Argument 题号：新GRE 2 题目：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.
写作要求：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.
In this letter the author contends with certainly dubious clues drawn from a recent study that the effects of birth order could be used upon human as well as monkeys. This study is about eighteen rhesus monkeys, which claims in stimulating situations, firstborn infant monkeys produce twice as much of the hormone cortisol as do their younger siblings and that firstborn humans also produce relatively high levels of cortisol in stimulating situations. What’s more, it provides with fact lacking considerations that the study also found that during pregnancy, first-time mother monkeys had higher levels of cortisol than did those who had had several offspring. The three claims above deserve a close scrutiny, which no doubt leads to a more scientific analysis. First in the place, the fact that firstborn infant monkeys produce twice as much of the hormone cortisol as do their younger siblings cannot prove that the amount of hormone cortisol is related with the order of birth. It’s totally possible that only the firstborn monkey produce that much hormone, whereas the siblings produce same amount of hormone. In this case, it merely indicate that the firstborn is different from others, instead of proving every single one is different from each other. Moreover, the study showing first-mother monkeys had higher levels of cortisol than did those who had had several offspring during pregnancy could prove nothing, owing to the lack of controlling variables such as the same mother. After all, the monkeys may vary among themselves because of different features, which causes the possibility that either one first-born mother might have lower levels of cortisol than another first-born mother, or one mother who had had several offspring could have higher levels of cortisol than other mothers who had had the same number of offspring as her. From the assumptions above, one can not determine unequivocally that the fact that one first-born mother has higher levels of cortisol than do those who have had several offspring could explain every possible situation. Thirdly, even assuming all individual monkeys could be distinct in producing hormone, it’s still false to deduce that the same situation exists in humans for firstborn humans are certain to produce relatively high levels of cortisol in stimulating situations. For instance, there could be no difference in humans, so the effect may well be studied by a series of following researches in depth, otherwise the effect of the order of birth is not likely to be proved given that a variable of species concerning the ability of producing hormone is already present, let alone the different situations mentioned in the brackets where a clear difference between humans and monkeys exists. In retrospect, the author seems precipitous to draw a conclusion from a roughly designed study, which could hardly convince anyone. The author should reflect about the explanations presented above, and draw a conclusion after thinking twice about all possible situations in order to be more scientific as well as acceptable before applied to theories about humans.
496words作者: 普渡哥 时间: 2011-9-22 23:33
我觉得这篇argument好难写。。。作者: donadong 时间: 2011-9-23 00:37
mu outline: 1\eighteen is not sufficient to give a statistically meaningful result. 2\the experimental results are only explained by physiological reasons , but fail to take into consideration psychological factors. The increased hormone excretion may be explained that the firstborn monkey or human react to strangers more actively because they know they are older than siblings, thus they are expected to be more responsible in face of incidents. 3\the hormone produced in the body of the first-mother monkeys is likely to accumulate. The accumulation does not necessitate more excretion in the pregnancy of next generations.作者: 大剑Jade 时间: 2011-9-23 01:09
感觉第一个不是很必要，毕竟这个A错误很多，而且关键是我们要从猴子和人的关系的角度去考察文章，所以一定要靠上，所以数量问题显得比较次要。这篇的难点在于要从猴子上推理到人上面，不好掌握写猴子和人的比例，所以很容易跑题作者: donadong 时间: 2011-9-23 10:21
恩，第一个我要写也只是简单提一下，因为这个是调查类问题很明显的点。 你说的对，这篇文章重点问题是猴子--人的逻辑关系。我木意识到这点，thx~作者: 普渡哥 时间: 2011-9-23 10:31
这篇不好写。是很容易跑题。希望我考的时候别碰到这样的