SAT和ACT，高中生该考哪一项？

AS if applying to college isn’t taxing enough, the process seems to have been ratcheted up another notch. Ambitious high school students are no longer content with just one college admissions test. Not a single college requires it, but many applicants to the nation’s most selective colleges and universities are taking — and retaking — both the ACT and the SAT.

好像大学申请还不够劳神费力似的， 如今这一过程似乎难上加难。雄心勃勃的高中学生已经不满足于只参加一个大学入学考试了。没有一所大学有这样的要求，但许多申请这个国家最优秀大学的学生正 在同时参加——以及多次参加——ACT（American College Testing，即美国大学入学考试）和SAT（Scholastic Assessment Test，即学术能力评估测试）这两个考试。

 For more than half a century, the ACT was the also-ran of the college admissions world. Although almost every college for years has accepted either test, the SAT has long represented the gold standard. Some Eastern colleges actually frowned on the ACT, and few students outside the South and the Midwest, where the ACT has been the dominant assessment, would even consider taking it.

半个多世纪以来，ACT一直是大学入学考试市场上的失败者。尽管很多年来，几乎每所大学都同时认可 这两个考试的成绩，但SAT一直都代表着黄金标准。有些东部的大学其实不太接受ACT，除了南部以及中西部（在这些地区ACT一直是占统治地位的考试）的 学生以外，很少有学生会考虑参加它。

 “Until recently, even within the admissions community, the ACT was to a degree the stepchild of the SAT,” said Tom Parker, dean of admissions and financial aid at Amherst College. “So even with my own staff, I had to be scrupulous to be sure both tests were given equal weight. That’s just not an issue anymore.”

“直 到不久前，即使是在大学招生人员圈内，ACT在某种程度上还是不如SAT受重视，”安默斯特学院(Amherst College)的招生与财政援助主任汤姆·帕克(Tom Parker)说，“所以以前，甚至对我自己的下属们，我也得格外小心谨慎，保证这两个考试被放在同等重要的地位上。但现在这已经不再是一个问题了。”

 In fact, the ACT has pulled ahead for the first time: 1,666,017 students took the ACT last year; 1,664,479 took the SAT.

事实上，这是ACT第一次占据了领先地位：去年有1666017名学生参加了ACT考试，而参加SAT的学生有1664479人。

 It’s not that the SAT is losing customers. On the contrary, the number of test takers has grown. It’s that the ACT is growing much faster, in part because 12 states now require, and pay for, all public high school juniors to take the test. But that’s not the only reason for the ACT’s rising popularity. There is also a real shift in the behavior of top high school students, with many more choosing to work toward impressive scores on both tests.

这并不是因为SAT在失去它的顾客，相反地，参加考试的人数一直在增长。ACT发展得太快了， 一部分是因为有12个州现在要求所有的高三学生参加该考试，并为之拨款。但是这并不是ACT参加人数增长的唯一理由。优秀高中学生们的做法有了真正的改 变，有更多的人选择力争在两个考试中都获得高分。

 Of this year’s 26,000 applicants to Princeton, 13 percent, or 3,477 students, submitted only ACT scores — up from 2 percent (385 of 17,000 applicants) for fall 2006. And almost 8,000 this year submitted scores from both tests. That is just fine with Janet Rapelye, dean of admissions — maybe even desirable.

在今年2.6万 名申请普林斯顿大学(Princeton)的学生中，有13%，即3477位只提交了ACT分数——2006年秋季入学时，这个数字只有2%（1.7万人 中的385人）。今年有近8000位学生同时提交了两个考试的分数。对于招生主任珍妮特·拉佩耶(Janet Rapelye)来说，这种做法是完全可以接受的——甚至有可能更受欢迎。

 “I don’t know all the pieces of why this is happening, but I think more students are trying to make sure they’ve done everything they can,” she said. “And for us, more information is always better. If students choose one or the other, that’s fine, because both tests have value. But if they submit both, that generally gives us a little more information.”

“我不知道为什么这一切会发 生，不过我觉得有更多的学生正在尽力保证他们已经做了所有可以做的努力，”她说，“对我们来说，向来是提供的信息越全面越好。如果学生选择了其中一样测 试，那也没问题，因为两个考试都有价值。但是如果他们提交了两项成绩，那整体而言就给了我们更多信息。”

 At Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of California, Los Angeles, about a quarter of applicants for last year’s freshman class submitted ACT as well as SAT scores. And those are just the students who did well enough on both tests to believe their scores would boost their chances. Far more take both but submit only one.

在哈佛大 学(Harvard)、弗吉尼亚大学(University of Virginia)以及加州大学洛杉矶分校(University of California, Los Angeles)中，申请于去年入学的学生中有四分之一的人同时提交了ACT和SAT分数。这些还只是在两个考试中都得到高分，从而相信这些分数可以提高 他们录取机率的学生人数。有更多人参加了两项考试，但只提交了一个分数。

 Some schools have 10th graders try the Preliminary SAT but also PLAN, the ACT version, to see which yields a better score and thus which to prep for. The following summer, serious test preparation starts. Whether reviewing on their own, in classes or with a private tutor, a considerable chunk of the next year and a half is devoted to vocabulary lists, problem sets, mock tests, real tests and retests; Advanced Placement and SAT subject tests add to the workload.

