12月亚太&北美SAT写作考情

　　2月7日SAT考试结束

　　几家欢喜几家愁

　　你今年拿到了理想的分数

　　申请到理想的学校了吗？

　　明年打算征战SAT的同学

　　不妨来看看这篇最详细的考情

　　包括亚太和北美考场的

　　阅读、文法、写作和数学

　　文章很长，建议同学们先收藏

　　之后再有针对性的慢慢看

　　写作部分：12月亚太区考题

　　2019年12月SAT亚太区写作考题所选取的文章为Steve Lipsher于2013年在The Denver Post 上发表的“ The value of professional photographers can’t be overstated（原文附后）”，其主要观点为：专业摄影师的价值是不容忽视的。

　　文章约835词，属于正常范围，虽然有一定数目的稍难词汇，但总体不难理解，写作技巧分析方面也没有太多障碍，属于中等难度。

　　这篇文章与College Board发布的SAT Study Guide 2020里第157页Sample Passage 1（选文1）关注的问题有一定相似性。SAT Study Guide 2020上的文章作者是Peter S. Goodman，题目是“Foreign News at a Crisis Point”，于2013年发表于TheHuffingtonPost.com。

　　Goodman指出，美国报刊杂志上外国新闻的占比急剧下滑，同时，新闻机构的专业国际新闻记者、驻外办公点的数量也都大幅下降，这些趋势都会带来负面影响。

　　值得一提的是，上述两篇文章都提到了“citizen journalists（公民记者）”，这是什么概念呢？

　　请看《中国日报》的报道：

　　Citizen journalism就是“公民新闻”，指从新闻的采访写作，到编辑发布，都不假手于专业记者或编辑，完全由“读者”自己采写，这些读者则被称为citizen journalist（公民记者）。全世界位citizen journalism当属1998年在其个人博客中对克林顿Zip Gate性丑闻曝光的美国人德拉吉。

　　公民新闻相较于传统新闻的优点在于可以在时间在现场进行real-time reporting（实时报道）。相较mainstream media（主流媒体）而言，也多了更多的vividness（生动性）。在突发事件的报道中，citizen journalism正在发挥越来越重要的作用。

　　然而，SAT今年12月亚太考题与SAT Study Guide 2020上的“Foreign News at a Crisis Point”都深刻地分析了过于依赖citizen journalists的不良后果。

　　写作技巧分析

　　不难看出，文章作者Steve Lipsher用了包括但不限于以下几种手法来增强自己观点的说服力（原文附后）：

　　技巧一：举例子（exemplification）

　　例如，文章开篇提到的Bill Linfield是一个业余的摄影师，他免费或接近免费的投稿一旦被报纸或者电视等媒体接受，就意味着专业的新闻摄影师失去了相应的展现他们作品的机会。

　　这就是作者用来说服读者的例子之一，以证明“劣币驱逐良币”的这一道理（严格来讲，是非专业性的作品挤压了专业的、需要精心打磨推敲的、更优质的作品的存在空间）。

　　技巧二：引用（quotation或者citation）

　　在描述非专业作品带来的负面影响时，文章作者引用了电视台9News的主持人Kyle Clark的评价：“Why is it that every time it snows that we whip out photos of our patio sets like we’re showing off baby photos of our kids? Is that really the best we can do?...Let’s be more original the next time the snow flies.”

　　很明显，Clark在抱怨，citizen journalists们，即普罗大众们，非专业的新闻摄影师们，没能够拍出很精美、有原创性的雪景照。文章作者借由这样一段稍长的直接引用内容，来加强自己的观点—流失了专业的摄影师，也就流失了好的创意、好的艺术作品，十分可惜。

　　技巧三：逻辑说理（reasoning）

　　文章一开始的切入点是一位有极高拍照热情的非专业摄影师，他的作品被Summit Daily News免费使用，乍看上去，这类事件对社会影响较为有限，而且影响仿佛仅限于当地（Summit County）。

