7月12日在北京四忠培训中心召开的2016 SAT考试改革美国专家说明会在家长同学们的踊跃报名及积极参与中，成功举行。北京四中国际校区美国校长普曼琳博士和四中国际校区外籍骨干教师Scott Searer和Renee Isler在会议期间对于2016 SAT考试改革做了详细说明，针对考试改革新动向也提出了相应的解决方法。为方便广大学生及家长回顾，精选各位老师发言如下：
四中国际校区美籍校长普曼琳博士演讲
Good morning. I would like to welcome all the parents and students who have come today. My name is Marilyn Prettyman, and I am the academic principal at the Beijing #4 High School International Campus. During my time in China, I have been very impressed with the young people I have met. You are serious about your education and set your goals early in your life. I know you are here today to gather more information as you make your future plans. I hope we will be able to share some ideas that will help you with your individual plan.
大家早上好，首先我要欢迎来这场讲座的所有家长及学生。我是普曼琳博士，在四中国际校区的主管教学。在中国的这几年，我被我所遇到的中国年轻人深深的打动了。这些年轻人重视自己的教育，并且早早的规划自己的人生。我明白你们的此次来讲座的目的就是获取一些有用的出国信息，并且为自己的未来做打算。我希望在今天这场讲座可以与在座的各位分享一些有用的信息以及对你们个人规划有帮助。
I think many of you are here because you are thinking about going to the US to study. Some of you want to go when you graduate from high school, and some of you are thinking about going to high school in the US. The one thing that will help you in order to do either one is improving your English - reading, listening, speaking and writing. I am sure you are aware that English is important, but let me give you some information why I think it is important.
我认为在座的各位家长是为自己的孩子去美国留学做打算的。你们孩子中得一部分希望高中毕业之后去美国读书，还有一部分希望去美国读高中。为了实现去美国读书的梦想，最重要的一件事就是全方位的提高孩子的英语语言能力，包括听、说、读、写。我确信你们早已意识到学习英语的重要性，所以今天我讲座的主题就是---为什么学习英语是如此的重要。
In the US by the time children reach first grade, they will probably have a vocabulary of 4000 to 6000 words. Every year they will add about 3000 new words. That means that by the time they graduate from high school they will have a vocabulary of 25,000 to 30,000 words. I have to make a little explanation at this point. There are two types of vocabulary that we all use. The first is called receptive vocabulary. It consists of the words we hear or read. The second is expressive vocabulary (T. L. Hutton). Those are the words we can speak or write. I am sure you realize that all of us have a much larger vocabulary of words we read or hear. However, the more words that we can speak or write, the better off we are. So how can we enlarge our vocabulary?
通常情况下，对于美国当地一年级的学生来说，他们需要掌握4千到6千的单词量。而且每一年，这些学生都会增加大概3千的生词量。也就是说，截止到这些学生高中毕业，他们将会有大概2万5千到3万的单词量。面对如此巨大的单词量，家长们一定是比较降压的，所以在这里我想给各位家长简单的解释一下这些单词的组成部分。我们通常将习得的单词分为两部分。第一部分的单词叫接受性词汇，也叫“能会意”的词汇；这些词汇由我们“听过的”以及“读过的”单词组成。第二部分的单词叫“表达性”词汇，这一类的词汇就是我们可以“用来说的”或者“用来写的”。我明白，对于学生来说，第一部分词汇的数量比例会高于第二部分，也就是说学生会有更多接受性词汇的词汇量。然而，对于学生来说，掌握越多的表达性词汇，越重要。因此，如何能让学生增加他们的词汇量呢？
One of the easiest things to do is to read every day. A reading specialist by the name of Shavwitz did a study and found the following information about reading.
在我看来，最简单的一件事就是，养成每天阅读的习惯。著名阅读专家沙薇姿曾经做过一项调查，并统计出了如下的数据：
If you read one minute a day you will read 8000 words a year.
如果你坚持每天阅读1分钟，你一年将读8000个单词。
If you read 4.6 minutes a day you will read 282,000 words a year.
如果你坚持每天阅读4.分钟，你一年讲读28万2千个单词。
If you read 20 minutes a day you will read 1,800,000 words a year. 如果你坚持每天阅读20分钟，你一年讲读180万个单词。
Actually just reading isn’t the best way to improve your English. You need to study and learn the new words you read. Remember I have already explained to you that it is much easier to recognize a word when you read or hear it, but you want to be able to use it when you speak or write.
事实上，仅仅靠阅读并不是最有效的方式来提高孩子的英语语言能力。学生需要学习并且掌握在阅读中遇到的新单词。我之前已经提到了，学英语单词最快捷的方式就是“见到”或者“听到”这个单词（也就是语言的输入）。但是，如果学生想熟练运用这个单词，必须通过“说它”或者“写它”（也就是语言的输出）。
Here are a few things you should try to do to help you learn the new words:
在这里，我想跟各位家长以及学生分享一些学习新单词的小窍门：
Watch and listen for new words in everything you read or hear in English.
学习英语不仅仅局限于课本以及课堂，要从各个方面，抓住各个机会去听、去看跟英语有关的资源。
Write down the sentence from your reading where you find the word. 发现了新单词，不仅仅要抄写下单词，更要将出现新单词的句子一并抄写下来。
Look it up in a dictionary online and listen to the pronunciation to make sure you are pronouncing it correctly.
