[Prompt: Describe the environment in which you grew up and how it shaped your personal goals.]

There are no traffic lights in Hampden, Massachusetts. Instead of malls or movie theaters, we have hay fields and hiking trails. The tiny business district consists of a gas station/general store, a pizza parlor, and the country restaurant that is a popular hangout among the retired coffee-drinking locals. If you drive down Main Street, turning south towards the mountain, you enter a winding country road lined with open pastures, old New England barns, and Holstein cows. Halfway up the mountain is my home: a small rustic farm shared with my family and an assortment of dairy goats, ducks, and chickens. My parents, both city folks who met in veterinary school, moved here to realize their dream of raising a family in the country.

I spent much of my early childhood on the mountain behind my house, clutching the thick, pearly-white fur of my beloved goat Heidi in one hand and a fistful of wild blueberries in the other. My family (dogs and goats included) and I would spend weekends exploring the almost surreally beautiful landscape, eating lunch in a grassy field located near the top. It was during these hours spent on the mountain that I felt truly connected to nature and my family. My parents taught my younger sister and me how to understand our surroundings, pointing out pine trees from oaks, red squirrels from grays. They told us stories about their own lives as well, weaving lessons in kindness, humility, and compassion into the fabric of nature and human relationships.

Though Hampden is small in both size and population, it never felt that way. My parents are extremely active in town affairs and have gone to great lengths to preserve local land from the threats of development. My mother is the president of the Hampden Land Project and Conservation Committee, and we have worked together to make flyers, send out newsletters, and attend monthly town meetings in hopes of saving the town’s open space. My parents’ fervor and passion were part of my upbringing, and I involved myself in every local event and cause that arose. From petitioning to save the local wildlife sanctuary to running the Hampden Land Project Booth at the annual town fair, I kept myself involved -- and thus connected to both my hometown and its beautiful natural setting.

In my house, every family meal is dedicated to discussing various social, political, and ethical issues. Although we don’t always agree, my parents have always stressed the importance of giving back to one’s community in various ways. For the past two summers I have organized a food drive to benefit poor children. I originally began this project after learning that food pantry donations decrease in the summer, even as school lunch programs are ending for vacation.

Working to help these unfortunate children moved me even more than helping to preserve the environment and wildlife of my town. Though I love animals and nature, I wish to dedicate my life to working with people, especially young children. I hope to inspire them to work towards changing the world (and preserving nature) in the same way my parents and other members of my town have inspired me.

點(diǎn)評(píng)：

這是一篇命題式的文章，文章開(kāi)頭的提示已經(jīng)揭示出了這篇文章的主要內(nèi)容。這篇文章主要講述作者出身于馬薩諸塞州的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上，鎮(zhèn)上人的純樸、熱情以及鎮(zhèn)上美麗、宜人的自然景色無(wú)一不使作者對(duì)這個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)產(chǎn)生熱愛(ài)。而父母是鎮(zhèn)上大小事務(wù)的積極參與者，并為小鎮(zhèn)免受開(kāi)發(fā)所帶來(lái)的威脅做出了很大的貢獻(xiàn)。作者從小受父母這方面的影響，也漸漸地投身于小鎮(zhèn)的發(fā)展事業(yè)上去。文章的最后一段是作者感情升華的部分，作者希望可以通過(guò)教導(dǎo)小孩子們，讓他們知道人與自然和諧共處的重要性，激發(fā)他們改變當(dāng)今發(fā)展的現(xiàn)狀，激發(fā)他們?nèi)?ài)護(hù)和保護(hù)大自然。

作者并沒(méi)有擺出種種的事例以顯示自己為小鎮(zhèn)勞心勞累，而是把自己在工作中所想和所感悟到的東西寫(xiě)出來(lái)?？梢哉f(shuō)這是一篇以情動(dòng)人的文章，并沒(méi)有過(guò)多的華麗詞藻，卻可以把一份純真的心表達(dá)出來(lái)，讓人可以感受到作者的一片真心和苦心。雖然文章感情的表達(dá)是很滿(mǎn)的，但是結(jié)構(gòu)略顯凌亂，連貫性較差，給人的感覺(jué)有點(diǎn)象隨筆錄。但總的來(lái)說(shuō)，這篇還算是一篇值得參考的文書(shū)。

譯文：

提示：描述一下你成長(zhǎng)的環(huán)境和此對(duì)你人生發(fā)展目標(biāo)的影響。

小鎮(zhèn)

