一、英語一大作文和2005年“養老足球賽”的對比
乍看起來，今年的考題和2005年“養老足球賽”頗有相似之處。但是兵法云：“兵無常勢、水無常形”。即使是看上去很類似的兩次考試，其內容和寫法也會出現一些差別。
差別1：圖畫描述的差異大。2005年那次考試是四個成年子女圍著老人踢來踢去，2014年這次是幾個人并排站立，方位、動作、神態的差異都比較大，第一段不好套寫。
差異2： 闡述的角度有微調。2005年那次考試是四個子女不養老人、不負責、不孝順，2014年這次是號召大家贍養老人、擔負責任、孝順父母(還有一個很有趣的提示，圖畫中畫的是女兒和母親的關系，莫非中國未來主要是女兒承擔養老的重任?那么兒子的責任是什么呢?不是“養兒防老”嗎?)
二、寫法
上過基礎、強化、或者沖刺班的同學，對于這個養老題材應該不是很陌生。無論是采取背文的辦法，還是用填空串接法，無論用的是“僵尸拳”、還是“七傷拳”，這個題材基本上是被咱們破掉了。既然是破掉的，那就無所謂押題還是不押題，壓中還是沒壓中。還是那句我上課常說的話“任他幾路來、我只一路去”。
1. 描述段寫法：今年的是兩個圖畫、四個人。不過像child, young woman, elder, senior這 樣的詞匯還是在考試中出現了，此外和2012年重復出現的還有方位詞匯，如stand, side by side, shoulder to shoulderо。如果大家仔細觀察圖畫，會發現右側的那個婦女面帶微笑(keep a charming smile on the face, wear a delightful appearance on the face)，加上象征點題或者尾句點題，用通俗的詞匯，寫出一個沒有錯誤的描述段應該不是什么大問題。不過描述段有一個陷阱，那就是左圖中的那個“三十年前”，如果你不碰它，少做描述之后，直接接入第二句話，可以將它躲過去，不然就可能是語法錯誤。
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.
如果想寫的詳細一些，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. 闡述段寫法：這種養老話題的寫法，我們在大課上講過多次。沖刺班講義上的第一篇“兒女也不容易”、和第三篇“家庭聚餐”都和養老話題相關。這兩篇文章中和“養老有關詞組和段落有：
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) 一個整段：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.
當我們將上述的一些常用詞組進行串接之后，看到的恰恰就是2014年考研英文作文的闡述段和看法段：
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.
將三個段落串接起來就是：
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 carriоes 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 tоhem 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.(這還不算上課時經常強調的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
即使沒有上過沖刺班的同學，上述的一些用法也應該不會太陌生，只不過它們在養老這樣的題材中經常使用罷了。大家也許會奇怪，為什么這些詞組在很多題材中重復使用?原因很簡單：從準備考研作文伊始，咱們就沒準備押題，而是準備了一個萬能思路，布好了局，等著它考。只要能掌握一定的應試思維方法，加上一定的分析和練習，考研英文寫作還是有很多辦法的。
以養老和愛心題材為例，它們其實萬變不離其宗，都離不開一條思維線，那就是：物質-金錢-責任-愛-健康。這也就是說，即使你沒有背過什么范文，只要按照這條思維線用自己的話寫，也是路徑最短、內容最簡潔、犯錯誤最少的：
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)
以上的這些寫法，都是筆者模仿著學生的用詞水平寫出來的。力求句型簡潔、用詞盡量簡單具體，所有名詞的前面不是加了量詞、就是有形容詞修飾，談不上精彩、但是具體、可讀、切題。對于在短期內同時應付專業課、政治背誦、閱讀理解、又要分出時間背英語寫作的考生足以支撐一陣子了。(溝通和健康的寫法也能適用于本次考研寫作，篇幅所限，此處略過不表。)
四、對于2014年參加考研同學和重考同學的一些忠告
1) 寫作是思維活動，想寫得少而精，思維整合最為關鍵。背得少固然不會寫，背得太多，切不中要害，寫走題的先例也不少。思路清晰了，先寫什么、再寫什么也就清楚了。思維路徑簡潔直接、考研寫作也就是幾個句子的事情。從本質上說，考研寫作還是在考查一些最為基本的東西，如主題判定、句子結構、用詞搭配、基本框架組織等。
2) 早一些復習，不要什么都壓到最后。寫作的準備周期比較長，具體而言，需要背誦、仿寫、默寫、修改四個環節?？墒侨绻巢幌聛?，后面的三個環節也就無從談起了。背得越晚，默寫的時間就越延后，默不下來也就談不上熟能生巧。如果這些工作都拖到了十月份，既要準備寫作、還要背專業課和政治、再加上一個數學，最后能夠分配給寫作的時間其實已經沒有多少了。寫作在考研考試中固然重要，但是它至多只能作為一個環節，而不是全部。
