GMAT考试写作指导：Argument范文八十

　　10. The conclusion in this argument is that the state legislature need not consider the

　　views of protesting students. To support this conclusion, the author points out that only

　　200 of the 12,000 students traveled to the state capitol to voice their concerns about

　　proposed cuts in college programs. Since the remaining students did not take part in this

　　protest, the author concludes they are not interested in this issue. The reasoning in this

　　argument is flawed for two reasons.

　　First, the author assumes that because only one-tenth of the students took part in

　　the protest, these students views are unrepresentative of the entire student body. This

　　assumption is unwarranted. If it turns out, for example, that the protesting students were

　　randomly selected from the entire student body, their views would reflect the views of

　　the entire college. Without information regarding the way in which the protesting

　　students were selected, it is presumptuous to conclude that their opinions fail to reflect

　　the opinions of their colleagues.

　　Second, the author cites the fact that the remaining 12,000 students stayed on

　　campus or left for winter break as evidence that they are not concerned about their

　　education. One obvious rejoinder to this line of reasoning is that the students who did

　　not participate did so when they that their concerns would be expressed by the

　　protesting students. In any case, the author has failed to demonstrate a logical

　　connection between the students alleged lack of concern and the fact that they either

　　stayed on campus or left for winter break. Without this connection, the conclusion

　　reached by the author that the remaining 12,000 students are not concerned about their

　　education is unacceptable.

　　As it stands, the argument is not well reasoned. To make it logically acceptable,

　　the author would have to demonstrate that the protesting students had some

　　characteristic in common that biases their views, thereby nullifying their protest as

　　representative of the entire college.