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2016年 5场新 SAT写作真题及范文汇总

　　2016 年还剩下 12 月份的最后一场 SAT 考试了，这一年是付出也是收获，在最后一场考试来临之前，小编跟大家分享这一年里的前五场新 SAT 写作考试真题以及一些优秀的写作范文，希望能够给 12 月份要考试的同学带来参考价值，也希望以后要考 SAT 的同学们能收藏好好研究。

　　一、2016年3月北美考场　　3 月 5 日新 SAT 考试写作文章是出自 WashingtonPost 华盛顿邮报的一篇文章。此次新SAT 首考的作文题的阅读文章源自 E.J. Dionne Jr.于 2013 年 7 月 3 日发表在 The Washington Post( 《 华 盛 顿 邮 报 》 ) 文 章 名 为 A Call for National Service ， 原 文 作 者 大 力 提 倡NationalService。　　1.文章理解上，本次考试文章主题明确，词汇句型难度正常。　　2.例证方面，本次考试文章中没有明显的数据或者研究结果类的例证，但是有对于他人的引用等论据。

考题原文：

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　　写作范文：　 　 It is widely acknowledged that a man inpossession of certain unalienable rights will not automatically undertake thecorresponding responsibilities. With an intense sense of social responsibility,American writer E. J. Dionne Jr. proclaims that civil obligations should beimplemented nationwide in his article “ A call for national service” inWashington post. He asserts unavoidable rights must be execrated. Strategies E.J. Dionne Jr. employs to bolster his argument include a personal anecdote, acitation of compelling polls, a quotation from the prestigious Americandocumentation, compare and contrast, paralleled structure and sincere appeal topathos.　　E.J. Dionne starts his article byillustrating that “ here is the sentence in the Declaration of Independence wealways remember” and “here is the sentence we often forget”, which are theparalleled structures to convey his urgency and attentive concern for the issuethat American citizens should cherish their obligations. Furthermore, hedirectly enumerates that the previous is on rights and the latter obligations.This distinct contrast is utilized to establish an emphasis on his latter pointby highlighting it as a coexisting factor relative to the former mentionedrights in American life. This literal tool serves as a strong technique to drawthe audience into the issue addressed in the wiring.　 　 By citing a quotation from “the Declarationof Independence” the author successfully establishes an authoritative image inthe readers’ heart that he is knowledgeable and thoughtful. E.J. Dionne’spresentation of a numerical statistics based on the accurate “237” year and agerange “18 and 28” strengthens his weight to his claim. Moreover, the authordemonstrates a personal anecdote that “last week, the Aspen Institute gathereda politically diverse group of Americans…to declare a commitment to give a yearof service to the country”, which provides a baseline for readers to findcredence and credibility with the author’s argument. This anecdote instantlyconnects the author and readers closely which leads to a spiritual resonance.　 　 Dionne Jr. reasons that not only Americanscould enjoy their rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness freely butalso should assume their obligations on the solemn pledge of lives, fortunes andsacred honor. “There are no quick fixes to our sense of disconnection, butthere may be a way to restore our sense.” He first raises a precaution in thereaders’ heart then offers a sound solution to show the stringent andwell-organized thinking pattern. Subsequently, the author exemplifies anoccurrence last week, the precise time flow line, to underline the viewpointthat “ we do, indeed, owe something to our country and we owe an enormousdebt”.　　Dionne utilizes specific diction to enhancehis argument to convince his readers. He employs personal pronoun such as “ we”for the aim to intrigue his personnel involvement as part of this calling whichfortifies his persuasion as well as consolidates his credibility in thepreachment. Through the careful word selection, Dionne enhances his propositionby ascribing the liability as a fundamental issue. This augments for thepersuasion of his readers by informing them that this is a significant issuethat all people should be aware of and take heed to.　　Following the calling, the author lists thesolutions and the challenges in the final parts of the article. He makes anefficient use of rhetorical question to challenge his readers to ponder that “who knows whether the universal exception of service would change the countryas much as Mc Chrystal hopes.” By raising this question, Dionne draws outprofound comprehension on the proposal. “It’s based on the belief that certainunalienable rights entail certain unavoidable responsibilities”-----the authorinspires his readers to feel responsible for the fate of America’s

