1. 慎用美式英語中一些含有否定意義的詞匯

Be careful of using wors that have a negative meaning in American English. The wor “propagana,” for example,means something like “government-controlle brainwashing” in the US. (Your best choice is to use the wors “marketing” or“publicity” if you want to inicate that you organize a campaign to raise awareness of a certain problem.)

Likewise,in the US we o not use the wors“cripple” an “retare”; we use “hanicappe” (or even better,“isable”) an“evelopmentally isable” or “mentally challenge.” We on’t call ol people“ol people”—we call them “elers” or “the elerly.” An we prefer “businessperson” or “business professional” to “businessman.”

慎用美式英語中一些含有否定意義的詞匯。例如，“propagana”這個(gè)詞在美國(guó)就有點(diǎn)“政府洗腦式”的宣傳的意思了。（如果你想要表達(dá)你發(fā)起一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)來提高人們對(duì)于某一問題的認(rèn)識(shí)的話，最好選用“marketing”或是“publicity”。）

同樣的，在美國(guó)，也不會(huì)用 “cripple”或者是“retare”之類的詞，取而代之的是“hanicappe”（isable更好）以及 “evelopmentally isable”或“mentally isable”。我們?cè)诜Q呼老人時(shí)也不直接用“ol people”，而是用“elers”或是“the elerly”。我們也不經(jīng)常用“businessman”，而是用“businessperson”或“business professional ”。

2. 變換句子的長(zhǎng)短

Vary the length of the sentences in your essay. If you have written several long sentences in a row,insert a short sentence to give the reaer a break. Variety in your sentences will make your essay easier to rea (an thus more memorable).

It also emonstrates that you have a superior comman of the English language. An on’t be afrai of incluing a one-sentence paragraph. Aone-sentence paragraph (especially at the beginning or en of your essay) will be very ramatic an grab the reaer’s attention.

變換句子的長(zhǎng)短。如果你已經(jīng)連續(xù)用了幾個(gè)長(zhǎng)句，那么插入一個(gè)短句能給讀者一個(gè)停頓的時(shí)間。句式多樣化能夠使你的短文更容易懂，因而也更容易讓人記住。這樣的句式變換也證明你的英語語言掌握的比較好。同時(shí)不要害怕運(yùn)用一句式段落。一句式段落，（尤其是在短文的開頭結(jié)尾）會(huì)很出彩，也會(huì)吸引讀者的注意力。

3. 不要試圖費(fèi)力地運(yùn)用一些特別長(zhǎng)的句子或者特別大的詞匯

If English is your secon language,on’t try to make it har on yourself by writing really long sentences an using large vocabulary wors. (Don’t say “internationalization”; just say“international.”

Why use “metropolis” when you can just use “city”?) Remember that the reaers are not hoping to be impresse by your vocabulary—they want tobe impresse by your story.

如果英語是你的第二語言，那么不要試圖費(fèi)力地運(yùn)用一些特別長(zhǎng)的句子或者特別大的詞匯。（不要用 “internationalization”，用“international”就好了。另外，如果你可以用“city”，為什么要用“metropolis”呢？）記住，讀者并不希望被你的詞匯打動(dòng)，而是被你的故事所打動(dòng)。

4. 對(duì)自己研究過的項(xiàng)目進(jìn)行詳細(xì)說明

If you are applying to grauate school,your personal statement will nee to inclue etaile evience of your research. For example,if you are applying toa grauate program in biology,your PS shoul inclue specific escriptions of experiences you have ha,such as research projects,internships,work in biological laboratories,an such.

The other key elements for grauate stuy applications are what you want to stuy,the fiel you are intereste in,the backgroun you have,why you have chosen this particular program,an your plans after grauation.

如果你正在申請(qǐng)研究生院校，那么你的個(gè)人簡(jiǎn)歷就需要包括你研究項(xiàng)目的一些詳細(xì)的說明。例如，如果你正在申請(qǐng)生物專業(yè)的研究生項(xiàng)目，那么你的個(gè)人簡(jiǎn)歷就需要對(duì)你的研究經(jīng)歷進(jìn)行詳細(xì)的描述，比如你的研究項(xiàng)目，實(shí)習(xí)經(jīng)歷，以及在生物實(shí)驗(yàn)這方面的工作等等。研究生學(xué)習(xí)申請(qǐng)的其他的一些關(guān)鍵因素還包括：你想要研究什么，你對(duì)哪一個(gè)領(lǐng)域感興趣，你的個(gè)人背景，選擇這一研究項(xiàng)目的原因以及畢業(yè)后的打算。

5. 避免運(yùn)用一些不恰當(dāng)?shù)睦碛?/strong>

Avoi using inappropriate reasons for why a particular college is attractive to you. (I have actually seen essays where the applicant escribe how much he “l(fā)ove” the University of Chicago an wante to ate her,an another where the applicant wrote that NYU was attractive because she just love the color purple on theNYU website.) You must rea the website carefully to iscover specific programs,activities,curricula,istinguishe professors (an the like) that you can point to an say,“THIS is why I want to go to University X.”

