最近几年很多大学的补充文书都挺难，一打开文书题目，就怀念阳间……GSS今天哭着带大家看一看这五所（芝加哥大学、耶鲁大学、哥伦比亚大学、南加大、弗吉尼亚大学）被我们文书老师点名的美国大学补充文书。

芝加哥大学

芝大的文书不仅字数要求多，题目也年年变，唯一不变的是不管你怎么看，都摸不到头脑。（笑中带泪）

Essay Option 1

Who does Sally sell her seashells to? How much wood can a woodchuck really chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Pick a favorite tongue twister (either originally in English or translated from another language) and consider a resolution to its conundrum using the method of your choice. Math, philosophy,linguistics… it’s all up to you (or your woodchuck).

—Inspired by Blessing Nate, Class of 2024

Sally是谁？她为什么要卖贝壳？土拨鼠夹木头夹几根？还要我用数学、哲学或语言学去解决绕口令的难题？而我当时满脑子都是德云社的报菜名……

算了看一下第二题~

Essay Option 2

What can actually be divided by zero?

——Inspired by Mai Vu, Class of 2024

什么可以被0整除？

“应该是我的脑子吧，晃一晃，空荡荡……”

Essay Option 3

The seven liberal arts in antiquity consisted of the Quadrivium—astronomy, mathematics, geometry, and music — and the Trivium—rhetoric, grammar, and logic. Describe your ow//www.58yuanyou.comn take on the Quadrivium or the Trivium. What do you think is essential for everyone to know?

—Inspired by Peter Wang, Class of 2022

the Quadrivium是啥？the Trivium又是啥？默默地打开了翻译器的我看懂题目后选择继续看下一题。

Essay Option 4

Subway maps, evolutionary trees, Lewis diagrams. Each of these schematics tells the relationships and stories of their component parts. Reimagine a map, diagram, or chart. If your work is largely or exclusively visual, please includ原由网e acartographer’s key of at least 300 words to help us best understand your creation.

—Inspired by Maximilian Site, Class of 2020

这题我懂是懂了，可是我办不到，设计不会、美术不会、展示需要动态的话更不会……

这时的我，想买彩票的欲望已经熄灭了百分之八十。

一个漂亮的进化树示例

Essay Option 5

“Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?” –Eleanor Roosevelt. Misattribute a famous quote and explore the implications of doing so.

—Inspired by Chris Davey, AB’13

“你感到幸运吗？废物？”——埃莉诺罗斯福。错误地引用一句著名的话，探究这样做的含义。

注：这是电影《Dirty Harry》里面的一句经典台词。LOVEFiLM网站曾将这句台词评为十大常见错误引用台词之一。

Essay Option 6

Engineer George de Mestral got frustrated with burrs stuck to his dog’s furand applied the same mechanic to createVelcro. Scientist Percy Lebaron Spencer found a melted chocolate bar in his magnetron lab and discovered microwave cooking. Dye-works owner Jean BaptisteJolly found his tablecloth clean after a kerosene lamp was knocked over on it, consequently shaping the future of dry cleaning. Describe a creative or interesting solution, and then find the problem that itsolves.

—Inspired by Steve Berkowitz, AB’19, and Neeharika Venuturupalli, Class of 2024

工程师George de Mestral对狗的皮毛上粘有毛刺而感到沮丧，并采用了相同的技术创造了魔术贴。科学家Percy Lebaron Spencer在他的磁控管实验室中发现了一块融化的巧克力棒，并由此了微波烹饪方法。染厂的老板Jean Baptiste Jolly打翻了煤油灯后发现桌布很干净，因此塑造了干洗技术的未来。请你描述一个创造性的或有趣的解决方案，然后找到它可以解决的问题。

耶鲁大学

耶鲁大学的补充文书，最起码能让人看懂了，开心！耶鲁大学的补充文书看起来觉得还可以嘛，如果你一开始和我一样想，那我们可以一起抱头痛哭了。

Short Answer Questions

• Students at Yale have plenty of time to explore their academic interestsbefore committing to one or more major fields of study. Many studentseither modify their original academic direction or change their mindsentirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.
• Why do these areas appeal to you? (125 words or fewer)
• What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)

以下问题回答每题不超过200个字符（大约35个单词）

• What inspires you?
• Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What question would you ask?
• You are teaching a Yale course. What is it called?
• Most first-year Yale students live in suites of four to six students. What do you hope to add to your suitemates’ experience? What do you hope they will add to yours?

Essays

以下两篇文书要求每篇不超过250个单词：

1. Yale’s extensive course offerings and vibrant conversations beyond the classroom encourage students to follow their developing intellectual interests wherever they lead. Tell us about your engagement with a topic or idea that excites you. Why are you drawn to it?

2. Respond to one of the following prompts:（三选一）

• 2A. Reflect on your membership in a community. Why is your involvement important to you? How has it shaped you? You may define community however you like.
• 2B. Yale students, faculty, and alumni engage issues of local, national, and international significance. Discuss an issue that is important to you and how your college experience could help you address it.
• 2C. Tell us about your relationship with a role model or mentor who has been influential in your life. How has their guidance been instrumental to your growth?

Engineering Essay

申请工程专业的还需完成一篇不超过250个单词的文书：

Please tell us more about what has led you to an interest in this field of study, what experiences (if any) you have had in engineering, and what it is about Yale’s engineering program that appeals to you. Engineering Essay writing service on www.lxws.net

哥伦比亚大学

哥伦比亚大学2020-2021申请季补充文书：

For the four list questions that follow, we ask that you list each individual response using commas or semicolons; the items do not have to be numbered or in any specific order. No explanatory text or formatting is needed.

