基础写作技能

时间：2023-02-27 理论教育版权反馈

【摘要】："The response makes skillful use of textual evidence, demonstrating a complete understanding of the source text."考生对原文的理解程度体现在考生写作文时与原文结合的紧密程度。这一紧密程度又是通过对原文重点信息的直接引用或间接引用来展现的。转述时可以在这四个词类间进行转换。

新SAT写作评分标准对于这三项技能的要求如下：

"The response makes skillful use of textual evidence(quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating a complete understanding of the source text."

考生对原文的理解程度体现在考生写作文时与原文结合的紧密程度。这一紧密程度又是通过对原文重点信息的直接引用或间接引用来展现的。

定义：用考生自己的话来重述原句，不改变、增加或删减原义。

Paraphrasing—recapitulating, point by point, using your own words.

定义：用考生自己的话来简洁地概括原文的主要意思。

Summarizing—condensing the text into a relatively brief presentation of the main ideas.

定义：在作文中直接摘录作者原文中的词或句子，一般要用双引号标出。

Quotation—including another person's exact words within your own writing.

注意

● 不能过度直接引用，不能通篇都由直接引用组成，完全没有自己的理解。

● 最好包括直接引用。如果全文都是间接引用，没有对一些特色词句的直接引用，那么分析就不够透彻。

● 归纳更常用在主体段分析、开头段和结尾段中。

让我们一起来看看官方给出的学生习作中对于基本技能的应用。

文章1（Scores：3/2/3）

1）阅读能力的得分为3分

2）片段赏析：

a. 直接引用的片段：

Goodman also uses reasoning to show readers that there can always be improvement. He says, "these are days in which newsrooms simply must be entrepreneurial and creative in pursuit of new means of reporting and paying for it." Goodman uses the argument that we have to take matters into our own hands to prepare and change the future. Goodman's advice to change now internet focused journalism is comes from a strong skill of reasoning.

得分解析：

The writer also makes use of appropriate textual evidence to demonstrate an understanding of key details. The response is free of errors' of fact or interpretation.

作者能够通过适当的直接引用来展现其对主要细节的理解，并且没有对原文的误读。

b. 转述归纳的片段：

Peter Goodman's purpose in writing "Foreign News at a Crisis Point" was to persuade his audience that the news should include more information about the world as a whole.

得分解析：

The writer accurately paraphrases the central claim of Goodman's text.

作者能够准确地转述原文的主旨。

文章2（Scores：4/3/3）

1）阅读能力的得分为满分4分

2）片段赏析：

a. 直接引用的片段:

The author uses the numbers "307" and "234" in the first paragraph. Next he shows how many news organizations no longer have "foreign bureaus." Again he throws out a number, "53 percent" to show how much foreign news has decreased within the United States.

得分解析：

The writer also demonstrates an understanding of the details of Goodman's text by direct use of raw statistics.

作者通过直接引用原文的统计数据，展现出了对文章的深刻理解。

● 用考生自己的话重述原始信息；

● 跟原文一样或略长；

● 包括细节；

● 没有增加、删减或更改原义。

● 用考生自己的话来概述主要信息；

● 比原文短；

● 只包括原文的主要意思。

● 直接摘录原文的词、短语或句子；

● 选取特殊的、有代表性的；

● 多用于转述容易出现歧义时。

转述的方法一般有改词汇和改句式两种方法。下面我们针对这两种方法来看一些例题。

a. 改词性

英语常用的四大词类有名词（nouns）、动词（verbs）、形容词（adjectives）和副词（adverbs）。转述时可以在这四个词类间进行转换。

例题：

Original: In the 1920s Alfred Sloan's management theories helped General Motors to become the world's dominant car company.

Rewrite: In the 1920s, with help from the managing theories of Alfred Sloan, General Motors dominated the world's car companies.

b. 同义词

转述时也可以使用同义词或近义词替换原词，以实现对原文细节选取和解读的目的。

例题：

Original: General Motors is the largest motor company in the world, with total revenues amounting to 15% of the global automotive market. The giant firm employs 360,000 people internationally.

Synonyms: biggest vehicle manufacturer | worldwide | corporation | globally

c. 简单句变复杂句

例题：

Original: Paul Newman is a movie star. Newman played Butch Cassidy. Cassidy was a bandit. Newman dazzles audiences.

Rewrite: Paul Newman, a movie star who dazzles audiences, played the part of the bandit, Butch Cassidy.

d. 简单句变复合句

例题：

Original: Leslie and Mary refuse to budget. They feel that budgets are useful only for others.

Rewrite: Leslie and Mary refuse to budget because they feel that budgets are useful only for others.

e. 重组句式

例题：

Original: Leader doesn't have to possess all the virtuous qualities, but it is absolutely imperative that he seem to possess them.

Rewrite: It is more important for a ruler to give the impression of goodness than to be good.

习题一

Paraphrase the following sentences.

1. But a growing group of scientists, education researchers and educators say there is little evidence that this approach improves long-term achievement.

Paraphrasing

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2. But these moves, while well intentioned, are misguided.

Paraphrasing

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3. We must hope that those who make education policy will start paying attention to this science.

Paraphrasing

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4. Yet evidence is mounting that having a working mother has some economic, educational and social benefits for children of both sexes.

Paraphrasing

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5. Black women have nearly double the obesity rate of white women and are 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer.

Paraphrasing

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6. I grew up in a working-class family a generation removed from segregated poverty, a background that influenced my decision to practice in clinics that served a disproportionately poor and minority population, instead of private offices.

Paraphrasing

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7. Not surprisingly, her initial impression of me was unfavorable, but a friend encouraged her to come back to see me.

Paraphrasing

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8. Only after many failed attempts have I been able to consistently do the right thing with my health.

