in face of such limited evidence, the conclusion that B is completely unwarranted.

第三宗罪: 错误类比 (based on a false analogy )<横向>
The argument rests on the assumption that A is analogous to B in all respects. This assumption is weak, since although there are points of comparison between A and B, there is much dissimilarity as well. For example, A..., however, B.... Thus, it is likely much more difficult for B to do....

海清荷艳

顺便分析一下本月JJ的一篇AA：

“Our total sales have increased this year by 20 percent since we added a pharmacy section to our

grocery store. Clearly, the customer’s main concern is the convenience afforded by one-stop

shopping. // 无因果联系，可能另有他因。 The surest way to increase our profits over the next couple

of years, therefore, is to add a clothing department along with an automotive supplies and repair

shop. We should also plan to continue adding new departments and services, such as a restaurant

and a garden shop, in subsequent years. // 时地全等 Being the only store in the area that offers such a range of services will give us a competitive advantage over other local stores.” // 结论无据