高考英语写作基础知识精选7篇 作文范文(实用20篇)

【示例一】

①Judging from the pictures, we can clearly infer that the drawer’s intention is ________(主题句).② ________(扩展句).③For one thing/First of all/Firstly, ________(第一个层面). ④For another/Besides/Moreover/In addition/Secondly, ________(第二个层面). ⑤Thus/As a result/Therefore/Finally, ________(总结句).

【示例二】

①To begin with, the purpose of the drawings is to show us that ________(主题句),yet the symbolic meanings subtly conveyed should be taken more seriously. ② ________(扩展句)is naturally associated with, to be specific ________(第一个层面). ③Besides/Moreover/In addition, ________(第二个层面)。④As a result/Therefore, ________(总结句).

见字如见人，一手好字能给人一种很直观的美感，就算文章写的不错，主题鲜明，文字优美，意境深远，但是很难让人有读下去的欲望。要记得，书写是文章的服饰，标点是文章的呼吸，丑陋是永远打不赢的“官司”。我们要尽最大的努力展示出自己的书写水平：一要端正，二要清楚。三要美观。标点也是文章准确表情达意的工具。不要只是“一点到底”。不要只会单纯地使用逗号、句号，一篇文章，应该能够准确、灵活、生动地使用六七种标点符号。书写美观了，“感情分”也就上去了!

1、书写工整，拿到卷面分，更拿到印象分;

2、标题鲜明，不仅要扣题，更要不“土气”;

3、开篇和结尾可以根据时间状况选择先打草稿，争取简练精彩，展示扣题和文采。(不仅改卷老师印象好，更能降低偏离主题的风险);

4、文章分段比例安排好。(小编有一句：每段不要超5行，开头结尾2行半，整篇文章5、6段);

5、材料鲜活，这需要平时高质量的积累和阅读;

6、锤炼语言，要有几句精炼的有内涵的语句升华主题，增加文章的思想深度。(这需要大量的积累，和一定思辨能力)

7、时间分配要合理，要有时间观念，要留出充裕作文时间进行充足的思考。(最好确保至少几分钟的审题时间)，同时也要注意时间安排，把握节奏。

8、注意不要写错别字，按往年标准是1字1分(不重复)，扣满5分!有时间的同学要进行检查。

9、一定要满足字数条件，不足者按往年标准，是每50字1分扣的!

实在想不出来时间又紧迫的，要智取：“无病呻吟”法、”翻来覆去“法等等(多发感慨、换个语句说法来阐述同个意思);

时间非常紧迫，无计可施也只能采取下策争取：”铺天盖地法“(多用字符，数行一段)。

在考研英语的小作文部分，历年考试大纲中都会列出多种应用文类型，投诉信、建议信、申请信、求职信、辞职信、求助信、感谢信、号召信、邀请信、道歉信等等，但是考生们回到具体的实践写作中，翻阅近几年考研英语真题试卷，常常发现这些归为一大类，终究是书信形式。既然书信写作如此重要，下面就为各位考生带来书信写作的攻克大招，让写作变得无比简单。

一、书信写作总体概述

1.首段

1)问候收信人

例：Dear Sir/Madam

2)解释来信原因

例：I’m writing for ……

2.中间段落

1)阅读题干要求，从中寻找名词或动词

例：Write a letter of application according to the following situation. You saw an advertisement in this morning’s newspaper .A company need’s a secretary and you are interested. Write an application letter to that company.

2)注意题目文字暗示，把名词具体化，把动词近义词化。

例：I am pleased to discover from Beijing Youth that your company is calling for a secretary……

3.结尾段落

例：I would appreciate your assistance in this matter. If you have any question , please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at...Look forward to your reply.

4.署名

在文章右下角署名，一般格式为：Yours sincerely……

二、书信写作分类讲解(写作脉络)

1.投诉信

投诉信通常包括：说明投诉原因并表示遗憾，实事求是阐述问题发生的经过，指出问题引起的后果，提出批评及处理意见，督促对方采取措施，提出所希望的赔偿及补救方式。

2.建议信

建议信即写给某个组织或机构，就改进其服务质量提出建议忠告;或写给个人，就某一重大事件提出自己的看法、建议及观点。

3.道歉信

投诉信通常包括：表示歉意、阐明表示歉意的具体原因，提出补救办法，再次表示致歉，并希望得到谅解，提供合适的补救办法。(要注意语言的诚挚)

4.感谢信

感谢信中通常带有浓厚的感情色彩，是所有书信中最带有“人情味”的，该书信内容通常包括：表达感谢之情并说明原因--提及自己曾受到对方的帮助--再次感谢并表达回报愿望。

在2018考研的战场上，一分意味着上线与下线，一分意味着录取与非录取，所以，拼尽全力才有可能取得最终的胜利。预祝大家金榜题名，取得理想佳绩!

[考研英语书信写作方法

谈及写作训练,学生认为就是勤练笔,其实不然。英语的听、说、读、写四种能力是密切相关、相互渗透的。听和读是领会理解别人表达的思想,说和写是用言语表达思想。写的能力要在听、说、读的基础上进行培养和提高,而写的训练又能进一步提高听、说、读的能力。因此,写作训练应该贯穿于英语教学的全过程,才能真正提高学生的写作能力。

一、多读

“读是写的前提,写是读的升华”。一般而言,听和读的量必须数十倍地多于说和写的量,才能较自如地在口头上或书面上表达自己的思想。一方面,大量阅读可以提高阅读能力,扩大词汇量,另一方面,它还可以增强英语语感,对英语写作起着潜移默化的作用。只有当阅读量达到一定程度时,才能找到写好文章的语感。我们可以选择适合学生的读物,如英文报纸(《英语周报》、《21世纪报》)、杂志(《中学生英语园地》)、科普文章、书虫等(水平较高的学生可读小说原著)。大量阅读是学生接触英语语言材料、接受信息、活跃思维、增强记忆力的一种有效途径,同时也是培养学生英语思维能力、提高理解力、增强语感、巩固和扩大词汇量的一种有效方法,非常有利于写作。实践证明,学生平时课外阅读面越广,阅读量越大,运用英语表达的能力就越强。

二、多背

英语和汉语存在很大差异,语法规则和句子结构是不同的,很多学生在写作过程中难免会受到母语的影响,出现一些Chinglish(中式英语),而且有些语法规则也把握不准,谓语动词常出现“be+do”的错误形式或缺少谓语的现象。所以,背诵模仿是行之有效的手段之一。

(一)背课文

在多年的教学实践中,我坚持让学生背诵部分课文,较长的文章选背一两段,下节课抽查背诵,或进行默写。《新概念英语2》中很多英语短文通俗有趣,我给学生挑选其中一部分让他们背诵、默写,对培养学生的语感很有效。

(二)背范文

英语写作一般包括记叙文、说明文、议论文、应用文及开放性作文写作。我经过筛选,找出每种文体各五篇文章,同时,我也注重搜集一些好的范文和习作要求学生背诵。通过熟背精彩段落,使学生逐步掌握英语基本的表达方法,有助于模仿。而且,通过这些范文,学生可熟练掌握各种体裁的写作技巧,这是学生写好作文的一条捷径。经过一段时间的训练,学生就会有内容可写、写得出来。

三、多写

除了以上对学生进行读、背训练,还要对学生进行动手训练。学生只有通过写才能知道自己的不足与缺陷,毕竟说和写是两回事。

(一)改写课文

教师可要求学生把Reading缩写成一篇一百字左右的短文,也可让学生把对话改写成记叙文(如项链),这也是进一步理解课文的手段。一般在学完一个单元,学生熟练掌握课文之后,再做这一步,让学生尽量使用本单元的短语句型,同时,也要学着套用背诵的句子。

(二)写英语周记

让学生写英语周记,这是很多老师训练学生写作的方法。有些英语写作不好的学生,往往不坚持写或应付了事。对这样的学生,教师要严格要求,督促检查。对学生的每篇周记,教师都要认真批改。周记不必拘泥于形式,学生可以自由发挥。开始可以写简单的几句话,要求学生多用学过的词组、句型,多套用和模仿。逐渐地,学生会写多些,也会越写越流利,错误也会越来越少。

(三)每周练习写一篇作文

教师挑选一至两篇习作打在投影仪上,师生共同修改,然后让学生将改写过的文章抄写在作文积累本上。这样日积月累,学生考前只要翻翻自己的“作文本”,即可胸有成竹,这个习惯一定要养成,对学生会有很大帮助。

(四)限时写作训练

近年高考试题包容量大,知识覆盖面广,这就要求学生在做题时必须注意速度和节奏,而高考书面表达从时间分配上看,最多也只能是30分钟左右的时间,学生必须在有限时间内完成作文,并且要意思连贯,无严重语法错误。为达到这一要求,每届学生从高一开始,就应定期做限时写作训练。

四、多积累

(一)积累词汇

词汇是说话写作的必需材料,掌握词汇量的多少,是衡量一个学生英语水平高低的“标尺”。《教学大纲》规定的词汇是最基本的词汇,必须熟记。我在多年的教学中,每堂课都坚持让学生默写或听写单词,要求学生根据中文意思,写出单词的拼写形式、词类和词形变化。这就使学生积累了大量的词汇,为高考书面表达打下坚实的拼写基础,避免了因单词拼写错误而丢分。

(二)积累句型

我在平时授课过程中,让学生把重点句型记录在作文积累本上,随时翻看和背诵。如写观点类文章常用的Some share the view that...,Others hold the opposite opinion that...,The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages,As far as I’m concerned,以及常用到的定语从句、倒装句、非限、非谓、同位语、强调句型等。

(三)积累文章

学生背过的篇章、写过的作文,尤其是各种体裁的范文习作,要分类整理粘贴在作文积累本上,经常拿出来朗读背诵。我教过的学生,都积累了大量的范文习作,考试时可做到有备无患。

通过长期的写作训练,我狠抓学生基本功,学生的写作水平明显提高。我所教班级在每次考试中书面表达平均分都在同类班级之上。总之,英语写作训练是综合能力训练之一,写作能力的提高需要通过循序渐进的训练才能达到。听、说、读、写几方面的训练是相辅相成的,它们互相促进、互相制约,在平时教学中教师要合理安排,有机穿插,这样才能让学生“下笔如有神”。

解决方法题型

要求考生列举出解决问题的多种途径

1.问题现状

2.怎样解决（解决方案的优缺点）

In recent days，we have to face I problem——A，which is becoming more and more serious. First，——（说明A的现状）。Second，——（举例进一步说明现状）

Confronted with A，we should take a series of effective measures to cope with the situation. For one thing，——（解决方法一）。 For another ——（解决方法二）。 Finally， ——（解决方法三）。

Personally， I believe that ——（我的解决方法）。 Consequently， I‘m confident that a bright future is awaiting us because ——（带来的好处）。

导语：2017年1月10日，重庆一名老人倒地受伤。女医生谭永超正好从旁边过，马上跪地按压急救，直至救护车到来，老人最终化险为夷。下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的作文素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

历史无非就是问题的消亡和解决，现实也无非是问题的存在和发展。从辩证法的角度看待我们所处的世界，本身就是一个不断发现问题、解决问题的过程。关键是要把问题放在中国的现实语境中观察，与国情对接、跟现实对表。

阅读下面的材料，根据要求写一篇不少于800字的文章。

2017年1月10日，重庆一名老人倒地受伤。女医生谭永超正好从旁边过，马上跪地按压急救，直至救护车到来，老人最终化险为夷。报道说，女医生的丈夫在那一瞬心里转过很多念头，老人身份不明、伤情不明、受伤原因也不确定啊!况且胸外心脏按压急救动作幅度、频率都比较大，妻子怀孕6个月了，不宜做剧烈运动……谭医生却没有丝毫犹豫，说这是做医生的习惯，见到病人就要冲上去。现场抢救的照片被人拍下上传网络，网友们点赞如潮。都夸：好医生啊!

请全面理解材料内涵，也可以选择一个角度，联系生活实际构思作文，但不可脱离材料的含意。

要求：立意自定，内容自选，题目自拟，除诗歌外，文体不限。

材料没有难度，一个身份不明的伤者，一位善良的医生，一名体贴的丈夫，一群热心的网友，一个有温度的故事。但如何让善念形成本能反应，如何挖掉恶行背后的养成土壤，值得我们深思。

站在谭永超医生的角度：①让善行成为习惯，让善念成为本能。②救死扶伤是医生的天职，恪守职责是公民基本的道德规范。

站在谭医生丈夫的角度：①小爱在左，大爱在右;患得患失，常常让人见义而不为。②见义勇为与理性同行，应建立在现实条件的基础上。

站在网友的角度：①让正能量化作时代的洪流;惩恶扬善，人人有责。②见贤思齐，见不贤而内自省也。③心存善念，爱满天下。

综合的角度：①每个公民既要守住真善，塑造自我，更要关爱他人，惠及社会。②道德选择离不开平时的养成。③勿以善小而不为，勿以恶小而为之。④铲除恶行滋生的土壤。

1. To cherish the enviroment is to love ourselves.

爱护环境就是爱护我们自己。

2.Water is the source of ourlives

水是生命之源。

3.I make an urgent appeal that measures should be taken to cope with the situation

我急切呼吁应该采取措施改变现状。

4.Our government is doing its best to take measures to fight against pollution.

我们政府正努力制定措施与污染作斗争。

5.We are sure that well win the battle.

我们坚信我们能赢得战斗。

6.Its high time that we should protect our enviroment from being polluted.

