2015.6
试卷一
Practice is the Key to Knowledge
Nowadays almost every person has a clear notion about the importance of knowledge, with which we can make great difference to our world. However, the contribution of practice should also be awarded.
Practice is considered significant because it can turn abstract ideas into tangible results. Only through practice can we truly develop our own understanding about the essence of the new knowledge, or else the treasure of knowledge would still be words printed on papers. Moreover, the vilification of new theories requires us to focus more on the practical side, which helps people to learn better compared with the mechanical way of reading and memorizing. In addition, practice makes people acquire information in an active way, thus more innovative thoughts are likely to be generated in the process and then applied to make our future life more exciting.
As far as I am concerned, practice is essential for people to understand, to review and to optimize the information we receive. It is practice that produces enjoyable life and makes knowledge truly valuable.
试卷二
The Impact of Interest on People’s Success
As is known to all, the success of a person needs the right guidance and interest is undoubtedly the best teacher. Even Albert Einstein, the world-renowned physicist, said, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” So it is high time that people explore and cultivate their own interest.
Passionate curiosity can be developed in one’s childhood or in one’s sixties, but once it is ignited, it can change people’s way of study, work and living. On the one hand, interest makes one’s pursuit of knowledge successful and enjoyable. For instance, the pianist Langlang, who plays piano with great love, is awarded a lot of prizes at home and abroad. On the other hand, curiosity helps to resolve
difficulties constantly. A worker with curiosity is more likely to dig into the essence of the problem and thus accomplish more creative tasks.
I would like to end up with the famous educator Herbert Spencer’s words which I can’t agree more, “If the interest and enthusiasm among us are cultivated smoothly in the first place, most people will become talents or geniuses.”
试卷三
Being Great by Doing Small Things
There is no doubt that many people want to be great and successful, but only a few can climb to the top and be admired by the world. However, it doesn’t mean that most of us are losers. Actually everyone can achieve high by doing small things in a great way.
We have to admit that there are something that we cannot accomplish right now, but it isn’t the excuse for us to stop trying. Being great needs time and patience, so only when all small accomplishments add up can many impossibilities gradually turn to possibilities. At least, one won’t regret for not making effort to achieve the goal. For example, one may doesn’t have the resources or training on how to be a world-class musician, but by constant practice of every short piece of music, he can still bring happiness, comfort and inspiration to his family members and friends, then this person is great in the eyes of the audiences.
Therefore, never cease the pace on the road to our dreams. As long as we stick to our goal and be serious to whatever related to it, we can be considered as great.
2014.12
试卷一
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then discuss whether there is a shortcut to learning. You should give
sound arguments to support your views and write at least 150 words but no more than
200 words.
The comic is an ironical illustration that it is unadvisable to search for a shortcut to learning. The student tries to find a book about how to do well in school without studying in the library, only to be told that it is unrealistic and impractical.
The discussion of whether there is a shortcut to learning is essentially the requesting for a supreme learning method – a panacea every learner wishes for. In my opinion, the shortcut to learning does exist. It is the combination of diligence and intelligence. As Thomas Edison says, “Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.”
On one hand, hard work is the premise and prerequisite for achieving academic success. Even the most resourceful ones have to devote their time studying and reading, because knowledge does not go automatically into the brain. All efforts will be futile if we idle away our time.
On the other hand, it is undeniable that there are ways to improve learning efficiency, especially with the support of technology like the Internet. Better learners are always the ones with cleverer learning skills.
To sum up, only when we learn diligently and skillfully can we achieve academic success.
试卷二
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then discuss what qualities an employer should look for in job applicant.
You should give sound arguments to support your views and write at least 150 words
but no more than 200 words.
According to the picture, an employer turns down a job applicant, for his degree is less advanced than the other applicants, even though he has a good resume. Actually, what’s behind the cartoon is the tendency that employers focus on academic performance when hiring.
No one disputes that a college or higher degree opens doors. Despite that, as far as I’m concerned, academic degree should not be the primary criteria in selecting talents. First of all, academic degrees only represent the applicants’ proficiency in their school work, and cannot demonstrate their personality or other abilities. For instance, the responsibility of a human resources manager is to deal with people, and thus it requires advanced people skill which is by no means shown in the diploma. Second, emphasis on degrees may stall the development of the company. They will lose real talents if they judge people only by their educational background, while it is often the case that college drop-outs like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, etc., run wildly successful enterprises.