有些学校让他们的十年级生尝试SAT预考(Preliminary SAT，PSAT)以及PLAN，即ACT预考，来看看哪项分数更高，从而决定参加哪一个考试。在接下来那个夏天，正式的考试准备就开始了。无论是自己复 习，在课堂上复习或者是跟随家教的指导，他们接下来一年半中的很大一部分时间都会用在单词表、问题集、模拟考试、正式考试以及再次正式考试上。大学预修课 程考试(Advanced Placement Tests)以及SAT学科测试更是增添了学习负担。

 “What I did was cut out sleep,” said Sarah Rodeo, who graduated this spring from the Hewitt School, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and will start at Vassar this fall.

“我应对的方法就是压缩睡眠时间，”莎拉·罗迪欧(Sarah Rodeo)在今年春天于地处曼哈顿上东城的翰威特学校(Hewitt School)毕业，今年秋天即将在瓦萨学院开始大学生活。

 Because she was also juggling up to 10 dance and yoga classes a week, Ms. Rodeo said, regretfully, that she had not been able to take a practice test each weekend, as many classmates did. And to her intense frustration, her math score remained unimpressive.

因为当时每周还要抽空上10节舞蹈与瑜珈课，罗迪欧说她很遗憾自己没能像许多同学那样每周末都做一次练习测试。让她最沮丧的是，她的数学分数一直都不是很高。

 “I had kind of a panic attack in spring of junior year,” she said. “I honest to God went into therapy to work on my anxiety about the math, because for the amount I worked, my score should have been higher.”

“我在高三那一年的春天陷入了恐慌，”她说，“我当时真的为了数学带给我的焦虑去接受心理治疗，因为从我学习的强度来说，我的分数本该更高一些。”

 Her guidance counselor reminded her that she had actually done better on PLAN than the PSAT. So after a year of prepping for the SAT, Ms. Rodeo got a copy of the “Real ACT” guide and started in on ACT strategies (guessing permissible; only the SAT deducts for wrong answers). She scored a 30 out of 36.

她的升学指导顾问提醒她，她在PLAN中的表现要胜过在PSAT中的。所以在准备了一年SAT之后，罗迪欧拿了一份名为“真正的ACT”的指导，开始熟悉ACT的答题策略（ACT允许猜题，而在SAT中错误答案会导致扣分）。在满分为36的测试中她得了30分。

 A second taking of the SAT lifted her score by 90 points, to 2150 out of 2400. “That still wasn’t good enough to get me into Brown, which was what I wanted,” she said. Her scores rose a bit more with a third taking, but she never cracked 700 on the math.

第二次SAT考试将她的成绩提高了90分，在满分2400的考试中得到了2150分。“这还是不足以让我进入布朗大学(Brown)，这是我原本想要去的学校，”她说。她的分数在第三次考试时又提高了一些，但她的数学部分一直都没有超过700分。

 Was it worth the effort? “I’m still not sure how I feel about using all that time prepping instead of playing the piano, playing with my little brother and sister, or seeing my friends,” she said.

这些努力都是值得的吗？“把所有的时间都放在准备考试而不是弹钢琴、和我弟弟妹妹一起玩或者和我朋友见面上，我还不确定我现在对此是什么感觉，”她说。

 Admissions officers worry that test prep has become the main junior-year extracurricular activity. Preparing for both tests, they say, may be overkill. They point to parents as the ones cranking up the testing pressure.

招生人员们担心准备考试已经成为高三学生课外的主要活动。他们说，同时准备两个考试的负担可能过重了。他们认为是家长们加重了考试压力。

 “I think the dramatic increase over the last five years in the number of ACT scores we receive comes in conjunction with the increased selectivity,” said Eric J. Furda, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. “More and more parents think they can’t just stick with the regular road map for getting into college but need to consider every option that might help them show their child in the best possible light.”

“我觉得，过去五年中我们接收到的ACT分数的激增，和竞争越来越激烈有一定关联，”宾夕法尼亚大学的招生主任埃里克·J·弗尔达(Eric J. Furda)说，“越来越多的家长觉得，他们不能只盯着一条通往大学的常规道路，而是需要考虑每一个可能的选择，这可能帮助他们的孩子走向更好的前程。”

 At Shaker Heights High School in Ohio, Eileen Blattner, chairwoman of the guidance department, said that all but seven of the top 10 percent of the graduating class took both the ACT and SAT, and then took their better test once or twice more.

在俄亥俄州的莎克汉斯高中(Shaker Heights High School)，指导部门主席艾琳·布莱特纳(Eileen Blattner)说，在排名前10%的毕业生中，有三成的学生同时参加了ACT和SAT考试，然后再参加他们分数更高的那个考试一到两次。

 “I say, all the time, ‘Don’t go crazy,’ but particularly for parents who use it as a ring on their finger if their kids get into a high-status school, they’re going to have their kids take and take and take the tests.”

