我們希望在essay里看到的是我們的申請人“command of the English language”（掌控英語）而不是簡單地使用英語不管英語是否是他/她的第一語言，從他/她的文章中我們想要看到他一定的英語語言的知識積累， 更重要的是他/她對于這些知識的辯證性見解， 因此我們建議我們的申請人辯證性的、多樣性的閱讀。-- Janet Lavin Rapelye （普林斯頓大學招生辦主任）人人都以為美國高中比中國高中讀的要輕松許多， 殊不知除去中國高考那種課本式的死記硬背， 美國高中的課程難度相較于中國高中課程那是有過之而無不及的。 美國學生從小就被鼓勵著多讀課外書籍， 幾乎每個學校在寒暑假時都會給一個“reading list”（讀書清單）。 這些圖書可以幫助學生增長見識， 發散思維， 建立自己的critical thinking skills (辯證性思考方式)， 而這些能力和技能都是美國大學在招生時想要從學生身上看到的。 而這些技能恰恰是國內教育體制所欠缺或者比較弱小的環節， 因此， 對于打算留學的學生而言， 盡早的開始接觸這些書籍則是無力而無一害的。 下面是藤才的老師們結合College Board推薦書籍、各大高中讀書清單、和中國學生的情況整理的100本高中生應該在大學之前閱讀的書籍清單，讀完這100本書籍的學生，可以很驕傲的說，我肚子里是裝了“墨水”的！建議學生讀英文原著，所以下面的書名就不做翻譯了，這些個排列的為：作者-書目！美國文學類（以下按作者姓字母順序排列）：Agee, James-A Death in the FamilyAnderson, Sherwood-Winesburg, OhioBaldwin, James-Go Tell It On the MountainBellamy, Edward-Looking Backward: 2000-1887Bellow, Saul-Seize the DayBradbury, Ray-Fahrenheit 451Cather, Willa-My AntoniaChopin, Kate-The AwakeningClark, Walter Van Tilburg-The Ox-Bow IncidentCormier, Robert-The Chocolate WarCrane, Stephen-The Red Badge of CourageDorris, Michael-A Yellow Raft in Blue WaterEllison, Ralph-Invisible ManFaulkner, William-As I Lay DyingFitzgerald, F. Scott-The Great GatsbyGaines, Ernest-The Autobiography of Miss Jane PittmanHawthorne, Nathaniel-The Scarlet LetterHeller, Joseph-Catch-22Hemingway, Ernest-A Farewell to Arms Hurston, Zora Neale-Their Eyes Were Watching GodKesey, Ken-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestLee, Harper-To Kill a MockingbirdLewis, Sinclair-Main Street London, Jack-Call of the WildMcCullers, Carson-The Member of the WeddingMelville, Herman-Moby-Dick Morrison, Toni-Sula O'Connor, Flannery-A Good Man is Hard to FindParks, Gordon-The Learning TreePlath, Sylvia-The Bell JarPoe, Edgar Allan-Great Tales and PoemsPotok, Chaim-The ChosenSalinger, J.D.-The Catcher in the RyeSinclair, Upton-The JungleSteinbeck, John-The Grapes of WrathStowe, Harriet Beecher-Uncle Tom's CabinTan, Amy-The Joy Luck ClubTwain, Mark-The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnVonnegut, Kurt-Slaughterhouse-FiveWalker, Alice-The Color PurpleWelty, Eudora-Thirteen StoriesWolfe, Thomas-Look Homeward, AngelWright, Richard-Native Son對于剛剛開始閱讀的同學， 美國文學可能是較好的選擇。 因為相較于以英國為代表的世界英語文學，美國文學的寫作較為現代， 文字較容易理解。 喜歡懸疑推理的同學可以看看Peo的Great Tales and Poems （偉大的故事和詩歌），而喜歡復古風的同學可以看看Fitzgerald 的The Great Gatsby (偉大的蓋茨比)， 總之， 你可以根據自己的興趣挑選， 開始自己的美國文化探索之旅。 下面是以英國文學為代表的世界英語文學列表：BeowulfAchebe, Chinua-Things Fall ApartAllende, Isabel-House of the SpiritsAusten, Jane-Pride and PrejudiceBalzac, Honore de-Pere GoriotBorges, Jorge Luis-Labyrinths Bronte, Charlotte-Jane EyreBronte, Emily-Wuthering HeightsCamus, Albert-The StrangerCarroll, Lewis-Alice's Adventures in WonderlandCervantes, Miguel de-Don QuixoteConrad, Joseph-Heart of DarknessDefoe, Daniel-Robinson CrusoeDickens, Charles-Great ExpectationsDostoevski, Feodor-Crime and PunishmentEliot, George-The Mill on the FlossEsquivel, Laura-Like Water for Chocolate Flaubert, Gustave-Madame BovaryForster, E.M.-A Passage to IndiaFuentes, Carlos-The Death of Artemio CruzGarcia Marquez, Gabriel-One Hundred Years of SolitudeGogol, Nikolai-The Overcoat Golding, William-Lord of the Flies Grass, Gunter-The Tin DrumHardy, Thomas-Tess of the D'UrbervillesHesse, Hermann-SiddharthaHuxley, Aldous-Brave New WorldJoyce, James-A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManKafka, Franz-The TrialLawrence, D.H.-Sons and LoversMann, Thomas-Death in VeniceOrwell, George-Animal FarmPasternak, Boris-Doctor ZhivagoPaton, Alan-Cry, the Beloved CountryRemarque, Erich Maria-All Quiet on the Western FrontScott, Sir Walter-IvanhoeShelley, Mary W.-Frankenstein Solzhenitsyn, Aleksander-One Day in the Life of Ivan DenisovichSwift, Jonathan-Gulliver's TravelsTolstoy, Leo-Anna KareninaWeisel, Elie-NightWells, H.G.-The Time Machine在這個列表里就出現了一些可能難度較大的文章， 比如Beowulf和Gulliver's Travels， 因為這些的原文都是接近中古英語（相當于我們的文言文）， 因此建議同學們可以拿著英語簡易翻譯版和英語原著對照著閱讀。