是时候我们应该防止环境污染了。

7. Keep our mountains green，the wate clean，and the sky blue.

使我们山更绿，水更清，天更蓝。

8.However，natural resources are not inexhaustible.some reserves are already on the brink of exhaustion.

然而自然资源并不是无穷无尽的，一些储量已经到了穷尽的边缘。

9.If we do something with no thought for the furture . The later generation would be in danger.

如果我们不为将来考虑，后代就会受到威胁。

10.Our earths days are numbered without urgent help.

没有及时的帮助我们的地球就屈指可数了。

11(Sth.)are bound to generate severe consequences if we keep turning a blink eye to them.

如果我们继续睁一只眼闭一只眼的话，……一定会有恶劣的后果。

诗词，是指以古体诗、近体诗和格律词为代表的中国汉族传统诗歌。亦是汉字文化圈的特色之一。小编收集了诗词写作的基础知识，欢迎阅读。

【含义】

押韵，又作压韵，是指在韵文的创作中，把相同韵部的字放在规定的位置上。诗词歌赋句末(偶亦在句中)用同一韵母的字，以使声韵和谐。一般用于偶句句尾。也称韵脚。在某些句子的最后一个字，都使用韵母相同或相近的字，使朗诵或咏唱时，产生铿锵和谐感。

所谓韵部，就是将相同韵母的字归纳到一类，这种类别即为韵部。同一韵部内的字都为同韵字。

任何诗歌都要求押韵，古今中外概莫能外，所不同者，对于押韵的限制多与少、严与宽的不同而已。这也是诗歌同其它文学体裁的最大分别。比较常用的是《108部平水韵》，详见前篇“浅谈古诗词韵律”。

押韵是增强诗歌音乐性的重要手段，近体诗为了使声调和谐、容易记忆，对于押韵十分讲究。古人通常使用官方颁布的专门指导押韵的书，如《唐韵》、《广韵》、《礼部韵略》、《佩文诗韵》、《诗韵集成》、《诗韵合壁》等，以南宋王文郁撰的《新刊韵略》最为流行，刘渊先生后来编著了一本《壬子新刊礼部韵》，即现在的《平水韵》。

韵脚是韵文(诗、词、歌、赋等)句末押韵的字。一篇(首)韵文的一些(或全部)句子的最后一个字，采用韵腹和韵尾相同的字，这就叫做押韵。因为押韵的字一般都放在一句的最后，故称“韵脚”。引这些字的韵母要相似或相同。

韵又叫做韵母。韵母分为韵首、韵腹、韵尾三部分。一般只要韵尾相同，韵腹相同或者相近即可，而对于韵首则不做考虑。律诗里的韵和现代普通话里以及新华字典里的韵不尽相同，有些字，看着读音相同，韵母也一样，但却不属于同一个韵部;而有些字，看着读音有差异。所以，写诗的时候，应该先掌握一些简单的声韵知识。

韵是诗词格律的基本要素之一。从《诗经》到后代的诗词，差不多没有不押韵的。民歌也没有不押韵的。在北方戏曲中，韵又叫辙，押韵叫合辙。一首诗有没有韵，是一般人都觉察得出来的。至于要说明甚么是韵，那却不太简单。但今天的汉语拼音字母，对于韵的概念还是容易说明的。

诗词中所谓韵，大致等于汉语拼音中所谓韵母。大家知道，一个汉字用拼音字母拼起来，一般都有声母，有韵母。例如"公"字拼成gōng，其中g是声母，ōng是韵母。声母总是在前面的，韵母总是在后面的。同韵的字大致都可以用来押韵。

举个例子：

《书湖阴先生壁》

(宋)王安石

茅檐常扫净无苔，

花木成蹊手自栽。

一水护田将绿绕，

两山排闼送青来。

这里"苔"、"栽"和"来"押韵，因为它们的韵母都是ai。"绕"字不押韵，因为"绕"字拼起来是rào，它的韵母是ao，跟"苔"、"栽"、"来"不是同韵字。依照诗律，像这样的四句诗，第三句是不押韵的。

在拼音中，a、e、o的前面可能还有i，u、ü，如ia，ua，uai，iao，ian，uan，üan，iang，uang，ie，üe，iong，ueng等，这种i，u，ü叫做韵头，不同韵头的字也算是同韵字，也可以押韵。

例如：

《四时田园杂兴》

(宋)范成大

昼出耘田夜绩麻，

村庄儿女各当家。

童孙未解供耕织，

也傍桑阴学种瓜。

诗中的"麻"、"家"、"瓜"的韵母是，韵母虽不完全相同，但它们是同韵字，押起韵来是同样谐和的。

押韵的目的是为了声韵的谐和。同类的乐音在同一位置上的重复，这就构成了声音回环的美。但是，为甚么当我们读古人的诗的时候，常常觉得它们的韵并不十分谐和，甚至很不谐和呢?这是因为时代不同的缘故。语言发展了，语音起了变化，我们拿现代的语音去读它们，自然不能完全适合了。

例如：

《山行》

(唐)杜牧

远上寒山石径斜，

白云深处有人家。

停车坐爱枫林晚，

霜叶红于二月花。

xié和jiā，huā不是同韵字，但是，唐代"斜"字读siá(s读浊音)，和上海"斜"字的读音一样。因此，在当时是谐和的。

又如：

《江南曲》

(唐)李益

嫁得瞿塘贾，

朝朝误妾期。

早知潮有信，

嫁与弄潮儿。

在这首诗里，"期"和"儿"是押韵的;按今天普通话去读，qī和ér就不能算押韵了。如果按照上海的白话音念"儿"字，念像ní音(这个音正是接近古音的)。今天我们当然不可能(也不必要)按照古音去读古人的诗;不过我们应该明白这个道理。

古人押韵是依照韵书的。古人所谓"官韵"，就是朝廷颁布的韵书。这种韵书，在唐代，和口语还是基本上一致是;依照韵书押韵，也是比较合理的。宋代以后，语音变化较大，诗人们仍旧依照韵书来押韵，那就变为不合理的了。今天我们如果写旧诗，自然不一定要依照韵书来押韵。不过，当我们读古人的诗的时候。却又应该知道古人的诗韵。

通常讲的押韵，人们比较熟悉。新诗、戏曲、快板、顺口溜，都讲押韵。在这几种文体中，按照汉语拼音，一般韵母相同的字就可以用来押韵。

然而，格律诗的用韵，与此不同。格律诗必须按照诗韵来写，就是要按照韵书中分列的韵目，来辨别平仄和选择押韵的字。一首诗的所有韵脚，必须从同一个韵目中选字来押韵。如李白的《敬亭山》，用的“闲”和“山”这两个韵脚，就同属于“删”这个韵目。

一首诗中，如果有一个韵脚用了别的韵目的字，就叫做“出韵”。在科举中，出韵的诗算不合格。比如按照现代普通话，“闲”和‘先”当然是可以押韵的，但按照诗韵则不可以，因为这两个字分属于两个不同的韵目。

一、文章形式的革命夹叙夹议

尽快脱离初中只重记叙，笼统归结的写法。高中的作文记叙只向最高水平开一条缝，你得复杂记叙，融情思与哲理于一炉，有最动人的细节和最精美的表达，巧妙蕴含深刻的思辨和无穷的回味，这不是一般人能做到的，更不是学不会议论抒情的同学的避难所。所以，比自己多练议论，远比固守初中记叙的窠臼要有前途。高中的记叙必须简约，只提炼能说明自己观点的内核，而尽量舍弃叙述的完整过程与细节。叙，惜墨如金；而起始学写议，应力求具体多点分析阐述。

二、文章立意的升华深入浅出

叙完笼统归结是初中模式作文的又一通病，常常文章的结尾具有宽泛的普适性，而缺乏对文章应有之义作具体针对性的挖掘阐发，常常文章的穿鞋戴帽大到可以套在无数篇文章上，却没什么真正的思考。高中作文倘使还用夹叙夹议，也要对叙的材料反复推敲，找出几例可以统一在一个观点里的材料，就材料的不同侧面来评析议论，最后上升归结出恰当切题、言之有物的中心。

三、文章表达的提高点睛生花

好的文笔追求更高效率、更多意蕴。描述中就渗透情思与评析，这是较高水平的表达。一般的叙议分段，也应注意所叙材料紧贴自己的议论，议论应采取逐层推进，前后分界，避免相互缠绕。但又必须前后连贯，形成一个整体。在文章中一定写好精心组织的关键议论，努力使文章多处呈现运用一定修辞的文采。

[高中话题作文写作基础介绍

1.dogoodto(对。。。有益)，doharmto(对。。。有害）

Readingdoesgoodtoourmind.

2.Thereisnodenyingthat+S+V…(不可否认的。。。）

Thereisnodenyingthatbecomingavolunteerphasized.

20.由于这些理由，我…Forthesereasons,I….

21.总而言之…Inconclusion,…=Tosumup,…

22.因此我们能下个结论，那就是…

Wecan,therefore,cometotheconclusion(that)子句

23.如果我们能做到如上所述，毫无疑问地…

Ifwecandoasmentionedabove,therecanbenodoubt(that)子句

24.因此，这就是…的原因Thus,thisisthereasonwhy….

25.所以，我们应该了解…Therefore,weshouldrealize(that)子句

26.因此，由上列的讨论我们可以明了…

We,therefore,canmakeclearfromtheabovediscussion(that)子句

27.1.从～观点来看…Fromthe～pointofview,…

2.根据～的看法…Accordingto～pointofview,….

下面的材料旨在丰富学生在是非问题写作方面的思想和语言，考生在复习时可以先分类阅读这些篇章，然后尝试写相关方面的作文题。

对于素材中用黑体字的部分，特别建议你熟读，背诵，因为它们在语言和观点上都值得吸收。学习语言的人应该明白，表达能力和思想深度都靠日积月累，潜移默化。从某种意义上说，提高英语写作能力无捷径可走，你必须大段背诵英语文章才能逐渐形成语感和用英语进行表达的能力。这一关，没有任何人能代替你过。

因此，建议你下点苦功夫，把背单词的精神拿出来背诵文章。何况，并不是要求你背了之后永远牢记在心：你可以这个星期背，下个星期忘。这没有关系，相信你的大脑具有神奇的能力。背了工具箱里的文章后，你会惊讶的发现：I can think in English now！

1.?????? Proverbs

1. A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that individuality is the key to success.

2. The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make one’s mind a pleasant place in which to spend one’s time.

3. Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.

4. The classroom--not the trench--is the frontier of freedom now and forevermore.

5. Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

6. It is the purpose of education to help us become autonomous, creative, inquiring people who have the will and intelligence to create our own destiny.

7. You see, real ongoing, lifelong education doesn’t answer questions; it provokes them.

8. People will pay more to be entertained than educated.

9.the most important function of education at any level is to develop the personality of the individual and the significance of his life to himself and to others. This is the basic architecture of a life; the rest is ornamentation and decoration of the structure.

10. The essence of our efforts to see that every child has a chance must be to assure each as equal opportunity, not to become equal, but to become different-to realize whatever unique potential of body, mind, and spirit he or she possesses.

11. A great teacher never strives to explain his vision-he simply invites you to stand beside him and see for yourself.

12. If you can read and don’, you are an illiterate by choice.

2. Damaging Research

A study by National Parent-Teacher Organization revealed that in the average American school, eighteen negatives are identified for every positive that is pointed out. The Wisconsin study revealed that when children enter the first grade, 80 percent of them feel pretty good themselves, but by the time they get to the sixth grade, only 10 percent of them have good self-images.

3. Education and Citizenship

An important aspect of education in the United States is the relationship between education and citizenship. Throughout its history this nation has emphasized public education as a means of transmitting democratic values, creating equality of opportunity, and preparing new generations of citizens to function in society. In addition, the schools have been expected to help shape society itself. During the 1950s, for example, efforts to combat racial segregation focused on the schools. Later, when the Soviet Union launched the first orbiting satellite, American schools and colleges came under intense pressure and were offered many incentives to improve their science and mathematics programs so that the nations would not fall behind the Soviet Union in scientific and technological capabilities.

Education is often viewed as a tool for solving social problems, especially social inequality. The schools, t is thought, can transform young people from vastly different backgrounds into competent, upwardly mobile adults. Yet these goals seem almost impossible to attain. In recent years, in fact, public education has been at the center of numerous controversies arising from the gap between the ideal and the reality. Part of the problem is that different groups in society have different have different expectations. Some feel that children should be taught basic job-related skills; still others believe education should not only prepare children to compete in society but also help them maintain their cultural identity (and, in the case of Hispanic children, their language). On the other hand, policymakers concerned with education emphasize the need to increase the level of student achievement and to improve parents in their children’s education.

Some reformers and critics have called attention to the need to link formal schooling with programs designed to address social problems. Sociologist Charles Moscos, for example, is a leader in the movement to expand programs like the Peace Corps, Vista, and Outward Bound into a system of voluntary national service. National service, as Moscos defines it, would entail “the full-time undertaking of public duties by young people whether as citizen soldiers or civilian servers-who are paid subsistence wages” and serve for at least one year. In return for this period of service, the volunteers would receive assistance in paying for college or other educational expenses.

Advocates of national service and school-to-work programs believe that education does not have to be confined to formal schooling. In devising strategies to provide opportunities for young people to serve their society, they emphasize the educational value of citizenship experiences gained outside the classroom. At this writing there is little indication that national service will become a new educational institution in the United States, although the concept is steadily gaining support among educators and social critics.