Therefore, instead of running after applicants with higher degrees, companies should become more concerned about what it takes to do the job and what a college education actually provides.
试卷三
For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then discuss whether technology is indispensable in education. You should give sound arguments to support your views and write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
From this cartoon, we clearly see that the student is asking his teacher about whether or not he can use some tech support to figure out the problem in his math
class. What’s behind the cartoon is the fact that nowadays students become increasingly dependent on technological devices to help them with their school work.
In my opinion, with the advances in technology, students can learn more efficiently. First of all, technology provides infinite resources for learning. When our parents were students, they could only learn from their teachers, while nowadays, we can learn much more from the Internet. Second, it’s more convenient to learn with tech support. For example, I got enrolled in a Spanish class in an online school called Hujiang Online Class. All it requires is a PC or a smartphone, and I can learn the lectures anytime and anywhere. Lastly, it’s more economical to learn online. Besides the courses, free Apps are also easily accessible.
As for me, tech support has become an important part in my daily study. I will continue to learn in this way, and I believe that we can learn more efficiently if we are able to utilize the technologies around us
2014.6
For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay explaining why it is unwise to jump to conclusions upon seeing or hearing something. You can give explanations to illustrate your point. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
A famous saying goes: “Seeing is believing.” indicating that what you hear may not be reliable, while what you see can be trustworthy. This opinion, however, is still quite partial.
What we see or hear are the facts, but they might be only part of the story, therefore a quick conclusion can be reckless and lead to unnecessary misunderstandings. For example, on a metro packed with passengers, some young people are sitting while an elderly is standing. If you don’t find out the whole story, you may jump to a conclusion that these young people are so rude and indifferent that they show no love and care to the elderly. But the true story may be that these young people have invited the old man to sit down before you came, even if they are quite exhausted after a whole day’s work, while the elderly is quite refreshed after a workout and he refused to take the seat so that the young passengers can have a rest.
In conclusion, before making a judgement, it is better to get to know the situation in a comprehensive way. Only in that case, can we reduce the risks of misunderstanding to the minimum.
2013.12
试卷一
For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay about the impact of information explosion by referring to the saying "a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention". You can cite examples to illustrate your point and then explain what you can do to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information? You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
Ways to Get Over Information Explosion
As a famous saying goes, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”. Nowadays we are in the Information Age. Some people keep complaining about distraction by the information explosion.
Admittedly, the new information age has brought us so much convenience that we are allowed to get enough information just with a simple click sitting in front of the computers. Nevertheless, we are also confused, annoyed, distracted and upset by an incredibly large quantity of information. For example, when searching for something online, people are easily carried away by irrelevant information and forget their original plan. Besides, some information often turns out to be useless and actually advertisement. Therefore, it can be time-consuming and troublesome to search information online.
Then what we can do to avoid being distracted by irrelevant information? Here I have some useful tips: Firstly, make a list of what you really want before your searching. This will help you to refuse some appealing, yet irrelevant information. Secondly, find some trustful and professional sources or websites and then save and categorize them. In this case, you can easily leave some ads and useless information behind.
试卷二
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark “the greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” You can give examples to illustrate your point and then explain what you will do to make your life more meaningful. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
How to Live a Meaning Life
Among all the highlighted topics, there is “how to live a meaning life?” Everyone has his or her own opinion. As the saying has it, “the greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” I cannot agree any more.
If our life is just to pursue something for ourselves, we will surely feel fruitless and meaningless when we grow old. From Steve Jobs’s bibliography, we can get that the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. Steve Jobs has brought a great many changes to our world. His life, although short, definitely outlast. That’s a life worth living.
Therefore, if there is a way to make my life meaningful, it should be to find something I’m interested in and also helpful to others or the whole society. Only in this way can I keep my passion throughout my life until I finally fulfil my life.
试卷三
For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on happiness by referring to the saying “Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them.” You can cite examples to illustrate your point and then explain how you can develop your ability to deal with problems and be happy. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
【点评】
本次作文主题围绕“幸福的源泉”，难度不大。虽然表面有些抽象，但根据题干意义还是可以迅速地将本文分成2-3部分：1.总述幸福产生源泉，不是没有问题，而是处理问题的能力。2.阐述自身有哪些解决问题、保持幸福的方法。
Happiness – Go for it
In this long journey we call "life", everybody is in pursuit of happiness and has their own interpretation of happiness. An inspiring idea is that happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them, which reveals the very truth about happiness. It cannot be achieved through waiting, but only through striving.
