GRE高频作文及参考范文

 　　自新GRE作文题库改革以来，目前仍然没有遍历所有题库，但是某些题目确实考试中的高频文章，如果小伙伴们在准备作文时无从下手，不妨从高频开始写起，我们GRE高频作文联播将定期为大家提供高频作文及其范文。

　　15. The following memorandum¹ 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　　"Recently, butter has been replaced by margarine in Happy Pancake House restaurants throughout the southwestern United States.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."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.

　　这个题目在13.10.1/13.12.4/14.3.9三次考试中都考到了这个题目，在题库的176个题目中考到3次的题目算是比较高频的题目了。那我们一起来分析下这个题目吧：

　　拿到题目，要找这个段落的结论是什么。应该是第二句：This change, however, has had little impact on our customers. 在这个段落中说到两个原因来证明结论：第一，only about 2 percent of customers have complained, indicating that an average of 98 people out of 100 are happy with the change. 第二，many servers have reported that a number of customers who ask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. 其实这两个原因都不能充分地证明这个结论。

　　首先，我们可以先看看第一个原因，only about 2 percent of customers have complained,?indicating?that an average of 98 people out of 100 are happy with the change. 2%没有抱怨就一定代表100人中98人是乐于接受人造黄油吗?不一定，在100人中98人没有抱怨可能是因为他们自身的原因，觉得抱怨比较麻烦或者赶时间吃完就走了或者吃完不满意下次再也不来了，都有可能导致没有接受到所有的抱怨。

　　其次，第二个原因是，many?servers have?reported?that a number of customers who ask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead. 这里说“many”, 很显然，vague data, 一些人没有播报，但到底是多少呢?占服务生总量的百分比是多少?而且是不是就某个连锁店里的一些服务生这么说的呢?所以他们多少人、有没有代表性都是令人质疑的。并且后边还有一个“report”,就算前边的“many”很多人也很有代表性，但是他们不一定会“report”实情，因为他们是饭店的服务生，很有可能会隐藏有抱怨的事实，没说真话。

　　再次，either?these customers do not distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term 'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine."注意这里面出现的”either”、”or”字眼，它们是false dilemma非常标志性字眼，简称假两难。可能就算有抱怨也不是either、or里面的任何原因导致的，有可能是：他们是冲着这的就餐环境来的，上什么都无所谓;或者他们觉着这的dish price比较低;或者非常的tasty等等优点让他们不再计较是人造黄油还是天然黄油。

　　参考范文：

　　The above argument concludes that when Happy Pancake House replaced butter with margarine in their restaurants in the Southwest, there was no effect on their customers. To support this claim, they point the fact that only 2 percent of customers have complained about the change and that many servers say customers do not complain when given margarine instead of butter. They reason that customers generally fail to distinguish margarine from butter or use the term ‘butter’ to refer to both. However, their conclusions do not follow from the evidence presented.

　　The author claims that only 2 percent of customers complained, and that this indicates 98 out of 100 people are satisfied. First of all, the statistic² itself is suspect. Where does the 2 percent come from? Perhaps they estimated their total number of monthly customers based on sales figures and then divided their number of monthly complaints by that number, but the reader can only guess. What if customers tend to only complain the second time an error is committed? Depending on how the statistic was calculated, this could mean that it only represents half the extent of customer dissatisfaction.

　　Second of all, even assuming the statistic is accurate, their assumption that 98 out of 100 people must then be happy does not logically follow. Some customers may not voice their dissatisfaction—perhaps the company’s protocol³ for filing complaints is too inconvenient⁴ for most customers to bother with, or perhaps dissatisfied customers stop dining at the restaurant altogether. Hence there are many possible scenarios⁵ in which complaint statistics do not accurately⁶ reflect customer dissatisfaction. The author could strengthen their argument by indicating how they arrived at the 2 percent statistic and why it is a valid⁷ measure of overall customer satisfaction.

　　The second piece of data used in the author’s argument is even worse. Dispensing⁸ with numbers altogether, they put forward a weakly worded claim that “many servers” reported “a number of customers” do not complain when given margarine after asking for butter. The errors here are essentially⁹ the same as those in the preceding discussion, just more grievous. To begin with, how many data points were used? What constitutes “many” servers? The sample size was likely too small to generate a valid statistic, so instead we are left with this nebulous phrasing. Perhaps only a handful of servers in a couple of restaurants reported this; we cannot know. Maybe they only looked for feedback in poorly performing restaurants where customer expectations were already low; again, we cannot know.

　　Furthermore, even if they were able to get a wide sample of restaurants and customers, it is possible that customers are reluctant to complain directly to servers because of the awkwardness it might cause. It also might be the case that butter and margarine are relatively¹⁰ unimportant to customers in comparison to the overall quality of their meal. We cannot assume their silence betokens¹¹ a failure to distinguish butter from margarine, or that they must use the word ‘butter’ to refer to both spreads. Without some type of a control, this piece of data is essentially meaningless.

　　Customer complaints can be a useful form of feedback, but the author fails to use them reasonably in their argument. Eliminating butter from their restaurants may very well be an effective long-term business strategy for Happy Pancake House. However, the pieces of data provided are not persuasive¹² enough to advise that course of action. (570 words)

1 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

2 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

3 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

4 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

5 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

7 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

8 dispensing   

v.分配( dispense的现在分词 )；施与；配（药）

参考例句：

• A dispensing optician supplies glasses, but doesn't test your eyes. 配镜师为你提供眼镜，但不检查眼睛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The firm has been dispensing ointments. 本公司配制药膏。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 betokens   

v.预示，表示( betoken的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His smile betokens his satisfaction. 他的微笑表示他满意了。 来自辞典例句

12 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。