一、回顾篇

1、2010年5月SAT作文题目

Do people succeed by emphasizing their difference from others?

首先审题，理解成创新类别，也就是让各位考生写一个因为创新所以成功的故事。同笔者课上复习的这个题目很类似：Is creativity needed more than ever in the world today? 怎么回答呢？结合5月考题，自然是需要创造力，因为有了能成功。

归纳来看，结合去年下半年的考题，大家会发现，美国考官一直在对这个问题进行考察。比如去年11月要不要挑战新想法，你可以写不要，因为新想法就是创造力会让大家成功。去年12月考要不要挑战权威，自然是写要，挑战权威，提出新想法，个人和社会才会更好。再看今年5月份，还是强调不要从众，要有自己的个性。

我给大家找了一篇满分作文，写的是失败到成功的故事，大家可以参考。

This past year, I was auditioning for the fall play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." To my detriment I thought it would be a good idea to watch the movie in order to prepare. For two hours I studied Elizabeth Taylor's mannerisms, attitude, and diction, hoping I could mimic her performance. （背景）

I auditioned for the part of “Maggie” feeling perfectly confident in my portrayal of Elizabeth Taylor, however, I was unaware that my director saw exactly what I had been thinking. Unfortunately, I didn‘t get the part, and my director told me that he needed to see “Maggie” from my perspective, not Elizabeth Taylor’s.（失败的记忆）

I learned from this experience, and promised myself I would not try to imitate another actress, in order to create my character. （从失败中经验教训）

Persevering, I was anxious to audition for the winter play just two months later. The play was Neil Simon's "Rumors," and would get the opportunity to play "Chris," a sarcastic yet witty role, which would be my final performance in high school. In order to develop my character, I planned out her life just as I thought it should be, gave her the voice I thought was right, and the rest of her character unfolded beautifully from there. (准备过程)

My director told me after the first show that “Rumors” was the best work he‘d ever seen from me, and that he was amazed at how I’d developed such a believable character. （成功）

实战演练：接下来我们来做一个工作，就着这个素材来写5月的题目。Do people succeed by emphasizing their difference from others?

大家从题目里面找到两个重点，一个是不同，一个是成功，需要用细节去细化。接下来围绕这两个点，结合例子素材，整出例子的思路链条。

例子思路：背景（参演学校话剧的演出）――为了成功，看Taylor 的演出，为了做到和她一模一样（点题）――失败――安排导演宣布失败理由（完全没有体现出自己的个性，要有不同）――痛定思痛――准备下一次演出――强调自己的个性（点出题目的difference），按照自己的方式给出这个觉得的声音包括表演方式――成功（安排导演讲出）

修改版：

This past year, I was auditioning for the fall play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." To my detriment I thought it would be a good idea to watch a relevant movie starred by Elizabeth Taylor in order to prepare. For two hours I studied her mannerisms, attitude, and diction, hoping I could mimic her performance.

I auditioned for the part of “Maggie” feeling perfectly confident in my portrayal of Elizabeth Taylor; however, I was unaware that my director saw exactly what I had been thinking. Unfortunately, I didn‘t get the part, and my director told me that he needed to see “Maggie” from my perspective, not Elizabeth Taylor’s.

I learned from this experience, and promised myself I would not try to imitate another actress. Instead, it is imperative to find out my difference, namely, my unique way of acting, in playing a new role. (点题)

Persevering, I was anxious to audition for the winter play just two months later. The play was Neil Simon's "Rumors," and would get the opportunity to play "Chris," a sarcastic yet witty role, which would be my final performance in high school. In order to develop my own character, I placed emphasis on originality(点题), planning out her life just as I thought it should be, giving her the voice I thought was right; naturally, the rest of her character was unfolded beautifully from there. (准备过程)

Then I went for another try. （加强过渡）After the first show my director told me that “Rumors” was the best work he‘d ever seen from me, and that he was amazed at how I’d developed such a believable and different(点题) character. （成功）

2、2010年1月作文话题

Do people make the greatest discoveries by exploring what is unfamiliar to them or by paying close attention to what seems familiar?

