Abraham Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
In other words, our personal level of satisfaction is entirely within our control. Otherwise, why
would the same experience disappoint one person but delight another? Happiness is not an
accident but a choice.
Assignment: Is happiness something over which people have no control, or can people
choose to be happy? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.
Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience,
or observations.
My Essay:
Happiness is an elixir to all diseases, so everyone wants happiness and most of them think
that it comes from success. But even if we fail something, we can still choose to be happy.
Last year, our school held a basketball competition. Our class had entered into the semi-final
and all the students in our class were very excited. Moreover, we had just beaten the team which
was considered the best in our grade and my classmates were hopeful that we might enter the final
game. On the day of the semi-final, the players of our team went to the field in our cheers. But as
soon as we saw the members of the other team, we knew it would be a hard match. One of the
players in their team is as tall as 1.93 m, much taller than any of our players and we also learned
that their team was the only one which hadn’t lost a single game.
The match started. To our disappointment, our team wasn’t playing well, and the best player
in our team was followed by the tallest in theirs at every pace. Anxious and worried, we girls
jumped onto the platform beside and shouted at the top of our voices. After sometime, it seemed
that our cheers had gave my classmates some energy and they began to catch up, slowly but
gradually, we were only two points behind. But just at that time, the first ten minutes were over
and we came to a stop. The players were tired but hopeful, and we kept cheering them. However,
when the match started again, our opponents seemed to become stronger. They got more points
and we were soon eleven points behind. Meanwhile, our throats were burning, but we kept
shouting for our classmates. Though we caught up some points, at last we lost by only one point.
When we got back to the classroom, all of my classmates were disappointed and sad. One of
the players even cried. But our teacher came in at that moment and said, “Cheer up everyone, we
just lost by one point and we are already the top four. We still have a match and let’s get the third
place!” Then one of my classmates suddenly went to the dais and wrote something encouraging on
the blackboard and one by one, over ten of our classmates all wrote down the words they wanted
to say. All of us were greatly encouraged and smiled. We felt a sense of happiness even though we
didn’t win.
So if we choose to be happy, we’ll be happy. It’s all up to our choices.
The Official SAT Study Guide Avail Practice Test 3
Prompt
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and assignment below.
A mistakenly cynical view of human behavior holds that people are primarily driven by
selfish motives: the desire for wealth, for power, or for fame. Yet history gives us many examples
of individuals who have sacrificed their own welfare for a cause or a principle that they regarded
as more important than their own lives. Conscience - that powerful inner voice that tells us what is
right and what is wrong-can be a more compelling force than money, power, or fame.
Assignment
Is conscience a more powerful motivator than money, fame, or power? Plan and write an
essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning
and examples taken from your readings, studies, experience, and observations.
SAT Sample Essay - Score of 6 SAT作文6分范文
As society toils onward into its dreams of the future, the progress that accompanies this
movement may be tainted by individual motives of avarice. However, as seen in various fields
such as art, history, and science, the human conscience will limit the motivation of greed and
inspire good works for the sake of morality. One’s sense of right and wrong forever impels one to
be a decent, thoughtful person.
Such people widely populate the idealistic field of literature. Though novels may be rife with
villainous, self-serving characters, only the heroic and moral personas emerge triumphant. For
example, the well-known literary character Huckleberry Finn, from Twain’s Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, rescinds his claim to a sizable fortune if possessing such wealth would diminish
his safety. Furthermore, Huck will risk himself to ensure the security of his close comrade Jim.
His loyalty, a facet of one’s conscience, compels him to sacrifice his safety to ensure the
well-being of others, which is more than money has accomplished in motivating Huck. Thus, a
person, however fictional, considers the rewards of acting on conscience to be more fruitful than
to be possessed by greed.
Although such characters are fictional, the same motives of charity and morality have
inspired numerous people in history to set aside their desires. Lyndon B. Johnson, Former
President of the United States, pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress motivated
by conscience and a desire to correct the immorality of racism in society. Though some Senators
stridently opposed such a bill, the power of motivation by conscience impassioned Johnson to
strive even harder to remain loyal to the American precepts of equality. Such is fruition of
conscientious actions.
Though the great figures of history seem out of reach in their stature, as an individual I am
faced with moral dilemmas rather often. For example, I have been offered more weighty positions
on the newspaper, but as a rule, I have always refused when there was someone better qualified
than I. Consequently, their talents result in a more improved issue, thereby increasing the benefit
for all.
