2015年英语六年级写作基础知识精选8篇 作文20篇

还记得著名作家海明威写的一句话：我要寻找志属于我自己的句子。每一个人都有属于他自己的句子，都应该有他自己的写作风格。下面是写作学基础知识点，欢迎参考阅读！

(一)素质训练，也叫基础训练

任何一种技能技巧的形成，并使之达到熟练程度，都必须经过干锤百炼，所谓熟能生巧、巧能生华就是这个意思。竞走、赛跑运动员的速度是练出来的，游泳、自行车运动员的速度也是练出来的。快速作文也一样，要提高写作成文速度，主要靠练。快速作文没有秘诀，没有魔图，只要通过严格训练，就能出成果，问题是要有科学的训练方法和步骤。

快速作文训练的中心是“快”，这种训练是在学生具有一定的写作基础和掌握了一定的写作技巧的基础上求“快”、求“好”的训练，如果写作素质太差，就没法进行快速训练。达到下列目的：

1、提高写作兴趣，培养写作情感

心理学告诉我们，兴趣是获得知识、形成技能技巧、开发智力的动力。因此，任何形式的教学都必须严格遵循兴趣性原则。只有当学生对写作文产生了浓厚的兴趣时，快速作司文训练才会有成效。心理学同时告诉我们，兴趣与当前的需要有关，因此提高学生写作兴趣的办法虽然是多种多样的，但是其中重要的一条便是向学生进行快速写作目的教育，如果学生认识了快速作文的必要性，他就会对作文产生浓厚的兴习趣。另外，出作文题要紧跟形势，与时代同步，要切合学生的生活实际，命题要尽量新，能激发学生的写作兴趣，使学学生有话可写。

2.积累写作材料

这一点要贯穿到整个快速作文训练的始终，但在基础训练阶段要重点抓。“巧妇难为无米之炊”，没有写作材料，再好的写作高手也难以完篇。因此，一定要求学生分专题记住;一些典型材料，譬如有关爱国主义，党的领导，尊重知识，改革开放，廉政建设，学雷锋等等，每个方面都要记住一两个典型材料。材料的积累，教师只能做指导，要让学生自己去找，不要全班统一，全班统一了，写作的论据就会雷同。所积累的材料要注意三点：一要典型，二要准确，三要记牢。要强调用脑记，要背，不能光靠笔记本。材料越充足，写作速度就越快。

3.丰富写作语言

如果学生语言贫乏，写作时搜索枯肠也找不到一句恰当的话来表达自己的意思，往往写了涂，涂了又写，就无法提高写作速度。如果词汇不丰富，写到中途某个字不会写或者没有一个恰当的词来表达自己的意思，这样写作就会“卡壳”，当然也就达不到快速作文的目的。因此，写作语言的训练和词汇的积累是十分重要的。丰富写作语言的方法之一是，背书和加强课外阅读，书读得越多，背得越熟，作文就会越通顺，语言就会有文采，不会老说口水话。再就是指导学生学习群众生动活泼的语言，克服学生腔。另外，要指导学生积累词汇，词汇丰富，写起作文来就能得心应手，速度也就快了。

4.训练书写能力

书写能力的高低直接影响写作速度。因此进行快速作文教学，必须强化书写能力训练。作文不是书法竞赛，并不要求铁画银钩，但也不能龙飞凤舞，我们要求学生养成良好的书写习惯，把字写得清楚、规范、工整。具体做法主要是临摩字帖，每个学生应备有两本字帖，一本正楷，一本行书，先练正楷，后学行书，逐日临摩，坚持不懈，定能收到良好的效果。总之，通过素质训练，要使学生想写作文，爱写作文，并且有东西可写，话写得通顺。

(二)思维训练

快速作文的关键是快速思维训练。思维是人脑对客观事物本质特征和规律性的认识。快速思维则要求学生在分析、综合，比较、抽象、概括和具体化的整个思维过程中，思维活动应具有广泛性、独立性、敏捷性和创造性。一见到作文题能立即做出反应，要求审题、立意、谋篇、布局的全过程不超过五分钟。抓好快速作文思维训练主要从三个方面入手：

1、树立正确的世界观

思维是人脑对客观事物的概括的、间接的反映。要正确反映客观世界，首先必须具有正确的世界观。因此，要和政治课相配合，组织学生学习马列主义、毛泽东思想，掌握辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义的基本原理，要了解当前党的各项方针政策。正确的政治观点、思维观点是快速思维的定向器和指示灯。因此，必须教育学生关心国家大事，树立远大理想，加强政治修养，提高政治觉悟。

2.加强抽象思维训练

议论文的构思过程，实际上就是抽象思维的过程，因此，必须教给学生分析、概括、综合、判断等基本逻辑方法和纵向思维、逆向思维、反向思维、辐射思维等思维方法。训练抽象思维的方法是多种多样的，我认为最有效的方法是组织学生进行讨论和辩论。课堂讨论应允许学生和老师唱“对台戏”，要鼓励学生在课外争论问题，学生争得面红耳赤的时侯，也就是思维最活跃、最敏捷的时候。

3.进行形象思维训练

写记叙文离不开想象、联想、幻想等形象思维活动。要求学生在很短的时间内写好一篇记叙文，没有扎实的形象思维训练是不行的。训练形象思维的方法之一是有目的地指导学生观察事物的基本形象，牢记心头，并组织学生参观、访问。要重视写回忆录，回忆录的写作过程实际就是训练形象思维的过程。

总之，通过这一步训练，要达到开拓学生思维的目的，使学生变得思维敏捷，对作文题反应迅速，想象力丰富，要改变学生中普遍存在的思维迟钝、思想涣散的不良习惯。

(三)写作速度训练

第一步素质训练是基础，第二步思维训练是关键，这第三步的速度训练则是目的。整个快速作文训练的最终目的就是要求学生能够快速写作。如果第一、二步训练都抓得扎实，速度训练就会见效。基本做法是严格要求，限时作文。为了提高速度，每次作文都只能安排一个课时，一定要严格要求，当堂完卷。要求学生做到快速审题，快速立意，快速布局谋篇，快速写作，快速修改。总之，一切都要立足于一个“快"字。40分钟的时间分配大致是这样的：审题、立意(确定中心思想)和谋篇布局(编写作提纲)不超过5分钟，写作30分钟，修改5分钟。通过训练，这个要求一般学生都能做到。另外，在班内开展快速作文竞赛也是个提高写作速度的好办法，一搞竞赛，学生的兴趣就来了。刚开始进行速度训练时，有些学生是跟不上的，40分钟怎么也写不完。怎么办呢?二是多加鼓励，切忌指责;二是暂时迁就，但绝不放松要求。时间一到，一律收卷，没写完也要收卷。这样，学生下次写作文就有一种紧迫感和时间观念。有些学生，一讲快速作文，字就乱涂乱画。碰到这样的学生怎么办呢?不能操之过急，分两步走，先要求写完800字，再要求字迹清楚。作文不是书法竞赛，不要求铁画银钩，只要字体工整，文字规范就行。个别字迹潦草的学生，要加强教育和书写指导。

(四)技巧训练

第三步训练要求解决写作速度问题，这一步训练便是"快”中求巧，同时，也是对速度训练成果的巩固和提高。基本方法是专题指导，讲练结合。如果前三步抓得扎实，这一步训练往往水到渠成。通过这一阶段的训练，不但要使学生熟练地掌握各种文体的写法和技巧，更重要的是要掌握快速写作的技巧。比如快速审题、快速立意、快速谋篇布局、快速写作、快速修改等技巧，都要分专题进行归纳，总结和指导，还要能快速应付写作中随时出现的“卡壳”现象，诸如走题、空洞、松散、结构混乱、词不达意、字不会写等毛病的纠正和意外情况的应付办法。至于这些快速写作的具体技巧和方法，我在下面将作专门介绍，在这里就不一一赘述。

(五)综合训练

通过以上四步训练，学生基本掌握了快速写作的方式与技巧，具备了快速写作的基础。为了全面提高快速作文的能力，必须进行综合训练。

要学好写英语短文，就必须经常练习写作。记日记是提高书面表达能力的有效方法之一。日记是每日生活的记载，是一种记事文体。

一、日记的格式

英文日记通常由书端和正文两个部分组成。日记常以第一人称记下当天生活中的所见、所闻、所做或所想的事情。中、英文的日记三格式大致一样。英语日记的书端 是专门写日记的日期、星期和天气的。左上角是日期(年、月、日)、星期。右上角写上当天的天气情况， 如：Sunny，Fine，Rainy，Windy，Snowy，Cloudy等。

1、日期表达有多种形式。年、月、日都写时，通常以月、日、年为顺序，月份可以缩写，日和年用逗号隔开。例如：

A)September 1，2004或September 1st，2004也可省略写成Sept. 1，2004或Sept. 1st，2004;the 1st of September in 2004(月份不可以缩写)

B)只有月、日：September 1或September 1st(月份可以缩写)

C)只有年、月：September 2004或the September of 2004(月份不可以缩写)

以上的1或1st都应读作the first.

