12月6日的SAT作文题是“Can people who are not famous be better role models than people who are famous?”与历年SAT的作文题目相比,这一题目的难度系数并不算很高,但是仍然有些小陷阱,考生在审题时还需谨慎。同学们大都选择了“Yes”这一立场。西奈山国际教育SAT考试指导专家郑峻华老师对本次SAT考试作文题目进行了详细点评,并提供一篇范文,给广大SAT考生参考。就作文题目本身郑峻华老师有几点提醒大家:
一、Rolemodel与idol并不是一个概念。
不少同学并没有完全弄清rolemodel与idol的区别。Role model 更倾向于“榜样”,而idol倾向于“偶像”的含义。具体来说,rolemodel具备某种物质或者优点,我们非常希望通过对他(她)的学习也同样具备这样的特质及优点。但我们对role model不见得会有着对idol那样的“崇拜”(worship)的色彩。
二、不要忽视原题中的“better”。
相信不少同学看完原题,特别是原题中方框内的引言部分后,都会想到一些例子,比如自己的亲人(父亲或者母亲)、同学、其他所认识的人等,其中会有几位,他们虽然不是名人,但有一些优点值得我们学习。在文中能举出这样的例子确实很好,但是原题中有一个问题没有解决,为什么这些不出名的,就在我们身边的人们相对于那些名人而言,会成为更好的榜样呢?这一点我们是否考虑过?是否进行论证?
三、为什么我们身边的人会是“betterrole model”?
为什么我们身边的人会是“betterrole model”?这是因为,我们身边的人是真实的,是我们可能朝夕相处的,他们身上的,无论是优点还是缺点,我们都清晰地看到。他们是真实的人,正因为他们有血有肉,有优点也有不足,所以他们的闪光点更加弥足珍贵。而名人,距离我们比较远,我们对他们的认知都是间接的。为他们写传记的人,或者关于他们的影视作品,会或多或少地扩大他们的优点或者缺点。名人可能会成为我们的idol,但不见得是最好的rolemodel,因为我们对名人的了解往往是不完整和不客观的。
四、不要乱套“例子库”。
看到网上有一篇文章,鼓励大家用这样的方法来写这篇作文“大家准备的很多名人例子,在成名之初都有过一段较长的‘屌丝期’,后来由于自己的发愤图强、不畏艰难、持之以恒、挑战权威,最后出名了”,用这些例子来写这篇文章“就行了”。对此,不得不大声疾呼一下,此大谬也!
原题十分清楚,无论是famous还是notfamous 之前都是一般现在时are,如果是刚才那种写法,描述一个‘无名屌丝’如何“逆袭”成为名人,那至少notfamous前面应该是过去时were或者used to be。‘屌丝逆袭’的写作思路是严重的理解错误。
就此附上一篇短小的文章,这是西奈山国际教育的SAT学员所写,由老师指导并加以一定的修正,仅供大家参考。此文能否得到高分也许大家见仁见智,但至少它对原题的理解是正确的。
2014.12.6SAT考试作文例文:
Fame doesn't naturally make a person a good role model. All it does is make the actions of a person more public on television and magazines. A good role model needs to be someone whose actions can be learned from. Because of this, I strongly believe that people who are not famous can be better role models than famous people.
Nikola Tesla was a famous engineer in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During his career, he made great contributions to engineering and physics, including the invention of the induction motor and studies of magnetism and electricity. He was made famous by magazines, journals, and newspapers, and many people thought of Tesla as agreat role model because of his achievements.
Though Tesla remained charming in public, he was not a good role model. He fired a secretary because she was overweight and often told his employees to go home and change their clothes if he didn't like what they were wearing. It is not the fact that he did these bad things that makes him a bad role model. He is a bad role model because his bad actions remained hidden, so that we can't learn from them.
My father is not famous, but he makes a better role model than Tesla. My father works hard as a doctor, which I think is a good thing in the same way that Tesla's great inventions were good things. He also does bad things, like get angry and waste lots of money. However, I see both the good and bad things that my father does. I can learn both to do the good things that he does and to not do the bad things that he does. Because I have a complete understanding of him, I can learn from all aspects of him, not just the good actions that he did.
Neither fame nor good achievements make a good role model. Whether a person is a good role model depends on how much can be learned from the actions and reasons of that person.So, people who are not famous can be better role models than people who are famous.