关于审题，这是一个难题。同学们在考场上需要从脑海里面把准备的例子迅速想一遍，看看哪个更适合此题目。由于限定了discovery, 笔者班上的同学们应该能快速想到伽利略或者哥白尼。前者做出了伟大的发现，比如两球下降的正确理论；后者发现了日心说。

以前者为例，他发现的理论很明显是符合题干中的后者的，因为两球下降之前就有过相关理论，他对此熟悉的理论做了分析研究，最终有了正确的伟大的发现。

还是给大家找一篇文章作为素材的参考，写作者是Lily 同学，去年6月考试作为是满分，习作的题目是is it necessary to question the authority?

Another story of Galileo is also a very typical one to explain the importance of challenging the authority. It is known to us all that Aristotle is a great philosopher in ancient Greece and is widely regarded as the most erudite mind so far. His theories, as a result, are firmly believed by almost everyone in the Middle Age. (塑造权威)

However, Galileo, a talented physicist at that time, found one of Aristotle’s theories that the velocities of two falling weights are proportional to their weights incorrect through his thousands of experiments. （为什么挑战）

He finally decided to show his research results by doing an experiment on the Leaning Tower of Pisa in front of the public, which later turned out to be a blockbuster in the field of physics.

Galileo dropped two iron balls of different weights to the ground and everybody present witnessed the historic moment that the two balls reached the ground at exactly the same time. （怎么挑战）

Galileo’s experiments and discoveries violently challenged that of Aristotle and started a revolutionary debate among scientists. More importantly, he corrected thousands of people’s wrong beliefs and contributed a lot to the modern physics. （挑战的结果）

实战运用：题目 Do people make the greatest discoveries by exploring what is unfamiliar to them or by paying close attention to what seems familiar?

我们先确认观点:应该研究看上去熟悉的。关键字：研究看上去熟悉的――重大发现。接下来写出例子的基本思路：

背景（亚里士多德是权威）---提出了两球下降理论（速度和质量成正比）――伽利略（Pisa大学毕业后，开始大量阅读书籍）――研究公众十分熟悉，并且基本公认的理论――两球下降理论――认为没有经过试验检测，不可靠――比萨斜塔实验――结果，两球同时落地――伟大的发现（正确的理论――速度和质量部成正比）――科学界的突破，打破对于权威的盲目相信，实验科学的创始人。

修改版：

Another story of Galileo is also a very typical one to explain the importance of exploring what is familiar to us. It is known to us all that Aristotle is a great philosopher in ancient Greece and is widely regarded as the most erudite mind so far. His theories, as a result, are firmly believed by almost everyone in the Middle Age. Among all these theories, one theory that the velocities of two falling weights are proportional to their weights enjoyed widespread familiarity among the public. (点题)（熟悉的东西是什么）

At that time, Galileo, an unknown scientist, was absorbed in books of Aristotle. However, instead of totally copying the thoughts of him, Galileo developed his own way of thinking and gave priority to the effect of experimentation on science, doubting the feasibility of the widely known(点题)theory about the speed of falling objects. （伽利略研究熟悉的东西）

He finally decided to find out the truth by doing an experiment on the Leaning Tower of Pisa in front of the public. During the experiment, Galileo dropped two iron balls of different weights to the ground and everybody present witnessed the historic moment that the two balls reached the ground at exactly the same time. （伽利略挑战熟悉的理论）

That experiment witnessed the birth of one of the greatest discoveries in the field of science, namely, the theory that the velocities of two falling objects are not related to their weights. More important is the fact that this finding weakens the blind trust of the public toward the authority and paved the way for the widespread use of experimentation in testing the practicability of a theory.(营造这是伟大的发现)

二、展望篇

回顾过去几场考试，可以发现college board 十分青睐挑战权威和提出新想法这个主题，既然如此青睐，各位参加6月考试的考生还是应该额外关注。其他类别包括物质类别，个人价值观判断等。 接下来给大家罗列一些重点话题，以供参考。

6月考试重点一：创新类

Is creativity needed more than ever in the world today?

