英语新高考写作汇集20篇

I woke up early this morning. I went out to play with my neighbor. We watched cartoon at his home. After I went home about 4 Oclock in the afternoon, I helped my mother to do some house work. She is very happy so I am happy too.

One possible version

There was a problem with the parking place for bikes in our school, I

noticed the entrance was small and almost blocked. So my classmates and I had a

discussion and wrote a report. Then we went to meet the schoolmaster in his

office and gave the report to him. He accepted our suggfestions. Soon

afterwards, a second entrance was opened to the parking place. Now it is easy to

park our bikes there.

一、常规结构方法

1.记叙文结构比较灵活，开头、结尾、过渡，都有一定的讲究。如开头的方式有：开门见山式、设置悬念式、气氛渲染式、环境描述式、结果交代式等;结尾的方式有：呼应开头式、议论抒情式、自然结束式、戛然而止式等;构思的方法有：欲扬先抑法、埋下伏笔法、正反衬托法、虚实相应法、误会巧合法、设置悬念法等。

2.议论文结构一般有引论——本论——结论。引论的方式有：揭示论点式、引用名言式、设问启示式、叙述事实式、对比争议式、描述靶子式等;本论的方式有：分论点并列式、层层递进式、正反对照式;结论的方式有：卒章明志式、问题启发式、希望号召式等。

3.说明文结构一般为“总分总”或“总分”“分总”式。说明对象不同，说明展开的方式也常常不同。如动态说明常用时间顺序，静态说明常用空间顺序，事理说明常用逻辑顺序，可以用因果式、分类式、比较式、层进式等方式说明。

二、创新结构方法

1.片段结构

文章在结构上由看似独立的几个片段又能围绕同一主题而展开。

这种片段结构的主要特点是结构自由，可以避免起承转合，平铺直叙，使写作更为便利、容易;各片段相对独立，但又可以从不同角度，不同侧面来描述人物、事件，表达主题，丰富了文章的内容;表达形式更为自由灵活。

如作文《大自然三章》就是以片段结构的形式，将自然中的“鸟的心事”“蓝天的担忧”“鱼儿的规劝”的感慨组合成文，表达了对人与自然和谐相处的期望。

2.借用文体

写话题作文时文体不限，这时借用一些特殊的文体表现主题，往往能出奇制胜。这些特殊的体裁包括某些文学体裁，如小说、寓言、戏剧、童话、杂文等;某些应用文体如讲演稿、书信、日记、采访录、调查报告、现场演播、新闻报道以及某些领域内所专用的文体，如医疗诊断书、说明书、广告、调查报告、判决书、招标书等等。

考生可以根据自己的爱好与擅长来选择文体，扬长避短，取得创新的效果。这方面的例子很多，均因结构有新意，被评为满分作文或一类作文。

例如广东省一位考生以猪八戒奋不顾身下井救小孩为被评论对象，让代表社会上种种不正确名利观的“嘉宾”一一亮相，以现场演播的形式演绎主题。作者设计的现场为“敢讲敢说”演播室，主持人为“崔人进”，主题为“猪八戒能否得2017年度感动心灵奖”，“嘉宾”为“感动评委会成员、八戒亲友团、各界代表”，还特别注明“唐僧师徒亲自出席，高老庄乡亲组成了亲友团，嫦娥作为评委出席”，开始时还“先看大屏幕”，作为现场演播的程序都出现在文章中，给人以强烈的现场感。读后，我们仿佛置身于电视转播现场，被文章独特新颖的表现形式所深深吸引。

3.故事新编

故事新编就是对人们熟悉的经典故事进行改造，在原有情节的基础上再创作、加工，即对原故事进行改写、续写，或者借用历史人物、经典故事中的人物形象来表达现实生活的内容和主题。采用这种方法的好处是，取材便利，方便构思，易于出新;可以起到借古喻今的效果，使文章显得轻松、风趣。

如《新愚公和智叟的故事》一文，作者将一个尽人皆知的故事加以改造，构思颇为新颖、巧妙。湖南考生写的《西游记后传》，作者将西游记进行了一番续写与改写，演绎了师徒四人取经的离奇故事，文章把大唐灭亡的原因归咎于唐玄宗没有读取回来的真经，故事新颖，立意深远，实在是一篇绝妙的佳作。

4.特殊的视角

观察的角度不同，会有不同的效果。所以我们可以采用一些特殊的视角来叙述故事，表达主题。特殊的视角是指普通人以外的特殊人物，或者动物、植物等人类以外的事物的视角。另外，还可以选择多主体视角，比如一个故事设几个主人公，每个人都站出来表述这个故事。采用特殊视角可以使文章达到新奇的效果，造成一种新鲜感，使描写不落俗套，令人耳目一新。