List Questions:

• List the titles of the required readings from academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school.
• List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school.
• List the titles of the print or digital publications, websites, journals, podcasts or other content with which you regularly engage.
• List the movies, albums, shows, museums, lectures, events at your school or other entertainments that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school (in person or online).

Short Answer Questions:

• Columbia students take an active role in improving their community, whether in their residence hall, classes or throughout New York City. Their actions, small or large, work to positively impact the lives of others. Share one contribution that you have made to your family, school, friend group or another community that surrounds you. (200 words or fewer)
• Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? (200 words or fewer)
• Please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the areas of study that you noted in the application. (200 words or fewer)

哥大的补充文书一部分是四个简短的清单类问答，一部分是小作文，不超过200字，往年是不超过300字，字数的减少会增加写作难度。

清单基本没变，还是这四大类：学校课程要求必读书目、课余读物、日常接触的媒体、喜欢的娱乐活动。

值得注意的是，哥大把有关社区的话题从简单的问答清单中提炼出来，升级为小文书，在释放一个信号“我开始重视这个部分了”。

南加州大学

南加大的文书题目还是要容易理解很多的，就是要写的文书数量有点多，第一个文书是三选一，第二题是必选项，如果选择南加大的文理学院，还要再写一篇。

• USC believes that one learns best when interacting with people of different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Tell us about a time when you were exposed to a new idea or when your beliefs were challenged by another point of view. Please discuss the significance of the experience and its effect on you.
• USC faculty place an emphasis on interdisciplinary academic opportunities. Describe something outside of your intended academic focus about which you are interested in learning.
• What is something about yourself that is essential to understanding you?

必写的常规why major文书：

Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests and why you want to explore them at USC specifically. Please feel free to address your first-and second-choice major selections. (Approximately 250 words)

文理学院必写文书题目：

The new questions are:

1. The word “education” can take on a variety of meanings. To some, receiving a high school or college diploma is the ultimate mark of being “educated,” while others take a different view. Looking past receiving a diploma, what does it mean to you personally to be “educated”? What standards will you put in place to define whether or not you’ve obtained a great education?

2. Many of us have at least one issue or passion that we care deeply about – a topic on which we would love to share our opinions and insights in hopes of sparking intense interest and continued conversation. If you had ten minutes and the attention of a million people, what would your talk be about?

后面这十个要求在100字符描述完整的小问题，才是最让人纠结的地方，因为大部分人都要陷入同样一种境地：我该选哪个单词才能更准确的表达出我的意思，才能比别人更亮眼？

Respond to all the prompts below (100 characters unless otherwise specified)

1. Describe yourself in three words (25 characters each)

2. What is your favorite snack?

3. Best movie of all time

4. Dream job

5. If your life had a theme song, what would it be?

6. Dream trip

7. What TV show will you binge-watch next?

8. Which well-known person or fictional character原由网 would be your ideal roommate?

9. Favorite Book

10. If you could teach a class on any topic, what would it be?

通过问题看本质，南加大这十道题的设置是想得到哪些信息？为什么会有补充文书的存在？

带着这个想法去看题目，还要把整个申请过程中你所有展现出来的内容做汇总和对比。

然后你会发现，补充文书的存在是南加大希望你能够展示自己其他特质，而不是文书写足球、比赛写足球、活动写足球，补充文书还写足球……

弗吉尼亚大学

2020-2021 First-Year Application Writing Prompts

1. We are lowww.58yuanyou.comoking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to the school/program to which you are applying in a half page or roughly 250 words.

College of Arts and Sciences - What work of art, music, science, mathematics, literature, or other media has surprised, unsettled, or inspired you, and in what way?School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering.School of Architecture - Describe significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture.School of Nursing - Describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.Kinesiology Program - Discuss experiences that led you to apply to the kinesiology major.

2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words.

• What’s your favorite word and why?
• We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is par原由网t of who you are.
• Student self-governance, which encourages student investment and initiative, is a hallmark of the UVA culture. In her fourth year at UVA, Laura Nelson was inspired to create Flash Seminars, one-time classes which facilitate high-energy discussion about thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework. If you created a Flash Seminar, what idea would you explore and why?
• UVA students paint messages on Beta Bridge when they want to share information with our community. What would you paint on Beta Bridge and why is this your message?
• Rita Dove, UVA English professor and former U.S. Poet Laureate, once said in an interview that "...there are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints." Describe a time when, instead of complaining, you took action for the greater good.

整体看，第一部分还算是很常规的why major题目，该怎么写就怎么写，文书字数要求250字左右，所以写的过程中还是要好好遣词造句。

五选一的题目就比较有意思了，比如第一个，选一个你最喜欢的词，还要解释为什么喜欢，这个时候写作主体就不是那么好定位了。你肯定不能写love/peace这样的，不够独特，也太宏观。

举个例子，如果你喜欢chemistry和cooking，然后你写“emulsion”对你特殊的意义。或者，你成长一个多语的环境下，奶奶经常纠正自己发音的单词等，写背后的故事。

其他的问题也是一样去思考，写作是为了表达，写之前需要先理顺思路，写作大纲十分重要，把你想表达的关键词先列出来就是迈出了第一步。