2014年
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
翻译：我们在克服障碍中学到的教训可能对未来的成功是至关重要的。回忆你曾经历过的一次挑战、挫折或失败。它对你造成了什么影响，你从这段经历中学到了什么？
解析：AADPS分类IV-b
字数限制：七选一，250-650词
“Could I do better at the place where a billion-dollar project has failed?”
The question constantly bugged me last winter. In the biology class, we had just finished the ecosystem part. Not satisfied with the somewhat pessimistic textbook conclusion, I decided to take the problem into my own hands: After getting advice from the teacher, I spent a large portion of my savings to order a glass tank, and started the half-a-year experiment on my own “biosphere.”
I divided my biosphere into two biomes. First was a “grassland” with cactus, loosestrife, plain lawn grass, moss, and a certain type of fern. I used sand as the bottom buffer layer, and piled some rich black soil above it for the plants. In addition to that, I created a little “lake” with waterweeds and decorated it with some pebbles. Animals that were on the roster included one spider, two tortoises, five shrimps, and ten earthworms. Realizing photosynthesis would be the key in my experiment, I put the tank on the balcony where light is always abundant. Then assuming too much sunshine would surely overheat water and atmosphere, I covered the lower half of the tank with cardboard and the upper half with semitransparent filter made of old newspaper. Just perfect.
I would spend ten minutes every day observing this miniature cosmos, and was disappointed to find out that there was nothing to see in winter. Tortoises and shrimps all spent their days in peace. Plants did not grow a single millimeter in three weeks. Earthworms? Never to be found again.
However, things became much different when the spring came. Tortoises performed their daily routine between water and the highland where they could take a sunbath. Shrimps moved to and fro, bringing much liveliness to the aquatic zone. Little (diameter<6mm) blue flowers flourished on the land. Although on average each only lasted no more than a few days, watching them gave me an inexplicable joy.
I was too happy to notice the omens, like when loosestrife began to outgrow others. Taking advantage of a complex root network and the high temperature in the tank, it soon dominated the limited space available. Blue flowers withered at first, and then it was the turn for fern and lawn grass. Eventually, only some yellowish, withering leaves and the lonely cactus took a last stand in the corner. For animals, at first all shrimps died out due to deteriorating water. The final straw was on June 3rd, an extremely harsh summer day when the smaller tortoise passed away. Watching its lifeless carcass silently floated on water, I decided it was the time to stop. I spent a whole day to place every animal and plant back in the free world they belong to, and set up a nice grave for Tutu the Tortoise. It was the least I could do for them.
The failure does not differ much from that of Biosphere 2. By the end of its first mission, 19 out of 25 vertebrate species went extinct, ocean and air were polluted, pollinating insects died out, and oxygen level dropped to as low as 14% before mission control decided to intervene. I learned that my system might last longer with improved ways of temperature control and increased biological diversity. Nevertheless, what first-hand experience really taught me was that our earth will be THE BIOSPHERE in the foreseeable future. We shall indeed do everything to understand it, cherish it, and guard it. Moreover, introduced species could either become victims of the alien environment, or endanger native species as dominant powers. The harmonious coexistence of flora and fauna should always be valued when attempting to preserve an ecosystem.
留学文书译文（机翻）：
“在一个十亿美元项目失败的地方，我能做得更好吗？”
去年冬天这个问题一直困扰着我。在生物课上，我们刚刚完成了生态系统部分。我对教科书中有点悲观的结论不满意，决定自己解决这个问题：在得到老师的建议后，我花了大部分积蓄订购了一个玻璃罐，并开始了为期半年的“生物圈”实验
我把我的生物圈分为两个生物群落。首先是一片“草地”，有仙人掌、松柏、普通草坪草、苔藓和某种蕨类植物。我用沙子作为底部缓冲层，并在上面堆上一些肥沃的黑土来种植植物。除此之外，我还用水草创建了一个小“湖”，并用一些鹅卵石装饰它。名册上的动物包括一只蜘蛛、两只乌龟、五只虾和十条蚯蚓。意识到光合作用是我实验的关键，我把水箱放在阳台上，那里光线总是充足的。然后，假设过多的阳光肯定会使水和大气过热，我用纸板覆盖水箱的下半部分，用旧报纸制成的半透明过滤器覆盖水箱的上半部分。非常完美。
我会每天花十分钟观察这个微型宇宙，但很失望地发现冬天什么也看不见。乌龟和虾都过着平静的日子。植物在三周内没有长出一毫米。蚯蚓？再也找不到了。
然而，当春天来临时，情况就大不一样了。乌龟在水和高地之间进行日常活动，在那里他们可以进行日光浴。虾来回移动，给水生区域带来了许多活力。陆地上盛开着小朵（直径＜6毫米）蓝色的花。虽然平均每次只持续几天，但观看它们给了我莫名的快乐。
我太高兴了，没有注意到预兆，比如loosestrife开始超越其他人。利用复杂的根网络和水箱中的高温，它很快占据了有限的可用空间。蓝色的花朵开始枯萎，然后轮到蕨类和草坪草了。最后，只有一些枯黄的叶子和孤独的仙人掌在角落里最后站了起来。对于动物来说，起初，由于水质恶化，所有的虾都灭绝了。6月3日是一个非常严酷的夏天，小乌龟去世了。看着它死气沉沉的尸体静静地浮在水面上，我决定该停下来了。我花了一整天的时间把每一种动植物放回它们所属的自由世界，并为乌龟图图建了一座漂亮的坟墓。这是我至少能为他们做的。
这次失败与生物圈2的失败没有太大区别。在第一次任务结束时，25种脊椎动物中有19种灭绝，海洋和空气受到污染，传粉昆虫灭绝，氧气水平下降到14%，任务控制中心决定进行干预。我了解到，随着温度控制方法的改进和生物多样性的增加，我的系统可能会持续更长时间。然而，第一手经验真正教会我的是，在可预见的未来，我们的地球将成为生物圈。我们确实应该尽一切努力去理解它，珍惜它，守护它。此外，引进的物种要么成为外来环境的受害者，要么危及作为主导力量的本土物种。在试图保护生态系统时，应始终重视动植物的和谐共存。
标化条件：GPA 3.8 TOEFL 102 老SAT 2000
AADPS老师文书点评：理工科的文书对逻辑性和严谨性相对要更强调一些。在指导文书的过程中，我一直会敦促学生不光要写出做了什么，更要言简意赅的表明所作所为在当时条件下是深思熟虑后最合理的选择。例文里关于动植物的选择以及生态缸设计是非常好的示例。我们强调一篇文书反映一个主旨（就这点而言这篇文书的结尾写得非常清楚），但是方方面面的细节也能够给读者一些关于文书主人的额外提示。幽默感一直都是很好的点。不过这篇文书里体现得更多的会是人文情怀，比如给小乌龟起名字、做坟墓以及放生等。
家长感言：AADPS的留学服务给我们最大的感受是负责和安心。一有机会我就会向身边的同事朋友推荐。