2014年1月25日亚太地区作文考题
Assignments: should we hold on to the old when innovations are available, or should we simply move forward？
回归
2014年的首场sat考试一结束，笔者在和众多学员电话短信交流考试内容时留意到，写作部分的题目回归考试主流类别，结束了自2013年5月份以来题目不断出现冷门和小众话题的现象。这种回归让广大考生感到安心，也为SAT考试过程中其他部分的良好发挥奠定了基础。
解析
从内容来看，本场考试题目属于笔者课堂中重点涉及的创新和传统类话题。由于该类话题在历年的SAT考试中占有教大的比重，约21%（从2005年起，并包含北美和亚太地区写作题目）。这意味着全年亚太地区的6次考试中，至少有一次是属于该类或相关话题。这个规律在之前的9年的考试中都有体现。因此，创新和传统话题是SAT写作课堂的重点内容，值得考生加以重视。
从题型来看，本题属于二选一类别。题目中的连词“or”点名该题有两方面的入手点，即：hold to the old 或者 move forward，传统亦或是创新。在选择上，考生们判断需要依据以下三个原则：选择自己最为熟悉的立场，选择例子准备最为精良的方向，选择语言表达最有把握的方面。
立场：遵循传统或是大胆创新在本题目中都可以作为立足点。本题不存在某一侧面是反社会，甚至反人类的。只要考生准备的支撑论据足够具有说服力，能够很好的自圆其说，就能很好的完成写作任务和要求。
事例：作为重点题目类别，笔者在课堂上为同学们积累了大量关于创新的素材，例如：历史中出现的Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison，IBM, 时代的宠儿Elon Musk的Tesla，Space X和 Solar City，Google Glass 以及政治经济的改革者Nelson Mandela，Abraham Lincoln等。如果考生在考试准备阶段完善了对上述经典例子的论述，那么在考场上会很快做出立场上的选择，从而节约宝贵的考试时间，顺利完成写作。
语言：语料的选择上来看，由于考生关注当代的科技产品的几率要高于历史事实，这个特点考生在科技领域的词汇量要大于关于传统的话题领域。为了避免在考试过程中花时间和精力去考虑一个英文语言的表达，笔者建议将写作的立场选择为考生们更为擅长的方面来作为突破口，来确保写作的完成度。
展望
在网传的2015年SAT变革之前，2014年SAT考试写作部分将继续维持传统题型和内容分类的方式。2014年1月份的考试开了一个好头，经典题目类别的回归昭示着稳定是末代SAT的主旋律。同时，笔者希望考生们，尤其是高二上学期或11年级上学期的考生，逐步重视每年1月份的SAT考试，从写作考试的统计上来，每年1月份的亚太考试题目是最稳定和最常规的。这一特点有助于考生们在紧张的考试中有更好的发挥。
附录：
2014年1月北美考试写作真题
Prompt 1
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and theassignment below.
Frederick Douglass once said, "If there is no struggle, there is noprogress. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and itmay be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle." He was right.Progress is something that must be fought for; without conflict, progresssimply does not occur.
Assignment: Does progress result only fromstruggle and conflict? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your pointof view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples takenfrom your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Prompt 2
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and theassignment below.
There are two false assumptions about experts. One is that they see moreclearly and think more intelligently than ordinary citizens. Sometimes they do,sometimes not. The other false assumption is that these experts have the sameinterests as ordinary citizens and hold the same values. In fact, the importantdecisions of society are within the capability of ordinary citizens. Not onlycan ordinary people make their own decisions without the help of experts, butthey ought to.
Adapted from Howard Zinn, Declarations of Independence
Assignment: Should people make more decisions ontheir own and rely less on the advice of experts? Plan and write an essay inwhich you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position withreasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, orobservations.
Prompt 3
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and theassignment below.
For many people, the traditional path to success involves graduating fromhigh school and college before working their way up in a particular profession.However, many of society’s most successful individuals taught themselves theskills they needed to start their own businesses, invent new technologies, orcreate works of art. For these individuals, the nontraditional path turned outto be the path to success.
Assignment: Arepeople who do not follow society’s traditional paths to advancement more likelyto be successful than those who do? Plan and write an essay in which youdevelop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoningand examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
王飞：深圳新东方学校SAT写作名师，仅2013年辅导出9位写作满分学员，37位写作10+学员。
王飞老师春季课程：SAT强化班，SAT基础班。
