“独立写作”是典型的“四化”

　　1.遣词造句常态化

　　对于新托福独立写作的用词要求，一个很明显的倾向就是“准确常见”。因为只有常见的词汇，才能最直观地让读者了解作者的思路，才能最直白地表达作者的所思所想。以官方指南第三版中一篇满分作文的开头段为例：There are certain considerations or factors that everyone takes into account in a relationship. People may look for honesty, altruism, understanding, loyalty, being thoughtful etc! Everyone would more or less wish that the person she\he is dealing with has some of these virtues above. Putting them in an order according to their importance, however, can be very subjective and relative.

　　上段并没有任何生僻词和句式磅礴的句子，但每个单句的意思都清晰直白，整段的行文也通顺流畅。其实，用词的准确性很大程度上就看这个词的常见度，因为正是某个词能够准确直白地表明某个意思，这个词才会常用。试想在现代中文写作中, 一个心智正常的中国人不会把“去洗手间”写成“出宫”，不会把“吃饭”换成“用膳”，因为“出宫”和“用膳”已经脱离了现代中国人的常态词汇表，因此就不能给人直白清晰的印象了。

　　这种用词的常态性还体现在新托福题目本身的用词上，请看一道2007.08.25的新托福教育类考题用词：Do you agree or disagree with the following statement- Schools should not pay much attention to general subjects. Instead, they should help students prepare for specific careers and jobs.而雅思剑桥7 P102中同一考题的出题用词是：Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer. What in your opinion should be the main function of a university-

　　又来2009.05.30的新托福考题：Young school children (age five to ten) should be required to study art and music, in addition to math, language, science and history; 类似的一道雅思考题：Schools should teach children the academic subjects which have a relationship with their future careers, so other subjects like music and sports are not important. To what extent do you agree or disagree- 雅思考题只是笼统地说“subjects which have a relationship with their future careers”, 有些烤鸭们可能还会花时间去纠结到底哪些科目跟以后就业相关，而豁达的新托福考题不仅直接列出了科目的明细，还划定了children年龄的范围!

　　再看一道纠结的广告类雅思考题：The high sales of popular consumer goods reflect the power of advertising but not the real need of the society where such products are sold. To what extent do you agree or disagree- 本道题大部分孩子估计都得读不下三遍才有头绪。看看新托福怎么考“广告的作用VS消费者的决定权”这个点的： Advertisement is a waste of time and money, because customers already know what they want.(20071208) 由上可见，无论从对写作词汇的评判还是出题的词句选取，新托福写作无不体现出老美率真直白的语言个性。