下面我们来看一下Cornell University 申请人，在写作本文时的相关经典真题解析
Please respond to the essay question below (maximum of 500 words)that corresponds to the undergraduate college(s) to which you are applying. Ifyou are utilizing the primary / alternate admission option, you must completean essay for both colleges; please complete the essays that correspond to yourprimary and alternate choice.
1. Collegeof Agriculture and Life Sciences
How have yourinterests and related experiences influenced your selection of major?
农业与生命科学学院
【类别】相关经历型 选择原因型
【关键词】 interests, related experiences,influence, selection of major
【题目翻译】你的兴趣及相关经历是如何影响你的专业选择的?
【题目分析】 本题具有相关经历型和选择原因型的双重属性，因此自然需要写作本文的申请人注意同时满足这两种题型的要求。在提到与自己有关的相关经历时，除了简介具体事例外，重点要阐明经历的意义，例如它引发了哪些思考，促成了什么选择，这些是如何与申请者的专业选择相契合的等等。另外，和其他选择原因型题一样，作者应该在了解院系专业的基础上，说明自己做此选择的原因，以及对未来的规划。所有的学校和院系都会青睐目标明确、准备充分、对自己负责的申请人，因此申请者务必要在文章里将以上内容展示给招生委员会看。针对本题，申请者从CALS的官网一定能够发掘到很多有意义的信息，例如它的院系结构、课程设置、教职工简介等，从中掘取能够和自己的具体情况相结合的内容，巧妙地安排在即将写作的文章里即可。
【范文】
Food! Food! Food! Selecting three meals every day is aconsistent routine that most human beings follow. To some people, food is socommon and accessible that they seldom realize there is a science behind it.But the fact is that there is, and we can learn a lot from paying some basicattention to food science.
In my home country of China, which enjoys a worldwidereputation for its fine cuisine, and which is also notorious for food safetyissues, people harbor a love-hate emotion toward food. We are all fans ofdelicacies, but most of us are also concerned about culinary safety of what weeat. Many famous scandals have emerged in the Chinese food market: melaminemilk, gutter oil, tainted bean sprouts and so many more from all over thecountry. Almost every food in China has an ulterior secret. Those incidentsmake me upset, and also remind me of the profound significance of theavailability of food. I started to have a growing interest in how we can supplysafe, healthy, affordable, and sustainable food to all.
Besides safety issues, varying qualities of food alsoworry me. We have many types of high-quality foods such as organic,pesticide-free, or imported products sold in some stores. They arebetter-looking, more delicious, more nutritious, but are also expensive. Manyof these types of food are not affordable for most Chinese. Affordable food isusually of relatively lower quality because those producers compromise qualityfor cost efficiency. Taking in low-quality food over time not only increases thelikelihood of contracting diseases, but also causes people have inferiorconstitutions. China is promoting its image as a strong country in the world,but how can it be credible if most Chinese people are frail because of inferiorfood?
If we think carefully, we will discover that there aremany more additional concerns regarding food and consumption. For instance,most people are ignorant about ways to eat healthfully. They may indulgethemselves in various delicious foods to satisfy their appetites, but much ofwhat they might love to eat is high in fat, sugar, cholesterol, or calories.Knowledge of healthy diets is needed for public health. Moreover, as we aretalking about food, there are actually people in this world suffering from lackof food and malnourishment. Once again, I have observed the significance ofthis plight in my studies of food science.
I understand that there are still numerous food issuesthat are not mentioned in this essay, but it doesn't mean that they do notexist. Food plays a vital role in the well-being of individuals, communitiesand nations. I would like to continue exploring all the profound and importantaspects of food science, and utilize what I learn to help solve problems infood safety, quality, and availability. (469 words)
【范文解析】
本文开头连用三个food加感叹号吸引读者眼球，接着又提醒人们不能因为食物与生活太过息息相关而忘记有食品科学的存在。那么很显然，作者选择的是康奈尔大学CALS的Food Science专业。第二段作者介绍了祖国的食品安全问题，通过揭露一些典型的食品丑闻谈到了自己对所有食品的怀疑和对这种情况的痛心。然而这些负面影响也激发了作者的兴趣：如何能够让所有人吃到安全、优质、价格合理、有可持续性的食品呢?此外，在第三段，作者谈到了食品质量的问题。高质量的食品往往太贵，普通价位的食品却质量不高。大部分国人的消费力无法承担昂贵的高质量食品，可是长期食用低质量食品终将造成国民体质下降。孱弱的国民形象与中国树立强国形象是不相符的。第四段，作者又提及了很多人不懂健康饮食以及有些人根本缺少食物的现状。这些都是亟待食品科学解决的问题，也是作者最关心的事情。因此，作者选择未来学习Food Science专业，希望自己可以用学到的知识帮助解决食品安全、食品质量、食品可用性等方面的问题。通观全文，作者并没有泛泛而谈，而是选取身边与食品科学有关的一些事件，简述自己对它们的感想和思考，不仅体现了作者细致入微的观察力，最后阐明未来规划也表达了作者的学习热情。
2. College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
How does the major you would like to study in the Collegeof Architecture, Art, and Planning match your intellectual, academic, andcareer interests? Discuss any activities you have engaged in that are relevantto your chosen major.
