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#高考#高三

浙江省高考七选五选题是www.abc.net.au/news上2017年12月6日的外文：whatsantalettersteachkidsaboutwriting（圣诞老人的信让孩子们学会了什么是写作），高考命题人将文章进行了改编，整体和结构没变，文章难度适中易读懂，生词很少，原文如下，标红的地方为高考七选五的挖空处，文章贴了翻译。

I have a drawer full of letters to Santa. Each year my three children would write up their Christmas wish lists and I would squirrel them away. (Or perhaps it was Santa who passed by and picked them up!)These days those letters make for nostalgic reading.

译文：我有一个抽屉，里面装满了给圣诞老人的信。每年我的三个孩子都会写下他们的圣诞愿望清单，我就把它们藏起来。(也许是圣诞老人路过，把它们捡走了！）。如今，这些信件让人怀旧。

They were polite requests for the latest game or toy. As they got older they would give Santa some helpful hints on where to buy their presents.

他们对最新的游戏或玩具提出了礼貌的要求。随着年龄的增长，他们会给圣诞老人一些有用的提示，告诉他们在哪里买礼物。

They even provided a ranking system, so that Santa would have a back-up plan if first choices were not available.「空1」As a result, each year they received something they wanted.

他们甚至提供了一个排名系统，这样如果第一选择不可用，圣诞老人就会有一个备用计划。结果，他们每年都会收到他们想要的东西。

Writing with purpose

有目的的写作

Those lists taught my children a valuable lesson about writing: it has a purpose.

这些清单教会了我的孩子们一个关于写作的宝贵教训：它有目的。

We write to communicate with others. Sometimes the purpose is to achieve something, like my children's Santa letters or a job application, other times it may be to entertain, or inform, or persuade.「空2」But it is always purposeful — or at least it should be.

我们写作是为了与他人沟通。有时目的是实现一些东西，比如我孩子的圣诞老人信或工作申请，其他时候可能是娱乐，通知或劝说。但它总是有目的的——或者至少应该是有目的的。

Santa Claus

圣诞老人

'Santa' reads his mail from his office at the Santa Claus Village in Lapland.(Kacper Pempel: Reuters)

“圣诞老人”在拉普兰圣诞老人村的办公室里读着他的邮件。（Kacper Pempel：路透社）

Unfortunately, the messages we give our children about writing are often very different.

不幸的是，我们给孩子关于写作的信息往往非常不同。

When we prompt children by saying "Is that all you've written?" then they learn that writing is about quantity not quality.

当我们提示孩子们说“这就是你写的全部吗？”，他们就会知道写作是关于数量而不是质量的。

When our only response to their writing is to correct the errors, rather than read the message, children learn that writing is just a kind of test that you get right or wrong.

当我们对他们写作的唯一反应是纠正错误，而不是阅读信息时，孩子们就会知道写作只是一种测试，你会得到正确或错误。

This is a message that is repeated over and over in the classrooms around the country where children are asked to write countless "practice" stories for the annual literacy assessment program, NAPLAN.

这是一个在全国各地的教室里反复出现的信息，在那里，孩子们被要求为每年的识字评估项目NAPLAN写无数 "练习 "的故事。

And when writing doesn't seem to have any purpose, or elicit any kind of meaningful response, then it can be hard to get excited about doing it. Instead, it can feel like a pointless hard slog.

当写作似乎没有任何目的，或者没有引起任何有意义的回应时，就很难对写作感到兴奋。相反，它可能会让人觉得是一种毫无意义的艰难跋涉。

We asked if your kids wrote letters to Santa. Read the discussion the comments.

我们问你的孩子是否给圣诞老人写了信。阅读讨论和评论。

Choosing words carefully

谨慎选择词语

This is a great time of year to show your children the joy of communicating with others through writing, because there are so many reasons to write.

