英语书信格式及写作范文汇总8篇 作文怎么写（通用20篇）

英语写作要拿高分其实并不是很难，只要掌握了一定的词量以及写作方法就有可以能拿到高分。下面是语文迷为大家整理的英语写作高分秘诀，希望对你有帮助。

一、中考英语写作的概述

你对于在中考英语写作中拿高分有把握吗?实际考试中，许多学生却常常有“无话可说”的感觉。那要如何我们才能克服这种无话的状态，取得高分呢?

归根到底这是一个英语基本功——单词、短语和句型的问题。

英语作文的前提条件是掌握了一定量的词汇、语法及体裁、题材等方面的知识。学生如果想要在写作方面有本质上的提升，必须进行多次的写作练习。因此，必须合理地设置训练步骤，遵循从初级到高级，从简单到复杂的原则去练习，经过一段写作实践之后，写作水平一定会有大幅度的提高。

中考英语作文对考生的要求有四点：1、内容要完整。2、语句流畅。3、没有语法错误。4、书写规范。

二、中考英语写作的评分标准

1、老师拿到的标准

写作水平的高低和文章的好坏，分数是最直接的评分标准，也是考生们最关心的。但是多少考生真正透彻知道中考英语写作的评分标准?什么样的文章才是阅卷老师眼中的好文章?

评分标准：

(1)整篇作文满分20分，其中内容8分，语言8分，结构4分。

(2)内容贴切，句子流畅，用语准确，加整体印象分1分。

(3)不满60个词，少1——5个词扣0.5分，6——10个词扣1分。

(4)所有给出问题涉及的三项内容，每少一项扣3分。

(5)每个拼写，大小写，标点符号等错误扣0.5分;同一的拼写错误不重复扣分，扣分总和不超过2分。

(6)语法错误每项扣1分，同一错误不重复扣分，扣分总和不超过2分。

2、老师想看到的标准

语言(8分)：

词——固定搭配、高频重点词汇;

句——复杂句(各种从句)、特殊句型、正确的句子!

内容(8分)：(总、分)论点、论据支持句;简洁、切合主题的记叙内容。

结构(4分)：

语言结构——句子重点突出、内容清晰;

内容结构——论点、论据以及记叙之间的逻辑关系;

句数控制——对于相对内容的句数掌握;

亮点、出彩点——排比、拟人、谚语、成语、押韵等。

三、扣分

内容方面：要点缺失，可酌情扣分。比如中考作文“Iwanttodosomethingformyschool”，若没有写一件具体的事情，是要扣3分以上的;若写的事情太过于虚幻，没有实际内容，也会扣1-2分。

字数：少于60字的作文要酌情扣分。

中考英语作文要求60字以上，标点符号不算，少了就要扣分。

但是60字的作文能不能得高分?从我们拿到的实例作文来看，16分以上的作文，没有少于75字的，甚至少于80字的也少之又少。

当然，也极少有超过100字的，因为中考试卷的短线格一共80个，在格子下面大约还有2行的空间，可以加20字左右，再多阅卷人就很难看清了，也会影响卷面的美观。

所以，同学们如果想让作文得到高分，最好是让字数在75-100字之间。

语法和拼写错误：每个扣0.5，重复错误不计;

标点错误：每4个扣0.5。

四、加分

作文的组织结构分。就是根据学生使用复杂句型、单词和谚语、俗语的情况来加分。只要文章中有1个亮点，基本就可以争取到1分(3分的文采分是很难全部拿到的)。而这1分的亮点，是可以提前准备的。

“万金油”式的复杂句型，例如强调句型、only相关的倒装句等，只要同学们多操练几次，几乎是一定能用到作文当中，从而为自己争取到这1分。

其次就是卷面分。很多家长(微博)和同学，尤其是部分书法并不是十分整洁的同学，都会关心是否真的有“卷面分”的存在。虽然在阅卷标准里面并没有卷面分这一项，但是这个分数却真切地反映在了同学们的分数里面。

据阅卷老师的经验，在阅卷的时候并不是按这3个部分逐项打分的，而是在第一遍读完全文之后，心里已经形成了一个“印象分”，然后再细读第二、三遍，把印象分分配到各个打分部分。

因此，这个“印象分”就非常重要，而同学们的书法，也正是在这个环节，影响到了自己的分数。所以初三的考生，如果书法不好，一定要注意。

建议信范文

21 June 2016

Dear Mary,

Thanks for your last letter. Im so glad that you have been able (at last! ) to arrange a holiday in Australia. As I fear I wont be able to meet you at the airport when you arrive, nor will I be able to be home until later in the afternoon, so here are some instructions and suggestions. There is a bus from the airport to the city. It is much cheaper than a cab. Take the bus to the city and ask to get off at Town Hall railway station. To get to my place in the eastern suburbs you have three options. You can either take a cab, a bus or the train. I suggest you take the train, since the airport bus will leave you right at the station. Get off at Cliff Station. From there you can either walk to my place (about ten minutes) or take a taxi. Probably you should take a taxi as you will have luggage.

When you arrive at my flat, ring the intercom for Flat 2. My friend Lillian will be at home and she will open the front door for you and let you into my flat. Presumably you will be tired and want to sleep. But if you feel like some exercise after that long flight, you could stroll down to Cooper Park, which is only ten minutes away ? you can see it from the window. Cheers and looking forward to seeing you.

Yours sincerely,

Annie

P.S. I will leave something for breakfast in the fridge. Help yourself to anything you want.

春华秋实，颗粒满仓。下面语文迷收集了秋天的英文句子，欢迎阅读。

1. 我认为秋天是一年中最美的季节。

I think autumn is the most beautiful season in a year.

2. 秋天时叶子变黄。

The leaves turn yellow in autumn.

3. 在秋天的晚上，我感到一丝凉意。

I feel a little cool in the autumnal night.

4. 秋天里树木都是光秃秃的。

The trees were naked during autumn.

5. 今天的天气已露出了一丝秋天的气息。

There is a breath of autumn in the air today.

6. 九月的天气确实像秋天了。

The weather in September was positively autumnal.

7. 我喜欢收集秋天赤褐色的叶子。

I like to collect russet autumn leaves.

8. 我们欣赏着秋天里新英格兰树林的瑰丽色彩。

We are enjoying the resplendent colors of the New England woods in the autumn.

9.夜半酒醒人不觉，满池荷叶动秋风

Wake up to drink ,people feel the middle of the night, moving wind over a lotus leaf pond

10.生命如此简单，如秋，如落叶。

Life is so si-mp-le, such as the autumn, such as fallen leaves.

11.秋中，有些感情便如落叶般凋零了，有些影子却挥之不去，只在网络虚缈中才有熟悉的名字。凋零就凋零吧，倦缩也好，成灰亦好，管它感情如一树红叶般怎样盛开，怎样凋零。我站在川流不息的时间里，谈笑风生，任凭满天的叶子飞舞，最终覆盖苍凉的生命。

In autumn, some emotions, such as fallen leaves as they decline, some have lingering shadow, only in the virtual network is indistinct in the familiar names. It withered on the decline,ashes are also good, regardleof the feelings of like how the leaves like a tree in full bloom and how to decline. I was standing on the flow of time, laughing, even if the sky flying leaves, eventually covering the lives of desolation.

12.那是一幅描绘秋天景色的油画。

That is an oil painting of a landscape in spring.

第一段：考生需要简明扼要地阐述图片内容，并点出该图画的主题。第一句话引出话题：例如:Nothing gets people talking like the topic that parents ‘role in family education(图画反映出的话题);第二句话开始正式描述图画，包含两部分：中心人或物正在干什么，以及重要细节是什么，因为是两幅图，就分别描写即可。Just as we can see from the first picture,... But when glance at the second, we know tht…第三句可以简单翻译中文标题或是描述，或者直接引出主题And below the drawing, a title which says that…。

中间段为阐释段。首句一般点出图片的象征寓意，也就是明确指出图片反映的社会问题，也就是该篇作文的中心思想。这篇文章的主题是父母应该通过行动来做好孩子的榜样,我们可以这样引出：What the cartoon really intend to extend is that parents should not only educate their children in words but also in deeds。具体的论证方法：原因，举例，对比、在这里，我们可以使用原因。这里有一些原因句型,可供大家参考：

1. Owning to /considering /given the fact that +原因

2.The major determinant lies in…

3. It is well known that/as we all know,… therefore, …

4. There is no doubt that… consequently, …

最后一段，给出评论或总结提建议。可以从怎样在行动上起到表率作用为切入口进行描述。

热点话题：

1、人口问题

2、 西部大开发

3、 网络和双刃剑(金钱，阳光)