2、星期也可以省略不写，可将其放在日期前或后，星期和日期之间不用标点，但要空一格，星期也可缩写。如：

Saturday，October 22nd，2004;October 22nd，2004 Saturday

3.天气情况必不可少。天气一般用一个形容词如：Sunny，Fine，Rainy，Snowy 等表示。写在日期之后，用逗号隔开，位于日记的右上角。如：

Saturday，March 4，2004，Windy;1st January，2004，Fine

二、日记的要求

日记的正文是日记的主要部分，写在星期和日期的正下方，可以顶格写，也可以内缩3至5个字母的空间。由于记载的内容通常已经发生，谓语动词多用一般过去 时。但也可根据具体情况，用其它时态。如：记叙天气、描写景色，为了描写生动，可以使用现在时，以表现当时的情景。再如文后发表感想或评论可用现在时态或 将来时态。记日记力求简单明了，有连贯性。若有文字提示，则应重视提示，把握要点。在句式上尽量使用简单句，以防繁杂，造成语法、句型错误。

三、日记的类型和训练

日记分为记事型、议论型、描写型和抒情型。建议大家在学习写日记的过程中，可按以下步骤进行：

①将一天所经历的主要事情和过程依次简要地记下来，不附加任何感情色彩，这是最简单的记日记的方法;

②阅读别人的日记，并利用所学过的句型来表达个人在一天中观察到的或感受到的事情。

「范文与点评」

March 12th，2003，Tuesday Sunny (Fine)

Today is Tree Planting Day. At 7∶30 in the morning，all the students in our class met at the school gate. We walked to the park. Miss Gao and other teachers went and worked with us. All the students worked very hard，and we planted about 200 trees. Though we were dirty and tired，we still felt very happy.

这是一篇记叙型的日记。结构严谨，中心突出，有选择地记录当天的见闻(人或事)，并加以分析和评论。

一、勤读、多背词汇，好精句

要想写好一篇文章，没有充足的词汇量是不行的。课文中的俗语和谚语的识记是通过背诵来完成。背诵是语言学习的重要手段，也是语言学习的必经之路。

1.背词句，背诵课文中的重点句型和短语尤其是课文中的俗语、谚语和经典句子。

2.背范文，将近几年高考中的作文和课文中好的段落以及报刊上的各种各样的体裁和优秀文章让学生多背，这样学生才能在自己的脑子中形成一定的写作框架，做到心中有数。

3.多读书，用英语进行思维。为了培养学生用英语思维的定势，增加对英语国家文化、社会风俗、风土人情、思维方式的了解，扩大视野，选择课外阅读，提高学生分析、判断、猜测、推理和领悟的能力。部分学生在写作时习惯用汉语思维，然后再逐句译成英语，结果写出来的文章是汉语式的英语。要想学会用英语进行思维，就要有计划、有目的地培养学生的语感。一个重要的方法就是大量阅读，选择精彩的词句、文章和佳句，引导学生阅读，摘抄或背诵来培养语感。

二、亲自动手，自己写作

教师应注重基本功训练，严格要求学生正确，工整，熟练地书写字母，单词和句子，同时注意大小写和标点符号。进行组词造句，组句成段练习时，要学生写出最简单的短句，为以后英语作文打好扎实的基础。这种练习可以安排在刚开始的训练中，要求学生能够用最基本的时态去完成写作。另外结合高中英语基础知识的复习，对学生提出较高写作能力的要求。

1.范例引路

学生在进行短文写作训练时，教师应提供各种文体的范文，讲明各种文体的写作要求和注意事项，如日记，便条，书信，通知的格式等，并给予必要的提示，并掌握各种体裁文章的格式。在平时的教学中，教师应该指导学生应对高考中各种体裁文章。

2.限时训练

教师当场发题，限时交卷。这样能促使学生瞬间接受信息，快速理解信息，迅速表达信息，提高实际应用和应试能力。这一步是关键，也是学生的的难关。必须要求学生在写作过程中牢牢记住以下口诀：“先读提示，要点与格式要弄清;时态语态要当心，前后呼应要一致;结构搭配，莫违背;文章写好细检查，点滴小错别忽视”。学生明确目的，并掌握要领后，要严格在规定时间内完成作业。

3.多想精炼

在平时的教学中，教师要求学生多看、多听、多想，用心体验和感悟身边的人和事，然后将自己的体验和感受用英语写出来。教师可要求学生每周写两篇，有话则长，无话可短。对不同水平的学生作不同的要求。鼓励表达自己的看法和体会。

此外，有时根据所学单元知识布置一篇作文，或给学生提供一些与时事或与学生学习活动和生活有关的材料。此类话题的现实性能诱发学生的写作兴趣，使其有话可写，有感而发;还能增强其信心，使其写作能力、技巧得到充分的锻炼和提高。对于有待进步的学生要及时励，激发其写作热情，增强其自信心。

4.自改互改

对照范文，学生先对已查出的表达有误的地方进行初改。范文不可能把各种表达方式都包括进去，况且学生作业中的错误也不尽相同，因此，还可安排学生互改。以同桌两人为宜，这样同时进行了改错训练。

三、培养学生良好的写作习惯

写作教学是一项“由简单到复杂，循环往复不断上升的”过程。不是一蹴而就的，需要教师在教学中由浅入深、由简入繁、由易到难、循序渐进。起始阶段，培养学生良好的写作习惯是非常重要的。要求学生做到以下几点：

1.认真审题。要求学生认真审读图表或提纲，领会意图，捕捉信息，确定文章时态及体裁。

2.写提纲。教师引导学生构思文章要点，写出每个段落主题句、关键词，然后确定细节和内容要点。

3.写初稿。经过审题和列提纲后，学生开始写作，教师指导学有意识地使用固定句型，使用关联词，把段落按逻辑顺序连成一体，形成基本连贯的初稿。

4.检查错误。检查是书面表达不可缺少的环节，学生完成初稿后，老师指导学生从以下六个方面进行修改和查错：(1)看要点是否齐全，有无遗漏;(2)体裁是否恰当，有无偏题;(3)内容是否连贯，有无缺词;(4)语法是否正确，人称、时态、语态、冠词及名词单复数等有无错误;(5)用词是否得当，有无习语及固定搭配等方面的错误(6)最后注意句与句、段与段之间有无合适的连接及过渡，经过有效的训练，学生犯的错误会逐渐减少，同时学生的书面表达能力会逐步提高。

总之，教学有法，教无定法。教师面对的教育对象是多样化的，因此在教学中一定要关注学生的个体差异，采取相应的措施，激发学生写作的兴趣。让学生参与实践，体验成功的快乐，循序引导，学生点滴积累，不断磨练，这样能达到理想的效果。

记叙文是以记叙人物的经历或事物的发展变化过程为主的一种文体。它是写作训练中最普遍、最基本的一种。一般说来，它大致分为三类：

一是以记人为主的记叙文，即以人物为中心组织材料，围绕这个人物可以写一件事，也可写几件事;写人的文章理解的时候要看这篇文章写了几件事，要表现人物什么样的思想性格，什么样的精神、品质，在这上面来理解。因为落脚点就是通过事来表现人。如果这篇文章写了三件事，但是是通过这三件事表现人物的精神品质性格，这就是一篇写人的文章。

二是以写事为主的记叙文，即以事件为中心组织材料，围绕中心事件可以写一个人，也可以写几个人;如果说这篇文章也记叙了三件事，通过这三件事告诉我们一个道理，或者给我们一个启示，这就是写事的文章。

三是以写景状物为主的记叙文。

但应注意的是，在一篇记叙文中，写人、写景、写事往往是交织在一起的，不能截然分开，应各有侧重。

【基本要求】

1. 交代清楚人物、时间、地点、事由。2. 按故事或事件发生的时间先后依次叙述。

3. 主题鲜明，内容清楚。文章中的故事应有头有尾，要写出事情的发生、发展、变化及结束的过程。 确切地说，在记叙时要把与一件事物有关的时间、地点、人物、原因等因素交代清楚，才能给人一种完整的认识和印象。4. 层次分明，有条有理。 记叙时，要有开头，正文及结尾。有时涉及几个人或几件事，一件事往往牵涉到相关的次要事情;有时一件大事中还包括小事，这就要对记叙的事情做出分析，分清主线和副线，围绕主线安排副线。5. 详略得当，主次适宜。记叙事情时，要注意主题鲜明突出，清楚具体，内容感人深刻。写人时，要抓住典型事例、典型行动和表现。对中心事件和最能表现中心思想的地方，要详细叙述;次要的东西，就少写或不写。

