What quality do you believe is the most useful during times of difficulty?
Death, the inexorable ending of life, is a time for everyone to discover his quality within. From the most splendid form of death, like every Empire in history, to the darkest, like Sadam Hussein’s 1from the saddest like princess Diana, to the most mysterious like Mozart’s, death is the very event that we must face. However, how to die, or how to spend the last days of life remains a challenging task, and what is the most useful quality to deal with death seems always beyond people until they really get to face it.
Some meet death at peace.
“I leave when the pub closes.” Churchill once said to a reporter when he was severely ill and closed to death. Viewing life as an enjoyable time spent in a cozy pub, by a cap of warm beer is quite an idle state of mind, and viewing death as a farewell to the pub is even more peaceful. Churchill didn’t conquer death, but the peace state of mind, the quality did help to chase horror and disturb away.
Same meet death with hard work.
Lu yon Qing, a famous writer in my country China worked even more toughly when he came to the last days of life. He diagnosed fatal cancer. He kept writing diaries during treatment, to record the both mental and physical feelings a cancer patient had, and his thoughts about life and death. Lu you Qing`s book has provided plenty of information for doctors who work on cancer and great stimulation for us to treasure lives. Therefore, refusal to give up working is the most useful quality for Lu yon Qing when faced with death.
Some view death with optimism.
I once read a book named “Tuesdays with Morrie” and was surprised at the main character Morrie, an old social science professor close to death. Morrie saw death a chance to think about life deeply and to value every day. In those days of illness, he began to enjoy the sunshine, the birds` singing and those he never paid attention to before. He met with Mitch, the author of book, each Tuesday, talking to him about the nature of humans, such as selfishness, ambition, love, sadness and so on. Morrie was glad to find he knew more about himself through death.
In a word, no one overcome death, but every one uses various qualities to face it. Whether the quality is peace, persistence or optimism, it stays the same within: wisdom and passion.
Revised Version:
What quality do you believe is the most useful during times of difficulty?
点评：SAT作文是不用标题的。不过审题却是关键，因为题目是特殊疑问句，首段中要给出一个对应what的名词作为主题句的核心，并在后面的例子段落分别叙述该名词的三个侧面就正点了。
Death, the inexorable(ruthless) ending of life, is a time for everyone to (face and)discover his quality within. From the most splendid form of death, like every Empire in history(assertive), to the darkest(most pathetic), like Sadam Hussein’s; from the saddest like Princess Diana’s, to the most mysterious like Mozart’s, death is the very event that we must face(undergo). However, how to die, or how to spend the last (few) days of life remains (to be) a challenging task. And what is the most useful quality to deal with death seems always beyond people until they really get to face it(seems beyond our meditation until we truly tackle it).
Some meet death at(with) peace(a peaceful mind).
“I leave when the pub closes.” Churchill once said to a reporter when he was severely ill and closed to（接近？？） death. Viewing life as an enjoyable time spent in a cozy pub, by a cap of warm beer is quite an idle state of mind, and viewing death as a farewell to the pub is even more peaceful（语法有问题，句子不清楚，无法修改）. Churchill didn’t conquer death(？？没逻辑), but the（his） peace state of mind, the quality did help to chase horror（追逐恐怖？？？追逐恐怖分子？？） and disturb away（不明白！！）.
Same meet death with hard work(没有深挖医生的好处！).
Lu yon Qing, a famous writer in my country China worked even more toughly when he came to the last days of life. He diagnosed fatal cancer. He kept writing diaries during treatment, to record the both mental and physical feelings (as) a cancer patient had, and(as well as) his thoughts about life and death. Lu you Qing`s book has provided plenty of information for doctors who work on cancer and great stimulation for us to treasure lives. Therefore, refusal to give up working is the most useful quality for Lu yon Qing when faced with death.
(这一段中国味道太浓烈了！)
Some view death with optimism.