4、成功，梦想和现实

5、职业选择和规划/高分低能

6、洋节和传统节日

7、神七上天和嫦娥奔月

8、地震与爱心

9、 奥运举办

10、 抄袭与诚信

11、伪劣商品

12、食品安全

13、抄袭与诚信

14、乱收费(因果：因：法律制度不完善，部分人只顾自己利益，忽视学生利益; 果：为社会，个人带来不良后果和巨大压力)

15、节俭与压力

16、心理问题

17、交通阻塞

18、创新创业

一、~~~ the + ~ est + 名词 + (that) + 主词 + haveever + seen ( known/heard/had/read, etc)

~~~ the most + 形容词 + 名词 + (that) + 主词 + have ever + seen ( known/heard/had/read, etc)

例句：

Helen is the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen.

海伦是我所看过最美丽的女孩。

Mr. Chang is the kindest teacher that I have ever had.

张老师是我曾经遇到最仁慈的教师。

二、Nothing is + ~~~ er than to + V Nothing is + more + 形容词 + than to + V

例句：Nothing is more important than to receive education.

没有比接受教育更重要的事。

三、~~~ cannot emphasize the importance of ~~~ too much.(再怎么强调...的重要性也不为过。)

例句：

We cannot emphasize the importance of protecting our eyes too much.

我们再怎么强调保护眼睛的重要性也不为过。

四、There is no denying that + S + V ...(不可否认的...)

例句：

There is no denying that the qualities of our living have gone from bad to worse.

不可否认的，我们的生活品质已经每况愈下。

五、It is universally acknowledged that + 句子~~ (全世界都知道...)

例句：

It is universally acknowledged that trees are indispensable to us.

全世界都知道树木对我们是不可或缺的。

六、There is no doubt that + 句子~~ (毫无疑问的...)

例句：

There is no doubt that our educational system leaves something to be desired.

毫无疑问的我们的教育制度令人不满意。

七、An advantage of ~~~ is that + 句子 (...的优点是...)

例句：

An advantage of using the solar energy is that it wont create (produce) any pollution.

使用太阳能的优点是它不会制造任何污染。

八、The reason why + 句子 ~~~ is that + 句子 (...的原因是...)

例句：

The reason why we have to grow trees is that they can provide us with fresh air./ The reason why we have to grow trees is that they can supply fresh air for us.

我们必须种树的原因是它们能供应我们新鲜的空气。

九、So + 形容词 + be + 主词 + that + 句子 (如此...以致于...)

例句：

So precious is time that we cant afford to waste it.

时间是如此珍贵，我们经不起浪费它。

十、Adj + as + Subject(主词)+ be, S + V~~~ (虽然...)

例句：

Rich as our country is, the qualities of our living are by no means satisfactory. {by no means = in no way = on no account 一点也不}

虽然我们的国家富有，我们的生活品质绝对令人不满意。

十一、The + ~er + S + V, ~~~ the + ~er + S + V ~~~

The + more + Adj + S + V, ~~~ the + more+ Adj + S + V ~~~(愈...愈...)

例句：The harder you work, the more progress you make.

你愈努力，你愈进步。

The more books we read, the more learned we become.

我们书读愈多，我们愈有学问。

十二、By +Ving, ~~ can ~~ (借着...，..能够..)

例句：By taking exercise, we can always stay healthy.

借着做运动，我们能够始终保持健康。

十三、~~~ enable + Object(受词)+ to + V (..使..能够..)

例句：Listening to music enable us to feel relaxed.

听音乐使我们能够感觉轻松。

十四、On no account can we + V ~~~ (我们绝对不能...)

例句：On no account can we ignore the value of knowledge.

我们绝对不能忽略知识的价值。

十五、It is time + S + 过去式 (该是...的时候了)

例句：It is time the authorities concerned took proper steps to solve the traffic problems.

该是有关当局采取适当的措施来解决交通问题的时候了。

十六、Those who ~~~ (...的人...)

例句：Those who violate traffic regulations should be punished.

违反交通规定的人应该受处罚。

十七、There is no one but ~~~ (没有人不...)

例句：There is no one but longs to go to college.

没有人不渴望上大学。

十八、be + forced/compelled/obliged + to + V (不得不...)

例句：Since the examination is around the corner, I am compelled to give up doing sports.

既然考试迫在眉睫，我不得不放弃做运动。

十九、It is conceivable that + 句子 (可想而知的)

It is obvious that + 句子 (明显的)

It is apparent that + 句子 (显然的)

例句：It is conceivable that knowledge plays an important role in our life.

可想而知，知识在我们的一生中扮演一个重要的角色。

二十、That is the reason why ~~~ (那就是...的原因)

例句：Summer is sultry. That is the reason why I dont like it.

夏天很燠热。那就是我不喜欢它的原因。

二十一、For the past + 时间，S + 现在完成式.(过去...年来，...一直...)

例句：For the past two years, I have been busy preparing for the examination.

过去两年来，我一直忙着准备考试。

二十二、Since + S + 过去式，S + 现在完成式。

例句：Since he went to senior high school, he has worked very hard.

自从他上高中，他一直很用功。

二十三、It pays to + V ~~~ (...是值得的。)

例句：It pays to help others.

帮助别人是值得的。

二十四、be based on (以...为基础)

例句：The progress of thee society is based on harmony.

社会的进步是以和谐为基础的。

二十五、Spare no effort to + V (不遗余力的)

例句：We should spare no effort to beautify our environment.

我们应该不遗余力的美化我们的环境。

二十六、bring home to + 人 + 事 (让...明白...事)

例句：We should bring home to people the valueof working hard.

我们应该让人们明白努力的价值。

二十七、be closely related to ~~ (与...息息相关)

例句：Taking exercise is closely related to health.

做运动与健康息息相关。

二十八、Get into the habit of + Ving= make it a rule to + V (养成...的习惯)

We should get into the habit of keeping good hours.

我们应该养成早睡早起的习惯。

二十九、Due to/Owing to/Thanks to + N/Ving, ~~~(因为...)

例句：Thanks to his encouragement, I finally realized my dream.

因为他的鼓励，我终于实现我的梦想。

三十、What a + Adj + N + S + V!= How + Adj + a + N + V!(多么...!)

例句：What an important thing it is to keep our promise!

How important a thing it is to keep our promise!

遵守诺言是多么重要的事!

三十一、Leave much to be desired (令人不满意)

例句：The condition of our traffic leaves much to be desired.

我们的交通状况令人不满意。

三十二、Have a great influence on ~~~ (对...有很大的影响)

例句：Smoking has a great influence on our health.

抽烟对我们的健康有很大的影响。

三十三、do good to (对...有益)，do harm to (对...有害)

例句：Reading does good to our mind.读书对心灵有益。

Overwork does harm to health.工作过度对健康有害。

三十四、Pose a great threat to ~~ (对...造成一大威胁)

例句：Pollution poses a great threat to our existence.

污染对我们的生存造成一大威胁。

三十五、do ones utmost to + V = do ones best (尽全力去...)

例句：We should do our utmost to achieve our goal in life.

我们应尽全力去达成我们的人生目标。

财富，指具有价值的东西就称之为财富，包括自然财富、物质财富、精神财富等。下面是语文迷为大家整理的关于财富的英语名言，希望对你写作文有帮助。

Betrand Russell, British philosopher 乞丐并不羡慕百万富翁，尽管他们一定会羡慕比他们乞讨得多的乞丐。

英国哲学家罗素.B.

He that has a full purse never lacks a friend. Even in a busy market, nobody cares to know a poor person.

Anonymors 富在深山有远亲;贫在闹市无人识。

无名氏

All good things are cheap, all bad things are very dear.

Henry David Thoreau, Ameican writer 一切好的东西都是便宜的，所有坏的东西都是非常贵的。

美国作家梭罗。H.D.

Apply yourself to true riches; it is shameful to depend upon silver and gold for a happy life.

