SAT to Drop Essay Requirement and Return to Top Score

By Nick Anderson

中國各地紛紛出臺(tái)高考改革方案，而遠(yuǎn)隔千里的美國也宣布即將全面改革被喻為“美國高考”的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試——SAT。改革后的考試將重新采用1,600分制，減少對(duì)生僻詞匯的考核，且不再要求限時(shí)作文。改革的目的在于使更多低收入家庭的孩子也有機(jī)會(huì)接受高等教育，不再讓SAT考試淪為負(fù)擔(dān)得起高昂輔導(dǎo)班的富裕家庭孩子的武器。為此，美國大學(xué)委員會(huì)還準(zhǔn)備推出免費(fèi)網(wǎng)絡(luò)備考課程。這其中，也許有值得我們學(xué)習(xí)和借鑒的地方。

The SAT college admission test will no longer require a timed essay, will dwell less on fancy vocabulary and will return to the familiar 1,600-point scoring scale in a major overhaul intended to open doors to higher education for students who are now shut out.1.SAT大學(xué)入學(xué)考試不再要求限時(shí)作文，減少對(duì)生僻詞匯的考核，并將重新采用之前的1,600分制。這次大型改革的目的在于向原本被拒之門外的學(xué)生敞開高等教育的大門。fancy: 不常見的，稀奇的；overhaul: 徹底改革 （制度），全面修訂；shut out: 排除，排斥。The second redesign of the SAT this century will take effect in early 2016, as today’s ninth graders are sitting for2. sit for: 參加（考試等）。their college admission tests.

Skeptics questioned whether a new format will be any more successful than previous efforts to use the standardized test in a campaign for college access, in part because the test’s scores historically have correlated with family income.3. 持懷疑態(tài)度的人質(zhì)疑：在一項(xiàng)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化大學(xué)入學(xué)考試中，新的考試安排是否會(huì)比之前更有成效，部分原因是SAT考試的分?jǐn)?shù)歷來就與學(xué)生的家庭收入掛鉤。skeptic: 懷疑者，持懷疑態(tài)度的人。They also point out that the 88-year-old SAT in recent years has slipped behind the rival ACT—a shorter exam with an optional essay—in total student customers.4. rival: 競爭的；ACT: American College Testing，譯為“美國大學(xué)入學(xué)考試”，是對(duì)學(xué)生綜合能力的測試，出題方式比較靈活，考驗(yàn)對(duì)高中知識(shí)的掌握和邏輯能力。

Through the revisions, the College Board aims to strip many of the tricks out of a test now taken by more than 1.5 million students in each year’s graduating high school class.5. revision: 修訂，校訂；strip: 奪去，剝奪。The College Board also pledged to offer new test-preparation tutorials for free online, enabling students to bypass pricey SAT-prep classes previously available mostly to affluent families looking to give their children an edge.6.美國大學(xué)委員會(huì)還承諾提供免費(fèi)的新網(wǎng)絡(luò)備考輔導(dǎo)，使學(xué)生可以無視外面那些昂貴的SAT考試輔導(dǎo)班——之前只有富裕家庭的孩子才能上得起這些輔導(dǎo)班，以求在考試中獲得優(yōu)勢。pledge: 保證，宣誓；tutorial: 教程，輔導(dǎo)；bypass: 忽略，無視；pricey: 昂貴的，價(jià)格高的；affluent: 富裕的，富有的。

Out in the redesign will be “SAT words” that have long prompted anxious students to cram with flashcards,7. prompt: 促進(jìn)，激起；cram: 填滿，死記硬背；flashcard: （教學(xué)用）抽認(rèn)卡。as the test will now focus on vocabulary words that are widely used in college and career. Also gone: The 2,400-point scale begun nine years ago with the debut8. debut: 首次出現(xiàn)，出場。of the required essay. The essay will become optional.