例如广东的一位考生写的《月光下的一只孤老虎》一文，作者采用特殊视角，以一只老虎的口吻自述悲剧，引起人们对野生动物生存环境的关注。贵州的一位考生写的《给地球人的一封公开信》一文，作者采用特殊的视角，以特殊主体——外星人的口吻叙事议论，表明对人类破坏环境的尖锐批评。

5.镜头式结构

有些作文材料并不新鲜，但一些聪明的同学能借助电影蒙太奇的手法，通过镜头组合、画面切换以及画外音等形式来展示作文丰富的内涵。这样的文章往往因形式的新颖、结构的巧妙而平中见奇，令人耳目一新。

比如，题为《生活中的亮点》的作文：文章运用蒙太奇的表现手法，剪切生活中四个镜头来表现“亮”。作者将生活中的四个场景，分别标示出地点(小巷中——街头——商店中——回家路上)，就像一部电影剧本，新颖的结构形式，给人以全新的感觉。镜头式结构，往往能减少过渡及铺垫文字，有利于集中笔墨叙述事件、刻画人物，从而使文章主题更集中，节奏更明快。

6.问答式结构

以“提问”和“回答”来组成文章，新鲜别致。其中的“问”实际是作者的提问，组成文章的纲目;其中的“答”，就是文章的主体，这样的结构，可以设计成互问互答，也可以设计成自问自答。

比如，题为《挫折四问》的作文，作者以四问四答的形式布控全文结构，“挫折是什么”“挫折真的存在吗”“挫折与成功的界限在哪里”“挫折给我什么启示”四个“问”形成了一个逐层深入的议论阶梯，使得文章结构井然，给人一气呵成之感。

7.一线串珠式结构

面对复杂的事情、繁多的内容，最有效的方式莫过于用一条线索把有关材料贯串起来，使之浑然一体。这个线索，可以是某个人，可以是某一事物，可以是某一事件，也可以是人物思想感情的发展变化，或者是时间的推移、地点的转换等等。

作文线索的设置，要注意两点：一是所设置的线索，要能联系文章各部分，把组织材料和表达主题统一起来;二是线索要有始有终，贯串到底。

人生是扬帆起航的船支，行驶在茫茫的大海上。那看似平静的海面下，等待着我们的，也可能是惊涛骇浪。生活的道路上充满荆棘，我们常常被刺得遍体鳞伤。与其顶着困难继续艰难地前行，不如偶尔停下来，欣赏沿途的美丽风光。

当清晨的第一缕光亮划破天际;当傍晚皎洁的月亮高高悬起，疲于赶路的你，会注意到吗?朋友，长途跋涉中，何不偶尔停下来呢?停下来，抛开沉重的包袱，躺在洒满月光的草地上，在虫鸣鸟叫中，感受这生命的乐章，享受春风的爱抚;停下来，仔细品味露珠的味道，欣赏那初升的太阳，沉醉其中，多么美好!享受后启程，步伐是否会更加有力?

当你在追逐梦想时，当你在海中扬起风帆时。大山将你阻挡，狂澜将你推倒。当你一次次被命运击溃，灰心丧气时。朋友，何不偶尔停下来呢?停下来，擦干眼中的泪水，接受自然的洗礼，净化你的心灵;停下来，调整好心态，勇敢地站起来;停下来，寄情于山水之间，释放自己的灵魂，倾听溪流的快乐。偶尔抬起头，是否可以发现，天空更加宽阔，阳光更加灿烂?

当你再次站在人生的十字路口前，被迫做出艰难的抉择。面对命运的威胁，你是否动摇过，是否迷茫过。面对残酷的现实，你是否哭泣过，是否想过放手?朋友，何不偶尔停下来呢?停下来，回首自己留下的足迹。再回过头来，是否发现自己已不再迷茫，在心中，多了一份坦然与轻松?偶尔停下来，是一种享受，是一种需要，是一种智慧，是一种对待人生的态度，是茫茫人生道路上的指路标。偶尔停下来，拍一拍身上的泥土，倒一倒鞋中的沙粒，望望天，看看云，用轻松的心态去迎接属于你的美丽人生!