【注意事项】

1. 仔细审题，确定主题。文章的目的、内容、结构层次以及语言的运用，都要围绕主题进行。

2. 根据情景提示和主题，安排文章的结构层次，用每段的首句即主题句来指明段落的中心思想。安 排好关键的主题句，就会使中心更加突出，眉目清楚。

3. 要进行审题，初写时，多模仿句型写简单句，循序渐进，逐步深化。

4.写作前最好有个简明扼要的提纲，使自己的写作有章可循。审题后要先写出草稿，经过修改之后， 再正式成文。

记叙顺序

顺叙，倒叙，插叙，补叙，分叙。

表达方式

叙述，描写，议论，说明，抒情。

人物描写

外貌，语言，神态，动作和心理描写。

环境描写

自然环境和社会环境描写。

记叙文的写法

1。时间

2。地点

3。人物

4。事件与事件背景

5。反映的道理(主题)

6。自己在这个事件中的顿悟，体会，感想。

这些都同样重要，如果没有其中一点，就不是记叙文了。

常用修辞

1.比喻

根据事物的相似点，用具体的、浅显、熟知的事物来说明抽象的、深奥的、生疏的事物，即打比方。作用：能将表达的内容说得生动具体形象，给人以鲜明深刻的印象，用浅显常见的事物对深奥生疏事物解说、帮助人深入理解。比喻的三种类型：明喻、暗喻和借喻。 明喻 甲像乙 出现 像、似的、好像、如、宛如、好比、犹如 如： 那小姑娘好像一朵花一样 暗喻 甲是乙 出现 是、成为 如：那又浓又翠的景色，简直就是一幅青山绿水画 借喻 甲代乙 不出现 无 如：地上射起无数的箭头，房顶上落下万千条瀑布。

2.拟人

把物当做人写，赋予物以人的言行或思想感情，用描写人的词来描写物。 作用：把禽兽鸟虫花草树木或其他无生命的事物当成人写，使具体事物人格化，语言生动形象。 如：桃树、杏树、梨树、你不让我，我不让你，都开满了花赶趟儿。

3.夸张对事物的性质，特征等故意地夸张或缩小。 作用：提示事物本质，烘托气氛，加强渲染力，引起联想效果。 类别 特点 例句 扩大夸张 对事物形状、性质、特征、作用、程度等加以夸大 柏油路晒化了，甚至铺户门前的铜牌好像也要晒化 缩小夸张 对事物形象、性质、特征、作用、程度等加以缩小 只能看到巴掌大的一块天地 超前夸张 把后出现的说成先出现，把先出现的说成后出现 她还没有端酒杯，就醉了。

4.排比 把结构相同或相似、语气一致，意思相关联的句子或成分排列在一起。 作用：增强语言气势，增强表达效果。 如：他们的品质是那样的纯洁和高尚，他们的意志是那样的坚韧和刚强，他们的气质是那样的淳朴和谦逊，他们的胸怀是那样的美丽和宽广。

5.对偶 字数相等，结构形式相同，意义对称的一对短语或句子，表达两个相对或相近的意思。 作用：整齐匀称，节奏感强，高度概括，易于记忆，有音乐美感。 如：横眉冷对千夫指，俯首甘为孺子牛。

6.反复 为了强调某个意思，表达某种感情，有意重复某个词语句子。 反复的种类：连续反复和间隔反复，连续反复中间无其他词语间隔。间隔反复中间有其他的词语。 如：山谷回音，他刚离去，他刚离去。(连续反复) 好像失了三省，党国倒愈像一个国，失了东三省谁也不响，党国倒愈像一个国。(间隔反复)

7.设问 为了引起别人的注意，故意先提出问题，然后自己回答。 作用：提醒人们思考，有的为了突出某些内容。 如：花儿为什么这样红?首先有它的物质基础。

8.反问 无疑无问，用疑问形式表达确定的意思，用肯定形式反问表否定，用否定形式反问表肯定。 如：我呢，我难道没有应该责备的地方吗?

9.引用 引用现成的话来提高语言表达效果，分直接引用和间接引用两种。 如："虚心使人进步，骄傲使落后"，我们应该记住这一真理。

10.借代 用相关的事物代替所要表达的事物。 借代种类：特征代事物、具体代抽象、部分代全体、整体代部分。 如：不拿群众一针一线。 先生，给现钱，袁世凯，不行么?

11.反语 用与本意相反的词语或句子表达本意，以说反话的方式加强表达效果。有的讽刺揭露，有的表示亲密友好的感情。 如：(清国留学生)也有解散辫子，盘得平的，除下帽来，油光可鉴，宛如小姑娘的发髻一般，还要将脖子扭几扭，实在标致极了。

12. 对比 对比是把两种不同事物或者同一事物的两个方面，放在一起相互比较的一种辞格。 例如： 有的人活着，他已经死了;有的人死了，他还活着。(臧克家《有的人》)

运用对比，必须对所要表达的事物的矛盾本质有深刻的认识。对比的两种事物或同一事物的两个方面，应该有互相对立的关系，否则是不能构成对比的。

记叙文是记人叙事的文章，它主要是用于说明事件的时间、背景、起因、过程及结果，即我们通常所说的五个“ W ”( what, who, when, where, why )和一个“ H ”( how )。记叙文的重点在于“述说”和“描写”，因此一篇好的记叙文要叙述条理清楚，描写生动形象。下面就谈谈英语记叙文的特点和写好记叙文的基本要领。

一、记叙文的特点

1. 叙述的人称

英语的记叙文一般是以第一或第三人称的角度来叙述的。用第一称表示的是由叙述者亲眼所见、亲耳所闻的经历。它的优点在于能把故事的情节通过“我”来传达给读者，使人读后感到真实可信，如身临其境。如：

The other day, I was driving along the street. Suddenly, a car lost its control and ran directly towards me fast. I was so frightened that I quickly turned to the left side. But it was too late. The car hit my bike and I fell off it.

用第三人称叙述，优点在于叙述者不受“我”活动范围以内的人和事物的限制，而是通过作者与读者之外的第三者，直接把故事中的情节展现在读者面前，文章的客观性很强。如：

Little Tom was going to school with an umbrella, for it was raining hard. On the way, he saw an old woman walking in the rain with nothing to cover. Tom went up to the old woman and wanted to share the umbrella with her, but he was too short. What could he do? Then he had a good idea.

2. 动词的时态

在记叙文中，记和叙都离不开动词。所以动词出现率最高，且富于变化。记叙文中用得最多的是动词的过去的，这是英语记叙文区别于汉语记叙文的关键之处。英语写作的优美之处就在于这些动词时态的变化，正是这一点才使得所记、所叙有鲜活的动态感、鲜明的层次感和立体感。

3. 叙述的顺序

记叙一件事要有一定的顺序。无论是顺叙、倒叙、插叙还是补叙，都要让读者能弄清事情的来龙去脉。顺叙最容易操作，较容易给读者提供有关事情的空间和时间线索。但这种方法也容易使文章显得平铺直叙，读起来平淡乏味。倒叙、插叙、补叙等叙述方法能有效地提高文章的结构效果，让所叙之事跌宕起伏，使读者在阅读时思维产生较大的跳跃，从而为文章所吸引，深入其中。但这些方法如果使用不当，则容易弄巧成拙，使文章结构散乱，头绪不清，让读者不知所云。

4. 叙述的过渡

过渡在上下文中起着承上启下、融会贯通的作用。过渡往往用在地点转移或时间、事件转换以及由概括说明到具体叙述时。如：

In my summer holidays, I did a lot of things. Apart form doing my homework, reading an English novel, watching TV and doing some housework, I went on a trip to Qingdao. It is really a beautiful city. There are many places of interest to see. But what impressed me most was the sunrise.

The next morning I got up early. I was very happy because it was a fine day. By the time I got to the beach, the clouds on the horizon were turning red. In a little while, a small part of the sun was gradually appearing. The sun was very red, not shining. It rose slowly. At last it broke through the red clouds and jumped above the sea, just like a deep-red ball. At the same time the clouds and the sea water became red and bright.

一、文章形式的革命夹叙夹议

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

二、文章立意的升华深入浅出

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

三、文章表达的提高点睛生花

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

[高中话题作文写作基础介绍

导语：说到大家可能都会说起那电影人物啊，演员演技啊，背景音乐之类的。有些观众更是会“鸡蛋里挑骨头”说剧情一般，编导不行什么的。但是大家知不知道一部电影的形成是多么的不容易，单单是一份电影剧本的形成就很不简单啦!下面小编带大家了解电影剧本的写作基础~体验一下编导的不容易~

电影剧本是什么?