There in lies the reason why we are compelled by conscience. Money, fame and power are
fleeting and insubstantial, for they can never mend the integrity sacrificed to obtain them. It is
only when we act in the name of what is right that all of our possible talents may benefit ourselves,
our peers, and our ideals.
The Official SAT Study Guide Avail Practice Test 2
Prompt
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and assignment below.
Technology promises to make our lives easier, freeing up time for leisure pursuits. But the
rapid pace of technological innovation and the split second processing capabilities of computers
that can work virtually nonstop have made all of us feel rushed. We have adopted the relentless
pace of the very machines that were supposed to simplify our lives, with the result that , whether
at work or play, people do not feel like their lives have changed for the better.
Adapted from Karen Finucan, "Life in the Fast Lane"
Assignment
Do changes that make our lives easier not necessarily make them better? Plan and write an
essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning
and examples taken from your readings, studies, experience, and observations.
Sample Essay - Score of 6 SAT 写作6 分范文
Throughout time mankind has strived to make his life easier. Whether it be through
technology, science, or theories of social interaction every generation has made one contribution.
From the idea of crop rotation to the cellular telephone mankind has advanced. It can be argued
however, that not all of these advancements were beneficial. Many times people are accused of
“taking the easy way out”, something that is looked down upon in today’s society.
Consider, if you will, ancient Greecian Society. With hardly any of the technological or
scientific advancements we have today, they were able to produce some of the greatest thinkers of
all time. Socrates and Plato still influence modern philosophical thought. In addition, these men
were well versed in all disciplines. They were thinkers, mathematicians, writers, scientists, artists
and much more. Examine some other great men in history. Leonardo Davinci was one of the
greatest scientists and also one of the greatest artists of all time, he even invented and drew up
early plans for the helicopter. These ancient men, without the technology and ease of life we have
today, were able to produce some of the most prolific additions to human knowledge ever.
Now let us examine some men from our time. Bill Gates, while adding immensely to the
pleasures and ease of man’s life, did so only by forcefully destroying many fledgling companies
and completely undermining our capitalistic market place. Very few men in our time are leaders in
more than one discipline. There are no scientists/artists or writer/mathematicians. Men, while
being able to more deeply delve into a discipline, are now restricted to it. I attribute this to
technology. We now have a life outside of our work. A life with computers, cars, movies, and
dinner with the family from across the country. Mankind can no longer devote himself to his work.
He has his work life, and his home life. While a cell phone allows me to talk to anyone from
anywhere, it prevents me from being alone and fully concentrating. While the internet allows me
to look at websites from around the world, it prevents me from doing the work I set out to do.
While technology and science have made man’s life easier, they have not made it better.
Man has become less productive and less devoted, partly, as a result of this newfound ease of life.
Therefore, What makes our lives easier does not necessarily make them better.
The Official SAT Study Guide Avail Practice Test 1
Prompt
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and assignment below.
To change is to risk something, making us feel insecure. Not to change is a bigger risk,
though we seldom feel that way. There is no choice but to change. People, however, cannot be
motivated to change from the outside. All of our motivation comes from within.
Adapted from Ward Sybouts, Planning in School Administration: A Handbook
Assignment
What motivates people to change? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point
of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from you reading,
studies, experience, or observations.
Sample Essay - 6 分范文
What motivates people to change is a relentless and innate desire for self-improvement.
Rarely ever has history seen a man or society kick back, relax, and say “Well that about does it.
Not much else to do here!” Within every person is the potential to achieve greatness in some form;
be it athletically, mentally, spiritually. This inherent potential demands that people continue to
explore and change both their environments and themselves throughout their life’s course. Never
should a man be idle for too long. After acknowledging the changes a man has already made to his
environment, the pursuit of self-improvement will once again stir within his soul and call him to
action. This internal desire, this pursuit of challenge and perfection, does not prohibit man from
being happy with his status and achievements. On the contrary, the device serves more to allow
the man to constantly strive for greater change, newer innovation. What motivates people to
change is the ongoing need to redefine people’s lives and identities –to elevate them to higher
levels of eminence and success.