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future. Thisstrategy is obviously an appeal to pathos, calling the readers to actresolutely and adding the emotionally-infused spur to the American citizens.　　Overall, E. J. Dionne Jr. provides a coherentand strong logical argument that all Americans should enjoy the unalienablerights that have been prescribed in “the Declaration of Independence” andshoulder the obligations cross the lines of class, race, background, politics,ideology as well. He takes full advantages of a personal anecdote, compellingpolls, an authoritative quotation, compare and contrast, paralleled structureand heart-felt appeal to emotions to thoroughly illustrate his steadfastcalling for national service.

　　二、5月7日亚太新SAT考试　　5 月份亚太地区的新 SAT 写作阅读文章选自 2009 年发表在 VanityFair 上的由 Christopher Hitchens 写的一片社论文章——The Lovely Stones，讲的是希腊古雕塑本身艺术价值极高，历史上被破坏和贱卖给英国，作者主张应该还给希腊。　　1. 难度高于 OG 的文章和 2016 年 3 月北美的文章，主要是因为涉及较多历史、雕塑等专业词汇，许多考生可能阅读要花较多时间阅读且理解难度大；　　2. 主要的论证手法与 OG 范文公布的基本范围一致，首段就出现引用名人名言，第三段主要用数据和历史事实，这两个出现概率和比重很大，之后主要用了类比。其中类比在OG 范文中没有直接出现，备考中容易被忽略，建议后续备考延伸修辞手法。　　3. 作文部分时间 50 分钟，非常紧张，主要是阅读专业单词多，理解难度大，大部分考生都没有写完完整的两面（答题纸有四面）。　　考题原文：　　　　The Lovely Stones　　Christopher Hitchens

　　P1 The great classicist A. W. Lawrence once remarked of the Parthenon that it is “the one building in the world which may be assessed as absolutely right.”

　 　 P2 Not that the beauty and symmetry of the Parthenon have not been abused and perverted and mutilated. Five centuries after the birth of Christianity the Parthenon was closed and desolated. It was then “converted” into a Christian church. Turkish forces also used it for centuries as a garrison and an arsenal, with the tragic result that in 1687, when Christian Venice attacked the Ottoman Turks, a powder magazine was detonated and huge damage inflicted on the structure. Most horrible of all, perhaps, the Acropolis was made to fly a Nazi flag during the German occupation of Athens.

　 　 P3 The damage done by the ages to the building, and by past empires and occupations, cannot all be put right. But there is one desecration and dilapidation that can at least be partially undone. Early in the 19th century, Britain’s ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin, sent a wrecking crew to the Turkish-occupied territory of Greece, where it sawed off approximately half of the adornment of the Parthenon and carried it away. As with all things Greek, there were three elements to this, the most lavish and beautiful sculptural treasury in human history. Under the

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direction of the artistic genius Phidias, the temple had two massive pediments decorated with the figures of Pallas Athena, Poseidon, and the gods of the sun and the moon. It then had a series of 92 high-relief panels, or metopes, depicting a succession of mythical and historical battles. The most intricate element was the frieze, carved in bas-relief, which showed the gods, humans, and animals that made up the annual Pan-Athens procession: there were 192 equestrian warriors and auxiliaries featured, which happens to be the exact number of the city’s heroes who fell at the Battle of Marathon. Experts differ on precisely what story is being told here, but the frieze was quite clearly carved as a continuous narrative. Except that half the cast of the tale is still in Bloomsbury, in London, having been sold well below cost by Elgin to the British government in 1816 for $2.2 million in today’s currency to pay off his many debts.

　　P4 now, there has been a bitter argument about the legitimacy of the British Museum’s deal. I’ve written a whole book about this controversy and won’t oppress you with all the details, but would just make this one point. If the Mona Lisa had been sawed in two during the Napoleonic Wars and the separated halves had been acquired by different museums in, say, St. Petersburg and Lisbon, would there not be a general wish to see what they might look like if re-united? If you think my analogy is overdrawn, consider this: the body of the goddess Iris is at present in London, while her head is in Athens. The front part of the torso of Poseidon is in London, and the rear part is in Athens. And so on. This is grotesque.

　　P5 It is unfortunately true that the city allowed itself to become very dirty and polluted in the 20th century, and as a result the remaining sculptures and statues on the Parthenon were nastily eroded by “acid rain.” But gradually and now impressively, the Greeks have been living up to their responsibilities. Beginning in 1992, the endangered marbles were removed from the temple, given careful cleaning with ultraviolet and infra-red lasers, and placed in a climate-controlled interior.

　　P6 About a thousand feet southeast of the temple, the astonishing new Acropolis Museum will open on June 20. With 10 times the space of the old repository, it will be able to display all the marvels that go with the temples on top of the hill. Most important, it will be able to show, for the first time in centuries, how the Parthenon sculptures looked to the citizens of old.

P7 The British may continue in their constipated fashion to cling to what they have so crudely amputated, 【but the other museums and galleries of Europe have seen the artistic point of re-unification and restored to Athens what was looted in the years when Greece was defenseless. 】 The Acropolis Museum has hit on the happy idea of exhibiting, for as long as following that precedent is too much to hope for, its own original sculptures with the London-held pieces represented by beautifully copied casts. And it creates a natural thirst to see the actual re-assembly completed. So, far from emptying or weakening a museum, this controversy has instead created another one, which is destined to be among Europe’s finest galleries. And one day, surely, there will be an agreement to do the right thing by the world’s most “right” structure.　　写作范文：　 　 Sculptures, bestowed with native people’swisdom, practice and cultural stamp, should be

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preserved in appropriate placesso as to maintain their integrity. In the article “The Lovely Stones” editorialfor Conde Nast Digital, Christopher Hitchens argues that the sculptures of theParthenon should be returned to its origin, Greece. By the end of this piece,readers will find themselves nodding in agreement with what the Hitchens has tosay. Hitchens utilizes contrast, historical event, analogy and appeal toemotion to plead with the readers to take his side.　 　 In order to expose the people’smaltreatment toward the Parthenon, Hitchens starts his article off by employinga sharp contrast. Hitchens first quotes A. W. Lawrence’s remark of theParthenon, “it is the one building in the world which may be assessed asabsolutely right.” Quoting words of praise from an authoritative figureenhances Hitchens’s intention to depict the beauty and glamor of the Parthenon,lending more credibility to his argument. Later, in the second paragraph,Hitchens points out that the beauty and glamor did not deter people’s abuse,destruction and mutilation. To demonstrate this, Hitchens illustrates theParthenon has been misused as garrison, arsenal and so on. By juxtaposing thefabulous beauty to the destruction of the Parthenon, Hitchens unfolds the harshfact that the significance of the Parthenon has been ignored. This contrastserves as a vehicle to highlight the irony and gravity of people’s maltreatmenttoward the Parthenon, drawing the readers into the issue addressed by thewriting.　 　 Hitchens strengthens his argument with theportrayal of historical event. In the third paragraph, Hitchens demonstratesthat some parts of the Parthenon were occupied by the British people in the19th century. To present the exquisite sculpture comprehensively, Hitchensfirst notes that three elements of the Parthenon contribute to its outstandingposition in human history — two massive pediments, a series of 92 high-reliefpanels and frieze. Furthermore, the use of detailed image and statistics leadsreaders to imagine the wonder of the Parthenon. However, such wonder has beendestroyed as parts of the sculpture have been carried away and preserved inBritish government. With the help of historical events, Hitchens successfullyenhances the credibility and legitimacy of his claim, creating a compellingappeal to ethos.　　 In addition, the utilization of analogyfurthers Hitchens’ argument that the sculpture of the Parthenon should not bepreserved by different museums. Hitchens adopts several classic forms of artsto highlights the significance of the integrity of art. Hitchens notes that “Ifthe Mona Lisa had been sawed in two during the Napoleonic Wars and theseparated halves had been acquired by different museums in, say, St. Petersburgand Lisbon, would there not be a general wish to see what they might look like ifre-united?”. Similarly, Hitchens compares the destroyed Parthenon to thegoddess Iris as well as the torso of Poseidon. As the assumptions of divided“Mona Lisa” , “goddess Iris” and “the torso of Poseidon” are grotesque, theseparate parts of the Parthenon are also ridiculous. Therefore, the analogyadds more power to Hitchens’ s claim that the integrity of the Parthenon shouldbe preserved in Greece.　　 Finally, Hitchens appeals to readers’emotion. Hitchens indicates that although the city did not attach muchimportance upon the protection of the Parthenon in the past, “the Greeks havebeen living up to their responsibilities”. Harboring a positive attitude, theAcropolis Museum tries to exhibit the integrity of the Parthenon. This practicesurely motivates readers’ longing to witness the marvel of the integralParthenon. At the end of the passage, the readers will definitely agree withHitchens’s claim that the sculpture of the Parthenon should be returned to itsoriginal land. This is a strategy of appeal to pathos, forcing the readers toface an emotionally- charged

