SAT考試作為美國的“高考”已經(jīng)成為中國學(xué)生申請(qǐng)美國大學(xué)的敲門磚。為了進(jìn)入一個(gè)好的大學(xué)，他們必須拿到一個(gè)好的分?jǐn)?shù)。然而，SAT考試的第一個(gè)task——寫作——就給中國學(xué)生設(shè)置了一個(gè)障礙。眾所周知，寫作，不管是SAT寫作、GRE寫作還是TOEFL寫作，一直以來都是中國學(xué)生的一個(gè)弱項(xiàng)。（中國考生的GRE寫作平均分在3.2左右，滿分6分；托福寫作平均分20分，滿分30分）

　　那么如何才能取得一個(gè)寫作高分呢？首先我們需要研究一下SAT作文的評(píng)分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

　　一、邏輯分
　　SAT寫作6分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)里第一個(gè)項(xiàng)目是這樣說的“effectively and insightfully develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates outstanding critical thinking, using clearly appropriate examples, reasons and other evidence to support its position.”從這里我們可以看到，SAT滿分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)最強(qiáng)調(diào)和重視的是眾考生的邏輯思維以及他們對(duì)特定事物的思辨性的考慮。Insight是指大家對(duì)事物深入而深刻的看法，中文可以理解成洞察力。Critical thinking則是辯證性的思考。Using clearly appropriate examples, reasons and other evidence to support its position是要大家用例子，理由或者其他證據(jù)去證明自己的觀點(diǎn)。需要注意的是在例子、理由和證據(jù)前面有一個(gè)clearly，也就是說考官的要求是要大家清晰的表達(dá)自己的看法。這個(gè)清晰其實(shí)就是強(qiáng)調(diào)大家的一種邏輯性。例子理由要與你的觀點(diǎn)密切相關(guān)。例子理由如何支撐文章的觀點(diǎn)要非常清晰的得以體現(xiàn)。

　　我們來看一篇學(xué)生習(xí)作的開頭段：In our world, truth and lie exist in a way the same as that of the black and white. It’s obviously for us to see that one of them is opposite to the other. So[e1] many people think directly[e2] that they are not same at all. But in fact, they are the same things in the whole, because both of them are little [e3] parts compared to the integration. Their function is to make the integration execute fluently and effective, which can benefit more people. So my idea is that truth or lie is just a kind of formation. [e4] What determines our choice is the result can really help people rather than tangle with the apparent formation.[e5]

　　學(xué)生習(xí)作的題目是Do circumstances determine whether or not people should tell the truth。我們看到上面的習(xí)作中有一些邏輯連接詞so，but，because等。明顯的，在這一段中，學(xué)生的邏輯非常混亂。看到第一個(gè)批注中的內(nèi)容：“注意此處的邏輯關(guān)系。‘明顯的他們有區(qū)別，但是，一些人。。’注意是轉(zhuǎn)折應(yīng)該用however或者but等。但是，再接著看到后面一句你用的but，也就是說前面不能用轉(zhuǎn)折關(guān)系了，要改用although的讓步關(guān)系。而且，后面解釋的時(shí)候已經(jīng)表達(dá)了第一段第二句的意思，所以建議刪掉第二句話。”（該段落的其他問題見旁邊的批注）

　　再來看一下學(xué)生根據(jù)修改意見修改后的開頭段：In our world, truth and lie exist in a way the same as that of the black and white. So many people consider that they are not the same at all. In fact, both of them are parts of the integration. That is, they are the same things. And the reason of their existence is that it can supply more ways for people to release their emotion. As far as I am concerned, I vote that people don’t have to always tell the truth, because sometimes it can hurt people, whom maybe you would have helped. 修改后的內(nèi)容在表達(dá)上清晰了許多。

　　二、結(jié)構(gòu)分
　　滿分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)中的第二個(gè)要求：is well organized and clearly focused, demonstrating clear coherence and smooth progression of ideas.’’

　　一篇完整的SAT作文結(jié)構(gòu)應(yīng)該是這樣的：

　　P1 Introductory sentence. Thesis. Sentence previewing three examples.

　　P2 Transition + topic sentence. Support sentence. Additional support (Example 1). Closing sentence summarizing the paragraph (with the take-away point).

　　P3 Transition + topic sentence. Support sentence. Additional support(Example 2). Closing sentence summarizing the paragraph (with the take-away point).

　　P4 Transition + topic sentence. Support sentence. Additional support (Example 3). Closing sentence summarizing the paragraph (with the take-away point).

　　P5 Conclusion.

　　現(xiàn)在許多學(xué)生的寫作的一個(gè)很大的問題在于，開頭段結(jié)尾段的結(jié)構(gòu)能夠得到保證，但是中間段落的Topic Sentence和 Concluding Sentence不喜歡寫。單純的在開頭段后舉例是不能有力的證明自己的觀點(diǎn)的。每個(gè)中間段的完整結(jié)構(gòu)必須有分支觀點(diǎn)句，支撐句和結(jié)論句。分支觀點(diǎn)句往往是例子要告訴人們的道理或者作者要通過例子表達(dá)的內(nèi)容的總括。結(jié)論句往往是對(duì)例子的分析：“在這個(gè)例子中，通過什么從而使什么怎么樣。”

　　通過上文提到的題目為例，以下是依據(jù)該題的一個(gè)完整中間段落：

　　If life is considered more important than honesty, lies can be justified.

　　A very representative example of this point is the story of Nicolaus Copernicus, the vanguard of modern astronomy. His idea that the earth rotates around the sun and human beings are just part of the nature was so radical at his time that the Roman Catholic Church accused him of serious crime of heresy. Knowing that he would die if he continued to tell his theory publicly, he told lies that he recanted his theory. And so he protected his life. His idea though he renounced in front of the church, he secretly continued his research. In this case, Nicolaus did not tell the truth. However, he followed his heart and he contributed tremendously to the scientific community. Circumstances justified his lies because life is much more valuable than anything else on earth.

　　黃色標(biāo)注的部分為結(jié)構(gòu)提示部分。第一個(gè)和最后一個(gè)句子是分支觀點(diǎn)句和結(jié)論句。Example所在的句子是例子的引出，in this case 舉例完后對(duì)例子的總結(jié)分析。這樣一個(gè)中間段落才稱得上是一個(gè)結(jié)構(gòu)完整的中間段。這也是眾多考試寫作是應(yīng)該注意的一個(gè)重要問題。