猫头鹰在线写作议论古人哲理名言
SAT-GRE-GMAT-TOEFL-IELTS
海外大学教师谢振礼 Jeenn Lee Hsieh
批评指错 essay3663@hotmail.com
SAT作文题目也恰好反应TOEFL与IELTS更为接近GRE与GMAT的话题。猫头鹰在夜里满心抽象，正为种种哲学辩论而频频困扰不堪。从亚洲考场到北美考场，举2012年6月2日同一天的真题为例：
SAT亚洲>Should people respect and tolerate others' opinion, or should they take stands against others' opinion that they think is wrong?
SAT北美>Does solving old problems lead to new ones?
类似的试题都令考生头痛。更伤脑筋的哲理话题也是层出不穷。猫头鹰在题库里挑出10个哲理真题，仅供候选人玩味。抽象的问题必定采用抽象的方式对答，特别是议论哲理名言的矛盾。答题越抽象越来劲，火药味也是越浓。当然，说来说去，还不是考你逻辑论证与英文造句。（部分相应实验范文将在网页上陆续发布）
又是猫头鹰的陈腔滥调。思维逻辑--主题，结构，内容--是骨干。英文文法如同血肉--修辞，句法，字汇。写作练习的最佳教练是自己，特别是抽象的话题。谁也无法教别人怎么思维。逻辑属于脑袋用功，只要乐于思维，逻辑就来。文字英文的灵活运用能力也是来自经年累月的用功，几乎全靠自修--阅读，文法，翻译，造句。所以就英文写作单项而言，教师的工作大不了只是强迫学员有计划的用功。
》考题指示：议论名言一句。
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.
（猫头鹰认为知识和经验是抽象的概念。这意味着论证的例子也可以采用抽象比喻，如同逻辑推理。譬如“求学如逆水行舟“”朽木不可雕也“--孔夫子是抽象哲理大师。）
名言相传有年，肯定有其深奥趣味。答题第一步先”同意“算了，反正很难反驳顽固的老格言。既然同意了这种说法，第二步可要说出你同意的道理来。第三步还得举出例子细节来支持你讲出来的道理，以免论证空洞而无人信服。如果选择不同意的立场，也说出道理来，顺理成章，于是依样画葫芦地自圆其说。猫头鹰举出两道思维激荡"thought-provoking"实例：
1. 名言举例 "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
（凡事变化越大，则越是保持不变。）
语出--The proverb is of French origin and was used by French novelist Alphonese Karr (1808-1890).
2. 名言举例 "All art is but an imitation of nature."
（一切艺术作品无非是模仿大自然。）
语出--Seneca, Roman philosopher (c. 4 B.C.-A.D. 65)
》头痛的猫头鹰顿时感慨书到用时方恨少，哪知半部【论语】治天下，居然还能对付议论文写作。假想如果议论文话题换成熟悉的中文名言，而却使用母语答题，那就简单多了。比方说，至圣仲尼先师教诲“学而思”--想想看你同意不同意这半句话？或者练习用英文造句发表论证：益者三友。（高频话题：议论交友。）
子曰：益者三友: 友直，友谅，友多闻。
》练习名言的英翻中，同时细读背诵。猫头鹰再引用8例 “Points to Ponder”（脑筋急转弯）：
3--"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." (Dr. Seuss)
4--"You cannot wake a person who is pretending to be asleep." (Navajo proverb)
5--"Admiration and familiarity are strangers." (George Sand)
6--"The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different." (Aldous Huxley)
7--"Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights." (Georg Hegel)
8--"The future influences the present just as much as the past." (Friedriech Nietzsche)
9--"There are some remedies worse than the disease." (Publilius Syrus)
10--"Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day." (Polish proverb)
》以上如同其它千万名言，值得深思，是是非非却无标准答案。哲人 Leo Rosten 说: 格言常常自相矛盾。读者的看法怎样？
“Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that, if we hesitate, we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.”
闲话不说了，议论文试题是考逻辑论证+英文造句。逻辑论证的钥匙：抽象比喻。英文造句的秘诀：锻炼造句。