4. The Teacher’s Role

Given the undeniable importance of classroom experience, sociologists have done a considerable amount of research on what goes on in the classroom. Often they start from the premise that, along with the influence of peers, students’ experiences in the classroom are of central importance to their later development. One study examined the impact of a single first-grade teacher on her students’ subsequent adult status. The surprising results of this study have important implications. It is evident that good teachers can make a big difference in children’s lives, a fact that gives increased urgency to the need to improve the quality of primary-school teaching. The reforms carried out by educational leaders like James Comer suggest that when good teaching is combined with high levels of parental involvement the results can be even more dramatic.

Because the role of the teacher is to change the learner in some way, the teacher-student relationship is an important part of education. Sociologists have pointed out that this relationship is asymmetrical or unbalanced, with the teacher being in a position of authority and the student having little choice but to passively absorb the information provided by the teacher. In other words, in conventional classrooms there is little opportunity for the students to become actively involved in the learning process. On the other hand, students often develop strategies for undercutting the teacher’s authority: mentally withdrawing, interrupting, and the like. Hence, much current research assumes that students and teachers influence each other instead of assuming that the influence is always in a single direction.

5. Education Philosophy

For the past fifty years our schools have operated on the theories of John Dewey (1859-1953), an American educator and writer. Dewey believed hat the school’s job was to enhance the natural development of the growing child, rather than to pour information, for which the child had no context, into him or her. In the Dewey system, the child becomes the active agent in his own education, rather than a passive receptacle for facts.

Consequently, American schools are very enthusiastic about teaching “life skills” –logical thinking, analysis, creative problem--solving. The actual content of the lessons is secondary to the process, which is supposed to train the child to be able to handle whatever life may present, including all the unknowns of the future. Students and teachers both regard pure memorization as an uncreative and somewhat vulgar.

In addition to “life skills”, schools are assigned to solve the ever growing stoke of social problems. Racism, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, drug use, reckless driving, and are just a few of the modern problems that have appeared on the school curriculum.

This all contributes to a high degree of social awareness in American youngsters.

6. Student Life

To the students, the most notable difference between elementary school and the higher levels is that in junior high they start “changing classes”. This means that rather than spending the day in one classroom, they switch classrooms to meet their different teachers. This gives them three or four minutes between classes in the hallways, where a great deal of the important social action of high school traditionally takes place. Students have lockers in these hallways, around which thy congregate.

Society in general does not take the business of studying very seriously. Schoolchildren have a great deal of free time, which they are encouraged to fill with extracurricular activities—sports, clubs, cheerleading, scouts—supposed to inculcate such qualities as leadership, sportsmanship, ability to organize, etc. those who don’t become engaged in such activities or have afterschool jobs have plenty of opportunity to “hang out”, listen to teenager music, and watch television.

Compared to other nations, American students do not have much homework. Studies also show that American parents have lower expectations for their children’s success in school than other nationalities do. (Historically, there has not been much correlation between American school success and success in later life.) “He’s just not a scholar”, the American parents might say, content that their son is on the swim team and doesn’t take drugs. (Some of the young do choose to study hard, for reason of their own, such as determining that the road to riches lies through Harvard Business School.)

What American schools do effectively teach is the competitive method. In innumerable ways children are pitted against each other—whether in classroom discussion, spelling bees, reading groups, or tests. Every classroom is expected to produce a scattering of A’s and F’s (teachers often grade A=excellent; B=good; C=average; D=poor; and F=failed). A teacher who gives all A’s looks too soft—so students are aware that they are competing for the limited number of top marks.

Foreign students sometimes don’t understand that copying from other people’s papers or from books is considered wrong and taken seriously. Here, it is important to show that you have done your own work and are displaying your own knowledge. It is more important than helping your friends to pass, whom we think do not deserve to pass unless they can provide their own answers. Group effort goes against the competitive grain, and American students do not study together as many Asians do. Many Asians in this country consider their group study habits a large contributor to their school success.

7. Adult Education

After complaining about many aspects of American life, a 40-year-old woman from Hong Kong concluded, “But where else could someone my age go back to school and get a degree in social work? Here you can change your whole life, start a new business, do what you really want to do.”

So at least to this person, school requirements weren’t inhibiting. And to millions of others, adult education is the path to a new career, or if not to a new career, to a new outlook. Schools generally encourage the older person who wants to start anew, and besides regular classes, schedule evening classes in special programs. Today there are so many people of retirement age in college that it is no longer remarkable.

8. Moral Relativism in American

Improving American education requires not doing new things but doing (and remembering) some good old things. At the time of our nation’s founding, Thomas Jefferson listed the requirements for a sound education in the Report of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia. In this landmark statement on American education, Jefferson wrote of the importance of education and writing, and of reading history, and geography. But he also emphasized the need “to instruct the mass of our citizens in these, their rights, interests, and duties, as men and citizens.” Jefferson believed education should aim at the improvement of both one’s “morals” and “faculties”. That has been the dominant view of the aims of American education for over two centuries. But a number of changes, most of them unsound, have diverted schools from these great pursuits. And the story of the loss of the school’s original moral mission explains a great deal.

Starting in the early seventies, “values clarification” programs started turning up in schools all over America. According to this philosophy, the schools were not to take part in their time-honored task of transmitting sound moral values; rather, they were to allow the child to “clarify” his own values (which adults, including parents, had no “rights” to criticize). The “values clarification” movement didn’t clarify values; it clarified wants and desires. This form of moral relativism said, in effect, that no set of values was right or wrong; everybody had an equal right to his own values; and all values were subjective, relative, and personal. This destructive view took hold with a vengeance.

In 1985 The York Times published an article quoting New York area educators, in slavish devotion to this new view, proclaiming, “They deliberately avoid trying to tell students what is ethically right and wrong.” The article told of one counseling session involving fifteen high school juniors and seniors. In the course of that session a student concluded that a fellow student had been foolish to return one thousand dollars she found in a purse at school. According to the article, when the youngsters asked the counselor’s opinion, “He told them he believed the girl had done the right thing, but that, of course, he would not try to force his values on them. ‘If I come from the position of what is wrong,’ he explained, ‘then I’m not their counselor.’”

Once upon a time, a counselor offered counselor, and he knew that an adult does not form character in the young by taking a stance of neutrality toward questions of right and wrong or by merely offering “choices” or “options”.

In response to the belief that adults and educators should teach children sound morals, one can expect from some quarters indignant objections (I’ve heard one version of it expressed countless times over the years): “Who are you to say what’s important?” or “Whose standards and judgments do we use?”

The correct response, it seems to me, is, is we ready to do away with standards and judgments? Is anyone going to argue seriously that a life of cheating and swindling is as worthy as a life of honest, hard work? Is anyone (with the exception of some literature professors at our elite universities) going to argue seriously the intellectual corollary, that a Marvel comic book is as good as Macbeth? Unless we are willing to embrace some pretty silly position, we’ve got to admit the need for moral and intellectual standards. The problem is that some people tend to regard anyone who would pronounce a definitive judgment as an unsophisticated Philistine or a closed-minded “elitist” trying to impose his view on everybody else.

The truth of the real world is that without standards and judgments, there can be no progress. Unless we are prepared to say irrational things—that nothing can be proven more valuable than anything else or that everything is equally worthless—we must ask the normative question. It may come, as a surprise to those who fell that to be “progressive” is to be value-neutral. But as Matthew Amold said, “the world is forwarded by having its attention fixed on the best things” and if the world can’t decide what the best things are, at least to some degree, then it follows that progress, and character, is in trouble. We shouldn’t be reluctant to declare that some things, some lives, books, ideas, and values are better than others. It is the responsibility of the schools to teach these better things.

At one time, we weren’t so reluctant to teach them. In the mid-nineteenth century, a diverse, widespread group of crusaders began to work for the public support of what was then called the “common school”, the forerunner of the public school. They were to be charged with the mission of school felt that the nation could fulfill its destiny only if every new generation was taught these values together in a common institution.

The leaders of the common school movement were mainly citizens who were prominent in their communities—businessmen, ministers, local civic and government officials. These people saw the schools as upholders of standards of individual morality and small incubators of civic and personal virtue; the founders of the public schools had faith that public education could teach good moral and civic character from a common ground of American values.

But in the past quarter century or so, some of the so-called experts became experts of value neutrality, and moral education was increasingly left in their hands. The commonsense view of parents and the publicthat schools should reinforce rather than undermine the values of home, family, and country, was increasingly rejected.

There are those today still that claim we are now too diverse a nation, that we consist of too many competing convictions and interests to instill common values. They are wrong. Of course we are a diverse people. We have always been a diverse people. And as Madison wrote in FederalistNo.10, the competing, balancing interests of a diverse people can help ensure the survival of liberty. But there are values that all American citizens share and that we should want all American students to know and to make their own: honesty, fairness, self-discipline, fidelity to task, friends, and family, personal responsibility, love of country, and belief in the principles of liberty, equality, and the freedom to practice one’s faith. The explicit teaching of these values is the legacy of the common schools, and it is a legacy to which we must return.

9. Schools Should Teach Values

People often said, “Yes, we should teach these values, but how do we teach them?” this question deserves a candid response, one that isn’t given often enough. It is by exposing our children to good character and inviting its imitation that we will transmit to them a moral foundation. This happens when teachers and principals, by their words and actions, embody sound convictions. As Oxford’s Mary Warnock has written, “You cannot teach morality without being committed to morality yourself; and you cannot be committed to morality yourself without holding that some things are right and others wrong.” The theologian Martin Buber wrote that the educator is distinguished from all other influences “by his will to take part in the stamping of character and by his consciousness that he represents in the eyes of the growing person a certain selection of what is, the selection of what is ‘right’, of what should be.” It is in this will, Buber says, in this clear standing for something, that the “vocation as an educator finds its fundamental expression.”

There is no escaping the fact that young people need as example principals and teachers who know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, and who themselves exemplify high moral purpose.

As Education Secretary, I visited a class at Waterbury Elementary School in Waterbury, Vermont, and asked the students, “Is this a good school?” They answered, “Yes, this is a good school.” I asked them, “Why?” Among other things, one eight-year-old said, “The principal Mr. Riegel, makes good rules and everybody obeys them.” So I said, “Give me an example.” And another answered, “You can’t climb on the pipes in the bathroom. We don’t climb on the pipes and the principal doesn’t either.”

This example is probably too simple to please a lot of people who want to make the topic of moral education difficult, but there is something profound in the answer of those children, something education should pay more attention to. You can’t expect children to take messages about rules or morality seriously unless they see adults taking those rules seriously in their day-to-day affairs. Certain must be said, certain limits lay down, and certain examples set. There is no other way.

We should also do a better job at curriculum selection. The research shows that most “values education” exercises and separate courses in “moral reasoning” tend not to affect children’s behavior; if anything, they may leave children morally adrift. Where to turn? I believe our literature and our history are a rich quarry of moral literacy. We should mine that quarry. Children should have at their disposal a stock of examples illustrating what we believe to be right and wrong, good and bad—examples illustrating what are morally right and wrong can indeed be known and that there is a difference.

What kind of stories, historical events, and famous lives am I talking about? If we want our children to know about honesty, we should teach them about Abe Lincoln walking three miles to return six cents and conversely, about Aesop’s shepherd boy who cried wolf if we want them to know about courage, we should teach them about Joan of Arc, Horatius at the bridge, and Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. If we want them to know about persistence in the face of adversity, they should know about the voyages of Columbus and the character of Washington during the Civil War. And our youngest should be told about the Little Engine That Could. If we want them to know about respect for the law, they should understand why Socrates told Crito: “No, I must submit to the decree of Athens.” If we want our children to respect the rights of others, they should read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’ “Letter from Birmingham jail.” From the Bible they should know about Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi, Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers, Jonathan’s friendship with David, the Good Samaritan’s kindness toward a stranger, and David’s cleverness and courage in facing Goliath.

These are only a few of the hundreds of examples we can call on. And we need not get into issues like nuclear war, abortion, creationism, or euthanasia. This may come as a disappointment to some people, but the fact is that the formation of character in young people is educationally a task different from, and prior to, the discussion of the great, difficult controversies of the day. First things come first. We should teach values the same way we teach other things: one step at a time. We should not use the fact that there are many difficult and controversial moral questions as an argument against basic instruction in the subject.

After all, we do not argue against teaching physics because laser physics is difficult, against teaching American history because there are heated disputes about the Founders’ intent. Every field has its complexities and its controversies. And every field has its basics, its fundamentals. So they are too with forming character and achieving moral literacy. As any parent knows, teaching character is a difficult task. But it is a crucial task, because we want our children to be healthy, happy, and successful but decent, strong, and good. None of this happens automatically; there is no genetic transmission of virtue. It takes the conscious, committed efforts of adults. It takes careful attention.

10. College Pressures

Mainly I try to remind that the road ahead is a long one and that it will have more unexpected turns than they think. There will be plenty of time to change jobs, change careers, change whole attitudes and approaches. They don not want to hear such liberating news. They want a map—right now – that they can follow unswervingly to career security, financial security, Social Security and, presumably, a prepaid grave.

What I wish for all students is some release from the clammy grip of the future. I wish them a chance to savor each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a grim preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as instructive as victory and is not the end of the world.

My wish, of course, is na?ve. One of the national gods venerated in our media—the million-dollar athlete, the wealthy executive—and glorified in our praise of possessions. In the presence of such a potent state religion, the young are growing up old.

I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. It is easy to look around for villains—to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, and the students for driving themselves too hard. But there are no villains: only victims.