Paraphrasing

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9. They are locked up merely because the government wants to make sure they show up in immigration court.

Paraphrasing

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10. Detention is intended to help enforce the law, but, in practice, the system breeds cruelty and harm, and squanders taxpayer money.

Paraphrasing

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11. It's a paradox, but as much of the world has become less identified with organized religion, the leader of the most organized religions is more popular than ever.

Paraphrasing

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12. "Industrial fishing," maybe the first globalized economic enterprise, meant the wholesale, permanent occupation of marine ecosystems, instead of the local raids practiced by previous generations.

Paraphrasing

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13. But while they're content with teachers, students aren't much interested in them as thinkers and mentors.

Paraphrasing

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14. When college is more about career than ideas, when paycheck matters more than wisdom, the role of professors changes.

Paraphrasing

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15. To meet the outrageous costs, borrowers sometimes subdivided apartments and skimped on repairs, allowing properties to fall into decay.

Paraphrasing

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16. Black patients, compared with those of other races, tend to be far less trusting of physicians and their medical advice.

Paraphrasing

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答案

1. It is doubted by a growing group of scientists, education researchers and educators that this approach benefits kids in the long term.

2. Well-intentioned as they may be, these moves, however, are misguided.

3. Hopefully, much attention would be paid to this science by education-policy makers.

4. It has been gradually proved, however, that a working mother brings some economic, educational and social benefits for both male and female kids.

5. The obesity rate of black women is two times the rate of white women, and black women's death rate of breast cancer also exceeds that of white women by 40 percent point.

6. My experience as a kid brought up in a working-class family a generation removed from segregated poverty influenced my decision to serve minority-rich communities, rather than private offices.

7. Her initial impression of me being unfavorable, she still come back to me with the encouragement of friend.

8. Having failed many times, I finally been able to keep the healthy habits consistently.

9. The detention merely serves to guarantee their presence in immigration court.

10. With the intention to enforce the law, the detention is practically counterproductive, breeding cruelty and squandering taxpayer money.

11. It's paradoxical to witness the decreasing identification of organized religions in much of the world with the growth popularity of the leader of the most organized religions.

12. Different from the previous local raids, the first globalized economic enterprise "Industrial fishing" represents the wholesale, permanent occupation of marine ecosystems.

13. Content with teachers, students do not regard them as thinkers and mentors.

14. The role of professors changes as career weights more than ideas and pay cheque matters more than wisdom.

15. Borrowers sometimes subdivided apartments and skimped on repairs with the aim to meet the outrageous costs, causing the decay of the property value.

16. Compared with other races, black patients show less trust to physicians and their medical advice.

习题二

Paraphrase the following sentences.

1. In a new study of 50,000 adults in 25 countries, daughters of working mothers completed more years of education, were more likely to be employed and in supervisory roles and earned higher incomes. Having a working mother didn't influence the careers of sons, which researchers said was unsurprising because men were generally expected to work — but sons of working mothers did spend more time on child care and housework.

Paraphrasing

__________________________________________________________________________________________

2. In an ideal world, the race of the patient or physician wouldn't matter; we would all treat each other strictly as individuals. But we're quite away from reaching that exalted goal. For now, we have to attack the problem of racial health disparities from as many angles as possible. Black doctors are an important part of this mission.

Paraphrasing

__________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Ending mass detention would not mean allowing unauthorized immigrants to disappear. Supervised or conditional release, ankle bracelets and other monitoring technologies, plus community-based support with intensive case management, can work together to make the system more humane. But neither Congress nor the Homeland Security Department has embraced these approaches, which would be far cheaper than locking people up.

Paraphrasing

__________________________________________________________________________________________

4. But World War II also brought a leap in human ingenuity power and technical ability that led to an unprecedented assault on our oceans. Not only did ships themselves become larger, faster and more numerous, but the war-derived technologies they carried exponentially increased their fishing power.

Paraphrasing

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5. In addition, emerging economies of scale meant that it wasn't just the target fish that suffered. With the invention of postwar super trawlers that scooped up everything in their path, a sort of scorched-earth approach to fishing became commonplace.

Paraphrasing

__________________________________________________________________________________________

答案

1. It is showed by a new study of 50,000 adults in 25 countries that, having a working mother increases the possibility for daughters to have more years of education, thus, to establish higher careers and to earn more incomes. However, it is unsurprisingly that this influence does not work to the careers of sons, who were generally expected to work. Nevertheless, sons of working mothers participate more in child care and house chores.

2. In an ideal world, whatever race patients or physicians are, we would all receive equal medical-treatments. Having a long way to go as it may, this mission calls for common efforts from all aspects at present, in which black doctors are an important part.

3. Ending mass detention does not necessarily represent the disappearance of unauthorized immigrants. Common efforts need to be taken to make the system more humane, including supervised or conditional release, ankle bracelets and other monitoring technologies, plus community-based support with intensive case management. These approaches, which neither Congress nor the Homeland Security Department has embraced, would be far cheaper than locking people up.

4. Very great advances were made in human ingenuity power and technical ability after World War II, leading human to an unprecedented assault on our oceans. Besides the growth in size, speed and quantity, the war-derived technologies they carried exponentially increased their fishing power.

5. Moreover, the target fish is not the only one that suffers with the emerging economics of scale. The postwar super trawlers, which scooped up everything in their path, makes the scorched-earth approach to fishing a commonplace thing.

通读阅读材料，找出核心内容，省略所有细节，用简明扼要和高度概括的语言来进行总结。

让我们来看看下面这道例题。

原文：

An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system，a process in which prices rise and fall in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by seller-producers. If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost，this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the America economic system. The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individual are allowed to own productive resources，and they are permitted to hire labor，gain control over natural resources，and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain rights，including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.