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inquiry that will spur some kind of response.　　In conclusion, contrast, historical events,analogy and appeal to emotion, all contribute to an exceptionally well-writtenargument. It is his utilization of these practices and more that make thisarticle worthy of recognition.

　　　三、2016年6月4日亚太新SAT考试　　本次考试作文 A Carbon Tax Beats a Vacuum Ban 来自美国新闻网 opinion 版块 2014 年 1月 23 日发表的一篇文章。作者认为通过对碳排放收税是比禁止一些类型的真空吸尘器的使用更好的策略。　　这次写作题目的难度大大降低，远远低于 5 月的《the lovely stone》，甚至低于 3 月北美的真题《a call for national service》；文章的主题, 写作风格以及论证手法都非常像 og 的第二篇范文《plastic bag ban》；文章比较简单的主要原因是主题浅显易懂，而且文章用词比较简单。　　考题原文：　　　　A Carbon Tax Beats a Vacuum Ban　　By Sita Slavov

　　 P1 Starting in September, the European Union will ban vacuum cleaners using more than 1,600 watts of power, with the limit slated to be lowered to 900 watts by 2017. This ban won't just affect a handful of the worst offenders. According to the European Commission, the average vacuum cleaner sold today uses 1,800 watts.

　 　 P2 Intended largely to reduce carbon emissions, the vacuum cleaner ban joins numerous other regulations throughout the world that severely restrict consumers' choices. Want an incandescent light bulb? Too bad – they're banned. How about a gas guzzling car? Sorry – they're being squeezed out by tighter fuel economy standards.

　 　 P3 Rules like these rub many people the wrong way because they represent government intrusion into even the most minute of personal decisions. Do we really want the government telling us what kind of vacuum cleaner or light bulb to buy? Don't policy makers have better things to think about? Backers of such regulations counter that, when people buy powerful vacuum cleaners and incandescent bulbs, they don't take into account the spillover costs they impose on others by contributing to climate change.

　　P4 Fortunately, there's a better solution. A carbon tax – set to reflect the spillover costs of carbon emissions – would eliminate the need to micromanage the kinds of vacuum cleaners and light bulbs that people can buy. Instead, the tax would provide consumers with an incentive to act in a socially responsible manner by ensuring that those who operate such products pick up the tab for the climate harm they cause.

　　P5 The main advantage of the carbon tax is that it leaves consumers free to decide whether

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to buy energy-efficient vacuum cleaners and light bulbs or whether to reduce their carbon footprint in other ways. That's a big improvement over the regulatory approach because individual consumers are in a better position than government bureaucrats to figure out the least painful way to reduce their contribution to climate change.

　 　 P6 A carbon tax is also better targeted than vacuum cleaner bans and other regulations. Some critics of the EU's new rule claim that consumers will need to run their less powerful vacuum cleaners for longer periods of time to achieve their desired level of cleanliness, which might actually increase the amount of electricity they use. Similarly, improving fuel economy through tighter standards may increase the amount of driving that people do. These "rebound effects" might not be big enough to actually cause a net increase in emissions, but they still reduce the effectiveness of the regulations.