There is no way that life always progresses as we wish. Problems may occur and we find ourselves in trouble, but it doesn't mean we are deprived of happiness. There are numerous examples for us to follow: disabled people overcoming obstacles, patients fighting against disease, poverty-stricken people achieving their dreams -- all these inspiring heroes. Their lives are definitely not problem-free, but they have found happiness by courageously solving problems.
Therefore, it is essential to develop the ability to deal with problems. We need to muster our courage and confidence to face the fact. Meanwhile, we need to find effective ways to cope with them.
In a word, if we stay strong and approach problems effectively, there will be no storm in life that we cannot weather. And after the storm, happiness is within our reach.
2013.6
Keep Our Hearts Strong
As the proverb goes, constant drops wear out the stone. Good habits help pave our way to success. However, during the cultivation of good habits we are frequently bewildered and baffled by temptations from the world around us. Only when we are alert and determined enough to resist these temptations can we take a right and unswerving road to success.
In our daily life, it is essential for us to be self-disciplined. A healthy lifestyle, which may consist of regular exercise and balanced diet, is what most people are pursuing in contemporary society. Yet many people cannot resist the coziness of staying in and temptation of tasty but fatty food, thus giving up half way cultivating healthy habits and getting decreasingly robust. In addition, our progress in academic performance depends on good habits. We must restrain ourselves
from endless entertainment. Otherwise, distracted and indulged, we can never maintain a good learning habit, let alone achieve academic excellence.
In summary, good habits rely on strong hearts that are not disturbed by temptations. With persistence and perseverance, we are heading to success.
【点评】：
本次作文要求以“Good habits result from resisting temptation.”即“良好的习惯源自抵制诱惑”，这一谚语为话题发表议论，在写作时需要对谚语的寓意进行阐释，并且表达自己的观点和看法，相比更为常见的话题型和观点型作文题来说，有一定的难度。首先要求能够对谚语进行准确的理解，抓住谚语表达的中心意思，明确的提出观点，然后围绕这个意思进行阐述。所以在写作时需要强调抵制诱惑对于保持或者培养良好习惯的重要性，以这一论点进行展开阐述，注意行文的逻辑性和语言的准确、流畅。
2012.12
On Maintaining Trust
Trust is the most frequently used word when we are talking about interpersonal relationships. However, it is hard to build trust but easy to destroy it. Therefore, how to build and maintain trust is very important for us. In my opinion, some factors play a primary role in it.
First comes honesty. There’s an old saying in Chinese: once bitten, twice shy. Thus, never lie to your partners. If they find out you’re lying or cheating, the existing trust will be broken. Once broken, it’s always hard to rebuild it. Promise-keeping is the second one. If you always break your promise, you will not be trusted by others any more. Another important aspect is attitude. People with good attitude are always welcome. They show their good manners, patience, modesty, willingness to communicate and, most important of all, sincerity to others, which contributes greatly to eliminating apathy and coldness.
There are, still, other influential factors. However, from my perspective, honesty, promise-keeping and good attitude stand out among them.
2012.6
The Impact of the Internet on Interpersonal Communication
As is described in the picture, a father asks her daughter how her school today goes on. Instead of answering directly, the daughter tells her father to read her blog. It is common that youngsters nowadays incline to communicate with others on internet increasingly, and lack communication with people around them. With the development of Internet, it has influenced our society to a large extent, especially interpersonal communication.
To begin with, we can communicate with others anytime via internet. Otherwise, we would have to arrange our schedules strictly in advance. Also, interpersonal communication through the internet is not restricted by space. For example, in most multinational corporations, instant messages and video conferences help colleagues solve problems timely and efficiently. Last but not least, the internet can greatly speed up our interpersonal communication. Whereas, there are also disadvantages that the internet brings to us. More and more people complained that they have lost face-to-face communicating skills. As a result, people become more and more indifferent to each other in real life. Some netizens who are immersed in virtual world even have difficulty in making friends in reality.
In conclusion, communication through the internet could bring us both convenience and inconvenience. We should strike a balance between them and make the best of the internet.
