Part B
Directions: The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For questions 41–45, you are
required to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent text by choosing from the list A–G and
filling them into the numbered boxes. Paragraphs C and F have been correctly placed. Mark
your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
[A] These tools can help you win every argument — not in the unhelpful sense of beating
your opponents but in the better sense of learning about the issues that divide people, learning why
they disagree with us and learning to talk and work together with them. If we readjust our view of
arguments — from a verbal fight or tennis game to a reasoned exchange through which we all
gain mutual respect and understanding — then we change the very nature of what it means to
“win” an argument. [B] Of course, many discussions are not so successful. Still, we need to be careful not to
accuse opponents of bad arguments too quickly. We need to learn how to evaluate them properly.
A large part of evaluation is calling out bad arguments, but we also need to admit good arguments
by opponents and to apply the same critical standards to ourselves. Humility requires you to
recognize weaknesses in your own arguments and sometimes also to accept reasons on the
opposite side.
[C] None of these will be easy, but you can start even if others refuse to. Next time you state
your position, formulate an argument for what you claim and honestly ask yourself whether your
argument is any good. Next time you talk with someone who takes a stand, ask them to give you a
reason for their view. Spell out their argument fully and charitably. Assess its strength impartially.
Raise objections and listen carefully to their replies.
[D] Carnegie would be right if arguments were fights, which is how we often think of them.
Like physical fights, verbal fights can leave both sides bloodied. Even when you win, you end up
no better off. Your prospects would be almost as dismal if arguments were even just competitions
— like, say, tennis games. Pairs of opponents hit the ball back and forth until one winner emerges
from all who entered. Everybody else loses. This kind of thinking is why so many people try to
avoid arguments, especially about politics and religion.
[E] In his 1936 work How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie wrote: “There
is only one way…to get the best of an argument — and that is to avoid it.” This aversion to
arguments is common, but it depends on a mistaken view of arguments that causes profound
problems for our personal and social lives — and in many ways misses the point of arguing in the
first place.
[F] These views of arguments also undermine reason. If you see a conversation as a fight or
competition, you can win by cheating as long as you don’t get caught. You will be happy to
convince people with bad arguments. You can call their views stupid, or joke about how ignorant
they are. None of these tricks will help you understand them, their positions or the issues that
divide you, but they can help you win — in one way.
[G] There is a better way to win arguments. Imagine that you favor increasing the minimum
wage in our state, and I do not. If you yell, “Yes,” and I yell, “No,” neither of us learns anything.
We neither understand nor respect each other, and we have no basis for compromise or
cooperation. In contrast, suppose you give a reasonable argument: that full-time workers should
not have to live in poverty. Then I counter with another reasonable argument: that a higher
minimum wage will force businesses to employ fewer people for less time. Now we can
understand each other’s positions and recognize our shared values, since we both care about needy
workers.
41. 【答案】 E
【解析】 本题为文章首段，需要快速浏览每个选项的开头。首段需要引入背景信息，
并且无指代，无逻辑关系。浏览各个选项，[A]中 these tools，有指代；[B]中 Of course,
many discussions are not so successful. Still, …,有递进含义，符合逻辑关系的特征。[D]无
指代，但是只出现 Carnegie，而[E]出现了完整的 Dale Carnegie，所以[D]不能为首段。
18[G]有比较级，不能做首段，故答案为[E]。故选[E]。
42. 【答案】 D
【解析】 根据已经选择的[E]，其中提及到 Carnegie 以及他书中的观点，要特别留意
出现该人名的段落，只有[D]出现了 Carnegie 这个人，细读之后了解到[D]论述作者对
此观点的评论，符合行文思路。故选[D]。
43. 【答案】 G
【解析】 根据已经给定位置的[F]，[F]句末出现了“None of these tricks will help you
understand them, their positions or the issues that divide you, but they can help you win — in
one way.”中有“help you win-in one way”，而[G]段首句“There is a better way to win
arguments.”的“a better way to win”是对“help you win-in one way”的递进，因此[G]
段在[F]段后面。故选[G]。
44. 【答案】 B
【解析】 本题可以通过已经给定的[C]定位。[C]的第一句话：“None of this...”，所以
前一段中最后一句要有并列列举形式。 而[B]最后一句有并列，符合。且[B]开头其实
对成功的小转折，正好接上[G]内容。故选[B]。
45. 【答案】 A
【解析】这是文章最后一段，同时可以根据给定的[C]段定位，[C]段最后讲到 Next
time you state your position…. Next time you talk with someone who…. Assess its strength….
Raise objections and listen…分别罗列了四种谈话手段，这与[A]段开头的 These tools can
help you win every argument 构成了呼应。故选[A]。