Sample Summary：

In the market-oriented economy of America, price is a regulating mechanism that determines the economic activities of the country. The demands of consumers and the supplies of seller-producers would be responded by the fluctuations of prices. Meanwhile, individuals are permitted to possess resources and labor, and to make profits using diversified means.

习题

Summarize the following paragraphs.

Text 1

There is evidence that the usual variety of high blood pressure is, in part, a familiar disease. Since families have similar genes as well as similar environments, familiar diseases could be due to shared genetic influences, to shared environmental factors, or to both. For some years, the role of one environmental factor commonly shared by families, namely dietary salt, has been studied at Brookhaven National Laboratory. These studies suggest that chromic excess salt ingestion can lead to high blood pressure in man and animals. Some individuals, however, and some rats consume large amounts of salt without developing high blood pressure. No matter how strictly all environmental factors were controlled in these experiments, some salt-fed animals never developed hypertension whereas a few rapidly developed very severe hypertension followed by early death. These marked variations were interpreted to result from differences in genetic constitution.

Summary：

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Text 2

A controversy erupted in the scientific community in early 1998 over the use of DNA fingerprinting in criminal investigations. DNA fingerprinting was introduced in 1987 as a method to identify individuals based on a pattern seen in their DNA, the molecule of which genes are made. However, it is in the area of criminal investigations that DNA fingerprinting has potentially powerful and controversial uses. DNA fingerprinting and other DNA analysis techniques have revolutionized criminal investigations by giving investigators powerful new tools in the attempt to trove guilt, not just establish innocence. When used in criminal investigations, a DNA fingerprint pattern from a suspect is compared with a DNA fingerprint pattern obtained from such material as hairs or blood found at the scene of a crime. A match between the two DNA samples can be used as evidence to convict a suspect. The controversy in 1998 stemmed from a report published in by population geneticists Richard C. Lewontin and Daniel L. Hartl called into question the methods to calculate how likely it is that a match between two DNA fingerprints might occur by chance alone. In particular, they argued that the current method cannot properly determine the likelihood that two DNA samples will match because they came from the same individual rather than simply from two different individuals who are members of the same ethnic group.

Summary：

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Text 3

The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly "cultural" as well as language learning content. That being said, the way in which they approach the cultural element is not identical, making direct comparisons between the three difficult. While there is some common ground between the encyclopedic/cultural entries for the Oxford and Longman dictionaries, there is a clear difference. Oxford lays claim to being encyclopedic on content whereas Longman distinctly concentrates on the language and culture of the English-speaking world. The Oxford dictionary can therefore stand more vigorous scrutiny for cultural bias than the Longman publication because the latter does not hesitate about viewing the rest of the world from the cultural perspectives of the English-speaking world. The cultural objectives of the BBC dictionary are in turn more distinct still. Based on an analysis of over 70 million words recorded from the BBC World Service and National Public Radio of Washington over a period of four years, their 1,000 brief encyclopedic entries are based on people and places that have featured in the news recently. The intended user they have in mind is a regular listener to the World Service who will have a reasonable standard of English and a developed skill in listening comprehension.

Summary：

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Text 4

Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends' parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.

Summary：

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Text 5

Has the quality of our lives at work, at home and in our communities increased in direct proportion to all the new Internet and business-to-business Internet services being introduced into our lives? I have asked this question of hundreds of CEOS and corporate executives in Europe and the United States. Surprisingly, virtually everyone has said, "No, quite contrary." The very people responsible for ushering in what some have called a "technological renaissance" say they are working longer hours, feel more stressed, are more impatient, and are even less civil in their dealings with colleagues and friends — not to mention strangers. And what's more revealing, they place much of the blame on the very same technologies they are so aggressively championing.

Summary：

__________________________________________________________________________________________

答案

Text 1

According to confirmed evidence, typical hypertension is a familiar disease associated with the shared genetic impacts and/or environmental factors. The study of dietary salt, one environmental factor commonly shared by families, reveals that genetic differences lead to the variations in their chances to get high blood pressure. Those who are genetically susceptible to hypertension face higher risks than those who are not.

Text 2

Ever since the introduction of DNA techniques, they have been broadly utilized in identification and particularly criminal investigation. Nevertheless, a controversy was brought up by experts who cast doubt on the methods to determine the likelihood that a match between two DNA fingerprints might occur by chance alone.

Text 3

Given the distinct cultural elements of three typical dictionaries, BBC, Oxford and Longman, it may be uneasy to compare them directly. Oxford tends to be more encyclopedic, whereas Longman focuses on the language and cultural aspects of English-speaking countries. As for BBC, its entries are largely associated with recently-broadcasted news.

Text 4

In fact, parents should be responsible for their children's estrangement from them. Whenever children praise the homes of their friends, their parents would feel humiliated and in turn act irrationally towards them, giving them profound shocks. Because of such shocks, children refuse to communicate with them.

Text 5

In the new era of information technology, the quality of life has been negatively affected, rather than enhanced, by the Internet. It is largely because people have to overwork themselves online and thus endure heavy pressure both from work and from life. The prevalence of new technologies only adds to their annoyance.

在SAT写作中运用直接引用的技巧时，要注意如下的分隔规则：

● 逗号、冒号和双引号用来分隔引言和出处；

● 引用内容的首字母大写；

● 引言内的引用使用单引号。

注意

在SAT写作中，对于这三种技巧使用，有四大注意事项：

● 不能全文都是原封不动地直接引用大段的阅读材料内容；

● 不能完全没有直接引用；

● 不能宽泛地总结，需要转述细节；

● 要做到边转述边评析。

下面我们来看几篇例文。

例文一

● In "Let there be dark," Paul Bogard talks about the importance of darkness.

