Revised GRE Argument syllabus 全部提纲.docx

Argument syllabus
Argument 1
Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently,however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.
The following appeared as part of a letter to the editor of a scientific journal.
The cited fact that the Brim River is very deep and broad could never guarantee another assumption that it was so before. The assumed situation could also be analyzed from other perspectives, which include at least four possibilities. If the river was not broad or not deep or not broad and deep, plus not existing, then in these four possible scenarios the so-called Palean baskets might cross the river by many other means besides using boats. For example, a feasible approach would be that they could have swam to the opposite side of the Brim River. Therefore, the argument relies on the unfair assumption that the condition of the Brim River in ancient times was the same as that in the current times. Without ruling out these four possible scenarios, the author cannot confidently conclude that the Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.
 
Additionally, of course, the extreme possibility would be a circumstance in which this river was deep and broad in the prehistoric time; the author unfairly implies that Paleans could only have crossed the Brim River by boat. Though no Palean boats have been found, in fact, they could have c