“In the late 1960s.” one dean told me. “The typical question that I got from students was ‘Why is there so much suffering in the world’ or ‘how I can make a contribution?’ Today it’s ‘Do you think it would look better for getting into law school if I did a double major in history and political science, or just majored in one of them?’” many other deans confirmed this pattern. One said: “They are trying to find an edge—the intangible something that will look better on paper if two students are about equal.”

Note the emphasis on looking better. The transcript has become a sacred document, the passport to security. How one appears on paper is more important than how one appears in person. A is for Admirable and B is for Borderline, even though, in Yale’s official system of grading, A means “excellent” and B means “very good.” Today, looking very good is no longer good enough, especially for students who hope to go on to law school or medical school. They know that entrance into the better schools will be an entrance into the better law firms and better medical practices where they will make a lot of money. They also know that the odds are harsh. Yale Law School, for instance, matriculates 170students from an applicant pool of 3,700; Harvard enrolls 550 from a pool of 7,000.

It’s all very well for those of us who write letters of recommendation for our students to stress the qualities of humanity that will make them good lawyers or doctors. And it’s nice to think that admission officers are ready reading our letters and looking for the extra dimension of commitment or concern. Still, it would be hard for a student not to visualize these officers shuffling so many transcripts studded with As that they regard a B as positively shameful.

The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just want to graduate and get a job. Long gone are the days of the “gentleman’s C.” when students journeyed through college with a certain relaxation, sampling a wide variety of courses-music, art, philosophy, classics, anthropology, poetry, religion—that would send them out as liberally educated men and women. If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates who have this range and curiosity than those who narrowly pursued safe subjects and high grades. I know countless students whose inquiring minds exhilarate me. I like to hear the play of their ideas. I do not know if they are getting As or Cs, and I do not care. I also like them as people. The country needs them, and they will find satisfying jobs. I tell them to relax. They cannot.

Nor can I blame them. They live in a brutal economy. Tuition, room, and board at most private colleges now come to at least $7,000, not counting books and fees. This might seem to suggest that the colleges are getting rich. But they are equally battered by inflation. Tuition covers only 60 percent of what it costs to educate a student, and ordinarily the remainder comes from what college receives in endowments, grants, and gifts. Now, the remainder keeps being swallowed by the cruel costs—higher every year—of just opening the doors. Heating oil is up. Insurance is up. Postage is up. Health-premium costs are up. Everything is up. Deficits are up. We are witnessing in American the creation of a brotherhood of paupers—colleges, parents, and students, joined by the common bond of debt.

Today it is not unusual for a student, even if he works part time at college and full time during the summer, to accrue $5,000 in loans after four years—loans that he must start to repay within one year after graduation. Exhorted at commencement to go forth into the world, he is already behind as he goes forth. How could he not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning? I have used “he,” incidentally, only for brevity. Women at Yale are under no less pressure to justify their expensive education to themselves, their parents, and society. In fact, they are probably under more pressure. For although they leave college superbly equipped to bring fresh leadership to traditionally male jobs, society has not yet caught up with this fact.

Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably, the two are deeply intertwined.

I see many students taking pre-medical courses with joyless tenacity. They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. It saddens me because I know tem in other corners of their life as cheerful people.

“Do you want to medical school?” I asked them.

“I guess so,” they say, without conviction, or “Not really.”

“Then why are you going?”

“Well, my parents want me to be a doctor. They are paying all this money and …”

Poor students, poor parents, they are caught in one of the oldest webs of love and duty and guilt. The parents mean will; they are trying to steer their sons and draughts toward a secure future. But the sons and daughter want to major in history or classics or philosophy—subjects with no “practical” value. Where’s the payoff on the humanities? It’s not easy to persuade such loving parents that the humanities do indeed pay off. The intellectual faculties developed by studying subjects like history and classics—an ability to synthesize and relate, to weigh cause and effect, to see events in perspective—are just the faculties that make creative leaders in business or almost any general field. Still, many fathers would rather put their money on courses that point toward specific profession—courses that are pre-law, pre-medical, pre-business, or, as I sometimes heard it put, “pre-rich.”

But the pressure on students is severe. They are truly torn. One part of them feels obliged to fulfill their parents’ expectations; after all, their parents are older and presumably wiser. Another part tells them that the expectations that are right for their parents are not right for them.

I know a student who wants to be an artist. She is very obviously an artist and will be a good one—she has already had several modest local exhibits. Meanwhile she is growing as a well-round person and taking humanistic subjects that will enrich the inner resources out of which her art will grow. But her father is strongly opposed. He thinks that an artist is a “dumb” thing to be. The student vacillates and tries to please everybody. She keeps up with her art somewhat furtively and takes some of the “dumb” courses her father wants her to take—at least they are dumb courses for her. She is a free spirit on a campus of tense students—no small achievement in it—and she deserves to follow her muse.

Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also intertwined, and they begin almost at the beginning of freshman year.

“I had a freshman student I’ll call Linda,” one dean told me, “who came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate, Barbara, was much brighter and studied all the time. I could not tell her that Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same thing about Linda.”

The story is almost funny—except that it is not. It is symptomatic of all the pressure put together. When every student thinks every other student is working harder and doing better, the only solution is to study harder still. I see students going off to the library every night after dinner and coming back when it closes at midnight. I wish they would sometimes forget about their peers and go to a movie. I hear the clacking of typewriters in the hours before dawn. I see the tension in their eyes when exams are approaching and papers are due: “Will I get everything done?”

Probably they won’t. They will get blocked. They will sleep. They will oversleep. They will bug out.

Part of the problem is that they are expected to do. A professor will assign five page papers. Several students will start writing ten page papers to impress him. Then more students will write ten page papers, and a few will raise the ante to fifteen. Pity the poor student who is still just doing the assignment.

“Once you have twenty or thirty percent of the student population deliberately overexerting,” one dean points out, “It’s bad for everybody. When a teacher gets more and more effort from his class, the student who is doing normal work can be perceived as not doing well. The tactic work, psychologically.”

Why cannot the professor just cut back and not accept longer papers? He can, and he probably will. But by then the term will be half over and the damage done. Grade fever is highly contagious and not easily reversed. Besides, the professor’s main concern is with his course. He knows his students only in relation to the course and does not know that they are also overexerting in their other courses. Nor is it really his business. He did not sign up for dealing with the student as a whole person and with all the emotional baggage the student brought along from home. That’s what deans, masters, chaplains, and psychiatrists are for.

To some extent this is nothing new: a certain number of professors have always been self-contained islands of scholarship and shyness, more comfortable with books than with people. But the new pauperism has widened the gap still further, for professors who actually like to spend time with students do not have as much time to spend. They are also overexerting. If they are young, they are busy trying to publish in order not to perish, hanging by their figure nails onto a shrinking profession.

If they are old and tenured, they are buried under the duties of administering departments—as departmental chairmen or members of committees—that have been thinned out by the budgetary axe.

Ultimately it will be the students’ own business to break the circles in which they are trapped. They are too young to be prisoners of their parents’ dreams and their classmates’ fears. They must be jolted into believing into themselves as unique men and women who have the power to shape their own future.

“Violence is being done to the undergraduate experience,” says Carlos Hortas. “College should be open-ended: at the end it should open many, many roads. Instead, students are choosing their goal in advance, and their choices narrow as they go along. It’s almost as if they think that the country has been codified in the type of jobs that exist-that they’ve got to fit into certain slots. Therefore, fit into the best paying slot.”

“They ought to take chances. Not taking chances will lead to life of colorless mediocrity. They’ll be comfortable. But something in the spirit will be missing.”

I have painted too drab a portrait of today’s students, making them seem a solemn lot. That is only half of their story; if they were so dreary I wouldn’t so thoroughly enjoy their company. The other half is that they are easy to like. They are quick to laugh and to offer friendship. They are not introverts. They are usually kind and are more considerate of one another than any student generation I have known.

Nor are they so obsessed with their studies that they avoid sports and extracurricular activities. On the contrary, they juggle their crowded hours to play on a variety of teams, perform with musical and dramatic groups, and write for campus publications. But this in turn is one more cause of anxiety. There are too many choices. Academically, they have 1,300 courses to select from; outside class they have to decide how much spare time they can spare and how to spend it.

This means that they engage in fewer extracurricular pursuits than their predecessors did. If they want to row on the crew and play in the symphony they will eliminate one; in the ‘60s they would have done both. They also tend to choose activities that are self-limiting. Drama, for instance, is flourishing in all twelve of Yale’s residential colleges, as it never has before. Students hurl themselves into these productions—as actors, directors, carpenters, and technicians—with a dedication to create the best possible play, knowing that the day will come when the run will end and they can get back to their studies.

They also cannot afford to be the willing slave of organizations like the Yale Daily News. Last spring at the one-hundredth anniversary banquet of that paper—who’s past chairmen include such once and future kings as Potter Stewart, Kingman Brewster, and William F. Buckley, Jr.—much was made of the fact that the editorial staff used to be small and totally committed and that “newsies” routinely worked fifty hours a week. In effect they belonged to a club; Newsies is how they defined themselves at Yale. Today’s students will one or two articles a week, when he can, and he defines himself as a student. I’ve never heard the word Newsie except at the banquet.

If I have described the modern undergraduate primarily as a driven creature who is largely ignoring the blithe spirit inside who keeps trying to come out and play, it’s because that’s where the crunch is, not only at Yale but throughout American education. It’s why I think we should all be worried about the values that are nurturing a generation so fearful of risk and so goal-obsessed at such an early age.

I tell students that there is no one “right” way to get ahead—that each of them is a different person, starting from a different point and bound for a different destination. I tell neither them that change is a tonic and that all the slots are not codified nor the frontiers closed. One of my ways of telling them is to invite men and women who have achieved success outside the academic world to come and talk informally with my students during the year. They are heads of companies or ad agencies, editors of magazines, politicians, public officials, television magnates, labor leaders, business executives, Broadway products, artists, writers, economists, photographers, scientists, historians—a mixed bag of achievers.

I asked them to say a few words about how they got started. The students assume that they started in their present profession and knew all along that it was what they wanted to do. Luckily for me, most of them got into their field by a circuitous route, to their surprise, after many detours. The students are startled. They can hardly conceive of a career that was not pre-planned. They can hardly imagine allowing the hand of God or chance to nudge them down some unforeseen trail.

11. To Err Is Wrong

In the summer of 1979, Boston Red Sox first baseman Carl Yastrzemski became the fifteenth player in baseball history to reach the three thousand hit plateaus. This event drew a lot of media attention, and for about a week prior to the attainment of this goal, hundreds of reports covered Yaz’s every more. Finally, one reporter asked, “Hey Yaz, aren’t you afraid all of this attention will go to your head?” Yastrzemski replied, “I look at this way: in my career I’ve been up to bat over ten thousand times. That means I’ve been unsuccessful at the plate over seven thousand times. That fact alone keeps me from getting a swollen head.”?

Most people consider success and failure as opposites, but they are actually both products of the same process. As Yaz suggest, an activity that produces a hit may also produce a miss. It is the same with creative thinking; the same energy that generates good creative ideas also produces errors.

Many people, however, are not comfortable with errors. Our educational system, based on “the right answer” belief, cultivates our thinking in another, more conservative way. From an early age, we are taught that right answers are good and incorrect answers are bad. This value is deeply embedded in the incentive system used in most schools:

Right over 90% of the time = “A”

Right over 80% of the time = “B~”

Right over 70% of the time = “C~” Right over 60% of the time = “D~” Less than 60% correct, you fail.

From this we learn to be right as often as possible and to keep our mistakes to a minimum. We learn, in other words, that “to err is wrong.

Playing It Safe

With this kind of attitude, you aren’t going to be taking too many chances. If you learn that failing even a litter penalizes you (e.g., being wrong only 15% of the time garners you only a “B” performance), you learn not to make mistakes. And more important, you learn not to put yourself to situation where you might fall. This leads to conservative thought pattern designed to avoid the stigma our society puts on “failure”.

I have a friend who recently graduated from college with a Master’s degree in Journalism. For the last six month, she has been trying to find a job, but to no avail. I talked with her about situation, and realized that her problem is that she doesn’t know how to fail. She went through eighteen years of schooling to try any approaches where she might fail. She has been conditioned to believe that failure is bad in and of itself, rather than a potential stepping-stone to new ideas.

Look around. How many middle managers, housewives, administrators, teachers, and other people do you see who are to try anything new because of this failure? Most of us have learned not to make mistakes in public. As a result, we remove ourselves from many learning experience except for those occurring in the most private of circumstances.

Different Logic

From a practical point of view, “to err is wrong” makes sense. Our survival in the everyday world requires us to perform thousand of small tasks without failure. Think about it: you wouldn’t last very long if you were to step out in front of traffic or stick your hand a pot of boiling water. In addition, engineers whose bridges collapse, stock brokers who lose money for their clients, and copywriters whose ad campaigns decrease sales won’t keep their jobs very long.

Nevertheless, too great an adherence to the belief “to err is wrong” can greatly undermine your attempts to generate new ideas. If you are more concerned with producing right answers than generating original ideas, you’ll probably make uncritical use of the rules, formulae, and procedures used to obtain these right answers. By doing this, you’ll by-pass the germinal phase of the creative process, and thus spend litter time testing assumptions, challenging the rules, asking what-if questions, or just playing around with the problem. All of these techniques will produce some incorrect answers, but in the germinal phase errors are viewed as a necessary by-product of creative thinking. As Yaz would put it, “if you want the hits, be prepared for the misses.” That’s the way the game of life goes.

