SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) 考试是赴美国读本科的考生需要全力攻克的关卡。其作文考试 (essay) 被安排在整个考试的最开始，虽然分值比重并不高（约占写作部分三分之一的分值），但是应该引起广大考生的重视。这是因为作文能否写好会影响考生心情，从而可能影响整个考试；另一方面，作文所得的分数会单独呈现在SAT考试的成绩单上，如果得分较低，可能对申请不利。

    然而，很多同学的作文成绩并不理想。造成这一现象的原因是多方面的，其中一个很重要的原因在于很多学生只是注重应试技巧，对所谓“模板”趋之若鹜，而不是从根本上去提高分析话题的能力、灵活运用例子的能力和语言表达的能力。 实际上，如果只是寄希望于考试技巧，考试结果往往不如人意。

    “问渠那得清如许，为有源头活水来。” 要从根本上提高SAT写作能力，就必须要输入“源头活水”，而这源头活水，就是新航道胡敏老师主持编写的《SAT写作官方题库与范文》。换句话说，考生需要仔细研习这本书里面的范文。问题是，如何充分利用这本书里的范文呢？笔者认为可以从三个方面来研究。，文章观点；第二，例子素材；第三，语言表达。现在以下面这篇范文为例来具体说明。

    Assignment: It is always best to determine one’s own views of right and wrong, or can we benefit from following the crowd?  (May 2007)
    (作文题目见《SAT写作官方题库与范文》，2012年1月版, P85)

    Albert Camus, the French writer and philosopher once said, “Integrity has no need of rules.” In other words, the legal systems and social codes of society mean nothing if an individual inherently feels and understands what is morally right and wrong. Human society’s complicities raise many questions on how one should live, and what is best for our world. However, society is not always correct about what takes moral precedence; following the crowd may be stupid and dangerous. 

    The rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in post World WarⅠGerman society illustrate the hazards of blindly following a mainstream ethical code that is forced on to the populace. The psychological and physical defeat of Germany after World WarⅠleft a leadership void, which Hitler actively filled, and immediately roused the population into following his ideology of racial supremacy and anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, because Hitler was incredibly influential and was backed by secret police, the people opposed his policies and principles fled the country. The people of Germany blindly accepted the propaganda of Aryan superiority, as well as stood aside, or participated in the extermination of millions of Jews. This infamous period of history illustrates the dangers of not critically inspecting the validity of social morals, and not following personal integrity.

    Another example of the dominance of mainstream immoral behavior and attitude over personal values is the acceptance of slavery throughout the American South. For centuries, blacks had been imported as slaves from Africa and the West Indies, sold as cattle to white men who bought them as disposable laborers. Society tolerated this behavior because blacks were thought to be racially inferior to whites, and more importantly, the large Southern plantations needed inexpensive workers to farm hundreds of acres of land. It wasn’t until abolitionists and human rights activities spoke out that people began to even consider the immorality of slavery. Yet in the 21st century, the idea that we could ever own another human being is considered cruel and intolerable. Slavery and racism illustrates how easily mainstream society accepts generally unacceptable morality without bothering to criticize it.

    We cannot rely solely on other people around us to decide us in every direction, right and wrong. History has shown us the dangers of following others like lemmings jumping to their deaths. Humans differ from animals in that we posses a moral compass; it is only appropriate that each individual use it. It is each person’s duty to society to question the validity of overarching social values because it is only through criticism that flaws can be revealed, and improvement reached.(432words) (范文见《SAT写作官方题库与范文》2010年7月版，P138)

    对范文的分析：

    首先，文章观点。作者在首段提出了自己的观点：

    In other words, the legal systems and social codes of society mean nothing if an individual inherently feels and understands what is morally right and wrong. Human society’s complicities raise many questions on how one should live, and what is best for our world. However, society is not always correct about what takes moral precedence; following the crowd may be stupid and dangerous. 