Lrcius Annaeus Seneca, Ancient Roman Philosopher 要争取真正的财富，靠金银谋取幸福是不光彩的。

古罗马哲学家西尼加.L.A.

I would rather have my people laugh at my economies than weep for my extravagance.

Oscar ll, Swedish king 我宁愿让我的人民嘲笑我的的小气也不愿让他们为我的挥霍而哭泣。

瑞典国王奥斯卡二世

A penny saved is a penny gained.

Richard Brckminster Fuller.American srchitect 省下一分钱等于得到一分钱。

美国建筑师富勒.R.B.

Beggars cannot be choosers.

Du Bose Heywood, American writer 乞丐不能挑肥拣瘦。

美国作家海伍德.D.B.

Creditors have better memories than debtors.

Benjamin Franklin. American president 放债的比借债记性好。

美国总统富兰克林。B.

Economy is in itself a source of great revenue.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Ancient Roman Philosopher 节约本身就是最大的收入 .

罗马哲学家 西尼加，L.A.

Economy is the poor man s mint; and extravagance the rich man s pitfall. 节约是穷人的造币厂，浪费是富翁的陷阱。

英国作家 塔泊.M

Few rich men own their property.The property owns them.

Robert Green Ingersoll. American Iawyer 极少富人拥有他们的财产，是财产拥有他们。

美国律师英格索尔.R.G.

If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.

Benjamin Franklin, American presudent 要想知道钱的价值，就想办法去借钱试试。

美国总统富兰克林.B.

I finally know what distinguishes man from the other beasts:financial worries.

Jules Renard, French playwright 我终于明白人与野兽的区别在于：人为钱而担忧。

法国剧作家勒纳尔.J.

If rich, it is easy enough to conceal our wealth, but, if poor, it is not so easy to conceal our poverty. We shall find it less difficult to hide a thousand guineas, than one hole in our coat.

Charles C. Colton, British clergyman 如果富有，藏富很容易;如果贫穷，掩饰贫穷却很难。我们不难发现隐藏1000个金币比遮盖衣服上的一个破洞来得容易。

英国画妆师科尔顿.C.C

An ounce of prudence is worth a pound of gold.

Tobias Smollett, British writer 一盎司谨慎抵得上一磅黄金。

英国作家 .斯摩莱特 .T.

All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.

Voltaire, French thinker 人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

法国思想家伏尔泰

关于财富的英语谚语

A bashful dog never fattens.害羞的狗养不胖。(bashful:害羞的)

A beggar can never be bankrupt,乞丐永远不会破产。

A beggar s purse is a I ways empty.乞弓存不住钱。

A borrowed loan should come laughing home.向人借贷应微笑返还。(借钱乐还，再借不难)。 读书笔记

A clear fast is better than a dirty breakfast.宁为清贫，不为法富。 内容来自

A covetous man does nothing that he should till he dies,贪娶之人，死后方尽其义务。

A covetous man is good to none, but worst to himself,贪娶之人，对人无益，对己更损。 读后感

A covetous woman deserves a swindling gallant,贪娶女郎的绝配就是负心汉。

A fool and his money are soon parted,傻子存不了钱。 内容来自

A heavy purse makes a light heart,钱袋沉甸甸，人就轻飘。

A lamb is as dear to a poor man as an ox to the rich,的黑羊比富人的牛更珍贵。

A light purse makes a heavy heart.?中无钱心事重。

A man does not wander far from where his corn is roast i ng.人不会远离财富的来源。 内容来自

A man has no more goods then he has good of.只有享用财富，才算真正拥有财舍田。 读后感

A man may love his house we I I without riding on the ridge.有宝何必人前夸。

A man without money is a bow without an arrow.人无钱，犹如弓无箭。 读后感

A man without money is no man at all. 一分钱难倒英雄汉。

A man’ s wealth is his enemy,财富是人之患也。

导语：端午节是中国的传统节日，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!

假定你是李华。你刚从英国为期五天的旅游回来，感谢好友Rick的款待。得知他对中国的文化非常的感兴趣，特别是即将到来的端午节，请你写一封信介绍中国的端午节。内容要点：

1)感谢他的招待。

2)介绍中国的端午节(时间，意义，风俗等)

3)欢迎他来中国。

注意：

1)词数100左右;

2)可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;

3)开头和结尾已为你写好。

范文：

Dear Rick,

How is everything going? I had a five-day trip to London last week. I would like to express my gratitude for your hospitality and kindness when I was in London.

Knowing that you take a great fancy to Chinese culture, especially the Dragon Boat Festival, I would love to introduce it to you. The Dragon Boat Festival, one of the most traditional festivals in China, falls on the May 5th in the lunar calendar. People celebrate this festival in memory of Qu Yuan, who was a Chinese poet. Besides, people in China will also hold a variety of activities to honor him, such as dragon boat racing、eating zongzi and so on.

Welcome to China.You will have an unforgettable experience if you come to China before this festival.

Best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

【参考译文】

亲爱的瑞克，

过得可好?上周我去伦敦做了五天的旅行。我要感谢我在伦敦时对您的热情款待。

我知道你很喜欢中国文化，尤其是端午节，我想把它介绍给你。端午节，一个在中国最传统的节日，是在农历的5月5日。人们庆祝这个节日是为了纪念屈原，他是一位中国诗人。此外，人们在中国也将举行各种活动来纪念他，如赛龙舟，吃粽子等、。

欢迎来到中国，你会如果你来中国之前，这个节日有一个难忘的经验。

最美好的祝福.

谨上,

李华

1.经济的快速发展 the rapid development of economy

2.人民生活水平的显著提高/ 稳步增长the remarkable improvement/ steady growth of people’s living standard

3.先进的科学技术 advanced science and technology

4.面临新的机遇和挑战 be faced with new opportunities and challenges

5.人们普遍认为 It is commonly believed/ recognized that…

6.社会发展的必然结果 the inevitable result of social development

7.引起了广泛的公众关注 arouse wide public concern/ draw public attention

8.不可否认 It is undeniable that…/ There is no denying that…

9.热烈的讨论/ 争论 a heated discussion/ debate

10. 有争议性的问题 a controversial issue

11.完全不同的观点 a totally different argument

12.一些人 …而另外一些人 … Some people… while others…

13. 就我而言/ 就个人而言 As far as I am concerned, / Personally,

14.就…达到绝对的一致 reach an absolute consensus on…

15.有充分的理由支持 be supported by sound reasons

16.双方的论点 argument on both sides

17.发挥着日益重要的作用 play an increasingly important role in…

18.对…必不可少 be indispensable to …

19.正如谚语所说 As the proverb goes:

20.…也不例外 …be no exception

21.对…产生有利/不利的影响 exert positive/ negative effects on…

22.利远远大于弊 the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages。

23.导致，引起 lead to/ give rise to/ contribute to/ result in

24.复杂的社会现象 a complicated social phenomenon

25.责任感 / 成就感 sense of responsibility/ sense of achievement

26. 竞争与合作精神 sense of competition and cooperation

27. 开阔眼界 widen one’s horizon/ broaden one’s vision

28.学习知识和技能 acquire knowledge and skills

29.经济/心理负担 financial burden / psychological burden

30.考虑到诸多因素 take many factors into account/ consideration

31. 从另一个角度 from another perspective

32.做出共同努力 make joint efforts

33. 对…有益 be beneficial / conducive to…

34.为社会做贡献 make contributions to the society

35.打下坚实的基础 lay a solid foundation for…

