SAT作文例子
1. The Last Leaf by O. Henry
Johnsy is an inhabitant of an art colony in Greenwich Village, where
pneumonia is taking its toll. Eventually, Johnsy is stricken with the disease and gives up all desire to live. Outside her window resides an old ivy vine on which only a few leaves remain. Convinced that she will die when the last leaf falls, Johnsy watches the vine incessantly. This morbid fascination distresses her big hearted neighbor Mr. Berhman, an old painter scraping by as an artist’s model and still dreaming of painting his masterpiece. Time passes, Johnsy remains fascinated by the withering vine. To her growing astonishment, a single last leaf remains attached firmly to the vine. Taking this as an embodiment of hope, Johnsy’s condition ameliorated. In the meantime, her neighbor contracts pneumonia and has been taken to
hospital, where he later dies. It is later discovered that he had contracted the disease after staying up all night to paint the perfect image of a single leaf on the brick wall outside Johnsy’s window. (168字)
2. Charles Schulz
Charles Monroe Schulz is an American cartoonist, whose comic strip
Peanuts is considered to be one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium. Although Charles is a shy, timid teenager, he is steadfast and persistent. It is his self-defeating stubbornness and
admirable perseverance in trying his best against all odds that made him a popular figure. He can never win a ballgame but continues to play baseball; he can never fly a kite successfully but continues to do so. Although his drawings were first rejected by his high school yearbook and then refused
by Disney, he persevered and created the world renowned Charlie Brown and Snoopy, known as Peanut comic, which reflects his own life. Peanuts ran for 50 years, and, at its peak, appeared in more than 2,600
newspapers in 75 countries. (138字)
3. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison is considered to be one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 US patents under his name. He is one of the first
inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. To find a long lasting material for the light bulb, Edison and his team worked for many years and experienced more than 1,500 failures through the process. However, their research was not hampered by setbacks and their hard work was finally paid off in 1879. Using a small carbonized bamboo filament, Edison and his team were able to produce a light bulb that was able to last over 40 hours. After soughting further improvements, Edison finally filed for US patent 223898 in
November4, 1879. His invention of the light bulb not only revolutionized the nascent electric industry, but also made electricity viable to mankind. (161字)
4. Henry Ford
Henry Ford, the American founder of the Ford Motor Company, had been stimulated by Thomas Edison in his youth and followed Thomas Edison’s career then. In 1896, while attending a company-sponsored convention in Manhattan Beach, New York, Henry Ford was introduced to the great
inventor Thomas Edison. During their conversation, Edison asked the young Henry Ford a series of questions and when the conversation was over, Edison emphasized his satisfaction by banging his fist down on the table. "Young man," he said, "that's the thing! You have it!” To Henry Ford, as he later indicated, that bang on the table was worth worlds.
After receiving the complete approval from Thomas Edison, Henry Ford strived to accomplish his invention of the cheap and convenient Model T. After further improvements, the price of Model T decreased from $850 to $225, a price that is affordable to most social classes. The design later revolutionized the transportation industry in America because prior to its introduction, cars were a form of luxury that is only affordable to the upper echelons. And in just 19 years after the first introduction, the sales of the Model T had reached an astounding 15,007,034, a record which stood for the next 45 years. (204字)
5. Jack Welch
Jack Welch was the former CEO of General Electric. He joined the company in 1960 and worked as a junior engineer. After a year at GE, he was displeased with the strict bureaucracy regarding pay rise which led to a mere $1000 increase in his salary after his first year. Welch, who then harbored thoughts of leaving the company, was convinced by Reuben Gutoff to stay. He then started questioning the decisions made by the
authorities and moved up the ranks quickly. When he became the CEO of GE in 1981, he worked to streamline the company by trimming inventories and dismantling the bureaucracy that almost led him to leave the company. Each year, he would fire the bottom 10% of his managers, while rewarding the top 20% with bonuses and stock options. By pushing his managers to
perform, the perennial problem with regards to perceived inefficiency was effectively eradicated. When Welch left GE, the company had gone from a market value of $14 billion to more than $410 billion at the end of 2004, making it the most valuable and largest company in the world. (186字)
6. Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve was an American actor who is best known for his
