新版SAT即将面世。美国大学理事会(College Board)宣称，这一重新设计的入学测试将“不再神秘”。新SAT将与高中课程密切相关，从而更好地成为学生所学知识的真实反映。
First, the reading section won’t be so “recondite,” because obscure words like that aredisappearing. The test will no longer ask students to complete sentences. Now they will have toderive the meaning of widely used words based on context. Test takers should expect to seewords that can be used in different ways (“measured,” “disposed”). Instead of recalling adefinition from vocabulary flash cards, they’ll have to read prose passages carefully to choosean answer.
首先，阅读部分不会再像以前那样“深奥晦涩”(recondite)。考试中不再会有诸如像“recondite”那样的生僻词汇，简单的选词填空这一题型也已被取消。现在，学生们需要根据上下文找出常用词的正确含义。考题里会考察的词语通常在不同语境下会有不同的意思(比如“measured”词义有测量的、有板有眼的、小心谨慎的等等;“disposed”词义有丢弃的、有[某种]偏好等等)。简单地记忆单词卡上的定义是不够的，考生们必须仔细阅读文章段落才能选出正确答案。
What’s true of the writing section is true of the new SAT in general: There’s much more toread. “The most fundamental change is that there are many, many more words,” said AaronGolumbfskie, education director for PrepMatters. “If you don’t read well and happily, this testisn’t going to be your friend.”
不仅写作部分是这样，整个新版的SAT也是这样。阅读的比重在整个考试中都大大加强。“最根本的改变就是要读的东西多了很多很多。”PrepMatter的教育总监亚伦·过朗夫斯克(Aaron Golumbfskie)说道，“如果你不善于阅读，又不喜爱阅读的话，那么这个考试对你来说会很难过。”
Even the math section will require more reading, with fewer questions based on equations andmore word problems. Some prompts will present the same type of real-world situations that theCommon Core emphasizes — “The recommended daily calcium intake for a 20-year-old is 1,000milligrams (mg). One cup of milk contains 299 mg....” Mr. Golumbfskie describes the mathsection as “tighter in focus.” The current test covers a lot of ground, with a question or two oneach topic; the new one will drill down into a few key areas. Geometry is fading out. Algebra isstepping up: Prepare for linear equations and inequalities, and systems of equations in twovariables.
即使是数学部分也需要更多的阅读。考试中纯方程式题目减少了，应用题增加了。有些试题会以共同核心课程标准强调的实际生活案例为题。例如：“医生推荐的20岁成人钙摄入量为每日1000毫克。一杯牛奶含299毫克……”过朗夫斯克解释说，数学部分的重点更加集中了。目前的老版本考试范围很广，每个数学科目都会有一两道考题。新版则会更深入地考察较少的关键科目。平面几何将从考试中淡出。代数的比重则会增加，考生要在线性方程、不等式、二元方程等方面做好准备。
The addition of more-advanced math, such as trigonometry, means the test will covermaterial from a greater number of courses. That will make it more difficult for students to takethe SAT early. Some questions will require knowledge of statistics, a course relatively fewstudents take in high school. And because one math section will prohibit the use of acalculator, students who use them in class may want to practice tackling calculations with penciland paper.
新版还增加了更深的数学科目，比如三角函数。这也意味着这一考试涵盖了更多数学科目内容，因而，在低年级就参加SAT考试不再那么容易。有些问题还会用到统计学知识，而这门课并非每个高中生的必修课。另外，一部分数学考试将不再允许使用计算器。因此，习惯在课堂上使用计算器的学生应该考虑做一些笔算练习。
After getting through all that math, test takers who opt to write the essay will have a muchdifferent assignment than they do today. The prompts, which will look familiar to those who’vetaken Advanced Placement English, ask for a critical response to a specific argument. In:analysis. Out: writing about your personal experiences. For example: Read excerpts from a1967 speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and explain how he used evidence,reasoning and/or stylistic elements to support his argument that American involvement in theVietnam War was unjust.
做完所有的数学部分以后，选择考作文的考生会面临与今天迥然不同的新任务。作文题会要求学生对一个指定论点作出批判性的回应。对参加过英语大学预修课考试(Advanced Placement)的学生来说，这样的题型看起来会很熟悉。作文着重分析，而不再要求描述个人经历。请看下面这个例子：请阅读下面这段牧师马丁·路德·金博士的1967年演讲节选，并解释他如何使用证据、推理或修辞方法来支持美国参与越战是不公正的这一论点。
As much as any other modification, the new essay captures the spirit of the new SAT, whichunderscores the importance of evidence. Questions throughout will require students to citespecific examples that support their answers. No longer can they get by on writing skills alone.
新的作文要求与新版SAT的其他改动一致，都体现了强调证据之重要性这一精髓。作文部分从头到尾都会要求学生用具体例子来支持他们的答案。他们不再可以仅仅依靠写作技巧来答题。
With all the new stuff to consider, it’s easy to forget about what’s not changing. At 3 hours 50minutes (with the essay), the SAT is still a long, exhausting test. Besides measuring whatstudents have learned, it will measure how they perform under pressure in a high-stakessituation — just like the old model.
这么多新变化都需要考虑，我们很容易忘记还有一些地方并没有改变。(包括作文部分的)SAT考试时间是3小时50分钟，它依然是一场漫长而艰苦的考试。除了对学生所学知识进行检验，它也能够测量他们在重要场合下的抗压能力。这一点和老版本完全一致。
“There’s a new body style on the Chevrolet, but it has zero to do with performance — theengine’s the same,” said Jay Rosner, the Princeton Review Foundation’s executive director,who tutors low-income and underrepresented minority students. “It’s going to generate thesame hierarchy of scores that exists now.”
普林斯顿评论基金会(Princeton Review Foundation)的执行总监杰·罗斯那(Jay Rosner)说：“这次的考试改革如同雪弗兰汽车换了一款新的车身，但是这个改变对这款车型的性能表现毫无影响——汽车的发动机还是和原来一样。”罗斯那是低收入和弱势少数族裔学生的辅导老师。他说：“新版SAT会产生和现在同样的分数等级。”
The second question everyone is asking: Is the new test harder? No, several test preppersinsist, though some students might stumble over the longer reading passages, the deeper diveinto math and questions that require multiple steps to reach an answer. Those concerns coulddrive many students to take the old test — or the ACT.
大家都在问的第二个问题是：新版考试是否会更难?一些备考专家们认为不会。但是，较长的阅读段落，以及更深的、需要分几步才能得到答案的数学题有可能会使一些学生摔跟头。这些担忧会促使许多学生选择考老版SAT，或者ACT。
Some expect that the new SAT will be even more challenging for the disadvantaged. Byweaving more tightly into high-school curriculum, the test would seem to best serve studentsat high-performing schools, with the strong teachers who prepare them for state standards, aswell as affluent students with access to test prep.
有些专家预期，新版SAT对弱势学生群体会是个更大的挑战。因为这个考试与高中课程联系得更加紧密，所以它对好学校里的学生最为有利。这些学校里有雄厚的师资力量来帮助学生达到各州的学习标准，而学生富裕的经济条件也使他们得以接受备考服务。
相关推荐：
美国高端留学解决方案提供者