113/126/127/161
113. The following is a recommendation from the personnel director to the president of Acme Publishing Company.
"Many other companies have recently stated that having their employees take the Easy Read Speed-Reading Course has greatly improved productivity. One graduate of the course was able to read a 500-page report in only two hours; another graduate rose from an assistant manager to vice president of the company in under a year. Obviously, the faster you can read, the more information you can absorb in a single workday. Moreover, Easy Read would cost Acme only $500 per employee-a small price to pay when you consider the benefits. Included in this fee is a three-week seminar in Spruce City and a lifelong subscription to the Easy Read newsletter. Clearly, Acme would benefit greatly by requiring all of our employees to take the Easy Read course."
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
翻译：很多其他公司最近指出他们的员工参加了Easy Read的速读课程之后生产效率显著提高。这个课程的一名毕业生能够在两个小时之内读完长达500页的报告，另一名毕业生在一年内从助理经理上升到了副总裁。显然，你的阅读速度越快，在一天之内所能吸收的信息就越多。而且，Easy Read的学费只有每人500元，当考虑到它给A公司带来的效益的时候这就是个小数目。这个费用包括在S市举行的为期三周的研讨会和Easy Read新闻刊物的终生赠阅。显然，为了提高A公司的整体生产效率，它要求所有员工参加Easy Read的课程。
点评：这道ARGU题跟上面的ISSUE4是一组考试搭配，而此题属于高频top5的题目，所以相对来说这道ARGU还是挺人性化的。下面是简单的解析：
1> 升职的那个毕业生可能本身就很优秀，即使没有参加这个所谓的速读课程肯定也会有很好的表现，而且即使这个课程真的有那么些须的作用的话，那么仅仅提到两个人的情况是不足以令人信服的，而且另一个例子也有问题，虽然读的快，可是他能记住多少内容，吸收多少精华?
2> 可能学费仅仅500块，但是还有别的费用，像什么阅读资料费，辅导费，或者要求你买什么教材的，再加上公司的人数众多，会是不小的开销，给公司造成巨大的财务负担。
3> 给的所谓的资料可能不过是广告性质的宣传资料，真正有作用的才不会免费的给我们，让你们感觉不贵，而且有兴趣去听听才是研讨会的目的所在。
152/153 bm171
152. The following appeared in a memo to the board of directors of Bargain Brand Cereals.
"One year ago we introduced our first product, Bargain Brand breakfast cereal. Our very low prices quickly drew many customers away from the top-selling cereal companies. Although the companies producing the top brands have since tried t o compete with us by lowering their prices and although several plan to introduce their own budget brands, not once have we needed to raise our prices to continue making a profit. Given our success in selling cereal, we recommend that Bargain Brand now expand its business and begin marketing other low-priced food products as quickly as possible."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation. 翻译：一年以前我们推出了第一种产品Bargain Brand早餐麦片。我们低廉的价格迅速从一些销量最大的麦片厂商那里吸引了大量客户。尽管这些厂商曾经试图通过降低价格来与我们竞争，并且尽管有一些公司打算推出他们自己的廉价品牌，但我们从未需要通过涨价来持续盈利。基于我们销售麦片的成，Bargain Brand应该扩展业务，并且尽快开始推出其他的廉价食品。
点评：ARGU中top10的高频题，难度也一般，下面是解析：
1> 前提是否成功---是否在赢利。没有资料证明在赢利。
2> 低价低利润率，而且知名品牌都降价了，如果你提价就会失去顾客。用一个需要证明的，而且可能不存在的原因，解释一个现象。而且这个现象的真实情况有可能会削弱结论。
3> 论据：顾客选择BB，最主要的可能不是因为低价，而是其他因素。不然别人降价，顾客早回去了。
4> 结论：一个产品因为低价成功，不保证其他市场低价也能成功。尽快拓展业务，还要考虑大的经济环境，和顾客的状况。
3. 作文总结
总的来说，这次的作文考题整体还算平稳，考试组合基本就是ISSUE 4 + ARGU 113的组合或者ISSUE 82 + ARGU 152这两组。考虑到第一组的ISSUE 4偏冷门且难度不低而第二组都是高频，其中ISSUE的82题甚至上周刚考过，因此可以说选到第二组的同学人品还是不错的。话说回来，我最后加句，只要标准化机考中有差异化的题目，那么运气问题还是或多或少存在的。