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2013年12月14日大學英語六級考試寫作詳解與參考范文
一、 真題
1.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay about the impact of the information explosion by referring to the saying “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” You can give examples to illustrate your point and then explain what you can do to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
2.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark “The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.” You can give examples to illustrate your point and then explain what you will do to make your life more meaningful. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
3.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on happiness by referring to the saying “Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them.” You can cite examples to illustrate your point and then explain how you can develop your ability to deal with problems and be happy. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
二、解析
本次寫作屬于以往我的教材和講義里所說的“名言警句”型。是自1997年1月以來六級考試歷史上總共第5次、連續第3次考到該類型。往年真題如下：
1997年1月真題
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic Haste Makes Waste. You should write at least 120 words and you should base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below.
1. 為什么“欲速則不達”？
2. 舉例說明。
2011年12月真題
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled The Way to Success by commenting on Abraham Lincoln’s famous remark, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
2012年12月真題
1.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled On Maintaining Trust by commenting on the saying, “It takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to destroy it.” You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
2.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Computer and Man by commenting on the saying, “It is not a real danger that the computer thinks like man, but that man thinks like the computer.” You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
2013年6月真題
1.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark “A smile is the shortest distance between two people”. You may cite some examples to support you view. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
2.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark “Good habits result from resisting temptation”. You may cite some examples support you view. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
3.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed”. You may cite some examples support you view. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
分析這些真題可以看出，其共同特征為對于諺語（Haste Makes Waste）、名言（Lincoln’s famous remark, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe）或警句進行評論。盡管近幾次真題并非眾所周知的俗諺或名言，但也是精心設計的富有哲理的話，而且語言簡練，修辭考究，起碼可以稱得上是警句。當然，既然其內容多為哲理，也可以稱為“人生哲理型”作文。有人將其稱為“話語評論型”、或“引語評論型”，雖然比較直觀，但筆者認為略有失之寬泛之嫌，容易與“觀點認同型”文章混淆，如：
Some people claim that economic development and environmental protection cannot be achieved at the same time. To what degree do you agree with this statement? Give your view and reasons.
這類作文話題往往是有爭議的話題，而非公認的(起碼是出題人認定的)哲理。這種作文多為雅思、托福、GRE以及專四、專八的考法，在四六級中尚未出現過，但以后有可能。為了避免混淆，因此將上述六級考題命名為“名言警句型”。
此類作文的另一共同特征為要求或者建議考生舉例。這也是論述哲理性話題的最常見、甚至是唯一寫法。
當然，與1997年的Haste Makes Waste 以及2011年的Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe相比，近三次的六級作文確有不同。
首先，如前文所述，它們并非歷史悠久、眾所周知的俗諺或名言，而是近人所為，甚至就是出題人自己編出來的，因此此前范文里給的A famous saying goes可以改為A witty (機智、幽默的)/ meaningful（意味深長的）/ instructive（有教育意義的）saying goes（當然，不改也不算什么問題，說那個說法有名也是給了出題人面子嘛，哈哈）。
其次，與此相呼應的是，其內容也往往更具現實意義，如2012年12月It takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to destroy it所反映的現代社會誠信問題、It is not a real danger that the computer thinks like man, but that man thinks like the computer所反映的電腦過度使用問題、2013年6月A smile is the shortest distance between two people所反映的現代人與人之間的冷漠問題、Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed所反映的現代人的貪婪與資源緊張問題以及2013年12月A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention所反映的現代社會信息爆炸引發的人們注意力難以集中的問題，等等。因此在沒有特殊要求的情況下也可以按照“解決問題”型的思路去寫，只要在文中（最好是首段）對給的警句略作評論即可。
（當然，除此之外，其他話題仍然是有著永恒價值的人生哲理，如Good habits result from resisting temptation所反映的“人應該有毅力去抵制誘惑才能養成好習慣”，以及本次考題The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it所反映的“人應該志存高遠、過真正有意義的生活”，Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them所反映的“人不應該懼怕困難，應該迎難而上，從與困難作斗爭中獲得快樂”。）
最后，本次考題與以往的最大區別在于，Directions中明確要求寫出自己的做法（explain what you can do…），這恐怕是任何模板或功能段所無法解決的問題，而恰恰也是閱卷評分的重要依據。
