美国芝加哥大学一直以“变态”的文书题目著称,他们会打破传统的文书题目,要求申请者们去尝试一些不同寻常的主题。这些非常规的题目给了学生一个展示他们创新思想的机会,也给了他们一个机会,以出人意料,意义深远的方式去随心所欲地探索不同寻常的题目。和小编一起来欣(tu)赏(cao)下今年的吧!
2016-17 UChicago Supplement:
文书题目1 (必写)
How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.
解析:根据你目前所了解的,芝加哥大学能如何满足你对某一特定学习类别、社区环境与未来的渴望?请具体谈谈你自己的愿望以及它们与芝加哥大学的联系。
文书题目2(可选):
Share with us a few of your favorite books, poems, authors, films, plays, pieces of music, musicians, performers, paintings, artists, blogs, magazines, or newspapers. Feel free to touch on one, some, or all of the categories listed, or add a category of your own.
解析:请与我们分享一些你最爱的书籍、诗歌、作家、电影、戏剧、一段音乐、音乐家、表演艺术家、画作、艺术家、博客、杂志、或者报刊。请随意选择其中一类,几类或者全部谈谈,甚至可以自行添加条目。
补充文书题目(必写,五选一):
题目#1:
What is square one, and can you actually go back to it?
—Inspired by Maya Shaked, Class of 2018
原题直译: “什么是起点,你能够真正回到起点么?”
解析:“back to square one”是一句流行美语,它的意思是“回到起点”,类似汉语里的“竹篮打水一场空”,就是说费了很多力气但是问题并没有解决,而是回到了原态。这题可以从“打水”的角度来思考,虽然我们可能最后没有获得想要的结果,但是过程一定有它的意义。正如“人不能两次踏入同一条河流”,变化之中,我们收获了什么?
Essay Option 2.
Once, renowned physicist Werner Heisenberg said: “There is a fundamental error in separating the parts from the whole, the mistake of atomizing what should not be atomized. Unity and complementarity constitute reality.” Whether it’s Georges Seurat’s pointillism in “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,” the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, quantum physics, or any other field of your choosing, when can the parts be separated from the whole and when can they not?
—Inspired by Ender Sahin, Class of 2020
原题直译: 著名的物理学家沃纳海森堡曾经说过:‘从整体分离出部分,去量子化那些无法量子化的是根本性错误的,统一和互补构成了事实。’无论是乔治修拉的点彩画派名作《大碗岛的星期日下午》,1995-96赛季的芝加哥公牛队,量子物理学,还是其他任何你选择的领域,请谈一谈何种情况下部分可以从整体分离,何时不能?”
解析:芝加哥大学文书最有代表性的一类,先是一段材料阅读,然后引出一个话题。虽然材料有点绕,但是“整体与部分”,听起来是不是很耳熟?可以试着从团队与个体,或者是不要过度拆分,对事物要有整体性的认知的角度来思考。
Essay Option 3.
The ball is in your court—a penny for your thoughts, but say it, don’t spray it. So long as you don’t bite off more than you can chew, beat around the bush, or cut corners, writing this essay should be a piece of cake. Create your own idiom, and tell us its origin—you know, the whole nine yards. PS: A picture is worth a thousand words.
—Inspired by April Bell, Class of 2017, and Maya Shaked, Class of 2018 (It takes two to tango.)
解析:这题没法直译,有点文字游戏,所以还是让我们先来学习一下当中出现的美国习惯用语吧,The ball is in your court(该你了,现在是你采取行动的时候了)—a penny for your thoughts(你呆呆的在想什么呢?), but say it, don’t spray it(有话好好说). So long as you don’t bite off more than you can chew(贪多嚼不烂,指好高骛远), beat around the bush(拐弯抹角), or cut corners(走捷径), writing this essay should be a piece of cake. Create your own idiom, and tell us its origin—you know, the whole nine yards(为了达到某一目的而竭尽全力. )
PS: A picture is worth a thousand words(百闻不如一见).
—Inspired by April Bell, Class of 2017, and Maya Shaked, Class of 2018 (It takes two to tango.一个巴掌拍不响)
不要被这些眼花缭乱的习惯用语给迷惑了,题目就是让你创作一句属于你自己的习惯用语,类似题目中出现的这些,并且告诉我们它的由来。很有趣的一题,可写的余地很大。
Essay Option 4.
Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Milo drives through the tollbooth. Dorothy is swept up in the tornado. Neo takes the red pill. Don’t tell us about another world you’ve imagined, heard about, or created. Rather, tell us about its portal. Sure, some people think of the University of Chicago as a portal to their future, but please choose another portal to write about.
—Inspired by Raphael Hallerman, Class of 2020
原题翻译:爱丽丝跌落进了兔子洞,米洛开车通过了收费亭,桃乐丝被龙卷风卷走,尼奥选择了红色药丸。你不需要告诉我们你想象、听说或者创造的另一个世界是怎样的,我们关心的是它的入口。显然,些人认为芝加哥大学就是他们未来的入口,但是请换一个入口来写。
解析:爱丽丝与兔子洞的梗出自《爱丽丝漫游奇境》。米洛与收费亭出自《神奇的收费亭》(The Phantom Tollbooth),美国著名儿童文学作品,讲述的是无所事事的男孩米洛,某天下午收到了一个神秘的包裹,他按照包裹的说明组装了一个收费亭,他开车通过了收费亭,进入了智慧国,面临数字与文字之争,从无知国拯救理性公主和韵律公主的历险。桃乐丝与龙卷风出自《绿野仙踪》,尼奥的红色药丸出自电影《黑客帝国》(The Matrix),Morpheus给了Neo两粒药片,红色的药片将回答“什么是The Matrix”的问题,而蓝色的药片仅仅是让生活像以前一样继续。当Neo伸手去拿红色的药片时,Morpheus警告说:“记住,我要告诉你的只有一样东西——真相。题目写的很清楚,不希望学生们描述另外一个世界是怎样的,把切入点放在这个进去另一个世界的媒介上。发挥你们的想象力吧。
Essay Option 5.
In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.
解析:以探寻未知的冒险精神,提一个属于你自己的问题或者在历年文书中选择一个题目。要求原创,创新,发人深省。利用你作为一个作家、思想家、梦想家、社会评论员、哲人、世界公民或者芝加哥未来社区一员的优势,冒一冒险并享受这个过程。
创时小编寄语:创时第一时间整理。强烈建议申请美国大学2017年秋季入学的同学们早早考虑如何写这些文书,提前准备,也欢迎大家和创时顾问老师探讨申请策略和留学文书的解题和写作问题。