A good example of this can be seen in clinical psychology. When patients seek therapy for
difficulties that have encumbered their daily functioning, they most often arrive for treatment
voluntarily and willingly- they consciously accept the necessity of therapy and so participate
without any duress. During the course of clinical therapy, the patient’s concerns, anxieties, ideas,
emotions, and fears are brought to light. However, the clinician does not try to alter the beliefs,
feeling, and sentiments of his client; rather, he simply illuminates them in order to provide the
patient with an accurate view of himself. The process, of raising concerns and ideas to the surface
of conscious awareness, is known as clarification. Modern psychology is a far throw from the
psychoanalysis of Freud’s time, in which psychologists attempted to “interpret” pre-and
unconscious feelings that had been repressed by the patient. Because clinicians only clarify, and
not dissect, alter, or interpret a client’s inner desires and emotions, the client himself is responsible
for instituting change. If he is to change, he must dictate the course of therapy, and make the
conscious choice to improve himself. This widely used approach is called “client centered
therapy.” If the client’s ennui or ill feelings are due to situational factors or internal designs (as
oppose to biological changes that would qualify for a diagnosis of psychopathology (mental
disorder)), he must change them on his own accord to precipitate change within himself. The
therapist will not “cure” him in any way. He alone must answer the call within himself to refine
and redefine his identity and place in society. This need, of self-improvement, also initially
brought him to the therapist. He was able to recognize the disorder of his environment and
acknowledge his own negative feelings. This in turn brought him to therapy, where he was guided
through a process of introspection that ultimately enabled him to improve himself, assuage his
anxieties, and rightfully continue on his lifelong pursuit of even greater achievements.
The Official SAT Study Guide Avail Practice Test 4
Prompt
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and assignment below.
The old saying, "be careful what you wish for," may be an appropriate warning. The drive to
archive a particular goal can dangerously narrow one's perspective and encourage the fantasy that
success in one endeavor will solve all of life's difficulties. In fact, success can sometimes have
unexpected consequences. Those who propel themselves toward the achievement of one goal
often find that their lives are worse once "success" is achieved than they were before.
Assignment
Can success be disastrous? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view
on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your readings,
studies, experience, and observations.
Sample Essay - Score of 6 SAT写作6分范文
The power of success can be disastrous when placed in the wrong hands. Naturally, there are
those who will always choose to manipulate conditions to succeed in their own endeavors, not
taking into consideration the lives of those around them. On the other hand, there may be those
who do not necessarily pursue selfish ends, but simply do not know where to take success once it
has been achieved, thus resulting in their own self-sabotage.
Throughout history, we have seen success used wrongfully in the hands of the unworthy.
Powerful leaders of nations, kingdoms, and empires, having succeeded in gaining leadership, have
then used their influence wrongfully in achieving their own selfish (and sometimes twisted) goals.
Nero, the Roman emperor who beat his pregnant wife to death and has been suspected of
instigating the great fire of Rome in an attempt to boost his own political influence. Henry VIII of
England, for whom women were beheaded for not bearing him a son, and who is rumored to have
eaten eight chickens a night while English peasants starved. The notorious Ferdinand and Isabella
of Spain, who carried out the Spanish Inquisition. The list is endless. Even in literature, we see the
corruption and downfall of society and mankind as a whole as a result of the abuse of success in
the possession of those who do not deserve it, as seen in William Shakespeare’s tragedy of King
Lear. In the story, societal order is replaced with chaos when there is a power shift from Lear to
his evil daughters, Regan and Goneril. This order only returns to a slight degree when virtue (in
the form of Lear’s good daughter, Cordelia) returns to England. Success is hazardous when
awarded to the unvirtuous.
However, there may be those who are not necessarily evil of greedy in their pursuits, but
merely do not know how to handle success. This proves to be just more disastrous to the
individual than to anyone else, since it is the individual who will then sabotage his own success to
return to his former comfort zone. Success is meant to be grown upon, not exploited or feared.
Success, when achieved by the unworthy or inexperienced, is a most disastrous element.
Success is not about being happy at the expense of those about you –it is about using one’s newly
gained happiness to improve the lives of others. If one reflects on the wise words of Ralph Waldo
Emerson, one will never go astray: “To know that one person has breathed easier because you
have lived -this is to have succeeded.”
The Official SAT Study Guide Avail Practice Test 5
Prompt
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and assignment below.
We shall be both kinder and fairer in our treatment of others if we understand them better.
Understanding ourselves and understanding others are connected, since as human beings we all
have things in common.
Assignment
Do we need other people in order to understand ourselves? Plan and write an essay in which
you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples
taken from your readings, studies, experience, and observations.