Back will be one of the iconic numbers of 20thcentury America: The perfect SAT score, crystalline without a comma, returns to 1,600.9. iconic: 著名且有象征意義的；crystalline: 清晰的。

With these and other changes—such as asking students to analyze documents key to the nation’s founding—College Board of ficials said they want to make the SAT more accessible, straightforward and grounded in what is taught in high school.10. 除了這些，SAT考試還有其他變革，如要求學(xué)生分析美國建國的重要文件——美國大學(xué)委員會(huì)說，他們想讓SAT考試變得更加實(shí)際直接，基于高中課堂所教授的知識(shí)。

“It is time for an admissions assessment that makes it clear that the road to success is not last-minute tricks or cramming, but the learning students do over years,” David Coleman, the College Board’s president, said in a speech.11.“對(duì)于一個(gè)入學(xué)考試來說，是時(shí)候讓學(xué)生們知道，通往成功的道路并非是臨時(shí)抱佛腳或死記硬背，而是多年來所積累的知識(shí)，”美國大學(xué)委員會(huì)主席大衛(wèi)·科爾曼在一次演講中說。assessment: 評(píng)價(jià)，評(píng)估?！癟he SAT”, he said,“will no longer stand apart from daily studies and learning.”

At the same time, Coleman fired a broadside at12. fire a broadside at: 炮轟，轟擊。a test-prep industry that sells books, flashcards and courses to help students raise their scores in the hopes of gaining an edge in admissions and scholarships.

Coleman said the New York-based organization will team with the nonpro fit Khan Academy, which delivers free tutorials in math and other subjects via a popular Web site of the same name, to provide free SAT prep for the world.13. 科爾曼說總部設(shè)在紐約的美國大學(xué)委員會(huì)將聯(lián)手非營利組織可汗學(xué)院（該學(xué)院通過一個(gè)同名網(wǎng)站提供數(shù)學(xué)及其他學(xué)科的免費(fèi)輔導(dǎo)），為全球?qū)W生提供免費(fèi)的SAT備考輔導(dǎo)。Khan Academy: 可汗學(xué)院，由孟加拉裔美國人薩爾曼·可汗創(chuàng)立的一家教育性非營利組織，利用網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻進(jìn)行免費(fèi)授課。

“The College Board cannot stand by while some test-prep providers intimidate14. intimidate: 恐嚇，威脅，后文的intimidating意思是“嚇人的，令人生畏的”。parents at all levels of income into the belief that the only way they can secure their child’s success is to pay for costly test preparation and coaching,” Coleman said.“If we believe that assessment must be a force for equity and excellence, it’s time to shake things up15. shake up: 動(dòng)搖，使人清醒。.”

Coleman’s vision for the SAT, with emphasis on analysis of texts from a range of disciplines as well as key math and language concepts, appears to echo the philosophy underlying the Common Core and could help the test track more closely with what students are learning in the nation’s classrooms.16. 科爾曼對(duì)SAT考試的設(shè)想，強(qiáng)調(diào)各門學(xué)科的文本分析以及關(guān)鍵數(shù)學(xué)和語言概念，似乎與本科核心課程計(jì)劃的基礎(chǔ)理念相吻合，有助于更貼切地考察學(xué)生在課堂內(nèi)所學(xué)到的知識(shí)。echo: 附和，對(duì)……起共鳴；Common Core: 本科核心課程計(jì)劃。

Whether the College Board can break the link between test scores and economic class is the subject of much debate.

“There’s no reason to think that fiddling with17. fiddle with: 糊弄，撥弄。the test is in any way going to increase its fairness,” said Joseph A. Soares, a Wake Forest University sociologist. He said high school grades are a far better measure of college potential. Tests, he argued,needlessly screen out disadvantaged students.18. screen out: （經(jīng)篩選）剔除（某人）；disadvantaged:處于不利地位的，貧困的。

Argelia Rodriguez, president and chief executive of the D.C.College Access Program, which provides college counseling in public high schools, said the College Board was taking a “step in the right direction” by promoting a test that might be less intimidating. But she said financial aid and other issues are far more important to low-income families.“There’s a lot more to access than just testtaking,” she said.

The redesign follows a challenging decade for a standardized test launched in 1926 that has wielded enormous in fluence in American education from the Great Depression through the era of No Child Left Behind.19. SAT這項(xiàng)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試始于1926年，從經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條到小布什頒布“不讓一個(gè)孩子掉隊(duì)”法令期間一直對(duì)美國的教育發(fā)揮重大影響，而這次改革正是針對(duì)SAT考試在近十年來所受到的種種挑戰(zhàn)。wield:運(yùn)用（權(quán)力），施加（影響）； No Child Left Behind:“不讓一個(gè)孩子掉隊(duì)”，是美國前總統(tǒng)喬治·布什于2002年簽署生效的一個(gè)教育法令。Advocates say the SAT provides a common yardstick for academic merit; critics call it a tool to protect the interests of the elite.20. yardstick: 衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，評(píng)判尺寸；academic merit: 學(xué)分，學(xué)術(shù)成果。

