纵观美国的各项入学考试，从SAT到GRE和GMAT，我们能够很清晰的看到作文考题的设计思路。从中学开始的教材和作文考试就重在培养学生的思辨能力，而逻辑思维能力是必不可少的考察内容，甚至可以说是最重要的部分——GRE和GMAT的考题充分体现了这一点。西方的逻辑方式从最基本来分可分为演绎逻辑(deductive reasoning)，归纳逻辑(inductive reasoning)，非形式推理(informal reasoning/logic)，其中argument的重点在于考查学生的非形式推理的能力。
其实各种GMAT写作指导书的理论部分不外就是把逻辑基础教材的informal reasoning部分修饰一番搬过来，主要就是讲解informal reasoning常见的错误，根据不同的书的篇幅和详细程度，一般有7-13种，因字数原因，在此不一一详述。因此考生第一步需要熟悉常见的非形式推理错误，因为考题基本上都是根据这些错误设计的。有些题看上去甚至有点傻，不大会出现在现实生活中，因为是特意为考试编写出来的。另外，由于需要适应考试环境的缘故，考题会稍显程式化，形式上比较接近三段式(syllogism)，反而方便了考生寻找premises和conclusion。比如下面一道例题：
The following appeared in a memorandum issued by the human-resources department of Capital Bank:
"Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all times while at work.Last month, Capital’s employee absenteeism and attrition rates both reached all-time highs.In order to reverse these trends, Capital should adopt a company-wide "casual Friday" policy, under which all employees would be permitted, and even encouraged, to dress casually for work every Friday.After all, most companies in the software industry allow their workers to dress casually for work anytime they want; and those workers often remark that this policy enhances their job satisfaction.Moreover, most software firms experience lower rates of employee absenteeism and attrition than companies in other industries, including banking."
Discuss how logically convincing you find this argument.In your discussion, you should analyze the argument's line of reasoning and use of evidence.It may be appropriate in your critique to call into question certain assumptions underlying the argument and/or to indicate what evidence might weaken or strengthen the argument.It may also be appropriate to discuss how you would alter the argument to make it more convincing and/or discuss what additional evidence, if any, would aid in evaluating the argument.
一般来说，一个argument里头至少有3个错误，有些时候甚至还有5-6个，而找出来这些问题，作文可以说完成了差不多一半了。由于时间限制，建议找最主要的问题写3个，如还有时间，可以继续写。
第一步，需要把相应的前提和结论找出来：
Conclusion：
Capital should adopt a company-wide "casual Friday" policy, under which all employees would be permitted, and even encouraged, to dress casually for work every Friday.
Premises：
1.Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all times while at work.Last month, Capital’s employee absenteeism and attrition rates both reached all-time highs.
2.most companies in the software industry allow their workers to dress casually for work anytime they want; and those workers often remark that this policy enhances their job satisfaction.
3.most software firms experience lower rates of employee absenteeism and attrition than companies in other industries, including banking."
注意，这里并非是三个并列的前提推出最后一个结论，前提中间仍然包含小的结论，因此画一个路线图就是：
Premise 1(premise) Capital bank requires suits ——> (conclusion) high rates
Premise 2 (premise)software companies casual wear ——> (conclusion)1.employee satisfaction and ——>2.low rates————> final conclusion Bank’s casual Friday policy
从上面的分析就可以看出来，每一个箭头代表着一个推理上的漏洞，画一个清晰的图表，有助于理清思路，更容易找到问题所在。这里由于篇幅的原因，就无法一一讲解语言组织等比较细的内容了。
最后，虽然这种试题考的是推理能力，但并不是像纯逻辑学那样只考虑思路是否正确，而是还有对生活常识的涉及，两者结合才能有效的查找题目中的逻辑漏洞。比如题库中的一题提到了public TV的收视率与政府拨款的问题，如果不理解与public TV共存的还有cable TV甚至私人频道，public TV有丰厚的广告收入，而且后两者是靠收费经营、广告甚少的话，就不可能找到public TV的收视率与政府拨款未必有关系这个问题。
虽然网上范文层出不穷，不过模仿范文有可能被判为抄袭，如果全文背诵范文还有可能被当做雷同卷判为零分，得不偿失。这里还是建议考生留足备考时间，把题库都过一遍，问题都找出来，加强练习，形成自己的模板，考出一个满意的成绩。毕竟考试只是学习的开始。