它是一部故事片的指南或概要吗?是蓝图吗?是图表吗? 是一系列通过对话和描写来叙述的形象、场景、段落等，就像一串联系在一起的珍珠项链一样吗?是一幅梦境中的风景画吗，是一些思想的汇集吗?

那么问题来了电影剧本究竟是什么?

首先，它不是小说，当然它也绝对不是戏剧。

如果你看一部小说而且尝试着去确定它的基本特性时，你会发现那种戏剧性行为动作、故事线等，时 常是发生在主要人物的头脑中。我们(读者)是在偷窥主人公的思想、感情、言语、行为动作、记忆、梦 幻、希望、野心、见识和更多的东西。如果出现了另外一位人物，那么故事线则随着视角而变化，但时常 是又返回到原来的主要人物那里。在小说中，所有的行为动作都发生在人物的头脑中──在戏剧性行为动 的“头脑幻景”之中。

在戏剧(舞台剧)中，行为动作和故事线则发生在舞台前拱架下面的舞台上，而观众是第四面墙，偷 听舞台人物的秘密。人物用语言来交谈他们的希望、梦幻、过去和将来的计划，讨论他们的需求、欲望、 恐惧和矛盾等。这样，戏剧中的行为动作产生于戏剧的对白语言之中，它本身就是用口头讲述出来的文字 电影则不同。电影是一种视觉媒介，它把一个基本的故事线戏剧化了。它所打交道的是图像、画面、 一小片和一段拍好的胶片;一个钟在滴滴答答地走动、一个窗子正在打开、一个人在看、两个家伙在笑、 一辆汽车在弯道上拐弯、一个电话铃在响等等。一个电影剧本就是由画面讲述出来的故事，还包括语言和描述，而这些内容都发生在它的戏剧性结构之中。

一部电影剧本就是一个由画面讲述出来的故事。

它象名词(noun)──指的是一个人或几个人，在一个地方或几个地方，去干他或她的事情。所有的电 影剧本都贯彻执行这一基本前提。 一部故事片是一个视觉媒介，它是把一条基本的故事线加以戏剧化。如同所有的故事一样，它有一个 明确的开端、中段和结尾。如果我们拿来一个电影剧本，把它象一幅画那样挂在墙上来审视，那么它看起 来就象下面那个图表。

第一幕 第二幕 第三幕

开端(beginning) 中段(middle) 结尾(end)

│ │

A──·───┼───·───────┼─────Z

│ │

建 置(setup) 对抗 (confrontation) 结 局(resolution)

所有的电影剧本都包括这一基本的线性结构。 我们把这一电影剧本的模式称之为示例(Paradigm)。

它就是一个模特儿，一个式样，一个构思的规划。 表中的示例象一张桌子：一张桌面加上(通常是)四条腿。在此示例范围内，可有方桌子、长桌子、 圆桌子、高桌子、矮桌子、矩形桌子、可调节的桌子等等。以此示例为样板，我们可以随意制作各种各样 的桌子──反正都是一张桌面加上(通常是)四条腿。

这个示例是确定无疑的。

上面的图表就是一个电影剧本的示例。

下面我们将其分解：

第一幕，或称开端

一个标准电影剧本的篇幅大约有120页，或长两个小时。 不论你的剧本全用对话、全用描写，或两者兼有之，均可按一分钟一页来计算。 规矩是不变的──电影剧本中的一页等于银幕时间一分钟。

第一幕是开端，可看成建置(setup)部分，这是因为你要用30页左右的稿纸去建置(确定)你的故事

。如果你去看电影，你时常会自觉或不自觉地做出判断──你是否喜爱这部影片。今后看电影时，请注意 一下，你需要多长时间做出你是否喜爱这部影片的决定。一般大约十分钟左右。也就相当于你写的电影剧 本的头十页。你应该及时地抓住你的读者。

你应该用大约十页的篇幅来让读者明白谁是你的主要人物，什么是故事的前提，故事的情境是什么。

以《唐人街》(Chinatown)为例：第一页使我们知道杰克·吉蒂斯(杰克·尼科尔森JackNicholson饰)是 地区调查所的一位不拘小节的私人侦探。在第五页我们认识了一位墨尔雷太太(狄安娜·莱德DianeLadd饰)。她要雇用杰克·吉蒂斯去调查“我丈夫和谁正在乱搞”。这是这部电影剧本的主要问题 ，而且它提供了一股导致最后解决的戏剧动力。

在第一幕结尾处要有一个情节点。所谓情节点就是一个事变或事件，它紧紧织入故事之中，并把故事 转向另一方向。这一事件一般出现在第25～27页之间。在《唐人街》之中，当报纸上发表了声称墨尔雷先 生在“爱巢”之中被人抓住的故事之后，真的墨尔雷太太(费伊·邓纳维FayeDunaway饰)和她的律师来到 事务所，恐吓说要提出诉讼。她是不是那位雇用杰克·尼科尔森②的真的墨尔雷太太?又是谁雇人冒充墨尔雷太太呢?这一切都是为什么?这个事件就把故事转引到了另一个方向：杰克·尼科尔森作为事件的幸 存者必须弄清楚，是谁在摆布他，并且为了什么。

第二幕，或称对抗

第二幕是你故事的主体部分。一般是在剧本的第30页至90页。它之所以称为电影剧本的对抗部分，是 因为一切戏剧的基础都是冲突(conflict)。一旦你给自己的人物规定出需求(need)，亦即在剧本中他想要 达到什么目的，他的目标是什么，你就可以为这一需求设置障碍(obstacles)，这样就产生了冲突。在《 唐人街》这个侦探故事中，第二幕就是杰克·尼科尔森与一些势力发生了冲突，这些势力不愿意让他调查 出谁应该对墨尔雷先生之死以及争水丑闻负责。杰克·尼科尔森所需要克服的障碍支配着这个故事的戏剧

性动作(dramaticaction)。

第二幕结尾处的情节点一般发生在第85页至90页之间。在《唐人街》中，第二幕的结尾的情节点就是 ：杰克·尼科尔森在墨尔雷先生被谋杀的水池中找到了一副眼镜，并知道它不是墨尔雷的就是属于那个谋 杀者的。这样就把故事引入到结局部分。

第三幕，或称结局

第三幕通常发生在第90页至第120页之间，是故事的结局。

故事是如何结束的?主人公怎么样了?他是活着还是死了? 他是成功还是失败了?等等。你的故事需要有一个有力的结尾，以便使人理解并求得完整。那种模棱 两可，含义暧昧的结尾，现在已经过时了。

所有的电影剧本都贯彻着这一基本的线性结构。 戏剧性结构可以被规定为：一系列互为关联的事情、情节或事件按线性安排最后导致一个戏剧性的结局。

如何安排这些结构组成部分，决定了你的电影的形式。以《安妮·霍尔》(AnnieHall)为例，它是一

个由闪回来叙述的故事，但也有一个明确的开端、中段和结尾。《去年在马里昂巴德》(AnneederniereaMarienbad)也是一样。《公民凯恩》(CitizenKane)、《广岛之恋》

(Hiroshimamonamour)和《午夜牛郎》(MidnightCowboy)都是如此。

所以这个示例是起作用的。

第一幕 第二幕 第三幕

│ │

────·─┼──────·─┼─────

│ │

建置 对抗 结局

情节点Ⅰ 情节点Ⅱ

它是一个模特儿，一个式样，一个构思的规划;一个技巧高超的电影剧本就是这个样子的。它为我们 提供了关于电影剧本结构的总观。如果你弄清楚了它就是这个样子的话，你可以简单地把你的故事“装” 进去就行了。

所有的好电影剧本都符合这个示例吗?

肯定是的。

但不必盲目相信我的话。你把它当成一件工具来使用它;对它发生疑问，去研究它，并且思考它。 也许有人不相信它。可能不相信会有什么开端、中段和结尾。你可能说：艺术如同生活一样，它充其 量不过是在某个巨大的中间部分中偶然发生的几个个人的“重要时刻”，并没有什么开端也没有什么结尾 。它正如库特·冯尼格特(KurtVonnegut)所称，是“一系列偶然的时刻被随意地串联在一起”。

我不同意上述这种看法。

请问：一个人出生、生活到死亡，难道不象是开端、中段和结尾吗?