下面是歷史或者傳記分類：Angelou, Maya-I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Ashe, Arthur and Arnold Rampersad-Days of GraceBaker, Russell-Growing UpBerenbaum, Michael-The World Must KnowBrown, Dee-Bury My Heart at Wounded KneeCooke, Alistair-Alistair Cooke's AmericaCriddle, Jan. D. and Teeda Butt Mam-To Destroy You Is No LossCrow Dog, Mary and Richard Erdoes-Lakota Woman Curie, Eve-Madame CurieDelany, Sara and A. Elizabeth with Amy Hill Hearth-Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 YearsEpstein, Norrie-Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard.Frank, Anne-The Diary of a Young GirlFranklin, Benjamin-The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinHaley, Alex-RootsHamilton, Alexander; Madison, James; Jay, John -The Federalist PapersHersey, John-HiroshimaKarlsen, Carol-The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New EnglandKeller, Helen-The Story of My Life Kennedy, John F.-Profiles in CourageKing, Martin Luther, Jr.-A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr.Kovic, Ron-Born on the Fourth of July Machiavelli, Niccolo-The Prince Malcom X, with Alex Haley-The Autobiography of Malcom XMarx, Karl-The Communist ManifestoMathabane, Mark-Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South AfricaMaybury-Lewis, David-Millenium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern WorldMcPherson, James-Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War EraMills, Kay-This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou HamerPlato-The RepublicRogosin, Donn-Invisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro LeaguesThoreau, Henry David-WaldenTocqueville, Alexis de-Democracy in AmericaTuchman, Barbara-A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth CenturyWilliams, Juan-Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-65Yolen, Jane-Favorite Folktales From Around the World對于想要就讀美國文理學院或者法學院的同學們， 這些書都是必讀的基礎經典。 他們涵蓋了美國文化法律發展的要素， 建議剛開始的同學讀一讀Williams的Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-65了解美國最有爭議性的民權運動史， 本書選擇了一個不同于其他歷史書籍的角度解析美國民權的發展， 對于初學者來說是不錯的選擇。 再來就是科學類：Attenborough, David-The Living Planet: A Portrait of the EarthBronowski, Jacob-The Ascent of ManCarson, Rachel-Silent SpringDarwin, Charles-The Origin of SpeciesHawking, Stephen-A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black HolesLeopold, Aldo-A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and ThereCampbell, Joseph-The Power of MythHamilton, Edith-MythologyKotlowitz, Alex-There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in Urban AmericaKozol, Jonathan-Savage Inequalities: Children in America's SchoolsTerkel, Studs-Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession對于愛好戲劇的同學們， 下面的是戲劇類：Beckett, Samuel-Waiting for GodotBrecht, Bertolt-Mother Courage and Her ChildrenChekhov, Anton-The Cherry OrchardIbsen, Henrik-A Doll's House Marlowe, Christopher-Doctor FaustusMiller, Arthur-Death of a SalesmanO'Neill, Eugene-Long Day's Journey Into NightSarte, Jean Paul-No Exit Shakespeare, William-Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,Macbeth, Twelfth Night, others.Shaw, Bernard-Man and Superman, Saint Joan, Pygmalion, others.Sophocles-Oedipus RexWilde, Oscar-The Importance of Being EarnestWilder, Thornton-Our TownWilliams, Tennessee-A Streetcar Named DesireWilson, August-The Piano Lesson對于莎士比亞， 這里就不多做推薦了， 強烈建議同學們去讀一讀 Marlowe的Doctor Faustus, 體驗中古世紀的戲劇魅力。 最后是詩歌部分， 盡管詩歌在現代已經慢慢褪去潮流， 但是對于打算申請美國文科大學的同學來說， 了解詩歌絕對可以給你的大學申請打開一扇不一樣的大門 （推薦初學者E.E.Cummings的詩歌， 文字簡單， 貼近生活）：Angelou, Maya-And Still I RiseBrooks, Gwendolyn-Selected PoemsCummings, E.E.-Complete Poems, 1904-1962Dickinson, Emily-The Complete Poems of Emily DickinsonDonne, John-The Complete Poetry of John DonneEliot, T.S.-The Waste LandFrost, Robert-The Poetry of Robert Frost Ginsberg, Allen-Howl and Other Poems Giovanni, Nikki-My HouseHughes, Langston-Selected PoemsKeats, John-Complete PoemsLongfellow, Henry Wadsworth-The Poetical Works of LongfellowSandburg, Carl-Complete PoemsThomas, Dylan-Poems of Dylan ThomasWilliams, William Carlos-Selected PoemsWordsworth, William-PoemsYeats, William Butler-The Poems