Originally the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the SAT shed that name years ago along with the devilish antonym and analogy questions that were a staple of what was once called the “verbal” section.21. SAT原名“學(xué)習(xí)能力傾向測試”，多年前，它去掉了“語言部分”的主要考核內(nèi)容——令人抓狂的反義詞和類比性題目；與此同時(shí)，考試也擺脫了“學(xué)習(xí)能力傾向測試”這個(gè)名字。 devilish: 邪惡的，極壞的，此處意思是“（題目）極其困難的”。It underwent a major change in 2005 that drew mixed reviews.

That year, a writing section, worth up to 800 points, was added with multiple-choice questions and a 25-minute essay. Critics complained that too little time was given for essay revisions and that assignments did not reflect the level of analysis expected in college. Some college admissions of ficers also were lukewarm22. lukewarm: 態(tài)度冷淡的，不歡迎的。.

“As a predictor of student success, a 25-minute essay isn’t going to tell us a great deal,” said Stephen J. Handel, associate vice president of undergraduate admissions for the University of California.

And in recent years, more and more students were gravitating23. gravitate: 受吸引，被吸引。toward the rival ACT exam.

The two tests overlap in mission but diverge in style and content,with the ACT traditionally measuring achievement (including a science section) and the SAT measuring thinking skills.24. 這兩項(xiàng)考試目的相同，但風(fēng)格和內(nèi)容各異。ACT考試側(cè)重于考查學(xué)生的學(xué)習(xí)成果（包括自然科學(xué)領(lǐng)域），而SAT考試考查學(xué)生的思考能力。overlap: 重疊，重復(fù)；diverge: 分歧，偏離。But the ACT has made inroads on the SAT’s turf,25. make inroads: 入侵，侵襲；turf: 地盤，領(lǐng)域。and many students now take both. In 2012, the ACT surpassed the SAT in the number of reported testtakers.

Both exams also are facing challenges from the growing test-optional movement. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing lists about 800 colleges and universities that admit a substantial number of undergraduates without requiring them to submit SAT or ACT scores.26. National Center for Fair and Open Testing: 國家公平與公開考試中心，致力于減少標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試中的缺陷及抑制標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試的濫用，提升對(duì)學(xué)生學(xué)力評(píng)價(jià)的正確性和公平性；substantial: 數(shù)目大的，大量的；submit: 提交，呈送。

Among them is American University, which started the experiment in 2010. Now 18 percent of its applicants do not submit SAT or ACT scores.“It’s gone up every year,” said Sharon Alston, AU’s vice provost for undergraduate enrollment.27.provost:（大學(xué)中某些學(xué)院的）院長，（某些大學(xué)的）教務(wù)長；enrollment: 入學(xué)，注冊(cè)。She said the university has not detected “any signi ficant difference” in the performance of students who don’t submit test scores compared with those who do.

College Board of ficials, mindful of28. mindful of: 注意到，留心到。these developments, say the redesign has a larger purpose.

“We’re not just chasing market share here, I can assure you that,” said Shirley Ort, a top financial aid of ficial at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, who is vice chair of the College Board’s governing board.“We want the SAT to be more than just an event that takes place in a test center. We think it can serve as a catalyst for student engagement.29. catalyst: 催化劑，促進(jìn)因素；engagement: 參與，參加。”

And each version of the test will include a passage from documents crucial to the nation’s founding, or core civic texts from sources such as President Abraham Lincoln or the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.30. 無論是哪一個(gè)版本的考試，都會(huì)有一篇文章來自美國建國的重要文件，或是關(guān)于公民權(quán)的文章，如來自總統(tǒng)亞伯拉罕·林肯和牧師小馬丁·路德·金的文章。civic:公民的，市民的；Rev.: Reverend的縮寫，教士，神職人員。

When the test probes student vocabulary, the College Board said, it will focus on “words that are widely used in college and career.” Coleman cited “synthesis”31. synthesis: 綜合體，合成。as an example. “This is not an obscure32. obscure: 費(fèi)解的，默默無聞的。word, but one students encounter everywhere,” he said.

Choosing such words could prove difficult.Carol Jago, a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, who serves on a College Board advisory panel, said the test revisions would“reward students who take high school seriously,who are real readers, who write well.”