「Reading Passage 1」

　　SAT北美考区2017年5月写作真题

　　“Working Less Would Provide Much to Americans”

　　写作范文

　　以我们的作文的(主体部分的)第二个段落(应对材料文的第四、五、六、七、八段)为例，主要学习两个关键写作内容：

　　● 对于材料文内容的Summary

　　● 对于材料文写作的Analysis

　　It worries the author that Americans work longer hours than do the Japanese and Europeans. The author later refutes the companies’ excuse that long hours of work are to boost productivity by suggesting that the fourfold increase since the 1950s is an already achievement, which should allow Americans to rest. Meanwhile, the stagnant or even declining purchasing power of Americas' salaries, a reality that contradicts the increased productivity, provokes the author’s suspicion that someone is taking advantage of American workers. Further, the author revisits the history of unions’ efforts in reducing work hours so as to indicate that the reduction has always been an issue, which was interrupted by World War II, and should resume. In Paragraph 7, the author responds to the suspicion in the preceding paragraph and names the suspect—the greedy corporates, attributing the recent economic troubles of the US to corporate greed, which is consuming the potential of the US economy. In the next paragraph, the figurative diction, “steroids”, “cannibalizing”, “this runaway train”, carries intense emotions and manifests the author’s strong repulse to the corporate culture and resolution in reversing the climate. The irony when the author says “kill ourselves at work just to make a living” is so sharp that Americans are warned of the danger of overworking.

　　小总结：

　　黑色斜体字是什么意图?这些词汇是我们在自己的写作中用来表达我们如何解读材料文作者的态度和情绪的。善用这些词汇，是我们自己写作的一个关键的分析技巧。

　　「Reading Passage 2」

　　SAT北美考区2016年12月写作真题

　　“It’s Time for Paid Family and Medical Leave to Empower Working Women and Modernize the Workplace.”

　　写作范文

　　我们的作文的(主体部分的)第二个段落(应对材料文的第三、四、五段)

　　大家是不是可以参照我们过往的示范，尝试剖析下面的示范文，来体会我们的分析性写作在写什么和怎么写。

　　In Paragraph 3, remarks of the then president – President Obama – are quoted to explain why the FAMILY Act is needed. The act is for gender equality, as it is deemed unfair that a woman has to “sacrifice her job” or when a mother has to “run into hardship” just because of her gender role. The act also aligns with the national policy proposed by Obama. Obama is quoted for an apparent reason that the words of the nation’s leader carry plenty of weight. Meanwhile, what is taken advantage is not only Obama’s status as POTUS but also his popularity as a charismatic individual. The author then, in the next paragraph, to dispel the concern that the Act may incur massive costs, specifically says that the weekly cost would be “less than the cost of a cup of coffee” to ease the nerves of American employers and government. The author also states that the benefit is traceable and cover all American workers. These two benefits add to the reason why the Act should be passed. Also, passing the Act is what the modern time requires, as is suggested in Paragraph 5, in which Obama is quoted again. The FAMILY Act is believed to be in line with a number of other propositions of modern workplace policies and to keep pace with the rest of the developed world, and since the US is not a pioneer nation that has taken the risks, the US should now already pass the Act. Apparently, in this chunk of paragraphs is an adequate range of convincing reasons.

　　提示：

　　1)我们可能分析作者的态度。那么，在示范文中有没有词汇去表达我们如何解读材料文作者的态度和情绪的?这些词汇是我们分析性写作的关键之一。

　　2)在示范文中有没有一些模棱两可的界于summary和analysis之间的内容?这一部分内容不是纯粹的材料文的内容概要，但也不是我们从读者的角度作出的外部分析，而是一种“解读：穿透材料文作者的字面意思，去理解作者的潜台词和暗示”。

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