36.综合素质 comprehensive quality

37.无可非议 blameless / beyond reproach

39.致力于/ 投身于 be committed / devoted to…

40. 应当承认 Admittedly,

41.不可推卸的义务 unshakable duty

42. 满足需求 satisfy/ meet the needs of…

43.可靠的信息源 a reliable source of information

44.宝贵的自然资源 valuable natural resources

45.因特网 the Internet (一定要由冠词，字母I 大写)

46.方便快捷 convenient and efficient

47.在人类生活的方方面面 in all aspects of human life

48.环保(的) environmental protection / environmentally friendly

49.社会进步的体现 a symbol of society progress

50.科技的飞速更新 the ever-accelerated updating of science and technology

51.对这一问题持有不同态度 hold different attitudes towards this issue

52.支持前/后种观点的人 people / those in fovor of the former/ latteropinion

53.有/ 提供如下理由/ 证据 have/ provide the following reasons/ evidence

54.在一定程度上 to some extent/ degree / in some way

55. 理论和实践相结合 integrate theory with practice

56. …必然趋势 an irresistible trend of…

57.日益激烈的社会竞争 the increasingly fierce social competition

58.眼前利益 immediate interest/ short-term interest

59.长远利益. interest in the long run

60.…有其自身的优缺点 … has its merits and demerits/ advantages and disadvantages

61.扬长避短 Exploit to the full one’s favorable conditions and avoid unfavorable ones

62.取其精髓，取其糟粕 Take the essence and discard the dregs。

63.对…有害 do harm to / be harmful to/ be detrimental to

64.交流思想/ 情感/ 信息 exchange ideas/ emotions/ information

65.跟上…的最新发展 keep pace with / catch up with/ keep abreast with the latest development of …

66.采取有效措施来… take effective measures to do sth

67.…的健康发展 the healthy development of …

68.有利有弊 Every coin has its two sides。

No garden without weeds。

69.对…观点因人而异 Views on …vary from person to person。

70.重视 attach great importance to…

71.社会地位 social status

72.把时间和精力放在…上 focus time and energy on…

73.扩大知识面 expand one’s scope of knowledge

74.身心两方面 both physically and mentally

75.有直接/间接关系 be directly / indirectly related to…

76. 提出折中提议 set forth a compromise proposal

77. 可以取代 “think”的词 believe, claim, maintain, argue, insist, hold the opinion/ belief that

78.缓解压力/ 减轻负担 relieve stress/ burden

79.优先考虑/发展… give (top) priority to sth。

80.与…比较 compared with…/ in comparison with

81. 相反 in contrast / on the contrary。

82.代替 replace/ substitute / take the place of

83.经不起推敲 cannot bear closer analysis / cannot hold water

84.提供就业机会 offer job opportunities

85. 社会进步的反映 mirror of social progress

86.毫无疑问 Undoubtedly, / There is no doubt that…

87.增进相互了解 enhance/ promote mutual understanding

88.充分利用 make full use of / take advantage of

根据中英文提示，与一篇日记，记叙一次(西塞山)郊游。(短文的开头已经给出。)

要求：

1.短文应包括汉语和英语提示内容。

2.语句通顺，意思连贯。

3.书写工整，卷面整洁，标点符号正确。

4.字数不少于80个英语单词。

Sunday, May 1st

I got to school very early. Our class took a special bus to Xisai Mount. We got to the foot of the mount at 8:30.We began climbing the mount soon. On our way the air was so fresh and the scenery was so beautiful. Everybody was talking and laughing.We reached the top at about 10:00. The Yangtze River appeared in the north, and over the river there was a great bridge. We felt very relaxed. Seeing some birds flying in the sky, I suddenly remembered a popular poem of Tang dynasty. " Birds are flying in front of Xisai Mount ,…". I kept feeling proud of our city.

一：用介词短语替代从句，例：

原句：While they were playing tennis， she started an argument that lasted all morning.

修改后：During tennis she started an argument that lasted all morning.

原句：When you come to the second traffic light， turn right.

修改后：At the second traffic light turn left.

二：删除诸如"who is"或"that is"之类的关系代词，变从句为短语，例：

句：The novel， which is written in three parts， told a story that took place in the Middle Ages.

修改后：The three-part novel told a story set in the Middle Ages.

注：把句中的"three parts"改用形容词来表达，节省了四个不必要的单词"which is written in"。我们经常可以将关系代词如"that"去掉，这只会引起最少的变动。

三：剔除你不需要的单词，例：

Two joint partners will present their views over a long-distance telephone call. 写完这样的句子后，你自己再读一遍，挑出单词"joint"和"telephone"，注意删去不必要的词。

对于我们农村地区的学生来说，英语写作非常困难。尤其在每一次的英语考试中，英语写作题型总是必不可少的，小编收集了初中期末英语作文的写作技巧，欢迎阅读。

一、学生写作过程中出现的现状

1.词汇量太少

词汇是英语写作必不可少的基本要素，要写好一篇作文以表达自己的思想，必须以足够的词汇量为基础，但实际上大多数学生掌握的词汇量都达不到规定的要求，因而在写作时也就不能随心所欲地表达自己的思想。出现的问题往往有拼写错误，影响理解;词语误用，表达不准确;某一词语反复使用，语言表达缺乏变式，文章显得单调乏味;文章中出现大量“造词”，让人看了啼笑皆非等。

语法规则和句型句式是英语写作涉及的另一基本要素。学生英语写作中出现的“大错”又多半是由语法错误引起的，学生在写作中语法不规范、句子结构混乱、含义不清等情况屡见不鲜，Chinese English现象更是不乏其中，所以词汇量和语法问题是中学生英语写作时首先要解决的问题。

2.词汇错误较多

学生在写作的时候，中式英语Chinglish ：如There are many people would like to go on a vacation. I by bike to school every day. 2、词汇错误：错别字、近义词混淆、词性误用3、词组、句型使用不正确，缺乏重点句型的使用：如I spent one hour to read the book yesterday. 4、时态、语态、人称把握不正确(审题不正确)。思维模式总是先汉语，后转化为英语，可能他想到了句子该怎样写，句型也知道的，但却有个别单词不会。如：“对我来说学英语是困难的”这个句子可能他想到了，句子结构“it is+adj for sb to do sth”也知道，但里面的形容词difficult不会写，导致句子表达含糊，以至于整篇文章错词百出，面目全非。

3.写出的长句达不到表达效果

一般的英语应试作文，总会给出汉语提示，学生写作也是从提示上入手，有的提示意思较长，所以学生写的时候会直接翻译，但对太长的句子又没有驾驭的能力，导致整个句子错误。

4.听力较弱影响写作能力

我们所面临的是一群农村学生，他们没有特别好的条件练习听力，每次的练习时间仅仅是每节英语课上，听听力的时间是在太少。有位作家说过：“不写没有读过的语言，不读没有说

的语言，不说没有听过的语言”。很明显，通过听的渠道获得语言信息及语言感受在英语学习中基础的基础。听不来也就写不上。

5.单词书写不规范，卷面书写较乱

对于大多数学生来说，格式、大小写、标点，书写不规范：句首字母大写不注意，使用从句时不会使用标点、大小写等)。如：After he went back home. He cooked supper.，考试时把单词写整齐的很少，学生普遍认为只要把单词写正确就可以得分，虽然觉得自己写的作文还可以，但卷子发下之后却没有得到期望的分数，而有的同学写作能力较差但书写整齐，写作得分也不是很低。

二、提高写作的方法

1.词汇的积累

初中学生在阅读理方面最大的障碍就是词汇量的缺乏，而扩大词汇量绝非死记硬背就能做到。最有效的方法就是大量接触各种不同体裁的英语文章，利用“在句中记，在文中记”的方法来积累词汇。因此我们指导学生依据英语报刊的特点，按栏目、话题、题材、体裁归类收集常用词，将出现频率较高的常用词汇积累到单词本子上，查字典写例句，初步学会这些单词的运用，放在身边，利用零散时间反复记忆，加强印象。

同时拟定时以单选、完型、阅读等形式考察学生对这些单词的掌握情况，通过测试和竞赛的方式进一步激发大家学习词汇的热情。不过，由于课程的时间安排问题，测试的工作开展较少，这也是实验工作中的一个不足。

2.熟练记住单词

