最不專業的GMAT教學分享平台

讓題目聯想到題目,而不是聯想到規則:親兄弟式的總結訓練

很多考生總想著「我都這麼努力了,為什麼最後卻沒有進步?」我想要講的是,如果你的努力是定義在「花很多時間刷很多題目寫很多筆記」,那麼就完全錯誤了。

高分者在實戰做題時,心裡都想著什麼?

 
一般人作題是想到「對應到哪條之前背過的規則」,高手做題是想到「這個題目跟過去做過的哪些官方題目類似。」這是高分者最大的秘密。
 
題目做多少不是唯一的重點,重點在於你是否有用確實的方式做總結。如果你花了兩三個小時做了二十到三十題,但是都只是上網看解說,或者用自己的主觀想法做檢討,那是完全沒有作用的。
 
但如果你專心先做五到六道題,雖然一開始會覺得「我只做這些題目真的有用嗎?」,但是你每道題都是針對每一個考點找到出題模式、測驗思維類似的官方題目做歸類,那麼一個題目假設有五個考點,你為了歸類就會不斷地去找其他官方題目,並且去思考眼前這題與其他題在設計上的關聯性,其實你默默地就已經在背後對照過20-30道題了。
 
這種時候就算表面上只做了五到六題總結,但事實上你已經複習了非常多道題。更重要的是,你是注重「題目與題目之間的共同設計邏輯」,而不是單一題目的內容本身。
 
再度重申:一般人作題是想到「對應到哪條之前背過的規則」,高手做題是想到「這個題目跟過去做過的哪些官方題目類似。」這是高分者最大的秘密。
 
以下我會提供一些範例,讓大家看看什麼叫「找親兄弟」的檢討思維:
 

什麼是Sentence Correction親兄弟?

找出同樣差異點設計,在考相同考點觀念的相對選項。

There is nowhere in early American literature where the influence of Jane Austen is so apparent as the novels of James Fenimore Cooper.

(D) Nowhere in early American literature is the influence of Jane Austen more apparent than in(E) Nowhere in early American literature is it more apparent that Jane Austen had an influence than

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910–1911.

(C) in its return of 1910–1911(E) its return in 1910–1911
A new study finds that the more hostility people show in their behavior and attitudes, then calcium deposits are more likely to be in the arteries of their hearts.

(C) the more there are likely to be calcium deposits
(D) the more likely they are to have calcium deposits

紅色部分,是比較用法省補問題的親兄弟(清晰歧義)。
藍色部分,是虛詞使用與否的親兄弟(冗長精簡)。

什麼是Critical Reasoning親兄弟?

找出同樣行文邏輯與正確答案回應方向的親兄弟。

 
As part of major renovations to Flowertown’s Main Street train station, consultants to the train company proposed moving the station’s entrance from its current valuable Main Street location to a low-rent adjoining side street and then leasing the high-rent entrance space to retail businesses. In that way, the train company could easily pay for those and all other proposed renovations without negative impact on its tight budget.
 
火車站打算把正門租給商場收租金,讓旅客從側門進出,來讓財政平衡。
 
Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support the consultants’ proposal?
 
(B) A reliable survey of Flowertown’s commuters showed that virtually none of them would use the train any less frequently if the station’s entrance were moved.
 
把正門租給別人(副業賺錢),但是乘客看到要走側門會不會就不來了?(你的本業會不會因此受害?)
 
NorthAir charges low fares for its economy-class seats, but it provides very cramped seating and few amenities. Market research shows that economy passengers would willingly pay more for wider seating and better service, and additional revenue provided by these higher ticket prices would more than cover the additional cost of providing these amenities. Even though NorthAir is searching for ways to improve its profitability, it has decided not to make these improvements.
 
經濟艙乘客體驗很爛。經濟艙乘客們其實願意多加點錢換好點的體驗。雖然提升體驗可以滿足經濟艙乘客,從他們手上多拿點錢,但是公司還是不願意這麼做。
 
Which of the following, if true, would most help to explain NorthAir’s decision in light of its objectives?
 
(E) The number of people who would be willing to pay the high fares NorthAir charges for its business-class seats would decrease if its economy-class seating were more acceptable.
 
經濟艙變好的話,就沒人要坐商務艙了。(標準的顧此失彼)
 

找出同樣邏輯錯誤的「混淆選項」親兄弟。

 
Installing scrubbers in smokestacks and switching to cleaner-burning fuel are the two methods available to Northern Power for reducing harmful emissions from its plants. Scrubbers will reduce harmful emissions more than cleaner-burning fuels will. Therefore, by installing scrubbers, Northern Power will be doing the most that can be done to reduce harmful emissions from its plants.
 
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
 
(C) Northern Power is not necessarily committed to reducing harmful emissions from its plants.
 
混淆選項:從論證目的是否達到,變成論證目的是否有必要。
 
Increased use of incineration is sometimes advocated as a safe way to dispose of chemical waste. But opponents of incineration point to the 40 incidents involving unexpected releases of dangerous chemical agents that were reported just last year at two existing incinerators commissioned to destroy a quantity of chemical waste material. Since designs for proposed new incinerators include no additional means of preventing such releases, leaks will only become more prevalent if use of incineration increases.
 
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
 
(C)  The capacity of existing incinerators is sufficient to allow for increased incineration of chemical waste without any need for new incinerators.
 
混淆選項:從論證目的是否達到,變成論證方法是否有必要。
 
 

什麼是Reading Comprehension親兄弟?