在說明某所大學(xué)為何對(duì)你有吸引力時(shí)，避免運(yùn)用一些不恰當(dāng)?shù)睦碛?。（曾?jīng)看過申請(qǐng)者在短文中描述自己是如何如何熱愛芝加哥大學(xué)，并想要和它約會(huì)的，而另一個(gè)人則在短文中說紐約大學(xué)吸引她僅僅是因?yàn)樗矚g紐約大學(xué)網(wǎng)站上的紫色）。

你必須仔細(xì)瀏覽學(xué)校官方網(wǎng)站，以便發(fā)現(xiàn)一些具體的項(xiàng)目、活動(dòng)、課程，以及著名的教授，諸如此類的，然后你就可以在短文中指出這就是你想要去 XX大學(xué)的原因。

6. 不要只在短文中陳述學(xué)校多么好

Do not tell the school how goo it is. “I want to atten the prestigiousUniversity X because it is a top US college with an international reputation,”just souns insincere.

不要只在短文中陳述學(xué)校多么好?！拔蚁胍暾?qǐng)著名的XX大學(xué)，因?yàn)樗敲绹?guó)一所頂尖的大學(xué)，在國(guó)際上都享有盛譽(yù)?！边@樣說的話會(huì)顯得不真誠(chéng)。

7. 吸引讀者的眼球

Catch the reaer’s attention in the first sentence of your essay by writing something ramatic or humorous. In one excellent essay I rea,the applicant (hoping to major in entomology),wrote this: “Ahhhh! There are bugs in the shampoo!‘Doesn’t that make you want to rea more? (He then went on to escribe how his mother ha foun one of his “science experiments” involving insects,an how experiences like this mae him want to stuy entomology.)

在短文的開頭寫一些富有戲劇性的或者是幽默的東西，以吸引讀者的眼球。曾有一篇優(yōu)秀的短文，申請(qǐng)人想要修昆蟲學(xué)專業(yè)，開頭他是這樣寫的： “啊，洗發(fā)露里竟然有蟲子！讀完，難道你不會(huì)想要繼續(xù)讀下去嗎？（接下來他又描述了他的母親如何發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的一次昆蟲“科學(xué)實(shí)驗(yàn)”，以及這些經(jīng)歷是怎樣使他最終想要研究昆蟲學(xué)的。）

8. 首尾呼應(yīng)

If you start with a story,you can en with some reference to the same story. (Our entomology stuent,for example,coul then mention his mother’s shock again in his last paragraph.)

如果你是以一個(gè)故事開頭的，那么你可以在結(jié)尾的時(shí)候再提一下這個(gè)故事，所謂 “點(diǎn)題”（例如，這位昆蟲學(xué)的學(xué)生在最后一段再次提到他的母親對(duì)他這些行為有多震驚。）

9. 恰當(dāng)?shù)囊媚軌虼蟠笤鰪?qiáng)文章的可信度。

Well-chosen quotations can a powerful creibility to your essay. All you nee to o is ecie what the key concept of your essay is (such as strength,honor,or patience)an then use the internet to fin quotations that use any of these keywors.The best quotations come from persons who are well-known to both Chinese anAmerican reaers,an they must be amirable persons. (Past American anChinese presients are goo examples.) The quote shoul be short,about one powerful sentence in length. Incluing a striking quotation in your essay is particularly persuasive if you are applying to a humanities program or want to be an English major,as it emonstrates the breath of your reaing.

恰當(dāng)?shù)囊媚軌虼蟠笤鰪?qiáng)文章的可信度。而你需要做的就是選定你的文章所要表達(dá)的關(guān)鍵點(diǎn)，（比如說個(gè)人特長(zhǎng)，獲得的榮譽(yù)，或者是參加的實(shí)踐活動(dòng)等等），然后再根據(jù)這些關(guān)鍵詞在網(wǎng)上搜索有關(guān)這方面的引文。

最好的引文是出自那些在中國(guó)和美國(guó)讀者中都比較有名并且令人敬佩的人。（前任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)，中國(guó)主席這些都是比較好的例子。）引文最好簡(jiǎn)短有力，大概一句那么長(zhǎng)。如果你想要申請(qǐng)人文學(xué)科項(xiàng)目或者是想要學(xué)英語專業(yè)，那么這樣漂亮的引文會(huì)使文章非常有說服力的，因?yàn)檫@樣的引用可以證明你閱讀廣泛。

10. 突出自己的個(gè)性

Your purpose in writing your essay is to come across as a unique iniviual,one who stans out from all the other applicants an one whose writing style is lively,fresh,an ifferent. For unergrauate essays,the personal etails of your life an the struggles you have ha to overcome will make goo stories. Goo stories are memorable. You on’t have to be a perfect person; inee,it may be that any “flaws” you have will convince the reaer that you are a muti-facete person who learns from your mistakes. These flaws on’t have to be terrible:You can escribe the time that you mae complete a fool of yourself before your friens. (Americans call this the “My most embarrassing moment” essay.) Then tell the reaer what you learne from this experience.

【微語】留學(xué)之路雖長(zhǎng)，愿你滿載祝福與勇氣，學(xué)成歸來，天地?zé)o限寬廣。