导语：在英语作文中，运用一些成语或者俗语能够给作文加分哦，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的优秀英语素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

1. 瞒天过海crossing the sea under camouflage

2. 围魏救赵relieving the state of Zhao by besieging the state of Wei

3. 借刀杀人killing someone with a borrowed knife

4. 以逸待劳waiting at one’s ease for the exhausted enemy

5. 趁火打劫plundering a burning house

6. 声东击西making a feint to the east and attacking in the west

7. 无中生有creating something out of nothing

8. 暗渡陈仓advancing secretly by an unknown path

9. 隔岸观火watching a fire from the other side of the river

10.笑里藏刀covering the dagger with a smile

11.李代桃僵palming off substitute for the real thing

12.顺手牵羊picking up something in passing

13.打草惊蛇beating the grass to frighten the snake

14.借尸还魂resurrecting a dead soul by borrowing a corpse

15.调虎离山luring the tiger out of his den

16.欲擒故纵letting the enemy off in order to catch him

17.抛砖引玉giving the enemy something to induce him to lose more valuable things

18.擒贼擒王capturing the ringleader first in order to capture all the followers

19.釜底抽薪extracting the firewood from under the cauldron

20.混水摸鱼muddling the water to catch the fish; fishing in troubled waters

21.金蝉脱壳slipping away by casting off a cloak; getting away like the cicada sloughing its skin

22.关门捉贼catching the thief by closing / blocking his escape route

23.远交近攻befriending the distant enemy while attacking a nearby enemy

24.假途伐虢attacking the enemy by passing through a common neighbor

25.偷梁换柱stealing the beams and pillars and replacing them with rotten timbers

26.指桑骂槐reviling/ abusing the locust tree while pointing to the mulberry

27.假痴不癫feigning madness without becoming insane

28.上屋抽梯removing the ladder after the enemy has climbed up the roof

29.树上开花putting artificial flowers on trees

30.反客为主turning from the guest into the host

31.美人计using seductive women to corrupt the enemy

32.空城计presenting a bold front to conceal unpreparedness

33.反间计sowing discord among the enemy

34.苦肉计deceiving the enemy by torturing one’s own man

35.连环计coordinating one stratagem with another

36.走为上decamping being the best; running away as the best choice

一、真题

阅读以下材料，按要求作文。

今年3月15日，在国人的强烈发对声中，佳士得拍卖行仍将圆明园非法流失的兔首、鼠首铜像在巴黎拍卖。某艺术公司总经理蔡铭超高价拍下这两件文物。但事后拒绝付款，造成流拍。对此，舆论一篇哗然。有人称其为名族英雄，有人认为这是恶意破坏规则，有人认为……

你对蔡铭超的行为有什么看法？请据此写成一篇文章。

（1）必须写议论文。

（2）题目自拟。

（3）立意自定。

（4）所写内容必须与给定的材料相合。

（5）不少于800字。

（6）不得抄袭，不得套作。

二、点评

天利考试信息网特邀名师：临川一中 危福平

看到江西高考(论坛)作文“评论‘兽首拍卖’事件”题目时，心中有点窃喜。笔者在考前重点向学生讲解了评论文的写作方法，并向同学们说今年江西高考作文题八成是写当前热点事件人物的评论。有幸言中！同时也想起了本人在去年评点江西省高考作文时说的话“注重塑造学生的‘社会品质’。……要求学生应在注重自己的‘个人品质’的同时，更应该开阔眼界，去关心社会，去关注我们的国家……去做一个有感情有社会责任的人”。今年江西高考作文命题思路延续了去年江西高考作文命题的思路，同样要求学生去关注社会热点，去做一个关心社会的人。这一点，也同样体现在其它省份的作文命题中。

今年江西高考作文题给出的是一则材料，要求写一篇评论文。因而，审清材料和把握评论文这种文体就成为了关键。这则材料的关键句是“佳士得拍卖行仍将圆明园非法流失的兔首鼠首铜像在巴黎拍卖”“事后拒绝付款造成流拍”“你对蔡铭超的行为有什么看法”等，那么这则材料的主题就可以写成“爱国”“巧用规则”“诚信”“智慧”等；在文体写作时，应特别注意评论文“针对性强”的写作特点，它和一般议论文写作要求有所区别。

材料作文写作时，一定要抓住材料中的关键词句，并对此进行前后分析，才能较准确地把握材料主旨。本则材料的重心是“对蔡铭超的行为有什么看法”，而不是对佳士得的行为或者人们的议论发表看法。文章要始终围绕蔡铭超这个人的行为谈谈你的看法，应抓住佳士得的行为“非法”和兔首鼠首铜像是我国流失国外的“国宝”等证据，通过分析可以得出蔡铭超是“爱国”的、是有“智慧”的、能“巧用拍卖规则，维护民族尊严”等主题，从而对蔡铭超进行褒扬，对其行为进行肯定；抓住“事后拒绝付款,造成流拍”等关键文字，当然也可以对其有“微词”，写出有关个人“诚信”的主题等。

今年江西省高考作文明确规定写一篇评论文。写作时，首先要注意议论文的写作结构特点、议论方式，做到有观点有根据；其次要注意评论文“针对性强”的特点。倘若考生抛开事件当事人本身，大谈如何爱国、人应如何诚信、如何有智慧等，则有偏题之嫌。这一点考生要尤其注意。

审材不清，取题不当，观点隐晦不鲜明，论证和论据分离，评论东拉西扯，文体不突出，开头结尾拖拉，结构松散混乱……

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、故事发生在伦敦。

The story happened in London.

