University of Virginia申请人，在写作时的相关经典真题解析
Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words.
1) What is your favorite word and why?
【类别】自由发挥型
【关键词】favorite word, why
【题目翻译】你最喜欢的词是什么?为什么?
【题目分析】这道题看似简单随意，但作为一篇申请文，申请者需要将自己与所申请的学校紧密联系起来。如何联系?通常来说，一个人最喜欢的词可以反映出其精神状态，那么，这里申请者选择的词语所能表现出的精神状态和特质，最好是学校所欣赏的。因此，你可以选择一个在你情绪最低落时可以激励你的词;又或者，在你难过时，别人曾对你说过的、抚慰性的词。这个词展现出来的，最好是积极正面的精神状态。举个最简单的例子，“坚持”这个词，它能在低落的时候鼓励你不放弃努力，不丧失希望和勇气，也能在你得意的时候提醒你前面的路还很长，要保持状态一直走下去，等等。当然，这里不是提倡大家必须选择这种正义凛然的词汇，只是告诉大家，不论是何种风格的词，一定要符合自己的气质、体现自己的性格特点，还要能带给你正面的能量，能够激起学校对你的欣赏。
【范文】
It is almost as if we are born understanding the word “go” and its strong meaning in this world.
I stood at the starting line, tense, waiting. I braced myself. Suddenly I heard the gunshot and the voice in my head screamed “Go!” as I took off, starting the race.
The word “go” is simple, yet very powerful. It can be the spark that pushes you into action, or the signal to release everything you have allowed to build up. It is almost as if we are born understanding the word and its strong meaning in this world. When I hear the word “go”, I become excited, ready to take on whatever challenge comes.
Whether it is a race, a game, or the math section of the SAT, one word pops into my head and somehow I know that I want to succeed, and that I want to go for it! (151 words)
【范文解析】
作者选择了“go”作为她最喜欢的词。在她眼中，这个词简洁有力，能够给她一些勇气、一些力量。这个词也是在生活中，在人生的赛场上，激励她继续不断前行的一个口号。
2) Describe the world you come from and how that world shaped who you are.
【类别】背景影响型
【关键词】the world you come from, how, shape who you are
【题目翻译】描述一下你的生活环境及它对你的影响。
【题目分析】这道题的主旨是要通过你生活的环境，对你做出一个认识和判断。一个人生活的环境，往往能塑造其个性。人们会不自觉模仿身边最亲近的人，会吸收环境中独有的个性。例如在学术气氛很浓的家庭中成长，多多少少会沾染上书香气，同时也有更多的机会培养阅读的习惯以及良好的学习习惯等;而在商业氛围浓厚的环境里生活，也许会造就人敏锐的商业触觉和机警圆滑的沟通方式。不同的环境可以培养人不同的能力，你既可以顺势描述好的环境为你带来的好品质，也可以选择表现虽然自己生活在一个相对恶劣的环境，却能与之抗争，保持出淤泥而不染的坚毅性格。不论从哪个方面着手，申请者需要明白的是，人的个性是与所生存的环境紧紧联系在一起的。招生官可以不在乎你的生活环境本身如何，但他们却会注意观察，在所处的环境中你所表现出来的与这个环境的融合程度、能力进化程度，以及生活造就出来的现在的这个“你”，并以此作为判断你是否符合学校招生要求的重要因素。
【范文】
How can one remain indifferent to something which will determine one’s physical strength and ultimately one’s spiritual and moral fibre and well-being?
This is an easy question for a Chinese to ask, but a Westerner might find it difficult to answer. China is my part of the world, and Chinese foods have shaped me both physically and mentally.
The Chinese authority Confucius recognized the primal importance of food: “Food,” said the sage, “is the first happiness.” In my family, food is one of the ecstasies of life, to be carefully planned in advance, to be prepared with loving care, and to be slowly enjoyed during the final pleasure of eating.
Personally, I have a great appreciation for both Chinese cooking and the “way” that leads to morality and harmony. I believe that there is moral excellence in good cooking, and in traditional terms all life, all action, and all knowledge are all one. They, like food itself, may be chopped up and given labels, like “Cooking,” “Health,” “Character,” and the like, but none in reality is separate from the other. The smooth harmonies and piquant contrasts in Chinese food are more than just the products of recipes and personal enterprise: they are an expression of the basic assumptions about life itself.(216 words)
【范文解析】
作者选择生活中的食物为出发点，指出“食”作为中国文化中重要的一个部分，同样影响着生活在这里的人们对生活的态度。将中国饮食的特点与生活中的幸福感受、个性联系起来，看点十足。将烹饪中的精神与自己民族的道德、和谐关联，构思新颖，能在平铺直叙的文章中让招生官看到申请者善于发现生活的智慧。
3) Discuss your favorite place to get lost. (This question was written by UV students who live in one of residential colleges, Brown College at Monroe Hill.)
【类别】自由发挥型
【关键词】favorite place to get lost
【题目翻译】谈谈你最想在哪个地方迷失?
【题目分析】题目中的最想迷失的地方，应该是申请者最喜欢、最不舍得离开的地方，也是和申请者个人融合度最高的地方。因此，这个地方所表现的特性，也可以反映喜欢这个地方的人身上所拥有的一些特性。这个“place”，可以是现实中的图书馆、实验室，通常经常迷失在这些场所不愿离去的人，会是沉迷于知识、研究的人;也可以是抽象的一部电影情节、一本书的内容，像爱丽丝梦游仙境一样，塑造一个能表达你自己美好愿望的理想国度，想要在这样一些地方迷失的人，通常生性浪漫，充满着想象力与创造力。所以，迷失在哪里没有对错之分，它只是展现出申请者的个人喜好、性格特点，帮助招生官进一步认识和了解申请者，从而对其做出一定的判断。
【范文】
In today's world, where GPS devices, cell phones and high-speed internet are everywhere, it is not as easy as it once was to get lost, literally and figuratively. It is almost impossible to escape the reach of outside communication and get lost within our thoughts, because those thoughts are so often influenced by that same outside world. One place that I can usually count on being able to lose myself, however, is in a good book. Whether reading required literature for school or enjoying a novel for pleasure, I often get lost in the worlds presented by great authors.
The first time I truly got lost in a book was during the summer between my third and fourth grade years, when I began reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. As I grew older I explored more complex and engaging stories, appreciating each one more than the last. Never before had I been as in-touch with my own mind as I was when I read. The more I read, the more I respected the works of authors like H.G. Wells, J.R.R. Tolkien, Joseph Conrad, James Patterson and Stephen King. These writers are so demonstrably adept at creating thought-provoking, compelling worlds that I frequently find myself spending hours at a time lost within them.
Getting lost in a book allows me to take a step back from our ever-changing world to watch and think. There is no better way for me to connect with my inner thoughts and feelings than through reading an interesting book. No matter where life takes me, books will always be a place for me to get lost.(270 words)
【范文解析】
作者选择迷失在阅读中，描述自己常常流连在各种书籍所带来的意境中。阅读是个好习惯，不同的好书所营造的各种意境，又何尝不是一个迷失自己、汲取知识的好地方呢?!