寫作遭遇政府類話題？別慌，看這里！

托福寫作還很多題目中都涉及到政府，這不是為難人么？

今天，我們?cè)購腁CT考試的角度來了解“寫作時(shí)碰上了政府類話題，該如何作答”。

相信奮斗在各類語言考試前線的小伙伴們，往往在拿到一道政府類話題時(shí)，都會(huì)覺得想哭。畢竟，寶寶們平時(shí)不談?wù)撊绱顺林�、深刻、�?fù)雜的話題啊。我懂，因?yàn)橥�往�?jīng)我手修改后的政府類 essays，基本都成了這個(gè)樣子……

▲某寶寶的 ACT 寫作：Solving the Society’s Problems

寶寶別哭，耐心看完這篇福利貼，以后再拿到政府政治類話題，估計(jì)你得忍不住偷笑了。這次，我們先以ACT寫作話題為例，給大家派福利。

政府的定義

要寫好政府類話題，首先當(dāng)然要知道“政府”是誰。但在課堂上，當(dāng)我問大家這個(gè)名詞的定義時(shí)，99%的寶寶們都以為我的大律師思維又發(fā)作了。于是他們紛紛面露難色，然后就告訴我一些隱約記得的政治書上的“標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化”答案。

關(guān)于政府的定義，我不建議大家用 textbooks 或者 dictionaries 上的定義，畢竟我們不是寫說明文。在這里，我提供一個(gè)三觀很正的 tip 給大家，作為一個(gè)思考角度：

“The government is the representative of the best interests of its people.” 

政府就是人民最大利益的代表者。

至于要怎么 paraphrase 或 interpret 這個(gè) tip，就留給寶寶們自由發(fā)揮了。

知道我套路的寶寶們都明白，到了這個(gè)時(shí)候，只要涉及 definition / description / interpretation，我都會(huì)建議大家參考大師們的思路和語言。在微課中，有句話我?guī)缀趺看味贾v（不是故意的，是真的有感而發(fā)）：

Learn from the masterpieces to become the masters ourselves.

今天給大家摘選兩個(gè)關(guān)于美國歷史的 excerpts from the masterpieces，一起學(xué)習(xí)下。內(nèi)容來源：SAT II U.S. History, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates（SAT2 美國歷史學(xué)習(xí)材料中關(guān)于 Abraham Lincoln和 Stephen Douglas 之間的七個(gè)政治辯論）

In 1858, one of the most important figures in U.S. history appeared on the national political scene. Abraham Lincoln, a self-educated Illinois lawyer, had served one term in the House of Representatives, but until now he had not been a nationally known figure. He returned to politics over the question of slavery, which he opposed,standing plainly that “no man is good enough to govern another without that other’s consent.” At the Republican convention of 1858, Lincoln gave one of the most famous speeches of his career. 

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.

Lincoln said that Douglas' public indifference to slavery would result in the expansion of slavery because it would mold public sentiment to accept slavery. As Lincoln said,

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who molds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to be executed.

學(xué)習(xí)思路

Abraham Lincoln 當(dāng)時(shí)作為 Republican candidate for the Senate（代表共和黨的國會(huì)候選議員）與 incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas（代表民主黨的當(dāng)時(shí)在任國會(huì)議員）之間針鋒相對(duì)的進(jìn)行了7次關(guān)于 slavery 的辯論。

其中，Lincoln（后來的美國第16任總統(tǒng)）提出的對(duì)于政府及 public sentiment（公眾情緒）的定位和理解很值得我們思考。平時(shí)遇到的政府類話題，我們基本上都可以嘗試考慮下某個(gè) measure or policy 對(duì)于公眾的影響，以及是否符合 the general public 的訴求和利益，從而展開論述。

政府和個(gè)人

知道政府是誰后，我們要解決的第二個(gè)問題就是政府和公民個(gè)人之間的關(guān)系，到底是公民依賴政府去解決問題，還是政府需要公民的個(gè)人貢獻(xiàn)？如果是 shared responsibilities，那怎么去 justify 我們的 argument？

套路又來了，學(xué)完 Lincoln 的演講，下一個(gè)學(xué)習(xí)的 master 是充滿傳奇／故事的 JFK 總統(tǒng)。

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In 1961, John F. Kennedy sworn in as the 35th president of the U.S. In his inaugural address, he famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”He asked the nations of the world to join together to fight what he called the “common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.”

The President wished:

to discuss a topic on which too often ignorance abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived—yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace ... I speak of peace because of the new face of war… in an age when a singular nuclear weapon contains ten times the explosive force delivered by all the allied forces in the Second World War ... an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and air and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn ... I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men ... world peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor—it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance ... our problems are man-made—therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.

學(xué)習(xí)思路

President Kennedy 的名言 “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” 估計(jì)寶寶們都已經(jīng)爛熟于心了，是時(shí)候在考場(chǎng)中靈活運(yùn)用了。對(duì)于公民 or 個(gè)人對(duì)于公共事務(wù)和重要問題的作用，JFK總統(tǒng)也給了我們一個(gè)很好的論證角度—our problems are man-made—therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.

寶寶們有沒有一種闊然開朗的感覺？是不是想看看在真題中怎么運(yùn)用？下面提供兩道 ACT essay prompts 給大家練練手！

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1）關(guān)于聯(lián)邦政府的討論：

2）關(guān)于避免武裝沖突的討論：