如何准备SSAT的写作部分呢

　　SSAT，全称是Second School Admission Test，中文名称为美国中学入学考试，适用于美国、加拿大私立学校的入学申请，是申请者所必须具备的一个考试成绩。它通过检测学生的阅读理解，语言词汇，数学和写作能力来对学生一年的学习情况进行评估和预测。SSAT考试由Admission Test Board命题。按照学生所在的年级和预申请的年级不同，考试被分为初级考试(Elementary Level )、中级考试(Middle Level)和高级考试 (Upper-Level)。
　　写作作为中级和高级考试的一项项目，其特殊性在于写作的分数并不计入总分，而是直接作为申请材料的一部分被送至招生官阅读。在参加SSAT考试前，很多考生都会有这种疑问：“既然写作不算分，那为什么我还要完成这一部分呢?”原因包括两方面：一方面是因为需要确认是学生本人来参与考试的；另一方面更为重要，是因为写作是SSAT考试当中的主观题型部分。当所有考生的表现在招生官面前都化成了客观的、冰冷的百分比数值时，写作部分则成为了考生们展示个人特殊性的窗口了。所以写作是能够让你从其他同分数段的考生中脱颖而出的制胜法宝。
　　我们如何准备SSAT的写作部分呢?这需要从SSAT考试题型要求和美国“共同核心州立标准” (Common Core State Standard，简称 "CCSS")对写作的要求来理解。
　　SSAT写作题型要求分析
　　美国中学对于学生的写作类型要求有：记叙文、议论文和说明文。但是其中的说明文比较难体现出学生的个人特色，不利于学校甄选学生。所以记叙文和议论文是SSAT中高年段所要求的考试内容。
　　SSAT初级考试针对的是3-4年级的学生(申请4-5年级)，考试的题型是看图写话，写作时间为15分钟。5-7年级的学生(申请6-8年级)则需要参加中级考试。写作的题型是创意型记叙文。从两个给出的开头当中选取一个问题，然后进行想象和扩写。参加高级考试8-11年级学生(申请9-12年级)则有两个题型可以进行选择——创意型记叙文或者较为常规的议论文，考试时间为25分钟。随着学生年龄和能力的增长，可以明显地看出SSAT对学生在不同阶段的写作要求也有所不同。
　　初级考试中“看图写话”的题型主要是减轻了学生在内容构思上的负担，其重点在于理解题意，语言表述清晰流畅；进入中级考试后，创意型记叙文不但需要学生有语言功底，还需要学生有把握文章结构和编排故事情节的能力；而在高级考试中增加议论文的选择空间，则是对应中高年级学生在思维逻辑和论证能力上的成长要求。说明在不同年龄层的学生都应该在语言使用的各个方面表现出越来越复杂的能力——从词汇和句法到思想发展和组织。学生们应该能够处理要求越来越高的内容和信息来源。
　　能力要求和考试准备
　　尽管SSAT没有明确地给出写作考核标准， 但是我们可以参考从CCSS参考标准中找到的对应的写作要求。下面我们就以七年级的标准来做一下分析：
　　"Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience."
　　
　　学生的写作应尽量做到清晰连贯，内容详实，组织结构清晰，文章风格得体，符合写作任务的要求， 同时也要考虑到写作的目的和受众的对象。
　　"Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence."
　　学生在写议论文时，应有明确的理由和相关的论据来支持议论文。
　　"Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant deive details, and well-structured event sequences."
　　学生应能够通过写记叙文来展示真实或虚构的事件经历，这其中需要运用有效的写作技巧，相关的描述性细节以及有条理的叙事结构。
　　综上所述，学生在完成SSAT考试写作的过程中，不论选择什么题目，首先应该要在脑海中呈现一篇大致完整的文章。其次，如果是选择了创意型记叙文的写作，在描述自己想象的场景的时候，好能够使用精确的单词和短语。通过讲述细节和富有画面感的语言来传达经验, 事件, 场景。如果是选择了议论文，有效的论点和论据必不可少。之后，不论是选择哪种文体，内容上应该体现自己的真情实感，才能大化地展现自己的个性特征。
　　分享SSAT高分范文：
　　（一）
　　“Haste makes waste” is an old English idiom which tells us that if you do things too quickly or too carelessly, you are likely to make more mistakes and end up with bad result. It has been true throughout the history and is absolutely true in the world today. I want to sustain my opinion throughout the following two examples.
