托福写作之外国人眼中的高考

智课网 TOEFL备考资料 托福写作之外国人眼中的高考 摘要： 各位杀托滴筒子们，最近三日对于全国浩浩荡荡942万赴高考战场考生来讲可是至关重要的日 子！不论正在备考托福的你还需不需要过高考这座独木桥，我们且一起来看看外媒眼中的高 考，顺便拿走一些句型和素材，不谢！ 由于被称为全球最大高风险考试“，并以“ 死记硬背“著称，中国高考也引起了外媒关注。好奇 的外国记者记录下了这样一些典型镜头： Allegedly the worlds largest high-stakes test featuring cramming and intense exam preparation, the gaokao has been attracting foreign media attention. Curious reporters found some typical gaokao scenes such as the following. 高考前 3个月 18岁的马丽(音)是在高考机器上挥汗如雨的典型学生形象。她每天在学校学习 10小时之外， 还要在家再多复习6小时。( 英国广播公司，2012年6月8日) Ma Li, 18, fits the profile (形象) of a final-year student toiling (苦干) on the exam treadmill (踏车). She regularly puts in an extra 6 hours at home at the end of a 10-hour school day. (BBC, Jun 8, 2012) 看完这段话，不知大家是否看到了一句 托福 写作通用的句型呢? Ma Li, 18, fits the profile (形象) of a final-year student toiling (苦干) on the exam treadmill (踏车) 我们可以把句型总结为 A fits the profile of B toiling on thetreadmill, 这个句型可以为我们举例子服务，让我们摆脱 for example这样的表达。 首先看题：A job with more vacation time is better than a job with high salary but less vacation time. 毫无疑问对于年轻人来讲肯定是要拼而不是忙着偷闲呀，所以我们可以举个例子说自己的哥 哥就是在工作的机器上挥汗如雨的典型年轻人形象，看例句： My old brother fits the profile of a young man toiling on the work treadmill in order to abate the financial stress exerted by the prohibitive living cost in metropolises. 高考前 1周 每家每户都想尽办法帮助自己的孩子考试中取得高分。在中国西南地区的四川省，学生一边 在医院吸氧一边复习，以期提高注意力。一些女孩子则服用避孕药物以防止月经周期在考试 期间到来。(纽约时报，2009 年6月13日) Families pull out all the stops (使出浑身解数) to optimize (最大化) their childrens scores. In Sichuan Province in southwestern China, students studied in a hospital, hooked up to oxygen containers, in the hope of improving their concentration. Some girls take contraceptives (避孕药) so they will not get their periods during the exam. (The New York Times, Jun 13, 2009) 这段话中家长使出浑身解数使孩子的分数最大化 Families pull out all the stops to optimize their childrens scores. 我们可以总结成 A pulls out all the stops to optimize B，这个句型就太通用啦，都不用找题目，随手拈来，例如我们讲到政府类的题目，那些欠发 达国家是不是应该使出浑身解数使经济效益最大化呢，那么用上这样的句型，轻轻松松可以 写成 The poverty-stricken countries should pull out all the stops to optimize the economic returns by developing practical things; otherwise with the scant government revenue, they may fail to do anything just like being up on a creek without a paddle. 高考当天 考场外，家长们持续几个小时地等待，就像等待妻子临产的丈夫一样焦虑。迟到则是毁灭性 的，2007年就有一名学生迟到了4分钟，她和她的母亲在监考官面前跪下了，仍然未能参加考 试。(纽约时报，2009年6月13日) Outside the exam sites, parents keep vigil (静候) for hours, as anxiously as husbands waiting for their wives to give birth. A tardy (迟到的) arrival is disastrous (灾难性的). One student who arrived 4 minutes late in 2007 was turned away (拒之门外), even though she and her mother knelt before the exam proctor (监考人), begging for leniency (仁慈). (The New York Times, Jun 13, 2009) TOUGH REALITY 1977年，“文革“后的中国重开大学，恢复了高考，其背后的想法是理想化的：让一个来自甘 肃的农家子弟与一个来自上海官员家庭的孩子拥有同等的机会;让分数，而不是政治恩惠或关 系，成为大学教育的通行证。 Following the end of the “cultural revolution“ (1966-76), Chinas universities were reopened and the entrance exam was launched in 1977. The vision (设想) behind it was utopian (乌托邦式的). The gaokao was expected to ensure that a peasants son from Gansu has the same doors open as a Shanghai official - to make high test scores, not political patronage (赞助) or guanxi (relationships), the ticket to a university education. 但是现在，中国的低收入父母正在为让孩子尽可能接受高等教育而承受过于沉重的负担。 But lower-income Chinese parents now endure too heavy a financial burden as they push their children to obtain as much education as possible. 对于中国的农村父母来说，每一年的高等教育要花费6到15个月的劳动所得。在美国，中等私 立大学每年所需费用，基本等同于美国平均收入者1年的工资，而本州的公立大学开销则约等 于6个月收入。此外，一个每年拿出一半收入供孩子上大学的美国家庭，其另一半收入的购买 力要强于一个年收入少于5000美元的中国农村家庭。 For a rural parent in China, each year of higher education costs 6 to 15 months labor. A year at an average private university in the US equals almost a years income for the average wage earner, while an in-state public university costs about 6 months pay. Moreover, an American family that spends half its income helping a child through college has more spending power with the other half of its income than a rural Chinese family earning less than $5,000 a year. 然而，大学学位已经不能再保证一份高薪工作 中国大学毕业生人数已经在过去10年里翻了两番。 Yet a college degree no longer ensures a well-paying job, be