2016年SAT改革样题：新SAT写作改革细节分析

网易教育独家约稿 转载请注明出处及作者

网易教育讯 4月16日，万众瞩目的新版SAT官方样题发布，网易教育第一时间邀请北京新东方赵静老师进行解析，解开2016年SAT考试改革的面纱。

SAT Essay

还有一年半的时间我们就要迎接来新的SAT考试了，那么我们先来看一下新的SAT会有些什么改变：

· 最早的一次新SAT考试会出现在2016年的春天

· 新的SAT考试会以2种形式出现：纸质版考试和电脑版考试（电脑版考试的考点会根据的地区来确定）

· 考试内容：

Ø   询证式阅读和语法

Ø   数学

Ø   作文

·  考试长度：

Ø   3个小时+50分钟的作文

Ø   具体时长会根据进一步的实验再做决定

· 考试分数：1600

Ø   询证式阅读+语法：800分

Ø   数学：800分

Ø   作文：单独出分数（可选，但是大部分学校会要求作文分数）

SAT 写作改革重点：

重新改革的SAT将会更加贴近美国高中教育同时配合美国大学人才的需求。新的SAT作文考试会更加侧重学生能不能够完全适应美国大学里面的学术写作要求，日常的作业，和论文的完成等。所以，新的SAT作文考试要求学生首先具备一些基本的英语写作素养，比如说，遣词造句的能力，表达的能力，构建文章的能力。除此之外，新的考试会更关注于学生整体的读与写的能力，包括逻辑思维能力，辩证性思维能力，独立思考能力，论证能力，辩述能力，分析文章能力等。

因此，新的SAT写作不论从内容上还是形式上都将会有的巨大的改变，与现有的SAT考试截然不同。

SAT 写作改革内容：

首先，让我们先看一下改革的蓝图：

· 来自不同来源的文章

· 在阅读文章的时候，考虑作者是如何使用：

Ø   论据，比如例子和事实

Ø   论述：如何建立论述，同时是如何连接论述和证据

Ø   文体风格或是其他表达方式来展开思路，添加细节，使得整篇文章更有说服力。

·  完成一篇作文，来解释作者是如何构建论证来说服读者的。

那么在新的考试中，学生要做如下几件事情。首先，学生会阅读一篇文章，然后去解释读者是如何构建论证的。学生需要用阅读文章中的具体的例子和论据来论证支持自己的写作观点。整体的写作要求会无限地接近贴合大学里相关的需要写作的作业和论文等。

新的作文部分将被设计成帮助高中生培养仔细阅读，详细分析，清晰写作的能力。这次的改革也会促进学生阅读更广泛的文章，同时使得学生能够从作者的角度分析相关的具体文章修辞，写作意图，论证的使用等。

相关的阅读文章会提前公布和分享出来，整体的风格和形式是保持一致的，只是具体的文章会不一样。

虽然作文的分数在整体的SAT考试中是可选的，但是和一些地区和一些学校将会要求作文的分数。

下面我们看一下最新公布的样题：

The following sampleEssay prompt is followed by an annotated version of the source text thatsuggests some of the ways that students might analyze the text in response tothe prompt. The annotations are only examples of elements of the passagestudents may choose to write about.

As you read the passagebelow, consider how Paul Bogard uses

•    Evidence,such as facts or examples, to support claims.

•    Reasoning todevelop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.

•    Stylistic orpersuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, 
to add powerto the ideas expressed.

Adapted fromPaul Bogard, “Let There be Dark.” ©2012 by the Los Angeles Times. Originallypublished December 21, 2012. 

At myfamily’s cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my handsdisappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smokytrails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when 8 of 10 children born inthe United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way, I worrywe are rapidly losing night’s natural darkness before realizing its worth. Thiswinter solstice, as we cheer the days’ gradual movement back toward light, letus also remember the irreplaceable value of darkness.

All lifeevolved to the steady rhythm of bright days and dark nights. Today, though,when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly for a light switch.And too little darkness, meaning too much artificial light at night, spellstrouble for all.

Already theWorld Health Organization classifies working the night shift as a probablehuman carcinogen, and the American Medical Association has voiced its unanimoussupport for “light pollution reduction efforts and glare reduction efforts atboth the national and state levels.” Our bodies need darkness to produce thehormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodiesneed darkness for sleep.

