Year 11 Edexcel Politics: Your Guide to Excelling in International Competitions | Year 11 Edexcel 政治：国际竞赛备战攻略

📚 Year 11 Edexcel Politics: Your Guide to Excelling in International Competitions | Year 11 Edexcel 政治：国际竞赛备战攻略

Whether you are stepping into a Model United Nations committee, preparing for a national debating championship, or drafting a prize-winning political essay, the knowledge and skills you build in Year 11 Edexcel Politics can give you a decisive advantage. This guide bridges your classroom learning with the real-world demands of high-stakes international competitions, showing you how to turn syllabus topics into persuasive arguments, evidence-backed speeches, and confident performances. We will explore practical strategies, from linking core concepts to global issues, to refining your research and public speaking technique, all while staying true to the Edexcel specification.

无论你是走进模拟联合国委员会，备战全国辩论锦标赛，还是撰写一篇获奖的政治论文，Year 11 Edexcel 政治课程所构建的知识和技能都能为你带来决定性优势。这份攻略将课堂学习与国际竞赛的现实要求连接起来，教你如何将教学大纲里的主题转化为有说服力的论证、有据可依的演讲和自信从容的表现。我们将探索从把核心概念与全球议题挂钩，到打磨你的研究与公共演讲技巧等实用策略，全程紧扣 Edexcel 考纲。

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1. Understanding the Competition Landscape | 了解竞赛格局

International competitions for young political enthusiasts fall broadly into three categories: Model United Nations (MUN), debating tournaments, and essay contests. MUN simulates UN bodies where delegates represent countries and draft resolutions on topics such as climate change, human rights, and security. Debating competitions often use the World Schools or British Parliamentary format, requiring quick thinking and structured argumentation. Essay competitions, like the John Locke Institute or Cambridge Political Thought Prize, demand deep analysis of a specific question with reference to political thinkers and contemporary cases. Understanding the format, judging criteria, and expected outcomes of each type is the first step toward targeted preparation.

面向年轻政治爱好者的国际竞赛大致分为三类：模拟联合国（MUN）、辩论赛和论文竞赛。MUN 模拟联合国机构，代表们扮演不同国家，就气候变化、人权和安全等议题起草决议。辩论赛常采用世界学校制或不列颠议会制，要求快速应变和结构严谨的论证。论文竞赛，如约翰·洛克研究所论文赛或剑桥政治思想奖，要求借助政治思想家和当代案例对特定问题进行深度剖析。了解每种竞赛的形式、评分标准和预期成果，是开展针对性准备的第一步。

Your Edexcel Politics course provides a rich foundation for all three. Topics like ‘Democracy and Participation’, ‘The UK Constitution’, and ‘Political Ideologies’ directly feed into MUN position papers and debating cases. The extended writing and source analysis skills honed for your exams are exactly what top-tier essay competitions require. Start by mapping the competitions you are interested in onto your syllabus topics, so you can see which areas of your study will be most immediately useful.

你的 Edexcel 政治课程为这三类竞赛都提供了丰厚的基础。“民主与参与”、“英国宪法”和“政治意识形态”等主题能直接为 MUN 立场文件和辩论辩题提供养料。考试中训练的长篇写作和材料分析能力，也恰恰是顶级论文竞赛所必需的。你可以先把感兴趣的竞赛与你所学的教学大纲对映起来，看看哪些学习领域能最快派上用场。

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2. Linking Edexcel Politics to MUN | 将Edexcel 政治与模拟联合国相联系

In MUN, a delegate’s strength comes from being able to argue from the perspective of an assigned country, not their own. Edexcel Politics helps you understand the domestic factors that shape foreign policy. When you represent a country like France, for instance, your knowledge of semi-presidential systems, the role of the Constitutional Council, and the ideological leanings of the current government allows you to speak with far greater authenticity. You can reference the separation of powers, or cite how a coalition agreement might constrain your country’s international commitments, making your arguments stand out.