馬薩諸塞州的漢普登小鎮(zhèn)上是沒(méi)有交通燈的。它不像一些大城市那樣有購(gòu)物商場(chǎng)和影院，我們有的只是無(wú)邊際的草原和彎彎曲曲的爬山小道。小鎮(zhèn)上的商業(yè)中心是由一間加油站，一家雜貨店，一家比薩餅店和一家餐館所組成。這家餐館很受鎮(zhèn)上的人歡迎，特別是一些退休了的老人，他們比較喜歡到餐館去喝咖啡。如果你沿著小街主道開(kāi)車(chē)，并向著大山的那個(gè)方向開(kāi)去，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一條鄉(xiāng)間小道，小道旁邊是開(kāi)闊的草原，古老的新英格蘭谷倉(cāng)還有一些荷蘭黑白花牛。沿著這條小道上山，到半山腰的時(shí)候你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)我的家:那是一個(gè)小的農(nóng)場(chǎng)，里面住著我的家里人還有我的羊群、鴨群和雞群們。我的父母都是城里人，他們是在一間獸醫(yī)學(xué)校里面認(rèn)識(shí)的，后來(lái)就搬到這里來(lái)了。其實(shí)他們都有一個(gè)共同的夢(mèng)想，就是在鄉(xiāng)村小鎮(zhèn)里過(guò)生活，所以他們才搬到這里來(lái)的。

我小時(shí)候大部分的時(shí)間都是在我屋后的那座大山里度過(guò)的，一只手攫著我心愛(ài)的Heidi小山羊的珍珠般白的軟毛，另外一只手就滿(mǎn)滿(mǎn)的拿著野生藍(lán)莓。周末的時(shí)候，家里人包括我的狗和山羊們和我都會(huì)出去游玩，去尋覓更美的風(fēng)景，而且可以在山頂?shù)牟莸厣舷硎芪覀冐S盛的午餐。只有在那時(shí)我才感覺(jué)到自己和家里人還有大自然是融合在一起的。我的父母會(huì)教我和我的妹妹們?nèi)绾巫R(shí)別大自然的萬(wàn)物，例如教我們?nèi)绾螀^(qū)分松樹(shù)和橡樹(shù)，紅松鼠和灰鼠。他們也會(huì)說(shuō)他們自己的故事，用親善、和諧和愛(ài)心編織著人與自然和平相處的故事。

雖然漢普登地方小而且人口又少，但是我們從來(lái)不會(huì)覺(jué)得自己缺少些什么。我的父母都很積極地參與到鎮(zhèn)上的事務(wù)并且為保護(hù)小區(qū)免受由于城市發(fā)展所帶來(lái)的威脅作出了很大的努力。我媽媽是漢普登鎮(zhèn)土地規(guī)劃和保存項(xiàng)目委員會(huì)的主席，我們一起制作和派發(fā)宣傳冊(cè)，同時(shí)也為保護(hù)我們小鎮(zhèn)家園而參加每月的鎮(zhèn)上例會(huì)。我父母對(duì)鎮(zhèn)上事務(wù)的熱心和激情對(duì)我的成長(zhǎng)有一定的影響，我也像他們一樣獻(xiàn)身于鎮(zhèn)上的大小事務(wù)。從懇求保存我們小鎮(zhèn)上的自然環(huán)境到在年度小鎮(zhèn)交易會(huì)上建立我們漢普登土地保存項(xiàng)目的攤位，我時(shí)刻都保持著積極的態(tài)度，因此我感覺(jué)自己時(shí)刻都與我的家鄉(xiāng)和家鄉(xiāng)的美麗風(fēng)景緊密聯(lián)系在一起。

在家里，每次吃飯的時(shí)候我們總會(huì)討論一些社會(huì)、政治和種族的問(wèn)題。雖然我們的意見(jiàn)不盡相同，但是我的父母在討論的時(shí)候總會(huì)強(qiáng)調(diào)民族社區(qū)發(fā)展的多樣性。在過(guò)去的兩個(gè)夏季我組織了一次為貧困小孩募捐的活動(dòng)。因?yàn)槲野l(fā)現(xiàn)夏季時(shí)候?qū)W校的物料募捐就減少了，盡管學(xué)校在假期一般都結(jié)束午餐供應(yīng)，但是我還是組織了這次的募捐活動(dòng)。

通過(guò)幫助這些不幸的小孩使我不再局限于環(huán)境保護(hù)和小鎮(zhèn)的事務(wù)工作。雖然我很喜歡動(dòng)物和大自然，但是我更希望自己可以與人共事，特別是小孩子們。我希望我可以激發(fā)他們?nèi)ジ淖冞@個(gè)世界，去保護(hù)大自然，就像當(dāng)時(shí)父母和其他鎮(zhèn)上成員激發(fā)我一樣。