Sleep disorders havebeen linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression, andrecent research suggests one main cause of “short sleep” is “long light.”Whether we work at night or simply take our tablets, notebooks and smartphonesto bed, there isn’t a place for this much artificial light in our lives.

The rest of the worlddepends on darkness as well, including nocturnal and crepuscular species ofbirds, insects, mammals, fish and reptiles. Some examples are well known—the400 species of birds that migrate at night
in North America, the sea turtlesthat come ashore to lay their eggs—and some are not, such as the bats that saveAmerican farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% ofthe world’s flora. Ecological light pollution is like the bulldozer of thenight, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in themaking. Simply put, without darkness, Earth’s ecology would collapse . . .

In today’s crowded,louder, more fast-paced world, night’s darkness
can provide solitude, quiet andstillness, qualities increasingly in short supply. Every religious traditionhas considered darkness invaluable for a soulful life, and the chance towitness the universe has inspired artists, philosophers and everyday stargazerssince time began. In a world awash with electric light. . . how would Van Goghhave given the world his “Starry Night”? Who knows what this vision of thenight sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?

Yet all over the world,our nights are growing brighter. In the United States and Western Europe, theamount of light in the sky increases an average of about 6% every year.Computer images of the United States at night, based on NASA photographs, showthat what was a very dark country as recently as the 1950s is now nearlycovered with a blanket of light. Much of this light is wasted energy, whichmeans wasted dollars. Those of us over 35 are perhaps among the last generationto have known truly dark nights. Even the northern lake where I was lucky tospend my summers has seen its darkness diminish.

It doesn’t have to bethis way. Light pollution is readily within our ability to solve, using newlighting technologies and shielding existing lights. Already, many cities andtowns across North America and Europe are changing to LED streetlights, whichoffer dramatic possibilities for controlling wasted light. Other communitiesare finding success with simply turning off portions of their public lightingafter midnight. Even Paris, the famed “city of light,” which already turns offits monument lighting after 1 a.m., will this summer start to require itsshops, offices and public buildings to turn off lights after 2 a.m. Thoughprimarily designed to save energy, such reductions in light will also go far inaddressing light pollution. But we will never truly address the problem oflight pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable value and beauty ofthe darkness we are losing.

Assignment: Write anessay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade hisaudience that natural darkness should be preserved. In your essay, analyze howBogard uses one or more of the features listed in the box above (or features ofyour own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Besure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.

Your essay should not explainwhether you agree with Bogard’s
claims, but rather explain how Bogard builds anargument to persuade his audience.

好，看完题目，我们来看一下具体该如何着手去写这篇文章，应该从哪几个点来展现作者的意图。

1. 用词：

a) The descriptive words used inthis sentence add visual intensity, evoking the wonder of the night sky. 作者是如何使用词汇来突出文章的画面感。

b) The writer chooses his wordscarefully in this paragraph in order to shape readers’ perceptions and bolsterhis claims. For example, he argues that we are using too much light when lessis needed by referring to light being “wasted.” He also suggests how easily theproblem of light pollution might be addressed, using “simply” to describe what“other communities” are doing. 作者是如何选择词汇来加强自己的论证，同时说服读者相信自己的观点。

2. 论据：The writer uses this statistic as evidence to inform his subsequent claimthat we “are rapidly losing night’s natural darkness. 作者是如何使用数据作为论据引出下面他的观点的。

3. 如何展开文章：The writer continues to draw 
on evidence from the authorities citedabove. He uses this evidence to inform his subsequent point 
that “whether wework at night or simply take our . . . smartphones to bed, there isn’t a placefor this much artificial light in our lives.” 作者是如何展开论证，使得整篇文章连为一体，整体联会贯通。

4. 如何使用论据支持文章：The presentation of facts and evidence supports the claim that follows atthe end of the paragraph that “without darkness, Earth’s ecology wouldcollapse.” 作者如何使用合适和相关的论据来支持自己的观点。

5. 修辞手法：

a)  The writer compares lightpollution to the effects of a “bulldozer,” a machine that can be used to ravageland. This imagery dramatizes the destructive potential of light pollution. 类比修辞

b)  The use of rhetoricalquestions encourages the reader to consider a world without Van Gogh’s belovedpainting and what Van Gogh’s vision inspires in us all. The suggestion of aworld without such artistry and the notion that darkness is “invaluable to asoulful life” are also designed to evoke an emotional reaction in the reader. 作者是如何使用假设来强调自己的论点。