SC出題者的五個困難化設計策略（一）結構複雜化

danyuchn

最近開始重新總結所有的官方題目。慢慢發現站在「出題者」的角度而不是「做題者的角度」思考：究竟GMAC是怎麼出題的？這樣子對SC實戰的做題可以更清晰。因此，這邊打算分幾個帖子慢慢打一些東西分享我的想法，望各位版友指教。

個人以為，在實戰中大家對SC的「驚呼」，不外乎以下兩者：

「怎麼跟平常做的OG/PP題目長得很不一樣？抓不到考點啊！」
「我覺得沒有不一樣，也覺得我解起來挺順利的，但ESR出來SC的percentile怎麼這麼低？！」

經由兩三年內慢慢地跟一些台灣的GMAT戰友聊過之後，大概可以歸結成以下五個方向。這些方向無關乎大家過去所研究的考點跟知識點，而是「設計題目的模式」。

1. 結構複雜化
2. 慣用語陷阱
3. 生難字阻礙
4. 隱藏資訊
5. 層級陷阱

其中，前三個是會讓應考者覺得「怎麼跟平常做的OG/PP題目長得很不一樣？抓不到考點啊！」的設計手法。後兩個則是「我覺得沒有不一樣，也覺得我解起來挺順利的，但ESR出來SC的percentile怎麼這麼低？！」的陷阱。

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今天想要來講的是「結構複雜化」的一些想法。

眾所周知，在OG/PP，大部分的人所熟悉的題目類型是像是這樣的：
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Many house builders offer rent-to-buy programs that enable a family with insufficient savings for a conventional downpayment to be able to move into new housing and to apply part of the rent to a purchase later.


(A)  programs that enable a family with insufficient savings for a conventional down payment to be able to move into new housing and to apply
(B)  programs, which enables a family with insufficient savings for a conventional down payment to move into new housing, applying
(C)  programs that enable a family with insufficient savings for a conventional down payment to move into new housing and to apply
(D)  programs, which enable a family with insufficient savings for a conventional down payment to be able to move into new housing, applying
(E)  programs; that enables a family with insufficient savings for a conventional down payment to move into new housing, to apply


這種我稱之為「部分改寫設計」，選項間相似程度高，可以輕易比對出有限的差異為何。也就是「整容」的程度。這種一般我們考試中不會有抓不到考點的問題。透過縱向去對照選項間的差異點（比如對照到enable/enables）可以很快地知道出題者的測驗意圖。

但是，在考試中往往題庫難度一提高，畫線部分會變長，出題者就會開始把選項給「毀容」：

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls forproducing electric power, he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power thestreetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

(A) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Fallsfor producing electric power, he
(B) The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor ofalternating current, and so he
(C) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor ofalternating current,
(D) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for theproduction of electric power and
(E) The inventor of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing of electricpower, Nikola Tesla


Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

(A) Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.
(B) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that worked well in the past, makes missing signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting ones likely when they do appear.
(C) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action is likely to miss or misinterpret signs of incipient trouble when they do appear, especially if it has worked well in the past.
(D) Executives’ being heavily committed to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes them likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting them when they do appear.
(E) Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.
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這種，我稱作「全面改寫設計」。我想這兩個例題出來，大家應該會蠻有感覺的：實戰遇到這種題目根本只能跟他硬幹、拼了、靠語感。是的，出題者就是故意要讓你看到這種結構複雜的句子心生煩躁，然後就自然會傾向靠「語感」、「唸起來順不順怪不怪」來解題，但是卻忽略掉文法跟語意邏輯等更優先、大方向的考點。

那麼現在來講講我認為的破解方法。

不同於前面剛剛講的「部分改寫」可以輕易靠抓到差異點來思考，全面改寫的題目因為改太大了，所以差異點很難抓。但是不管改得再怎麼面目全非，任何句子都還是會有兩層結構：「核心結構（去掉修飾語後，能讓句子構成最基本合理意思的S+V+(O)+(SC/OC)）」、「修飾語」。

因此，我的處理方式會是：

[ 先抓每個選項核心結構 ]

這時我只會思考兩件事情：

1. 核心結構的文法正確嗎？不正確當然直接刪掉（sentence fragment）。

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

(A) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he
(B) The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, and so he
(C) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,
(D) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for the production of electric power and
(E) The inventor of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing of electric power, Nikola Tesla

比如這裡光快速掃過抓核心結構，就能夠刪去A/B/D。


2. 核心結構的語意「合理」嗎？

這時要小心，除非像是「機器喝水」或者「人洩洪」這種很明顯莫名其妙的主謂搭配，大部分GMAT所考察的英文語意邏輯都是細微的，一定要靠比較其他選項才能感覺得出來。其實這是我們華人考生的原罪：漢語的句子表達邏輯要求精確度不高，是一個「你知道的」的語言，聽者要聰明，講者可以隱晦。但SC的表達要求是「講者要負起傳達的責任」，因此我們在單看一個選項時往往會站在「聰明聽者」的角度將其合理化。