参考思路：大家要注意today 这个措辞。此题适合准备个人例子。有了创造力，才能distinguish yourself from others, 不妨借鉴班上一个马来西亚同学说过一的学生会竞选的有趣故事。他说最后获胜者提出了很creative 的东西来吸引学生，比如：

1）(boarding school) shopping, once a month 一月安排一次集体购物，他们是寄宿学校。

2) (Single-sex education ) ball, invite the girls in the girls-school, 一周安排一次集体舞会，要求女校学生参加。这就是与众不同啊。

重点二：物质类别

Is it more important to do work that one finds fulfiling or work that pays well?

参考思路：比较难写的题目。较容易额方法是些赚钱重要，因为挣了钱才能实现梦想，获得fulfilling.

开头段：Working for a well-paid job is more important. When one can get a considerable income, he can utilize this amount of wealth to do those things he finds fulfilling. The King of Steel, Andrew Carnegie, is one example that can prove the above point of view.

中间框架： 卡内基童年贫苦――只能读夜校――因此希望帮助更多人读上书――努力工作――内战买了钢的专利权――建了公司――赚了钱――实现梦想――投生教育事业。

参考：童年艰苦 Andrew Carnegie had an arduous childhood: as the age of 13, as an emigrant from Scotland to America, he squeezed in an incredibly tiny apartment with other immigrants. He struggled for his survival, finding a job in one factory after another. Having no access to welfare, to education and medical services, he was deprived of all basic rights.

营造童年梦想Living under this extreme poverty, Andrew Carnegie knew and understood so deeply about the torture within, and he developed a dream to provide a better live for the poor.

营造挣钱Andrew Carnegie took great notice of the business world and his sharp discernment paid him back. During the Civil War, Andrew Carnegie discovered the potential of steel industry and thus bought a patent of steel to operate his own company.

Over 20 thousand employees

A market share of 65%

An annual income of $40 million

横线部分过渡是重点，营造赚钱和满足感的关系：It was this well-paid job that made Andrew Carnegie’s childhood dream come true. With the wealth he had accumulated, he fulfilled his youthful ‘ambition’ by making his contribution to the realms of philanthropy.

营造梦想的实现Paying special attention to libraries and higher education, Carnegie invested in building of many local libraries and Carnegie Mellon University. These efforts changed many American’s lives, offering their invaluable knowledge.

议论部分：

1 总结例子For the example of Andrew Carnegie, we can see that he had made use of his fortune from a well-paid job to do what he urged to do and to achieve a sense of fulfillment.

2 表述观点 Therefore, it is more important to have a well-paid job so that we can accomplish our dreams relying on the wealth we gained from our work.

重点三：欺骗类

Can deception- pretending that something is true when it is not- sometimes have good results?

审题：这是欺骗类，比较简单，大家准备名人例子或个人的都可以，各显神通吧。

参考例子如下：

In literature, many authors benefited from lying about themselves. The Bronte sisters, who are famous for their great literature talent, published their works under male names. They wrote at a time when women’s sole job was confined to doing laundry and cooking. In such a male dominated society, the Bronte sisters had no hopes of publishing their novels under real name. By publishing under different names, the sisters’ novels were widely accepted and critically acclaimed. The Bronte sisters demonstrated that lying can be essential at times as their own works would have never been born had they not adopted male names.

In the case of American Civil War, many slaves escaped their torturous lives via the Underground Railroad. Along the way, many freed slaves and even white Americans assisted these run-aways by providing food, shelter, and most importantly, by lying to slave catchers about the hiding place or trails of the slaves. By lying, these helpers saved and freed many lives. Without those help, many slaves would have been easily caught by the slave catchers, who were equipped with guns and dogs. Once caught, these slaves would face cruel punishment or even death penalty. Although the helpers lied to slave owners and catchers, they helped many slaves to escape their horrifying lives and consequently led America a step farther in racial equality.

重点四：选择类

Is striving to achieve a goal always the best course of action, or should people give up if they are not making progress?

