❶ GMAT考试对语言的要求有多高？

GMAT考试的核心能力是什么？一直以来培训界莫衷于是。GMAC(GMAT出题方)给出的明确说法是不以语言为考点，可明明很多题假如翻译成中文的话，我们的正确率会大大提高。说是不考商科背景知识吧，可为什么很多题目里面的经济学术语，复杂到即使是商科专业的学生都看得目瞪口呆？所以我遇到的初学者最爱问一个问题，就是：老师，要不要背单词？

举两个例子：

例[0.1]

手术C只能让75%的H病患者受益，结论：对于剩下那25%不受益的病人来说，大夫劝告他们接受如此昂贵手术的原因，一定是出于一己私利而不是治病救人。

 以下哪个选项可以质疑这个结论?

A 大夫对受益的和不受益的病人都会事先嘱咐手术的风险。

B 手术前是无法从医学角度区分受益与不受益病人的。

例[0.2]

• Yeasts capable of leavening bread are widespread, and in the many centuries during which the ancient Egyptians made only unleavened bread, such yeasts must frequently have been mixed into bread doughs accidentally. The Egyptians, however, did not discover leavened bread until about 3000 B.C. That discovery roughly coincided with the introduction of a wheat variety that was preferable to previous varieties because its edible kernel could be removed from the husk without first toasting the grain.

  Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest evidence that the two developments were causally related?
  A) Even after the ancient Egyptians discovered leavened bread and the techniques for reliably producing it were well known, unleavened bread continued to be widely consumed.
  B) Only when the Egyptians stopped the practice of toasting grain were their stone-lined grain-toasting pits available for baking bread.
  C) Heating a wheat kernel destroys its gluten, a protein that must be present in order for yeast to leaven bread dough.
  D) The new variety of wheat, which had a more delicate flavor because it was not toasted, was reserved for the consumption of high officials when it first began to be grown.
  E) Because the husk of the new variety of wheat was more easily removed, flour made from it required less effort to produce.

第一道题（答案B）我们干脆翻译成中文，按说变简单了吧？但实际教学中收集到的数字是，60%的同学选择了错误选项A。关键原因是太多学生利用个人经验去建立大夫主观所想（自私自利）与客观所为（叮嘱风险）之间的联系，简单粗暴的认为“坏人不说真话”，结果造成错误判断。实际上答案B才给出了一个不容原观点存在的

第二道题（答案C）则是原文超难读懂，大量陌生名词的堆砌导致很多学生未战先怯，未怯先降，可其实它的思路很简单：先根据要求确定两件事的分界线，在3000BC后，That discovery之前的句号那里。然后，要想建立两件事之间的因果联系，选项必须承上启下，顾头顾尾，于是看选项发现：哪怕只是以字面联系为标准，不费吹灰之力也能排除掉ACD——A只提到了事件一的leavenedbread, C和D只提到了事件二的wheat,toast和husk。再在BC之间选择，不论怎样C都比B更多的重现了原文两件事中分别提到的单词（wheat, kernel, yeast, leaven, bread, dough）。于是，在看不懂文字之后的一通胡蒙乱猜，就让我们战战兢兢的获得了正确答案C。

作对这第二道题对很多中国学生来说不算意外，但是当我在课堂上告诉同学们，美国人也看不懂原文，他们作题使用的方法是完全相同的过程时，大部分人还是瞪大了双眼不敢相信。

这两个例子告诉我们，做对一道GMAT题，并不需要认识所有的单词，即便是题目中涉及大量经济学术语，也不见得能给专业背景强的考生带来优势。很多时候，正确的解题思路应该凌驾于相关背景知识之上。换句话说，出题人选择一篇文章，就是为了考察你能否以外行人的立场理清信息的脉络，切入问题的本质。

因此，语言不是GMAT考试的重点，英语好对于GMAT高分来说既不是充分条件，也不是必要条件，充其量只是一个加强条件而已。那为什么语言能力差会导致考生难以掌握GMAT思维呢？