偶然？必然！ —— 评2011年12月四级写作
上海新东方学校国内考试部
作文明星教师汪中平
Nothing Succeeds without a Strong Will.
四级写作考题出炉了。看到考题，我们眼前又是一亮：这不是新东方四级写作教材必背范文第13篇The Way to Success 的翻版吗！
这已经不是第一次了。
如果说以前这种情况颇为“偶然”，近年这种“命中考题”的情况似乎不再鲜见、渐渐变成“必然”了。2003年四、六级写作共用的题目Honesty Is the Best Policy就是我们教材必背范文第3篇Honesty；08年6月四级考题“大学生休闲娱乐的方式”和我们必背范文第12篇Ways of Relaxing 非常相近；08年12月考题Disposable Plastic Bags 是我们考前预测的重点；09年12月考题“创建绿色校园”和我们必背范文第9篇Make Our Cities Greener 非常接近，只要把city 改成campus 就可以了。
当然，猜题押题不是我们的宗旨。我们更重视的是如何培养学生的写作能力传授写作技巧。
一般来说，文章的主体段落展开方式不外乎因果分析和举例说明。今年的考题与以往很多“现象类”或“争议类”考题不同，要求评述一句格言，这和03年Honesty 非常相似。对这种文章，因果分析比较牵强。那么我们主要就依靠举例说明了。在我们的教材范文中就举了两个例子，一为孙中山依靠坚强的意志创建中华民国，二为苏秦刺股挑灯夜读。
其实考生只要掌握了方法，随便举一两个自己生活中的例子。只要文字表达顺畅，就是一篇好文章。
碰到熟悉的考题固然欣喜；碰到陌生的考题学会自如应对才是制胜的法则。
附教材范文：
Everyone tries to achieve success in his career. However, someone firmly attains his goal while another fails. Why? The one continues his cause to the end through long periods of hard struggling, but the other is easily disappointed or stops halfway.
Strong will, perseverance and diligence are the three essentials of success. A man of strong will and perseverance always has an inflexible spirit. He sticks to his cause no matter how tough it might be. Dr. Sun Yat-sen was such a man. Many of his attempts failed, but he held to his purpose with firmness and finally succeeded in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty. Diligence means steadiness in one’s work and study. Su Qin stabbed himself in order to keep himself attentive to studies. Marx often worked 15 hours a day. Life is short and we have many things to do. Without diligence no one can achieve anything.
I believe that where there is a will there is a way, and that success belongs to those who can suffer long years of patient toil and constant efforts.