The study in the early 1980s cited by Harford shows that ______.

[A] daily schedules are indispensable to studying

[B] students are hardly motivated by monthly goals

[C] detailed plans may not be as fruitful as expected

[D] distractions may actually increase efficiency

以上题为例，给同学们展示完整的解题过程。

首先，解题准备：

1. 题型识别：通过对于题干的理解可得，命题人在问“作者引用的某项研究表明什么”，这属于例证题。

2. 原因：根据对于试题文章特点的把握，我们可以判断出题干中的“study研究”实则是一种论据，在原文当中的作用是用来表明某个“论点”。因此，此题可以归为是例证题。

3. 解题：此题要想解对，关键是需要找到“论点”的位置。那么，论点在哪呢?对于这种“实验调查研究”论据的写作手法，作者基本会遵循这样的写作模式：发起实验论点+描述实验过程+得出实验结论。那么这样的一种总分总结构，答案很有可能会在首末位置出现，而相对于一个发起实验的模糊论点来看，末尾的实验结论往往更为具体，更容易命题，可优先定位匹配正确选项。

回到上面的例题，我们一起来实操一下：

①Another approach to getting more done in less time is to rethink how you prioritise your day—in particular how we craft our to-do lists. ②Tim Harford, author of Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, points to a study in the early 1980s that divided undergraduates into two groups: some were advised to set out monthly goals and study activities; others were told to plan activities and goals in much more detail, day by day.

③While the researchers assumed that the well-structured daily plans would be most effective when it came to the execution of tasks, they were wrong: the detailed daily plans demotivated students. ④Harford argues that inevitable distractions often render the daily to-do list ineffective, while leaving room for improvisation in such a list can reap the best results.

第一步：找到题干中的论据the study in the early 1980s cited by Harford,为②句;因此，发起实验论点应该是①句;而后面的③④句有明显的观点标志词“assume、argue”，因此为实验结论句。

第二步：优先考虑③④句和选项进行匹配。

A. daily schedules对应③句中daily plans ;但是A选项讲每日计划是必不可少的(indispensable)，而③句中daily plans却出现在while引导的让步状语从句中：While the researchers assumed that the well-structured daily plans would be most effective when it came to the execution of tasks, they were wrong;虽然研究人员之前假设每日规划是最有效的，但是他们错了。因此，A选项反义干扰，排除。

B. 选项信息没有出现在首末，属于论据信息，直接排除。

C. detailed plans对应③句冒号后面：the detailed daily plans demotivated students，“详细的每日规划会使学生们失去动力”与C选项的信息“详细的每日规划可能不像预期的那样有效果”完全可以形成同义替换，为正确选项。

D. distractions出现在④句，但是选项中的increase efficiency“提高效率”与④句中的ineffective“无效的”是完全相反的意思，反义干扰，排除。

对于这种以实验调查作为论据的例证题，同学在今后的学习中，就可以运用以上示例的方法来定位解题啦!