STRENTHEN题，也就是我们俗称的加强题，需要同学们选出加强文章结论，使得文章结论成立的可能性提高。加强题是逻辑题考察的难点。
& 典型问法：
Which of the following, if true, would most strength the conclusion above?
Which of the following, if true, gives the strongest support to the scientists claim?
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the claim that the proposal, if carried out, will have the announced effect?

& 解题思路
加强题定义比较好理解，就是选出能够使得文章结论成立的答案，通俗来讲就是文章说某件事可以发生，我们进一步加强这件事情发生的。我们通过两个中文例题来了解一下加强题的解题思路。
例. 木头引起的烟中含有危险的有毒物质，这些有毒物质会导致人体细胞的变异。因为烧木头的烟有健康风险，需要法律来控制户外烧火和烧木头火炉的使用。
以下那一项加强了原文结论
A. 在烧木头的烟中所包含的有毒物质比相同体积汽车尾气排放中所含有的有毒物质少。
B. 随着法令推行，大多数人都会选择用石油或者天然气。
C. 烧煤炉所产生的烟比起烧木头的炉子所产生的烟含的有毒物质更多。
D. 如果禁止户外烧火，空气质量也不会有所改善。
E. 在山谷里面，木头被用作主要的加热燃料，烟的集中导致了空气质量降低。
正确答案：E
答案解析：这篇文章是Conditional Argument，文章的逻辑关系简图如下：
​烧木头火炉有健康风险>——应该禁止烧木头火炉的使用​

正确答案应该是能够使得文章结论成立的可能性提高的。E选项很明显是在说用木头做燃料所带来的坏处，虽然是以在山谷中的例子来说明的，但是的确对文章结论起到了加强的作用，所以是正确答案。

& 正确答案形式和真题分析
Ø 根据上面例题的分析，我们可以看出，从文章意外寻找新的支撑点是加强题答案的第一种答案形式，也是在考试中最经常出现的，但是出现的文章以外的内容一定要和文章结论相关。
1）用文章意外的内容直接加强结论
我们通过几道真题来掌握这种正确答案形式。

例1. Outsourcing is the method of obtaining from an independent supplier a service or product that a company has previously provided for it. Normey, Inc., a small manufacturing firm that has in recent years experienced a decline in its profits, plans to increase its profits by outsourcing those parts of its business that independent suppliers are able to provide at lower cost than Normey can itself.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly strengthens the prediction that Normey's plan will achieve its goal?
A. Among the parts of its business that Normey does not plan to outsource are some that require standards of accuracy too high for most independent suppliers to provide at lower cost than Normey can.
B. Normey itself acts as an independent supplier of specialized hardware items to certain Producers that formerly made those items themselves.
C. Relatively few Producers that start as independent suppliers have been able to expand their business and become direct competitors of the companies they once supplied.
D. Normey plans to select the independent suppliers it will use on the basis of submitted bids.
E. Attending to certain tasks that Normey performs relatively inefficiently has taken up much of the time and effort of top managers whose time would have been better spent attending to Normey's core business.

文章翻译：外包是一种有独立供应商提供某种产品和服务的方式，这些产品和服务原来是厂商自己提供的。N公司是一个小型生产加工场，最近利润下降了，打算把一部分业务外包给独立供应商，这样的生产成本小于自己生产的成本，从而提高利润。
文章分析：文章的逻辑关系见图如下
​外包业务>>降低成本>>提高利润​
这篇文章是手段目的型的文章，厂商想通过外包部分业务的手段，达到提高利润的目的。 而加强选项即是选出答案可以说明外包一些业务的确可以给公司带来利润的提高。
选项分析：
A. 那些N公司不打算外包的业务，是一些，由于精度准确率要求太高以至于不能使得外包成本低于自己生产成本的业务。有些同学在看到这个选项的时候认为这些业务不能外包，也就意味着另外一些业务是可以外包的，但是在这个选项中，强调的是不能外包的业务，没有强调哪些业务是可以外包的，所以是削弱而非加强。
B. N公司自己本身就是一个独立的供应商，给其他公司生产特殊的硬件。无关项。
C. 相对较少的生产商以独立供应商起家，可以扩张业务到成为之前他提供服务的公司的直接竞争对手。只说了独立供应商自己的发展，与原文无关，无关项。
D. N公司打算用招投标的方式选择供应商。与能否最终增加公司利润没有关系，无关项。
E. 参与某些效率不是很高的业务会占用高级管理层很多时间，而这些时间可以更好地花在公司的核心业务上面。也就是说，对于公司自己本省没有什么效率的工作，与其自己完成，不如外包出去，这样节省下来的时间就可以得到更有效的利用。从另外一方面对文章结论，提高利润进行支持，是加强项。正确答案。

