2016年SAT的改革在咱们中国考生中掀起了一波不小的浪潮。网上针对新SAT的考试的分析也各有侧重，非常详尽。从考试形式，算分规则到考试内容与题型，应有尽有。其中有一个观点很有意思，这个观点是这样的：新SAT改革是针对中国考生进行的一种去技巧化改革。小编认为作为美国学生的大学入学考试，SAT改革本质上来说还是为美国学生进行的一次改革。而“去技巧化”只是改革的结果，而不是目的。
那么SAT改革的目的是什么呢?SAT为什么要进行改革呢?在这里小编准备从奥巴马的两次针对美国学生的开学演讲来分析一下原因，并结合原因来讲一下新SAT的阅读部分在内容上的一些变化以及这些变化对于我们中国考生的影响。
奥巴马的第一次演讲是在弗吉尼亚州的Wakefield High School，主题是“我们为什么要学习”。第二次演讲是在费城的Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School，主题是“未来掌握在自己的手中”。两次演讲都是在9月份，正好是学生开学的时候。演讲面对的群体是所有从幼儿园一直到高中的学生。在两次演讲中，总统提出了对于学生的一些期望。因为两次演讲的地点都在非常知名的且升学率极高的高中，所以这些期望更具体地说是对于准备进入美国高等学府的学生的期望。而这些期望也正好在SAT考试的改革中体现了出来。
节选自第一次演讲：
And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.
节选自第二次演讲：
More and more, the kinds of opportunities that are open to you are going to be determined by how far you go in school. The farther you go in school, the farther you’re going to go in life. And at a time when other countries are competing with us like never before, when students around the world in Beijing, China, or Bangalore, India, are working harder than ever, and doing better than ever, your success in school is not just going to determine your success, it’s going to determine America’s success in the 21st century.
So you’ve got an obligation to yourselves, and America has an obligation to you, to make sure you’re getting the best education possible. And making sure you get that kind of education is going to take all of us working hard and all of us working hand in hand.
It takes all of us in government -- from the governor to the mayor to the superintendent to the President -- all of us doing our part to prepare our students, all of them, for success in the classroom and in college and in a career. It’s going to take an outstanding principal, like Principal Neff, and outstanding teachers like the ones you have here at Masterman -- teachers who are going above and beyond the call of duty for their students. And it’s going to take parents who are committed to your education.
以上两段内容节选自两次开学演讲。
我们先来看一下第一次演讲。第一次演讲的主题是“我们为什么要学习”，演讲稿给出的答案是责任。其中提到了学生学习的责任中，有一部分是为国家的未来负责。第二次演讲也提到了学生在学校里的成功不仅决定了自身的成功，也决定着21世纪美国的成功。
在这里有一个很有意思的小插曲，同样是总统的开学演讲。第二次演讲远比第一次受欢迎，主要是因为一些家长认为第一次演讲中过于强调了学生对于国家的责任，带有一些政治色彩。因而奥巴马在第二次演讲时改变了风格，内容以鼓励为主，成为了一节更受欢迎的励志课。尽管如此，第二次演讲中还是出现了这样一句话 “your success in school is not just going to determine your success, it’s going to determine America’s success in the 21st century”。这正好反应了总统对于学生的第一个期望，那就是让进入美国高等学府的学生更加了解美国，让学生与美国的未来更加紧密的联系起来。
SAT改革中反应这一点的就是新增了一种文章类型，这种文章类型包含在Social Studies里面。OG的第68页详细说明了新SAT文章具体包含的文章类型(参见下图)。这一段最后提到这种新的文章涉及到的内容：“These passages also include selections from U.S. founding documents(e.g., the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address) and similar texts about civic and political life written by authors from the United States and across the globe.”。
节选自新SAT OG P68：
“Social Studies”是什么?“Social Studies”是“Social Science”的一部分，通常指研究社会现象及其规律的科学。新SAT这边的“Social Studies”主要包含的是经济学、政治学、社会学、历史学。前文提到的“U.S. founding documents”囊括了政府结构，名人演讲，重大历史事件等，这些都是社会科学的一部分。
