If you haven’t heard yet, the seats for testing in Hong Kong are filling up quick this year! Why?
The ACT for Hong Kong was cancelled for the first time in history and the students who failed to take it this past month are now desperately vying for the seats in the fall. Our sources tell us the September seats are all full.
You get it. Reading is important. You know that your son needs to improve his reading comprehension. You know your daughter needs help with her vocabulary. You know that the way to do this is to practice. You know your kids need to sit down and read. But what if they won’t? How do you help a kid who hates reading?
Lucky for you, we have a suggestion: picture books.
We’re serious. Picture books are awesome. No, we’re not talking about your toddler’s picture books, like “Hungry, hungry Caterpillar” or “How to give a Moose a Muffin” (although we would fight anyone who badmouths them). No, what we’re talking about are teen and adult-friendly picture books, which are otherwise known as graphic novels.
(http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/28164.Graphic_Novels_for_High_School_Students).
有人說，要想深入英文的“骨髓”，真正邁入英語的“門檻”，《聖經》和古希臘羅馬神話是為必讀之書。 古希臘羅馬神話是西方藝術的基礎，從文藝復興時期開始，更是整個歐洲文化藝術的源泉。以希臘羅馬神話為題材的文學作品、繪畫、雕像層見疊出，不勝枚舉。更重要的是，幾乎每一本重要的西方經典著作，都涉及古希臘羅馬神話中的人物或情節。你可能覺得你不走“文藝”路線，所以這些神話故事離你很遠，其實不然，喜歡看美劇英劇、英文小說的你，不難發現這些神話故事比比皆是，甚至還出現在新聞裡。在文章的最後一部分，我將介紹《新SAT官方指南》的閱讀題裡，也蘊含著神話故事的allusions（隱喻）。
美聯儲大盜為何自詡為“普羅米修斯”？
不知道常看美劇的大家，會不會有時被某些突然出現的詞語“噎”住——不明白為什麼大家都覺得好笑，自己卻很困惑。 美劇White Collar (《妙警賊探》)裡有這樣一個場景，高智商罪犯Lawrence向另一個高智商罪犯Neal吹噓自己的“豐功偉績”： Lawrence: The Federal Reserve Job… it was flawless. Probably the most secure vault in the world and I walked out with $60 million. It was Prometheus…stealing fire from the gods. Lawrence把自己從密不透風的美聯儲保險櫃裡成功盜走6千萬美元的行為，比喻為“普羅米修斯盜火”，意為冒著極大的風險。 普羅米修斯的故事大家都熟知，他創造出了人類，而且為了使人類能更好地生存，他來到天國，在阿波羅的太陽戰車上點燃一個火炬，將火種帶給了人類。有了火這個有力的武器，人類可以征服野獸、製造工具、耕作土地，住在溫暖的居所裡，不再畏懼嚴寒，成為“萬物之靈”。天神領袖Zeus大怒，下令把普羅米修斯用一條永遠也掙脫不了的鎖鏈，縛在高加索山脈的一塊岩石上，並讓一隻神鷹每天去啄食他的肝臟。
新SAT作文簡介
新SAT作文與老SAT作文有很大的不同。從本質上看，它屬於分析性寫作。考生需要先讀一篇字數在650-750的議論型的論文（an argumentative essay）。在這篇文章中，作者會提出一個論點，並且通過邏輯的或實證的論證來“洗腦”讀者，最終說服讀者接受其論點。讀完這篇文章以後，考生要寫一篇作文，分析作者是如何利用論據（evidence）、邏輯推理和文章結構（reasoning and organization）、文體或說理的技巧 （stylistic or persuasive elements） 等手法來成功說服讀者。這種分析性寫作看似新穎，實際上它的形式參考了AP 英語語言和作文考試（English language and composition） 裡的分析性論文（analytical essay），這也是為什麼在本文末的推薦書目裡有AP的原因。需要重點注意的是，在讀完一篇議論文（比如美國應該禁槍）之後，考生不應該解釋你是否同意或者反對禁槍（選擇一個立場，舉例說明，這是老SAT作文的考察內容），而是應該把重點放在分析作者是如何通過論證來說服讀者接受他的觀點的（你可以從上文所提及的三個方面——evidence, reasoning and organization, stylistic or persuasive elements選擇，或者你在讀文章時發現作者運用的一些特別的技巧，比如重複、精心選詞等方面）。簡單說來，作為考生，你的角色不是辯論的參與者，而是中立的評判員。
評分細則
與老SAT不同，新SAT作文分三部分給分：Reading （1-4分），Analysis（1-4分），Writing （1-4分）。
以下的新SAT作文備考建議我們也是按照這三個方面一一展開的。
For our valued customers, here’s a quick reminder to register right away!
If you’ve visited the college board’s website recently, you’ll see13 or 14 pages of:
Sort by: Sort Results byTest Center Name | Sort Results byAddress | Sort Results byAvailability
| Test Center Location Search Results | |||
| Test Center Name | Address | Availability | Choose a Test Center |
| ASIA WORLD – EXPO — ZONE B | HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, HONG KONG, HONG KONG | Not administering this test | |
| ASIA WORLD EXPO – ZONE A | HONG KONG INTL AIRPORT, HONG KONG, HONG KONG | Not administering this test | |
| ASIA WORLD EXPO–ZONE IA | HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, HONG KONG, HONG KONG | Not administering this test | |
| ASIA WORLD EXPO–ZONE IB | HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, HONG KONG, HONG KONG | Not administering this test | |
| ASIA WORLD EXPO–ZONE IC | HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, HONG KONG, HONG KONG | Not administering this test | |
Or “unavailable” seats.
However, if you want to take advantage of this last SAT test date for the 2015 school year, you only have the following locations remaining:
As of December 6th, the last SAT exam in 2014, there appears to only be 5 SAT Test Centers with seats in Hong Kong for the upcoming test in early 2015.
The following snapshots of the SAT registration page for the January 24, 2015 test in Hong Kong shows only the following test centers with available seats:
