Вербальная часть: чтение и структура аргументации
Введено| English | Значение |
|---|---|
| assumption/əˈsʌmpʃn/ | предположение |
| perspective/pəˈspektɪv/ | A point of view on an issue, with its own reasons. |
What does the author actually claim?
- A GRE passage argues that a museum's falling attendance reflects higher ticket prices, then mentions that a new competitor opened nearby. A question asks what the author assumes.
- GRE Verbal reading tests whether you can separate claims, evidence, assumptions 假设 and the author's perspective 观点 — not just what the passage is about.
Map the passage
- For each paragraph, write a few words: its job (background, claim, evidence, counterpoint, conclusion).
- Note signal words: however, thus, admittedly, critics contend — they mark turns in the argument and whose view is being given.
Claim, evidence, assumption
- Claim: what the author wants you to accept. Evidence: facts offered for it. Assumption: an unstated idea the argument needs.
- Attendance fell after prices rose; the author concludes prices caused it. Assumption: nothing else (such as the new competitor) explains the drop.
"Critics argue the novel is sentimental; yet its restraint in the final chapter suggests otherwise." The author's view is the second clause; "critics argue" introduces a view the author rejects.
Claim, evidence or assumption?
Separate the parts of an argument.
Argument: “Attendance at the museum fell after ticket prices rose, so the price rise caused the decline.” Which is an assumption of the argument?
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The argument needs other explanations to be ruled out.
“Some historians claim the treaty was a failure; the evidence, however, points to lasting stability.” What is the author's view?
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“However” introduces the author's view.
An unstated idea that an argument needs in order to work is an ____.
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Testing assumptions is central to GRE argument questions.
Organisation and relevance
- Questions may ask what a sentence does in the passage: introduces a puzzle, offers an explanation, concedes a point.
- Only information that bears on the specific question is relevant; interesting details elsewhere are distractors.
Match each sentence opening to its likely role.
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Signal words mark the role.
Common traps
- Attributing a cited view (critics, some historians) to the author.
- Choosing an answer that is true in the passage but answers a different question.
A view introduced with “critics argue” is often one the author goes on to answer.
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True. The phrase usually attributes a view to others, so the author may challenge it; do not assume it is the author's own position.
Recap
- Map each paragraph's job; track signal words and whose view is given.
- Separate claim, evidence and assumption; answer only the question asked.
- perspective: A point of view on an issue, with its own reasons.