( 1.) 巩固单词拼写，培养组句能力。 词汇匮乏是妨碍英语写作的最大障碍之一，有话想说，无词可写是大部分学生的苦恼。因此，我要求学生坚持每天听写、默写、循环记忆单词，掌握巩固词汇。还要求学生给出与单词有关的同义、近义、反义和词形相似的词，使词汇量得到最大限度的复现。如：反义词appear/disappear, crowded/uncrowded, polite/impolite/rude. 词形相似的词except/expect, chance/change/challenge. 还以某一词为中心，写出该词的不同形式或词性，组成典型的句型，从而不断丰富词汇和句型。如拼写单词die 时，不但要写出其过去式过去分词died，而且要写出其他词性(death, dead, dying), 再分别组句，如：The old man died two years ago. He has been dead for two years. His death made his dog very sad. It is dying.又如写到易混淆的词pay, spend, cost, take 时，可以多种方式表达句意。He paid 20 yuan for the book. He spent 20 yuan on the book. He spent 20 yuan buying the book. The book cost him 20 yuan. It takes him 20 minutes to read the book every day.等等。这样,通过大量的词汇练习不仅仅能有效地积累词汇，还为组句打下了基础，同时还能训练学生的发散性思维和总结、归纳、比较的能力，为学生正确使用词句奠定了良好的基础。以上这些机械操练虽然枯燥，但很有必要，它是能力培养的基础。在词句落实的基础上，可向学生提出稍高的要求，如写出高质量的句子： What a happy family I have ! (I have a happy family.) The story is so interesting that everyone likes it.( The story is very interesting. Everyone likes it. ) He didn’t come to school, because he was ill. (He was ill. He didn’t come to school.) I am good at not only English but also math.(I am good at English and I am good at math ，too. )( 2、) 阅读背诵精彩段落，围绕单元话题设计书面表达。 阅读是写作的 熟练记住每一话题的单词。熟记单词后让他们能够熟练的运用，能够把重点单词用来造句。然后熟记词组，特别是能够熟练的运用词组，能够用词组熟练造句。用词组和单词连成简单句，只要学生将句子表达清楚，语意连贯，就是一篇好的英语文章。

3.熟练使用简单句

简单句对学生来说相对好掌握些，可以要求学生们能够熟练划分主语、谓语、宾语。 正确掌握并列连词andbutor等词。在写作中要求学生不能随意发挥，也不能逐字逐句的翻译所给的文章，要求学生能抓住题中所给的条件，只要考生能将题中所给的要点全部表达清楚，而没有遗漏，在写作中并且注意到语言的连贯，那么就是一篇很好的英语文章。

4.加强听力训练，促进写作

目前英语听力教材使用的具体做法是：事先提出每课生词，教师领读几遍。排除生词障碍后，第一遍学生主让学生在课后反复听课文内容，并逐字逐句写下。每周星期五布置，星期一用课堂时间，教师将该文念一、二遍，让学生听写，教师收上来查阅，加以评讲。通过这种训练，提高学生的听力水平和表达能力。

5.书写规范，促进写作

关于书写的卷面整洁与否，字体如何，是老生常谈话题。可是由于印象分数的一分半分之差，很可能影响一生。在此处丢分纯属不值得，这也是笔者把它放在第一位的原因。在教学过程中，应坚持要求学生书写规范，写好匀笔斜体行书，注意连写，以及文面美观。可以采用出专刊的形式，让全班同学都参加英语书法评比，从而激发学生练习英语书写的兴趣，养成良好的书写习惯。

综上所述，在英语写作中听、说、读、写应同步发展。写作是一种语言输出形式，只有语言输入大于语言输出，语言输出才有可能。英语写作训练作为英语综合能力训练之一，是与英语的听说读是不可分割的，它们是相互影响、相互作用的有机统一体，必须注重听、说、读、写能力的同步发展。

比如笔者实施多年的“五分钟课前训练”：在上正课前五分钟里，要学生用英语讲述一个故事(积累素材);或者课前朗读一篇短小精悍的文章，让大家课后模仿;或者就大家平时关心的话题写一个发言稿或演讲稿进行课前发言;或者让学生自立主题，围绕自己喜欢的主题写一段话。这种课前训练取得了很好的效果。

美国作家舒伯特指出:“Reading is writing”，即：阅读能够促进写作，因为对学生而言,他们对生活的体验、对人生的认识大多是从书本上获得，从大量的阅读中获取的，阅读不仅能帮助学生积累思想,也能帮助他们积累语言素材。“You ought to read very carefully. Not only very carefully，but also aloud，and that again and again till you know the passage by heart and write it as if it were your own.” 这就清楚地说明了熟读成诵对写作是多么重要。所以要想写出好文章,就必须大量读书，它是写作的基础。

阅读对写作固然重要，但其它形式写作训练同样不可忽视，英语写作实践是英语写作理论转化为写作能力的“中介”。英语写作要突出实践，正如学习游泳一样，写作的能力是练出来的。课外练笔是课堂写作训练最有益的补充，因为课堂时间有限，仅靠课堂写作训练培养学生的写作能力是不够的。作文不是“学”出来的，而是“写”出来的。学生必须进行大量的写作练习才能掌握并且灵活运用各种写作技能，而且写作技能只有在不断写作的过程中才能逐步得到提高和完善。

此外,学生的英语语言意识和英语思维能力的培养也需要大量的练习。可见,课外练笔非常必要，应该给予重视。课外练笔的形式多种多样，可采用让学生写英语日记、写英语周记，教师也可有意识地给学生提供一些尽量贴近生活的时尚话题，如奥运会、环境保护等，让学生在课外习作。

不管做什么是，找对技巧很重要。下面语文迷网整理了英语六级的写作技巧，供大家阅读参考。

一、 长短句原则。

工作还得一张一弛呢，老让读者读长句，累死人!写一个短小精辟的句子，相反，却可以起到画龙点睛的作用。而且如果我们把短句放在段首或者段末，也可以揭示主题：As a creature, I eat; as a man, I read. Although one action is to meet the primary need of my body and the other is to satisfy the intellectual need of mind, they are in a way quite similar. 如此可见，长短句结合，抑扬顿挫，岂不爽哉?牢记!

强烈建议：在文章第一段(开头)用一长一短，且先长后短;在文章主体部分，要先用一个短句解释主要意思，然后在阐述几个要点的时候采用先短后长的句群形式，定会让主体部分妙笔生辉!文章结尾一般用一长一短就可以了。

二、 主题句原则。

国有其君，家有其主，文章也要有其主。否则会给人造成“群龙无首”之感!相信各位读过一些破烂文学，故意把主体隐藏在文章之内，结果造成我们稀里糊涂!不知所云!所以奉劝各位一定要写一个主题句，放在文章的开头(保险型)或者结尾，让读者一目了然，必会平安无事!

特别提示：隐藏主体句可是要冒险的!To begin with, you must work hard at your lessons and be fully prepared before the exam(主题句). Without sufficient preparation, you can hardly expect to answer all the questions correctly.

三、 一 二 三原则。

领导讲话总是第一部分、第一点、第二点、第三点、第二部分、第一点… 如此罗嗦。可毕竟还是条理清楚。考官们看文章也必然要通过这些关键性的“标签”来判定你的文章是否结构清楚，条理自然。破解方法很简单，只要把下面任何一组的词汇加入到你的几个要点前就清楚了。

1)first, second, third, last(不推荐，原因：俗)

2)firstly, secondly, thirdly, finally(不推荐，原因：俗)

3)the first, the second, the third, the last(不推荐，原因：俗)

4)in the first place, in the second place, in the third place, lastly(不推荐，原因：俗)

5)to begin with, then, furthermore, finally(强烈推荐)

6)to start with, next, in addition, finally(强烈推荐)

7)first and foremost, besides, last but not least(强烈推荐)

8)most important of all, moreover, finally

9)on the one hand, on the other hand(适用于两点的情况)

10)for one thing, for another thing(适用于两点的情况)

建议：不仅仅在写作中注意，平时说话的时候也应该条理清楚!

四、短语优先原则。

写作时，尤其是在考试时，如果使用短语，有两个好处：其一、用短语会使文章增加亮点，如果老师们看到你的文章太简单，看不到一个自己不认识的短语，必然会看你低一等。相反，如果发现亮点—精彩的短语，那么你的文章定会得高分了。

其二、关键时刻思维短路，只有凑字数，怎么办?用短语是一个办法!比如：I cannot bear it. 可以用短语表达：I cannot put up with it. I want it. 可以用短语表达：I am looking forward to it. 这样字数明显增加，表达也更准确。

五、多实少虚原则

原因很简单，写文章还是应该写一些实际的东西，不要空话连篇。这就要求一定要多用实词，少用虚词。我这里所说的虚词就是指那些比较大的词。

比如我们说一个很好的时候，不应该之说nice这样空洞的词，应该使用一些诸如generous, humorous, interesting, smart, gentle, warm-hearted, hospitable 之类的形象词。

再比如： 走出房间，general的词是：walk out of the room 但是小偷走出房间应该说：slip out of the room 小姐走出房间应该说：sail out of the room 小孩走出房间应该说：dance out of the room 老人走出房间应该说：stagger out of the room 所以多用实词，少用虚词，文章将会大放异彩!

六、 多变句式原则。

1)加法(串联)都希望写下很长的句子，像个老外似的，可就是怕写错，怎么办，最保险的写长句的方法就是这些，可以在任何句子之间加and, 但最好是前后的句子又先后关系或者并列关系。比如说：I enjoy music and he is fond of playing guitar. 如果是二者并列的，我们可以用一个超级句式：Not only the fur coat is soft, but it is also warm. 其它的短语可以用：besides, furthermore, likewise, moreover

2)转折(拐弯抹角)批评某人缺点的时候，我们总习惯先拐弯抹角说说他的优点，然后转入正题，再说缺点，这种方式虽然阴险了点，可毕竟还比较容易让人接受。所以呢，我们说话的时候，只要在要点之前先来点废话，注意二者之间用个专这次就够了。The car was quite old, yet it was in excellent condition. The coat was thin, but it was warm. 更多的短语：despite that, still, however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, notwithstanding

3)因果(so, so, so)昨天在街上我看到了一个女孩，然后我主动搭讪，然后我们去咖啡厅，然后我们认识了，然后我们成为了朋友…可见，讲故事的时候我们总要追求先后顺序，先什么，后什么，所以然后这个词就变得很常见了。其实这个词表示的是先后或因果关系!The snow began to fall, so we went home. 更多短语：then, therefore, consequently, accordingly, hence, as a result, for this reason, so that

4)失衡句(头重脚轻，或者头轻脚重)有些人脑袋大，身体小，或者有些人脑袋小，身体大，虽然我们不希望长成这个样子，可如果真的是这样了，也就必然会吸引别人的注意力。文章中如果出现这样的句子，就更会让考官看到你的句子与众不同。其实就是主语从句，表语从句，宾语从句的变形。举例：This is what I can do. Whether he can go with us or not is not sure. 同样主语、宾语、表语可以改成如下的复杂成分：When to go, Why he goes away…