想一想伟大文明的兴起与衰亡吧──如：古埃及、古希腊、古罗马帝国，它们都是从一个小小的社团 萌芽，发展到权力鼎盛时期，然后衰败直至覆灭。

想一想一颗星的诞生与消亡，或者宇宙的开端，根据现在大多数科学家已经赞同的“大统一”理论， 如果宇宙有其开端的话，那它必然也应该有一个结尾。 想一想我们身体的细胞吧!它们从补充、恢复到再生这一循环周期要用多少时间呢?只要七年──在 七年中我们身体中一些细胞要死亡，别的一些细胞要生殖、活动、死亡，然后再生。 想一想你获得某项新工作的第一天吧!你要和新同事相识，要承担一些新的职责，直到后来你决定离职、退休或者被解雇。

电影剧本也毫无例外。它们有自己明确的开端、中段和结尾。

这是戏剧性结构的基础。

这仅仅只是电影剧本的写作基础的一小角。所以一部成功的电影的诞生多么的来之不易啊~小编希望大家且看且珍惜~

导语：不论从何种角度，环保都是当代世界发展不可忽视的一环。它也不再仅仅是一种措施和行动，而是一种经济行为，并带动了一系列相关的产业。下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的说明中国发展环保经济的状况的英语句子，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

1. While developing its economy， China will handle properly the relationship among the population， natural resources and the environment.

2. The Chinese government pays great attention to environmental problems arising from Chinas population growth and economic development.

3. China relies on improving supervision， management and technological progress to promote environmental protection.

4. Land， arable land in particular， should be used reasonably and economically. Strong measures will be taken to strengthen the building of the urban environmental infrastructure， regulate industrial structure and lay-out， shun the unpromising way of pollution first， treatment afterwards， and strengthen prevention and control of the pollution in major river valleys to ensure the security of the drinking water of the inhabitants.

【参考译文】

1、中国在发展经济的同时，将处理好的人口之间的关系，自然资源和环境。

2、中国政府高度关注中国人口增长和经济发展所带来的环境问题。

3、中国依靠强化监督管理和技术进步，促进环境保护。

4、土地，特别是耕地，应该合理和经济地使用。将采取强有力的措施来加强城市环境基础设施建设，调整产业结构和布局，避免“先污染，后治理的工作方式，加强预防和控制主要河流污染以确保居民饮用水安全。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay

commenting on the saying “Knowledge is a treasure, but

practice is the key to it.” You can cite one example or two to

illustrate your point of view. You should write at least 150 but

no more than 200 words.

作者对祖母感情的深切、侍奉的殷勤和依附的紧密。勾勒出陈情不仕的一个很重要的画面。

西晋人李密所著，是他写给晋武帝的奏章。当时时局动荡皇帝希望李密能出来做官。因为李密是蜀国人在蜀国又以孝著名，当过官很有名气。所以皇帝希望他能出来做官来服民心。并且希望进一步扩充领土就更加希望天下人以为晋朝清明来进一步取得他国民心。李密孝顺同样也有着浓厚的忠君思想所谓“一朝君主一朝臣”但他为了保全性命就写了这篇表。文章叙述祖母抚育自己的大恩，以及自己应该报养祖母的大义；除了感谢朝廷的知遇之恩以外，又倾诉自己不能从命的苦衷，真情流露，委婉畅达。该文被认定为中国文学史上抒情文的代表作之一，有“读李密《陈情表》不流泪者不孝”的说法。

三国魏元帝（曹奂）景元四年（263年），司马昭灭蜀，李密沦为亡国之臣。司马昭之子司马炎废魏元帝，史称“晋武帝”。泰始三年（267年），朝廷采取怀柔政策，极力笼络蜀汉旧臣，征召李密为太子洗马。李密时年44岁，以晋朝“以孝治天下”为口实，以祖母供养无主为由，上《陈情表》以明志，要求暂缓赴任，上表恳辞。

李密早有孝名，据《晋书》本传记载，李密奉事祖母刘氏“以孝谨闻，刘氏有疾，则涕泣侧息，未尝解衣，饮膳汤药，必先尝后进。”武帝览表，赞叹说:“密不空有名也”。感动之际，因赐奴婢二人，并令郡县供应其祖母膳食，密遂得以终养。

在李密写完这篇表后一年左右的时间，刘氏就去世了。他在家守孝两年后，出仕官职很小，因为当时的政局已相当稳定，晋武帝不需要李密了，便不再重视他。李密做了两年官后辞去职务。

南宋文学家赵与时在其著作《宾退录》中曾引用安子顺的言论：“读诸葛孔明《出师表》而不堕泪者，其人必不忠，读李令伯《陈情表》而不堕泪者，其人必不孝，读韩退之《祭十二郎文》而不堕泪者，其人必不友。”青城山隐士安子顺世通云。此三文遂被并称为抒情佳篇而传诵于世。

总结：这个结论含蕴精警，表面看来它有对武帝的忠敬之心，又有对祖母的孝顺之情，使武帝意识到作者的真情实感一一出自肺腑，句句有理，处处合情。

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.

中学英语教学大纲中明确指出：“写是书面表达和传递信息的交际能力。培养初步写的能力，是英语教学的目的之一。”在近年的高考中英语写作也占有相当比重。因此，在高中阶段教师应在指导和组织学生进行英语写作上下功夫，在平时教学中应有计划有目的地去训练和提高学生的写作能力。

一、学生能充分认识英语写作的重要性是写作能力提高的必要条件。

英语写作能力的提高需要持之以恒的长期训练。如果学生对写作重要性认识不够，他们就不能积极主动地去配合老师搞好写作训练，甚至产生逆反心理，产生对立情绪，英语写作就会半途而废，达不到预期目的。

在平时教学中，老师要经常性地有意识地对学生进行写作重要性的教育。学生一进入高中就要让他们了解初中和高中英语教学要求的异同。

我给学生找几份中考和高考题，帮助他们了解中考和高考英语试题对基础知识和基本技能要求的相同之处和不同之处，引导他们转变观念，更新和完善学习方法，要让他们了解到英语写作在高考中、实际运用中以及对将来继续学习英语的重要性。

我还联系在过去高考中英语取得优异成绩的毕业生，用书信介绍学好英语的方法，特别是在英语写作方面的成功经验和英语写作对他们当时及后来英语学习的重要性。这些毕业生有很大的感召力，很有说服性，尤其对那些有逆反心理的学生。

二、指导写作应注意的几个问题：

1．教师要有明确合理的教学计划和教学程序，组织系统规范的有序训练。

2．帮助和要求学生养成积极主动地坚持英语写作的良好习惯。

3．坚持循序渐进的训练原则。写作要先易后难，先短后长，先学会运用简单句、并列句，后学会用复合句表达，先写正确句子逐步过渡到围绕一个人、一件事、一个观点去写有中心的文章，由不限定时间到限定时间，由限定时间长到限定时间短，由限定字数少到多……

4．分程度要求。对学生的要求不能一刀切，对学习好的要求要高，对学习差的要求要适当低一些。要避免有些学生轻而易举垂手可得，而有些学生又可望而不可及的情况发生。

5．注意讲评。要经常指出优点，以利模仿，指出缺点，警示避免。

6．鼓励优秀，耐心帮助差生。充分利用板报、专栏进行优秀作文展览，或者也可采用传阅方式进行。但不能放弃或岐视差生，要经常帮助他们树立信心，掌握写作方法和技巧。

7．基础知识和能力并重，听说读和写并举。教师在平时教学中应充分利用一切可以利用的机会启发引导学生提高自己的写作水平。如遇到优秀的句、段或篇提示学生注意欣赏作者的表达法，把它们作为范例，在自己写作中加以模仿和运用。又如遇到英汉表达方法不同之处，提示学生注意英语的正确表达法，切忌出现汉语式的英语。要帮助学生养成正确运用标点符号的好习惯，切忌一点到底的错误方法。

8．要求学生在写作中宁简勿误，不能养成随随便便的习惯，要养成严谨推敲的风气。

三、训练写作的常用方法。

写作训练应考虑循序渐进的原则，采取逐步提高的形式进行。

1．用学过的词、短语或句式，模仿课文中的表达法造句。2．换课文中的人物、时态、语态或体裁等改写课文。3．看图作文。4．填补式作文。5．写课文复述材料或写心得体会。6．将打乱顺序的句子按事件发展的时间顺序或逻辑关系等整理成一篇完整的短文。7．教师给出题目和提纲让学生写作。8．写日记或周记。9．材料作文。教师给出汉语提示让学生用英语表达。

四、注意纠正学生英语作写中容易出现的错误。

学生最初写作时，教师要给予必要的指导，使他们少犯错误。教师还要经常性地例举错误的表达法，提醒学生注意避免。在批阅作文时教师要随时标出学生错误之处，还要随时记录学生所犯错误，把学生的错误加以归类总结，把普遍性的错误提出来，让学生集体改错，使他们的语言表达尽可能地规范正确。

总之，学生英语写作能力在老师有计划的组织和耐心帮助、正确引导下，在学生长期积极密切的配合下是能够得以逐步提高的。

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

公元23世纪20年代的第2年2月，也就是2222年2月，人均水资源占有量已不足500毫升，全国下达了淡水危机红色预警，要求派亿吨级运输舰“拯救者”号一百艘，深入南极，搜寻冰山，并将冰块带回。

我意外领命出发了，面对的是未知的海域，我作为船长，心中忐忑不安。

出发当天，船只即将启航，我一点按扭，甲板周围升起了一层玻璃，接着一个机器声音：“螺旋桨加电，燃料准备就绪。“启航!”我一声大喊，载着全国人民的希望，浩浩荡荡地出发了。

开始的路程还算顺利，越靠近南极，行动起来越困难。机动装置冷却，动力失效都是家常便饭。一次，巨浪滔天，幸好有玻璃阻隔，否则我们那些室外精密仪器早就被冲坏了，还有触礁的时候，整艘船被彻底摧毁，就在这有一日没一日的艰难岁月中，我们挺近了南极。到了南极，航程还是不顺，不知道多少次被冰块包围，寸步难行，还是破冰船利用水下钢刀劈开冰块，开辟道路;不知道多少次大船左右摇摆，人心惶惶，是坚定的信念支撑了我们，乘风破浪，克服了一个又一个困难。在风暴的“洗礼”下，出发时的100艘船，如今只剩下了80艘，多么残酷的考验啊!

