考生要想提高自己的
1.The council of Maple County, concerned about the county's becoming overdeveloped, is debating a proposed measure that would prevent the development of existing farmland in the county. But the council is also concerned that such a restriction, by limiting the supply of new housing, could lead to significant increases in the price of housing in the county. Proponents of the measure note that Chestnut County established a similar measure ten years ago, and its housing prices have increased only modestly since. However, opponents of the measure note that Pine County adopted restrictions on the development of new residential housing fifteen years ago, and its housing prices have since more than doubled. The council currently predicts that the proposed measure, if passed, will result in a significant increase in housing prices in Maple County.
Maple County委员会考虑到本县正在被过度开发，正在讨论一项议案来阻止对现存农田的开发。但是委员会也考虑到限制新住房供应可能会导致本县住房价格的大幅上涨。支持者说Chestnut County十年前采取了这一措施，但它的房价仅有略微上升。但是，反对者说Pine County15年前对新住房开发进行了限制，它的房价此后翻了一番。委员会目前预计此议案如果通过，将会导致Maple County房价大幅上涨。
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.
2.Fifteen years ago, Omega University implemented a new procedure that encouraged students to evaluate the teaching effectiveness of all their professors. Since that time, Omega professors have begun to assign higher grades in their classes, and overall student grade averages at Omega have risen by 30 percent. Potential employers, looking at this dramatic rise in grades, believe that grades at Omega are inflated and do not accurately reflect student achievement; as a result, Omega graduates have not been as successful at getting jobs as have graduates from nearby Alpha University. To enable its graduates to secure better jobs, Omega University should terminate student evaluation of professors.
15年前，Omega大学实施了一项新措施，鼓励学生对所有教授的教学效果进行评价。从那以后，Omega的教授开始给予学生更高的分数，Omega的学生成绩总平均上升了30%。未来的雇主显然认为Omega的分数贬值了，不能准确地体现学生的真实水平;这可以解释为什么Omega的毕业生找工作时没有邻近的Alpha大学毕业生成功。为使毕业生找到好工作，Omega应立即停止学生对教授的评价。
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.
3.In an attempt to improve highway safety, Prunty County last year lowered its speed limit from 55 to 45 miles per hour on all county highways. But this effort has failed: the number of accidents has not decreased, and, based on reports by the highway patrol, many drivers are exceeding the speed limit. Prunty County should instead undertake the same kind of road improvement project that Butler County completed five years ago: increasing lane widths, resurfacing rough highways, and improving visibility at dangerous intersections. Today, major Butler County roads still have a 55 mph speed limit, yet there were 25 percent fewer reported accidents in Butler County this past year than there were five years ago.
为提高高速公路的安全性，Prunty County最近把镇上所有主要路段的最高限速从55mph降到了45。但我们应该回复到55mph的限速，因为这种保障安全的努力已经失败了。多数司机都超过了新的限速，而且Prunty County全镇的事故率仅有微量下降。如果我们要提高公路安全性，我们应该采取Butler County在5年前完成的同样的道路改计划：增加车道宽度和重新铺装不平整路面。现在，Butler County的主要道路仍然使用55mph限速，而那里近年间上报的事故发生率比五年前减少了25%。
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.
4.The following appeared as part of an article in a business magazine.
"A recent study rating 300 male and female Mentian advertising executives according to the average number of hours they sleep per night showed an association between the amount of sleep the executives need and the success of their firms. Of the advertising firms studied, those whose executives reported needing no more than 6 hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. These results suggest that if a business wants to prosper, it should hire only people who need less than 6 hours of sleep per night."
下面这段文字节选自一本商业杂志的一篇文章。
最近一项调查选取了Mentian 广告公司300名男女行政官进行研究，根据他们每晚平均睡眠时间得出了一个结论：行政官的睡眠时间和公司的成功之间有联系。根据对这些广告公司的调查，那些拥有每晚所需睡眠时间少于6小时的行政官的公司利润更高、成长更快。这些结果表明，如果一个公司想发展，它应该只雇佣每晚所需睡眠时间小于6小时的行政官。
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
5.The following memorandum is from the business manager of Happy Pancake House restaurants.
"Recently, butter has been replaced by margarine in Happy Pancake House restaurants throughout the southwestern United States. This change, however, has had little impact on our customers. In fact, only about 2 percent of customers have complained, indicating that an average of 98 people out of 100 are happy with the change. Furthermore, many servers have reported that a number of customers who ask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. Clearly, either these customers do not distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term 'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine."
下面这段文字出自Happy Pancake House restaurants一位业务经理的备忘录。
最近，Happy Pancake House在美国西南部的餐厅用人造黄油代替了天然黄油。然而，这一变化对我们的顾客产生的影响很小。事实上，只有大约2%的顾客曾经投诉，这说明100个人中有98人对于这种替换是乐于接受的。而且，服务生说很多要了天然黄油的顾客在被给予人造黄油的时候并没有投诉。显然，这些顾客要么分不清天然黄油和人造黄油，要么是用"天然黄油"这个词汇来指天然黄油或人造黄油。
Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.