2、起初，他没看见那个人。

At first, he didn’t see the man.

3、然后，他走到汽车那儿。

Then he went over to the bus.

4、过了一会儿，他上了小汽车。

After a little while,he got on the car.

5、后来，他掏出了枪。

Later on he took out his gun.

6、最后，他被捕了。

At last, he was arrested.

7、开始时，老师给我们做了简短的介绍。

In the beginning, the teacher gave us a brief introduction.

8、后来，他开始在黑板上写东西。

Afterwards, he began to write something on the blackboard.

9、同时，学生记笔记。

Meanwhile, the students took notes.

10、最终，学生们成功了。

In the end, the students succeeded.

导语：高考英语书面表达想拿高分并不容易，首先你要避免一些在学生中比较常见的几种错误才行。下面小编为大家整理了高考英语写作常见的错误，希望大家在考试中能够避免。

有的同学对于否定的概念模糊，不知如何否定，有时会写出不合规则或有异义的句子。

1. 我认为没有必要买大的。

误：I think its not necessary to buy the bigger one.

正：I don’t think it is necessary to buy the bigger one.

析：有些动词如think, believe, expect, suppose, imagine, guess, fancy等的主语是第一人称单数且一般现在时，表示否定的观点应用I don’t think…，而I think… not则属于汉语式表达习惯。

2. 我们直到天全黑了才到家。

误：We arrived home until it became completely dark.

正：We didn’t arrive home until it became completely dark.

析：此汉语句子里面尽管没有否定词，但until用于肯定句时意为“直到…为止”;用于否定句时，其意为“在…以前”。因此，表示“直到…才”用not…until。

3. 如果没有受到邀请的话，我是不会去参加舞会的。

误：I’ll not go to the party unless I’m not invited.

正：I’ll not go to the party unless I’m invited.

正：I’ll not go to the party if I’m not invited.

析：unless“除非”、“如果不”，常可用if…not来替换。误句中的条件状语从句双重否定表示肯定，结果与原句意思相反。

4. 那孩子不够大不能去上学。

误：The child is not old enough not to go to school.

正：The child is not old enough to go to school.

正：The child is too young to go to school.

析：这是学生最容易写错的句子。enough to“足以、足够”。原句中“不够大不能去上学”意思是“不够上学的年龄”，故应译为not old enough to go to school。

5. 他们两个都不说英语。

误：Both of them don’t speak English.

正：Neither of them speaks English.

析：中国学生特别对于all…not 和both…not等这种部分否定结构，很容易理解成全部否定。两者全部否定用neither, 三者以上用none。

6. 开车时再小心也不过分。

误：You can be too careful in driving a car.

正：You can not be too careful in driving a car.

析：cannot…too“无论作…也不过分”。

为迎接奥运会在中国举行，请写一篇关于讲究文明礼仪的倡议书，具体内容包括：

1、讲究文明礼貌是中华民族的传统;

2、面对外国友人应热情大方、彬彬有礼;

3、要坚决杜绝公共场所大声喧哗、拥挤打闹、随地吐痰等不文明行为;

4、奥运即将召开，我们将代表中国形象。

参考词汇：喧哗 uproar

[范文]

My dear fellow students,

The Olympics are just around the corner. Today I want to talk about good manners and courtesy.

We Chinese have always been respected and highly praised for good manners and courtesy, which have, as well, become precious traditions of our people. In a couple of weeks beyond, a large number of foreign friends will come to China to join us in enjoying the Olympics. Before foreign guests, we should have an easy manner and behave politely and warm-heartedly. In public places, such ugly behaviors as uproar, pushing or squeezing together, spitting and so on should be determinedly forbidden. In a sense, each of us will not simply stand for ourselves but stand for China. Therefore, boys and girls, let’s do it well right now and the eyes of the world are to on us!

[高考英语满分作文一篇讲究文明礼仪的倡议书

【示例一】

①With the rapid advances of ________ in recent years, ________has ________(引出现象). ②However, ________has ________, as ________(提出问题). ③As a result, ________(指出影响),which has aroused close social attention from all walks of life.

【示例二】

①With the rapid development of science and technology (electronic industry/higher education), more and more people come to realize that ________(引出现象). ②It is estimated, over the past decade, that ________(用具体数据说明现象).