建筑、艺术和规划学院
【类别】选择原因型
【关键词】 major, match, intellectual, academic, career interests, activitiesrelevant to chosen major
【题目翻译】你在建筑、艺术和规划学院所选择的专业是如何与你的学术、研究和职业兴趣相适应的?请用你参加过的与所选专业有关的活动来说明。
【题目分析】这所学院包含的诸多专业具有一个最大的共同点——需要学生有极强的创新能力，并且大部分专业与实际生活结合特别紧密。那么申请人在写作本文时，需注意用实例体现出相关特质，这也是原题中有所要求的。用实例来说明也更具有真实性，让你的选择更有说服力。作为选择原因型题，除了要告诉招生官为何选择之外，还要说明自己如何适合它，体现双向的契合。申请人可以不花大段笔墨描写自己参与过的相关活动，但必须选取其中对你有启发性的部分，作为重点告诉招生官，这个活动怎样启发了自己想要学习所选专业的念头，自己由它得到了哪些思考等等。
【范文】
It was August, 2011, and a typhoon called Meihua had hit my hometown. Because ofMeihua’s overpowering force, violent sea water had destroyed part of the damthat is supposed to protect a chemical plant located off the coast. Thissituation became extremely dangerous. If the uncontrollable sea water wentthrough the dam and damaged the plant facilities, the whole city could becontaminated and harmed as a result of a leak or explosion of the highly toxicchemical p-xylene. Fortunately, my hometown survived the threat as Meihuadissipated. I regard the occurrence as an incident rather than an accident,because something similar had happened the year before. A big fire had put thesame chemical plant in jeopardy, which meant that people’s lives were againhanging by a thread. People could not tolerate these kinds of incidentshappening two years in a row, especially because the government did not makeany announcements about potential risks when they decided to build the chemicalplant in the first place. Therefore, they initiated a protest march and rallyafter the Meihua typhoon, and fought for the right to be informed and for thegovernment to provide a safer living environment.
Iparticipated in the protests, anchoring my hope on the fact that the governmentwould take appropriate actions and move the chemical plant away or putsafeguards in place to improve the situation. The results from the protestmarch and rally were not disappointing: the government promised that thep-xylene chemical plant would be shut down in short order. After seeingthousands of news reports on the chemical plant issue, I began to wonder why amore distant site was not selected, as this one directly affected a denselypopulated area. That harmful chemical plant was not the only issue at stake.There are still potentially dangerous construction projects all over thecountry that are not rationally planned, that are of little practical utility,that may cause inconvenience in daily life, and that could ruin the naturalenvironment. There is no doubt that China has developed greatly in recentdecades, and the urbanization process has also made remarkable progress;however, the cost in terms of public safety has been too high. Now is time forthe administrators to put quality and safety on the public agenda. The mostreliable way to guarantee the development of quality is to draw support fromexperts in urban and regional planning. I admire those professionals very muchand want to be one of them in the future. I want to use those authorities tomake a difference in how cities and regions grow.
Theprogram in Urban & Regional Studies is therefore greatly appealing to me.It is not only about learning how to plan and lay out construction blueprints;it requires that students develop insights, knowledge and technical skillsneeded to address the challenges of contemporary urban life. I am excited tostudy design, urban history, land use, regional development and globalization,and methods for planning. Hopefully one day, I can use what I gain from URS tomake the world’s cities better, cleaner, and safer.(521words)
【范文解析】
Collegeof Architecture, Art, and Planning有很多专业，本文作者选择了Urban & Regional Studies作为他未来想要学习的对象。作者用一个发生在身边的事件作为本文开头。具体来说，2011年8月其家乡一个化工厂险些因台风损毁海水堤坝而遭遇有毒化学品侵害，而此前一年同一家化工厂因附近大火陷入同样危机。因为该厂生产的对二甲苯十分危险，因此这两次事件令本市民众的生命安全受到严重威胁。作者参加了市民组织的反对游行和集会。作者通过这次事件及其引发的活动产生了对化工厂选址问题的思考，也因此想到了很多经济发展和城市化进程中出现的乱象，并且指出为了跟上经济发展速度人们已经付出过多，现在是考虑发展质量的时候了。保证发展质量需要借助城市规划专家的力量。作者希望自己成为一名城市规划专家。此外，他对Cornell的URS专业也做了一定了解，在结尾段指明学好URS需要具备洞察力、学术知识以及专业技能，并且要在设计、城市史等诸多领域进行研究。作者想要在未来通过对此领域的学习，解决城市和区域发展的问题。