GRE作文范文 Argument-10

　　"A recent study shows that people living on the continent of North America suffer 9 times more chronic fatigue and 31 times more chronic depression than do people living on the continent of Asia. Interestingly, Asians, on average, eat 20 grams of soy per day, whereas North Americans eat virtually none. It turns out that soy contains phytochemicals called isoflavones, which have been found to possess disease-preventing properties. Thus, North Americans should consider eating soy on a regular basis as a way of preventing fatigue and depression."

　　嘉文博譯Sample Essay

　　In this argument, the arguer cites a study showing that North Americans suffer from an amazingly higher rate of chronic fatigue and chronic depression than people living in Asia. From an unknown source, the arguer states that Asians eat much more soy than North Americans, who eat almost none, and that soy contains disease-preventing properties. The arguer then concludes his or her argument by stating that North Americans should consider regularly eating soy as a means of battling fatigue and depression. This argument suffers from at least four critical fallacies.

　　For the sake of this argument, we will assume that the studies and the statistics about North Americans' and Asians' soy eating habits are correct, and that isoflavones have been found to have disease-fighting properties. Given that, there is still a problem with the arguer directly correlating the eating of soy with the prevention of disease and depression. First of all, simply because soy may have disease-preventing properties, that does not mean that it can therefore fight chronic fatigue and chronic depression. Fatigue and depression may not actually even be considered as "diseases", therefore even given the fact that soy has disease-fighting properties, it would have no effect on the "nondiseases" of fatigue and depression. Secondly, even assuming that fatigue and depression are diseases, they are not specifically mentioned as diseases that soy or isoflavones are able to prevent. Perhaps soy can help prevent osteoporosis (bone loss), mumps or even chicken pox, but that does not mean that it can specifically address the problems of chronic fatigue and chronic depression. These two critical weaknesses alone make the argument unconvincing.

　　Furthermore, the arguer's conclusion is based on the idea that diet alone can prevent fatigue and depression by comparing the diets of North Americans and Asians. It is highly unlikely that diet alone is responsible for the tremendous difference in the rates of fatigue and depression between the two populations. Other factors such as lifestyles, occupations, residence in city or rural areas and levels of stress may play a much bigger factor than diet. Additionally, the arguer states that soy contains phytochemicals called isoflavones, which supposedly have disease-preventing properties. What is not stated, however, is whether these isoflavones are contained in a form in soy that is usable by the human body. It is possible that the particular configuration of the phytochemicals found in soy products is not usable by the human body, thereby producing no beneficial effects by people eating more soy products. In and of themselves, isoflavones may prevent certain diseases, but perhaps those found in soy are of no benefit to humans. By failing to address these possibilities, the arguer has presented an unconvincing argument.

　　In summary, the argument fails due to four major flaws in logic. First, "disease-preventing" properties does not mean "fatigue and depression" preventing properties. Secondly, fatigue and depression may not even be considered as diseases. Thirdly, the arguer ignores the probability that diet alone is not the sole reason behind the increased rates of fatigue and depression for North Americans as opposed to Asians. Finally, isoflavones as found in soy may not produce the same beneficial effects as when it is found in other forms. To strengthen the argument and conclusion, the arguer should present evidence that directly links diet to fatigue and depression as well as evidence that shows that soy can specifically prevent chronic fatigue and chronic depression in North Americans.

　　(576 words)

　　參考譯文

　　一項(xiàng)最近的研究表明，居住在北美大陸上的人們要比居住在亞洲大陸上的人們患慢性疲倦和慢性憂郁癥的比例分別超出9倍和31倍。有意思的是，亞洲人平均每天只吃20克的大豆，而北美洲人卻幾乎一點(diǎn)都不吃。研究表明，大豆含有被稱為異黃酮的植物化學(xué)物，這些植物化學(xué)物經(jīng)科學(xué)家研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)擁有防病特性。因此，北美洲人應(yīng)該考慮經(jīng)常性地吃大豆，以此作為一種防止疲勞和壓抑的方法。

