2015年5月SAT写作题目

　　Assignment: Is having too many choices a problem?

　　本题中choices为关键词。是否过多的选项会给决策结果带来干扰? 在 “选择过多” 和 “决策结果是否合理” 这两个因素的逻辑关系中，关键的联系在于决策者。也就是说，一个人，在什么样的情况下，面对哪些选择时，得出了什么样的结论，获得了什么样的成果。顺着这样的思路行文，文章整体框架便显现。

　　范文思路：当决策者身处逆境之中，面对很少的选择，甚至需要于绝处逢生时，所做出的选择，通过不懈努力经常取得了成功。而反之，当选择机会纷繁多样时，很容易做出不合理的决策甚至使之前的努力功亏一篑。

　　此时可以选择逆境中成功或处顺境中失败的例子，从正反面论证均可。如罗斯福，乔布斯等。范文选取了考生最熟悉的“俗”例子展开论述，体现逻辑在SAT作文中的重要性。

　　另外考生也可从题目的反面，即更多的选择意味着更多的可能性，兼听则明的思路展开文章。

　　Barry Schwartz once stated, “The fact that some choice is good doesn’t necessarily mean that more choice is better. ”Indeed, when facing more options, too often people make unreasonable decisions, whereas wise solutions usually occur in the circumstances of fewer choices, sometimes even in predicaments.Too many selectivesolutions available are some times a problem. This concept can be further illustrated throughout history.

　　One convincing example that too many options may cause confusion is shown in the failure of Napoleon Bonaparte. In his early years, brilliant decisions had been made since he had no other choices but to stick heroically to conquering Europe. However, after signing the Treaties of Tilsit with Tsar AlexanderI in 1807, when he was free to reshape western and central Europe as hepleased, overwhelming alternatives occurred. As the master of the continent, he carried out the blockade, also known as the continental system, to exclude all British goods from Europe, which did not work, but led Napoleon into conflicts with Spain, the papacy, and Russia, and formed a major cause for the down fall of the Empire. Being a conqueror of the continent brought him such huge number of choices, leading to one bad decision after another, and like a falling row of dominoes, consequently caused the fall down of his great empire: He was defeated by the combined British and Prussian armies under the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Blher at Waterloo on June 18, 1815. Such abdication was the result of unadvisable decisions from great mass of choices.

　　On the contrary, fewer choices have led to success many times throughout history. One of the most inventive and unprecedented ideas made in such crucial times was led by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the most prominent president in the United States who successfully put an end to the Great Depression. When he was first elected in 1933, the dramatically receded national economy offered him few choices as the unemployment had slumped to nearly twenty-five percent thus citizens’ right to enjoy sufficient life was almost completely deprived. It is natural that the only hope of those desperate Americans was the governmental supports; hence Roosevelt’s administration had no other alternatives but to intervene the market. In the light of this belief,he implemented “the New Deal”, a series of policies consolidating the financial and restoring band credit, adjusting agriculture and industries and offering more jobs for the Dole. Given no choice but to use executive power, governmental interference of Roosevelt’s administration had successfully prevented more crippling economic and social catastrophes.

　　Choices are necessities in social life. However, too many alternatives may sometimes lead to unwise decisions. What really matters in decision-making is to keep a sobermind, just as Nietzsche once said: “A wise man never loses anything if he has himself.”

　　本次作文同2010年12月题目类似：

　　Choice improves the quality of our lives. On the other hand, the fact that some choiceis good doesn't necessarily mean that more choice is better. There is a problem with having too much choice. We are unwilling to give up any of our options,but stubbornly insisting upon having all the choices available to us can leadto bad decisions, stress, and dissatisfaction. Adapted from Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less.

编辑：张雨

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