　　但是作者巧妙地一步步铺陈开来，让读者逐步意识到，这个问题的影响实际远比开头所描述的的范围大很多。

　　比如在第8段，他指出”Of course, the issue isn’t limited to Summit County.”读者们便能得知，全国范围内的报纸几乎都存在同样的问题。

　　接下来，在第11段，作者说：”And it’s not just newspapers.”读者开始发现，在其它的媒体领域，不仅仅是报纸，专业的新闻摄影师生存之地也在不断被压缩。

　　接近文章末尾，第17段，作者不再只是描述全国报纸、电视等相关的专业摄影师，而是提到：

　　“Any professional photographer these days can recount being asked to take photos for free or to accept insultingly low fees”。也就是说，在日常生活的方方面面，专业摄影师的价值都被低估了，他们付出了劳动和心血，却没有获得相应的报酬。

　　就这样一步步，作者把现在专业摄影师所面对的巨大压力一步步呈现、讲述给读者。

　　The value of professional photographers can’t be overstated

　　by Steve Lipsher

　　1.Bill Linfield is a friend, a great guy and a superb amateur photographer who takes pride in his exemplary wildlife and landscape photos.

　　2. So why is he persona non grata among the professional photographers in Summit County?

　　3. Because Linfield freely — and that’s the appropriate word here — shares his work with the Summit Daily News, which never replaced its beloved longtime photographer, Mark Fox, upon his retirement and which instead relies upon the kindness of strangers for its Page 1 photos.

　　4. “I take photos daily because I have a passion for it and enjoy sharing the beauty of where I am able to live and play,” Linfield said. “Besides, if I don’t share my photos, why am I taking them?”

　　5. Local professional photographers lament that Linfield and others offering their work without compensation are enabling the paper to devalue photography, which they contend remains an integral part of newspaper storytelling.

　　6. Matt Lit, a Summit County photography educator at Colorado Mountain College and a former news photographer, praises Linfield’s work as “quite stunning” but fears it is another step in the inexorable march toward the demise of professional photojournalism. Good photography lures in readers who, as a result, see the advertising that supports the news outlet, he said.

　　7. “Once upon a time, I used to earn money selling my photos,” Lit said. “If I sold a photo to a television station to use on their broadcast, that’s air time and that’s valuable stuff. What’s the equivalent ad rate for that amount of air time or for that amount of newspaper space?”

　　8. Of course, the issue isn’t limited to Summit County. Newspapers all across the country have been cutting photographer positions, with the Chicago Sun-Times in May taking the extreme position of eliminating its entire full-time photo staff, then saying four of the 28 will be rehired. (The Denver Post has not been immune to industry-wide downsizing, unfortunately, but it still retains the core of its top-drawer photographers, including two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Craig F. Walker.)

　　9. Last month, David Becker of PetaPixel pointed out that the annual American Society of News Editors newsroom census, compared year over year, shows that U.S. newspapers are employing 43 percent fewer photographers, videographers and artists than they were in 2000.

　　10. In many cases, media outlets now are asking reporters to take cameras with them on assignments or simply relying on “crowd sourcing,” in which “citizen journalists” — basically anyone with an iPhone in his pocket — can snap pictures and willingly share them.

　　11. And it’s not just newspapers.

　　12. Linfield’s work also has appeared periodically on 9News, where anchor Kyle Clark recently had the audacity to complain in a special on-air editorial that readers were sending in boring photos depicting snowfall on patio furniture.

　　13. “Why is it that every time it snows that we whip out photos of our patio sets like we’re showing off baby photos of our kids? Is that really the best we can do?” he grumbled. “We live in one of the most beautiful spots on Earth, but we point our cameras toward the back porch … . Let’s be more original the next time the snow flies.”

　　14. That’s right: Clark is protesting the quality of free photos that 9News receives from amateurs.

　　15. Summit County photographer friend of mine, Tim Faust, doesn’t fault the media for taking advantage of free photography but does think that complaints like those raised by Clark are a case of beggars can’t be choosers.