Errors as Stepping Stones

Whenever an error pops up, the usual response is “Jeez, another screw up, what went wrong this time?” the creative thinker, on the other hand, will realize the potential value of errors, and perhaps say something like, “Would you look at that! Where can it lead our thinking?” and then he or she will go on to use the error as a stepping stone to a new idea. As a matter of fact, the whole history of discovery is filed with people who used erroneous assumptions and failed ideas as stepping-stones to new ideas. Columbus thought he was finding a shorter route to India. Johannes Kepler stumbled on to the idea of interplanetary gravity because of assumptions that were right for the wrong reasons. And, Thomas Edison knew 1800 ways not to build a light bulb.

The following story about the automotive genius Charles Kettering exemplifies the spirit of working through erroneous assumptions to good ideas. In 1912, when the automobile industry was just beginning to grow, Kettering was interested in improving gasoline engine efficiency. The problem he faced was“knockthe phenomenon in which gasoline takes too long to burn in the cylinder-thereby reducing efficiency.

Kettering began searching for ways to eliminate the “knock.” He thought to him, “How can I get the gasoline to combust in the cylinder at an earlier time?” the key concept here is “early”. Searching for analogous situations, he looked around for models of “things that happen early.” He thought of historical models, physical models, and biological models. Finally, he remembered a particular plant, the trailing arbutus, which “happens early,” i.e., it blooms in the snow (“earlier” than other plants). One of this plant’s chief characteristics is its’ red leaves, which help the plant retain light at certain wavelengths. Kettering figured that it must be the red color, which made the trailing arbutus bloom earlier.

Now came the critical step in Kettering’s chain of thought. He asked himself, “How can I make the gasoline red?” perhaps I’ll put red dye in the gasoline—maybe that’ll make it combust earlier.” He looked around his workshop, and found that he didn’t have any red dye. But he did happen to have some iodine—perhaps that would do. He added the iodine to the gasoline and, lo and behold, the engine didn’t “knock”.

[英语作文写作的需要背诵的部分

假设你是李华，你的英国网友Peter希望了解一下我国高考英语试卷（NMET）中的“短

文改错”（Error Correction）题型的情况。请你写一封回复邮件。并特别强调自己某一次因为没有严格按照要求答题被扣掉了本可得到的7分。

注意：1．词数100左右

2．内容请参照本卷该大题内容。

3．生词：（打）勾：tick 分：point 逻辑（的）：logic

Hi, Peter:

Thanks for your e-mail. Here I’m going to tell you what you asked about.

Error Correction, as the 1st section of Written Part of NMET, mainly tests the mastery of the use of words and grammar of English. The understanding of the given text is course important to the performance.

There are 10 numbered lines, each of which may have one mistake. You have to decide firstly whether there is a mistake or not. If not, put a tick in the numbered blank. If there is a mistake, you may have to add a word, cross out a word, or change word. You have to find out the mistakes in the use of words and/or grammar. Sometimes there may be a logic problem, which would be the most difficult.

Last time I got 7 points less than expected. Why? I didn’t put the answers strictly following the rule, although I did know how to do it.

Anything still unclear? Just write to me.

嗨，彼得：

谢谢你的邮件。在这里我要告诉你，你问。

误差校正，作为高考英语笔试部分第一部分，主要测试词汇和语法的掌握英语的使用。对文本的理解是很重要的。

一共有10株，其中可能有一个错误。首先你要确定是否有错误。如果没有，空格的空白。如果有一个错误，你可以添加一个词，划掉一个字，或改变的话。你要找到的词语或语法错误使用。有时可能会有一个逻辑问题，这将是最困难的。

上次我得了7分，比预期的少。为什么？我没有把答案的严格规则，虽然我不知道如何去做。

还不清楚什么呢？就给我写信。

良好的开端等于成功的一半，下面是小编整理的高考英语写作基础知识，欢迎阅读。

一. 开头用语：

良好的开端等于成功的一半.在写作文时，通常以最简单也最常用的方式---开门见山法。也就是说, 直截了当地提出你对这个问题的看法或要求，点出文章的中心思想。

1.议论文：

A. Just as every coin has two sides, cars have both advantages and disadvantages.

B. Compared to/ In comparison with letters, e-mails are more convenient.

C. When it comes to computers, some people think they have brought us a lot of convenience. However,...

D. Opinions are divided on(关于) the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city and in the countryside.

E. As is known to all/ As we all know, computers have played an important role/part in our daily life.

F. Why do you go to university? Different people have different points of view.

2. 书信：

A. I am writing to you to apply for admission to your university as a visiting scholar.

B. I read an advertisement in today’s China Daily and I apply for the job...

C. Thank you for your letter of May 5.

D. How happy I am to receive your letter of January 9.

E. How nice to hear from you again!

3. 口头通知或介绍情况：

A. Ladies and gentlemen, May I have your attention, please? I have an announcement to make.

(词典例子：Can I have your attention please?请注意听我讲话好吗?)

B. Attention, please. I have something important to tell you.

C. Mr. Green, Welcome to our school. To begin with, let me introduce Mr. Wang to you.

4. 演讲稿：

A. Ladies and gentlemen, I feel very much honored to have a chance here to make a speech on the subject -- A Balanced Diet and Health.

(词典解释：be/feel honoured to do sth=feel proud and happy做某事感到荣幸

例子：I was honoured to have been mentioned in his speech. 他在讲话中提到了我，真是荣幸。)

B. Good morning everyone! Allow me, first of all, on behalf of all present here, to extend our warm welcome and cordial greeting to our distinguished guest.

(词典解释：extend=to offer or give sth to sb 提供;给予

例子：I’m sure you will join me in extending a very warm welcome to our visitors. 我肯定你们会同我一起向来访者表示热烈的欢迎。)

(词典解释：allow me=used to offer help politely (礼貌地表示主动帮忙)让我来

二.并列用语：

as well as, not only…but (also), including,

A. Not only do computers play an important part in science and technology, but also play an informative role in our daily life.

B. All of us, including the teachers / the teachers included, will attend the lecture.

C. He speaks French as well as English.=He speaks English, and French as well.=He speaks not only English but also French.

D. E-mail, as well as telephones, is playing an important part in daily communication.

三.对比用语：

on the one hand---, on the other hand---, on the contrary/contrary to ..., though, for one thing, for another; nevertheless

A. I know the Internet can only be used at home or in the office, but on the other hand, it is becoming more and more popular for much information as well as clear and vivid pictures.

B. It is hard work; I enjoy it, though.

C. Contrary to what I had originally thought, the trip turned out to be fun.

(词典：contray to sth 与之相异的，相对的，相反的

Contrary to popular belief, many cats dislike milk. 与普通的想法相反，许多猫并不喜欢牛奶。)

四. 递进用语：

even, besides, what’s more, as for, so…that…, worse still, moreover, furthermore; but for, in addition, to make matters worse

A. The house is too small for a family of four, and furthermore/besides/what’s more/moreover /in addition/worse still , it is in a bad location.

高考语文作文名师点津系列――记叙文运思

从小学二、三年级开始学写作文就写记叙文，写到高中了，还是解决不了记叙文的"疑难杂症"：

1.行文拖沓，故事感不强；

2."流水帐"结构，缺乏思想性；

3.平淡无味，缺乏鲜明、生动的意象。

【实用兵法】

写"标准的记叙文"，把握三个词：故事、思想、描写

1."故事"就是"出事了"。

◇"出事了"，出什么事了？谁家出事了？在哪儿出事了？因为什么出事了？什么时候出事了？……记叙要素全了。

◇"出事了"，是因为有矛盾冲突，利益的、情感的、性格的……越错综复杂越有看头。

◇"出事了"，就得解决，解决就有个过程--精彩的情节渲染点儿，扣人心弦的"疙瘩"吊着胃口慢慢解。

一个句子必须按照一定的模式来组织，这个模式称为句式。下面是语文迷为大家提供的高考英语写作优秀句式，供大家参考。

1) on the other hand, the contribution of day schools cant be ignored.

2) due to high tuition fee, most of ordinary families cannot afford to send their children to boarding schools.

3) since it is unnecessary to consider students routinelife, day school can lay stress on teaching instead of other aspects, such as management of dormitory and cafeteria.

4) furthermore, students living in their own home would have access to a comfortable life and have more opportunities to communicate with their parents, which have beneficial impact on development of their personal character.

5) from what has been discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that both of day schools and boarding schools are important to train young students for our society.

6) there is much discussion over science and technology. one of the questions under debate is whether traditional technology and methods are bound to die out when a country begins to develop modern science and technology.

7) According to a recent survey, four million people die each year from diseases linked to smoking.

8) The latest surveys show that quite a few children have unpleasant associations with homework.

9) No invention has received more praise and abuse than Internet.

10) People seem to fail to take into account the fact that education does not end with graduation.

11) An increasing number of people are beginning to realize that education is not complete with graduation.

12) When it comes to education, the majority of people believe that education is a lifetime study.

13) Many experts point out that physical exercise contributes directly to a persons physical fitness.

14) Proper measures must be taken to limit the number of foreign tourists and the great efforts should be made to protect local environment and history from the harmful

15) An increasing number of experts believe that migrants will exert positive effects on construction of city. However, this opinion is now being questioned by more and more city residents, who complain that the migrants have brought many serious problems like crime and prostitution.

16) Many city residents complain that it is so few buses in their city that they have to spend much more time waiting for a bus, which is usually crowded with a large number of passengers.

17) There is no denying the fact that air pollution is an extremely serious problem: the city authorities should take strong measures to deal with it.

18) An investigation shows that female workers tend to have a favorable attitude toward retirement.

19) A proper part-time job does not occupy students too much time. In fact, it is unhealthy for them to spend all of time on their study. As an old saying goes: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

20) Any government, which is blind to this point, may pay a heavy price.

21) Nowadays, many students always go into raptures at the mere mention of the coming life of high school or college they will begin. Unfortunately, for most young people, it is not pleasant experience on their first day on campus.

22) In view of the seriousness of this problem, effective measures should be taken before things get worse.

23) The majority of students believe that part-time job will provide them with more opportunities to develop their interpersonal skills, which may put them in a favorable position in the future job markets.

24) It is indisputable that there are millions of people who still have a miserable life and have to face the dangers of starvation and exposure.

25) Although this view is wildly held, this is little evidence that education can be obtained at any age and at any place.

26) No one can deny the fact that a persons education is the most important aspect of his life.

27) People equate success in life with the ability of operating computer.

28) In the last decades, advances in medical technology have made it possible for people to live longer than in the past.

29) In fact, we have to admit the fact that the quality of life is as important as life itself.

30) We should spare no effort to beautify our environment.

31) People believe that computer skills will enhance their job opportunities or promotion opportunities.

32) The information Ive collected over last few years leads me to believe that this knowledge may be less useful than most people think.

33) Now, it is generally accepted that no college or university can educate its students by the time they graduation.

34) This is a matter of life and death--a matter no country can afford to ignore.

35) For my part, I agree with the latter opinion for the following reasons:

36) Before giving my opinion, I think it is important to look at the arguments on both sides.

37) This view is now being questioned by more and more people.

38) Although many people claim that, along with the rapidly economic development, the number of people who use bicycle are decreasing and bicycle is bound to die out. The information Ive collected over the recent years leads me to believe that bicycle will continue to play extremely important roles in modern society.

39) Environmental experts point out that increasing pollution not only causes serious problems such as global warming but also could threaten to end human life on our planet.

40) In view of such serious situation, environmental tools of transportation like bicycle are more important than any time before.

41) Using bicycle contributes greatly to peoples physical fitness as well as easing traffic jams.

42) Despite many obvious advantages of bicycle, it is not without its problem.

43) Bicycle cant be compared with other means of transportation like car and train for speed and comfort.

44) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that advantages of bicycle far outweigh its disadvantages and it will still play essential roles in modern society.

45) There is a general discussion these days over education in many colleges and institutes. One of the questions under debate is whether education is a lifetime study.

46) This issue has caused wide public concern.

47) It must be noted that learning must be done by a person himself.

48) A large number of people tend to live under the illusion that they had completed their education when they finished their schooling. Obviously, they seem to fail to take into account the basic fact that a persons education is a most important aspect of his life.

49) As for me, Im in favor of the opinion that education is not complete with graduation, for the following reasons:

50) It is commonly accepted that no college or university can educate its students by the time they graduate.

51) Even the best possible graduate needs to continue learning before she or he becomes an educated person.

52) It is commonly thought that our society had dramatically changed by modern science and technology, and human had made extraordinary progress in knowledge and technology over the recent decades.

53) For lack of distinct culture, some places will not attract tourists any more. Consequently, the fast rise in number of foreign tourists may eventually lead to the decline of local tourism.

54) There is a growing tendency for parents to ask their children to accept extra educational programs over the recent years.

55) This phenomenon has caused wide public concern in many places of world.

56) Many parents believe that additional educational activities enjoy obvious advantage. By extra studies, they maintain, their children are able to obtain many kinds of practical skills and useful knowledge, which will put them in a beneficial position in the future job markets when they grow up.

57) In the first place, extra studies bring about unhealthy impacts on physical growth of children. Educational experts point out that, it is equally important to take some sport activities instead of extra studies when children have spent the whole day in a boring classroom.

58) Children are undergoing fast physical development; lack of physical exercise may produce disastrous influence on their later life.

59) In the second place, from psychological aspect, the majority of children seem to tend to have an unfavorable attitude toward additional educational activities.

60) It is hard to imagine a student focusing their energy on textbook while other children are playing.