人类对自然的依附性已随着现代化的进程而日益凸显。人类文明的触角延伸出的却是钢筋水泥固封的楼群，浓烟废气造成的污染，灯红酒绿培植的浮躁，物欲横流带来的贫乏。没有任何一个时代的人像现代人这样渴望新鲜清明的空气，繁茂葱翠的森林，蔚蓝夐远的天空。所以，我们要从现代文明中汲取古人“天人合一”的智慧，为人类的生存树一面恒久持续的丰碑。

这类题材的写作，容易流于枯燥的数字堆砌和絮烦的空洞议论。要善于从已知材料中挖掘情感意蕴，让饱含情感的叙述打动阅读者的心扉;要从细节处捕捉人类与自然相互依存的秘密，把握“和谐”共存的主旋律。在结构安排上，可以正反对照，古今映衬，从古典诗词中的美妙意境透析深意，与工业文明过度开掘所造成的恶果形成强烈反差，从而使所思所感深彻透辟，达到以情感人、以理服人的目的。

自然是人类生存的唯一家园。物质利益的追求不能以牺牲环境为代价，“唯我中心”只能让人类走上“不知归”的自我毁灭之途。随着人类对自然环境重要性的认识的提高，各种治理污染、减少破坏措施的出台，我们终究会再看到古人曾经看到过的蓝天，感受到古人曾有过的热爱自然与美好生活的情怀。

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

Some of us are having problems with our parents , as they often look into

our school bags or read our diaries . I fully understand why we are not

comfortable about it , but there’s no need to feel too sad. Our parents are

checking our bags or diaries to make sure we are not getting into any trouble .

They have probably heard some horrible stories about other kids and thought we

might do the same . Or perhaps they just want to connect with us but are doing

it all wrong . My suggestion is : Tell them we want them to trust us as much as

we’d like to trust them .If you don’t think you can talk to them , write them a

letter and leave it lying around ---they are bound to read it .

Thank you!

1.According to a recent survey, four million people die each year from diseases linked to smoking. 依照最近的一项调查，每年有4，000，000人死于与吸烟有关的疾病。

2. The latest surveys show that quite a few children have unpleasant associations with homework.最近的调查显示相当多的孩子对家庭作业没什么好感。

3. No invention has received more praise and abuse than Internet. 没有一项发明像互联网一样同时受到如此多的赞扬和批评。

4. Many experts point out that physical exercise contributes directly to a person’s physical fitness.

许多专家指出体育锻炼直接有助于身体健康。

5.写信的开头：Very glad to receive your letter of July 13.

6.One day after school,XiaoMing passed a Café on his way home.

7.The boss had no choice but to let him in.

8.How he enjoyed himself on the computer!

9.Walking home full of fear,he was sure that he would be scolded.

10.However,other students are against the idea.

11.Sometimes we have too many examinations which are too difficult for us.

12.today’s activity has taught us the new meaning of the spirit of LeiFeng:sharing with others what you have—you time,energy,or knowledge—makes you fell warm in you heart.It has truly a difference in how I feel about myself.

13.The girl whose composition was well written is spoken highly of.

14.No matter what he says，I won’t believe.

15. Thanks to the good weather，our journey was comfortable.

16. At the news of his death，she went pale with sorrow.

导语：做一个诚实可靠的人会让别人相信你，这会给你带来很多好处，给你机会，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的相关优秀英语作文，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

Almost all of us heard the story "Here Comes the Wolf" when we were little kids. What we can learn from the story is that we must be honest. However, therere lots of phenomena of dishonesty nowadays.

Being dishonest does great harm not only to other people but also to yourself. Take the case of fake milk powder for example. After drinking this kind of milk, the babies had big heads while their legs and arms were still thin, which badly affected their health. To our great relief, the producers got accused and punished for all the serious consequences in the end.

Having the reputation of being honest and reliable will make other people trust you, which will provide you many benefits and give you opportunities that others may not get. Being honest, you will find it easier to cooperate with others and people will be friendly to you and support you. In a sense, if life is a longjourney, honesty will be the backpack that should be taken along all the way.

Lets pick up our "backpack" -- honesty, and start the wonderful journey!

【参考翻译】

几乎所有的人都听过这个故事：“狼来了”，当我们小的时候。我们可以从这个故事中得到的东西是我们必须诚实。然而，现在有很多不诚实的现象。

不诚实不仅对别人有害，而且对你自己也有很大的危害。以假奶粉为例。喝了这种牛奶后，婴儿的腿和胳膊仍然很瘦，他们的健康状况很差，他们的健康状况很严重。我们的杰出的救济，生产者有指责和受到惩罚的结束所有的严重后果。

做一个诚实可靠的人会让别人相信你，这会给你带来很多好处，给你机会。诚实，你会发现很容易与他人合作，人们会对你友好和支持你。从某种意义上说，如果人生是长途旅行，诚实将要采取的路上背包。

让我们拿起我们的“背包”-诚实，并开始精彩旅程!