    这一观点的提出并不是简单地针对Assignment的问题给出同意或反对的表态, 而是要体现一定的辩证性：社会的法律体制和行为准则可能对个人的道德有一定的引导作用，但另一方面，在评判道德方面，社会不见得总是对的，随大流是愚蠢和危险的。（原文”the legal systems and social codes of society mean nothing if an individual inherently feels and understands what is morally right and wrong” 意思是：如果个人天生就能感知并理解道德是非，则社会法律制度和行为准则就毫无意义。而我们知道人不太可能天生就能理解道德是非，人们道德观念的形成其实是受到法律制度和社会行为标准影响的，因此原文的意思其实是说社会法律制度和行为准则引导着人的道德判断。）

    从提出观点的角度，这篇范文给了我们一个启示，即SAT写作观点要表达得清晰明白，但体现一定的辩证性、复杂性。

    第二，例子素材的运用。文章中用了两个具体的例子（德国人盲从于希特勒的宣传和美国许多人容忍黑奴制度）来支持作者的观点。这两段历史高中历史课中都有提及，因此我们看完范文之后可以结合高中历史课本和其他网络资源，对这两段历史做进一步的分析和梳理，从而加深印象，以后写作遇到类似话题，便可以在原文基础上稍作修改，运用到自己的文章中去。但注意不能直接“拿来主义”，一定要结合自己的理解做出适合的修改后再用。这两个例子可以稍作改变，用到下面几道题目中去：

    (2005.3) Is the opinion of the majority---in government or in any other circumstances----a poor guide? 

    (2006.6) Do we tend to accept the opinions of others instead of developing our own independent ideas? 

    (2008.1) Is it always better to be original than to imitate or use the ideas of others?

    (2010.06) Do groups that encourage nonconformity and disagreement function better than those that discourage it?

    (2011.06) Does accepting the values of a group allow people to avoid taking responsibility for their own thoughts and actions?

    当然，我们也可以由这两个例子联想到二战时期很多日本人对军国主义思想的盲从。换句话说，我们在准备例子素材的时候可以完全抛开原文中的例子，自己联想类似的新例子。

    第三，语言表达。研习、背诵和模仿范文（包括其他英文文章）是提高语言能力的有效途径。这是因为：写作是个语言输出的过程，而要想保证输出的质量，就一定要保证有大量、高质量的输入。研习和背诵范文就是这样的一个输入和积累的过程。当然，首先要搞清楚研习范文的含义。所谓研习范文，绝非仅仅是把别人的文章看懂，而是要本着独立思考的精神，根据自己的实际情况，研究并吸取范文中精华的部分。换句话说，就是要把范文中的漂亮词汇和句型（但不限于词汇和句型）通过背诵和重复记忆内化成自己的东西，以便在以后的写作中用到[以便在以后的写作中用到]。所以，这个过程体现出研习范文之后对今后写作的影响。只有这样做，才能从根本上避免很多同学踏入把输入范文和输出写作割裂开来的误区，从而做到“范文好，我的作文也好”，并最终实现“大家好，才是真的好”。

    本篇范文中可以吸收的表达和句型包括：

    社会道德准则：social codes

    从众，随大流：follow the crowd

    遵循主流道德准则/ 规范： follow a mainstream ethical code

    种族优越, 种族隔离 racial supremacy / superiority 

    社会道德：social morals / social codes / ethical code

    个人正值、诚实personal integrity

    个人价值观：personal values

    比白人的种族低等：be racially inferior to whites

    主流社会：mainstream society

    仅仅依赖于：rely solely on

    占支配地位的社会价值观：overarching social values 

    人类之所以跟动物不同是因为人类有道德指南针的引导：Humans differ from animals in that we posses a moral compass.

    总之，SAT作文貌似面目狰狞，咄咄逼人，其实要拿高分也并非难事。只要能多研习范文，学会分析作文话题，提出清晰的观点，注意收集例子素材，灵活修改运用，不断积累语言表达，多加练习，勤于修改，定能克敌制胜，圆梦美国！