例2. Male bowerbirds construct elaborately decorated nests, or bowers. Basing their judgment on the fact that different local populations of bowerbirds of the same species build bowers that exhibit different building and decorative styles, researchers have concluded that the bowerbirds’ building styles are a culturally acquired, rather than a genetically transmitted, trait.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn by the researchers?
A. There are more common characteristics than there are differences among the bower-building styles of the local bowerbird population that has been studied most extensively.
B. Young male bowerbirds are inept at bower building and apparently spend years watching their elders before becoming accomplished in the local bower style.
C. The bowers of one species of bowerbird lack the towers and ornamentation characteristic of the bowers of most other species of bowerbird.
D. Bowerbirds are found only in New Guinea and Australia, where local populations of the birds apparently seldom have contact with one another.
E. It is well known that the song dialects of some songbirds are learned rather than transmitted genetically.

文章翻译：雄性的园丁鸟精心装饰自己的巢。研究者观察到同一个种类但是生活在不同地方的园丁鸟，建筑和装饰自己鸟巢的风格也是不一样的，根据这样一个事实，研究者得出结论，这些鸟建鸟巢的的风格不是基因先天遗传的，而是受到后天文化的影响而获得的。
文章分析：这道题目文章的类型叙别与上一道题目，文章类型属于Causal Argument, 即根据已知条件，强调本条件发生的原因。这种特殊的文章类型我们在第九章会进行详细的讲解。在这道题中逻辑简图如下
​同一种类但不同地方的鸟，装饰风格不同>>建筑风格是后天习得而非先天遗传的​
之所以会出现同种鸟类不同地方鸟巢的风格迥异，是因为，这种建筑风格是后天习得而非先天遗传的。

答案分析：
A. 调查当中大部分当地的园丁鸟的建筑风格的共同点多于不同点。当地的鸟的共同点多于不同点，但是无法判断这些共同点是因为基因遗传导致的还是后天文化影响的。无法加强。
B. 幼年的雄性园丁鸟不会筑巢，要经过观察比它年长的鸟建巢知道能够自己完成自己的鸟巢。这个选项先说年幼的鸟不会建巢，说明建巢的能力不是先天遗传的，再说必须经过多年的学习与观察才能最后建出自己巢，说明建巢是一个后天学习观察的过程，与进一步解释说明了建巢后天习得而非先天遗传的。正确答案。
C. 某一个种类的鸟的巢缺少其他种类鸟巢的一个装饰物。无关项。
D. 园丁鸟只在NG和A这两个地方发现，而这两个地方当地的鸟并不相互交流。当地的鸟如果不相互交流也就意味着相互学习不太可能发生，不能加强文章结论。
E. 众所周知，一些燕雀的嗓音不是先天遗传而是后天习得的。燕雀的嗓音和园丁鸟的筑巢风格是两个内容，讨论区转移。无关项。
Ø 加强题的另外一种答案形式类似于假设题目的答案，即补充了文章中缺失的一部分，连接文章的前提与结论，是文章结论成立的可能性提高。所以第二种答案形式是
2）加强文章附加前提
例3. Mr. Lawson: We should adopt a national family policy that includes legislation requiring employers to provide paid parental leave and establishing government-sponsored day care. Such laws would decrease the stress levels of employees who have responsibility for small children. Thus, such laws would lead to happier, better-adjusted families.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion above?
A. An employee’s high stress level can be a cause of unhappiness and poor adjustment for his or her family.
B. People who have responsibility for small children and who work outside the home have higher stress levels than those who do not.
C. The goal of a national family policy is to lower the stress levels of parents.
D. Any national family policy that is adopted would include legislation requiring employers to provide paid parental leave and establishing government-sponsored day care.
E. Most children who have been cared for in daycare centers are happy and well adjusted.