　　在本段論述中，論述者援引了一項(xiàng)研究來證明，北美洲人患慢性疲倦和慢性憂郁癥的比例要比居住在亞洲的人令人驚訝地高。從一項(xiàng)來源不明的資料中，作者陳述道，亞洲人所吃的大豆要遠(yuǎn)多于北美人，而北美人則幾乎一點(diǎn)都不吃，而大豆卻含有防病的特性。論述者在其論述的結(jié)束處陳述首，北美人應(yīng)考慮經(jīng)常性地吃些大豆，以此作為一種抗疲勞和抗憂郁的方法。本段論述至少犯下了四個關(guān)鍵性的邏輯謬誤。

　　為了論述的緣故，我們假定關(guān)于北美人和亞洲人吃大豆的習(xí)慣這方面的研究和數(shù)據(jù)是完全正確的，并且異黃酮確實(shí)被科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)具有防病功效。即使在承認(rèn)這些條件的情況下，論述者將食用大豆與防止疾病和抵抗憂郁直接聯(lián)系起來，這一做法本身仍存在著問題。首先，即使大豆有可能具備防病特性，但這并非意味著它因此就能抵抗慢性疲倦和慢性憂郁癥。疲倦和憂郁實(shí)際上甚至還不可能被視作"疾病"，因此，盡管大豆具有防病作用屬實(shí)，但它對于疲倦和憂郁這些"非疾病"可能毫無作用。其次，即使我們假定疲倦和憂郁可被視為疾病，但它們沒有被具體提到是屬于大豆或異黃酮所能預(yù)防的那類病癥。或許，大豆可以預(yù)防骨質(zhì)疏松癥，流行性腮腺炎或甚至是水痘，但這并非意味著它能具體地治療慢性疲倦和慢性憂郁癥這樣一些問題。這二個關(guān)鍵性的弱點(diǎn)本身就足以使得該論述缺乏可信度。

　　進(jìn)而言之，論述者的結(jié)論所依據(jù)的是這樣一個理念，即通過比較北美人和亞洲人的飲食，飲食本身可以來防止疲倦和憂郁。但很難想象飲食本身造成了兩類人口之間患上疲倦和憂郁癥比例方面的巨大差異。其他諸多因素，如生活方式，職業(yè)，居住在都市還是鄉(xiāng)村，以及壓力程度所產(chǎn)生的影響可能要比飲食大得多。此外，論述者陳述道，大豆含有一種可被稱為異黃酮的植物化學(xué)物，據(jù)稱具有防病功效。但論述者沒有作出陳述，即這些異黃酮是否是以一種被人體使用的方式被包含在大豆中。有可能是，大豆產(chǎn)品中所發(fā)現(xiàn)的植物化學(xué)物，其特定的結(jié)構(gòu)并不能為人體所利用，從而對食用較多大豆產(chǎn)品的人并不能產(chǎn)生任何益處。就其本身而言，異黃酮或許可能預(yù)防某些疾病，但大豆中所發(fā)現(xiàn)的異黃酮對人類毫無益處，這也是有可能的。由于沒有探究這些可能性，論述者所擺出的這段論述便失去了說服力。

　　總的說來，本段論述因?yàn)樗拇筮壿嬋毕荻y以站得住腳。首先，"防病"特性并不能等同于"疲倦和憂郁癥"預(yù)防特性。其次，疲倦和憂郁甚至還不能被視為疾病。第三，論述者忽視了這樣一種可能性，即飲食本身并不是造成北美人相對于亞洲人疲倦與憂郁癥比例上升的唯一原因。最后，大豆中所被發(fā)現(xiàn)的異黃酮可能并不能產(chǎn)生與在其他形式中所發(fā)現(xiàn)的異黃酮相同的益處。若要增強(qiáng)其論點(diǎn)和結(jié)論的力度，論述者應(yīng)該拿出證據(jù)，將飲食與疲倦及憂郁直接聯(lián)系起來，且提供證據(jù)來證明大豆能具體地防止北美人的慢性疲倦和慢性憂郁癥。