经历了暴风骤雨，来到了们目的地——南极大陆。兴奋的血液冲进了我的大脑，我连忙按下灰色按钮，两只灰色大型机械臂伸出;按下绿色按钮，一把激光刀放在了机械臂上，经过操控，使用等离子切割技术，“嗞嗞”一块块巨大的冰山切割了下来，并利用先进技术将巨大冰块的质量压缩至最小，几个船员将压缩后的小冰块抬回冷冻室，一切妥善后，船队返回大陆，经过为期3个月的工作，终于将数以万计，重量为亿吨的冰山经过反复处理加工，成为人们可饮用的淡水，作为船长，我十分自豪，我喝到了我们的“辛苦付出”啊!

我的行为受到了全世界的赞扬，我也因此得到了“诺贝尔奉献奖”，但我也不会忘记，这些水是我们以20艘船、以上万名船员的生命为代价换来的。是这些船员牺牲了自己，为全国人民带来了幸福生活，难道他们不应该被传颂吗?难道这不是壮举吗?

写作练习：旅游活动（中段考范文）

【单元财富运用】

假定你是李华，上周末和家人开车去大角湾度假。请你根据以下要点，给你的美国朋友Tom介绍你的旅游经历。

1. 出发时间：周六早上7点；

2. 准备物品：零食、衣服、相机等；

3. 旅游活动：游泳，欣赏海水、海滩、日出和日落等美景，吃海鲜，买纪念品；

4. 你的感受。

【注意】：1. 词数100；

2. 开头已给出，但不计入总词数；

3. 可以适当增加节，以使行文连贯。

Last weekend my family and I went to Dajiaowan Gulf for a holiday.______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

步骤1：认真审题，提炼要点。

一定体裁：记叙文，记叙一次旅游活动

二定时态：旅游发生在过去，因此描述旅游前的准备和过程都应该采用一般过去

时；而感想则可以用一般现在时或现在完成时。

三定要点：结合写作内容，整理和罗列要点。

表达旅游活动的常用词汇：

步骤2：整合信息，连词成句。

1. 星期六早上7点开车出发。

_____________________________________________________________________

2. 准备好零食、衣服、相机等。

__________________________________________________________________

3. 在海滩游泳，欣赏海水日出和日落等美景。

__________________________________________________________________

4. 吃海鲜，买纪念品；

___________________________________________________________________

5. 谈感受。

___________________________________________________________________

步骤3：连句成段，用上适当的关联词。

not only…but also…, where, what’s more /besides / in addition, then, because…..

【我的作文】

Last weekend my family and I went to Dajiaowan Gulf for a holiday.______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

导语：童话、寓言是比较有难度的体裁，需要学生发挥想象力。下面是童话寓言写作基础介绍，欢迎参考！

【技法解说】:

自小，我们就在童话和寓言的熏陶下长大，在那个五彩纷呈的童话世界里，让我们认识了什么是勇敢和善良，什么是无畏和坚强，更是让我们认识到什么是自私和狭隘，狠毒和狡猾。“狼外婆”的故事陪伴我们渡过了童年的时光。长大后，我们知道了更多的童话故事和寓言：“盘古开天”使我明白追求要执著、“女娲补天”让我们窥见到了为民造福的大志，那“嫦娥奔月”的故事时常在耳边萦绕、“神笔马良”让我明白了贪婪最终会摧毁自己……我还为安徒生笔下卖火柴的小女孩流过泪，为可怜的白雪公主找到自己的幸福而兴奋不已……所有这些，都给我们创造了一个绚丽多彩的童话世界。

在这里面，感受到的都是奇异的情节和虚拟的事物和境界，但它们无一不是以现实生活为基础，通过夸张、拟人、象征等的表现手法反映的现实社会生活中的情形，它们富含义讽喻和教育意义，透过具体浅显的故事，寄寓深奥的道理。想象和联想是它们最重要的特征，

童话与寓言，它们常常通过借古喻今、借物喻人、借小喻大或借此喻彼的手法，揭示事物丰富的内涵和蕴含着的深刻的道理，我们在进行写作时，通过也可以运用这样一种形式，来表达自己的观点，抒发自己的情感，只要把握了它们的写作特点，必定能写出高品质的文章来的。

【成功佳作1】

留给明天

天津一考生

3030年的一个下午，伊波懊恼地坐在窗口，呆呆地望着眼前一座座早已人去楼空的大厦。头顶灰黄灰黄的天空还下着毛毛细雨，空气中弥漫着难闻的气味。哎，又是酸雨！伊波不由深深叹了口气。

就在几天前，地球上的最后一批人也集体迁往建设好的火星，抛弃了这已满目疮痍的人类故土。当时，伊波正在地下126层的公寓里休息，接到E-mail通知时，电梯已断电了，当他气喘吁吁地爬到地面时，火箭已经升空了。他绝望了，对天空大声喊着：“还有我呀！不能这样把我丢弃呀！”无人回应，地面上所有机械设备都被掐断电源，伊波无法与火星上的人们联络，更何况人们原本就没打算在火星、地球之间架设太空站——成本太高了。

空虚、恐惧一次次袭来，几乎让伊波透不过气来。突然，“咚咚咚”，工作室的门被敲响了，有人还没走？伊波忘了可以用遥控器开门，快步冲到门口，打开了门。啊！

“好啊，真还没走光啊！”金丝猴气急败坏地吼道：“人类真自私！把地球搞成这样，就开溜！”

伊波还没回过神来，其它动物也七嘴八舌地议论着，谩骂着。丹顶鹤清清嗓子，叫道：“安静安静，各位请安静！我来讲几句。先生，别生气，小猴是过火了点，可它讲的一点也没错。虽然我们智商没你们高，可我们很明白是谁把我们共有的家园污染成这副模样，树和动物一样稀少，凑在一起连林子都算不上。气候反复无常，六月下雪，一月不是酸雨就是洪灾。天是黄的，土是黄的，连空气里都是黄沙、二氧化碳。一切这么衰败，是谁造成的？以后火星也会成为这个样子，那时怎么办？再跑？”

丹顶鹤还在喋喋不休地数落着。伊波心里复杂极了，人类为什么迁徙？地球为什么会这样子？伊波流泪了，为可怜的地球流泪，更为可耻的人类流泪。

“我要替人类赎罪，建设好今天，留一个美好的地球给明天。”伊波下定决心，开始愚公移山般地工作，他想着，一天种下一百棵树，一天就可以为明天创造亿分之一的美好。哪怕耗尽这一生，他也要尽自己全力，改造满目疮痍的家园，留给明天一个温馨和谐的社会。

【名师指津】:

本文是一篇科幻为体裁的童话作文，文章以丰富的想象、合理的联想，虚构了一个千年以后的故事：一名叫伊波的人类未能逃离千疮百孔的地球，成为最后一个地球人。如何面对眼前的现实，如何重新与地球上的其它动物共存？伊波决心以实际行动解决这些问题，于是，伊波下定决心为绿化地球奉献自己的一生，文章最后以 “留给明天一个温馨和谐的社会”为结束语，从而点明题意，回应了话题。不言而喻，这篇童话所谴责的是破坏环境的人类，希望唤醒人们的良知，从长远看，保护环境，为了明天，建设好家园。

【锦囊妙计之一】

联想想象要有现实基础

“留给明天”什么，考生没有直接地回答，而是通过联想和想象，虚构出了一个千年后的人类逃离地球的故事，来说明了唯一的一名人类“伊波”和其它动物为给明天留下一个和谐的社会而努力拼搏的精神。环境是人类自己亲手破坏的，那么重建也是人类义不容辞的义务。可见，童话的写作，最重要的一个特点就是联想和想象要在现实社会生活中找到它的缩影，而不是胡思乱想，这样，虚构出来的故事才会有现实的意义，才能警醒人们，给人以启迪。