首先是审题。这个题目比较简单，不放弃自然比较好写。笔者上课讲过美国自行车员Lance Armstrong，他得了癌症，但是从不放弃，因为心中有个梦想――环法冠军。 接下来给大家准备了他的生平简单介绍，看的过程中大家可以学习如何利用一个人故事的不同部分论证众多种SAT作文题目。

素材（参考书籍外研社人物传记丛书系列）：

By age thirteen, Lance had proved himself to be a good runner and an excellent swimmer. He was always on the bike, pedaling away. So when he saw an advertisement for a junior triathlon called Iron Kids, it seemed like a perfect fit.

A triathlon is a race with three parts. Competitors begin the race with a swim, then climb onto bikes for a long ride. At the end of the ride, the racers jump off their bikes and begin a distance run. Triathlon is an exhausting sport for which few people are suited. But it was perfect for Lance.

He entered more adult triathlons and started winning some of them. Soon, Trianthlete magazine named him the national Rookie(新手) of the Year in sprint triathlons. But as he continued to train, he felt more and more comfortable on the bike. Soon, dreams of being a professional road racer replaced his dreams of being a star in triathlon.

论证题目：Do people achieve greatness only by finding out what they are especially good at and developing that attribute above all else?

是的

伟大：环法冠军

特别擅长：自行车

其他：游泳跑步

1990 Lance moved out on his own. He settled in Austin, Texas, where he rented an apartment. He also joined the U.S. national cycling team under coach Chris Carmichael.

He was stubborn. He didn’t understand the strategy of holding a little energy in reserve. (和之后做对比，性格的转变)

First race: 1990 Amateur World Championship in Japan. The race, held on a very hot day, was 115 miles long with a difficult uphill section. Chris wanted Lance to draft--- to stay behind other riders and save some energy for the end of the race.

But Lance didn’t listen to his coach. He was overconfident and quickly pedaled to a big lead. The lead grew to almost 90 seconds, but Lance was exhausting himself. He got tired and slowed down. His lead fell to a minute, than to 30 seconds. Soon the peloton had caught him. Lance couldn’t mount a charge at the end. He could only slide back into the draft and finish eleventh.

论证题目：1Do people accomplish more when they are allowed to do things in their own way?

自己方式：冲刺，领先。

结果：输了比赛。

2 Are people more likely to be productive and successful when they ignore the opinions of others?

Is it sometimes better to take risks than to follow a more reasonable course of action?

Impatience was not Lance’s only problem during races. His aggressive style also got him into trouble. He didn’t give his opponents any respect. He would shout at them and insult them during races. He wouldn’t work with his own teammates. He would show them up(使难堪)， just to prove that he was better. In response other riders sometimes got in his way on purpose and tried to slow him down. They refused to draft with him. By being selfish, Lance was isolating him.

An common idea in team racing: that one racer should move over to let another one win.

After 1990 Italy: Lance was riding as an amateur on the U.S. cycling team. He also signed on with a professional team called Subaru-Montgomery.

Both teams were competing in the race. The race was held over ten stages, each on a different day. As the race went on, only one rider, an American named Nate Reese, was ahead of Lance. One evening between stages, Eddie, the coach of the Subaru-Montgomery team, told Lance that he was expected to help Reese, a professional, win the race.

注（amateur cyclists get paid but they can’t win prize money at international events ）

He wasn’t used to the idea of staying back to let somebody else win. He talked to his coach Chris. His coach told him to take every chance to win. His mother Linda also encouraged him to ride the best he could.

In the final stage, he pushed hard to take over the lead. His fast pace left Reese far behind. The Italian fans were angry that an American was leading the race. They threw glass and tracks onto the road, hoping to make Lance blow a tyre. It didn’t matter, though. Lance crossed the finish line first, with a margin of victory of more than a minute. As Lance expected, Subaru-Montgomery kicked him off the team for disobeying orders. But Lance knew that if he kept winning the races he’d have his pick of teams.

论证题目：

1Is it necessary to question the authority?

