通过一篇学生习作了解Argument 写作要点

Argument题库中共有177道题目，而它们可以分为四大类别：证据（evidence）、问题（question）、假设（assumption）和解释（explanation）。其实，前三类本质上是一类题。所以这一次的作业就是让同学们将同一道题目，分别按照证据、问题和假设来撰写主体段落。下面是一道Argument试题：

The following was written as a part of an application for a small-business loan by a group of developers in the city of Monroe.

“A jazz music club in Monroe would be a tremendously profitable enterprise. Currently, the nearest jazz club is 65 miles away; thus, the proposed new jazz club in Monroe, the C-Note, would have the local market all to itself. Plus, jazz is extremely popular in Monroe: over 100,000 people attended Monroe’s annual jazz festival last summer; several well-known jazz musicians live in Monroe; and the highest-rated radio program in Monroe is ’Jazz Nightly,’ which airs every weeknight at 7 P.M. Finally, a nationwide study indicates that the typical jazz fan spends close to $1,000 per year on jazz entertainment.”

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.

接下来是学生习作展示:

To begin with, asserting that the proposed jazz club, C-Note, will do great business in Monroe as there is no other jazz club within an area of 65 miles, as a matter of fact, the author is making an assumption with pure imaginary. He neglects the reason why there is no similar industry in that area. There is a chance that someone opened a jazz club before, but closed after a while due to the poor performance and few customers. If this did happen before, then the monopoly of jazz business will be unattainable, which means his assertion is invalid. In addition, he assumes a wrong relationship between the distance of jazz club being 65 miles away and people’s willingness. A large number of people care more about the spiritual life than the substantial life. Perhaps the club 65 miles away might have a better service and romantic environment comparing to C-Note. Moreover, it might also have a higher reputation and fixed customer who is willing to drive 65 miles just to seek the joys. Therefore, it is not convincing that C-Note will dominate the local jazz market, and accordingly, in order to strengthen his argument, the author would need to not only address these assumptions but also to more firmly establish a link between possibilities and facts.

老师点评：

这段内容举例充分，读完有种“脑洞大开”的感觉。用很细节的场景，将Argument和一般人很难想到的前提陈述出来，让人眼前一亮。

证据（evidence）、问题（question）类的文段展开我们就放到副图文里了。

这三段作业，每一段分别对应一种direction，在每一段内都能做到评价整个Argument，这体现出这位同学对于三类direction的灵活掌握。每一段的内容层层推进，紧贴direction的写作要求。

其实对于中国考生来说，写就一篇英文作文的英语能力基本都是具备的，最大的问题在于，布置一道作文题目，连中文都写不出来。也就是说，中国考生在写作方面普遍存在不知道说什么的问题。

在上一次作业中，同学们利用survey的三部分析法，就能够写出完整详实的文章，而在这次作业中，同学们的文章已经可以举一反三了。

题目有限，且做且珍惜。就像是我们能够把一道简单的单空题改编成三空甚至八空一样，一道简单的Argument也可以被我们玩弄地千变万化。