61) Moreover, children will have less time to play and communicate with their peers due to extra studies, consequently, it is difficult to develop and cultivate their character and interpersonal skills. They may become more solitary and even suffer from certain mental illness.

62) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that, although extra studies indeed enjoy many obvious advantages, its disadvantages shouldnt be ignored and far outweigh its advantages. It is absurd to force children to take extra studies after school.

63) Any parents should place considerable emphasis on their children to keep the balance between play and study. As an old saying goes: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

64) There is a growing tendency for parent these days to stay at home to look after their children instead of returning to work earlier.

65) Parents are firmly convinced that, to send their child to kindergartens or nursery schools will have an unfavorable influence on the growth of children.

66) However, this idea is now being questioned by more and more experts, who point out that it is unhealthy for children who always stay with their parents at home.

67) Although parent would be able to devote much more time and energy to their children, it must be admitted that, parent has less experience and knowledge about how to educate and supervise children, when compared with professional teachers working in kindergartens or nursery schools.

68) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw a conclusion that, although the parents desire to look after children by themselves is understandable, its disadvantages far outweigh the advantages.

69) Parents should be encouraged to send their children to nursery schools, which will bring about profound impacts on children and families, and even the society as a whole.

70) Many leaders of government always go into raptures at the mere mention of artistic and cultural projects. They are forever talking about the nice parks, the smart sculptures in central city and the art galleries with various valuable rarities. Nothing, they maintain, is more essential than such projects in the economic growth.

71) But is it really the case? The information Ive collected over last few years leads me to believe that artistic and cultural projects may be less useful than many governments think. In fact, basic infrastructure projects are playing extremely important role and should be given priority.

72) Those who are in favor of artistic and cultural projects advocate that cultural environment will attract more tourists, which will bring huge profits to local residents. Some people even equate the build of such projects with the improving of economic construction.

73) Unfortunately, there is very few evidence that big companies are willing to invest a huge sums of money in a place without sufficient basic projects, such as supplies of electricity and water.

74) From what has been discussed above, it would be reasonable to believe that basic projects play far more important role than artistic and cultural projects in peoples life and economic growth.

75) Those urban planners who are blind to this point will pay a heavy price, which they cannot afford it.

76) There is a growing tendency these days for many people who live in rural areas to come into and work in city. This problem has caused wide public concern in most cities all over the world.

77) An investigation shows that many emigrants think that working at city provide them with not only a higher salary but also the opportunity of learning new skills.

78) It must be noted that improvement in agriculture seems to not be able to catch up with the increase in population of rural areas and there are millions of peasants who still live a miserable life and have to face the dangers of exposure and starvation.

79) Although rural emigrants contribute greatly to the economic growth of the cities, they may inevitably bring about many negative impacts.

80) Many sociologists point out that rural emigrants are putting pressure on population control and social order; that they are threatening to take already scarce city jobs; and that they have worsened traffic and public health problems.

81) Now people in growing numbers are beginning to believe that learning new skills and knowledge contributes directly to enhancing their job opportunities or promotion opportunities.

82) An investigation shows that many older people express a strong desire to continue studying in university or college.

83) For the majority of people, reading or learning a new skill has become the focus of their lives and the source of their happiness and contentment after their retirement.

84) For people who want to adopt a healthy and meaningful life style, it is important to find time to learn certain new knowledge. Just as an old saying goes: it is never too late to learn.

85) There is a general debate on the campus today over the phenomenon of college or high school students doing a part-time job.

86) By taking a major-related part-job, students can not only improve their academic studies, but gain much experience, experience they will never be able to get from the textbooks.

87) Although peoples lives have been dramatically changed over the last decades, it must be admitted that, shortage of funds is still the one of the biggest questions that students nowadays have to face because that tuition fees and prices of books are soaring by the day

88) Consequently, the extra money obtained from part-time job will strongly support students to continue to their study life.

89) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw a conclusion that part-time job can produce a far-reaching impact on students and they should be encouraged to take part-time job, which will benefit students and their family, even the society as a whole.

90) These days, people in growing numbers are beginning to complain that work is more stressful and less leisurely than in past. Many experts point out that, along with the development of modern society, it is an inevitable result and there is no way to avoid it.

一、LETTER(书信)

书信通常由信头、信内地址、称呼、正文、谦称和签名六个部分构成。

1.从信纸中偏右处向右写发信人的地址和写信日期。由小到大，分数行书写，同一行的两部分之间用逗号隔开。顺序为：门牌号→楼号→街名→城镇名→省名→邮政编码→国名(在寄往国外时)。美国人常采用左边开头式;英国人常采取每行逐渐向右缩进式。注意要把地址写在上面，日期写在下面，每个词的首字母要大写。日期的写法与日记中日期写法相同。

2.从信纸的左上方比信头(发信人的地址和写信日期)低1—2行处顶格写收信人姓名、地址，常采用齐头式，姓名在上，地址在下，写法同发信人地址。若是私人信函，这一部分可省略不写。

3.称呼要从信纸左边顶格写起，其位置低于信头和信内地址。对不熟悉的女性用Dear Madam，Dear Ladies，作称呼语;对不熟悉的男性用Dear Sir，Dear Sirs，作称呼语;对所熟悉的人用Dear Tom，Dear Mary，即：在Dear后直写其名作称呼语;对有地位头衔的人用“Dear+ 头衔+姓”作为称呼语，如：Dear Editor Kang，Dear Doctor Li，Dear Professor Zhao，对一般人用Dear Mr Lin，Dear Ms Li，Dear Miss Liu。即：在Dear后加尊称加姓氏作为称呼语。美国人在称呼语后用冒号，英国人用逗号。

4.正文是信的主体。一般在称呼下一行顶格写起，从第二段起，在起首处空4—6个字母的距离。书信可根据表达的需要，灵活选用时态。起首语常用：(1)Your letter came to me this afternoon.(2)Im very glad to receive your letter.(3)Your letter reached me yest erday.(4)I have the pleasure to tell you that…(5)Im glad to tell you that…(6) I was shocked to learn that…(7)Thank you for writing to me.(8)Thanks for your lett er .It was lovely to hear from you.结束语常用：(1)Please remember me to…(2)With be st wishes to your family.(3)I wish to inform you that…(4)Please write soon.(5)I m ust stop writing now，as I have rather a lot of work to do.(6)Wish you the best of s uccess.(7)Wish you the best of health.(8)Give my best wishes to …

5.结尾的谦称是在正文下面，信纸中间偏右所写的客套语。第一个字母要大写，末尾用逗号。北美洲的国家常把yours放在后边，欧洲国家常把yours放在前边。写给上级、长者、位尊者常用：Yours respectfully，Respectfully yours，Yours，Very respectfully，Yours sincerely，Sincerely yours;写给不认识的人时常用：Yours truly，Yours faithfully;写给朋友时常用：Yours lovely;Yours，Yours ever;写给亲属和挚友时常用：Your loving daughter，Your loving son，Yours，Yours affectionately.

6.签名一般写在谦称下一行偏右，使尾字母与谦称尾字母对齐。

7.范文请参阅：NMET1995书面表达;JEFCⅡ-Unit 16;SEFC1A-Unit 1。

8.书信除按以上格式书写之外，现在英美人士常把书信的六个部分，按照顺序一律从信纸左边顶格写完六个部分，且用的人越来越多。

二、DIARY(日记)

日记是用来记述一天生活中发生的重要事情及感受的文体。

1.在纸的左上角顶格写星期和日期。星期在左，常用Sunday，Monday，Tuesday，Wednesday，T hursday，Friday，Saturday。日期在右，美国人习惯上先写月，再写日，最后写年。如：October 20，1998。英国人习惯上先写日，再写月，最后写年;如：20 June 1998。

2.在纸的右上角写天气。表示天气情况时常用Bright，Clear，Sunny，Fine(晴);Cloudy(多云);Rainy(雨);Overcast(阴);Foggy(雾);Windy(风);Hot(热);Haily(冰雹);Sh ower(阵雨);Warm(暖和);Thundering(雷雨);Snowy(雪);Fog(雾)。

3.日记的小标题写在第二行，也可省略。

4.正文第一段常顶格书写，也可不顶格写。日记记述的是当天或前一天发生过的事情，所以，日记常用一般过去时写。

5.若要表达自己的感受、想法，针对某件事发表议论，进行说理，或者为了抒情、描景写人生动，则用一般现在时。

6.范文请参阅：JEFCⅡ-Unit 27;SEFC1A-Unit 14;SEFC1A《同步听力》p.49;NMET1992和N MET1998书面表达;JEFCⅢ-Unit 23。

三、CARDS OF CONGRATULATION(贺卡)

贺卡是逢年过节，向亲朋好友表示祝贺的最方便的方式。贺卡可分为圣诞卡、贺年卡、教师节贺卡及纪念日卡等等，写法格式通常有两种。一种由称呼、贺词、祝贺人签名三部分构成 ，另一种用短信代替卡片。

1.称呼是指祝贺人对受贺人的称呼，一般从卡片的左上方写起。常用：To dear+受贺人称谓，To+受贺人称谓，也可以省略前边的to，称呼后用逗号。如：To dear teacher，Mr and Mrs Mike

2.贺词是向受贺人表达良好祝愿的话。一般写在称呼下一行，句首可与称呼语齐头，也可以向右空出4—6个字母。写贺年片时常用：(1)May the New Year be a happy one for you all!(2)Best wishes to the four of you for a prosperous and Happy New Year!(3)Happy New Year to you!(4)A Happy New Year!(5)Wish to see more of you next year!(6)Best wishes for a bright New Year!(7)Youll have a very Happy New Year!(8)Let me wish you and your family a Happy and Healthy New Year!(9)I do hope this finds you well with a Happy New Year ahead!(10)I wish you the Happiest Possible New Year!写教师节贺卡时常用：(1)Happy Teachers Day!(2)Good Luck!(3)Best wishes!(4)We hope youll have a very happy year in our class.(5)Thank you for teaching us so well.(6)With our best wishes for TeachersDay.(7)Hope you are having a very Pleasant Day.(8)Hope it will bring you Good Health and Happiness.(9)I am thinking of you often.(10)All my family joins me in wishing you health and happiness.写圣诞卡时常用：(1)A Merry Christmas!(2)I wish you a Merry Christmas!(3)Hope you have a very Good Christmas!( 4)May this Christmas be your Merriest!(5)We send our love to all of you and the hope that youll have a Merry Christmas!(6)Hope youll have a very merry Christmas!( 7) Merry Christmas!(8)A merry Christmas to you.(9)A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!(10)Best wishes to you for a Prosperous and Merry Christmas!写生日贺卡时常用：(1)Happy birthday to you!(2)Happy birthday!(3)With Best Wishes for a Happy Brithday!

3.祝贺人签名一般写在贺卡的右下方，把from常常加在姓名前，也可以省略from。如：From your student Liu Zhong，From Mr and Mrs White，Your loving son Lei，Your students，

4.贺卡也可以用短信形式书写，在逢年过节或者特别纪念日，把贺词连同你的近况等写成短信，寄给亲朋好友。

范文请参阅：JEFCⅠ-99;JEFCⅢ-Unit 1;JEFCⅢp.97。

四、NOTICE(通知)

通知又称通告或布告，是上级对下级、组织对成员部署工作、传达事情、召开会议所使用的一种文体。

1.通知的第一行正中写发出通知的单位名称，发出通知的单位名称还可以写在正文下方的右侧，也可以把单位省略不写。

2.把NOTICE写在正文上方正中的位置。

3.正文是通知的内容，是通知的主体。要简明扼要地把通知的对象、事由、时间、地点及内容写清楚，语言应简洁明了，条理清晰，要求明确，常用一般现在时和一般将来时写。

4.在正文下方的左侧写出通知的日期，日期也可省略不写。

5.广播通知和口头通知，在开头要用称呼语，常用的称呼语有：(1)Boys and Girls，(2)De ar friends，(3)Ladies，(4)Dear ladies，(5)Gentlmen，(6)Ladies and gentlmen，(7)Comrades，常把称呼语从左侧顶格书写，在后面用逗号或冒号。

6.常用的正文开头用语有：(1)May I have your attention，please?(2)Attention，please !I have something to tell you.(3)Attention，please!I have an announcement to make.(4)Attention，please!I have good news for you all.(5)Attention please，everyone!

7.常用的正文结尾用语有：(1)Thats all!Thank you!(2)Please be there on time.(3)E ver yone is welcome.(4)Dont be late，will you?(5)Thank you for your attention.(6)Don t be late!(7)Dont forget，will you?(8)We must get there on time.(9)I hope all of you will have a good time.

8.在正文中常用的句式有：(1)It has been decided that well visit…(2)We have dec ided that well pay a visit to…(3)Well have a talk from…to…(4)Professor Liu will give us a talk on…(5)The football star will give us a lecture on…(6)You are r equired to come on time.(7)A lecture will be given by….(8)There will be a visit to …(9)A talk will be given by…(10)I’m sure well learn a lot of things from it. (11)It will be given in…(12)Youd better take your valuables with you.