权威：自行车界的潜规则

为什么挑战：家人教练鼓舞，抓住胜利，表现出最好的自己。

怎么挑战：赢得比赛。

结果：a rare American win in a European cycling event; made his mark on the cycling world

2 Assignment: Can people ever be truly original?

成规：潜规则

原创，与众不同：证明自己，赢得胜利。

1992 Barcelona Olympics (120.5 mile）road race, no energy to charge, fourteenth

Then turn professional, allow him collect prize money in international events

Coach Jim Ochwicz, signed Lance to ride for a cycling team sponsored by Motorola.

First race as a pro: 1992 Spain, a one-day race (one of ten in cycling’s World Cup series ) battered by cold winds, heavy rains, conditions he was used to from his days in Texas, couldn’t keep pace with the peloton, last of 111 finishers. His confidence was as low as it had ever been, quit the sport, maybe it was not right for him, maybe the competition at the professional level was just too tough.

Luckily, his friend Chris talked him out of quitting, told him to learn from his failure and become a better cyclist because of it. He agreed to keep trying and got second-place in the championship of Zurich in Switzerland. This proved that he belonged in the professional ranks. The finish was a much-needed boost to the young cyclist’s confidence.

论证题目：

We need other people better understand ourselves

自己：放弃

朋友：失败乃成功之母

结果：继续比赛，赢得胜利

At the age 25, the doctor Reeves said that he suffered testicular cancer. The cancer had spread from his testicle to his lungs. It was possible to cure the cancer, but time was precious.

Surgery to remove his testicle, three hours, success

Next three months, he need a powerful chemotherapy,, a kind of cancer treatment that can be very hard on the patient. The drugs used in the treatment kill cancer cells, but they also kill many healthy cells. Patients often lose a lot of weight; their hair may fall out.

Lance didn’t let the treatments get him down. He tried to stay positively. His body handled the drugs without too many side effects. Once he was healed from the surgery, he even rode his bike a little every night. Lance talked to his doctors about his treatment and hoped that they could use drugs that wouldn’t destroy his muscles or hurt his chance of returning to cycling someday.

But the bad news came: the cancer had spread to his brain. He had two tumors there. Though the doctors told lance that his chance for surviving were about 50 percent，there wasn’t what they really thought. Privately, the doctors didn’t expect him to live.

On the morning of October 25, 1996, he went in for surgery to remove the rumors. The operation lasting for six hours was a success, which was followed by more chemo. He told himself that pain and weakness were signs that he was winning the battle. Finally, the whole therapy was over. The early tests were promising.

After deep thought, he decided to start training again. He wanted to return for the 1998 season. He told his team, Cofidas, that he was on his way back. But he got a shock. The team didn’t want him anymore. It canceled the contract ,not thinking that Lance would ever be the rider he had been when first signed him.

Fortunately, with the help of his old friend, Thomas, who was running a team sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, he signed a contract for a low salary. His new, thinned builder and fresh determination were making him better stage racer than he had been before the illness.

1999, July,环法

During the first several stages, Lance and his team did what they could to stay near the front. Lance did not care too much about leading. He was saving his leg for the climbs.

最后climbing stages， 19赛段之前，领先了9 seconds better than second-place Zulle

In 2001, Lance was growing even closer to his teammates. The U.SS Postal Service team had earned the nickname Big Blue for the blue jerseys the team members wore. Lance’s three straight Tour wins had made the once little-known team into a powerhouse. He was surrounded by good teammates--cyclists who knew what it took to work as a team. They were willing to work and sweat to give their leader any advantage.

In stage 11, a long and difficult climb over three peaks, Lance’s teammates took turns leading him up the mountain, allowing him to draft and save energy. Then he attacked and took over the yellow jersey.

By tradition, the Tour winners gives a big chunk of his winning (totaling $400,000) to his teammates. Lance was so grateful for all the help he had been given that he doubled the usual amount.

论证题目：

1 Is identity something people are born with or given, or is it something people create for themselves?

以前狂躁，不配合，就冲刺

现在讲究合作，战术保留。

2 Do people achieve more success by cooperation or by competition?

合作：为什么 protect you, exhibit your full potential

怎么合作：队员帮助他骑在主车队，轮流领骑，减少体力消耗reserve his energy for final charge