Darkness is essential to humans. Bogard states, "Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep, sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression and recent research suggests are main cause of 'short sleep' is 'long light.' Whether we work at night or simply take our tablets, notebooks and smartphones to bed, there isn't a place for this much artificial light in our lives." (Bogard 2). Here, Bogard talks about the importance of darkness to humans. Humans need darkness to sleep in order to be healthy.

Animals also need darkness. Bogard states, "The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, including nocturnal and crepuscular species of birds, insects, mammals, fish and reptiles. Some examples are well known — the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs — and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the world's flora. Ecological light pollution is like the bulldozer of the night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth's ecology would collapse..." (Bogard 2). Here Bogard explains that animals, too, need darkness to survive.

评价：这篇评分为2/1/1的文章的主要缺陷就是通篇大段原封不动地引用原文，几乎没有作者自己的原创，这是写作时需要坚决杜绝的。

例文二

● Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience about what he is concering about and feels it important to take care about. His essay talks about so much facts about sleeping how so little can effect us health wise examples like getting sleep disorders, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression. This facts helps people persuade the audience he also say that the world health organization classifies working night shift is bad. In his argument is not all about how it bad for the body he also claims and have proof that light cost are expensive and really costing people because they have light all night long. He also claims light is messing with mother nature that animals need darkness to feed eat move around because there noctuaral creatures. He has details facts about human body, animals and about mother nature that he can use to support his idea of not using so much light at night and how we need darkness. With these features he can persuade the auidence because people dont know why darkness can be good for us. He was all of facts and examples that he claim is efficting us and there world.

评价：这篇得分为2/1/1的文章太过宽泛地转述了原文内容，并没有细节的直接引用或对细节的评析。细节的使用和评析是作文非常重要的元素，也是提分关键。

例文三

● Bogard's argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art — Van Gogh's "Starry Night" — and modern history — Paris' reputation as "The City of Light". By first referencing "Starry Night", a painting generally considered to be undoubtedly beautiful, Bogard establishes that the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite. A world absent of excess artificial light could potentially hold the key to a grand, glorious night sky like Van Gogh's according to the writer. This urges the readers to weigh the disadvantages of our world consumed by unnatural, vapid lighting. Furthermore, Bogard's alludes to Paris as "the famed ‘city of light'". He then goes on to state how Paris has taken steps to exercise more sustainable lighting practices. By doing this, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris' traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming — no longer "the city of light", but moreso "the city of light…before 2 AM". This furthers his line of argumentation because it shows how steps can be and are being taken to preserve natural darkness. It shows that even a city that is literally famous for being constantly lit can practically address light pollution in a manner that preserves the beauty of both the city itself and the universe as a whole.

评价：这是一段来自满分作文的节选，作者针对一种特征，充分地转述和直接引用了原文的细节，并能够做到边转述边评析。

了解上述的技巧后，我们在平时练习时可以针对一篇文章进行一句话批注转述。具体方法如下：

a. 识别段落特征

b. 总结转述信息

c. 简单评价效果

让我们以一篇官方的阅读材料为蓝本学习一下如何进行批注转述。

At my family's cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in (1) which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when (2) 8 of 10 children born in the United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way, I worry we are rapidly losing night's natural darkness before realizing its worth. This winter solstice, as we cheer the days' gradual movement back toward light, let us also remember the irreplaceable value of darkness.

【批注及转述】

(1) The descriptive words used in this sentence add visual intensity, evoking the wonder of the night sky.

(2) The writer uses this statistic as evidence to inform his subsequent claim that we "are rapidly losing night's natural darkness."

All life evolved 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, spells trouble for all. (3) Already the World Health Organization classifies working the night shift as a probable human carcinogen, and the American Medical Association has voiced its unanimous support for "light pollution reduction efforts and glare reduction efforts at both the national and state levels." (4) Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of "short sleep" is "long light." Whether we work at night or simply take our tablets, notebooks and smartphones to bed, there isn't a place for this much artificial light in our lives.

【批注及转述】

(3) Providing evidence from authoritative sources (the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association) adds legitimacy to the writer's claim in the paragraph above that "too little darkness ... spells trouble for all."

(4) The writer continues to draw on evidence from the authorities cited above. He uses this evidence to inform his subsequent point that "whether we work at night or simply take our ... smartphones to bed, there isn't a place for this much artificial light in our lives."

The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, (5) including nocturnal and crepuscular species of birds, insects, mammals, fish and reptiles. Some examples are well known — the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs — and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the world's flora. Ecological light pollution is like the (6) bulldozer of the night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth's ecology would collapse ... (7)

【批注及转述】

(5) The presentation of facts and evidence supports the claim that follows at the end of the paragraph that "without darkness, Earth's ecology would collapse."

(6) The writer compares light pollution to the effects of a "bulldozer," a machine that can be used to ravage land. This imagery dramatizes the destructive potential of light pollution.

(7) By first discussing the human need for darkness and then moving into a discussion of the need for darkness among animals, the writer is able to build his argument about the "irreplaceable value of darkness."

In today's (8) crowded, louder, more fast-paced world, night's darkness can provide solitude, quiet and stillness, qualities increasingly in short supply. Every religious tradition has considered darkness invaluable for a soulful life, and the chance to witness the universe has inspired artists, philosophers and everyday stargazers since time began. (9) In a world awash with electric light... how would Van Gogh have given the world his "Starry Night"? Who knows what this vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?

【批注及转述】

(8) The writer makes a stylistic choice here, contrasting a "crowded, louder, more fast-paced world" with darkness that "can provide solitude, quiet and stillness." These words allow the writer to characterize a well-lit world as undesirable and to depict darkness as peaceful and pleasing.

(9) The use of rhetorical questions encourages the reader to consider a world without Van Gogh's beloved painting and what Van Gogh's vision inspires in us all. The suggestion of a world without such artistry and the notion that darkness is "invaluable to a soulful life" are also designed to evoke an emotional reaction in the reader.