5)附加(多此一举)如果有了老婆，总会遇到这样的情况，当你再讲某个人的时候，她会插一句说，我昨天见过他;或者说，就是某某某，如果把老婆的话插入到我们的话里面，那就是定语从句和同位语从句或者是插入语。The man whom you met yesterday is a friend of mine. I don’t enjoy that book you are reading. Mr liu, our oral English teacher, is easy-going. 其实很简单，同位语--要解释的东西删除后不影响整个句子的构成;定语从句—借用之前的关键词并且用其重新组成一个句子插入其中，但是whom or that 关键词必须要紧跟在先行词之前。

6)排比(排山倒海句)文学作品中最吸引人的地方莫过于此，如果非要让你的文章更加精彩的话，那么我希望你引用一个个的排比句，一个个得对偶句，一个个的不定式，一个个地词，一个个的短语，如此表达将会使文章有排山倒海之势!Whether your tastes are modern or traditional, sophisticated or simple, there is plenty in London for you. Nowadays, energy can be obtained through various sources such as oil, coal, natural gas, solar heat, the wind and ocean tides. We have got to study hard, to enlarge our scope of knowledge, to realize our potentials and to pay for our life. (气势恢宏) 要想写出如此气势恢宏的句子非用排比不可!

七、挑战极限原则。

既然十挑战极限，必然是比较难的，但是并非不可攀!原理：在学生的文章中，很少发现诸如独立主格的句子，其实也很简单，只要花上5分钟的时间看看就可以领会，它就是分词的一种特殊形式，分词要求主语一致，而独立主格则不然。比如：The weather being fine, a large number of people went to climb the Western Hills. Africa is the second largest continent, its size being about three times that of China. 如果你可以写出这样的句子，不得高分才怪!

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

俗语写作

根据下面中文提示写一篇150词左右的短文。

俗话说：早起的鸟儿有虫吃。请根据你生活中亲身经历的一件事，说明一切成功源于干凡事早做规划，不断追求，辛勤劳作。

The early bird will catch worms

【猜题理由】2010年高考写作题应该是学生较为熟悉的、身边的与他们生活、学习和当今的教育密切相关的话题。一些俗语具有教育意义。2010年有些省份可能对考生进行人生规范、立志等方面有关的俗语进行考查。

【构思点拨】本题属于题目、提纲式作文，给出的要点虽然不多，但要求考生根据生活中亲身经历的一件事，说明一切成功来源于凡事早做规划，不断追求，辛勤劳作这个道理。因此要注意结合自己的经历，谈出自己对此的感受即可。

【参考范文】

The early bird will catch worms

An old saying The early bird will catch worms reminds us that if people want to be successful and outstanding, they must plan ahead of time and make their efforts to overcome all the possible difficulties.

For example, the Chinese athletes excellent performance in 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver is definitely the result of their early planning and hard training. If they don t set the aim and word work, even though they have the best talents, they cant compete with others and get more medals.

Another case in point is my learning experience. I was good at English, but I couldnt pass the exam, for I wasnt prepared well before the examination. I had many things to solve at that time. As I met the complex things, I was at a loss. The reason was that I had no plan and involved in many things and didnt study more hard, so I failed.

In short, the saying shows us the important of planning, working hard and constantly trying.

中考即"初中毕业和高中阶段招生考试"，是选拔考试，但又是建立在义务教育基础上的选拔;中考要考虑初中学生升入高中后继续学习的潜在能力，但高中教育还是基础教育的范畴。yuwenmi小编提供一些中考英语写作必备句子给大家，欢迎借鉴!

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

人们把会使用计算机与人生成功相提并论。

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

在过去的几十年，先进的医疗技术已经使得人们比过去活的时间更长成为可能。

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

事实上，我们必须承认生命的质量和生命本身一样重要。

4. We should spare no effort to beautify our environment.

我们应该不遗余力地美化我们的环境。

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

人们相信拥有计算机技术可以获得更多工作或提升的机会。

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

从这几年我搜集的信息来看，这些知识并没有人们想象的那么有用。

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

现在，人们普遍认为没有一所大学能够在毕业时候教给学生所有的知识。

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

这是一个关系到生死的问题，任何国家都不能忽视。

9. For my part, I agree with the latter opinion for the following reasons:

我同意后者，有如下理由：

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

在给出我的观点之前，我想看看双方的观点是重要的。

11.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.

无可否认，空气污染是一个极其严重的问题：城市当局应该采取有力措施来解决它。

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

一项调查显示妇女欢迎退休。

13.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

一份适当的业余工作并不会占用学生太多的时间，事实上，把全部的时间都用到学习上并不健康，正如那句老话:只工作，不玩耍，聪明的孩子会变傻。

14.Any government which is blind to this point may pay a heavy price.

任何政府忽视这一点都将付出巨大的代价。

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

越来越多的人开始意识到教育不能随着毕业而结束。

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

说到教育，大部分人认为其是一个终生的学习。

17.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.

大部分学生相信业余工作会使他们有更多机会发展人际交往能力，而这对他们未来找工作是非常有好处的。

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

无可争辩，现在有成千上万的人仍过着挨饿受冬的痛苦生活。

19.Although this view is widely held ,this is little evidence that education can be obtained at any age and at any place.

尽管这一观点被广泛接受，很少有证据表明教育能够在任何地点任何年龄进行。

20.No one can deny the fact that a person’s education is the most important aspect of his life.

没有人能否人这一事实:教育是人生最重要的一方面。

21.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人死于与吸烟相关的疾病。

22.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。

23.No invention has received more praise and abuse than Internet.

没有一项发明象互联网同时受到如此多的赞扬和批评。

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

人们似乎忽视了教育不应该随着毕业而结束这一事实。

25.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。

26.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.

当前，一提到即将开始的学校生活，许多学生都会兴高采烈。然而，对多数年轻人来说，校园刚开始的日子并不是什么愉快的经历。

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

考虑到问题的严重性，在事态进一步恶化之前，必须采取有效的措施。

28.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 effects of international tourism.

应该采取适当的措施限制外国旅游者的数量，努力保护当地环境和历史不受国际旅游业的不利影响。

29.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.

越来越多的专家相信移民对城市的建设起到积极作用。然而，越来越多的城市居民却怀疑这种说法，他们抱怨民工给城市带来了许多严重的问题，象犯罪和卖淫。

30.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.

许多市民抱怨城市的公交车太少，以至于他们要花很长时间等一辆公交车，而车上可能已满载乘客。

我校九年级学生，有80%完全不会写作文，即除了“My name is XXX.”“I will. do，” 一个正确的句子都写不出来，剩下的5%也在以下方面存在一些常见的错误：

1、没有理解英语的基本句子成分是“主语”+“谓语”

学生经常出现主语跟谓语不一致，包括句子的谓语用得不恰当，谓语用词跟主语不搭配，一个句子没有主语，或多个句子杂在一起。

比如：学生想说“我母亲总是不让我看电视”，写出来的是“my mother always not be allowed I watch TV.”根本就是直接从汉语逐字翻译成英文的。

出现这样的问题，显然是由于句子的基本结构没有弄清楚。看来在今后教学中还要继续强调，并配合造例句练习。

2、动词短语搭配不准确

比如：“I’m not allowed watch TV.”正确的短语“被允许做某事”应该是“be allowed to do…”。

3、丛句语序和连接词问题

很不理解，为什么强调了那么多次，学生在写作文时，丛句语序还会写错？后者连接词和引导词也老师出错。对于连接词，我在讲的时候也感觉到学生没有理解。我讲解的方法就是把课文里面的丛句拿出来分析其语序和联系词，然后再讲相关语法点，最后举例子让学生造句。语序问题，我还会在将来碰到一次强调一次，相信会有效果。但是联系词我就不知道该怎么让孩子听懂了。

