【备考攻略】巧做新SAT阅读精读 学大师级写作精华

SAT改革后的 social science 方面的文章有相当一部分是关于科技媒体与人类生活之间的关系的讨论，可以给到我们很多启发和参考。今天摘选的这两篇文章可以作为科技媒体类议论文的sample essays 来鉴赏和精读。那么，我们一起来巧读SAT文章，学学大师级的写作精华吧。

1、June 2016 SAT Real Test

This passage is adapted from Stephen Coleman, Scott Anthony, and David E. Morrison, “Public Trust in the News.”2009 by Stephen Coleman.

这篇亚太区阅读真题的开头段写得很 insightful，可以广泛适用于不同出国类考试题目的背景介绍或个人观点。我们先来看文章的开头段：

The news is a form of public knowledge. Unlike personal or private knowledge (such as the health of one’s friends and family; the conduct of a private hobby; a secret liaison), public knowledge increases in value as it is shared by more people. The date of an election and the claims of rival candidates; the causes and consequences of an environmental disaster; a debate about how to frame a particular law; the latest reports from a war zone – these are all examples of public knowledge that people are generally expected to know in order to be considered informed citizens. Thus, in contrast to personal or private knowledge, which is left to individuals to pursue or ignore, public knowledge is promoted even to those who might not think it matters to them. In short, the circulation of public knowledge, including the news, is generally regarded as a public good which cannot be solely demand-driven.

2、May 2016 SAT Real Test

This passage is adapted from John Bohannon, “Why You Shouldn’t Trust Internet Comments.”2003 by American Association for the Advancement of Science.

这是另外一篇亚太区的阅读真题，开头段同样写得很精彩：

The “wisdom of crowds” has become a mantra of the Internet age. Need to choose a new vacuum cleaner? Check out the reviews on online merchant Amazon. But a new study suggests that such online score don’t always reveal the best choice. A massive controlled experiment of Web users finds that such ratings are highly susceptible to irrational “herd behavior” – and that the herd can be manipulated.

这两篇作为“优秀的 sample essays”，有几个地方特别值得在议论文写作时借鉴，我们来细细品味一下：

① 开头的背景句简短精致-The news is a form of public knowledge. / The “wisdom of crowds” has become a mantra of the Internet age.

这两篇文章都用了特别简洁的定义法，来陈述文章讨论主题的背景。第一篇说：新闻是一种公众知识的形式;第二篇说：大众智慧已经变成了互联网时代奉行的准则。

而大部分的同学在写背景句的时候，特别喜欢用长长的定语从句来写时代背景或者社会现状，殊不知，长句有时也会 work against us. 短句有时更精致、有力，更能快速抓住读者的心。

②例子的列举方式-标点符号及归纳方式

两篇的举例方法都很有意思，第一篇用分号来排比几个生活中的例子，并在句子的最后归纳出几个例子说明的共同问题：

“The date of an election and the claims of rival candidates; the causes and consequences of an environmental disaster; a debate about how to frame a particular law; the latest reports from a war zone – these are all examples of public knowledge that people are generally expected to know in order to be considered informed citizens.”

第二篇用自问自答的方式来举例，很能引起读者的共鸣(related to our common knowledge and daily encounters)：

“Need to choose a new vacuum cleaner? Check out the reviews on online merchant Amazon.”

而在写作中，很多同学可能没有注意到，在语法题中被反复考到的破折号其实在写作中也可以发挥大作用呢!我们可以学习这篇文章的归纳式举例。具体来说，就是先列举几个平行的短例子，然后归纳出这些例子说明的共同观点，看起来还是挺 cool 的呢。

③总分总的 presentation 结构-In short, the circulation of public knowledge, including the news, is generally regarded as a public good which cannot be solely demand-driven.

也就是说，我们从小学语文就开始学的总分总结构真的是很好用的写作黄金结构。很多同学写作容易跑题，其实一个简单的解决方案就是在我们的段落写作当中运用总分总结构。在最后的最后来个 recap 或者 restatement，帮助重申观点的同时又可以改写本段的 thesis statement，飙一下自己的语法纯熟读或者词汇多样化，何乐而不为呢?

④ 文章的观点-两篇文章都提到了集体智慧的问题，可以作为将来类似话题的一个切入点或者分论点来使用。

第一篇讨论“The news is a form of public knowledge.”并且可以进一步与 personal or private knowledge 比较;第二篇认为“The wisdom of crowds has become a mantra of the Internet age.”这个观点既新颖又好用，无论是科技进步还是媒体发展，都可以套用这个思路，讨论这种集体智慧的传播问题，对比传统科技和媒体形式下知识的局限性和滞后性，前者确实有一定的优势。

做完文章精读，顺便还能帮助将来的议论文写作，是不是觉得收获满满的呢?

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