英文優秀文章分享：《Don't blame the tests......》

Don't blame the tests: Getting rid of standardized testing means punishing poor students

（標題明確表態 — 作為(wei) 報刊雜誌文章，要吸引讀者眼球）

Sean-Michael Pigeon - Opinion contributor

Sean-Michael Pigeon is a contributor to Young Voices and a senior at Yale University, where he studies political science.

Teachers unions aren’t happy, but this time, they're mad at President Joe Biden. In February, the Biden administration released guidelines to keep standardized tests in schools. Needless to say, a lot of school administrators weren’t pleased. After all, school board officials across the country are trying to delegitimize test scores.

（典型的argumentative essay開頭段落，一上來敘述當前社會(hui) 上對這一議題的態度，介紹現況作為(wei) hook。注意，至此並沒有表達自己的觀點態度） 

But the administration did the right thing here.

（此句話就是我們(men) 課上說的transition過渡句，開始表露自己的立場，把話題從(cong) 前麵的hook過渡到下麵的thesis）

Standardized tests are crucial in giving poor kids in America a shot.

（與(yu) 上一句transition句子相比，這句thesis就要清晰明確的表明自己的態度和理由。同樣，thesis永遠都是有改進的空間，大家根據全文來看看，這句thesis還可以如何改進？）

 I grew up poor in a single-income household. I couldn’t become a trained violinist or travel to Rome for summer school experiences. I could study, though. And because of good luck, hard work and high test scores, I now attend an Ivy League university with the help of significant financial aid. Testing and academic performance were the best way for someone like me to succeed.

（第二段立即開始用evidence來論證自己的thesis。注意，這裏的evidence是屬於(yu) example類型的，不是facts and statistics類型。而且，此段落采用的是topic sentence放在末尾的結構）

Nevertheless, activists argue that standardized tests must be discontinued to dismantle white supremacy.” Consider the SAT, the test most high schoolers use for college admissions. Activists point to data that shows that richer, more privileged, children perform better on the SAT. This has led to allegations of cultural bias and systemic unfairness.

（本段通過引用反方實例和反方專(zhuan) 家意見，來陳述opposing views，但並沒有開始反駁）

But the results of the SAT say less about the test and more about high schools' failure to properly educate. Students across the country are failing to meet testing federal benchmarks, even before COVID-19 disrupted education. It’s our education system itself that needs improving and failing schools that need to be turned around.

（本段開始反駁上述opposing view。我們(men) 在課上說過各種反駁反方實例和反方觀點的方法，同學們(men) 要是忘了可以複習(xi) 一下。這裏是采用了“新視角來看待解釋反方實例”的方法）

Blaming the tests doesn’t help anyone and, contrary to accusations of cultural bias, it is the math section that is hardest for students. Undeterred, some educators, like the Oregon Department of Education, now just criticize math itself for favoring the privileged.

（本段繼續反駁opposing views，但反駁方法有所變化，采用了“正方實例來反駁反方觀點”的方法）

It’s no secret that tests aren’t pleasant to take. They are stressful, long and hard. But they were useful for me, and they’re useful for a lot of other poor kids.

（本段很短，但是有兩(liang) 個(ge) 作用，一個(ge) 是作為(wei) 過渡段落，從(cong) 上麵的反駁opposing views，過渡到下麵的第二點正麵論證。第二個(ge) 作用，就是building common ground）

The SAT has been a metric for college admission programs to measure academic potential since the 1930s. Research shows the test is a good predictor of student outcomes in college — which is where people like me could succeed. And testing can help identify gifted children who lack privileges. For example, when a large Florida school district implemented a universal, nonverbal screening test for elementary school students in 2005, the number of Black and Hispanic students identified as gifted actually doubled.

（本段采用的evidence是典型的facts and statistics類型。跟上麵的 example類型混用，是正確的使用evidence方法。此外，這裏采用的邏輯論證方法是inductive reasoning還是deductive reasoning？如果是inductive reasoning，它需要滿足哪三個(ge) 條件？此處的推理是否滿足這三個(ge) 條件？）

The attacks on standardized tests are part of a broader assault on academic sorting.

（這句話是否偏離了thesis？後文中有沒有對這個(ge) 觀點提出足夠的證據來論證？） 

Advanced learning classes in Boston have been canceled lest they create unequal outcomes. Others are going further. A number of schools in California will stop using traditional A-F grading to combat inequality. Who benefits from these policies? Activists think they are helping marginalized communities, but they are actually stripping them of their ability to showcase their talents.

Taking away opportunities for students to excel in traditional ways at high school will not deter wealthy parents. They will still help their kids get to college.

Rich parents can afford extracurricular activities like dance, music lessons and unpaid internships. It was only two years ago that rich parents were busted for literally bribing admissions officers to get their kids into college.

（這兩(liang) 個(ge) 短段是否必要分開，合成一段是否更合適？）

And when eight privates schools in Washington, D.C., banded together to drop out of the Advanced Placement program, they cited the diminished utility of AP courses and the desirability of developing our own advanced courses.

（這裏的“our”是指誰？）

Children of the rich and powerful don't have to worry about college admissions officers not looking at their AP-free transcripts, but students in rural and poor areas do.

（這句話是否符合現實實情？家庭富裕的學生就完全不需要擔心自己的AP成績嗎？） 

Removing quantifiable academic standards won't help the poor pursue elite higher education.

Two of the most important predictive metrics students like me have to show our academic success is the SAT and a student’s GPA. Asking colleges to reject these in favor of “soft” or “holistic” parts of an application will only favor those who have money or connections — students at expensive, prestigious boarding and independent schools.

（這句話聽起來很有道理，但作者有沒有舉(ju) 出相關(guan) 的example，fact，或者expert opinion來論證這一點？）

No, a student's SAT or GPA is not the only thing that matters. Character, leadership and kindness matter far more in life.

（再次建立common ground） 

But just because a test doesn’t tell us everything about a person doesn’t mean it is useless. It certainly doesn’t make it racist. But if schools abandon these important benchmarks, they will certainly become classist.

（結尾點題，重申自己的觀點，並適度延申）