GRE出国考试写作指导:GRE出国考试作文分析

"Such nonmainstream areas of inquiry² as astrology, fortune-telling, and psychic³ and paranormal pursuits play a vital role in society by satisfying human needs that are not addressed by mainstream¹ science."
　　这个题目是讲主流和非主流的关系，提的方面是科学领域内。但是这个题目里面我自认为的一个问题是，speaker把astrology，fortune-telling，psychic，和paranormal pursuits也归结为科学的范畴内了，但这些都是我们通常成为的伪科学(pseudoscience)的几个典型方面。
　　这个题目，目前我没有想到什么好的方面来支持这个speaker的正确性。希望有持支持观点的朋友来说说你自己的看法伪科学的相关释义附在点评最后处
　　This statement actually consists of two claims: (1) that non-mainstream areas of inquiry are vital in satisfying human needs, and (2) that these areas are therefore vital to society. I concede that astrology, fortune- telling, and psychic and paranormal pursuits respond to certain basic human needs.
　　干净利索的分析了题目，但是个人认为还不是分析的很透彻。
　　However, in my view the potential harm they can inflict⁴ on their participants and on society far outweighs⁵ their psychological benefits.
　　自己观点出来了，反对。是一个让步的关系，先承认了是有此方面的作用，用了however来了个转折给从更大的方面给否了。
　　Admittedly, these non-mainstream areas of inquiry address certain human needs, which mainstream science and other areas of intellectual inquiry inherently cannot.
　　开始驳斥了，首先肯定了其之作用。
　　One such need involves our common experience as humans that we freely make our own choices and decisions in life and therefore carry some responsibility for their consequences. Faced with infinite choices, we experience uncertainty⁶, insecurity, and confusion; and we feel remorse⁷, regret, and guilt⁸ when in retrospect⁹ our choices turn out be poor ones. Understandably, to prevent these bad feelings many people try to shift the burden of making difficult choices and decisions to some nebulous authority outside themselves——by relying on the stars or on a stack of tarot cards for guidance.
　　具体分析了这些种“学科”产生的具体原因。
　　Two other such needs have to do with our awareness¹⁰ that we are mortal. This awareness brings a certain measure of pain that most people try to relieve by searching for evidence of an afterlife. Absent empirical proof that life extends beyond the grave, many people attempt to contact or otherwise connect with the so-called "other side" through paranormal and psychic pursuits. Another natural response to the prospect¹¹ of being separated from our loved ones by death is to search for a deeper connection with others here on Earth and elsewhere, in the present as well as the past. This response manifests itself in people's enduring fascination¹² with the paranormal search for extraterrestrial life, with so- called "past life" regression and "channeling," and the like.
　　这个部分的逻辑关系简洁明了，写的很利索。写出了这些“science”存在和产生的理由。阐述的也可以说是比较的exclusive——这个单词大家不要忽略，等我们开始分析ETS范文的时候你就会发现在满分范文的评语中这个单词会多次出现的。这个是对testee的逻辑思维的一个考量的方面。
　　While the sorts of pursuits which the speaker lists might be "vital" insofar as they help some people feel better about themselves and about their choices and circumstances, query¹³ whether these pursuits are otherwise useful to any individual or society.
　　开始了自己的质疑。
　　In the first place，用一个非常普通的用于连接的词语开始了自己的列举because these pursuits are not rooted in reason, they are favorite pastimes of charlatans—经典，非常好的否定，hit home。and others who seek to prey¹⁴ on dupes—好，一个单词就直截了当的表明自己的想法driven by the aforementioned psychological needs. And the dupes have no recourse. After all, it is impossible to assess the credibility of a tarot card that tells us how to proceed in life simply because we cannot know where the paths not taken would have led. Similarly, we cannot evaluate claims about the afterlife because these claims inherently defy empirical ?这个形容词是经常用来解释pseuoscience的用词，我后面会给大家附一个伪科学的解释大家可以多次找到这个empirical这个词——proof——or disproof.