　　P7 A carbon tax avoids these problems by directly targeting the real culprit – carbon. Under a carbon tax, there's an incentive to cut back on carbon emissions along every dimension. In other words, because tax payments are in line with actual emissions, a Prius owner who drives a lot could very well pay more than an SUV owner who hardly ever drives.

　 　 P8 Economists of all political stripes agree on these points. In a 2011 poll of leading academic economists representing a variety of demographic backgrounds and political views, 90 percent agreed with the statement: "A tax on the carbon content of fuels would be a less expensive way to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions than would a collection of policies such as 'corporate average fuel economy' requirements for automobiles." There's no doubt that economic advisers offer similar advice when policy makers consider regulations like the vacuum cleaner ban. Unfortunately, these misguided policies often turn out to be more politically feasible than a carbon tax.

　　P9 That may change going forward, however. As policy makers look to trim budgets and find additional sources of revenue, a carbon tax could represent a good compromise between conservatives and liberals – a way to address climate change while protecting consumer freedom and raising revenue that can be used to lower other taxes.　　写作范文：　　In an effort to fight off negative impactsof carbon emissions on the environment, the EU has decided to impose a strictban on vacuum cleaners using more than 1,600 watts of power. Is this the rightaction to take? Obviously, Sita Slavov, a US News contributor, does not side withthe decision in her article A Carbon Tax Beats a Vacuum Ban, in which sheclaims that a carbon tax would work as a better solution than the ban. Sheemploys logical reasoning and mainly rhetorical questioning to sway the readersinto her side.　　Logical reasoning serves as the mostpowerful strategy utilized to present reasons against the vacuum ban and forthe tax. Stating the carbon tax as a better solution, Slavov starts her claimoff with the reason – the tax is “set to reflect the spillover costs of carbonemissions.” This reason clearly addresses the vacuum ban backers’ claim thatthose who “buy powerful vacuum cleaners and incandescent bulbs” do not considertheir spillover costs, so the readers would begin to deem the tax as at leastone of the alternatives to the ban. What would persuade the audience to

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believethat the tax is a better option is the author’s next argument: it givescustomers free choice. In a democratic country, no one would like to be told orforced by “government bureaucrats” to do their business, even a small decisionlike buying energy-efficient vacuum cleaners and light bulbs. Anotherargument,the tax targeting directly at the real culprit – carbon, would enablethe readers to realize that the ban might have a major defect: the “reboundeffects”could decrease its effectiveness. Having realized the point, theaudience would be more reluctant to support the ban. The final statement madeby the author to bolster her claim would function as the last straw to breakthe back of the ban. In the statement, Slavov mentions that “economists of allpolitical stripes” agree with her points, citing a 2011 poll to add soundnessof her claim. Those ready to take her side would feel that they are not alone,backed up by all these professionals. By repeatedly pointing out theincredibility of the ban proponents’ reasons and the drawbacks of the ban, theauthor establishes and strengthens solidarity and authenticity of her claimthat the tax is a better choice.　 　 Logical reasoning aside, rhetorical questioningis flexibly employed to play to the readers’ emotion. The two rhetoricalquestions, “Want an incandescent light bulb?” and “How about a gas guzzlingcar?”, demonstrate how the government rudely intrudes people’s daily life andmakes decisions for them. This would arouse the readers’ distaste, as it isridiculous that someone else rather than oneself could meddle in one’s ownaffairs. Therefore, they would definitely say no to the next question, “Do wereally want the government telling us what kind of vacuum cleaner or lightbulbto buy?”. When reading the subsequent question, “Don't policy makers havebetter things to think about?”, they would begin to ponder upon whether therewould be a “better thing” than the government’s manipulation of their life viabans and regulations. This rhetorical device, clearly a strategy of appealingto emotions, makes it much easier for the audience to embrace the author’ssolution—a carbon tax—proposed immediately afterwards.　　All in all, logical reasoning and rhetoricalquestions strongly champion the author’s claim that a carbon tax performs muchbetter than a compulsory ban on vacuum cleaners. Persuaded by her article, thereaders would choose the former, a less political option, the next time theyneed to address “climate change while protecting consumer freedom and raisingrevenue that can be used to lower other taxes.”