　　16. “It is supply and demand,” Faust said. “If people are willing to provide free images, then why should media pay for them? However, I take issue with a media outlet complaining about the lack of quality of their free images.”

　　17. Any professional photographer these days can recount being asked to take photos for free or to accept insultingly low fees: friends want a “quick” portrait, businesses request “cheap” images for their websites and brochures, wedding parties can’t understand why they need to pay so much for what they don’t realize typically amounts to more than just a day’s labor.

　　18. Yet just a few days ago, we were all reacquainted with some indelible 50-year-old images from newspapers that remind us how powerful good photography can be in telling a story: Jackie Kennedy standing stoically in her blood-stained pink dress and pillbox hat as LBJ took the oath of office on that crowded airplane, Ruby shooting Oswald, John-John saluting his father’s coffin.

　　19. It is a shame that professional photography is being so undervalued today, and that’s made even worse when media outlets exacerbate the impression that it’s not worth paying for good photos.

　　写作部分：12月北美考题

　　2019年12月SAT北美卷写作考题所选取的文章为Susan Wojcicki(时任视频网站YouTube CEO)于2014年在The Wall Street Journal 上发表的“Paid Maternity Leave Is Good for Business（原文附后）”其主要观点为：“带薪产假制度对于女性休假者本人、她的家庭、她所服务的公司都会产生积极的影响。”

　　原文章长约872词，总体通俗易懂，写作技巧的辨识方面属于中低难度。

　　写作技巧分析

　　Susan Wojcicki用了包括但不限于以下几种手法来增强自己观点的说服力（原文附后）：

　　技巧一：个人经历（personal experience/anecdote）

　　文章段描述了作者本人刚加入Google时的情况。她曾将车库租给谢尔盖·布林和Google的另一位创始人拉里·佩吉，作为办公场所。1999年，她加入了这个当时只有15个雇员而且并未开始盈利的公司，那时候，她正怀着自己的个宝宝。

　　作为公司成长的见证者和推动者，在2014年，写这篇文章的时候，她已经是鼎鼎有名的YouTube视频网站的CEO（YouTube归属Google旗下），并且身怀她的第五个小孩。

　　她每次怀孕都享受到了带薪产假，而且带薪产假的时间逐步增长。作为亲历者，她并不是以一个大权在握的企业高管的角度来评判这个制度，而是从一个普通的女性雇员的角度来阐述带薪产假给女性带来的好处，以此来呼吁美国各州设置带薪产假这一人性化管理制度，显得十分诚恳、可信。

　　技巧二：对调查或研究结果等的引用（citation of research and surveys）

　　文中很频繁地引用了调查或研究结果，选取的调查或研究结果来自于公众信任的信息发布方，即权威机构，为自己的观点提供了强有力的支撑。

　　比如，在第四段，作者引用了联合国的一项调查，她提到：“According to a survey released in May by the United Nations’International Labor Organization, the U.S. is the only country in the developed world that doesn’t offer government-mandated paid maternity leave.”以及第五段，她引用了美国劳工部的数据， “According to the Labor Department, that patchwork of corporate and state benefits covers only 12% of private workers. ”

　　这两处引用都来自于非常专业的机构，从引用的这几句来看，读者们了解到这样一个事实：美国是发达国家里一个还没有实行强制带薪休假政策的国家；能享受到公司或者工厂带薪休产假这一福利的雇员占比是很小的。

　　引用调查和研究结果的例子在本文中可以说是非常丰富，从第六段至第八段，每一段都能找到对应的部分去例举和阐述。

　　技巧三：逻辑说理（reasoning）

　　较为明显的是，作者用了对比（contrast），来说明带薪休假的好处：“Mothers were able to take the time they needed to bond with their babies and return to their jobs feeling confident and ready. And it’s much better for Google’s bottom line—to avoid costly turnover, and to retain the valued expertise, skills and perspective of our employees who are mothers.”

