一、英语一大作文和“养老足球赛”的对比
乍看起来，今年的考题和“养老足球赛”颇有相似之处。但是兵法云：“兵无常势、水无常形”。即使是看上去很类似的两次考试，其内容和写法也会出现一些差别。
差别1：图画描述的差异大。那次考试是四个成年子女围着老人踢来踢去，这次是几个人并排站立，方位、动作、神态的差异都比较大，第一段不好套写。
差异2： 阐述的角度有微调。那次考试是四个子女不养老人、不负责、不孝顺，这次是号召大家赡养老人、担负责任、孝顺父母（还有一个很有趣的提示，图画中画的是女儿和母亲的关系，莫非中国未来主要是女儿承担养老的重任？那么儿子的责任是什么呢？不是“养儿防老”吗？）
二、写法
上过基础、强化、或者冲刺班的同学，对于这个养老题材应该不是很陌生。无论是采取背文的办法，还是用填空串接法，无论用的是“僵尸拳”、还是“七伤拳”，这个题材基本上是被咱们破掉了。既然是破掉的，那就无所谓押题还是不押题，压中还是没压中。还是那句我上课常说的话“任他几路来、我只一路去”。
1. 描述段写法：今年的是两个图画、四个人。不过像child, young woman, elder, senior这 样的词汇还是在考试中出现了，此外和重复出现的还有方位词汇，如stand, side by side, shoulder to shoulder。如果大家仔细观察图画，会发现右侧的那个妇女面带微笑(keep a charming smile on the face, wear a delightful appearance on the face)，加上象征点题或者尾句点题，用通俗的词汇，写出一个没有错误的描述段应该不是什么大问题。不过描述段有一个陷阱，那就是左图中的那个“三十年前”，如果你不碰它，少做描述之后，直接接入第二句话，可以将它躲过去，不然就可能是语法错误。
如：In the picture on the left, there stand a child and her mother. In the other picture, the child has grown up to be a young woman, who takes hold of her mother’s arm. Clearly, she is ready to carries out her duty of taking care of her parents. So by drawing the picture above, the cartoonist conveys his opinion to the issue of taking care of elders in our society.
如果想写的详细一些，也可以：The picture on the left depicts a woman and her daughter, who are standing shoulder to shoulder. In the other picture, thirty years have passed. The woman is getting old, while her daughter has grown up to be a beautiful girl. They still stand together, side by side. The old woman wears a delightful appearance on her face, because she can still live with her daughter, who is ready to take up the duty of taking care of the parents.
2. 阐述段写法：这种养老话题的写法，我们在大课上讲过多次。冲刺班讲义上的第一篇“儿女也不容易”、和第三篇“家庭聚餐”都和养老话题相关。这两篇文章中和“养老有关词组和段落有：
1)be obliged to carry out their duty to take care of their parents.
2)afford their living cost and raise their children.
3)become overtired and suffer from great pressure.
4)improve their own living standards, let alone fully shoulder their family and moral obligation.
5)communicate with their parents.
6)have much information in regard to their parents, for example, their everyday life, health and feelings.
7) speed up the face-to-face communication with their parents,
8)exchange ideas or provide these old people with mental comfort.
9) 一个整段：In this issue, it is advised that those grown-up children enhance their awareness of communicating with their parents. For example, it is ideal to show respect to the old people’s ideas and pay attention to their mental status. Only by doing so can they carry out their duties and give their parents a happy life.
当我们将上述的一些常用词组进行串接之后，看到的恰恰就是考研英文作文的阐述段和看法段：
The picture tells us that youngsters are obliged to carry out their duty to take care of their parents. The major reason is that parents afford these youngsters’ living cost and raise them up. On the other hand, in this process, the parents become overtired and suffer from great pressure. As a result, when the parents are getting old, their children are supposed to improve these old people’s living standards, and fully shoulder their family and moral obligation.
In this issue, it is advised that those grown-up children enhance their awareness of taking care of their parents. For example, it is ideal that they show respect to the old people’s ideas and pay attention to their mental status. Only by doing so can they carry out their duties and give their parents a happy life.
将三个段落串接起来就是：
In the picture on the left, there stand a child and her mother. In the other picture, the child has grown up to be a young woman, who takes hold of her mother’s arm. Clearly, she is ready to carries out her duty of taking care of her parents. So by drawing the picture above, the cartoonist conveys his opinion to the issue of taking care of elders in our society.
The picture tells us that youngsters are obliged to carry out their duty to take care of their parents. The major reason is that parents afford these youngsters’ living cost and raise them up. On the other hand, in this process, the parents become overtired and suffer from great pressure. As a result, when the parents are getting old, their children are supposed to improve these old people’s living standards, and fully shoulder their family and moral obligation.（这还不算上课时经常强调的IPGPSBOAT）
In this issue, it is advised that those grown-up children enhance their awareness of taking care of their parents. For example, it is ideal that they show respect to the old people’s ideas and pay attention to their mental status. Only by doing so can they carry out their duties and give their parents a happy life.
（201 words）
三、思路
即使没有上过冲刺班的同学，上述的一些用法也应该不会太陌生，只不过它们在养老这样的题材中经常使用罢了。大家也许会奇怪，为什么这些词组在很多题材中重复使用？原因很简单：从准备考研作文伊始，咱们就没准备押题，而是准备了一个万能思路，布好了局，等着它考。只要能掌握一定的应试思维方法，加上一定的分析和练习，考研英文写作还是有很多办法的。
以养老和爱心题材为例，它们其实万变不离其宗，都离不开一条思维线，那就是：物质-金钱-责任-爱-健康。这也就是说，即使你没有背过什么范文，只要按照这条思维线用自己的话写，也是路径最短、内容最简洁、犯错误最少的：
The picture above tells us that elders’ health and happiness must be given top priority. On the one hand, these old people provide their children with daily necessities such as food and clothes. On the other hand, they afford their children’s living cost, tuition fee, and even basic medical insurance. As a result, when they are getting old, it is their children’s who take up the responsibility and offer them an easy and comfortable life. In this way, these old people can receive not only meterial support, but also mental comfort, and the most important of all, a long and happy retirement.
(103 words)
以上的这些写法，都是笔者模仿着学生的用词水平写出来的。力求句型简洁、用词尽量简单具体，所有名词的前面不是加了量词、就是有形容词修饰，谈不上精彩、但是具体、可读、切题。对于在短期内同时应付专业课、政治背诵、阅读理解、又要分出时间背英语写作的考生足以支撑一阵子了。（沟通和健康的写法也能适用于本次考研写作，篇幅所限，此处略过不表。）
四、对于参加考研同学和重考同学的一些忠告
1) 写作是思维活动，想写得少而精，思维整合最为关键。背得少固然不会写，背得太多，切不中要害，写走题的先例也不少。思路清晰了，先写什么、再写什么也就清楚了。思维路径简洁直接、考研写作也就是几个句子的事情。从本质上说，考研写作还是在考查一些最为基本的东西，如主题判定、句子结构、用词搭配、基本框架组织等。
2) 早一些复习，不要什么都压到最后。写作的准备周期比较长，具体而言，需要背诵、仿写、默写、修改四个环节。可是如果背不下来，后面的三个环节也就无从谈起了。背得越晚，默写的时间就越延后，默不下来也就谈不上熟能生巧。如果这些工作都拖到了十月份，既要准备写作、还要背专业课和政治、再加上一个数学，最后能够分配给写作的时间其实已经没有多少了。写作在考研考试中固然重要，但是它至多只能作为一个环节，而不是全部。
