Unit 9: Refining Qualified Arguments
AP English Language and Composition Topic 9 4:51 English narration · English + 中文 subtitles burned in
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Unit 9 is short, and it is the course's final move: how to handle the arguments that oppose yours.
第九单元很短， 而它是这门课程的最后一招： 如何处理与你相反的论证。
Everything here is directly rewarded on the exam, and the three key verbs are constantly confused.
这里的一切 在考试中都会被直接奖励， 而三个关键动词 被不断混淆。
Concede, rebut, refute.
让步、反驳、驳倒。
They are three different claims about the opposing position, and using the words interchangeably tells an examiner you have not distinguished them.
它们是关于对立立场的 三种不同主张， 而把这几个词互换使用， 等于告诉阅卷者 你没有把它们区分开。
The framing first.
先讲框架。
Effectively entering an ongoing conversation about a subject means engaging the positions that have already been taken.
有效地进入一场关于某个题目的 持续对话， 意味着与已经被提出的立场 发生实质接触。
An argument that ignores them is not participating in the discussion, only announcing into it.
忽略它们的论证 不是在参与讨论， 只是在对着讨论宣告。
Evidence and sources will either support, complement or contradict a writer's thesis, and all three are usable — contradicting evidence is not a problem to be hidden but material to be handled.
证据与材料 要么支持、要么补充、 要么反驳作者的论点， 三者都可以使用， 相反的证据不是要藏起来的问题， 而是要处理的材料。
And writers enhance their credibility when they refute, rebut or concede opposing arguments and contradictory evidence.
而作者在驳倒、反驳 或让步于对立论证 与相反证据时， 提升了自己的可信度。
Note the direction of that last claim: engaging the opposition raises your standing, it does not lower it.
注意最后这条的方向： 与对立面正面接触 抬高你的地位， 而不是降低它。
Here are the three, in the CED's own definitions.
按课程大纲自己的定义， 这三者如下。
Concede: writers accept all or a portion of a competing position or claim as correct, and agree that the opposing point has merit.
让步： 作者接受某个竞争性立场或主张的 全部或一部分为正确， 并同意对方的观点有其道理。
Rebut: writers offer a contrasting perspective on an argument and its evidence, or provide an alternative interpretation.
反驳： 作者对某个论证及其证据 提出对立的视角， 或给出另一种解读。
Refute: writers demonstrate, using evidence, that all or a portion of a competing position or claim is incorrect.
驳倒： 作者用证据表明 某个竞争性立场或主张的 全部或一部分是错误的。
And the distinction between them is what your evidence lets you do.
而三者的区别 在于你的证据允许你做什么。
Refuting requires evidence of error — if you do not have it, refuting is bluffing and a reader will see it.
驳倒需要错误的证据， 如果你没有， 驳倒就是虚张声势， 读者看得出来。
Rebutting requires only an alternative reading of the same facts, which is far more often available.
反驳只需要 对同一批事实的另一种解读， 而这要常见得多。
And conceding requires honesty, and it costs nothing: the CED says explicitly that it enhances credibility.
而让步需要诚实， 并且不花你任何代价： 课程大纲明确说 它提升可信度。
Two further points.
还有两点。
Transitions may be used to introduce counterarguments — and, as in Unit 5, the transition should signal the relationship.
过渡可以用来引出反方论点， 而正如第五单元所说， 这个过渡应当示意其中的关系。
"Critics argue" announces one.
"批评者认为"引出了一个。
"The strongest objection to this is" announces one and ranks it, and a reader who sees you take on the strongest version already believes the weaker ones are handled.
"对此最有力的反对意见是" 既引出了一个，也给它排了序， 而看到你直面最强版本的读者， 已经相信较弱的那些 都被处理过了。
And second: not all arguments explicitly address a counterargument.
第二： 并非所有论证 都会明确处理反方论点。
That is true of texts you read, and it is worth noting when analysing — an argument that engages no opposition has told you something about its intended audience.
这对你所读的文本成立， 在分析时值得指出， 一个不与任何对立面接触的论证， 已经告诉了你 关于它预期受众的一些事情。
Qualifying a claim is the skill this closes on.
限定一个主张，是本单元最后要练的技能。
For your own writing, the strongest and most reliable shape on Question 3 has four steps.
对你自己的写作而言， 第三题最有力也最可靠的结构 有四步。
State your position, qualified to the ground your evidence covers.
表明你的立场， 并限定到你的证据所覆盖的地面。
Concede the part of the opposing position that is genuinely correct.
让步于对立立场中 确实正确的那一部分。
Rebut or refute the rest — rebut if you have an alternative reading, refute only if you have evidence of error.
对其余部分进行反驳或驳倒， 有另一种解读就反驳， 只有在掌握错误证据时才驳倒。
And show why your position survives the concession.
并说明为什么你的立场 能够挺过这次让步。
Step four is the one most students omit, and it is where the sophistication point lives.
第四步是多数学生会省略的一步， 而精深度那一分就住在那里。
Conceding and then not returning to your own argument reads as having changed your mind.
让了步却不回到自己的论证， 读起来就像是改变了主意。
Compare two treatments of the same objection on a Question 3 prompt.
在第三题上， 比较对同一个反对意见的两种处理。
Weak: "Some people disagree, but they are wrong."
弱的： "有些人不同意，但他们错了。
That names an opposing position without engaging it — it is neither concession, rebuttal, nor refutation.
" 这只是点出了一个对立立场， 并没有与它接触， 既不是让步，也不是反驳， 更不是驳倒。
Strong: "The objection that the policy is too costly is correct as far as it goes: the direct expenditure is higher than any alternative considered.
强的： "认为这项政策代价过高的反对意见 在其所及范围内是正确的： 直接支出确实高于 任何被考虑过的替代方案。
But cost is only decisive if the alternatives achieve the same result, and the same report shows they do not — so the comparison the objection depends on is not available."
但只有在替代方案能取得同样结果时， 成本才是决定性的， 而同一份报告显示它们做不到， 因此这一反对意见所依赖的比较 并不成立。
That paragraph concedes the cost, refutes the comparison with evidence, and returns to the writer's own position.
" 这一段让步于成本， 用证据驳倒了那个比较， 并回到作者自己的立场。
Three moves, and every one of them is on the rubric.
三个动作， 而每一个都在评分表上。
Five things to carry out, and they close the course.
带走五件事， 它们也为整门课程收尾。
First, concede, rebut and refute are three different claims — do not use the words interchangeably.
第一，让步、反驳与驳倒 是三种不同的主张， 不要把这几个词互换使用。
Second, refute only with evidence of error; otherwise rebut.
第二，只有掌握错误的证据时才驳倒， 否则就反驳。
Third, conceding raises credibility, by the CED's own statement.
第三，按课程大纲自己的说法， 让步提升可信度。
Fourth, after conceding, come back — an unreturned concession reads as agreement.
第四，让步之后要回来， 没有回来的让步 读起来就是同意。
Fifth, use a transition that ranks the counterargument, and notice when a text addresses none at all.
第五，使用能给反方意见排序的过渡， 并留意一篇文本 是否根本没有处理任何反方意见。