　　这句话说明，如果这种人性化的制度不执行到位，那么公司的雇员流失率将会非常大，给公司带来的损失可能是高昂的。但相对而言，实施这项制度将增长女性工作的积极性，从而对公司本身产生明显有利的结果。

　　Paid Maternity Leave Is Good for Business

　　by Susan Wojcicki

　　1. I was Google’s first employee to go on maternity leave. In 1999, I joined the startup that founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had recently started in my garage. I was four months pregnant. At the time the company had no revenue and only 15 employees, almost all of whom were male. Joining a startup pregnant with my first child was risky, but Larry and Sergey assured me I’d have their support.

　　2. This month, I’ll go on maternity leave once again—my fifth time—joining the nearly 5,000 women who have done so since I joined Google. And though I’m now CEO of YouTube (which is owned by Google), I’ll be entitled to the same benefits as every single woman at the company who has a baby: 18 weeks of paid maternity leave.

　　3. Having experienced how valuable paid maternity leave is to me, my family and my career, I never thought of it as a privilege. But the sad truth is that paid maternity leave is rare in America, and the U.S. lags behind the rest of the world in providing for the needs of pregnant women and new mothers.

　　4. According to a survey released in May by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, the U.S. is the only country in the developed world that doesn’t offer government-mandated paid maternity leave. Every other developed country offers paid maternity leave benefits through social-security programs, so businesses don’t have to shoulder the entire cost. Paid maternity leave isn’t just a First World perk—the U.S. is one of only two countries of the 185 surveyed that does not offer it. The other is Papua New Guinea.

　　5. There are two ways women in America can receive paid maternity leave. They can work for a generous employer that provides it as a benefit. Or they can live in one of the few states—California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island—that have publicly funded paid-maternity-leave laws. According to the Labor Department, that patchwork of corporate and state benefits covers only 12% of private workers. Low-wage earners, those in the bottom income quartile, have it much worse: only 5% get any paid maternity leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a step in the right direction, but it is unpaid and doesn’t cover half the working women in the U.S.

　　6. In study after study, the ILO and other labor and health organizations have shown how harmful a lack of paid maternity leave can be for mothers and their babies. Many times when faced with insufficient maternity leave, mothers choose to drop out of the workforce, leading to a considerable loss of income during a woman’s most productive years. Or it can force a woman back to work too quickly, with adverse effects on her and her child’s health.

　　7. A quarter of all women in the U.S. return to work fewer than 10 days after giving birth, leaving them less time to bond with their children, making breast-feeding more difficult and increasing their risk of postpartum depression. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, suboptimal breast-feeding causes higher rates of infant illness and hospitalization that cost billions of dollars annually.

　　8. Paid maternity leave is also good for business. After California instituted paid medical leave, a survey in 2011 by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that 91% of employers said the policy either boosted profits or had no effect. They also noted improved productivity, higher morale and reduced turnover.

　　9. That last point is one we’ve seen at Google. When we increased paid maternity leave to 18 from 12 weeks in 2007, the rate at which new moms left Google fell by 50%. (We also increased paternity leave to 12 weeks from seven, as we know that also has a positive effect on families and our business.) Mothers were able to take the time they needed to bond with their babies and return to their jobs feeling confident and ready. And it’s much better for Google’s bottom line—to avoid costly turnover, and to retain the valued expertise, skills and perspective of our employees who are mothers.

　　10. Best of all, mothers come back to the workforce with new insights. I know from experience that being a mother gave me a broader sense of purpose, more compassion and a better ability to prioritize and get things done efficiently. It also helped me understand the specific needs and concerns of mothers, who make most household spending decisions and control more than $2 trillion of purchasing power in the U.S.

　　11. I’ve been lucky to have the support of a company that values motherhood as much as Google. And I’ve been lucky to live in a state like California that supports working mothers. But support for motherhood shouldn’t be a matter of luck; it should be a matter of course. Paid maternity leave is good for mothers, families and business. America should have the good sense to join nearly every other country in providing it.更多SAT考试干货敬请关注新航道SAT考试频道