对于即将到来的GMAT革新，中国考生自是欢喜远大于忧愁，虽然多了一项选择题，但纵横考场多年的我国考生自是不会视为畏途。但同时取消掉了作文中的issue一项，却是天上掉馅饼般的福利。我们的学生历来惧怕英语作文，不论是构思还是语言，如今面对只剩下要求相对放松的argument，自然是可以长舒口气。不过事物总是要看两面的，减轻了备考负担就意味着考生有更充足的精力专注在argument这一项上，更有可能在考场上出现高质量的作文，因此抱着可以放松准备的心态未必会有满意的结果，因此提醒注册新考试的学生要加倍认真才是。

纵观美国的各项入学考试，从SAT到GRE和GMAT，我们能够很清晰的看到作文考题的设计思路。从中学开始的教材和作文考试就重在培养学生的思辨能力，而逻辑思维能力是必不可少的考察内容，甚至可以说是最重要的部分——GRE和GMAT的考题充分体现了这一点。西方的逻辑方式从最基本来分可分为演绎逻辑(deductive reasoning)，归纳逻辑(inductive reasoning)，非形式推理(informal reasoning/logic)，其中argument的重点在于考查学生的非形式推理的能力。

其实各种GMAT写作指导书的理论部分不外就是把逻辑基础教材的informal reasoning部分修饰一番搬过来，主要就是讲解informal reasoning常见的错误，根据不同的书的篇幅和详细程度，一般有7-13种，因字数原因，在此不一一详述。因此考生第一步需要熟悉常见的非形式推理错误，因为考题基本上都是根据这些错误设计的。有些题看上去甚至有点傻，不大会出现在现实生活中，因为是特意为考试编写出来的。另外，由于需要适应考试环境的缘故，考题会稍显程式化，形式上比较接近三段式(syllogism)，反而方便了考生寻找premises和conclusion。比如下面一道例题：

The following appeared in a memorandum issued by the human-resources department of Capital Bank:

"Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all times while at work.Last month, Capital’s employee absenteeism and attrition rates both reached all-time highs.In order to reverse these trends, Capital should adopt a company-wide "casual Friday" policy, under which all employees would be permitted, and even encouraged, to dress casually for work every Friday.After all, most companies in the software industry allow their workers to dress casually for work anytime they want; and those workers often remark that this policy enhances their job satisfaction.Moreover, most software firms experience lower rates of employee absenteeism and attrition than companies in other industries, including banking."

Discuss how logically convincing you find this argument.In your discussion, you should analyze the argument's line of reasoning and use of evidence.It may be appropriate in your critique to call into question certain assumptions underlying the argument and/or to indicate what evidence might weaken or strengthen the argument.It may also be appropriate to discuss how you would alter the argument to make it more convincing and/or discuss what additional evidence, if any, would aid in evaluating the argument.

一般来说，一个argument里头至少有3个错误，有些时候甚至还有5-6个，而找出来这些问题，作文可以说完成了差不多一半了。由于时间限制，建议找最主要的问题写3个，如还有时间，可以继续写。

第一步，需要把相应的前提和结论找出来：

Conclusion：

Capital should adopt a company-wide "casual Friday" policy, under which all employees would be permitted, and even encouraged, to dress casually for work every Friday.

Premises：

1.Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all times while at work.Last month, Capital’s employee absenteeism and attrition rates both reached all-time highs.

companies in the software industry allow their workers to dress casually for work anytime they want; and those workers often remark that this policy enhances their job satisfaction.

software firms experience lower rates of employee absenteeism and attrition than companies in other industries, including banking."

注意，这里并非是三个并列的前提推出最后一个结论，前提中间仍然包含小的结论，因此画一个路线图就是：

Premise 1(premise) Capital bank requires suits ——> (conclusion) high rates

Premise 2 (premise)software companies casual wear ——> (conclusion)ee satisfaction and ——> rates————> final conclusion Bank’s casual Friday policy