比如：“I don’t know that what should I do”“Could you please tell me should I do?”正确的句子应该是“I don’t know what I should do.”“ Could you please tell me what I should do?”.

以上这些问题让我对如何增强学生作文表达能力有了一个不全面的思考。我觉得，提高学生作文能力必须从七年级入手（小学重点在听说，只需知道what 和 how,不需求甚解；到中学阶段就必须知道why了）。

4、句子使用的句型单一

例如；在一次模拟考试当中英语的考试题目就是如果我当选了班长我会怎么做，做哪些事情，九年级五班的英语课代表张雅就一直用一个句型来写“I will do”，虽然全文当中没有一个错误，但因为句型单一所以值得8分，因此在老师教课的过程中还要不断的给学生讲 作文序加以变换句型且需对语句加以润色。

针对以上问题我以后在讲课文和精读篇阅读理解试题时，要注意以下两点：

1、利用课文逐句帮助学生分析理解英文句子的基本结构，即“主语+谓语”；

2、要求学生把有用的动词短语、名词短语以及插入语记牢记清楚。

3、每单元的语言目标，一定要理解并记忆。

4、是学生学会句子的变换使用，有必要时做些句型转换练习。

题目：请以“My Class Teacher”为题，写一篇不少于60个单词的作文。

My Class Teacher我的班主任

My class teacher is Mr. Wang. He is strict but kind. He has taught us Chinese for two years.我的班主任是王老师，他是一个要求严格而亲切的老师。他已经教了我们两年语文。

He always tells us to study hard but not all the time. Sometimes he plays with us. He says, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I think he is a good class teacher.他总是告诉我们要好好学习，但不是时时刻刻学习。有时他会和我们一起玩。他说：“只会用功不玩耍，聪明孩子也变傻。” 我觉得他是个很好的班主任。

点评：这篇文章取材的是身边熟悉的人，作者也有东西可写，更具有可读性。另外，写人时把主语稍作调整，读起来轻松多了。

I am a 15-year-old girl. My name is [ename]Cherry[/ename]. Now I am studying in the middle school. I want to be an actress because I think it is a funny and exciting job...

写人的常见句式如：

This is my friend, Mary.

She is... years old.

She is a teacher/ an artist/ a singer...

She/ He gets up at 6/5... / early/ late.

She/ He has sports at school.

She/ He likes...

She/ He is strong/ fat/ slim/ kind/ thin/...

She/ He looks like...

She/ He is good at English/ maths/ Chinese/ physics...

2005年英语考纲有重大变化，其中之一就是作文考查的变化，如何在短期内提高考研英语作文。新增加一篇小作文，使作文考查由一篇变为两篇，而原来的大作文的字数也由“不少于200字”调整为“150至200字”，满分20分。新增的作文是一篇100字左右的应用性短文，文体包括有信件、便笺、备忘录等，满分10分。既然是新增题型，就不会太难，但不好预测文体，这就要求考生复习时力求面面俱到，掌握写作规律及注意事项，尤其是对常见的应用文体如书信等

大作文的写作一般会给考生写作提纲，或图表，图画，或图文并茂。命题方式虽然多样，但题目涉及面往往是考生比较熟悉的内容，目的是测定考生语言的实际应用能力。要求表达清楚，文字连贯，中心突出，内容丰富，句式多变，句子结构和用词正确。

语言的应用能力不可能一蹴而就，必须厚积薄发，必须经过长期的实践锻炼。在提高英语写作能力方面，我觉得：一是要背大量的优秀范文，整段整篇地背，并转换为自己的语言，写作时自己能随心所欲支配。考试时避免套用以前死记硬背的几个范文，把一些不达意的词堆积在一起，没有统一性，无法很好地表现主题；二是要多动手。包括对背过的文章进行词语替换，句式转换，句子重组等，以及对某一主题展开写作。多动手才能提高笔下功夫，才能保证在考场上顺利写作。可以说背诵范文是培养语感，积累素材，掌握写作方法，动手写作是实践，是最终目的，这两者结合起来，就是“理论联系了实际”。另外，背诵范文应有针对性，写作训练也是一样，在训练中要掌握每一类型作文的写作规律，根据其每一类作文的写作特点——如提纲式作文就要求考生根据提纲提示的思路和规定的要点展开段落——全面训练，但不要带有押题的心理，靠背几篇范文就能应付考试的心态是不可取的。

下面说一下英语写作过程中的注意事项

一、认真审题

作文第一步是仔细审题，考生要仔细阅读试题要求及相关信息，如图表，图画，数字等，准确把握出题者意图。考研作文忌信手掂来，提笔就写，根本不审题，想到哪儿就写到哪儿，或完全凭自己想象编故事，置考试要求于不顾， “下笔千言，离题万里”。比如1998是一幅卡通画，老母鸡申明外加一首打油诗，讽刺一些企业把该尽职之事作为推销产品的承诺。如果考生说老母鸡很可爱，但爱自夸，然后说自己某个同学也爱自夸，这就偏离主题。2000年的作文“A Brief Histiry of World Commercial Fishing ”.它给出了两张图，从1900年的渔船和鱼量之比到1995年的渔船和鱼量之比的变化谈如何保护渔业资源，应从商业性滥捕鱼这一主题展开话题，有的考生却大谈环境污染，其它英语写作《如何在短期内提高考研英语作文》。这就偏离了主题，因为题中自始自终都没有谈到环境污染问题。

有的同学没有审题习惯，或担心时间不够草草审题，最后发现文不对题，草草收场，这就影响了英语成绩，同时也会影响后两门考试的考试心情。

二、列出提纲

考试规定的时间是很有限的，所以不能花太多时间准备一个详细的提纲，但关键词提纲或粗略提纲还是非常有必要的。对原始材料分析归纳后要形成一个基本的框架。文章打算分几段写，每段大概怎样写，自数控制在多少，开头段落是道破主题，点名要旨，引人入胜还是先给出主题一般的背景情况和对主题进行浓缩的陈述呢，中间段落和结尾有怎样写呢。这些都要心中有数。有的考生习惯用汉语构思文章，逐句翻译提纲，当碰到某个词卡住时就翻译不下去，僵在那里。要注意列提纲是为了更好更全面的表达主题。主题的表达可有多种形式，不一定非要寻找一个特定的词或句子。考试时考生要充分调动大脑，灵活运用以前所学知识。

三、开始写作

一篇文章往往由四部分组成，标题(title)，首段(opening paragraph),主体(body paragraph),结尾段( concluding paragraph)。标题要新颖，能引起读者兴趣，首段的内容根据文章的体裁而变化，比如议论文可以从一种现象，一种观点出发引出作者的观点。记叙文往往交代人物和故事背景。主体是文章的主要部分，通过合适的语篇模式表达一定的观点，考生要围绕中心按一定顺序分层次有重点的展开叙述，描写，议论。结尾段是对全文的总结，论点上要与前面的叙述一致和统一。写作时要注意以下几点。

1、要统一，连贯。

选择那些最能体现中心思想最具代表性的材料，这些材料要共同表达一致的信息。选材时切忌胡子眉毛一把抓。词语堆积，不伦不类。前后及段落之间在逻辑关系上要紧密衔接，不能把没有任何逻辑关系的词放在一起。可以用恰当的关联词把思想连贯的表达出来。

2、用词准确，语法正确

考试时要特别注意语法，此语，语气，标点符号等，为了避免太多单词拼写错误，语法错误，不要为了追求词语的华丽而堆积一些自己也没把握的单词，不要刻意追求长句而写一些自己不知对错的有多个从句组成的长句。考试时最好选择自己最有把握的词汇，短语，句式。

3、足够字数，卷面整洁

绝对不能字数不够，即使一句话颠来倒去说也要凑够字数。字数不够，即使写的非常精彩，也不能拿高分。

四、修改

英语写作时考生由于仓促，紧张等原因，很容易犯一些简单的，一眼就能发现的错误。所以考生一定要留出几分钟时间用于修改。不要大幅度进行修改，更不要因为修改破坏卷面整洁，影响阅卷老师心情。修改时可以从以下几点进行

1、语法

包括时态是否一致，主谓是否一致，名词单复数是否对应，被动主动语态是否错用等

2、词汇

包括连接上下句或段落的关联词，习惯用语，固定搭配，词类混淆，误用及物不及物动词等。

3、拼写和标点符号

小编导语：英语作文是英语考试中的一个得分点，那么在写作过程中有什么技巧呢，下面是小编收集整理的相关资料，希望对您有所帮助。

1、首尾呼应，画龙点睛在文章的结尾，把含义较深的话放在末尾，以点明主题，深化主题，起到画龙点睛的效果。如“I Cannot Forget Her” (我忘不了她)的结尾：

After her death， I felt as if something were missing in my life. I was sad over her passing away， but I knew she would not have had any regrets at having given her life for the benefit of the people.

2、重复主题，句结尾回到文章开头阐明的中心思想或主题句上，达到强调的效果。如“I Love My Home Town”(我爱家乡)的结尾：

I love my home town， and I love its people. They too have changed. They are going all out to do more for the good of our motherland.

3、自然结尾随着文章的结束，文章自然而然地结尾。如“Fishing”(钓鱼)的结尾：

I caught as many as twenty fish in two hours， but my brother caught many more. Tired from fishing， we lay down on the river bank， bathing in the sun. We returned home very late.

4、含蓄性的结尾

用比喻或含蓄的手法不直接点明作者的看法，而是让读者自己去领会和思考。如“A Day of Harvesting”(收割的日子)的结尾：

Evening came before we realized it. We put down our sickles and looked at each other. Our clothes were wet with sweat， but on every face there was a smile.

5、用反问结尾

虽然形式是问句，但意义却是肯定的，并具有特别的强调作用，引起读者深思。如“Should We Learn to Do Housework?”(我们要不要学做家务?) 的结尾。

Everyone should learn to do housework. Dont you agree， boys and girls?

6、指明方向，激励读者结尾表示对将来的展望，或期待读者投入行动。如“Lets Go in for Sports”(让我们参加体育运动)的结尾：As we have said above， sports can be of great value. They not only make people live happily but also help people to learn virtues and do their work bettter. A sound mind is in a sound body. Lets go in for sports.

1. What is language for? Some people seem to think its for practicing grammar rules and learning lists of words--- the longer the words the better. Thats wrong. Language is for the exchange of ideas, for communication。

语言到底是用来干什么的呢?一些人认为它是用来操练语法规则和学习一大堆单词--而且单词越长越好。这个想法是错误的。语言是用来交换思想，进行交流沟通的!

2. The way to learn a language is to practice speaking it as often as possible。

学习一门语言的方法就是要尽量多地练习说。

