广大考生都知道SAT作文题目由两部分组成，即excerpt 与assignment。那么到底哪个更重要?excerpt要不要看呢? 今天无忧名师郭晶就用官方指南与真题来给考生详细解读他们之间的关系。
本文为无忧培训郭晶老师原创，转载请注明出处和作者，违者必究！
我们来看一下这篇范文是怎么偏离excerpt的：
The statement “There is always a ‘however’ ” is extremely accurate, for most things in life come with conditions. Most of the time it is not always as easy as saying that you want to do something and then doing it, or saying that you want something and then getting it. There is always some sort of condition or stipulation set by someone else that you must follow. This word ‘ however’ is especially relevant to teenagers, whose parents and teachers take advantage of it to spoil whatever plans or ideas they may have had.
Take for example a typical teenage boy who has just been assigned a project to do in his history class. The teacher begins the assignment with, “You have full freedom to choose the topic of your project.” And here marks the entrance of the dreadful ‘however.’ The teacher continues, “HOWEVER, the project must have some relevance to the current situation in the Middle East.” The boy’s head, which had previously been swimming with ideas, was now drained of all topics for he had no clue what was happening in the Middle East. Then the boy finally comes up with a topic and goes to discuss it with his teacher. The teacher begins, “That is a very intelligent and well thought out idea. “ The boy is elated, but then that word rears its ugly head. The teacher continues, “HOWEVER, it is not relevant enough to the situation at hand.” And that one word has singlehandedly ruined that boy’s day.
Another example would be a teenage girl getting ready for a night out with her friends. She is just about to walk out the door when her mother begins, “Your outfit is very lovely.” Automatically the girl becomes suspicious. The mother continues, “HOWEVER, I cannot let you leave this house wearing it.” The girl changes her outfit and returns when her mother begins again, “You may take my car.” The girl is excited, for she was afraid she would have to walk. Then the mother continues, “HOWEVER, you must bring it back by 9:30.” And the girl’s evening plans are cut short and her night ruined.
The word however is very powerful. It has the ability to ruin entire days and nights when used incorrectly. The modern teenager especially feels the harsh usage of ‘ however’, for his or her teachers and parents always make some sort of condition or situation on every activity that he or she wants to participate in.
这篇文章并没有以excerpt为出发点而去写一件事务一方面好，另一方面不好，而是直接按照作者自己对于assignment的理解写了人们总是有其他的explanation，总是会说however。
从这篇范文我们可以判定College Board并没有要求考生完全按照excerpt的方向去写，所以大多数时候为了节省时间考生可以不看excerpt，而直接根据assignment来写作文。
However,正如刚才我们看到的题目所说的一样“There is always a however” ，这并不意味着所有的题目都可以直接读了assignment就可以动笔写，而不看excerpt。有些题目如果不看excerpt就有跑题的危险。
如：
2009年5月题目：
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and assignment below
| People define themselves by work, by what they "do." When one person asks another, "What do you do?" the answer always refers to a job or profession: "I'm a doctor, an accountant, a farmer." I've often wondered what would happen if we changed the question to, "Who are you?" or, "What kind of person are you?" or even, "What do you do for fun?"
Adapted from Stephan Rechtschaffen, Time Shifting |
Assignment: Are people best defined by what they do?
乍一看题目同学们肯定很兴奋，“人们是不是由他们所做的事情来定义”这题貌似写什么都行，就写一个人干什么了，然后别人把他或她当作什么即可。However,再看excerpt，“what they do”指的是 “职业”，也就是说这题问的是人们是不是应该由自己的职业所定义。这题要是按照一开始想的那样写就掉进陷阱里了。
再如：
2012年12月题目：
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
| Studies of creativity often focus primarily on writers, artists, composers, and scientists. Political leaders are not usually considered to be very creative. Indeed, it is sometimes said that it is a good thing that leaders in general are not very creative, since an excess of creativity, especially in leaders who have to enforce rules, would only lead to trouble. Yet surely some degree of creativity is desirable in all walks of life.
Adapted from Thomas G. West, In the Mind's Eye |
Assignment: Do all people need to be creative?
同学们肯定判断这是创新类，这题目不能再正了。However, 如果这题同学们直接动笔写了一个艺术家一个科学家，那就正好掉进陷阱了。请仔细看excerpt，已经承认了“作家，艺术家，作曲家，科学家是需要创新的，而政治领袖不需要创新。然而所有领域都需要创新”。所以同学们举的例子至少不能都集中在作家，艺术家，作曲家，科学家，当然如果有政治领袖的例子更好，如果没有可以写管理者，教育家，体育家，无论写什么人物都不能恰好去证明excerpt已经承认了需要创新的人物。
以上便是无忧名师郭晶为各位同学详细解析的SAT作文题目中excerpt与assignment的关系，从上面郭晶老师所举的题目，考生应该明白写SAT essay时并不需要绝对按照excerpt来写，但是如果excerpt恰巧限定了范围，那么考生确实需要顾及。希望广大考生经过努力顺利攻破SAT写作考试这个堡垒!
