我们希望在essay里看到的是我们的申请人“command of the English language”（掌控英语）而不是简单地使用英语不管英语是否是他/她的第一语言，从他/她的文章中我们想要看到他一定的英语语言的知识积累， 更重要的是他/她对于这些知识的辩证性见解， 因此我们建议我们的申请人辩证性的、多样性的阅读。-- Janet Lavin Rapelye （普林斯顿大学招生办主任）人人都以为美国高中比中国高中读的要轻松许多， 殊不知除去中国高考那种课本式的死记硬背， 美国高中的课程难度相较于中国高中课程那是有过之而无不及的。 美国学生从小就被鼓励着多读课外书籍， 几乎每个学校在寒暑假时都会给一个“reading list”（读书清单）。 这些图书可以帮助学生增长见识， 发散思维， 建立自己的critical thinking skills (辩证性思考方式)， 而这些能力和技能都是美国大学在招生时想要从学生身上看到的。 而这些技能恰恰是国内教育体制所欠缺或者比较弱小的环节， 因此， 对于打算留学的学生而言， 尽早的开始接触这些书籍则是无力而无一害的。 下面是藤才的老师们结合College Board推荐书籍、各大高中读书清单、和中国学生的情况整理的100本高中生应该在大学之前阅读的书籍清单，读完这100本书籍的学生，可以很骄傲的说，我肚子里是装了“墨水”的！建议学生读英文原著，所以下面的书名就不做翻译了，这些个排列的为：作者-书目！美国文学类（以下按作者姓字母顺序排列）：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对于刚刚开始阅读的同学， 美国文学可能是较好的选择。 因为相较于以英国为代表的世界英语文学，美国文学的写作较为现代， 文字较容易理解。 喜欢悬疑推理的同学可以看看Peo的Great Tales and Poems （伟大的故事和诗歌），而喜欢复古风的同学可以看看Fitzgerald 的The Great Gatsby (伟大的盖茨比)， 总之， 你可以根据自己的兴趣挑选， 开始自己的美国文化探索之旅。 下面是以英国文学为代表的世界英语文学列表：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在这个列表里就出现了一些可能难度较大的文章， 比如Beowulf和Gulliver's Travels， 因为这些的原文都是接近中古英语（相当于我们的文言文）， 因此建议同学们可以拿着英语简易翻译版和英语原著对照着阅读。下面是历史或者传记分类：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对于想要就读美国文理学院或者法学院的同学们， 这些书都是必读的基础经典。 他们涵盖了美国文化法律发展的要素， 建议刚开始的同学读一读Williams的Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-65了解美国最有争议性的民权运动史， 本书选择了一个不同于其他历史书籍的角度解析美国民权的发展， 对于初学者来说是不错的选择。 再来就是科学类：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对于爱好戏剧的同学们， 下面的是戏剧类：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对于莎士比亚， 这里就不多做推荐了， 强烈建议同学们去读一读 Marlowe的Doctor Faustus, 体验中古世纪的戏剧魅力。 最后是诗歌部分， 尽管诗歌在现代已经慢慢褪去潮流， 但是对于打算申请美国文科大学的同学来说， 了解诗歌绝对可以给你的大学申请打开一扇不一样的大门 （推荐初学者E.E.Cummings的诗歌， 文字简单， 贴近生活）：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