三、论据扩展难
雅思大作文的考察形式是议论文，既是议论文，势必设计一些话题。在近几年的考试中，经过研究分析发现，雅思议论文最关注的是教育类的话题，此外科技类，媒体类，文化类，政府类，交通类等都有牵涉。但是面对那么多的话题和题目，能够做到在几分钟之内就想出充足合理有说服力的理由是很困难的一个任务。况且有时考题所出的题目非常偏，考生根本无法想到任何相关的理由。所以所谓的论据扩展难，就是指考生在面对有些议论文的难题时，毫无头绪，无法扩展出论据，因为雅思写作的考题有个特点是题目出的很细节，有些具体抽象的话题也涵盖其中，所以没有一定的积累的考生在面对这些问题的时候很难找到合理的理由来进行支持，继而使文章内容浅显没达到要求而导致拿了低分。
下面列举几题来熟悉一下此类题目：
1. Nowadays, some universities offer students skills that assist them to find employment, but some people believe that the main function of a university should be to provide students with access to knowledge for its sake. What is your opinion?
2. In many countries the number of elderly people is increasing fast. Does this trend have more positive or negative effects on the society?
3. One long-distance flight consumes fuel which a cars uses in several years’ time, but they cause the same amount of pollution. So some people think that we should discourage non-essential flights, such as tourist travel, rather than to limit the use of cars. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this view?
上面三个题目难点在于如何扩展文章。一般考生拿到此类题目都有些不知所措，不知如何扩展正文的论据，觉得此类话题不熟悉，或者过于理论，没有支持的理由，比如第一题，通过审题，是关于大学传授知识和大学传授找工作的技能的双边论证，很多考生认为大学本来就是传授知识的地方，要找到合理的论据进行扩展非常困难。专家认为应对此类题目，就是要以具体对付抽象和理论，考生可以列举一些例子，如通过大学的知识传授为将来的就业、生活的改变以及心理上的成熟等都起了重要的作用，而大学传授技能也是由于就业的严峻形势所迫。我们可以将提纲列举如下：
It is believed that the basic mission of universities is to conduct research and provide education based on it.
First, a good command of basic knowledge lays a solid foundation for other courses.
Second, through basic and theoretical courses, students can learn to improve their self-study as well as problem-solving ability.
On the other hand, university education should also prepare students for their future employment.
As the employment competition is growing fierce, graduates have to learn skills to adjust themselves to the requirement.
Moreover, university provides the students with environment where they can deal with some problems that they will meet in their future career.
考生面对第二题的时候，同样也有一个疑问，即人口老龄化对社会的积极影响。没错，老年人数量急剧上升，对社会来说并没有什么好处，所以这个扩展非常困难。但如果我们能够转变一下思维，这个题目就不见得难了。专家认为，此题可先让步写到老年人对社会、家庭等所带来的好处，如帮忙家务，社区志愿者等。然后提出虽然有这些好处，但随着他们数量的急剧增加，必定会带来很多问题，对社会家庭等，如成为政府的经济负担，政府需拨更多的钱支持养老金，而对家庭也是负担，小辈要花时间和精力还有金钱来全方位照顾老年人。
提纲如下：
Admittedly, older people often have time to offer for the benefit of family and community.
However, population ageing bring about serious economic and social problems for both family and government.
通过上面两题的讲解，第三题也可以举一反三来进行扩展。在平时上课讲解时，专家建议各位培训师要注重培养学生brainstorming的能力以及段落扩展的方法，通过一些固定的方面来培养考生扩展论据的能力，特别是能通过一些具体的例子、数据、比较等论证方法，扩展更加容易，效果也更有说服力。
在这一系列中，我们列举了以上三个难点和10个题目，希望大家明确雅思议论文的确是有规律可循的，但是我们不能忽略一些特殊情况和难点的存在，希望以上所提出的对策能切实帮助到应考的学生。