【成功佳作2】

卖书

贵州一考生

话说唐僧取经回来后，花果山众猴见孙悟空得道成仙，无一猴不羡慕。其中一只叫小三儿的，也梦想着有一天能赚钱出名。

一天，它问孙悟空：“大王，要怎样才能赚大钱呢?”孙悟空眨眨眼睛，想了一会儿说：“最近流行出书热，你也写本书吧。”

小三儿心想，我别的什么都不会，就是写作文还行。以前考试，我的作文还得过第一呢。对，写书。

它兴冲冲地回了家，用三个月时间，打造出一本《新大唐西域记》，拿去给孙悟空审核。孙悟空翻了翻看了看。“晤，不错。写得真的不错。”小三儿挺高兴，回去找了家出版社，印了几千本书开始销售。

书上了市，反响平平。两个月过去，才卖了一千本不到。怪了，怎么没人买呢?小三儿想不通。于是它上街作起了市场调查。

“《新大唐西域记》呀？没听说过。”

“什么？看书？谁有那闲工夫。”

“对不起，我急着回家上网。”

“《新大唐西域记》？买了，还没来得及看呢!”，

问了几个人，不是没听说过就是买了没看，理由大都是没时间呀、要上网呀什么的。小三儿有点儿受打击。它又问了一个人：“你看过《新大唐西域记》吗？”

“看过看过，写得挺好。”

小三儿挺高兴，问道：“你是买了书还是向别人借的。”

那人像看怪物似的看着小三儿：“你有病吧!现在谁还买书呀!网上看书又快又实惠。好好学学吧你。”

网上卖书，成吗？小三儿边走边想，肯定已有人发了我的书。

“哟，这不是三儿嘛。怎么样，书卖得好不好呀?”猪八戒走来，问道。

小三儿摇了摇头。猪八戒听它说了事情的始末，抚着肚子告诉小三儿：“你呀，一开始就不应该听猴哥的，你应该把书发到网上去，那样才会火爆大卖，听我的，没错。”

于是小三儿回到家，把书发到了网上。果然不出一个月，点击率就已经非常高了。小三儿买了套西服，买了部手机，成了有钱人。

孙悟空见到它，语重心长地对它说：“现在像你这样写作，过不了多久人们就会忘记你，经典的东西是应该能保存很久的东西。”

小三儿不以为意，继续做着网络写手。

两百年过去了，人们对网络书籍的兴趣已经淡了。很少有人再上网看书，小三儿又成了花果山上普普通通的一只猴子。

天庭，孙悟空对八戒说：“八戒，你看，还是我说的对吧。书籍能永久保存人类的思想。通过看书，才能有所提高，什么网络呀，信息时代呀，不过是过眼云烟，就像一阵风吹过，什么印儿也没留下。”猪八戒无奈地笑了笑，低头看看人间书店里来来往往的人群。

【名师指津】

体裁形式的创新，已经成为高考作文一个重要的得分因素，但体裁形式不是一个孤立的东西，它必须紧密结合内容，为内容的表达服务，才会活起来，真正发挥作用。《卖书》一文的即以“童话”的方式揭示了现实社会生活中真实现状，它借用《西游记》的故事，目标直指出版界和图书阅读中的种种不良倾向，呼唤优良阅读传统的回归。文章语言幽默诙谐，使人忍俊不禁。

【锦囊妙计之二】

借古喻今  新编童话

近几年来，高考中新编童话类作文获得不少青睐，常常借用文学作品的人物或故事情节，融入当今社会的基本观念，以新的故事，阐述一个深刻的道理，即借古喻今。本文就是这样的一篇典范，由于网络的出现，人们的阅读习惯已经改变了不小，如何看待这个现象，考生借用《西游记》中人物，再假设了一只小猴，通过出版纸质书籍和运用网络写书进行比较，传递出自己的观点：只有书籍才能永久保存人类的思想。可见，同学们在写作童话时，也可采用借古喻今的写法，新编一个童话来阐明自己的观点。

【成功佳作3】

“问”点亮了生命的灯

四川一考生

一个漆黑的夜晚，一个远行寻佛的苦行僧走到一个荒僻的村落中。漆黑的村道上，络绎的村民们在默默地你来我往。

苦行僧转过一条村巷，看到一团晕黄的灯从巷子的深处静静地亮过来。身旁的一位村民说：“孙瞎子过来了。”

僧人百思不得其解。一个双目失明的盲人，一般地说他没有白天黑夜的概念，他挑一盏灯笼岂不令人迷惑和可笑？

僧人问道：“敢问施主真是一位盲者吗？”

那挑灯笼的盲人告诉他：“是的，从踏进这个世界，我就一直双眼混浊”。

僧人又问：“既然你什么都看不见，那你为何挑一盏灯笼呢？”

盲者说：“现在是黑夜吧，我听说在黑夜里没有灯光的映照，那么世界上的人都和我一样是盲人，所以我就点燃了一盏灯笼”。

僧人若有所悟地说：“原来您是为别人照明了？！”

“不，我是为自己！”盲人淡淡地答道。

为你自己？僧人又愣了。

盲人缓缓地问僧人：“你是否因为夜色漆黑而被其他人碰撞过？”

僧人说：“是的，就在刚才，被两个不留心的人碰撞过”。

盲人听了，就得意地说：“但我就没有，虽说我是盲人，我什么也看不见，但我挑了这灯笼，既为别人照亮，也更让别人看到我自己，这样，他们就不会因为看不见而碰撞我了”。

苦行僧听了，顿有所悟。

他仰天长叹说：“我奔波天涯海角寻觅我佛，没想到佛就在我的身边哦！人的佛性就像一盏灯，只要我点亮了，即使我看不见佛，但佛会看到我自己的。”

是啊，在生活中有许多疑问，有人好问，有人不好问，苦行僧就在一处不经意的问当中寻找到了自己踏遍千山万水都没找到的东西。是“问”点亮了那盏生命之灯，既照亮了别人，更照亮了他自己，只有先照亮别人，才能够照亮我们自己。

为别人点燃我们自己的生命之灯吧！这样，在生命的夜色里，我们才能找到自己的平安和灿烂！

【名师指津】

“问”什么，怎样“问”，“问”中有什么哲理？考生通过一个故事，向我们传达了自己的观点：“问”点亮了生命之灯。考生首先虚构了一个漆黑的夜晚这样一个场景，然后通过盲人与僧人之间的对话，最后提示出了本文的主旨，文体符合寓言的特征。本文很有禅味，有寓意，有哲理，给人以生活的启迪。

【锦囊妙计之三】

浅显易懂  以小见大

寓言的特点一般为小、少、简、深。小是指其篇幅短小；少是指涉及的人物数量少；简是指故事情节简单；深是指它所蕴涵的道理深刻。本文内容简洁，情节简单，但却蕴含着深刻的人生道理。这种写法即是以小见大的写法。本文人物只有二个，情节只是僧人对盲人夜里提灯的疑问，故事浅显易懂，简单明了，然而，正是这一浅显的故事中，却揭示出了一个人生的大道理。

【成功佳作4】

“三”的奇遇

湖北一考生

自从“三”被苍颉老爸造出来以后，就一直不服气，整天拉长着脸。他想：“凭什么我总是排在最后一位，当个‘季军’！”既没有“一”的洒脱利落，又没有“二”的出双入对。于是，“三”决定离家出走，自个儿闯荡江湖。

“三”来到了一所学校的外面，听见里面的孩子正在早读。于是“三”一溜烟窜上了窗台。“三人行，必有我师……”“三”字听到自己的名字，往桌上一看，只见《论语》写着这样一句话。“三”是又惊又喜，忙问自己的影子：“你在这儿过得好吗？”影子说：“很好呀，孩子们每天都要诵读我们呢！如‘三思而行’，‘三省吾身’……大家都很爱戴我们，说我们代表了变幻与重复！代表了众人的力量，代表了稳定与踏实。这样吧，我带你到处看看吧！”说着影子从书本上钻了出来，拉起“三”往外就跑。

他们来到书店，书店许多书上都有“三”的身影，有些书干脆就直接用“三”命名，如《三字经》、《三言二拍》，这可把“三”给喜坏了。他随手翻开一本书，只见上面写着“举一反三”，“三”一看当场凉了半截，口里喃喃道：“干吗要反对我呢？”影子听到了，笑着说：“你可别会错了意，你在这儿是含有‘灵活、多变、有内涵’的意思喔！说的是例举一个事例，可以推及到其他事例。你可是变幻女神了！‘三’不光只是代表无用功的重复，而代表了一次又一次更深刻的理解，每次都有变化，每次都有新的意义，不停止不前，勇于创新。”听着听着，“三”不觉脸红了，觉得人们对他其实挺好。