在 MUN 中，代表的实力源于能够站在被分配国家的视角而非个人立场进行论辩。Edexcel 政治能帮你理解影响外交政策的国内因素。例如，当你代表法国时，你对半总统制、宪法委员会职能以及现任政府意识形态倾向的了解，能让你发言时更具真实感。你可以引用权力分立原则，或者指出联合执政协议可能如何限制本国的国际承诺，从而让你的论述脱颖而出。

Position papers are a key MUN document, typically outlining a country’s stance, past actions, and proposed solutions. Use your understanding of political parties, elections, and pressure groups to explain why a country may shift its position on climate finance. For example, a change in government from a green party coalition to a conservative one, as studied in UK politics, can be applied to other nations. Furthermore, when drafting operative clauses, your knowledge of the rule of law and the role of the judiciary can help you design realistic enforcement mechanisms, something chairs and fellow delegates always appreciate.

立场文件是 MUN 的关键文件，通常概述一个国家的立场、过往行动和拟议解决方案。利用你对政党、选举和压力集团的了解，来解释一个国家为何在气候融资问题上的立场可能发生转变。例如，从绿党联合政府到保守党政府的更迭，正如英国政治中研究的那样，可以类推到其他国家。此外，在起草执行性条款时，你对法治和司法机构作用的知识能帮你设计出现实的执行机制，这总是备受主席和其他代表赞赏。

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3. Debating with a Political Edge | 用政治优势进行辩论

Debating competitions reward structure, evidence, and principled reasoning, all of which are central to Edexcel Politics. The course teaches you to evaluate arguments using criteria such as legitimacy, efficacy, and proportionality. In a motion about whether voting should be compulsory, you can draw on the topic of ‘Democracy and Participation’, comparing turnout statistics, discussing the arguments around civic duty versus individual freedom, and analysing the Australian case study that appears in many specifications. This immediately gives your speech a depth that generic debaters lack.

辩论赛看重结构、证据和原则性推理，这些都是 Edexcel 政治的核心。这门课教你运用正当性、有效性和相称性等标准来评估论点。在关于投票是否应强制化的辩题中，你可以运用“民主与参与”这一主题，比较投票率统计数据，讨论公民义务与个人自由之间的论点，并分析许多考纲中都会出现的澳大利亚案例。这立刻使你的发言具有许多普通辩手所缺乏的深度。

The point-by-point rebuttal skills you develop in analysing political sources are directly transferable. When an opponent cites a statistic about youth apathy, you can respond by referencing the rise of participation through social movements and online campaigns, using the ‘pressure groups’ and ‘digital democracy’ content from your syllabus. Moreover, your familiarity with ideological perspectives means you can frame your argument from a liberal, conservative, or socialist viewpoint, giving you a clear philosophical spine that impresses judges looking for consistency and principled argumentation.

你在分析政治材料时培养的逐点反驳技巧可以直接移植过来。当对手引用关于青年政治冷漠的统计数据时，你可以用教学大纲中“压力集团”和“数字民主”的内容，提及通过社会运动和线上活动兴起的参与方式来回应。此外，你对意识形态视角的熟悉，意味着你可以从自由主义、保守主义或社会主义的视角架构论点，为你提供一个清晰的哲学主线，给那些看重连贯性和原则性论证的评委留下深刻印象。

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4. Essay Competitions: Crafting a Winning Argument | 论文竞赛：打造制胜论点

Prestigious essay competitions ask questions such as ‘Is democracy the best form of government?’ or ‘Should states censor hate speech?’. Your Edexcel Politics course equips you with a toolkit of thinkers, from Edmund Burke to John Rawls, and concepts like the harm principle, tyranny of the majority, and the veil of ignorance. The secret to a winning essay is not just mentioning these ideas, but putting them in dialogue: pitting a conservative defence of tradition against a progressive call for reform, and then synthesising a nuanced conclusion.

享有盛誉的论文竞赛常提出“民主是最佳政体吗？”或“国家是否应审查仇恨言论？”等问题。你的 Edexcel 政治课程为你配备了从埃德蒙·伯克到约翰·罗尔斯等思想家的工具箱，以及伤害原则、多数暴政、无知之幕等概念。获奖论文的秘诀不仅在于提及这些思想，更在于让它们对话：将保守派对传统的辩护与进步派对改革的呼吁对立起来，然后综合出一个细致入微的结论。

Remember to use contemporary examples, something your course encourages through case studies of key events and legislation. If writing about the limits of free speech, you can compare the UK’s Public Order Act with the US First Amendment, using your knowledge of the UK constitution and its uncodified nature to explain the different approaches. Structure your essay with a strong thesis, logically sequenced paragraphs that each contain a distinct sub-argument, and a conclusion that genuinely flows from the analysis, not just repeats it. This mirrors the high-level evaluation command words in your Edexcel exams.

