例题讲解：
77. Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., the fact that the text of these Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right indicates that the Greeks adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries before these inscriptions were produced. After all, the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and presumably, along with the alphabet, they also adopted the then-current Phoenician practice with respect to the direction of text. And although Phoenician writing was originally inconsistent in direction, by the eighth century B.C. Phoenician was consistently written from right to left and had been for about two centuries.
In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?
首先梳理题目：
(1)有一些公元前8世纪的希腊碑文书写方向不统一，有的从右往左写，有的从左往后写(第一个黑体部分)
(2)希腊人的字母书写是从腓尼基人那里学来的，由此推测希腊人也采用了当时公认的腓尼基人的书写方向
(3)腓尼基人的书写的方向在起初是不确定的，但是到了公元前8世纪，腓尼基人的书写方向就始终是从右写到左了，并且到那个时候已经持续了大约2个世纪了。(第二个黑体部分)
结论：希腊人在这些碑文制作出来的至少两个世纪前就开始用字母书写了。
将题目中的前提和结论标出来让大家看得更加清楚些(前提 标志词 结论)：
Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., the fact that the text of these Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right indicates that the Greeks adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries before these inscriptions were produced. After all(毕竟), the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and presumably, along with the alphabet, they also adopted the then-current Phoenician practice with respect to the direction of text. And although Phoenician writing was originally inconsistent in direction, by the eighth century B.C. Phoenician was consistently written from right to left and had been for about two centuries.
这里引用中流击水版主以前对这题思路的解析：
如果希腊人的是在18世纪才采用腓尼基人的文字的话，那么希腊的那些个碑文的文字方向就不应该变来变去。因为从16世纪开始，腓尼基人的文字的方向就是固定了的。而发现的希腊的碑文的方向是不固定的，所以希腊人采用腓尼基人的文字比在16世纪之前开始的。
因此，两个黑体部分都是为题目结论提供支持的Evidence。因此可以直接选出D答案。
(A) The first and the second each describe evidence that has been used to challenge the position that the argument seeks to establish.
(B) The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
(C) The first is evidence that forms the basis for an objection to the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is a consideration that is introduced to counter the force of that evidence.
(D) The first and the second each provide evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish.
(E) The first provides evidence in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second is that position.
TN-16-Q11
Criminologist: Some legislators advocate mandating a sentence of life in prison for anyone who, having twice served sentences for serious crimes, is subsequently convicted of a third serious crime. These legislators argue that such a policy would reduce crime dramatically, since it would take people with a proven tendency to commit crimes off the streets permanently. What this reasoning overlooks, however, is that people old enough to have served two prison sentences for serious crimes rarely commit more than one subsequent crime. Filling our prisons with such individuals would have exactly the opposite of the desired effect, since it would limit our ability to incarcerate younger criminals, who commit a far greater proportion of serious crimes.
In the argument as a whole, the two boldfaced portions play which of the following roles?
先梳理题目：
(1)一些立法者觉得应该让那些两次犯重罪,随后又犯重罪的罪犯终身监禁，他们认为这样可以显著减少犯罪(第一个黑体部分)，因为这可以使那些有犯罪倾向的人永远远离街市。
(2)这个观点忽略了这样的情况：那些在监狱待了两期重判的家伙已经老得几乎不能再次犯罪，让这些人待在监狱里会削弱监狱收治年轻罪犯的能力，而年轻罪犯犯下重罪的比率要大得多了。
结论：让那些老得几乎无法犯罪的家伙充斥监狱可能会收到与立法者的期望恰得其反的效果(第二个黑体部分)。
这里我再标注一下(Statement 原因 结论 标志词)：
Criminologist: Some legislators advocate mandating a sentence of life in prison for anyone who, having twice served sentences for serious crimes, is subsequently convicted of a third serious crime. These legislators argue that such a policy would reduce crime dramatically, since it would take people with a proven tendency to commit crimes off the streets permanently. What this reasoning overlooks, however, is that people old enough to have served two prison sentences for serious crimes rarely commit more than one subsequent crime. Filling our prisons with such individuals would have exactly the opposite of the desired effect, since it would limit our ability to incarcerate younger criminals, who commit a far greater proportion of serious crimes.
因此，本题的结构是：立法者提出观点---立法者的结论----立法者的理由---作者对立法者的观点提出反对----作者的结论---作者的理由。因此我们很容易得出第一个黑体部分是立法者的结论，也就是这个argument要反对的结论;第二个黑体部分是这个argument的主要结论。将这个逻辑链条梳理出来之后，我们可以发现正确答案为B。
A. The first is a conclusion that the argument as a whole seeks to refute; the second is a claim that has been advanced in support of that conclusion.
B. The first is a conclusion that the argument as a whole seeks to refute; the second is the main conclusion of the argument.
C. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is an objection that has been raised against that conclusion.
D. The first is the main conclusion of the argument; the second is a prediction made on the basis of that conclusion.
E. The first is a generalization about the likely effect of a policy under consideration in the argument; the second points out a group of exceptional cases to which that generalization does not apply.