　　四、2016年10月亚洲考场　　本次写作考题选自《纽约时报》的文章 Read, kids, read，作者 Frank Bruni，全文共 15段，作者论点是 Reading must remain a valued activity.　　真题原文：　　　　1、As an uncle I’m inconsistent about too many things.　　2、Birthdays, for example. My nephew Mark had one on Sunday, and I didn’t remember — and send a text — until 10 p.m., by which point he was asleep.　　3、But about books, I’m steady. Relentless. I’m incessantly asking my nephews and nieces what they’re reading and why they’re not reading more. I’m reliably hurling novels at them, and also at friends’ kids. I may well be responsible for 10 percent of all sales of “The Fault in Our Stars,” a teenage love story to be released as a movie next month. Never have I spent money with

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fewer regrets, because I believe in reading — not just in its power to transport but in its power to transform.　　4、So I was crestfallen on Monday, when a new report by Common Sense Media came out. It showed that 30 years ago, only 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds said that they “hardly ever” or never read for pleasure. Today, 22 percent of 13-year-olds and 27 percent of 17-year-olds say that. Fewer than 20 percent of 17-year-olds now read for pleasure “almost every day.” Back in 1984, 31 percent did. What a marked and depressing change.　　5、 I know, I know: This sounds like a fogy’s crotchety lament. Or, worse, like self-interest. Professional writers arguing for vigorous reading are dinosaurs begging for a last breath. We’re panhandlers with a better vocabulary.　　6、But I’m coming at this differently, as someone persuaded that reading does things — to the brain, heart and spirit — that movies, television, video games and the rest of it cannot.　　7、There’s research on this, and it’s cited in a recent article in The Guardian by Dan Hurley, who wrote that after “three years interviewing psychologists and neuroscientists around the world,” he’d concluded that “reading and intelligence have a relationship so close as to be symbiotic.”　　8、In terms of smarts and success, is reading causative or merely correlated? Which comes first, “The Hardy Boys” or the hardy mind? That’s difficult to unravel, but several studies have suggested that people who read fiction, reveling in its analysis of character and motivation, are more adept at reading people, too: at sizing up the social whirl around them. They’re more empathetic. God knows we need that.　　9、Late last year, neuroscientists at Emory University reported enhanced neural activity in people who’d been given a regular course of daily reading, which seemed to jog the brain: to raise its game, if you will.　 　 10 、 Some experts have doubts about that experiment’s methodology, but I’m struck by how its findings track something that my friends and I often discuss. If we spend our last hours or minutes of the night reading rather than watching television, we wake the next morning with thoughts less jumbled, moods less jangled. Reading has bequeathed what meditation promises. It has smoothed and focused us.　　11、Maybe that’s about the quiet of reading, the pace of it. At Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City, whose students significantly outperform most peers statewide, the youngest kids all learn and play chess, in part because it hones “the ability to focus and concentrate,” said Sean O’Hanlon, who supervises the program. Doesn’t reading do the same?　　12、Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia, framed it as a potentially crucial corrective to the rapid metabolism and sensory overload of digital technology. He told me that it can demonstrate to kids that there’s payoff in “doing something taxing, in delayed gratification.” A new book of his, “Raising Kids Who Read,” will be published later this year.　　13、Before talking with him, I arranged a conference call with David Levithan and Amanda Maciel. Both have written fiction in the young adult genre, whose current robustness is cause to rejoice, and they rightly noted that the intensity of the connection that a person feels to a favorite novel, with which he or she spends eight or 10 or 20 hours, is unlike any response to a movie.　　14、That observation brought to mind a moment in “The Fault in Our Stars” when one of