Yet all over the world, our nights are growing brighter. (10) In the United States and Western Europe, the amount 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, show that what was a very dark country as recently as the 1950s is now nearly covered with a blanket of light. Much of this light is wasted energy, which means wasted dollars. (11) Those of us over 35 are perhaps among the last generation to have known truly dark nights. Even the northern lake where I was lucky to spend my summers has seen its darkness diminish.

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(10) This statistic is used as evidence to support the claim that "our nights are growing brighter," which leads into the writer's point that this "blanket of light" is largely "wasted energy, which means wasted dollars."

(11) By returning to the introduction's description of a youth spent admiring dark nights, the writer creates another emotional appeal — this one to fear, especially in readers under thirty-five years old, who may now realize that their opportunities to witness true darkness are "diminishing."

(12) It doesn't have to be this way. Light pollution is readily within our ability to solve, using new lighting technologies and shielding existing lights. Already, many cities and towns across North America and Europe are changing to LED streetlights, (13) which offer dramatic possibilities for controlling wasted light. Other communities are finding success with simply turning off portions of their public lighting after midnight. (14) Even Paris, the famed "city of light," which already turns off its monument lighting after 1 a.m., will this summer start to require its shops, offices and public buildings to turn off lights after 2 a.m. Tough primarily designed to save energy, such reductions in light will also go far in addressing light pollution. (15) But we will never truly address the problem of light pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable value and beauty of the darkness we are losing.

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(12) The writer moves from evoking fear to reassuring readers that there is a solution to the problem of light pollution.

(13) The writer chooses his words carefully in this paragraph in order to shape readers' perceptions and bolster his claims. For example, he argues that we are using too much light when less is needed by referring to light being "wasted." He also suggests how easily the problem of light pollution might be addressed, using "simply" to describe what "other communities" are doing.

(14) The writer reasons that if even a city known for its light can enact sensible restrictions, it ought to be comparatively easy for cities not famous for their use of light to do so as well. Paris is also used as evidence to support the writer's previous claim that "communities are finding success."

(15) The argument concludes by recalling the "irreplaceable value and beauty" of darkness. As this darkness is being lost, as evidenced over the course of the writer's argument, it serves as a final appeal to readers' emotions.

习题

Note and paraphrase the following texts.

Text 1

Something quite extraordinary happened in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries: the diversified intellectual explosion called the Enlightenment. Philosophers, natural scientists, artists and political scientists created a revolution in thought based on equal rights for men and the freedom to reason without constraint. Admittedly, it was a relative equality, with some Enlightenment philosophers mistakenly placing white men at the apex of society. But, as a general rule, the core message of the Enlightenment was the need to create a global civilization with shared moral values.

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In this paragraph the author introduces a precedent for an intellectual revolution. This precedent will set the stage for an argument in support of a new, or updated, intellectual revolution. Notice that the author acknowledges a weakness ("mistakenly placing white men at the apex of society") in the initial revolution while at the same time reiterating the "core message" that should be carried over from the first Enlightenment.

This overarching intellectual framework was far removed from traditional religious precepts. In fact, the Enlightenment declared war on the excesses of religion and blind nationalism. Adam Smith, for example, saw patriotism extending beyond one's own country to the great society of mankind. Immanuel Kant called this "global patriotism." We can identify the influence of these ideas in none other than Albert Einstein, who believed in a need to abolish international borders. "In my opinion there is no other salvation for civilization and even for the human race than the creation of an international government with the security on the basis of law," he declared in a September 1945 interview.

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In this paragraph the author introduces the context of the Enlightenment. He emphasizes the importance of the Enlightenment vision by citing examples of prominent intellectuals whose contributions to the intellectual movement have remained relevant to this day.

When we revisit these ideas today, we notice that the globalization of free-flowing information has realized part of the Enlightenment program. Political frontiers still stand, while ideas move at light speed across the planet. There is an emerging perspective, that of the planetary citizen. Will this lead to a new Enlightenment? Or are the same age-old rifts simply going to get amplified by the hundreds of millions of anonymous voices claiming authority over the Web? Should we spend our time considering whether every opinion is equally valid or should we aim collectively for some higher goal?

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In this paragraph the author examines part of the legacy of the Enlightenment in modern society. He characterizes the current time as a potential turning point, where the ideals of the Enlightenment might continue to impact the world or they become overwhelmed by the old ideas that traditionally held sway. Finally, he asks the question that is at the heart of his thesis: should we seek a common, moral ground?

In the past, I have suggested that modern astronomy offers a new vision for humanity, which I called humancentrism. Essentially, humancentrism is an inversion of Copernicanism. While Copernicanism states that the more we learn about the cosmos the less important we become (so, a doctrine of human insignificance in the grand scheme of things), humancentrism states the opposite. As we scan the skies in search of other Earth-like planets with missions such as the sensational Kepler satellite, which has found thousands of exoplanets, and learn more about the history of life on Earth, we learn something new and essential about our planet and who we are.

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In this paragraph the author begins to answer his own question by establishing a new context for a new intellectual revolution, namely the science of astronomy. Interestingly, he uses the example of an intellectual that was ahead of his time, and inverts the old idea, that humans become less significant as we learn more about the cosmos, to formulate a new posture, one he calls humancentrism.

Even if there are other planets or moons with properties like Earth (similar mass, liquid water, oxygen-rich atmosphere, etc.), our planet and its geophysical properties are unique. (A large moon, tectonic plates, thick atmosphere, magnetic poles.) These properties are a key ingredient in the success that life has had here, in particular by providing long-term climate stability and protection from harmful cosmic radiation. Standing on this propitious background, single-celled bacteria evolved to multicellular, complex multicellular and, finally, intelligent multicellular life forms. Each one of these steps was delicate and improbable. Most were also deeply linked to the planet; some of them transformed Earth itself, like the oxygenation of the early atmosphere. We have thus learned that if there is complex life elsewhere, and we can't determine either way yet, it will be rare and certainly very distant from us. In other words, in practice we are alone. We matter because we are rare.

