GMAT考试中句子功能题解法中有一条叫“让步功能”这种逻辑其实大家日常生活中经常用到，比如你在看奇葩说的时候经常会听到这样一句话“虽然对方辩友XXX说的很有道理，但是XXX”。这里的“虽然对方辩友XXX说的很有道理”就是让步，也就是我们常说的带有“虽然、尽管、确实”等含义的句子都是让步。

  那让步起到的功能是什么呢?像刚才我提到的奇葩说的例子中“虽然对方辩友XXX说的很有道理”其实就是在承认对方观点的合理性(concede the validity of the opposing viewpoint )!

  下面让我们来感受一道题：

  Some researchers contend that sleep plays no role in the consolidation of declarative memory (i.e., memory involving factual information). These researchers note that people with impairments in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep continue to lead normal lives, and they argue that if sleep were crucial for memory, then these individuals would have apparent memory deficits. Yet these tests could only clarify our understanding of the role of REM sleep, not sleep in general.

  These researchers also claim that improvements of memory overnight can be explained by the mere passage of time, rather than attributed to sleep. But recent studies of memory performance after sleep make this claim unsustainable. Certainly there are memory consolidation processes that occur across periods of wakefulness, some of which neither depend on nor are enhanced by sleep. But when sleep is compared with wakefulness, and performance is better after sleep, then some benefit of sleep for memory must be acknowledged.

  Which of the following best describes the function of the highlighted sentence?

  (A) It provides the reasoning behind a claim about the role of sleep in memory consolidation.

  (B) It explains why a previous claim about sleep and memory is unsustainable.

  (C) It demonstrates why wakefulness is central to the process of declarative memory consolidation. E

  (D) It emphasizes the limited role sleep plays in the process of declarative memory consolidation.

  (E) It concedes that the consolidation of declarative memory does not depend entirely on one factor.

  正确答案： E

  题目思路解析：

  首先，根据首段大家应该读出来一组对立观点：

  researchers: 记忆加强与睡眠无关

  作者：researchers的研究以偏概全了，记忆加强与睡眠有关系。

  第二段逻辑梳理：

  首句再次描述researchers的观点，第二句But继续反驳。

  高亮句：Certainly there are memory consolidation processes that occur across periods of wakefulness, some of which neither depend on nor are enhanced by sleep.

  首先通过“certainly”判定是让步逻辑;其次通过“neither depend on nor are enhanced by sleep” 可知是在限制睡眠的作用，因此可确定是作者通过让步承认对立面观点。因此答案为E 承认记忆的加强不完全依赖于一个因素(sleep)。

  迷惑选项D：“emphasize”一词意为“强调”，而我们知道让步这个逻辑是不会单独出现的，一定会伴随转折，而转折的内容才是作者真正想要强调的东西，让步至多是“承认”。

  除此之外，让步还有另外一种可能的功能，看题：

  尽管黄渤长相平平，但是女粉丝还是一大堆。

  Q：为什么要提到“黄渤长相平平”?

  思路：长相平平会使人预期黄渤人气一般，使得现实中女粉丝很多这个事实超出了预期。

  A： 使得他有很多女粉丝这个事情很令人惊讶

  总结：让步会起到的另一个作用——explain why the following fact is surprising

  上题!

  To most geologists today, Wegener’s The origin of Continents and Oceans appears an impressive and prescient document, containing several of the essential presumptions underlying plate tectonics theory: the horizontal mobility of pieces of Earth’s crust; the essential difference between oceanic and continental crust; and a causal connection between horizontal displacements and the formation of mountain chains. Despite the considerable overlap between Wegener’s concepts and the later widely embraced plate tectonics theory, and despite the fact that continental drift theory presented a possible solution to the problem of the origin of mountains at a time when existing explanations were seriously in doubt, in its day Wegener’s theory was rejected by the vast majority of geologists.

  The author of the passage refers to the “considerable overlap” (line 23) between continental drift theory and plate tectonics theory most probably in order to

  (A) suggest that plate tectonics theory is derived from Wegener’s work

  (B) introduce a discussion comparing the elements of the two theories

  (C) examine the question of whether continental drift theory was innovative in its time D

  (D) provide a reason why it might seem surprising that continental drift theory was not more widely embraced by geologists

  (E) cite an explanation that has been frequently offered for Wegener’s high standing among geologists today

  答案： D

  解题思路分析：

  让步里说Wegener跟plate tectonics theory有很多相似之处，而plate tectonics theory是被广泛接受的理论，所以这会使得读者预期Wegener的理论也被接受才对，但是他是被拒绝的，所以就构成了一个怪事。因此答案为D。