美国高校申请系列（1）-- 走火入魔的英文写作2013-09-05 10:38:39
/ @峰哥何峰 /
最近看到一篇中国学生的英文作文。看完后感觉孩子有点练功练岔了气，走火入魔的感觉。他的英语可说是很下了功夫的，词汇量，基本语法都没问题。但不知道是哪里学来的文风，狂用生僻字，大复句。通篇的 who 干了啥啥 which 怎么怎么样 resulting in 这般情况 that 改变了如何如何。。。恨不能独句都能够上百字。
往好了说，这些好歹算是高级错误。没有一些基本功可能还真犯出不出这样的错误。缺点是，这样的错误往往难以改观。不像基本语法、拼写有清楚的对错标准，这样对风格的判断，只有当事人自己不断醒悟，提高审美。
值得大家学习的范文其实比比皆是。从经典的《新概念英语》到现在随时能在网上看到的期刊如 Wall Street Journal, The Economist, 视频如奥巴马演讲，都是值得学习的范例。一下是随手点开今天 Wall Street Journal 头版一篇文章的开始3个自然段：
Last month, Singapore’s government announced the economy grew 3.8% on-year in the second quarter. But as late as June, economists polled by the city-state’s central bank were predicting growth of just 1.5%.
Economists got it wrong on exports too: They predicted a nearly flat print in the second quarter, when exports actually fell 5.0%.
The difference was even starker in the first quarter: Economists in March predicted exports would fall 0.5%, but in fact they shrank a whopping 12.5%.
每句都简明清楚。没有繁琐的复句，没有生僻的词汇。一目了然，印象深刻，没有歧义。这是 writing （应用文）的至高境界。
再举一个来自 The Economist 的例子。如上，随手点开网页头版的一篇文章：
SUDDENLY the mood about the British economy seems to have changed. The services sector purchasing managers\' index, relased today, hit 60.5, its highest level since 2006. According to Markit, the combined PMI (manufacturing and construction, as well as services) reached 60.7, the highest level since the surveys were first compiled in 1998. THe OECD has upgraded its forecast for the UK economy and says it is growing faster than most of its peers.
同样，每句表达一个意思。没有复句，没有被动语态，没有生僻字。
当然，那位中国孩子的文风也不是他自己闭关修炼出来的。有朋友告知，国内4、6级的英语教学就是这种风格。捣糨糊般的复句，在他们标准下成为高端大气的表达形式。对于考4、6级我没有发言权，但是如果你是想要写文书申请美国本科、研究生、博士、MBA等等。我可以负责任的跟你说，你运用生僻字，摆动大复句，不但 impress 不了阅读你作文的招生官的，反而或让读者不明白你想要表达的意思，或者直接对你的能力产生负面的印象。
