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Read carefully the following excerpt and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 WORDS, in which you should:
1. summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then
2. comment on the choice of major and college.
You can support yourself with information from the excerpt.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
Excerpt
There is a popular myth that choice of major matters more than choice of college.
Students who graduate from more selective schools tend to make more money. After all, the better the college, the better the professional network opportunities, through alumni, parents of classmates and eventually classmates themselves.
These undergraduates are more able to pursue majors in lower paying fields because their networks help them land good jobs.
Arts, humanities and social science majors are more prevalent on elite campuses than at second-tier colleges, where students tend to pick vocational majors like business, education and health.
In all, more than half of students at less selective schools major in career-focused subjects; at elite schools, less than a quarter do.
“Students at selective colleges are allowed to explore their intellectual curiosity as undergraduates because they will get their job training in graduate school or have access to a network that gets them top jobs, regardless of their undergraduate major,” Carnevale said.
They are also more likely to have two majors than students at second-tier colleges, who tend to be more financially needy and have to work, affording less time to double major.
One tip: Complementary majors with overlapping requirements are easier to juggle, but two unrelated majors probably yield bigger gains in the job market, said Richard N. Pitt, an associate professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University who has studied the rise of the double major. “It increases your breadth of knowledge,” he said.
审题立意
作文要求考生先阅读一则材料，然后根据材料就“选择专业和学校”这一话题写一篇英语作文。材料指出，“选择专业比选择学校重要”的观点是一种普遍性的误解，其实，选择学校要比选择专业更加重要。学生在报考学校和专业时，两者之间的权衡其实因人而异。考生可以根据自己的观点倾向做出选择，选取一个角度后，应采用多种方法加以论证，确保论证有力，有理有据。
写作框架
1 简要概括材料，并表明自己的立场，赞同材料中的观点，即选择学校比选择专业更加重要。
2 分三点论述：首先，名校可以提供很好的学习设施和条件；其次，好学校拥有更加灵活、多元、支持性的学术环境；最后，名校大学生的课堂学习效果更好。
3 总结全文，重申论点：选择适当的大学胜过选择专业。
精彩范文
In the above excerpt, the author believes that choice of college matters more than choice of major. Undergraduates in better colleges have access to more professional networking opportunities presented by their alumni, classmates as well as the college itself. And skills for making a living can be cultivated during their graduate periods. Personally, I am convinced that it is important to think more about the college itself than about its major. (Viewpoint)
First of all, the prestigious colleges or universities can provide state-of-the-art learning facilities and convenient living conditions. (Topic sentence) There is no doubt that the better a college, the more money the government will invest in its development of facilities, such as libraries, canteens and dormitories.
Secondly, a high-level college embraces a collegial, flexible, pluralistic and supportive intellectual environment, which plays a significant role in enriching students’ learning and developing their creativity and innovation. (Topic sentence) With more excellent scholars, lectures and conventions, students admitted there can be exposed to more valuable opportunities to exchange ideas with those leading professors and learn more about the latest research discoveries.
Lastly, the study of undergraduates from prestigious colleges focuses more on class interactions, group discussions and presentations. (Topic sentence) Definitely, with a wider scope of knowledge and solid academic foundation, the majority of students in key universities are able to gain more insights and come up with fresh ideas, which will continue to promote their professional and career development in the future.
Overall, it is more essential to choose a proper college than a major. (Conclusion) A better college offers you a better chance to access valuable learning resources and thought-provoking lectures.
主题词汇
networking n. 建立关系网
alumni n. （统称）校友，毕业生
make a living 谋生
prestigious adj. 有名望的，享有声望的
state-of-the-art adj. （技术上）最先进的
pluralistic adj. 多元化的
thought-provoking adj. 发人深省的，引起思考的
亮点句式
1 Personally, I am convinced that it is important to think more about the college itself than about its major.
译文 就个人而言，我认为择校时多从学校本身考虑而不是从专业方面考虑很重要。
分析 句子的主干是I am convinced that...，that引导的从句作believe的宾语，在该宾语从句中，it是形式主语，真正的主语是后面的不定式to think more about...，其中使用了more...than...的比较级结构。
2 Definitely, with a wider scope of knowledge and solid academic foundation, the majority of students in key universities are able to gain more insights and come up with fresh ideas, which will continue to promote their professional and career development in the future.
译文 毫无疑问，重点大学的大多数学生知识范围更广，学术基础扎实，他们能够获得更深刻的见解，提出新颖的观点，这将继续促进他们未来的专业和职业发展。
分析 句子的主干是the majority of students in key universities are able to gain...and come up with...，介词短语“with+名词”作伴随状语，which引导非限制性定语从句，修饰前面的整个句子。