I once read a book named “Tuesdays with Morrie” and was surprised at the main character Morrie, an old social science professor close to death. Morrie saw death a chance to think about life deeply and to value every day. In those days of illness, he began to enjoy the sunshine, the birds` singing and those he never paid attention to before. He met with Mitch, the author of book, each Tuesday, talking to him about the nature of humans, such as selfishness, ambition, love, sadness and so on. Morrie was glad to find he knew more about himself through death.
(这一段，信息排列逻辑有问题，效果很一般，无法产生说服力！！书的力量没有能够展现出来。要理顺说法的顺序，不然很可能都是那5句话，排列顺序的不同，使得看起来大相径庭。)
In a word, no one overcome death(??), but every one uses various qualities to face it. Whether the quality is peace, persistence or optimism, it stays the same within: wisdom and passion.(无厘头的最后一句！)
整体点评：文章有自己的想法，也试图设立自己的写作风格，由于功力不足，使整体效果下降。另外，部分用词过大，和其余文字无法搭配，属于背难单词的初级阶段，只知其然，不知其所以然，建议大家以后写作，难词还是慎用，最好，背词的时候，稍微留意单词的常见搭配，和在例句中的运用，不然得不偿失。另外，句子的含义还是相对天真，要接近SAT要求的成熟，还要多思考。
Refined Version:
Death, the final stop of our life, is the time for us to discover who we really are. It varies in form, but buries in norm.
From the splendid funeral of an Emperor, like Caesar’s, to the pathetic execution of an A-class war criminal, like Sadam Hussein’s, or from the saddest accident, like princess Diana, to the most mysterious pass-away, like Mozart’s, death tunes our lives with same tone.
However, how to die, or how to say a better “Good Bye”, seeks more than obeisance. The quality that every individual employed against death reflects their values.
Some met death with peace and ease.
“I’ll leave when the pub closes.” Churchill once depicted death to a reporter when he was seriously ill and idling in front of the gate of Hades. Honestly, life is an extended night in a pub, delightful but short. The chilly beer, inviting music and yummy snacks are great memories eventually. When the sun dawns on our farewells, we become memories of others. Churchill conquered death with an attitude – an attitude that keeps a man honorable in history.
Same clobbered death with wit and will.
Lu yon Qing was diagnosed of a fatal cancer, however, as a writer, he found his way to battle death – diary-writing. During his hospitalization, Lu made his last days a priceless asset to all mankind by detailing every bit of his feeling, mental and physical. As a cancer patient, Lu perished, but as a writer, he was cherished. In his book, plenty information about cancer and his thoughts about life and death together allow doctors to delve the truth of this hidden killer. Death only scares you when you are scared by it. Hold your sword and tighten your armor. White flag is a luxury beyond our affordability.
Some smiled at death with passion and mission.
A book named “Tuesdays with Morrie” taught me a surprising lesson. Morrie, an old professor of social science, hobbled steadily to death, but deemed it a chance to ponder the essence of life. Each Tuesday, he met Mitch, the author of book. And they would talk about the nature of human, say selfishness, sadness, ambition, and love. In those days of weakness, he realized toughness by enjoying sunshine and the songs of birds. Through the book, death became a teacher, a delightful one, the same as birth.
Death, the end of another beginning, requires no quality to face with; instead, it endorses us with different qualities, through which we learn “us”. No one ever conquers death, but the fight will continue.
点评：改写的过程中，我会将原来的一些想法修改，以谋求更辨正的信息，而且会加入不少自己的创意，并非一味追求单词或语法的高深，也无意去让文字变得过分复杂，而且神经兮兮。有些表达，我却会用老外的方式去追求语言的魅力，同学们可以用在自己的文字套用。
后记：
死亡教育是中国教育界闪躲的话题，相反，在我短暂的留学岁月中，这个知识的盲点却是我的兴趣所在，有感而发，借这位同学原来略带天真的文字，将自己对于这个人生终点站的一些想法写出来，最后，还要谢谢这个同学了。