找出相同文章架構語氣的親兄弟。

Eco efficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations.(大眾觀點) Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting eco efficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard; indeed, most companies invest in eco efficiency improvements in order to increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from eco efficiency will come in similarly eco efficient ways, since in today`s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more eco efficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less eco efficient economy.(批評) Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on eco efficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models. (建議)
 
 
Many United States companies believe that the rising cost of employees’ health care benefits has hurt the country’s competitive position in the global market by raising production costs and thus increasing the prices of exported and domestically sold goods. As a result, these companies have shifted health care costs to employees in the form of wage deductions or high deductibles.(大眾觀點) This strategy, however, has actually hindered companies’ competitiveness. For example, cost shifting threatens employees’ health because many do not seek preventive screening. Also, labor relations have been damaged: the percentage of strikes in which health benefits were a major issue rose from 18 percent in 1986 to 78 percent in 1989.(批評)
 
Health care costs can be managed more effectively if companies intervene in the supply side of health care delivery just as they do with other key suppliers: strategies used to procure components necessary for production would work in procuring health care. For example, the make/buy decision–the decision whether to produce or purchase parts used in making a product–can be applied to health care. At one company, for example, employees receive health care at an on-site clinic maintained by the company. The clinic fosters morale, resulting in a low rate of employees leaving the company. Additionally, the company has constrained the growth of health care costs while expanding medical services.(建議)
 

找出干擾選項相同陷阱設計的親兄弟。

Some observers have attributed the dramatic growth in temporary employment that occurred in the United States during the 1980s to increased participation in the workforce by certain groups, such as first-time or reentering workers, who supposedly prefer such arrangements. However, statistical analyses reveal that demographic changes in the workforce did not correlate with variations in the total number of temporary workers. Instead, these analyses suggest that factors affecting employers account for the rise in temporary employment. One factor is product demand: temporary employment is favored by employers who are adapting to fluctuating demand for products while at the same time seeking to reduce overall labor costs. Another factor is labor`s reduced bargaining strength, which allows employers more control over the terms of employment. Given the analyses, which reveal that growth in temporary employment now far exceeds the level explainable by recent workforce entry rates of groups said to prefer temporary jobs, firms should be discouraged from creating excessive numbers of temporary positions. Government policymakers should consider mandating benefit coverage for temporary employees, promoting pay equity between temporary and permanent workers, assisting labor unions in organizing temporary workers, and encouraging firms to assign temporary jobs primarily to employees who explicitly indicate that preference.
 
According to the passage, which of the following is true of the “factors affecting employers” that are mentioned in the passage?
 
(E) Most experts cite them as having initiated the growth in temporary employment that occurred during the 1980s.
 
此題E選項故意用全面性的用字搞「範圍擴張」的過度推論。
 

Jon Clark`s study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone exchange on exchange maintenance work and workers is a solid contribution to a debate that encompasses two lively issues in the history and sociology of technology: technological determinism and social constructivism.

Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization. Clark believes this possibility has been obscured by the recent sociological fashion, exemplified by Braverman`s analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery reflects social choices. For Braverman, the shape of a technological system is subordinate to the manager`s desire to wrest control of the labor process from the workers. Technological change is construed as the outcome of negotiations among interested parties who seek to incorporate their own interests into the design and configuration of the machinery. This position represents the new mainstream called social constructivism.

The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization.

Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists by both theoretical and empirical arguments. Theoretically he defines “technology” in terms of relationships between social and technical variables. Attempts to reduce the meaning of technology to cold, hard metal are bound to fail, for machinery is just scrap unless it is organized functionally and supported by appropriate systems of operation and maintenance. At the empirical level Clark shows how a change at the telephone exchange from maintenance-intensive electromechanical switches to semielectronic switching systems altered work tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration, and organization of workers. Some changes Clark attributes to the particular way management and labor unions negotiated the introduction of the technology, whereas others are seen as arising from the capabilities and nature of the technology itself. Thus Clark helps answer the question: “When is social choice decisive and when are the concrete characteristics of technology more important?”

 
The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in highlight text primarily in order to
 
(B) define the generally accepted position of determinists regarding the implementation of technology
 
此題B選項故意用全面性的用字搞「範圍擴張」的過度推論。
 
 

大海撈針,茫茫題海,我該往哪裡去找「親兄弟」?

過去的你,複習講義跟做題檢討是分開的。但是講義的順序跟考試遇到題目的順序不可能一樣,結果就會變成講義聽懂了,做題不知道要用哪個觀念。而做題目不回去翻講義對照親兄弟,反而去看網路上牛鬼蛇神的解釋,會導致你心中的觀念變成多頭馬車,各自衝突而無所適從,變得跟打套雜家亂拳一樣。
 
講義就是你最好的工具!講義是經由授課者先行分類思維,並且挑出具代表性的例題。透過翻找講義比對例題跟你眼前這一題是否相像,你就是在大量動用與鍛鍊自己的聯想與邏輯思考能力。
 
 

一旦做了,就請堅持。

在通往高分的路上,路邊的風景會醜到你想罵髒話。這個方法知易行難,初始時間成本大,需要的時間甚至會比你以前更多,大量的比對、思考與聯想會比你以前大量刷題更累。但是事實上我們只是把時間的分配改變。以前你追求的是70%刷題,20%寫筆記,10%思考。現在變成70%思考比對(找親兄弟),20%寫題目,10%筆記。
 
只要你能夠堅持下去,各種零散的觀念與題目最終能串成一張網。讓你在考試時看到任何新題都不再陌生,因為你腦中浮現的不是一條條規則,而是它似曾相識的官方練習題親兄弟。
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About Dustin

最不專業的GMAT教學分享平台。
最討厭商學院卻考了GMAT。
GMAT考生打造的輔助學習網站。
(那個,拜託,不要叫我老師或顧問。)

– 一戰自修760 AWA 5.5
– A2GMAT團隊共同開發者&Verbal教學者(2012 -)
– 要速成請找補習班,要紮實可以進來逛逛。
2019-11-05T21:58:30+08:00