◆◇五中选二的原则（Theruleof2outof5）逻辑推理题撰写的一个基本原则是五个选项中的一个选项需要比其他的四个好。然而，正确选项的设计不可以比其他四个选项明显地好以致问题的困难程度变得太小。这个原则使逻辑推理的命题职员陷入了左右为难的境地。假如一个问题叫你去驳斥一个论证，那样一个选项需要能对段落的内在逻辑构成反对。这个选项将是creditedresponse。另外四个选项迷惑选项distractors肯定在某些方面不完美，但他们不可以不一清二楚，使问题变得ridiculouslyeasy。从某种意义上讲，Preparingworkabledistractorsisactuallymoredifficultthanwritingthecreditedresponse。因此，一般五个选项中只有两个选项可以考虑（两者中仅仅在一个是对的）。另外三个选项，尽管有时与推理主题有点关联，但它们都有忽视了论点的推理结构。牢记：Usuallyonlytwooftheanswerchoiceshaveanyrealmerit.总之，使得五个选项中只有一个很难排除，其他三个选项在不少状况下可能与问题目的无关，所以如何飞速排除三个选项是提升解题速度的重要。我在与ETS负责命题的官员谈话时明显觉察到：编制逻辑推理题的最大痛苦与挑战不在于怎么样编制出一个很像正确答案但又绝对不是正确答案的选项。事实上，有时五个选项中四个选项都编得极为荒谬，错得极为明显，只须阅读水平没问题，正确答案便跃然纸上。读者应在本书的很多归类解说与练习中，培养挑选正确选项的感觉，进而找出错误选项特点。请看下面这个例子：Overthepastfifteenyears,thelargelyurbanizedNortheasternUnitedStateshasshownmoreandmoretheinfluenceoftheSouthwesternportionofthecountry.Once,veryfewpeopleinNewYorkCitycouldbefoundsportingcowboybootsandStetsonhats,andnomajorradiostationboastedtwenty-four-hour-a-dayprogrammingofcountryandwesternmusic.Thelatestdevelopmentistherapidproliferationofrestaurantsservingchili,nachos,burritos,andotherTex-Mexdishes.Thepassageabovemakeswhichofthefollowingassumptions?ThelifestyleofpeopleintheNortheasthasbeenenrichedbytheinfluenceoftheSouthwesternstates.MostresidentsoftheSouthwesternstatesregularlyeatatTex-Mexrestaurants.Overthelastfifteenyears,residentsoftheSouthwesternUnitedStateshaveincreasinglyadoptedlifestylessimilartotho网站优化ftheNortheast.Tex-MexdishesareanelementoftheregionalcuisineoftheSouthwesternstates.PeopleintheNortheasternUnitedStateseatoutmorefrequentlythantheydidfifteenyearsago.分析：本题的正确答案是（D）。TheauthorclaimsthattheNortheasthasabsorbedelementsofthecultureoftheSouthwestandprovidesthreeexamples.Atacitassumptionoftheargumentisthatacertainmodeofdress,akindofmusic,andatypeofcuisinearefoundintheSouthwest.articulatesthisassumption.Threeoftheremainingchoicesarereallyjustflak.Theylackany6realplausibilityafterareasonablycarefulreading.Theseare,,and.goesbeyondthescopeoftheinitialstatement.TheauthorsimplystatesthatcertainculturalelementsoftheSouthwesthavebeentransplantedtotheNortheast,butnovaluejudgmentiscontainedintheparagraphaboutthatprocess.reversesthecausallinkagedescribedbytheinitialstatement.Accordingtotheauthor,theSouthwesthasinfluencedtheNortheast---notviceversa.goesbeyondthescopeoftheinitialstatement.NothingintheargumentsuggeststhatpeopleintheNortheastareeatingoutmorefrequentlythantheydidfifteenyearsago----onlythattheremoreTex-Mexrestaurantsintheregionthantherewerefifteenyearsago.对大部分人而言，（B）最容易误选。Itatleasthasthemeritofbeingfairlycloselyconnectedtotheargumentintheinitialstatement.ItmightbetruethatpeopleintheSouthwestregularlypatronizetheTex-Mexrestaurants.That,however,isnotnecessarilyanassumptionoftheargument.AllthatisrequiredfortheargumentisthatthereexistintheSouthwestsuchrestaurants---notthatresidentsofthatareapatronizethoserestaurantswithanyfrequency.由上例可以看出，五个选项中的（A）、（C）和（E）的撰写都很荒谬，错得较为明显。五中选二的两个选项为（B）、（D），也就是说这五个选项中只有（B）、（D）可以考虑。（B）易误选。而正确答案只有一个，即（D）。