3. A great man once said it is necessary to drill as much as possible, and the more you apply it in real situations, the more natural it will become。

一位伟人曾说，反复操练是非常必要的，你越多的将所学到的东西运用到实际生活中，他们就变的越自然。

4. Learning any language takes a lot of effort. But dont give up。

学习任何语言都是需要花费很多努力，但不要放弃。

5. Relax! Be patient and enjoy yourself. Learning foreign languages should be fun。

放松点!要有耐性，并让自己快乐!学习外语应该是乐趣无穷的。

6. Rome wasnt built in a day. Work harder and practice more. Your hard- work will be rewarded by god one day. God is equal to everyone!

冰冻三尺，非一日之寒。更加努力的学习，更加勤奋的操练，你所付出的一切将会得到上帝的报答，上帝是公平的。

7. Use a dictionary and grammar guide constantly. Keep a small English dictionary with you at all time. When you see a new word, look it up. Think about the word-- use it, in your mind, in a sentence。

经常使用字典和语法指南。随身携带一本小英文字典，当你看到一个新字时就去查阅它，想想这个字---然后去用它，在你的心中，在一个句子里。

8. Try to think in English whenever possible. When you see something think of the English word of it; then think about the word in a sentence。

一有机会就努力去用英文来思考。看到某事时，想想它的英文单词;然后把它用到一个句子中去。

9. Practice tenses as much as possible. When you learn a new verb, learn its various forms。

尽可能多的操练时态。学习一个动词的时候，要学习它的各种形态。

10. I would also like to learn more about the culture behind the language. When you understand the cultural background, you can better use the language。

我想学习和了解更多关于语言背后的文化知识，当你理解了文化背景，你就能更好地运用语言。

The Spring Festival, the most important festival to Chinese. Is China the biggest, the most lively, one of the most important ancient traditional festivals, is also unique to Chinese festival.

Festival, is the beginning of the lunar calendar, another name is called New Years day, Spring Festival is the biggest, the most lively, China one of the most important ancient traditional festivals, is also unique to Chinese festival. Is the most concentrated expression of Chinese civilization. Since the western han dynasty, the custom of Spring Festival continues today. The Spring Festival, generally refers to New Years eve and the first day. But in private, in the traditional sense of the Spring Festival is from the Greek festival of the day or month, 23 or 24 people, until the fifteenth, among them with New Years eve and the first day of the first lunar month. How to celebrate this holiday, in one thousand years of history development, formed some relatively fixed customs and habits, there are a lot of handed down also. During the traditional festival, the Spring Festival of the han nationality in our country and most of ethnic minorities have to hold various celebration activities, these activities are to worship deities, worshiping ancestors, blow away the cobwebs, meet jubilee blessing, pray for good harvest as the main content. Form rich and colorful, activities with strong ethnic characteristics. On May 20, 2006, "Spring Festival" folk have been approved by the state council listed in the first batch of state-level non-material cultural heritage list.

The origin of the Spring Festival has a legend, the Chinese ancient times have a kind of call "year" monster, head long feelers, fierce abnormalities. "Year" the elder deep in the bottom of the sea, every New Years eve just climbed out, swallowed cattle damage lives. Therefore, every New Years eve that day, the people of CunCunZhaiZhai could flee to the mountains, to escape the "year" animal damage. One NianChuXi, from the village outside a begging the old man. Folks a hurried panic scene, only the east village, an old woman gave the old man some food, and urged him quickly up the hill avoid "year" beast, the old man stroked his beard say with smile: "mother-in-law if let me stay overnight in the home, I must have" years "beast." Old woman continue to persuasion, begging the old man smiling without a word. At midnight, "nian" beast into the village. It found the village atmosphere unlike previous years, village east wifes husbands family, the door stick red paper, candle lit the room. "Year" beast was a shake, long a sound. Nearly the door, hospital suddenly spread "banging spluttered" Fried sound, "nian" shuddered, again dare not go up. Originally, "year" the most afraid of red, fire and exploding. At this time, her mother-in-laws door open and saw hospital a red-robed man laughed. "Year" frightened to disgrace, mess up. The next day is the first day, the people of refuge back very surprised to see the village safe. At this point, the old woman was suddenly enlighted, quickly spoke to the fellow villagers begging the old mans promise. This matter quickly spread around the village, people know driven "years" beast approach. (the legend of hakka) from then on, every year New Years eve, families paste red couplets, firecrackers; Household candle lit, keeping stay by age. Beginning in the early morning, still walk close bunch of congratulate friends say hello. This custom spread more widely, Chinese the most solemn of the folk traditional festival.

春节，中国人最重要的节日。是中国最盛大、最热闹、最重要的一个古老传统节日，也是中国人所独有的节日。

节，是农历的岁首，春节的另一名称叫过年，是中国最盛大、最热闹、最重要的一个古老传统节日，也是中国人所独有的节日。是中华文明最集中的表现。自西汉以来，春节的习俗一直延续到今天。春节一般指除夕和正月初一。但在民间，传统意义上的春节是指从腊月初八的腊祭或腊月二十三或二十四的祭灶，一直到正月十五，其中以除夕和正月初一为高潮。如何过庆贺这个节日，在千百年的历史发展中，形成了一些较为固定的风俗习惯，有许多还相传至今。在春节这一传统节日期间，我国的汉族和大多数少数民族都有要举行各种庆祝活动，这些活动大多以祭祀神佛、祭奠祖先、除旧布新、迎禧接福、祈求丰年为主要内容。活动形式丰富多彩，带有浓郁的民族特色。2006年5月20日，“春节”民俗经国务院批准列入第一批国家级非物质文化遗产名录。

春节的来历有一种传说，中国古时候有一种叫“年”的怪兽，头长触角，凶猛异常。“年”长年深居海底，每到除夕才爬上岸，吞食牲畜伤害人命。因此，每到除夕这天，村村寨寨的人们扶老携幼逃往深山，以躲避“年”兽的伤害。有一年除夕，从村外来了个乞讨的老人。乡亲们一片匆忙恐慌景象，只有村东头一位老婆婆给了老人些食物，并劝他快上山躲避“年”兽，那老人捋髯笑道：“婆婆若让我在家呆一夜，我一定把‘年’兽撵走。”老婆婆仍然继续劝说，乞讨老人笑而不语。 半夜时分，“年”兽闯进村。它发现村里气氛与往年不同：村东头老婆婆家，门贴大红纸，屋内烛火通明。“年”兽浑身一抖，怪叫了一声。将近门口时，院内突然传来“砰砰啪啪”的炸响声，“年”浑身战栗，再不敢往前凑了。原来，“年”最怕红色、火光和炸响。这时，婆婆的家门大开，只见院内一位身披红袍的老人在哈哈大笑。“年”大惊失色，狼狈逃蹿了。第二天是正月初一，避难回来的人们见村里安然无恙十分惊奇。这时，老婆婆才恍然大悟，赶忙向乡亲们述说了乞讨老人的许诺。这件事很快在周围村里传开了，人们都知道了驱赶“年”兽的办法。(客家人的传说)从此每年除夕，家家贴红对联、燃放爆竹;户户烛火通明、守更待岁。初一一大早，还要走亲串友道喜问好。这风俗越传越广，成了中国民间最隆重的传统节日。