相关标签: 真诚Sincere 重要Important

大家都想知道怎么写作文才能拿到更高的分数，下面就来看看语文迷网小编为大家整理的写作技巧吧。

一、了解高分作文的特点

要想作文获得高分，必须了解高分作文具有的特点，才有助于我们朝之而努力。高分作文一般具有以下特点：

1、书写工整，书面整洁，很少有涂改痕迹。

2、分段合理。全文分段一般不止一个自然段，让阅卷老师很容易就能找到作文所要求写的要点和重要句子。

3、要点齐全，不缺要点。

4、首尾呼应，自然成一体。

5、使用了大量的高级词汇和句型。阅卷老师一看就知道这个同学的功底非不一般，自然就给打高分了。

6、开头言简意赅，不啰嗦，不偏题，迅速引入主题。

7、段与段之间，自然过渡。有合适的连接词。

8、句与句之间，有恰当的连接词，使之自然成一体。

9、全文中同一个意思，基本没有重复使用某一个词、短语或者句型等，说明这个同学的词汇量不同寻常。老师自然就对该作文有好感了。

10、能够恰当使用谚语、格言等给文章添彩。

二、勤积累，巧准备

要想作文得高分，除了了解以上的特点外，还要在平时的学习中注意一下方面：

1、牢记课标词汇是基础

一篇作文多数是由积极词汇写出来的，这些词汇主要来源于课标。因此，牢记课标词汇是写好作文的基础。

2、掌握课标词汇和短语的用法

要想作文不扣分或者少扣分，有个要求是作文的语病少。怎么能够减少语病呢?这就要求我们在平时的学习过程中反复通过练习，掌握课标词汇和短语等的用法。例如，对于as soon as 、stop some body from doing something 、other 、another等的用法很多学生就经常出错。

3、高度重视同一个意思的多种表达方式

高分作文有个特点是：让老师发现你拥有丰富的词汇量，你的水平高人一筹。这由何而来?靠我们在平时学习过程中，逐步积累起来的。比如：今年的中考作文，谈的就是帮助他人的问题。同一个意思“帮助”，假如你就用一个动词“help”，岂不显得你词汇贫乏?假如你在作文中不断地变换方式，用help、give somebody a hand、 give a hand to somebody 、be in need of 等以表达“帮助”同一个意思，岂不更好呢?

像这样的例子很多，比如：大家都觉得很简单又很基础的“表示姓名的方式”就有：My name is Jim.I’m Jim.I’m called/named Jim. I’m a boy called /named /with the name of Jim. 等等。

表达年龄的方式有：She is 12. She is 12 years old. She is aged 12. She is a girl of 12(years old) 。She is a girl aged 12.等等。

很显然，使用高级一点的更好。

4、加强练习，积累经验

学习语言最好的方法是运用，作文也不例外。我们要想作文得高分，必须经常练习，才能提高水平。

5、充分利用作文范文

很多资料书上都有作文范文。诚然，他们有很多值得借鉴的地方。

我们怎么利用它们呢?首先，我们先不要看文章，自己先思考一下：假如你来写，你会怎么去写，会用到哪些词或者句子等。然后去比较，勾出其中的好词佳句，并且把它摘录在专门的作文册子上。供写作时选用。

另外，背一些范文也是很有必要的。

6、背诵一些谚语和警句

作文中如果出现恰当的谚语和警句，会有锦上添花的效果。

三、精心审题，沉着写初稿

很多同学看到作文后，下笔就写。这是不对的。一则很容易写偏题、写出病句，涂改后书面又不整洁，影响得分。

其实，会写作文的同学都知道，审题非常的重要，可以防止很多毛病，提高得分。那么我们审题要做些什么呢?

审题主要要做一下事情：

1、审人称、时态、体裁等

审题时，要求我们要弄清楚这篇文章主要使用的人称是第几人称，什么时态、什么体裁。这些问题解决后至少不会犯很严重的错误：全文皆错。例如，如果一篇文章，本来应该一般过去时，你的每句话却用了一般现在时态。你想想，那还能得高分吗?

2、明确必须表达的要点

高分作文有个特点是要点齐全。如果漏掉一个要点，则要扣分。因此我们必须认真细读其要求，把必须表达的要点勾出来。保证不漏掉任何一个要点。

3、罗列出可能会用到的短语、句型，确定好使用哪个?

4、确定好如何分段

就是要确定好，将哪些要点放在一个自然段里面，首段、尾段打算写哪些?