“三”又随影子来到了人群之中，突然听见一个人说：“三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮。”话还没听完，“三”又急了，怎么又把我与“臭”字放到一起。影子赶快安慰说：“你又弄错了，这儿的‘三’代表了众人的力量。你可是团结女神了！‘三’个人字，便是‘众’。在人们口中，你便是团结互助的象征。你还可以与‘人’字组合，成为‘仨’字呢！就是三个人的意思。看，这多亲切呦！”“三”觉得好感动，其实自己是个很有用的字呢！

“三”又来到了木工房，可到处找，这儿哪有“三”啊！影子笑着说：“别急别急，你看见桌子上的三角形了吗？三角形也有‘三’，而且三角形是最稳定的图形了。你在这儿可是安定，踏实的象征呢！”“三”点点头，略有所悟。

这时，苍颉出现在了“三”的面前，他笑着说：“小三儿，这回想通了吧？”“三”点点头。他想，其实每个汉字都承传着一种意义，代表着一种源远流长的文化，自己还自怨自艾什么呢！

【名师指津】

本文运用拟人的手法，写了“三”一路的所见所闻，在学校受到的欢迎，书店里的尴尬，人群中的感动和木工房里的感悟，4个场面，从不同的角度诠释了“三”的作用和意义，最后指出“每个汉字都承传着一种意义，代表着一种源远流长的文化”这一主旨。全文构思新巧而又紧扣题意，特别是叙述简明生动，是一篇优秀的高考寓言类作文。

【锦囊妙计之四】

拟人手法  形象生动

寓言的写作，一般要通过生动形象的情节去打动读者，感染读者，给读者以深刻的道理，因此，常常运用拟人的手法进行写作。这样，就会使形象鲜明活泼，避免了刻板抽象的说教。从本文来看，考生把“三”拟人化，赋予“三”以人的个性，特别是在与“影子”的对话，更是突出了它的性格特征：在学校时的惊喜的神态，因误解了“举一反三”的而“脸红”，“三”代表“众”时的感动和“三角形”表示稳定时的感悟的神情，都活灵活现的，逼真的表现了出来。

感恩节是美国人民独创的一个古老节日，也是美国人合家欢聚的节日，因此美国人提起感恩节总是倍感亲切。感恩节是美国国定假日中最地道、最美国式的节日(holiday)，它和早期美国历史最为密切相关。起源于马萨诸塞普利茅斯的早期移民。这些移民在英国本土时被称为清教徒，因为他们对英国教会的宗教改革不彻底感到不满，以及英王及英国教会对他们的政治镇压和宗教迫害，所以这些清教徒脱离英国教会，远走荷兰，后来决定迁居到大西洋彼岸那片荒无人烟的土地上，希望能按照自己的意愿信教自由地生活。

Thanksgiving is an ancient festival American original people, is also the American family reunion holiday, so the Americans brought Thanksgiving always feel warm. Thanksgiving Day is the most truly American of the national holidays in the United States (holiday), the early history of the United States and is most closely connected. The early settlers of Massachusetts originated in Plymouth. These people were called pilgrims in the UK, because of their religious reform of the Church of England is not completely satisfied with, and the king and the Church of England for their political repression and persecution, so the pilgrims from the Church of England, went to Holland, then decided to move to the other side of the Atlantic that desolate land, hope in accordance with the wishes of their religious freedom in life.

1962年9月，“五月花号”轮船载着102名清教徒及其家属离开英国驶向北美大陆，经过两个多月的艰苦航行，在马萨诸塞的普利茅斯登陆上岸，从此定居下来。第一个冬天，由于食物不足、天气寒冷、传染病肆虐和过度劳累，这批清教徒一下子死去了一半以上。第二年春天，当地印第安部落酋长马萨索德带领心地善良的印第安人，给了清教徒谷物种子，并教他们打猎、种植庄稼、捕鱼等。在印第安人的帮助下，清教徒们当年获得了大丰收。首任总督威廉·布莱德福为此建议设立一个节日，庆祝丰收，感谢上帝的恩赐。同时，还想借此节日加强白人与印第安人的和睦关系。1621年11月下旬的星期四，清教徒们和马萨索德带来的90名印第安人欢聚一堂，庆祝美国历史上第一个感恩节。男性清教徒外出打猎、捕捉火鸡，女人们则在家里用玉米、南瓜、红薯和果子等做成美味佳肴。就这样，白人和印第安人围着篝火，边吃边聊，还载歌载舞，整个庆祝活动持续了三天。

In 1962 September, "May flower" ship loaded with 102 pilgrims and their families to leave England to North America, after two months of hard sailing in Plymouth, Massachusetts ashore, settled down. The first winter, due to lack of food, cold weather, disease rampant and overworked, the settlers died more than half. The second year spring, the local Indian tribal chiefs, Masaso de led the kind-hearted Indian, gave the Puritan grain seed, and teach them to hunt, planting crops, fishing etc.. With the help of the Indians, the pilgrims had a good harvest. The first governor William Bradford has proposed the establishment of a festival to celebrate the harvest, thank you for the gift of god. At the same time, also want to take a holiday to strengthen the harmony between whites and indians. In late November 1621 Thursday, 90 Indians have a joyous gathering the Pilgrims and Massa Soder, celebrated the first Thanksgiving USA history. Male pilgrims go out hunting, capture Turkey, women in the home with corn, pumpkin, sweet potato and fruit to make delicious food. Thus, whites and Indians around the bonfire, chat while eating, but now singing, now dancing, the celebration lasted three days.

初时感恩节没有固定日期，由各州临时决定。直到美国独立后的1863年，林肯总统宣布感恩节为全国性节日。

At Thanksgiving without a fixed date, the provisional decision by the state. Until America after independence in 1863, President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

My mother is 38 years old, but she never tells others how old she is. She says she just doesn?ˉt want them to know about it! My mother is a well-known doctor in our area. She works hard. She often gets up very early in the morning and rushes to the hospital to look after her patients. She is kind to her patients and treats them the way she treats her family. Sometimes I wonder whom she loves more, her patients or me.

My father is 40 years old. He has short hair, big eyes and a small mouth. He is my best friend.

My father is a teacher. Just like my mother, he is very busy. He doesn?ˉt have any holidays or weekends. Every morning he goes to school very early and stays with his students until late in the afternoon. It seems that he never gets tired! His students love and respect him. He always tells my mother how good it is to be a teacher, because his students make him feel young. He thinks my mother should be a teacher, too! But so far she hasn?ˉt taken his advice.

I will be a new student in my fathers school this summer. I will work harder and I hope one day I can be a good doctor like my mother.

In the 21 century, most homes have TVs, videos and DVDs. Most children get information and knowledge from the TVs, videos and DVDs. But I still like reading. I think it is very interesting. It makes me happy and clever. After lunch, I like reading books in the sunshine. Before sleeping, I like reading books and drinking a glass of milk. At the weekend, I always spend a lot of time staying at the library.

I can say that I have grown up with books. If you dont like reading, please try reading a book, you can learn a lot!

1.1词汇方面

如果把写英语作文比作建楼房的话，英语词汇在英语写作中起着砖、瓦的作用，是句子的最基本的组成部分，所以词汇是我们高中英语教学中的重点，单词听写是课堂教学必不可少的一个环节，但学生的词汇量毕竟有限，遇到问题时，便会用汉语词汇去补充英语词汇的空缺。

例如：交通十分繁忙。误：The traffic is busy. 正：The traffic is heavy.

她和一位教授结婚了。误：She married with a professor.

正：She married a professor.

英语词语的词义往往比较复杂，并和汉语有着一定区别。这种不同就会会导致学生仅把写作当作一词一句的翻译来做，结果是事倍功半。

1.2语法方面

英语中难点就是时态，语态的掌握。英语中常用时态共十六种，语态分为主动语态与被动语态，语气有陈述语气与虚拟语气之分。不同的时态有它特有的句法结构。如现在进行时态使用be＋v－ing形式来表示。现在完成时则用have／has ＋p．p来表示。一般将来时则用shall／will／be going to＋v来表示。英语中时间意义的表达是通过动词的时和体来加以反映，而汉语中不存在时、体等，汉语则依靠表示时间的副词（如“曾经”、“正在”、“已经”、“将要”）作状语，或利用虚词“了”、“着”、“过”等作补语这一语法手段来体现，动词本身无任何变化。在英语中，“already”和“ever”常常用在完成时态之中，不能与表示过去的时间状语连用。学生常常把上述句子错译成“Yesterday I have been to the park．”“Five years ago，they have known each other．”又如在英语中，我们常常用否定前置来

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