文章翻译：L先生：我们应该采纳一个国家家庭策略，这个策略就是给父母提供带薪假期并且建立政府资助的日托中心。这个法律将会减少有孩子的父母的压力。所以这个法律可以使他们的生活更幸福。
文章分析：文章的逻辑见图如下
法律可以减少父母的压力——法律可以让他们幸福的生活
通过分析文章我们可以很明显的看出，文章中存在一个gap，压力小和幸福生活之间的关系。
选项分析：
A. 员工的压力大就会使得他们的生活不幸福。从侧面说明压力减小的话就可以使得他们的生活更幸福一些。补充了文章汇总缺失的gap，是的文章结论成立。正确答案。
B. 有孩子并且在外面工作的员工压力比那些没有孩子的员工压力要大，这个选项只是提到了压力大小，并没有和生活能否更加幸福联系起来，无关项。
C. 国家家庭法律的目的是降低父母的压力。这个选项只是重复了文章的前提，并不能使得文章结论成立。
D. 被采纳的政策都包括给做父母的员工提供带薪假并且开设政府资助的日托中心。无关项。
E. 大部分在日托中心受到照顾的孩子都很开心。虽然孩子开心是家庭幸福的要素之一，但是父母是文章关注的主要对象。无关项。

例4. There were far fewer children available for adoption than there are people who want to adopt. Two million couples were waiting to adopt, but in 1982, the last year for which figures exist, there were only some 50,000 adoptions.
Which of the following statements, if true, most strengthens the author’s claim that there were far fewer children available for adoption than there were people who want to adopt?
A. The number of couples waiting to adopt has increased significantly in the last decade.
B. The number of adoptions in the current year is greater than the number of adoptions in any preceding year.
C. The number of adoptions in a year is approximately equal to the number of children available for adoption in that period.
D. People who seek to adopt children often go through a long process of interviews and investigation by adoption agencies.
E. People who seek to adopt children generally make very good parents.

文章翻译：可以被领养的孩子远远多于想要领养孩子的父母。在1982年，有200万对夫妇等待领养，但只有大概5万个养子女。
Couple 200万——排队领养的父母>
Adoption 5万——Available for adoption
从文章的逻辑简图分析可以看出文章前提和结论之间存在比较明显的差异，即adoption和available for adoption，这是两个概念，要想文章结论成立，必须要使得这两个概念所指代的范围一致。

选项分析：
A. 在过去的几十年中等待领养的父母大幅增加了。不能弥补文章的概念差异，待领养的即便是继续增加，也不能使得结论成立。无关项。
B. 今年的养子女比前几年的养子女要多。无关项。
C. 养子女的数量大概等于可以被领养的孩子数量，刚好弥补了文章缺失的部分，使得文章结论成立的可能性增加。正确答案。
D. 想要去领养的夫妇都要经过冗长的面试和调查过程。无关项。
E. 想要领养孩子的父母都会是好父母。无关项。

例5. The local board of education found that, because the current physics curriculum has little direct relevance to today's world, physics classes attracted few high school students. So to attract students to physics classes, the board proposed a curriculum that emphasizes principles of physics involved in producing and analyzing visual images.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason to expect that the proposed curriculum will be successful in attracting students?
A. Several of the fundamental principles of physics are involved in producing and analyzing visual images.
B. Knowledge of physics is becoming increasingly important in understanding the technology used in today's world.
C. Equipment that a large producer of photographic equipment has donated to the high school could be used in the proposed curriculum.
D. The number of students interested in physics today is much lower than the number of students interested in physics 50 years ago.
E. In today's world the production and analysis of visual images is of major importance in communications, business, and recreation.

文章翻译：当地的委员会发现，现在的物理课因为和现实联系较少，所以没有人来上课。所以为了吸引学生们来上课，文员会推出一门新的课程，强调视觉图像的制作与分析。
文章分析：文章的逻辑关系简图如下
推出强调视觉图像的制作与分析这门新课——想吸引学生们来上课
这是手段目的的文章，如果要加强文章，必须找到选项能够说明手段是如何达到目的的。在这道题中，第一句话已经点出与事实联系较多的课程会吸引学生们来上课，所以正确选项要说明新课程与事实的练习密切。

答案分析：
A. 视觉图像的制作与分析这门课中涉及到物理学的基础知识。这只是事实，因为这门新开的课程就是物理课，没法说明为什么能吸引学生来上课。无关项。
B. 了解物理学知识对当今社会的技术越来越重要了。物理学与当今技术联系紧密，但是并没有指出新课程与当今技术的关系，而且技术只是当今社会的其中一个方面，并不能代表当今社会的所有方面。无关项。
C. 开设新课所需要的设备已经捐献给学校了。这只能说明这门新课可以开了，不能说明最终能不能吸引学生来上课，虽然对文章结论有一定的支持作用，但是力度并不强。
D. 现在队伍里感兴趣的人比50年前少了很多。无关项。
E. 在当今社会，视觉图像的制作与分析这门课程与交流、贸易和娱乐联系紧密。交流、贸易与娱乐这三个方面已经可以代表当今社会的大部分方面，很好的说明新课程和当今社会联系紧密，从而说明开设新课程可以吸引学生来上课。正确答案。