比如我說「個性剛愎自用的希特勒促成了納粹德國的滅亡」。這是我們平常講話都覺得可以理解的句子。SC單出現這句時，你不會覺得有問題。但是如果跟另一個選項「希特勒剛愎自用的個性促成了納粹德國的滅亡」相比，你是不是就很清楚知道自己要判斷的是「人導致滅亡」還是「個性導致滅亡」哪個邏輯比較合理？

這就是我想表達的意思。所以在檢查核心結構的語意時請務必要跟另個選項做對照。必要時，還要去看其他子句跟修飾語的資訊，來決定核心語意強調什麼比較適合。比如：

(A) Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.
(B) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that worked well in the past, makes missing signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting ones likely when they do appear.
(C) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action is likely to miss or misinterpret signs of incipient trouble when they do appear, especially if it has worked well in the past.
(D) Executives’ being heavily committed to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes them likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting them when they do appear.
(E) Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

人是原因，還是事情是原因？這樣我們就能明確刪掉BC，而ADE的句子後半就回到「部分改寫」的設計模式，用比較差異點的方式即可解掉。


In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repair due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing on the walls.

(C) because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within them to levels such that salt from thestone would crystallize  
(E) because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone wascrystallizing
                                
這裡大家可以思考強調重心的不同，誰更適合當前方「the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repair」的原因？

＊注意：你抓核心語意的時候，先只考慮文法正不正確跟語意合不合理，你一定會抓到像是歧義、改變語意跟冗長精簡等考點，這些一定要先放在心裡，這些都是相對考點（正確選項有時可以容忍的錯誤），等等回來再算總帳。


然後如果核心結構都合理，第二層我們才是：

[ 檢查修飾語 ]

在你前面抓取骨幹的時候，應該也大概對句子裡修飾語的位置改變/用法差異有些印象。這時比較起來會更快。比如剛剛剩下的：

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

(C) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,
(E) The inventor of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing of electric power, Nikola Tesla

可以很明顯地看到只剩這個差異點。E選項相對於C選項存在著跳躍修飾才能修到inventor、夾心（雙向修飾）前後等歧義。因此答案選C。

注意：如果有一個以上的考點時，仍然應該先處理文法跟語意合理的問題。關於「歧義」「改變原意」「寫法精簡冗長」都要先放著。
注意：這裡檢查修飾語語意還是要用比較原則。比較使用結構的差異、比較位置的差異、比較兩邊語意成分的差異。

[ 相對考點算總帳 ]


最後，當你把核心結構（裸體）跟修飾語（衣服）都檢查完是否有文法錯誤跟語意不合理（絕對考點）後。剩下就可以來處理剛剛擱置的相對考點了。處理的時候按照：清晰（無歧異）>忠實（無改變原意）>精簡（偏好表達）的層級來判斷。（這個層級我會在後面的第五篇分享詳述）。

大概就是這樣。以上雖然寫得非常長，但其實就只是講解一個處理流程，兩個核心思想：

一個處理流程：
先看裸體，再看穿衣。

兩個核心思想：
堅決團結擁護文法、合理，其他後面再來清算鬥爭。
看語意靠選項間的比較，不要單吃一個選項。

習慣後，處理這種題目可以壓在一分鐘內。或許你會說，像外國人一樣一個句子一個句子看用感覺的不是更快？那前提是你要有外國人的「英語腦」（這裡如果有ABC或者從小在英美受教育的，可以忽略這一篇，這篇是給英文非母語人士的策略。你們單一選項讀會更好）。人家的英語邏輯是根深蒂固的，他可能講得出不合理，但講不出原因（就像寫OG解釋的人一樣...）。你考試時要靠不穩的語感？還是靠標準穩定的解題流程？

最後，再提示一件有趣的事：如果大家把OG裡面的這種「全面改寫題」抓出來檢查，會發現大部分的題目出題者都有在玩「趁亂偷換核心語意」這一招。

大概是這樣。下一次，想要來討論的是「生難字障礙」跟「罕見慣用語陷阱」的出題策略與破解模式。此篇文章還有很多疏漏不足，希望大家多多給我建議，我會認真補正。

Dustin

clch

看了樓主的youtube 教學，獲益良多。感謝分享

haowunai

强烈推荐 ！！！！
认真看完 会有种很通透的感觉  和看Ron大神的讲解差不多哦~~
很实用   感谢DUSTIN大神！  
求速度更新~~~

liebemich

谢谢

MisterD

看了下帖子 感觉受益颇多 总是喜欢最后靠语感来做题目 这个不好
用这个方法可以更快找到decision point

SONGER

感谢dustin!!!

萝卜-jessie

哇塞！茅塞顿开的感觉！之前做到这种整容题真的是慌了手脚瞎比较，没有章法，对完答案之后才发现自己选的答案的错误真的是简单到令人无语。太棒了

台历

感谢dustin大神~~受益匪浅

JacquelineZhao

感谢分享！