9.范文请参阅：SEFC1A-Unit 6;NMET1989高考书面表达答案;NMET1994高考书面表达答案。

五、MESSAGE(留言条)

留言条是转达事情所使用的一种便条。

1.若拿起电话听筒，对方要找的人未在场时，你可以签写一张留言条。正中上方写TELEPHONE MESSAGE，在左边的“From”：后签对方的姓名，在右边的“To”：后签要找的人的姓名，在左边的 “Date”：后写接电话的日期，在右边的“Time”：后写接电话的时间。在“Message”：后写所要通知的事情，这部分是主体，写清人物、时间、地点和事由。在右下边的Signature：后签写留言条人的姓名。

2.留言条也可以把“FROM：”、“TO：”、“DATE：”、“MESSAGE：”按顺序从上到下顶格齐头排列，把“TIME：”写在“DATE：”的后边，省略“SIGNATURE：”。

3.在MESSAGE：后常写的句式有：(1)He wants to see you as soon as possible.(2)He w ould like to meet you…(3)Be sure to call…(4)She wants to meet…

4.若要找某人安排工作、通知会议等，当要找的人不在时，写一张内容简短的书信，右上边写日期，第二行从左边顶格写称呼，第三行从左边起写正文，在正文右下方签名。

5.范文请参阅：JEFCⅢ-Unit 10。

六、WRITTEN REQUEST FOR LEAVE(请假条)

请假条是日常生活和工作中，临时遇到一些事情或因生病等需要请假，给主管部门的负责人所写的简便字据。格式与书信格式大致相同，在纸的第一行右边写请假日期，在第二行左边顶格写称呼语，称呼语后用逗号。在第三行左边起首处空4—6个字母的距离，开始写正文。内容、事由、时间写清就行。在正文下偏右处写谦称，在谦称下写姓名。

1.写请假条时常用语有：(1)Im sorry I cant come to school because…(2)My grandm ot her is seriously ill. There is no one at home…(3)I have got a high fever and cough badly…(4)Im writing to ask for sick leave of one day.(5)I cant go to school be cause I have got a cold.(6)Please give an extension of leave for two days.(7)I have to go to Xian tomorrow because…(8)I have got things to do this afternoon.Im writing to ask for leave…(9)I want to ask for…leave.

2.若请病假，常在假条后附医生建议书。

七、POSTAL TELEGRAM(电报)

电报是与外地进行紧急通讯交流的有效手段，是准确传递信息的有效途径，是一种对文字力求精炼、准确与简明的文体。

1.正上方的空白栏由邮局营业员填写。如：报费、流水号码、记账号码、原来号码、发出时间、营业员、值机员、报类、字数、发出局名和日期时间。

2.电文第一行在左边顶格写称呼，常直呼其名，一般要大写，不要标点符号。

3.电文第二行和第三行写收报人的地址。

4.从第四行左边顶格写正文，正文全文都用大写字母，有时也可以把各词的第一个字母大写。一般只写实词，虚词常常省略。电文控制在10个字以内最为节约。

5.电文中常用动词不定式表示要求对方行动，用现在分词表示自己的行为。

6.常用电文有：(1)Send Money Soon〈速汇款〉(2)Arriving Home Safely(3)Best Wishes on Your Birthday〈谨贺生日愉快〉(4)Mother Illness Critical Return Soonest〈母病危速归〉(5)Unable Return Sunday Giving Date Later(6)Urgent Business Return Immediately(7)Send if Found Bag(8)Why Unmoney(9)Arriving 9∶00 Morning Can You Meet(10)Express Sorrow For Your Mothers Death〈惊闻令堂仙逝不胜悲痛〉

7.在正文右下方署名。

八、CERTIFICATE OF MERIT(奖状)

奖状是给获胜者及取得显著成绩的工作者所颁发的荣誉证明。

1.在奖状正中上方用大写字母写CERTIFICATE OF MERIT。

2.在奖状左上方顶格写To及获奖者姓名，姓名后用逗号。

3.在姓名下右边空4—6个字母处开始写获奖原由。

4.把发奖单位写在原由下左边，注意要顶格写，各单词首字母要大写。

5.把发奖日期写在发奖单位下边，注意要从左边顶格写起。

6.范文：

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

To Zhao Xin，

In the English competition of this year，you have won remarkable success. For enc ouragement this certificate is hereby given.

Guanshan Middle School

November 10，1999

九、WELCOMING SPEECH(欢迎词)

欢迎词是在接待客人等正式场合中使用的一种文体。一般由称呼语、正文和结束语构成。正文中对客人的来访表示欢迎，简介客人情况并向客人作自我介绍，概括叙述所要从事的活动。主题要写明确，感情真挚;条理要清;语言力求通俗、简洁、准确。

1.称呼语写在第一行左边，顶格书写。客人是人时常用：(1)Dear Miss…(2)Dear Mr…(3) Dea r Mrs…(4)Dear sir，(5)Dear Madame，(6)Dear…客人是多人时常用：(1)Dear comrades，( 2)Dear friends，(3)Dear ladies，(4)Dear gentlemen，(5)Ladies and gentlemen，(6)Boys and girls，(7)Dear comrades and friends，

2.写正文时常用句式有：(1)We thank you for your accepting our invitation to come here.(2)You are warmly welcome to our…(3)First of all，Ill introduce our…to you. (4)Now our friend is going to give us a talk on…(5)We hope you will have a nice time during your stay here.(6)I hope you will enjoy yourself.(7)Id like to express our thanks for your coming…(8)Now let me invite our friends to speak to us.(9) We feel very much honoured to have a chance to get together with…(10)First of all ， on behalf of all present here，allow me to give our warm welcome to our distingui shed guest.

3.结束语写在正文下，从左边空4—6个字母的距离处写起。常用语有：“Thank you!”“Le ts welcome…to speak to us.”;“I wish you have a good time.”;“Let us invite …to speak to us.”

十、FOUND(招领启事)

招领启事是一种公告性的应用文。由日期、启事正文、拾物人姓名构成。

1.在纸正上方中间写FOUND。

2.在右上方写日期。

3.在左边空4—6个字母的距离处起首写正文。常用句式有：(1)A wallet was left in the … (2)Will the owner pleasering…(3)I happened to find…(4)Loser is expect to come to…(5)I found…on…

4.拾物人姓名署在右下角。

5.范文请参阅：SEFC1B-Unit 18。

十一、LOST(寻物启事)

寻物启事一般由标题、正文、结束语及署名构成，是一种公告性的文体。

1.在纸的正中上方写标题LOST。

2.正文从左边写起，写清丢失物名、丢失时间、丢失地点，描述物品特征及联系方式。写正文时常用的句式有：(1)A bag with a wallet， left in…(2)I lost…(3)Will the finder please come to…(4)On…，I lost…with…(5)At…I left my…in…

3.在正文右下方用感谢语作结束语。

4.寻物人姓名署在左下角。

5.范文请参阅：SEFC1B-Unit 18。

十二、BILL(单据)

单据包括借条、收条和领条。是日常生活中向别人因手续上的需要而写的简短凭证。单据应写明事情和与事情相关的原因、人称、地点、时间和数量。

1.在单据左上方写日期。

2.在单据右顶格写“To+所借物主姓名”，另起一格写“I owe you+物品名称only”，常用 “I.O.U”代替“I owe you.”。

3.在左下角写借物人姓名。

4.领条和收条常在日期下一格右边空4—6个字母的距离处起首写Received from+姓名…。在右下方写收件人姓名及单位，在单位前常加For。

5.范文：

(1)借条

November 20，1999

To Zhang Ping

I.O.U.one hundred yuan(￥100)only.

Chang Ming

(2)收条

November 10，1999

Received from Li Hua 500 yuan for tuition.

Qiao Hongsheng

十三、INTRODUCTION OF CHARACTERS(人物介绍)

人物介绍是把某人的性格特征、工作业绩及爱憎感情通过报刊杂志进行宣传的文件。

1.把标题写在纸上方正中位置。

2.介绍人物的生平和事迹按照事情发生的先后顺序描写。一般按出生、童年、事业与兴趣、成绩等安排材料。

3.介绍人物时的常用句式有：(1)Charle Chaplin is considered one of the greatest and funniest actors in the history of the cinema.(2)He was born in London in 1889.(3)At the age of eight， he joined a group of child dancers.(4)As early as his second film， Chaplin had developed his own manner of acting， the one that was to become world?famous.(5)Mart in Luther King，Jr.， who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964，was an important political leader in the USA.(6)He had fair hair and blue eyes.(7)Joe Hill was a tall，thin，good?looking man.(8)She was a young woman who was studying art.(9)He became famous for his new theory.(10)We regard Ding Ding as our model.(11)People spoke highly of her and all respeced her.(12)She is fond of art. (13)He was interested in the theory.(14)One of the pioneers of farming was Jia Sixie.(15)When he was a child he was always trying out new ideas.

4.范文请参阅：JEFCⅢ-Unit 11;SEFC1A-Unit 13;SEFC1B-Unit 24;SEFC2A-Unit 5;SEFC2B -Unit 13;SEFC2B-Unit 19。

十四、INSTRUCTION(须知)或(说明)

须知是日常生活中，安排工作时要求工作人员应明确的事项及应注意的问题所应用的一种文体。

1.把标题一般写在纸的上方正中，每个字母均要大写，也可以把标题从上方左边顶格书写，字母大字。

2.正文常用数词标明，逐条写明应明确的事项和应注意的问题，条理要清楚，内容要准确，解释要科学、客观。

3.正文还可以从左边顶格起首分层次叙述。

4.正文常用句式是祈使句和简单句。

5.范文请参阅：JEFCⅢ-Unit 18;SEFC1B-Unit 16。

十五、RÉSUMÉ(履历表)

履历表是个人对自己的姓名、身份、学历和经历等情况作自我介绍时所填写的表格。

1.表格上方正中写有RÉSUMÉ。

2.表中项目从左边顶格依次向下排列。在“Name in Full：”后填姓名，在“Date of Birt h：”后填出生年月日，在“Place of Birth：”后填出生地点，在“Education：”后填学历，分时段填明，在“Permanent Address：”后填永久通讯地址，在“Health：”后填健康状况，在“Sex：”后填性别，在“Marital Status：”后填婚姻状况，在“Honours and Awards： ”后填受奖情况，在“Working Experience：”后填工作简历。

3.填写原则是客观、准确。

4.范文请参阅NMET1996书面表达答案。

十六、FAREWELL SPEECH(欢送词)

欢送词是欢送客人时的致辞。一般由称呼语、正文和结束语构成。

1.称呼语从纸上方第一行左边顶格起首。若欢送的是一个人，常用“Dear Mr…，”;“Dear Miss…，”;“Dear Doctor…，”;“Dear Mrs…”等等。若欢送的人多，常用“Dear friends，”;“Dear ladies and gentlemen，”;“Dear comrades and friends，”;“Dear boys and girls”等等。

2.正文在称呼语下，从左边空出4—6个字母的距离处起首。常用句式有(1)Today we gather here to have a send?off meeting.(2)Dr.Ge is going to leave his post and return to Xian.(3)He is loved and respected by us all.(4)We thank him very much for his wo nderful work.(5)We hope youll have a nice time.(6)Miss Di will leave for Beijing.(7)We wish her a pleasant journey and good health.(8)May the friendship between our two cities last for ever.(9)Well take this chance to ask Mr White to convey our friendship to the British people.(10)We are happily gathered here to give Professor Kang a warm send?off.(11)To our great joy， we are gathered here to give Mr Smith a warm seeing?off.(12)We will give a warm send?off to Miss Li going to visit Xian.(13)Dr Zhang is going to leave for home today.(14)Professor Lius visit to Xian is short but very successful.(15)In saying good?bye to him，we sincerely hope that hell have a good health.

3.结束语常另起一行，在正文下用“Thank you!”等表示谢意。

十七、POSTER(海报)

海报是向公众作广告宣传的文体。内容包括节目表、影讯、报告会、联欢会、球讯等。

1.节目表常在正上方用大写名称，在左边写Items， Items下方逐一列出节目名称，右边写P erformed by，并在下方逐一列出表演者。

2.节目表常用语有：(1)Solo：(独唱)(2)Chorus：(合唱)(3)Folk song：(民歌)(4)Comic dialogue：(相声)(5)Skit：(短剧)(6)Folk dance：(民间舞蹈)(7)Ballet：(芭蕾)(8)Peacock Dance：(孔雀舞)。

3.影讯常在正上方中间写Film Show;从左边写Name of the film：冒号右边写上上映的片名，如：Laugh Laugh Laugh;在左边另起一行写“Time”：冒号右边写映出时间，如：October 10，10∶00 PM;从左边另起一格写“Place：”冒号右边写上映地点，如：Peoples Cinema.在“Face：”后写票价;在“Ticket Office：”后写售票地点。

4.球讯常在正上方中间写“Basketball Match”;“Football Match”;“Friendly Basket ball Match”等，有时在上边写有“POSTER”。在第二行中间写比赛队名称，如：ClassⅡ vs .ClassⅢ(注：vs.=versus对);在第三行左边顶格写“Time：”，在后写比赛时间，如：6∶00 PM.Monday;在第四行左边写“Place：”在后写比赛地点。球讯也可以在醒目的标题下 ，用简炼文字叙述清比赛队名、时间、地点等，在右下方写明举办单位，在左下方顶格写出海报的日期。

5.报告会常在海报正上方中间写“Talk”，从第二行左边顶格起首写“Speaker：”在后边写报告人姓名;第三行顶格写“Subject：”在后边写报告的专题名称;第四行顶格写“Time ：”后边写清具体时间，第五行顶格写“Place：”后边写报告会地点。

6.联欢会、报告会、音乐会主持人常用语有：(1)The program is about to begin.(2)Att ention，please?(3)Ladies and gentlemen，may I have your attention，please?(4)Have your seat，everyone.(5)We heartly welcome…to join in our party.(6)We are very much honoured to have many teachers as our guests.Among them are…(7)Now the concert begins.(8)Now the talk begins.Take your seat，everyone.(9)No more talking，please.