四、耐心修改，提炼句子

很多同学写完作文后就感觉大事已毕，高兴地放下笔就了事了。其实，这时候，不妨从以下方面去修改，相信会让你受益匪浅的。

1、巧妙选择使用高级词汇、短语、句型等

当我们掌握了一定量的同意表达法之后，在写作时有时不会让你都运用到的。这时为了展示你与众不同的能力，你务必要选择高级的。例如，就以今年中考的英语作文为例，它就要求写“帮助老人的感受”。至于“老人”的表达法，有old people和the old 。使用后者的同学自然能力比前者强。同样的道理，作文中的“病人”的表达法有sick people ，patients ，the sick ，你认为使用哪个更能显示你的高水平呢?当然是the sick了。

2、巧妙使用低级表达法代替自己的难点

我们写作时难免会遇到一些难以用英语表达的东西。怎么办呢?换为最简单的表达法吧。例如：我市今年中考作文题，就要求学生表达一个意思：帮助同学，可以增进友谊。很多学生翻译不来“增进”，面对这样的问题怎么办呢?怎么不换个说法呢?你看，If we help our classmates with their study and other things ， we can make our friendship longer 。不就达到目的了吗?

3、大胆改变句型，使之生辉

例如，我们将一些句子改为感叹句，复合句、强调句、反意疑问句、将句子改得更能显示你的高水平和能力。何乐而不为呢?

4、高度关注句与句 、段与段之间的衔接问题。务必做到过渡自然，衔接紧凑。

5、适当引用个别谚语或警句，来提高作文档次。

五、一丝不苟抄誊作文

一篇好的作文，经过审题、修改之后，务必要一丝不苟地抄誊在答题卷上，再认真地仔细检查一遍，那才是大公告成了。

导语：英语作文也是需要日积月累的练习的，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的优秀英语作文，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

1. We re often told that ......But is this really the case ?

我们经常被告知......但事实真是这样吗?

2. People used to ......however , things are quite different today .

过去，人们习惯......但,今天的情况有很大的不同。

3.some people think that ......Others believe that the opposite is true . There is probably some truth in both sides.But we must realize that ......

一些人认为......另一些人持相反意见。也许双方的观点都有一定道理。但是我们必须认识到......

4.Recognizing a problem is the first step in finding a solution .

认识到问题是找到解决办法的第一步。

5. It is another new and bitter truth we must learn to face .

这是一个我们必须学会面对的痛苦的新情况。

6. In short , we must work hard to make the world a better place .

简而言之，为了把世界变成更美好的地方，我们必须勤奋工作。

7.Lost time is never found again.

岁月既往，一去不回。

8.Everybody should have a dream.

每个人都该有个梦想.

9.Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

抱最好的愿望,做最坏的打算。

10.Failure is the mother of success.

失败乃成功之母。

11.Lets look on the bright side.

让我们往好处想吧。

当你能控制自己的情绪时，你就是优雅的;当你能控制自己的心态时，你就是成功的。优雅不是训练出来的，而是一种阅历;淡然不是伪装出来的，而是一种沉淀。时间流逝，老去的只是容颜，而灵魂，却可以变得越来越动人。

人生旅途中，大家都在忙着认识各种人，以为这是在丰富生命。可最有价值的遇见，是在某一瞬间，重遇了自己，那一刻你才会懂：走遍世界，也不过是为了找到一条走回内心的路。

年轻时爱放狠话的，常常跟朋友恩断义绝，跟老板一拍两散。如今回头去看，后悔吗?并不，我没法勉强自己。人生若重来一次，还是会做同样的选择，只是放弃的同时，会记得更积极一点。会让自己变得更好，才有资格结交更好的朋友，选择更好的工作，而不是冷冷地躲在一隅，孤独地跟这个世界赌气。

青春赚的钱，难赚回青春;生命赚的钱，难买回生命;幸福换来的钱，难换回幸福;爱情索取的钱，难索回爱情;时间挣来的钱，难挣回时间。即使用一生得到全世界的钱，全世界的钱也买不回你的一生，请记住金钱不是万能的。该休息的时候要休息，该放松的时候要放松，快乐生活才是最给力的。

心静了，才能听见自己的心声，心清了，才能照见万物的实性。不甘放下的，往往不是值得珍惜的，人生的脚步常常走得太匆忙，所以要学会，停下来笑看风云，坐下来静赏花开，沉下来沉静如海，定下来静观自在。心境平静无澜，万物自然得映，心灵静极而定，刹那便是永恒。

有些人习惯把坏情绪和悲伤表现出来，潜意识是为了得到安慰和同情，但其实大部分人只是当作看笑话罢了。只有内心阳光才能温暖别人，也只有你好了，才能得到别人的在乎。收起矫情吧。

什么是成功的人?就是今天比昨天更有智慧的人，今天比昨天更慈悲的人，今天比昨天更懂得爱的人，今天比昨天更懂得生活美的人，今天比昨天更懂得宽容的人。

人生总有那么一段大片大片空白的时光。你在等待，你在坚忍，你在静默。你在等一场春华秋实，你在等新一轮的春暖花开，你在等从未有过的雷霆万钧。这静默的日子有些长，有些闷，但是我也会等下去。我相信人的青春不止有一次，有时候，时光会给你额外的惊喜。