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In this paragraph the author makes the crux of his argument, that humanity is special. According to the author we are special because we came from the planet called Earth, a planet that, while sharing properties with other heavenly bodies, has combined them in a unique way and with stunning results — the advent of intelligent life. This intelligent life is special because it is unlikely. He supports this claim by arguing that we know enough about the possibilities of complex life beyond Earth to say that it will be rare and far away.

If the philosophes from the Enlightenment knew this, I imagine they would have expanded their global stance for humanity to a cosmic stance. A complex molecular machine capable of wondering about its existence should also celebrate and respect its existence. And since we are here only because Earth allows us to be (no teleology implied here, only stable geophysical conditions), we must also celebrate our planet as being unique. Human reason, that leads us to comprehend our place in the universe, leads us also toward a new moral imperative, perfectly secular in its values: the equality of all creatures and the preservation of life and of this planet.

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In this paragraph the author consolidates his argument by making the case that his intellectual predecessors would agree with him. The author says that because we can be aware of our existence, we should celebrate it, and that because such an existence comes essentially from the Earth, it too should be respected and preserved.

Text 2

Below is the full text of the written testimony by Vinton G. Cerf.

Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Thune, Members of the Committee, distinguished panelists and guests, I am honored and pleased to have this opportunity to participate in a hearing on a topic about which I am passionate and committed: basic research. There is no substitute for deep understanding of natural and artificial phenomena, especially when our national and global wellbeing depend on our ability to model and make predictions regarding them. It would be hard to overstate the benefits that have been realized from investment by the US Government and American industry in research.

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The writer introduces the subject of his argument and states his thesis, that is research with the goal of understanding the world around us is important for our wellbeing and requires government investment.

I am sure every member of this committee is well aware of the fundamental scientific paradigm: theories are developed to explain observations or to speculate on how and why things might work. Experiments are undertaken to validate or refute the predictions of the theory. Theories are revised based on experimental results.

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The writer reviews the scientific process of theorizing, testing, and revision.

While the primary focus of attention in this panel is on basic research, I feel compelled to observe that basic and applied research go hand-in-hand, informing and stimulating each other in a never-ending Yin and Yang of partnership. In some ways, applied research is a form of validation because the success (or failure) of the application may reinforce or contradict the theoretically predicted results and the underlying theory. Basic research tries to understand and applied research tries to do and often one must pursue both in the effort to uncover new knowledge.

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The writer is going to be talking about basic research, but wants to point out the dynamic and essential relationship between basic and applied research. Without one, the other is incomplete.

Validation of basic research may take a long time. The notion of the inflation of the early universe still awaits satisfactory confirmation. Postulated by Alan Guth (among others) around 1974, this year's recent results, from measurements taken by the BICEP2 experiment, suggest evidence that this theory is correct, but there is significant debate about the interpretation of the measurements. While the community awaits further corroborating or refuting experimental validation of the measurements, it is important to recognize that the means to gather potentially validating experimental data took 30 years to reach maturity. A similar observation can be made for recent discovery of a Higgs boson by the Large Hadron Collider team at CERN. Peter Higgs and his colleagues postulated the existence of this fundamental particle and its associated field around 1964 but it has taken 50 years for the experimental capacity to test this theory to reach the point where such tests could be undertaken.

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The writer uses two examples to make the point that research can take a long time to verify claims. In one case he cites evidence that came 30 years after the theory (of inflation of the universe) was first put forward. In the second case it took 50 years after the theory was put forward to produce valid data. In both cases there is still debate over the meaning of the data and how to interpret it.

It is worth pausing for a moment to appreciate that research, by its very nature, cannot always guarantee results. Moreover, sometimes the results may come in the form of surprises. A canonical example is the discovery by Alexander Fleming, in 1928, that penicillium mold produces an antibiotic. He was reacting to an unexplained observation in some petri dishes he happened to notice. It was not until 13 years later in 1941 that the active compound we call penicillin was isolated. The best scientists are the ones who are alert to anomalies and seek to understand them. Nobel prizes don't go to scientists who ignore anomalies. They go to the scientists who see unexpected results and say, "huh? That's funny!" and try to find out what is behind an unanticipated observation.

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The writer goes one step further; sometimes there will be no results, or unexpected results. He uses an example to illustrate how, even in such "failed" cases, there is still the potential for significant discovery. He invokes Nobel prize winners to support the point, though he does not specifically cite a case.

Failure is the handmaiden of wisdom in the scientific world. When we make predictions or build systems based on our theoretical models, we must be prepared for and learn from our failures. Understanding the reason for failure is sometimes even more important than positive results since it may pave the way for far deeper understanding and more precise models of reality. In the scientific enterprise, the freedom to take risk and accept the potential of failure makes the difference between merely incremental refinement and breakthroughs that open new vistas of understanding.

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The writer expounds further on the possibility of failure and the possibility to learn from it. He even goes so far as to suggest that the biggest breakthroughs sometimes follow failure to prove a theory as it leads research into new areas and different directions.

In my opinion, support for basic and applied research is fundamentally justifiable based not only on the civil and economic benefits it has conferred but also on the ground-level understanding that basic research is high risk but has a high potential payoff. Only the Government has the capacity to sustain this kind of effort. The National Science Foundation was founded by Congress in 1950. Over the past 60+ years, NSF has successfully supported the scientific research enterprise through widely solicited proposals, a well tested peer review system, dedicated and well-qualified program managers and strongly motivated and highly effective leadership.