切记要运用当代案例，你的课程通过关键事件和立法研究本身鼓励这样做。在写有关言论自由限度的文章时，你可以用英国《公共秩序法》和美国宪法第一修正案作比较，借助你对英国宪法及其不成文性质的了解，来解释这两种不同路径。论文结构要有强有力的论点陈述，逻辑顺序清晰的段落，每段包含一个独立的子论点，并有一个真正从分析中推导而来而非简单重复的结论。这正类似你 Edexcel 考试中高层次的评价类指令词要求。

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5. Core Concepts: Democracy and Participation | 核心概念：民主与参与

No matter the competition, questions about how people should be governed and how they can exert influence are ever-present. The Edexcel topic ‘Democracy and Participation’ covers forms of democracy, electoral systems, and the ongoing crisis of participation. For MUN, this helps you argue for inclusive decision-making in international organisations. In a debate on lowering the voting age, you can cite arguments about rights and responsibilities, and compare turnout among 16-17 year olds in the Scottish referendum. This shows command of relevant evidence that can win you the adjudication.

无论哪种竞赛，关于人民应如何被治理以及如何施加影响的问题都无处不在。Edexcel“民主与参与”这一主题涵盖了民主形式、选举制度以及参与危机。对于 MUN，这能帮助你为国际组织中的包容性决策辩护。在关于降低投票年龄的辩论中，你可以引用有关权利与责任的论点，并比较苏格兰独立公投中16-17岁青少年的投票率。这显示出你对相关证据的掌握，有助于你赢得评判。

For an essay competition, a question on ‘Is there a participation crisis?’ demands that you engage with the debate between those who point to declining party membership and electoral turnout, and those who highlight the growth of e-petitions, social movements, and political consumerism. Your Edexcel study introduces you to all these indicators. Go further by evaluating which form of participation is more meaningful—does signing an online petition carry the same democratic weight as joining a trade union? Such evaluative judgement, well supported, defines top-tier submissions.

对于论文竞赛，一道“是否存在参与危机？”的题目要求你参与一场论战：一方指出政党成员身份和选举投票率下降，另一方则强调电子请愿、社会运动和政治消费主义的增长。你的 Edexcel 学习向你介绍了所有这些指标。更进一步，你可以评价哪种参与形式更有意义——签署线上请愿是否与加入工会具有同等的民主分量？这种有充分支持的评判性判断，正是顶尖论文的标志。

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6. The UK Constitution and Comparative Politics | 英国宪法与比较政治

Understanding constitutional principles is a superpower in international competitions. The Edexcel focus on the nature and sources of the UK constitution—parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, and the fusion of powers—provides a clear framework for analysis. When discussing proposals for a UN parliamentary assembly, you can contrast the principle of parliamentary sovereignty with the constitutional checks and balances of a codified system. This demonstrates an ability to think comparatively, a skill highly valued in MUN and essay contests.

理解宪法原则是国际竞赛中的一项超能力。Edexcel 对英国宪法的性质和来源——议会主权、法治和权力融合——的侧重，提供了一个清晰的分析框架。在讨论设立联合国议会大会的提议时，你可以将议会主权原则与成文宪法体系中的权力制衡进行对比。这展示了你进行比较性思考的能力，一种在 MUN 和论文竞赛中备受重视的技能。

Debating topics often touch on judicial power and rights protection. With the UK constitution, you can reference the Human Rights Act 1998 and the debate over a British Bill of Rights, linking to the Supreme Court’s role. Should judges be able to strike down legislation? As a debater, you can articulate the strengths of a parliamentary system where the legislature is supreme, versus the protection of individual rights that a constitutional court can offer. Grounding these arguments in specific Edexcel content—like the Miller cases or the Joint Committee on Human Rights—gives your speeches undeniable credibility.