　　One of the examples that I want to illustrate is the problem-causing construction of the stadium in my neighborhood which was constructed in order to hold the National Sports Game ten years ago. I learned from my mother that the stadium was built only for half a year in a great hurry and haste. At first, all of the people in our neighborhood were supremely amazed at the astonishing rapid rate and efficiency at building such a brand-new stadium with the most advanced technology in our nation. But a good time never lasted long, 2 months later, portion of the roof collapsed due to the heavy storm and rain. This leaded to a series of continuing problem such as a big strike of labors and the shortage of money in mending and rebuilding the “new” stadium. Until 1 year later, the stadium which had been previously considered as the first-class stadium over the country was reopened to public, unfortunately 8 months after the hold of the Nation Sport Game.
　　The failure of my test may also be regarded as a very persuasive example of “Haste makes waste”. Once I had a hard time preparing for an extremely complicated but important final-exam in my school. The fact is that I didn’t manage my schedule well and had to go over all the notes and papers in at most 6 hours, in other words, I didn’t have time to rest, to sleep, to have meals but just to keep working. This may seem to be an efficient method to accomplish so much work at the same time. But it turned out to be a terrible or even worse time for me. My head kept falling down and I felt drowsy and couldn’t help falling asleep. Actually I only studied for 3 hours in all, only half of the efficiency that I planned to reach. There couldn’t be an even worse time for me and I learned a hard but meaningful lesson from it.
　　In sum, nothing good can be done unless you do it with great clam and carefulness, if not, it will probably result in an even more costly and worthless consequence. Just as the example: most of the spelling mistakes are caused because people spell the words too quickly and carelessly without checking them again. Thus, what we should do now is try to be more careful and responsible of what we’re going to do and avoid those unnecessary mistakes.

　　（二）
　　What do you think are the elements of a good movie? Explain your answer with a discussion of movies that either have or lack these elements.
　　Every time when the movie coming to an end and lights being turned on, you hear the discussions from the film-goers. They are talking about the actor or actress in the movie, the plots and sometimes, the inspirations they get after watching the movie. Indeed, those are the exact elements that ifferentiate good movies from OK movies or even straight-out bad movie.
　　First, good movies should have adequate cast crew. Without adequate actors or actresses, the audience might be distracted from the plot of themovie and could hardly engage themselves in the movie. I personally feel distracted when watching Snow White and the Huntsman because theportrayal of Snow White was over the top for me and I felt distracted and could hardly suspend my disbelief towards the action throughout the whole movie.
　　What’s more, having a well-designed plotline helps a movie to be great. The plot should include twists and turns so that the audience would beintrigued to sit in the cinema for almost two hours without feeling bored. The 2010 classic Inception is an example of film with well-designed plotline.From the beginning of the movie, the audience is challenged intelligently and no one would be able to know what is about to happen next and manypeople would go back to this movie for several times just to analyze the plotline. However, well-designed plotline does not only refer torevolutionary concepts but also some small innovations. For example, some of the Disney & Pixar movies, like Inside Out in recent years and the Monster Inc. several years back, are pretty much Disney-type happy ending movies but the small innovations in concepts actually made those movies great.
　　Last but definitely not the least, good movies allow the audience to resonant with its theme. The audience is captivated by the movie and inthe end, they should be going home with new inspirations. This is basically why people always feel pumped after watching superhero movies and also the exact reason for why some people will have tears in their eyes after watching some sad scenes on the screen. Subconsciously, the film-goers involve themselves in the movie and feel what the characters are feeling. For this reason, many movies, such as Spiderman or Coco, are considered all-time classic by many with the previous inspiring many teenagers to try their best to do the right thing and the latter reminding many of their family and passion.
　　To summarize, adequate casting crew, welldesigned plotline and the message delivered by the movie are the three elements that allow a film to impress the viewers and to shine.