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The writer concludes his argument by noting the benefits to society. He states that only government can support such long term and unpredictable research, as it has done effectively through the National Science Foundation for some time.

As a member of the National Science Board, I have learned that successful scientific endeavors supported by NSF rely on a partnership among the research community, the National Science Foundation staff, leadership and board, and the members of the House and Senate who are equally committed to basic and applied research. Vannever Bush got it exactly right in his landmark report: Science, The Endless Frontier. Science is an endless frontier. The more we learn, the more we know we don't know, and the more we must dedicate ourselves to learning and knowing more.

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Finally, the writer appeals to the ongoing, endless nature of scientific inquiry to appeal for continuing support.

Text 3

The short essay below "College Should Prepare You For Life" was firstly published on The New Republic.

As the college admissions season moves into high gear, I've been talking with many stressed-out young people deciding what kinds of schools they should apply to. As president of a university dedicated to liberal education, I urge them to consider college not just as a chance to acquire particular expertise but as a remarkable opportunity to explore their individual and social lives in connection to the world in which they will live and work.

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As young people begin to consider attending university, the president of one institution is making an appeal to seize upon the chance of a liberal education to improve oneself, and to understand their world better.

Contentious debates over the benefits — or drawbacks — of broad, integrative learning, liberal learning, are as old as America itself. Several of the founding fathers saw education as the road to independence and liberty. A broad commitment to inquiry was part of their dedication to freedom. But critics of education also have a long tradition. From Benjamin Franklin in the eighteenth-century to today's Internet pundits, they have attacked its irrelevance and elitism — often calling for more vocational instruction.

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The writer acknowledges the debate over the benefits of a liberal education citing the long traditions that back each side of the argument.

Ben Franklin probably would have had some sympathy for the anti-college message: "You don't need colleges. Go off and learn stuff on your own. You believe you are an innovator? You can prove it without the sheepskin. You want to start a successful company? You don't need permission from out-of-touch professors." From Tom Paine to Steve Jobs, stories of people with the smarts and chutzpah to educate themselves in their own ways have long resonated with Americans.

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He cites Benjamin Franklin's urge to be self-taught as well as more modern success stories such as Steve Jobs while acknowledging the appeal of the self-made man to Americans.

But Franklin was also dismissive of the arrogant display of parochialism. He would be appalled by the current mania for driving young people into narrower and narrower domains in the name of "day one" job preparedness. He would surely recognize that when industrial and civic leaders call for earlier and earlier specialization, they are putting us on a path that will make Americans even less capable citizens and less able to adjust to changes in the world of work.

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And yet he uses his opponents' greatest saint, Franklin again, to batter the idea that education should push students increasingly towards specialization at increasingly younger ages. While this approach may have short-term benefits it will ultimately lead to an American populace less able to adjust in a changing world to their ultimate harm.

Citizens able to see through political or bureaucratic doubletalk are also workers who can defend their rights in the face of the rich and powerful. Education protects against mindless tyranny and haughty privilege. Liberal learning in our tradition isn't only training; it's an invitation to think for oneself. For generations of Americans, literate and well-rounded citizens were seen as essential to a healthy republic. Broadly educated citizens aren't just collections of skills — they are whole people. For today's critics, often speaking the lingo of Silicon Valley sophistication, however, a broad, contextual education is merely wasted — non-monetized — schooling.

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Educated workers, more so than merely trained ones, will be better equipped to defend their rights and freedoms. Indeed, the author writes, well rounded citizens are "essential to a healthy republic." One must resist the urge to consider education merely in terms of consequent financial returns on investment.

It's no wonder that in a society characterized by radical income inequality, anxiety about getting that first job will lead many to aim for the immediate needs of the marketplace right now. The high cost of college and the ruinous debt that many take on only add to this anxiety. In this context, some assert that education should simply prepare people to be consumers, or, if they are talented enough, "innovators." But when the needs of the market change, as they surely will, the folks with that narrow training will be out of luck. Their bosses, those responsible for defining market trends, will be just fine because they were probably never confined to an ultra-specialized way of doing things. Beware of critics of education who cloak their desire to protect privilege (and inequality) in the garb of educational reform.

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In this paragraph the writer acknowledges some of the pressures that seem to be driving people away from liberal education in favor of job-related training. But he refutes that line of thinking by making the case that a narrowly trained populace will be left without answers if and when the situation changes, and the jobs they were trained for no longer exist.

"If we make money the object of man-training," W.E.B. Dubois wrote at the beginning of the twentieth-century, "we shall develop money makers but not necessarily men." He went on to describe how "intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge of the world that was and is, and the relation of men to it — this is the curriculum of that Higher Education which must underlie true life." A good pragmatist, DuBois knew that through education one developed modes of thinking that turned into patterns of action. As William James taught, the point of learning is not to arrive at truths that somehow match up with reality. The point of learning is to acquire better ways of coping with the world, better ways of acting.

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In this paragraph the writer cites W.E.B Dubois' warning against making money the sole goal of training. He refers to Dubois's "practicality" to make his own point that in the big picture, liberal education is itself an essential component to being able to act in the real world.

Pragmatic liberal education in America aims to empower students with potent ways of dealing with the issues they will face at work and in life. That's why it must be broad and contextual, inspiring habits of attention and critique that will be resources for students years after graduation. In order to develop this resource, teachers must address the student as a whole person — not just as a tool kit that can be improved. We do need tools, to be sure, but American college education has long invited students to learn, creating habits of independent critical and creative thinking that last a lifetime.

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In this paragraph the writer is again on the offensive, touting the virtues of a liberally educated people. He invites educators to go beyond developing their students tools, though not to forsake them, and create learning and thinking habits that will enable people to develop new skills whenever the need arises.