辩论题目常触及司法权力和权利保护。围绕英国宪法，你可以引用《1998 年人权法案》和关于英国权利法案的辩论，并联系最高法院的职能。法官是否应有权力推翻立法？作为一名辩手，你可以清晰阐述立法机构至上的议会制优势，以及宪法法院能为个人权利提供的保障。将这些论点植根于具体的 Edexcel 内容——例如米勒案或人权联合委员会——能赋予你的发言无可否认的可信度。

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7. Political Ideologies: Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism | 政治意识形态：自由主义、保守主义、社会主义

Competition judges and examiners alike look for the ability to think ideologically. Edexcel Politics covers the core ideas of liberalism (individualism, freedom, rationalism), conservatism (tradition, human imperfection, organic society), and socialism (community, fraternity, equality). In a Model UN crisis committee, drawing on these ideologies can help you predict how a state might react. A conservative delegate might emphasise stability and gradual change, while a socialist delegation may prioritise redistributive justice in a resolution text.

竞赛评委和考官都看重从意识形态角度思考的能力。Edexcel 政治涵盖了自由主义（个人主义、自由、理性主义）、保守主义（传统、人性不完美、有机社会）和社会主义（社群、博爱、平等）的核心思想。在模拟联合国危机委员会中，借助这些意识形态有助于你预测一个国家可能作何反应。一位保守派代表可能会强调稳定和渐进变革，而社会主义代表团则可能在决议案文中优先考虑再分配正义。

In an essay, you might be asked ‘To what extent do modern liberals and socialists agree on the role of the state?’. Here, your Edexcel-prepared knowledge of thinkers like John Rawls (liberal) and Anthony Crosland (social democrat) and their views on state intervention can enable a deeply comparative analysis. You can trace how the liberal belief in equality of opportunity and the socialist commitment to greater equality of outcome lead to differing policy prescriptions on taxation and welfare. This ability to navigate within and between ideologies is the mark of a sophisticated political thinker.

在论文中，你可能被问到“现代自由主义者与社会主义者在国家角色上的共识有多少？”。此时，你通过 Edexcel 准备的关于约翰·罗尔斯（自由主义者）和安东尼·克罗斯兰（社会民主主义者）等思想家及他们对国家干预的观点，能实现一种深层次的比较分析。你可以追溯自由主义的机会平等信念和社会主义更大的结果平等承诺如何导致对税收和福利的不同政策主张。这种在意识形态内部和之间游走的能力，正是成熟政治思想家的标志。

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8. Global Politics and International Relations Theory | 全球政治与国际关系理论

While your Year 11 course may focus on UK politics, international competitions demand an awareness of global politics. Fortunately, the analytical lenses of ideology and related concepts can be extended. Realism, stressing state sovereignty and national interest, aligns with some conservative thinking and the Hobbesian view of human nature. Liberalism in international relations emphasises cooperation, institutions, and interdependence, echoing the liberal faith in human progress. You can use these parallels to quickly grasp IR theories and use them in MUN to frame your country’s approach, whether it is power-balancing or institutional integration.

虽然你 Year 11 的课程可能聚焦于英国政治，但国际竞赛要求具备全球政治意识。幸运的是，意识形态和相关概念提供的分析透镜可以延伸开来。现实主义强调国家主权和国家利益，与某些保守主义思想及霍布斯式的人性观一致。国际关系中的自由主义强调合作、制度和相互依存，呼应了自由主义对人类进步的信念。你可以利用这些相似之处快速掌握 IR 理论，并在 MUN 中用来框定你所代表国家的路径，无论是权力制衡还是制度融合。

For debating, motions on humanitarian intervention or economic sanctions require you to weigh sovereignty against human rights. Applying the principle of non-intervention versus the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) brings in your Edexcel understanding of sovereignty and the role of international law. You can argue, as a cosmopolitan liberal might, that fundamental rights override absolute sovereignty, or as a realist institutionalist, that only UN-authorised action preserves international order. This shows the judge your capacity to handle complex, multi-layered arguments rooted in real political theory.