对于这个新单词，先在电子词典上找到单词的中文含义，并且要认真听电子词典上的发音，确保你的发音是正确的。
Write down the word and the different forms of the word so you recognize it when it is used as a noun, verb, adjective or adverb.
要写下这个新单词的不同词性，例如：这个新单词的名词词性、动词词性、形容词词性以及副词词性。
Write down the definition or definitions of the word.
要抄写下这个新单词的词义解释，注意一定要抄写英文解释。
Write down synonyms, words that are similar to the word and antonyms, words that mean the opposite of the word.
抄写下这个新单词的同义词（或者是近义词），以及这个单词的反义词。
Think and write some sentences of your own using the word.
用自己的话，为这个新单词造1-2个句子。
Review the words often until you can say them and know how they are used.
经常不断地复习，查看自己的笔记，直到学生可以读这个单词，并且灵活的运用这个单词。
At the beginning of my speech, I stated that I wanted to tell you why learning English is so important. I have explained why you should read every day and learn vocabulary. Now I would like to present another reason for learning English. Many of you think that when you leave the Chinese education system you no longer have to worry about preparing for and taking the Gaokao test. However, the US requires students to take the SAT test in order to enter the universities there.
在演讲的开头，我已经说过我会给家长们介绍为什么学习英语这么重要。我也已经解释过了学生们为什么需要每天进行阅读以及学习新单词的重要性。现在，我想再说说为什么要学习英语的另一个原因：那就是如果你的孩子想进入美国的大学进行上本科，就必须要参加美国的高考，即sat（赛达）考试。
The SAT is a standardized test required by many US colleges and universities as part of their admission process. The score a student gets on the SAT is used to predict how a student will do in college-level classes. An SAT score is not the only admissions criterion. Admissions committees also consider high school grades, letters of recommendation and essays, but it is very important.
美国SAT考试是一个类似于中国高考的标准化考试。大多数美国的大学以及研究学院要求申请学生学生的SAT成绩，他们会凭借这个成绩作为是否录取这个学生的参考。SAT的成绩是评估学生是否能够完成大学学习的一个重要项目。但是，仅仅有SAT的成绩的学生并不一定能被顶尖大学录取。美国大学的招生处老师还会参考学生的高中成绩单、推荐信、以及学生的个人陈述等其他的文书材料。但是归根究底，SAT的考试分数也是非常重要的一部分。
It is not a test of just names, dates, places, or math and science formulas. It is really a test of logic and reasoning - in English. It’s main purpose is to test the skills developed in the student’s high school classes. However, most students will need to take time to prepare for the test which is given five times during the year, and students may take it more than once. It is important to remember that the scores can go up and down according to how you feel on the day of the test or how well you have prepared. Parents also need to be warned that it is not an absolute indicator of your child's intelligence.
SAT考试不仅仅是有关姓名、日期、地点、数学或者化学公式的考试。它更是一个考察学生逻辑思维以及学科能力的全方位考察—最重要是的，SAT的考试是全英文的。SAT考试的主要目的是考察学生在高中学习期间所获得的各方面的能力。但是，许多学生需要相当长的时间来进行准备SAT的考试。所以，每年SAT安排了五次的考试时间，学生报考以及参加一次以上的SAT考试。但是，请家长们记住，学生每次的考试成绩会因当日的表现以及复习情况等因素有所浮动，不要因为学生的SAT分数高低来评判孩子的好坏，以及智力因素。一次的考试成绩并不能决定这个孩子的全部。
Students and parents often ask counselors to tell them what a good score would be. A useful answer is that a good score is any score that gets you into the college of your choice! The highest score possible is 2400 (800 critical reading, 800 math, 800 writing)
许多学生以及家长经常会咨询多高的分数会比较容易被顶尖高校录取。我认为最有用的答案就是：你选择了哪所大学，就要满足哪所大学的SAT成绩的要求。SAT的满分成绩是2400分，其中包括阅读800分，数学800分，以及写作800分。
a score of 1650-1800 is adequate for many colleges
1650-1800能基本满足一般的美国大学录取要求
a score of 1800-2100 is good
1800-2100分会被稍微好一些的美国高校录取
a score above 2100 should ensure that you have no problems for admission (if everything else is also good.)
如果一个学生的成绩高于2100分，那么申请大多数的美国优质大学是没有什么太大问题的。但是是在申请美国留学的学生其他文书以及能力也是相对过硬的前提下。
The test was taken by 1,660,047 high school graduates in the class of 2013, and the competition is great for the top college placements. So much depends on your English ability, and that depends on what you will do to learn English. If your goal is to go to the USA, you need to start working towards that goal as hard as you can. Everything you can do to prepare will help you. Other people can help you, but you must be willing to put in the effort and time to learn.
在2013年的高中毕业生中，有超过166万高中毕业生参加了SAT的考试。而且，对于美国顶尖高校的录取竞争是非常激烈的。SAT的考试成绩取决于学生英语语言能力的高低、也去取决于学生学习英语的学习方法。如果您孩子的目标的是去美国的高校进一步学习深造，要从现在开始，尽孩子的所能，努力地、投入地、态度端正地学习英语。俗话说得好：“不打无准备之仗”。对于您的孩子来说，可能有很多人以及很多资源来帮助您的孩子去美国读书，但是学英语这件事是孩子自己的，他们必须要自己本人投入精力、时间去学习、去努力、去改变。