portrayal of the superhero Superman. However, unlike the man of steel he was in his movies, Reeve became quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse in an equestrian competition in 1995. As a result, he required a wheelchair and breathing apparatus for the rest of his life. Despite the
setbacks, Reeve was reinvented by that experience and brought the kind of energy and enthusiasm that made him successful as a film star to an entirely different issue, with huge effect. He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries for human embryonic stem cell research and established the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, a non-profit research organization which raises money for research in spinal cord
injuries. Also, he lobbied for scientists to be allowed to conduct stem cell research in the hopes of eventually curing paralysis and other current incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Through this,
Reeve will be remembered as “Superman” not only in the movies, but also in reality. (175字)
7. Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States who rose to prominence during the Great Depression. During that time, President
Hebert Hoover’s economic program was unsatisfactory and ineffective and kept millions of people under poverty and hunger. In the midst of despair, Franklin Roosevelt, who had long been questioning Hoover’s economic program, was elected as the President to combat the economic crisis. He assembled a group of elites and constructed a more effective economic program called New Deal. The new program provided money and supplies to needy families and created jobs for the unemployed. As a result,
President Roosevelt effectively rekindled hope to millions of despondent
Americans. New Deal proved to be an important turning point in the history of America. It made a powerful start of a strong government role in the
nation’s economic affairs that remained and developed to the present day. (146字)
8. Bill Gates
Bill Gates is an American business executive who served as the chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the leading computer software company in the
United States. He cofounded Microsoft together with Paul Allen in 1975 and became the youngest ever self-made billionaire in 1987 at the age of 31. In the 1990s, Gates became more involved in philanthropy as he believed that there is more to be expected from a person like himself. In 1994, he sold some of his shares in Microsoft to create the William H. Gates Foundation. Then, in 2000, Gates and his wife combined three family foundations into one to create the world renowned Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which, ranked by assets, quickly became the largest foundation in the world. As of 2007, Gates and his wife were the second most generous philanthropist in America, having donated over $28billion USD to charity. (145字)
9. Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale was born in a rich, upper class, well-connected British family. Yet, she opposed the expected role for a woman of her status,
which was to become a wife and mother. Her decision to become a nurse in 1844 infuriated her family members. Despite vehement disagreements, Nightingale’s determination did not waver. When the Crimean War broke out in 1854, Nightingale hoped that she could help ameliorate the situation and hence travelled to Turkey immediately. She devoted herself to nursing the injured soldiers and the situation gradually appeased. Six months later, the mortality rate at the hospital fell from 60% during her arrival to 2.2%. As a result, she became a prominent figure in England and became known as “The Lady with the Lamp” as a sign of respect. (129字)
10. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American television host who, according to some assessments, is the most influential woman in the world. She had a
traumatic childhood and, in 1991, took her personal story of child abuse all the way to Capital Hill, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the National Child Protection Act, which advocated the
establishment of a national database of convicted child abusers. “I am speaking out on behalf of the children who wish to be heard, but whose
cries, wishes and hopes often, I believe, fall upon deaf or inattentive ears”, she said. The US Senate heard her moving plea loud and clear. With
Winfrey’s support, the Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. In 2008, she once again used her influence to call attention to the Combating Child Exploitation bill. On air, she urged her audience to contact their senators in favor of the bill. As a result, the senate offices were
flooded with calls, emails and letters, and the bill was eventually signed into law. (176字)
SAT 作文分类:
1. 现象和实质(appearance vs substance)
2. 价值和动机(values and motives)
3. 追求完美(aim to be perfect)
4. 坚持和变通(perseverance vs circumstantial change)
5. 谎言与真相(truth and deception)
6. 合作双赢(cooperation vs individuality)
7. 群体归属
8. 主观和客观(objectivity vs subjectivity)
9. 标新立异(originality)
10. 幸福(happiness)
11. 成功要素(what constitutes success?)
12. 进步和倒退(alternate points of view)
13. 英雄的定义(hero vs celebrity)
14. 情感和理智
15. 文学艺术价值(artistic value)