2020年7月17日大学英语四级考试
写作解析
在19年一整年的议论文缺席之后，本次四级考试作文回归了常规的议论文写作，题干核心词是the Use of Translation Apps，探讨其所带来的利弊，属于非常典型的论说文。
从文章字数要求等方面看，本次考试继续维持了120-180字数的要求，尤其是描述利弊两个方面，字数要求通常不会是个很大压力。
但与往年不同的是增加了文章首句的参考：The use of translation apps is becoming increasingly popular. 而从题干要求中的"You can start your essay with the sentence"则说明考官并未强制考生使用该开头句，但依然体现了考官尝试采取一些首段来对付考生使用写作模板的情况。对于模板掌握得比较扎实的考生，或者说已经充分将模板内化为自己英语水平、甚至达到人板合一境界的考生而言，即使在文章首句给出的情况下，依然可以灵活变通使用模板。下文是一篇使用传统模板写成的文章，在没有重大错误的情况下，依然可以达到11分的档次：
The use of translation apps is becoming increasingly popular. And there has been a heated discussion as to its advantages and disadvantages. Views on the topic vary greatly among people from different walks of life. Some believe that translation apps bring more advantages than disadvantages, but others simply do not agree.
On the one hand, using translation apps saves time. For example, when you are travelling in a foreign country and you don't understand their language, using a translation app will help you understand signs and communicate with the locals. On the other hand, depending too much on translation apps, students may lose the motivation for learning foreign languages.
From my perspective, it is crucial that companies should update their apps regularly and improve the overall translation quality. Also, it is high time that people realized that translation apps are not only for translation, but for language learning as well. Only by doing so can people truly enjoy the benefits brought by translation apps.
上文首段用了常见模板There has been a heated discussion as to …Views on the topic vary greatly among people from different walks of life. Some believe that …but others simply do not agree。为考生提供了30词的无误且高适配性的内容。
次段则用On the one hand和On the other hand分别引导了两方观点，通过这组表达对比关系的词组，既使段落结构一目了然，也增加了段内句间的连贯性。其中第一点是一个短句："using translation apps saves time"，带了一个For example开头的举例展开。举例句是一个带时间状语从句的主从复合句，且主从句中分别又存在一个并列结构。第二个观点则是一个带分词悬垂结构的相对复杂的句子。这段体现了句式的多样性和长短句结合的特点。也向考官展示了考生对观点内容的展开具备相应的水平。
末段用了两个建议，分别使用了should型虚拟（it is crucial that companies should …）和时态倒退型虚拟（it is high time that people realized that …），加上建议原因，以倒装语序（Only by doing so can people …）呈现。体现了考生对语言的驾驭能力。但本质上依然是已构造好的模板的使用。但对于能做到人板合一的考生，模板就不再是模板，而是风格，一如好的临摹依然可以价值不菲是一个道理。
从词汇角度而言，昨晚翻译与写作考前直播中所给的词汇替换，很大程度上可以帮助考生来优化本文中的advantages和disadvantages。而措施相关词汇则能优化文章末段中的建议内容，比如：充分利用（make full use of）或利用（exploit）翻译软件，或是：禁止（ban）翻译软件在课堂中的应用。
当然，跟考官的用心良苦一样，我们也期望所有考生能逐渐摆脱模板，将所学内化为自身能力，从而从临摹转向创造。但对于水平比较弱的考生而言，临摹、仿写不失为一个可以考虑的考试，也肯定比瞎编乱造、强化错误的尝试来得有效。
