2012年1月英国雅思写作A类真题极为类似2007年托福TWE试题。大意是要考生提出对于大学文凭与个人成功的看法或立场。显然地，主题不是讨论为什么要上大学，也不是比较上大学的利弊，而是要在高学历与高成就的论点上找出立场的冲突。谢振礼老师代表考生发表心图大纲：隐形模板3663起承转合

起——高等教育保障较好的月薪；然而成功发财则靠努力与运气。
承——学位带来就业机会与高薪优势。
转——事业有大成就者未必有文凭。
合——大学教育有助于个人收入；努力与好运才更是成功发财之道。

Some people think that to have a successful life you have to have a university education, while others think that it is not that important. Discuss both views and give your own opinion based on personal experience and knowledge.

Example Essay: Education and Success
Created by Jeenn Lee Hsieh
essay3663@hotmail.com

Don't confuse a university degree with a successful life, even though higher education can open doors to a range of economic options. It is one thing to make a good living, and yet it is quite another to make a good fortune. In various aspects of life, success is to be measured not so much by the education that one has as by the effort that one makes, plus of course lots of luck.

Undoubtedly, there are some types of success in professional life that are dependent on a university education. You need a college degree to have a career in a profession such as law, medicine, engineering, or teaching. In today's workplace, job opportunities and academic degrees are linked in such a way that it seems difficult, if not impossible, for an individual without good qualifications to make any career success happen. According to national statistics shown by economists, bachelor's degree holders earn upward of 40 percent more than high-school graduates. Based on this pattern, income levels rise as educational levels rise. Many studies also reveal that university education introduces you not only choices of career but also life goals and the power to reach these goals. In short, being able to go through higher education increases one's employability and earning potential as well as one's self-esteem.

Having a degree, however, does not mean that one will be successful in life. In some work fields, what is crucial are hard work and being lucky. To begin with, you do not have to have a higher education to become successful people like business-persons, sports players, political leaders, movie and music stars. While hard work is motivated by the desire to triumph, success by destiny is associated with that old ABC--ability, breaks and courage. Not all success stories are told about university graduates, nor are academic degrees particularly essential when it comes to becoming wealthy. Ironic but true, successful entrepreneurs even benefit from not having academic qualifications, because going to college and taking examinations forces people to learn and think like other millions of graduates. This actually makes it less likely that they will come up with creative ideas and truly mould-breaking insights on which amazing successes are built.

There is no arguing the importance of a university education as long as employability and income are concerned, but success also comes from effort to do the right work at the right time. If you think a successful life means having a lot of money, you are far from wrong. Nevertheless, it does not follow that the door to success is closed for people who do not have academic results.

隐形模板：Essay3663
By Jeenn Lee Hsieh

The following mind-maps a formula for many academic essays. Use this outline to guide you as you compose your own argument.

Try applying this formula 3663 to your own writing. Write sentences for the corresponding elements for your introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.


雅思真题：Are famous people treated fairly by the media? Should they be given more privacy, or the price of their fame an invasion into their private lives?

>Introduction: from general to specific
【引言段】：起段开头——范围由宽而窄。起中有合。前呼合段。起段第1-2-3句前呼合段第18-17-16句，次序颠倒。

开头段三句话
Famous persons deserve no more privacy than do other people for reasons probably better understood by children playing "hide and seek." The real fun of the game lies in not hiding too well and too long so as not to be forgetton eventually. In theory and in real life, this is exactly what is happening to some celebrities who appear as victims at the mercy of the media.

1. 申论主题：考生回答试题的立场就是主题，预表冲突的抽象化。——State your arguable position on the topic=state your thesis

2. 集中焦点：考生的立场与不是考生的立场的冲突所在就是焦点。——focus your thesis by presenting viewpoints in conflict

3. 一分为二：把焦点分两道要点，作为承段招牌句A与转段招牌句B。——divide your focus into 2 main ideas [A and B] to be used as topic sentences [signposts] in your 2 body paragraphs

>Body A: follow your focus and support your thesis
【中体A】：承段接头--从考生的知识与经验里提出[RED]理由[reasons]——例子[examples]——细节[details]。RED sentences inform and explain the topic sentence's viewpoint or opinion.

接头段6句话

First, the game, referring to the media trying to seek famous people who play hiding. Players prefer the excitement of finally being found to the panic of being entirely ignored since exposure to the public eyes and ears is key to achieving popularity. They may pretend to hide but they had better not be too good at the game. This concept is easy to understand, if you know the game. It is about the experience of the delicious thrill of hiding while others come looking for you, and about the delicious terror of being discovered. What an unspeakable panic there is when, after a long and futile search, the others abandon you?

4. 招牌句A：来龙自起段第三句的一分为二。去脉到合段第一句的二合为一。——Write a topic sentence that states the viewpoint for your first body paragraph.

5. RED——理由
6. RED——例子
7. RED——细节
8. RED——例子
9. RED——细节

>Body B: follow your focus and support your thesis
【中体B】：转段转头--从考生的知识与经验里提出[RED]理由[reasons]——例子[examples]——细节[details]。RED sentences inform and explain the topic sentence's viewpoint or opinion.

转头段6句话
The game applies to quite a few celebrities in entertainment and sports sectors in real life. Look at them who work very hard to become well-known, then wear dark glasses as if to avoid being recognized. This means that discovery could not be possible without their willingly having left road signs. No doubt, they need the media to boost their fame or even infamy, enabling them to be sighted more often and in more places. Knowing no clear line between fame and infamy, they make breaking news side by side with global headlines. Although some stories are not meant to be told, actually there are pop and movie stars in particular who feel no need to hide such scandals as hasty marriages and divorces, luxury and extravagance, romance and sex, drugs and drunk driving, and what not.

10. 招牌句B：来龙自起段第三句的一分为二。去脉到合段第一句的二合为一。——Write a topic sentence that states the viewpoint for your second body paragraph.

11. RED——理由
12. RED——例子
13. RED——细节
14. RED——例子
15. RED——细节

>Conclusion: from specific to general
【结尾段】：合段回头——范围由窄而宽。合中有起。后应起段。合段第16-17-18句后应起段第3-2-1句，次序颠倒。

回头段3句话
Whether in theory or in practice, famous people will pay the price for their fame or infamy and pretend to hide from paparazzi who try to invade into their privacy. Journalists in general are therefore not to blame for giving information about the private lives of famous persons to a gossip world. Ordinary housewives and family men do not need to worry about the possibility of being crucified by the media outlets.

16. 二合为一：回头结合招牌句A+招牌句B。——You should refer back to your focus about conflictive viewpoints A+B.

17. 还原焦点：立场的抽象冲突回头到焦点。——You should widen your focus to the scope of your thesis.

18. 重申主题：再度回头重述主题。——Don't only restate your thesis but show the significance of your synthesis of the information.