对于辩论，有关人道主义干预或经济制裁的动议要求你在主权和人权之间权衡。运用不干涉原则与保护责任(R2P)的比较，融入你通过 Edexcel 学习的主权观和国际法作用。你可以像世界主义自由派那样主张基本权利压倒绝对主权，或者像现实主义制度主义者那样主张唯有联合国授权行动才能维护国际秩序。这向评委展示了你能够处理植根于真实政治理论的复杂、多层次论证的能力。

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9. Research and Current Affairs | 研究与时事

To excel, you must go beyond textbook examples and build a living bank of contemporary case studies. The Edexcel specification encourages the use of up-to-date examples in examinations, and the same principle wins competitions. Each week, take a recent political event—a constitutional challenge, an election, a protest movement—and connect it to at least two syllabus topics. For example, the use of social media to organise climate strikes links to ‘pressure groups’, ‘participation’, and ‘rights in a democracy’. This active note-taking habit transforms news reading into direct competition preparation.

要想出类拔萃，你必须超越教材案例，建立一个鲜活的当代案例库。Edexcel 考纲鼓励在考试中使用最新案例，同样的原则也能助你赢得竞赛。每周选取一个近期政治事件——一次宪法挑战、一场选举、一个抗议运动——并将其至少联系两个教学大纲主题。例如，利用社交媒体组织气候罢课行动，就联系到了“压力集团”、“参与”和“民主中的权利”。这种主动做笔记的习惯能将新闻阅读直接转化为竞赛准备。

Reliable sources are vital. Establish a routine of consulting outlets like the BBC, Reuters, or The Economist, as well as think tanks such as the Institute for Government for constitutional matters or the Equality and Human Rights Commission for rights issues. In MUN, you need to accurately represent your country’s internal politics, so researching the governing party’s manifesto or a key supreme court decision there is essential. In debating and essays, precise figures from organisations like the ONS or Pew Research Center add quantitative force to your qualitative reasoning, turning a good argument into an unassailable one.

可靠来源至关重要。养成查阅 BBC、路透社或《经济学人》等媒体，以及政府研究所（宪法事务）或平等与人权委员会（权利问题）等智库的常规习惯。在 MUN 中，你需要准确展现所代表国家的内政，因此研究执政党宣言或该国一项关键的最高法院裁决至关重要。在辩论和论文中，来自英国国家统计局或皮尤研究中心等机构的精确数据，能为你定性的推理增添定量的力量，把一个好论证变为无懈可击的论证。

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10. Speech and Manner: The Art of Persuasion | 演讲与仪态：说服的艺术

Content alone does not win competitions—delivery is equally critical. In MUN and debating, your first 30 seconds determine whether the room leans in to listen or tunes out. Start with a striking hook: a rhetorical question, a powerful statistic, or a short anecdote that crystallises the issue. From your Edexcel studies, you know the power of an appeal to shared values—liberty, justice, security. Frame your opening around one such value to create an immediate emotional and intellectual connection with your audience.

仅有内容无法赢得竞赛——表达同样关键。在 MUN 和辩论中，你开头的 30 秒决定了会场是倾身聆听还是充耳不闻。以一个引人注目的引子开场：一个反问句、一个强有力的统计数据，或一个凝练议题的小故事。从你的 Edexcel 学习中，你懂得诉诸共同价值观——自由、正义、安全——的力量。围绕这样一个价值观来构建你的开场白，能立即与听众建立起情感和智识上的联系。

Eye contact, pacing, and vocal variation are non-negotiables. Practise speaking slowly enough to convey authority, using pauses to let key points land. Record yourself and watch without sound; if your gestures and facial expressions do not reinforce your message, adjust them. In formal essay competitions, the ‘manner’ is your writing style: aim for clarity and elegance, avoiding jargon but demonstrating a precise vocabulary. Words like ‘legitimacy’, ‘accountability’, or ‘enfranchisement’, when used correctly, signal that you are a serious political thinker—exactly the impression you want to leave with judges.