Sample Essay - Score of 6 SAT写作6分范文
Most parents and teachers tell students the extremely tired cliché of the consequences of
following the crowd. It is said that, in order to be a competely individual thinker, one must ignore
what others say. Such advice is certainly true to some extent; unreasonable malice must be
forgotten in order to keep some level of self-esteem. However, as with most ideas, this one can not
be taken in absolute form. In at least some respects, we need other people in order to understand
ourselves.
An excellent example of a literary character who could have psychologically benefitted from
social interaction is J. Alfred Prufrock from T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock.” In the poem, Prufrck desires a relationship with a woman very much, but he refrains
from initiating conversation because he fears that he could not hold the interest of a sophisticated
lady. Should Prufrock have taken the step to accept other people into his life, he most likely would
have discovered, as the reader of the poem certainly did, that he is most articulate. Others would
have impressed upon him the beauty of his words and his talent for prose. If Prufrock would have
spoken his song a loud, the ladies surely would have shown him what he himself did not
understand. Since the ladies would reveal Prufrock’s talents to him, it is true that we need others
in order to understand ourselves.
The lesson of learning from other’s opinions of yourself extends much farther than the song
of a fictional character. Two days ago, in an art class, my group of students had assigned self
portraits due. Most of us brought in photographs of ourselves. Nevertheless, one boy brought
nothing and handed us all slips of paper. He told us to write a word to describe him, and when we
had done so, he pasted the words on a poster. This must have been a revealing exercise for him
because, upon the sight of such descriptions as “bitter” and “sarcastic”, he was shocked. In the
case of this boy, he had not realized how his personality appeared to others. Though he might not
have thought himself “bitter”, his friend’s comments certainly made him seem that way. The fact
that we need others in order to understand ourselves is clearly shown by this boy’s revelation.
Prompt
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and assignment below.
There is, of course, no legitimate branch of science that enables us to predict the future
accurately. Yet the degree of change in the world is so overwhelming and so promising that the
future, I believe, is far brighter than anyone has contemplated since the end of the Second World
War.
Adapted from Allan E.Goodman, A Brief History of the Future: The United States in a
Changing World Order.
Assignment
Is the world changing for the better? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your
point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your
readings, studies, experience, and observations.
Sample Essay - Score of 6 SAT写作6分范文
Reactions to World Wars one and two in expressed by the artistic community and
historically do not support the idea that the world is changing for the better. One example of the
negative effects of World War two psychologically may be taken from Leslie Marmon Silko’s
novel Ceremony. The novel’s protagonist, Tayo, a young native american veteran living on a
reservation, returns from his war experience severely mentally damaged, referring to himself at
one point as “white smoke”. The novel expresses several times that Tayo is only one case of many
damaged young native americans who return from this war. Elders of the Laguna native american
tribe express distress at the fact that they will not be able to heal their returning World War two
warriors with traditional war healing ceremonies, and Tayo believes this is because warfare has
changed dramatically.
The tribe, losing many members to the war physically and psychologically, suffers
weakening blows. It is clear that the difference between old warfare in which warriors could face
their enemies and new warfare in which soldiers shoot blindly across distances is great. The
destruction of modern warfare witnessed by the new veterans was devastating in a ruinous way as
it never had been. The resulting threat of the disintegration of the tribe as old healing techniques
fail weakens the tribe in ways it had never been weakened before.
A similar mental disintegration, tied in with a lack of optimism was seen a great deal
following World War one. Before the war, old Enlightenment ideas of rational thought, progress,
and the goodness of mankind abounded. The incredible and unprecedented distruction seen in
World War one, however, combined with the psychological effect of the use of the newest
mass-destruction and chemical weapons proved to quash the pre-war sentiment of optimism and
post-Enlightenment zeal. New weapons such as mustard gas and machine guns could kill
thousands in unspeakably brutal ways, and the casualties of the war, greater than any in history,
showed the weapons to be very effective. The loss of human life in hundreds of thousands,
combined with the destruction of European land at the end of World War one proved to crush the
morale of the European populace and to discourage optimism with regard to scientific progress;
scientific progress had only served to cause destruction and horror in war.
The negative psychological repercussions of World War one and two served to give people,
particulary Europeans, a less optimistic view of the world and of mankind. The change in
weaponry and style of warfare, visible in the example of Silko’s Ceremony, contribute to the idea
that the world was not changing for the better; the new warriors of Ceremony could not be healed,
and the optimistic, naive vision of pre-world war two Europe could not be restored. If man could
cause such immense physical and psychological destruction with the products of scientific change,
the world could not have changed for the better.