“一直以来，我都认为‘不要太疯狂’，尤其是对那些把孩子进入著名学府当作手指上可以用来炫耀的戒指的家长来说，他们好像是要他们的孩子一直不断地参加考试似的。”

 If it were up to Robert Schaeffer, public education director of FairTest, an advocacy group critical of standardized testing, neither test would be required. (His organization compiles a list of hundreds of colleges that are test-optional.) But he does see one positive aspect in the rise of the ACT as a state-mandated test.

“公平考试”(FairTest)的公共教育主管罗伯特·舍 弗勒(Robert Schaeffer)是标准化考试的有力反对者，他认为不管是哪个考试都没有必要。（他的机构编辑了一个列表，收录了几百所不需要考试成绩的大学。）但他 的确在ACT作为各州指定考试的发展中看到了积极的一面。

There are clear differences between the tests. The ACT has four long sections, the SAT 10 shorter ones. The ACT has a science section and covers more advanced math, including trigonometry.

两个考试之间有明显的区别。ACT有4个长部分，而SAT有10个短部分。ACT有一个科学部分，内容也包含了更多的高等数学，包括三角学。

“A third of SAT reading is vocabulary, so for students with limited vocabulary, the ACT is better,” said Sasha DeWind, director at Tutor Associates, based in New York. “The questions are passage-based, and if you understand the passage, you’ll probably get the answer right. And even though the ACT covers harder math, it’s more similar to what students have done in school. The SAT is about getting the students to understand what they’re being asked.”

“SAT的阅读有三分之一是词汇，所以对词汇量有限的学生来 说，ACT是更好的选择，”位于纽约的导师联盟(Tutor Associates)的主管萨沙·德温德(Sasha DeWind)说，“问题是基于文章的，如果你理解了文章，你可能会得出正确的答案。即使ACT的数学更难，它也与学生们在学校里所学的更相近。SAT则 是要让学生们理解他们正在回答的东西。”

Speed is more of an issue on the ACT, she said, with many students finding that they do not have enough time to work through all the questions (the ACT allows only 45 minutes for 75 English questions, while the SAT gives 70 minutes for 67 in reading).

速度在ACT考试中更为重要，她说，有很多学生发现他们没有足够时间去回答所有的问题（ACT要求在45分钟内回答75个英文问题，而SAT要求在70分钟内回答67个阅读问题）。

“Students with learning disabilities who qualify for extra time usually do better taking the ACT, where the extra time really matters,” she said.

“具有学习障碍并有资格得到额外答题时间的学生们在ACT中会表现得更好，因为在这个考试里额外的时间真的很重要，”她说。

 Mr. Chiu said about 47 percent of the students he works with now take both tests because they “want to sweeten their college portfolios.”

基乌说，与他交流过的学生中大约有47%现在同时参加了两个考试，因为他们“想让他们进大学的投资回报率更高”。

 Just a decade ago, when Megan Fox’s twin siblings were getting ready for college, they considered only the SAT. But times have changed, and Ms. Fox took, and retook, the ACT as well as the SAT, ultimately preferring the SAT because it seemed to go faster.

十年前，梅根·福克斯(Megan Fox)的两位双胞胎哥哥准备进入大学时，他们只考虑了SAT。但是时代已经不同了，福克斯参加了好几次ACT和SAT考试，最终还是考虑SAT，因为它看上去更快一些。

 “I like having a lot of smaller SAT sections because it’s a lot easier for me to not lose my concentration,” said Ms. Fox, a rising senior at Jericho High School on Long Island. “Also, the ACT has a science section and I’m better at English than science. But my scores were about the same.”

“我喜欢解答很多SAT的短题目，对我来说更容易集中注意力，”福克斯说，她在长岛的杰里科高中(Jericho High School)就读，即将升入高三，“还有，ACT有一个科学部分，而我的英文相比科学要更好。但到最后我的分数出来是差不多的。”

 In the end, that is true for most students.

到最后，这对于绝大多数学生来说都是准确的。

 “The tests predict college performance equally well, and despite urban legend, most people do about as well on one as on the other,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid.

“这两个考试都能较好地预测学生在大学中的表现，除了坊间的传说以外，绝大多数人在它们中的表现都是差不多的，”哈佛大学的招生与财政援助主任威廉·R·菲茨西蒙斯(William R. Fitzsimmons)说。

 “We see a lot of test results between the ACT, the SAT, the subject tests, Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate,” he added, “so it doesn’t concern us at all whether students send the SAT, the ACT or both.”

“我们看很多考试的结果，像是ACT、SAT、学科测试、大学预修课程以及国际文凭组织(International Baccalaureate)课程，”他补充道，“所以学生提交SAT、ACT抑或是二者同时提交，我们都是没有问题的。”