眼神交流、语速变化和声音起伏是不可或缺的。练习以足够缓慢的语速说话以传达权威，运用停顿让要点深入人心。给自己录像并静音观看；如果你的手势和面部表情没有强化你的信息，就加以调整。在正式的论文竞赛中，“仪态”就是你的写作风格：力求清晰优雅，避免行话，但要展现精确的词汇量。像“legitimacy”、“accountability”或“enfranchisement”这样的词，用得恰当就表明你是一个严肃的政治思考者——这正是你想要留给评委的印象。

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11. Time Management and Teamwork | 时间管理和团队合作

Many competitions, especially MUN and team debating, require seamless collaboration. Building on the Edexcel topic of political parties, think of your team as a coalition government: you may have different perspectives, but you need a common programme. Before a competition, agree on your key themes, evidence, and division of labour. In MUN, one team member might focus on drafting while another negotiates with other delegations—both must reinforce the same strategic message.

许多竞赛，尤其是 MUN 和团队辩论，要求无缝的协作。基于 Edexcel 关于政党这一主题，可以把你的团队想象成一个联合政府：你们可能有不同视角，但需要一项共同纲领。赛前，就关键主题、证据和分工达成一致。在 MUN 中，一名队员可以专注于起草决议，另一人则与其他代表团谈判——两人都必须强化同一个战略信息。

Time pressure is intense. In a debate preparation period of 15 minutes, use the first 2 minutes to isolate the central moral or practical clash, then allocate speech roles. A well-structured case, built on a clear model or mechanism even if simple, always beats a scattergun of disconnected points. Link each argument back to the motion’s wording, just as you would link a paragraph to the question in an Edexcel exam essay. After the competition, a 5-minute hot debrief—what worked, what failed, what we would change—builds collective intelligence fast.

时间压力很大。在 15 分钟的辩论准备时间内，用前 2 分钟定位核心的道德或实践冲突，然后分配发言角色。一个结构严谨的论述，哪怕模型或机制很简单，也永远优于一堆互不相关的散点。将每个论点都扣回到辩题措辞，就像你在 Edexcel 考试论文中将段落扣回题目一样。赛后，用 5 分钟快速复盘——什么奏效、什么失败、我们会改变什么——能迅速积累集体智慧。

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12. Final Tips and Resources | 最后提示与资源

Turn your Edexcel Politics revision notes into competition-ready flashcards. On one side, write a concept like ‘Parliamentary Sovereignty’; on the other, list key cases (e.g., Factortame, Miller), evaluation points, and one current example. For ideologies, create comparison tables showing how different ideological traditions approach the same issue.

Issue	Liberalism	Conservatism	Socialism
Role of the State	Enabling, limited but can intervene for equal opportunity	Order and stability, cautious reform	Active redistribution, extending public ownership
Freedom	Individual freedom, negative and positive liberty	Freedom within tradition and social obligations	Freedom from exploitation, collective fulfilment

把 Edexcel 政治课程的复习笔记转化为竞赛就绪的抽认卡。一面写一个概念，如“议会主权”；另一面列出关键案例（例如 Factortame 案、米勒案）、评价要点和一个最新案例。对于意识形态，制作比较表，展示不同意识形态传统如何处理同一议题。

Finally, embrace the feedback loop. Record your MUN speeches and ask peers to evaluate your use of course concepts. When your debate coach says ‘more principle’, reach for Edexcel’s core ideologies. When an essay judge comments ‘needs deeper evaluation’, think of the ‘evaluate’ command words from your exam mark scheme. The alignment between your academic work and these competitions is so close that improvement in one directly fuels success in the other. Trust your foundation; you have already built an intellectual arsenal through your studies—now learn to deploy it with precision and flair.

最后，拥抱反馈循环。录下你的 MUN 发言，请同伴评价你对课程概念的使用。当辩论教练说“再多些原则”时，就从 Edexcel 核心意识形态中提取。当论文评委评语是“需要更深评估”时，想想你考试评分方案中“评价”类的指令词。你的学业与这些竞赛之间的重合度如此之高，以至一方面的进步能直接推动另一方面的成功。相信你的基础；通过课业学习你已经搭建起一个智识武库——现在，学会精准且富有魅力地调用它吧。

Published by TutorHao | Edexcel Politics Revision Series | aleveler.com

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