新东方李盛：SAT写作证据分析解读之例证

在议论文写作中，Example（例子）是经常使用的一种论证形式。作者往往会给读者呈现具体的细节，从而证明自己观点的正确性。

请阅读下面从文章中节选的段落：

The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, including nocturnal and crepuscular species of birds, insects, mammals, fish and reptiles. Some examples are well known-the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs-and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the world's flora. Ecological light pollution is like the bulldozer of the night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth's ecology would collapse . . . .

在上面这段话中，为了说明黑暗对于动物的重要性，作者列举了若干个例子：Some examples are well known-the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs-and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the world's flora. 这里，作者通过几个例子说明了各种动物是如何依赖黑暗生存及在生物圈做出贡献的。所以很明显地属于example。在识别了该证据形式之后，考试需要写出证据的内容，由于选文的信息比较多，考生可以对于例子的内容进行总结（summarize）：The writer lists examples of how some particular species (birds, turtles, bats and moths) rely on darkness to survive and contribute to human beings in the ecological cycle.

最后需要去分析该例子的作用。作者列举这几个例子的目的是为了证明本段开头的观点（The rest of the world depends on darkness as well），即动物们也是需要黑暗环境的。通过给出这样的例子，能够让读者清晰地了解动物是如何依赖黑暗生存及在生物圈做出贡献，再次强调黑暗对于人类和动物都有不可或缺的作用。

把上面的分析用英语连贯地表达出来，可以是：

The author lists several examples to back up his claim. By mentioning examples of how some particular species (birds, turtles, bats and moths) rely on darkness to survive and contribute to human beings in the ecological cycle, the author helps the readers to see the truth of the statement that has been made at the top of the paragraph ("The rest of the world depends on darkness as well"). By using these known and unknown examples, the author presents the audience a vivid picture of how important the darkness is for a variety of animals, and therefore reinforces his central claim that darkness is indispensable for both human beings and animals.

有时候例子也可以是个人经历（personal experience）：作者和别人的交谈，作者亲身经历或见证的事件等。例如，一位家长想要讨论电子设备的使用对于青少年的影响可以选择在文章一开始谈论自己的孩子每天放学回家花大量的时间玩手机游戏，而不按时完成老师布置的家庭作业；一个旅行者想要说明跟团旅游的好处，可以在文章中给出自己曾经某一次跟团去了欧洲的某个国家而省去了很多的不便等；一个作者想要强调兼职工作对于孩子的好处可以指出自己小时候通过做具体的某种兼职而得到了锻炼等。

从上面的例子可以看出，个人经历与读者联系更加直接（makes a topic more immediate for a reader），它可以使一个大的话题更加贴近读者的生活（illustrate what a large issue looks like in someone's day-to-day life）。作者使用个人经历使得自己与读者联系更加紧密，从而使得读者更愿意相信作者的观点（Authors sometimes use personal experience to make themselves seem relatable and therefore trustworthy）。

请阅读下面从文章中节选的段落：

At my family's cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when8 of 10 children born in the United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way, I worry we are rapidly losing night's natural darkness before realizing its worth. This winter solstice, as we cheer the days' gradual movement back toward light, let us also remember the irreplaceable value of darkness.

在上面这段话中，为了引出文章讨论自然黑暗的这个话题，作者回忆了自己童年在明尼苏达湖畔生活的经历：At my family's cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. 这里，作者描写了自己童年时代伸手不见五指的夜晚以及流星划过的夜空，所以很明显地属于personal experience。在识别了该证据形式之后，考试需要写出证据的内容，由于选文的信息比较多，考生可以同时对于例子的内容进行总结（summarize）和quote（引用）：a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was "woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes." 最后需要去分析该例子的作用。作者使用自己童年经历的目的是为了引出文章讨论自然黑暗这一话题。通过描述自己的回忆，能够让读者了解黑暗中作者有趣的经历，引起读者对于黑暗的好奇。

把上面的分析用英语连贯地表达出来，可以是：

Bogard starts his article off by recounting a personal story - a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was "woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes." In such a brief anecdote, Bogard remind the audience of a time where they could fully amass themselves in natural darkness void of artificial light. By drawing in his readers with a personal encounter about natural darkness, Bogard evokes the wonder of the night sky among his audience, offering a baseline of his argument.

以上就是新东方在线SAT教研组李盛老师为大家带来的新SAT解读。祝大家在2016希望大家好好准备，为自己的新SAT考试加油！

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