十八、INVITATIONS(请柬)

请柬是正式社交场合采用的简短邀请信函。

1.第一行正中是邀请人的姓名;第二行常写request the pleasure of(恭请…光临);第三行写被邀请人姓名;第四行写活动内容;第五行写日期;第六行写时间;第七行写地点，第八行在左边顶格写R.S.V.P(请赐回音;请答复)在右下边可以写上电话号码。

2.请柬还可以用文字叙述清楚内容。复函时常在上方正中写“Accepting the above Invit ation”，在第二行右边写复函日期;在第三行左边顶格起首写称呼语，从第四行起写正文，格式与书信相同，右下角为谦称。

十九、PLACE OF INTRODUCTION(地点介绍)

地点介绍是对某一地方的自然环境、现在、过去及未来的情况进行描述，向大众展示该地区风貌的文体。

1.写地点介绍时，把标题写在正上方。

2.描写常按照空间位置，由近及远依次描写，也可以先总体描述后局部描述，描写时要抓住中心点和特色。叙述不同时间发生的事情要用不同的时态，用好被动语态和there be 句型。

3.地点介绍常用的句式有(1)Its to the north of England.(2)Its in the east of Shaanxi.(3)Its on the west of Shaanxi.(4)It lies south of France.(5)The city is separated by the river.(6)It is made up of four buildings.(7)It is famous for its beautiful countryside.(8)The city lies on the river.(9)It is divided into two parts.(10)The weather here is neither too cold in winter nor too hot in summer.(11)They lived mainly on potatoes.(12)The library was set up in 1997.(13)Our school has a library with books，newspapers and magazines.(14)The house used to be a temple.(15)Mountain Li is famous for its beauty.(16)It is a place where the famous men can spend their spare time.(17)In front of it is a garden.(18) In the middle of the city stands a bell tower.(19)It covers a n area 2578 square kilometers with a population of 1.26 million.(20)There are three famous parks in and around the city.

4.范文请参阅：SEFC1A-Unit 22，MET1990高考书面表达参考答案。

二十、SAFETY IN THE HOME(家庭安全公约)

家庭安全公约是家庭每个成员必须去做的成文规定。

1.在正中或从左边顶格写SAFETY IN THE HOME。

2.从第2行左边顶格起首向下依次写“POISONS：”、“FIRES：”、“ELECTRICITY：”、“GAS FIRES：”、“COOKING：”、“LADDERS：”、“WATER：”、“THINGS IN MOUTH： ”，在各栏目后用 祈使句写清务必要做到的事项。

3.范文请参阅：SEFC2A-Unit 8。

新闻定义

什么是新闻?不同的文化背景，不同的意识形态，就有不同的回答。

在美国，麦尔文•曼切尔著的《新闻报道与写作》一书，引述了过去和现在新闻学家对新闻的一些解释。例如：

达纳在1869年至1897年主管过《纽约太阳报》，他说，新闻是“社会上大多数人感兴趣，而且在此以前从未对它注意过的那些事情。”

达纳的一个编辑提出了一个经典性的新闻概念：“狗咬人，不是新闻;人咬狗，才是新闻。”(注：这是达纳1882年办《纽约太阳报》时，他属下的采访主任约翰•b•博加特对一个青年记者说的。)

另外一个新闻的典型概念是斯坦利•瓦利克尔提出来的。他是本世纪三十年代初期《纽约先驱论坛报》的采编主任。他说，新闻是建立在三个“w”的基础上：“妇女(women)、金钱(wampun)和坏事(wrongdoing)”。

其实，以上表述并非科学意义的下定义，但他们的观点却集中地代表了西方新闻学的基本立场，即一切反常的、有刺激性的、人们好奇的事才是新闻。这种观点当然有其深厚的人文背景及经济基础，虽然他们对新闻定义的认识已侧重在“读者兴趣”上，但其实质仍不能脱离“利润”的操纵。

在中国，“新闻”这个词最早出现在《新唐书》。《新唐书》记载：初唐神龙年间(公无705年前后)，有一个叫孙处玄的文人曾说过：“恨天下无书以广新闻”。孙处玄曾投书当时执政的大臣恒彦范，评论时政得失，未被采纳，他就挂冠而去，可见他是个很关心时事政治的人。这样的人对没有书刊传播新闻(当时印刷术尚未应用于书籍)表示不满，是理所当然的事。孙处玄这句议论竟被载入《新唐书》，说明尽管唐代还未完全具备传播新闻的条件，但人们已意识到需要报道这类新闻的传播工具。“新闻”一词在这里是指“最近消息”。

《现代汉语词典》释“新闻”为：①报纸或广播电台等报道的国内外消息：新闻广播/采访新闻。②指社会上最近发生的新事情。

《辞海》对新闻的解释是：①报社、通讯社、广播电台、电视台等新闻机构对当前政治事件或社会事件所作的报道。要求迅速、及时，真实，言简意明，以事实说话。形式有消息、通讯、特写、记者通信、调查报告、新闻图片、电视新闻等。②指被人当作谈助的新奇事情。如《红楼梦》第一回：“众人当作一件新闻传说。”

1943年9月陆定一提出：“新闻就是新近发生的事实的报道。”

1981年8月中宣部在京召开全国18大城某地的报纸工作座谈会，其会议纪要对新闻定义作了新的诠释：

“新闻反映新发生的、重要的、有意义的、能引起广泛兴趣的事实，具有迅速、明了、简短的特点，是一种最有效的宣传形式。”

定语修饰的限制显然是考虑了“读者兴趣”，同时也顾及到了“社会效果”，这些是对陆定一定义的有效补充，然而其偏颇也是显而易见的。

铭仁园高三话题类作文常用短语与句型荟萃(一)----旅游&交通

本话题主要包括：1.旅游；2.描述一次旅程；

针对本话题，高考命题人员可能会从以下角度来命题。

1.描述个人旅游经历 2. 谈旅行中的不文明现象 3 .太空旅游、生态旅游 4.度假方式的变化及其原因5.旅游计划的拟订、准备及注意事项 一、话题常用单词

1. travel/journey/trip/tour n.旅游，旅行 16. a group/organized tour n. 团体游

2. travel agency n. 旅行社 17. a self-driving tripn. 自驾游

3. guiden. 向导，导游 18. destinationn. 目的地

4. flight ticketn. 机票 19. sceneryn. 风景，景色

5. passport n. 护照 20. disadvantage n. 不利条件

6. visan.签证 21. insurancen. 保险

7. identity card(ID) 身份证 22. interesting/ funny/ exciting adj 有趣的

8. tent n. 帐篷 23. enjoyable令人愉快的

9. camp n&vi. 露营 24. memorable 令人难忘的

10. hoteln. 旅馆 25. attractive/fascinatingadj 迷人的

11. necessity n. 必需品 26. boring/dull/tiringadj.无聊的

12. schedule n. 计划表，日程表 27. well-organized adj 组织有序的

13. tourist attractions/places of interest 28. convenient adj 方便的，便利的 /scenic spots/sights旅游景点 29. crowded adj 拥挤的

14. DIY tour n. 自助游 30. severe/seriousadj 严重的 15. space tourism n. 太空旅游

二、话题常用短语

1. go on a wildlife tour/a hiking trip

参加野生动物之旅/去远足

2. be on holiday/a trip to sp 去某地度假/旅行

3. see sb off 送行

4. pay a visit to sp/sb 参观某地/拜访某人

5. show sb around 带领某人参观

6. set out/off 出发，启程

7. check in 登记住宿

8. check out 结账退房

9. have a good time/enjoy oneself/have fun 玩的开心

10. broaden one’s horizon/mind 开拓视野

11. eich one’s knowledge丰富知识

11. experience foreign culture 体验国外的文化

12. join a tour group参加旅游团 三、话题常用句型

1. He who travels far knows much. 远行者见闻多。

2. Travelling can eich our knowledge.旅游可以丰富我们的知识。

3. Travelling enables us to learn a lot that we cannot get from books 旅游可以使我们学到很多在书本上学不到的东西。

4. It’s my pleasure to tell you how to get to the Great Wall. 我很乐意告诉你如何到达长城。

5. Welcome to Sichuan. I feel it an honor to be your guide. 欢迎来到四川。我很荣幸能够担任你的导游。

6. I will keep you company to visit numerous places of interest.我将陪你去参加许多的名胜古迹

7. A visit to Sichuan will be an unforgettable experience. 到四川旅行将会令人难忘。

8. There are many places of interest in Sichuan, such as…四川有很多名胜古迹，比如…

9. Sichuan is rich in tourist attractions and enjoys many world-famous places of interest.

四川有很多景点，并且享有很有世界著名的名胜古迹。

10. However, travelling may cause some problems. 然而，旅行可能会造成一些问题。

11. Great changes have taken place in the ways that people spend their holidays in the past decades. 在近几十年内，人们的度假方式已经发生了巨大的变化。

四、佳作欣赏

nick,将于八月来四川旅游，特来询问，有关旅游景点的情况，请根据，提供的要求写封回信，表示盼望他的到来

要点：1.旅游资源：许多世界著名的风景名胜，如九寨沟（海子：清澈见底，色彩斑斓）；都

江堰水利工程（2000年的历史，仍发挥作用） 2.相关信息： 气侯适宜，交通方便。

Dear Nick,

Im glad to hear that youre coming to Sichuan in August. Youve made the wise choice to travel here. Sichuan Province is rich in tourist attractions and enjoys many world-famous places of interest, such as Jiuzhaigou and Dujiangyan Irrigation Projcet.

Jiuzhaigou is well known for its beautiful lakes, of which the water is clear and looks colorful. It can excite visitors imagination. Another attraction is Dujiangyan Irrigation Project. It was built over 2,000 years ago and is still playing an important part in irrigation today. Besides, the nice weather and convenient transportation here can make your trip more enjoyable. Im sure youll have a good time. Im looking forward to your coming.

假设你是李华，父母答应你今年高三毕业后去美国进行为期10天的观光旅游。请你给美国网友Lucy 写一封电子邮件，咨询以下事情：1. 不随团旅游的食宿、交通等问题。2. 必看景点与时间安排 3. 邀请她到中国观光。

Dear Lucy

How are you doingMy parents have just promised me to make a 10-day tour of America after my graduation from senior high school this summer, which will be a good chance for me to experience American culture and practice my oral English.

As I don’t like to join a tour group, could you please offer me some advice on where to stay, what to eat and how to travel in such a short timeI would appreciate it if you could tell the must-see attractions and the time arrangement. Your advice will surely make my visit enjoyable and worthwhile.

Welcome to China at your convenience. Looking forward to your early reply.

范文二：文明旅游

有些旅游景点的文物景观遭到了严重的破坏，致使最近文明旅游的倡议越来越受重视，因此就“游客可付费在仿造长城上涂写留言”发表看法。

内容包括：(1)谈谈对某些人喜欢在旅游景点随便涂鸦留言的看法;

(2)对专门修一段仿造城墙让游客付高价留言的做法你是赞成还是反对，并简要陈述你的理由。

It is reported that tourists to China’s Great Wall can now leave their mark on a fake(伪造的) wall recently built near the real wall in Badaling if they pay 999 yuan.

In China, many visitors have the hobby of carving graffiti on places of interest, especially on some famous cultural relics. Last year I went to the Great Wall and found many people had left names and ugly words on the Wall, which destroys many historic bricks. In my opinion, such people should feel ashamed of leaving their marks on the great relics which were created by our ancestors.

So personally, I quite agree with this brilliant project though it has caused criticism from some people. The Great Wall would be ruined one day if we didn’t take any steps to protect it. The fake wall is a really good idea because it will protect our relics as well as making profits from the project

1、重视增加阅读量是提高英语写作的途径之一

目前，考生在进行大量阅读的同时，应注重所读材料的文章结构以及连接词的运用(ontheotherhand，however，furthermore)、作者的表达方式(词汇、习惯用语和典型句子的使用)、作者是如何进行叙述和议论的。

2、在教师的指导下，平时应勤写多练

练习写作应从基本功抓起。在中译英翻译训练过程中，加强积累适量的词汇、词组和增加各种类型句子的运用。把握好各种句型和词汇的搭配，并从各类题材和体裁着手，多阅读好的范文。然后模仿写作，作文写好之后，一般都要修改。

第一遍收笔后，先看一看结构，然后从字词上推敲，使文章“充实”起来。更重要的是经老师修改过的作文一定要仔细地看一至两遍，然后再认真地抄写一遍，收获将会很大。

3、英文写作“四步走”

由于时间限制，考试时必须在所限定的时间内完成英语作文。英语作文步骤如下：

（1)作文动笔之前一般都要先打腹稿。在确立中心上、运用材料上、篇章结构上，充分酝酿。

（2)考虑好想写多少句子，该用哪些动词和词组等。

（3)边写边思考内容的连贯性，语言和句子的准确性。

（4)写完后一定要再细看一遍。

The world is colorized， every color has its special meaning。 Red stands for

passion， green symbolizes peace， blue indicates calmness， white signifies

purity。 The painters can use their colors to outline the while world， the

cameraman can shoot the mixed world by their camera。 The rainbow is made up of 7

colors。 The white contents 7 colors。 The tricolor， posed by red， yellow， and

blue， can produce every color in the world。 In the variety of colors， I like

white most， not only it is a simply color， but also it is a symbol of neatness。

The white is the most popular color in wedding， because it stands for the pure

love。 The snow is white， it symbolizes the beautiful angel drop to our world。

Another reason， I like white most， is that it indicates blank。 You can image all

on it。