2015年9月,ACT写作部分的改革正式推行,这次的改革主要体现在以下三个方面:时间上从30分钟变成了40分钟;命题方面,观点由两个变成了三个;分数则由12分变成了36分。除了给出总分,还有四个分值在2-12分的写作单项分,分别体现考生在观点和分析、展开和论证、文章结构以及语言应用方面的能力。
接下来,杨老师将为大家分析给出的样题及满分范文,以帮助考生更好地适应新的作文题型,争取考出理想的分数。
通过上图,我们可以看出,在新版写作中,命题人给出了三种观点,一定要注意:考生不但要有自己的立场,还要对给出的三个观点进行一一评价。考生要给出的立场可以和任何一个perspective相同,不完全相同或者和所有perspective都不同,但是切记,一定要将自己的观点与所给的观点一一联系起来,并予以分析。对于和自己立场相同的观点,只需要论证其合理性即可。这在一定程度上束缚了临场发挥的自由,但是也扩展了考生的思路,考生只要做到自圆其说就行了。
下面是一篇满分范文,并附上杨老师的解析,请同学们仔细阅读一下,相信大家定会有所收获。
[1]As technology improves, and more and more tasks arecompleted by machines instead of humans, the question is no longer about whatwe can do with machines, but rather what we should. [2]Although the usage of machines increasesefficiency and our standard of living, it detracts from the value of human life.
本段是文章的Introduction部分,第[1]句从当前社会现象入手,提出本文要探讨的问题,第[2]句使用一个让步状语从句,although部分置于前端,巧妙地对应了文章主体段的第*部分,并且辩证地提出个人观点(thesis statement),可谓是言简意赅。
[1]As machines increasingly perform all our basic tasks, society is ableto produce more. [2]The additional production adds material valueto our society and frees people up from these low-skill tasks. [3]This is in agreement with Perspective Two which claims that this industrialization leads tomore prosperity. [4]For example,in the 18th century, short-staple cotton that was grown in the Southern UnitedStates required an immense amount of labor in order to separate the seeds fromthe fiber to process the cotton to make it marketable. [5]However,in the mid-19th century, Eli Whitney, an American entrepreneur, invented thecotton gin, which allowed for automation of cotton processing. [6]This machine replaced the need of a large workforce for the process and greatly improved production. [7]Asa result of the cotton gin, short-staple cotton production skyrocketed,increasing by more than 10 times in the South while bringing prosperity to theregion and setting in motion a new industrial era in America. [8]This is in agreement with Perspective Three, which says that mechanization allows for“unimagined possibilities”. [9]Although there are clearly many advantages toindustrialization, there are also some heavy drawbacks.
本段是主体段第*部分,第[1]句是topic sentence,照应本文thesis statement的“Although theusage of machines increases efficiency and our standard of living”,第[3]和[8]句分别阐述了与命题中观点二和观点三的逻辑关系,并辅以例证(第[4]到[7]句)。本段结尾处第[9]句是一过渡句,承上启下,使得文章结构极为严谨。
[1]The replacement of humans by machines leads to the loss of value tohuman life, an effect that outweighs the material gains of automation. [2]The search to findhuman tasks that can be performed by machines inevitably leads to comparisonetween the human and the machine. [3]If acompany executive wants to see if an inventory management team can be replacedby a robotic system, he will compare the two and determine which can do abetter job. [4]When this occurs, the peopleon the team are evaluated not for their worth as human beings, but for theireffectiveness at performing a specific function—in essence, as we wouldevaluate a machine. [5]In a larger sense,when we begin to think about humans in this way, the worth of a person’s lifebecomes dependent on only what they can do and no longer has any intrinsicvalue. [6]As Perspective Onestates, we begin to lose our humanity. [7]Thisnew mindset and way of evaluating people, though seemingly harmless in theworkplace, is devastating when it begins to pervade a society. [8]If a person is judged only on his or hercapability, there is no reason for a person to remain after they have servedtheir function. [9]This would warrantgenocide against the elderly and the disabled because their burden on societywould not be made up for by any production. [10]Althoughthe machines may seem to only fulfill the low skill jobs at the moment, thereis no barrier to prevent the machines from replacing more. [11]As the machinesincrease in intelligence, they will replace any tasks done by humans and renderus unnecessary and worthless.
本段是主体段第二部分,第[1]句是topic sentence,照应本文thesis statement的“it detractsfrom the value of human life”,第[6]句阐述了与命题中观点一的逻辑关系,进一步明确个人观点。本段中虽然没有像第*部分那样给出具体的例证,但是使用了推理性论证的手法,倒也能自圆其说。(例证的时候,建议大家使用具体的例证,说服力会更强一些)本段结尾处第[11]句是小结,既照应了本段开头,又让主题显得更加鲜明。
Due to the risks of dehumanization, the materialbenefits of machines are not enough to justify its increasing presence.
文章Conclusion部分短小精悍,与Introduction遥相呼应,进一步深化了主题,为文章画了一个圆满的句号。
综上所述,此文采用了四段式的总分总结构,自然而然地提出问题、分析问题、解决问题。用词精准、句式灵活、结构严谨、论证有力,满分当之无愧。希望同学们能够仔细品读,吸取精华。