有的人，一辈子只做两件事，不服，争取，所以越过越好成功了。也有人，一辈子只做两件事，等待，后悔，所以越混越差凄惨了。人耐不住琢磨自己，看看自己到底是哪种人，如果做的不理想不到位，当你痛下决心改变自己，未来跟着就变了。

做人做事最好的状态就是：不刻意。不刻意自我表现，也不刻意淡泊名利;不刻意迎合，也不刻意狂狷;不刻意追逐流行，也不刻意卓尔不群。如是，则不心累，不纠结，不失望。

人生的路，走走停停是一种闲适，边走边看是一种优雅，边走边忘，是一种豁达。何必把自己逼得那么累，埋着头赶路，路到尽头，却错过了乐趣，错过了精彩。不如一边追求，一边享受。你认为快乐的，就去寻找;你认为值得的，就去守候;你认为幸福的，就去珍惜。做最真实最漂亮的自己，依心而行，无憾今生。

人这一生，到底在追求什么，到底什么才是最好的。真的要等到一切都已经归于平凡，才会想起，才会接受这最单纯的幸福吗?

很多时候，当下那个我们以为迈不过去的槛，一段时间之后回过头看其实早就轻松跳过;当下那个我们以为撑不过去的时刻，其实忍着熬着也就自然而然地过去了。所有没能打败你的东西，都将使你变得更加强大。时间也是，它没能打败你，便会给你救赎。

世界上最快而又最慢，最长而又最短，最平凡而又最珍贵，最容易忽视而又最令人后悔的就是时间。

生活里不必要渴求别人的理解和认同，就像你没有理解和认同别人的义务。静静的过自己的生活，心若不动，风又奈何。你若不伤，岁月无恙。

在人生的道路上，任何一个人的路都是不同的。但是，我们可以看到，有的人的人生是不亢不卑的，无论在财富面前还是在职位面前，他们都坚守着自己的品格，努力遵循着做人的尊严，既不奴颜婢膝，也不落井下石，逐渐使自己摆脱了庸俗走向了高贵。

生活，苦乐都有，悲喜都遇，没有一个人天天愉快，没有一个人月月愁怀。生活的过程中，忘记一些不快，忘记一些愁苦，忘记一些别人对我们的不好，心情总是会愉快。幸福就是一种愉快的心情，快乐就是一种愉悦的精神，让心灵装满了快乐，生活一定愉快。

每个人都比自己想象的要强大，但同时也比自己想象的要普通。

生命中，总有不舍的一页，那么深，又那么暖。我把寒凉轻盈在过往的云烟里，把情亲给予的暖安放在我温热的掌心里，即便隔着天上人间，依然清晰可见。让温暖，覆盖了冬季的寒凉与萧索;让牵念，沉香了岁月的苍老与苦涩。

不过多望了一眼天空，便生出无法言说的寂愁。不过多看了一片落叶，便蓦然察觉时光匆匆。不过多喝了一杯咖啡，便辗转反侧彻夜想念。不过多看了你一眼，便有了一场心痛的美梦。

Dear David,

Im glad youll come to Beijing to learn Chinese. Chinese is very useful, and many foreigners are learning it now. Its difficult for you because its quite different from English. You have to remember as many Chinese words as possible. Its also important to do some reading and writing. You can watch TV and listen to the radio to practise your listening. Do your best to talk with people in Chinese. You can learn Chinese not only from books but also from people around you. If you have any questions, please ask me. Im sure youll learn Chinese well.

Hope to see you soon in Beijing.

Yours,

Wang Ming

【翻译】

亲爱的大卫，

我很高兴你会来北京学习中文。中国是非常有益的，许多外国人正在学习，现在。这很难为你，因为它是相当的英语不同。你要记住尽可能多的中国话。同样重要的是做一些阅读和写作。你可以看电视，听广播练习你的听力。你最好不要谈论与中国人民。你可以学习汉语，不仅从书本上，而且从你周围的人。如果您有任何问题，请问我。我敢肯定你会学好中文。

希望能尽快看到你在北京。

此致，

王明

[高考满分英语作文附翻译

Should We Help Strangers?

Recently our class had a discussion aboutwhether we should help

strangers.Differentstudents have different opinions.

Some think we should try to help strangers. Helping others is a virtue，and

helping others is helping ourselves.Wemay come across some trouble and need

others’ help some day.If everyone isn’t willing to help us just because we are

strangersto them，it’s hard to imagine what our world will belike.

However，some areafraid that helping others can sometimes bring us

trouble.Sometimes we are just misunderstood and even have to pay the cost

ofkindness.

In my opinion，we should tryour best to help others when they are in need of

help，butwe should also protect ourselves from getting into trouble.If everyone

tries a little kindness，ourworld will be full of love.