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the protagonists says that sometimes, “You read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”　　15、Books are personal, passionate. They stir emotions and spark thoughts in a manner all their own, and I’m convinced that the shattered world has less hope for repair if reading becomes an ever smaller part of it.　　写作范文：　 　 The vicissitude of history never fails to amaze us with all the changes it has brought to human life. If we trace back to see what has been changed since human civilization, seldom can we see anything that remains intact, with only one exception- the importance of reading. Despite the fact that reading has never dropped from our top priorities, few people keep the habit of it. As a reaction to such pathetic phenomenon, writer Frank Bruni draws people’s attention back to reading and encourages people to value it. Strategies he employs include contrast, credible reference and tactic reasoning that appeal to people’s emotion and agreement.　　One impressive feature of this article is Bruni’s contrast at the very beginning to introduce his topic, with the next paragraphs addressing its benefits. He compares things that he always ignores such as nephew’s birthday and niece’s school production with things he never fails to overlook -reading. For the majority of people, especially teenagers, birthday party and school performance are events that family members should remember. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the author. Reading at this point, readers are left a bit disappointed at the author and tend to pay more attention to what he wants to convey next. At the cusp of people’s attention, author Bruni brings about something that deserves greater emphasis- reading: “I’m incessantly asking my nephews and nieces what they’re reading and why they’re not reading more.” Thus the readers start to realize how justifiable the author is-as nothing like a birthday party or a performance in school is comparable with the importance of reading. With the utilization of this contrast, the author successfully draws the attention from the readers and lays a solid foundation for his later argument.　　 Aside from this, the author’s careful choice of evidence adds credibility to the article. He cites properly a report by Common Sense Media, claiming that three is a sharp decline in the percentage of teenagers read for fun “fewer than 20 percent of 17-year-olds now read for pleasure”. At the same time, however, the number of the young who hardly ever read or never read for pleasure elevates from “only 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds” 30 years ago to “22 percent of 13-year-olds and 27 percent of 17-year-olds “ today. This worrisome report indicates that the young no longer read as much as they used to. Linked with the previous paragraphs, the author urges the reader to weight the disadvantage of such trend and possibly spurs some kind of response. Besides, the inclusion of an authoritative agency backs up Bruni’s point, makes the work of Bruni believable and credible.　 　 The most exquisite technique of the passage, however, is its elaborate reasoning. From paragraph 8 to 15, the author lists all the possible benefits of reading to add weight to the persuasiveness of the article. He starts from how reading benefit the brain in paragraph 8, that interviews indicate a symbiotic relationship between reading and intelligence. Paragraph 9 follows with a benefit to the qualities required to success, because those people who read are more adept at “ reading people” and “sizing up the social whirl around them”. If these benefits are not enough, in paragraph 10, 11, 12 and 13, the author compares reading with exposure to

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technological devices to indicate how reading would benefit the spirit. One obvious benefit reading offers to the spirit is that reading smoothens people “with thoughts less jumbled, moods less jangled”. The other benefit to spirit is that reading grants people “the ability to focus and concentrate”, which becomes a social corrective to “metabolism and sensory overload of digital technology”, because those who indulge themselves in technology requires something to force them to be focused and have delayed gratification. Finally, in paragraph 14 and 15, Bruni talks about the joy of reading: as the connection reading can provide to people is not anything like watching a movie is able to offer. In order to prove the zealous love people possess for reading, he sites the line from the protagonist in a famous love story that “You read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” People love reading want to share the zeal for it, because only those who read can feel the same addiction. All these are connected well to elaborate the value of reading to not only people’s brain and success, but also spirit and gratification. The combination of all these paragraphs provides the readers with a chance to see the well-rounded and multi-layer benefits of reading, surely help the reader to deliver his idea.　　 All in all, the evidence and source make the reader’s idea worthy of recognition, and the tactical reasoning appeals to people’s emotion and trust. These writing techniques contribute to a well-structured and compelling argument that reading deserves more attention and emphasis.