【点评】
这次的六级写作是请考生谈谈网络对人际交流的影响。这个话题本身已是日常生活的热点，考生并不陌生，有话可说。
文章的展开还是同过去的议论文写作一致。仍然可以用引入、阐释有何影响和自己的观点这样的三段式进行写作。在行文时，注意文章的层次和逻辑梳理，在谈具体影响时，可适当进行对比论证，论证网络出现和没有网络时，人际交流的差异，也可进行结合自身经历进行举例论证。
本篇范文在句式上，长短搭配，形式多变。从句、非谓语动词等多种表达方式，值得借鉴。同时，用词同样注意多样化，对网络相关词汇的多种表达（web, cyber, instant message, video conference等），考生同样应在平时注意归类、积累。
2011.12
The Way to Success
Success is something everyone looks for, longs for and dies for. But have you ever considered what success is? Some may hold that success means one has beautiful life, like pretty house, cool cars and great power. It’s indeed one way to define success. But to me, success is doing something one really feels like doing. To achieve this kind of success, one has to bear in mind three essential prerequisites, namely knowing where your interest really lies in, possessing the strong will to pursue your interest and having the diligence to realize your dream. In other words, they are “what” “why” and “how” of success. It’s really luckily good for one, especially for the younger generation of today to find their dreams, follow them and in the end, make them come true and become successful. Although it’s never easy to succeed, progressing with the strong will and diligence towards the right direction, you’ll be the one.
【作文解析】
这是一篇议论文。作者首先提出问题”what is success?”，但并没有在这个问题上着更多的笔墨，而是直接引出了自己的观点：success is doing something one really feels like doing. 算是立意较为新颖的地方。随后在第二段对这种成功背后的三种必要条件做出了阐述。整体看，行文流畅，用语规范地道。
2011.6
Certificate craze
Recently the phenomenon of certificate craze has become a big concern of the public. It is also a new craze in the university, which seems like a routine activity on campus, for certificates do play a vital role when students look for a decent job.
Admittedly, there are different purposes behind this phenomenon. Some people aim at certificates because of the employment pressure. With the admission expansion of colleges, a great many graduates have to face the fierce competition in the job market. So it is the certificates that can make them more competitive. However, some others consider all the diploma and certificates important standards by which a person’s ability can be measured. They spare no effort to get the certificates for the sole purpose of proving that they are qualified in a certain field. Moreover,
there are those who just want to enrich their life by preparing for the certificates because they really enjoy their progress.
From my point of view, we should be more rational when it comes to certificates, since certificates do not necessarily prove one’s ability. Being crazy in getting certifications blindly is nothing but wasting time. To conclude, we should focus on improving our ability but not merely getting a certificate.
2010.12
My View on University Ranking
For those university students-to-be, choosing their ideal school is never an easy job, but luckily, different authorities come up with the university ranking to help! Top students shall choose the top schools high on the list and vice versa.
Complicated issue becomes easy numerical comparison, yet the real problem stays there, can the numerical ranking tell you the status quo of these universities? Are these “authorities” producing the ranking authoritative enough to make the judgments? Let’s take a serious look at the issue before we jump to the conclusion whether university ranking is good or bad.
We have to admit that because of historical reasons, most of the 1950s-1960s parents were denied higher education and this cruel fact makes them even more eager to give their children high education even though they have no idea of what university education is all about. The ranking helps them to make decisions based on their simple idea of better ranking means better jobs in future, and therefore better income! It is pathetic that they interpret knowledge and wisdom in such a way yet it is even more pathetic that there are so-claimed well-educated people making up all the ranking and get the ranking published to mislead them!
2010.6
Due Attention Should Be Given To the Study of Chinese
1. 近年来在学生中出现了忽视中文学习的现象；
2. 出现这种现象的原因和后果；
3. 我认为?
【范文】
With China’s opening up, intercultural communication has become more and more frequent between Chinese and foreigners. A good command of at least one foreign language has increasingly been an essential skill for us. People, especially the youths, pay much more attention to foreign language acquisition than Chinese study.
Various factors can account for this situation. First of all, a good command of a foreign language may help young people to get a good job while Chinese skills may be of no significance in one’s job hunting and even their career. Consequently, some students may not treasure Chinese language any longer. Apart from that, nowadays fewer and fewer universities stimulate Chinese language study in campus, which has caused it to be marginalized. Under this circumstance, Chinese language becomes less and less popular in universities. It is clear that professors in the field of Chinese study are not so respected than they were before.
In view of this situation, effective measures should be taken to change it. First, the whole society should emphasize the importance of Chinese language in order to make it clear that it is one indispensable part of Chinese culture and Chinese race. Second, schools should promote Chinese language study and research. In addition, we individuals should contribute our own efforts to the study and protection of Chinese language.
To conclude, we should pay great attention to Chinese language, since the importance of it is never too great to be exaggerated.