An analytical equation, which directly relates amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with small signal gain (SSG) of travelling-wave semiconductor optical amplifier (TWA), was derived. It was shown by theoretical analysis and experimental results that calibrated ASE spectra of TWA at different injection currents could be good evaluation and extension of SSG near gain peaks when gain peaks are larger than several decibels. The rapid evaluation method of SSG spectra is very simple, effective and especially applicable to batch measurement.