　　五、2016年11月亚洲考场　　环保类话题，官方 OG已经出过相关的话题文章，比如说 OG 的第四篇“Let there be dark”，以及 OG 的第一篇“National Arctic Wildlife Refuge”环境类话题不管是针对普通高中、国际高中或者美高的学生来说，都是比较常见的。但是这个话题下面的小话题：象牙倒是不常见，不过可以通过对于环境保护一类的常识进行理解。　　真题原文：　　THE year was 1862. Abraham Lincoln was in the White House. “Taps” was first sounded as a lights-out bugle call. And Steinway & Sons was building its first upright pianos in New York.　　The space-saving design would help change the cultural face of America. After the Civil War, many middle-class families installed them in their parlors. The ability to play the piano was thought to be nearly as important to the marriage potential of single ladies as their skill in cooking and sewing, signaling a young woman’s gentility and culture.　　The keys on those pianos were all fashioned from the ivory of African elephants. And that is why one of these uprights, the oldest one known to survive, in fact, is stuck in Japan.　 　 The director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued an order prohibiting the commercial importation of all African elephant ivory into the United States. (Commercial imports had been allowed in some instances, including for certain antiques.)　　The Obama administration is also planning to implement additional rules that will prohibit, with narrow exceptions, both the export of African elephant ivory and its unfettered trade within the United States.　　The Fish and Wildlife Service has said that these new rules will help stop the slaughter of

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elephants. But we believe that unless demand for ivory in Asia is reduced — through aggressive education programs there, tougher enforcement against the illegal ivory trade and the creation of a legal raw ivory market — these new American regulations will merely cause the price to balloon and the black market to flourish, pushing up the profit potential of continued poaching.　　In short, these new rules proposed by the Fish and Wildlife Service may well end up doing more harm than good to the African elephant.　　What these regulations will also do is make the import, export and interstate sale of almost any object with African elephant ivory virtually impossible. Anyone who owns any antique African elephant ivory — whether it is an Edwardian bracelet inherited from a grandmother or an ivory-handled Georgian silver tea set owned by an antiques dealer — will be unable to ship or sell it without unimpeachable documentation that proves it is at least 100 years old, has not been repaired or modified with elephant ivory since 1973, and that it arrived in the United States through one of 13 ports of entry.　　The story of the Steinway underscores the complexity, rigidity and absurdity of these rules. The piano was salvaged years ago by Ben Treuhaft, a professional piano technician. When his wife took an academic job in Japan, he shipped the piano along with their other household possessions to Tokyo. They moved to Scotland after the Fukushima nuclear accident three years ago, leaving the piano in storage in Japan to be shipped later. Now Mr. Treuhaft is ready to return the piano to the United States and place it in the hands of a friend who planned to display it at her piano shop.　　 But the piano remains in Japan. It lacks the paperwork necessary to clear customs in the United States because Mr. Treuhaft failed, when he shipped the piano abroad, to obtain the required export permit identifying the ivory keys and the piano’s provenance. In the past, the government might have exercised some discretion over Mr. Treuhaft’s oversight. But no more. Moreover, to meet the personal-use exception for an import, the piano would have to be shipped back as part of a household move, and he wants to send it to a friend.　　So the piano that Steinway says is its oldest known upright is stuck in Japan.　　Of course, Mr. Treuhaft is not the only one who is or will be hurt or inconvenienced by this draconian order from the Fish and Wildlife Service, or the new rules that the administration seeks to impose. Musicians already complain of a burdensome process and monthslong delays in securing permits to take their instruments containing ivory abroad. And collectors, gun owners and antiques dealers say they have been blindsided by the proposed rules, which will effectively render their African elephant ivory pieces worthless unless they can meet the extremely difficult standards necessary to sell them.　　We suggest a different approach. We should encourage China, where much of the poached ivory ends up, to start a detailed public education campaign that underscores the damage done to elephant populations by the illegal trade in ivory.　　We also need more aggressive enforcement of anti-poaching efforts in Africa. And we should figure out a way to manage the trade in raw ivory to protect elephants. For instance, several years ago, ivory stockpiles owned by several African countries were sold in a series of United Nations-approved auctions in an effort to undercut illegal ivory trafficking. The proceeds went to elephant conservation efforts. This is a better approach than destroying these stockpiles, as the United States did last fall to six tons of ivory.　 　 Leaving Mr. Treuhaft’s piano in Japan will not save African elephants. But it will further

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endanger them and diminish the lives of those who recognize and value the role of ivory in history and culture.

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