这是一年中的一个好时机，让你的孩子知道通过写作与他人交流的乐趣，因为有很多理由可以写作。

Elina, dressed as a Christmas elf, reads letters from around the world which were sent to Santa Claus.An 'elf' reads letters from kids around the world, sent to Santa in the Arctic Circle.(Reuters: Pawel Kopczynski)

打扮成圣诞小精灵的埃利纳宣读来自世界各地寄给圣诞老人的信件。一个"小精灵 "在北极圈内阅读来自世界各地孩子们寄给圣诞老人的信件。（路透社：Pawel Kopczynski）

Santa letters, thank you notes and greeting cards can teach our children what authentic writing is all about. When children write for real audiences and real purposes, we can teach them an important lesson about the writing process — we choose our words according to our audience and purpose.

圣诞信、感谢信和贺卡可以让我们的孩子知道什么是真正的写作。当孩子们为真实的读者和真实的目的写作时，我们可以教给他们关于写作过程的重要一课--我们根据读者和目的选择我们的文字。

We write "Dear Santa" because we don't know him personally and we want to show him respect.「空3」We write "Hi Nanna and Pop" because we are close to them. And as we finish our messages, who gets "best wishes" and who gets "love and kisses", and why?

我们写"亲爱的圣诞老人"，因为我们并不认识他本人，我们想向他表示尊重。我们写 "Hi Nanna and Pop "是因为我们和他们很亲近。当我们完成我们的信息时，谁会得到 "最好的祝福"，谁会得到 "爱和吻"，为什么？

More than emoticons

不仅仅是表情符号

As simple as these lessons in word choice are, this is a skill that business leaders lament is missing in their young employees. It isn't that these young people can't write. In fact, they are probably writing more than they ever have.

尽管这些选词的课程很简单，但这是企业领导人感叹在他们的年轻员工中缺少的一项技能。这并不是说这些年轻人不会写作。事实上，他们可能比以前写得更多。

A child's letter to Santa contains a long-winded Amazon URL for the gift they want.A modern-day Santa letter.(Flickr: John Pasden )

一个孩子给圣诞老人的信中包含了一个冗长的亚马逊网址，内容是他们想要的礼物。一封现代的圣诞老人信。（Flickr: John Pasden )

The age of pen-and-paper letter-writing may have passed,「空4」but technology has stepped in and the need to write has never been greater. Texting, Facebook messaging, live chats while playing video games all mean that young people are constantly churning out written messages.

用纸笔写信的时代可能已经过去了，但技术已经介入，对写作的需求从未如此之大。发短信、‘脸书’信息、玩视频游戏时的实时聊天，都意味着年轻人在不断发出书面信息。

However, the speed and space limitations of these technologies means that we make different language choices for this kind of writing. We abbreviate, use acronyms, leave words out and replace entire sentences with emoticons. And because we are usually writing to friends or peers, we use informal greetings and sprinkle our messages with colloquialisms.

然而，这些技术的速度和空间限制意味着我们为这种写作做出不同的语言选择。我们缩写，使用首字母缩略词，不写单词，用表情符号代替整个句子。因为我们通常是给朋友或同龄人写信，所以我们使用非正式的问候语，并在信息中用白话。

There is nothing wrong with this kind of writing. It suits the audience and the purpose. It gets the job done. But if this is the only kind of writing young people do, then they will have a very limited writing repertoire. It is a type of writing that won't be rewarded by the school examiner, nor by a future employer, or a potential client.【高考命题人改编了此段】「空5」

这种写作没有错。它适合受众和目的。它能完成工作。但是，如果这是年轻人唯一一种写作，那么他们的写作库将非常有限。这是一种不会得到学校考官奖励的写作类型，也不会得到未来雇主或潜在客户的奖励。

The very best communicators are those who know how to shift their language to match their audience.

最好的沟通者是那些知道如何转变他们的语言以配合他们的听众的人。

Pick up a pen this Christmas

今年圣诞节拿起笔来

So this year, resurrect the tradition of card and letter writing, and get your children involved. Write together and talk about how you choose which words to write for different people. You will be teaching them a valuable writing lesson that will stand them in good stead at school. It may even help them in their future careers. And Nan and Pop will be thrilled to get an old-fashioned letter from the kids.

因此，今年，恢复写卡片和信件的传统，并让你的孩子参与进来。一起写，谈论你如何选择为不同的人写哪些话。你将教给他们一个宝贵的写作课，这将使他们在学校处于有利地位。它甚至可能在未来的职业生涯中帮助他们。圣诞老人收到孩子们的老式信件会很开心。

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