In the nineteenth century, Emerson urged students to "resist the vulgar prosperity that retrogrades ever to barbarism." He emphasized that a true education would help one find one's own way by expanding one's world, not narrowing it: notice everything but imitate nothing, he urged. The goal of this cultivated attentiveness is not to discover some ultimate truth, but neither is it just to prepare for the worst job one is likely to ever have, one's first job after graduation.

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The writer invokes the words of another great and widely respected American, Emerson, to encourage a broadening view of education, beyond a "vulgar" goal of prosperity. It is that narrowly focused goal that is the enemy of not only the individual, but is counterproductive to its own stated goals in the long run.

Instead, the goal of liberal education is, in John Dewey's words, "to free experience from routine and caprice." This goal will make one more effective in the world, and it will help one continue to grow as a whole person beyond the university. This project, like learning itself, should never end.

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The writer concludes his argument with an invocation to develop one's self, to become "a whole person," to be a lifelong learner.

Text 4

At this period of wreck and ruin, the one power that can save, can heal, can fortify, is clear and intelligent thought. The statement is not as banal as it may seem. There are people who prefer ardent thought to clear thought, and loyal thought to strict thought. There are people who mistrust thought altogether and prefer the unarguable authenticities of the heart — the individual heart and the collective heart. There are people who regard thought as an activity of an elite. Yet the ideal of "clear and intelligent thought," stripped of its condescension and its indifference to the non-rational dimensions of human life, deserves to be defended. We need not be a nation of intellectuals, but we must not be a nation of idiots.

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The writer clearly states his thesis, and then introduces many of the objections to that thesis. In the final sentence he somewhat tempers the view stated in his thesis. This allows for a broader defense to be made.

The task is not to intellectualize humanity. It is to humanize intellectuality. To this end, the cultural reputation of reason needs to be revised. Reason is an intensely romantic pursuit, especially if one finds romance in struggle. Reason's victories are almost never final. It is always surrounded by unreason, which is always more popular. Reason is the stout resistance, the flickering lamp in the darkness, the perpetual underdog, the stoic connoisseur of defeat, the loser that dusts itself off and fights another day. If, as some of its enemies claim, reason aspires to control, it is a futile aspiration. The anti-rationalist mob in contemporary thought can relax: reason will never come to rule.

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The writer addresses an obstacle to his way of thinking ("the cultural reputation") by attempting to define Reason in romantic ("an intensely romantic pursuit") and deferential ("reason will never come to rule") terms.

One of the most absurd charges against reason is that it is authoritarian. There is nothing rational about tyranny: it is stupid and it is mad. Its "rationality," which is to say, its internal coherence and its capacity to function, is not the same as reason. Quite the contrary: it is reason that exposes this rationality for what it really is. More importantly, reason is essentially anti-authoritarian because a rational discussion is never closed. That is why modern thinkers still engage with ancient thinkers. That is why science never ends. New objections and new findings are always welcome. In the war against reason in much of contemporary philosophy, one of the cleverest tricks is to present reason's rigor, its insistence upon the importance of the inquiry into truth and falsehood, as discouraging to thought. But the contrary is the case. What could be more encouraging to thought than the belief in the possibility of intellectual progress? This is a gathering to which all minds are invited. They have merely to agree to behave like minds.

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In this paragraph the writer begins by addressing a more blatant objection to reason. First he characterizes the objection as a misunderstanding ("It's rationality…is not the same as reason"). Then the writer goes on to once again characterize reason in his own, more uplifting terms ("What could be more encouraging than…"). He ends with an egalitarian call to reason.

Reason frightens some people, but reason is never as frightening as its opposite. "The God of my heart is the God of my mind," wrote Hermann Cohen. Leave God out of it for a moment: I have never known quite how to read that sentence. The union that it extols seems to liquidate the benefits of our multiplicity. Did he mean that the mind will be like the heart or that the heart will be like the mind? Either way, he was performing an amputation.

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The writer addresses a less rational objection to reason by quoting a famous thinker. However, the quote is introduced to be debunked, and the author proposes that reason and emotion are not contrary, but complimentary.

Good judgment cannot be prescribed or outsourced. There are no blue-ribbon panels on truth and goodness. The responsibility for belief falls equally on all of us. The search for values, and for the grounds of values, is catch-as-catch-can: it may lead the thoughtful individual to books, to films, to travel, to participation, to conversation, to friendship and love, as the long work of mental clarification proceeds. Most conviction exists in the vast cold space between perfect obscurity and perfect certainty. The thoughtful individual is condemned to an existence of corrections and amplifications, both analytical and empirical, in which unfounded leaps are the selfish indulgences of impatient minds.

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In this paragraph the writer makes a case that reason is the duty of all people, and one that must proceed according to no fixed rules other than a requirement to proceed patiently.

An open mind is not an empty mind. There are many questions that call for expertise, but this does not settle the matter: The work of natural scientists and social scientists will never relieve the ordinary citizen of his obligation to arrive at some basis for a view. It falls to us, who are not economists or biologists or climatologists, to support a position. We must support what we cannot ourselves verify. By what authority do we choose between authorities? And yet an open society is founded upon the faith in precisely such a choice.

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The writer next addresses the role of experts in forming reasonable thoughts. He claims it is the role of reason to approach specialized knowledge, and the duty of people to arrive at a reasonable position. He ends by emphasizing the importance of this duty.

In closing we might consider John Stuart Mill's understanding of the purpose of reason, which is "to enable average human beings to attain the mental stature which they are capable of." It is not "solely, or chiefly, to form great thinkers," but to create "an intellectually active people."

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To conclude the writer uses the words of an influential Enlightenment thinker to summarize his view of the purpose of reason in the individual, and the role of reason in society.

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