劉文勇GRE寫作Argument題庫 Day 2

Day 2 A recent study of eighteen rhesus monkeysprovides clues as to the effects of birth orderon an individual's levels of stimulation

The following appeared as part of a letter to the editor of a scientific journal.

“A recent study of eighteen rhesus monkeys provides clues as to the effects of birth order on an individual's levels of stimulation. The study showed that in stimulating situations (such as an encounter with an unfamiliar monkey), firstborn infant monkeys produce up to twice as much of the hormone cortisol, which primes the body for increased activity levels, as do their younger siblings. Firstborn humans also produce relatively high levels of cortisol in stimulating situations (such as the return of a parent after an absence). The study also found that during pregnancy, first-time mother monkeys had higher levels of cortisol than did those who had had several offspring.”

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.

五問：

（1）“A recent study of eighteen rhesus monkeys provides clues as to the effects of birth order on an individual's levels of stimulation”是結(jié)論，其余部分是事實(shí)，值得反駁嗎？

（2）這是一個(gè)典型的例題，請(qǐng)大家趁機(jī)回顧一下：一個(gè)好的實(shí)驗(yàn)，應(yīng)該交代哪些要素？例如：實(shí)驗(yàn)的對(duì)象是否具有普遍性；樣本的代表性如何（比如，猴子是否能夠代表所有的動(dòng)物）；樣本量是否夠大（一般來說， 18只猴子這個(gè)數(shù)目難以稱之為足夠）等。以上提及的這些要素都是想要加強(qiáng)原文中的論斷所必需的內(nèi)容。

（3）刺激的表現(xiàn)形式有很多種，文中是否涵蓋或者定義了所有的方面？難道刺激在任何動(dòng)物身上都表現(xiàn)為分泌激素嗎？更重要的是，在做實(shí)驗(yàn)的時(shí)候，是否應(yīng)該將刺激設(shè)定為統(tǒng)一的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和表現(xiàn)形式？

（但大家不必提出新的定義，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)題目與個(gè)人的背景知識(shí)無關(guān)。）

（4）請(qǐng)問什么叫作對(duì)照組？對(duì)照組在實(shí)驗(yàn)過程中的作用是什么？原文的論述是否包含了對(duì)照組？沒有。這樣會(huì)有什么缺陷？實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)果不夠科學(xué)合理。（比如，對(duì)比不同年齡猴子的不同激素水平，對(duì)比刺激前和刺激后的激素水平，能否得出統(tǒng)一的結(jié)論？如何證明皮質(zhì)醇水平的變化只與刺激有關(guān)？其他因素如猴子本身激素分泌量是否正常，其他壓力等條件變化也會(huì)影響皮質(zhì)醇水平。）

（5）前后兩個(gè)分論點(diǎn)之間的關(guān)系如何？懷孕和刺激性情景可以形成類比嗎？文中有證據(jù)證明兩者有相似之處嗎？母猴體內(nèi)皮質(zhì)醇水平跟小猴體內(nèi)皮質(zhì)醇水平有直接關(guān)系嗎？