浙江高考英语作文概要写作（合集20篇）

by the time children enter school, they’ll have spent up to one-third of their waking hours in front of tv. the enormous influence of television is just beginning to be realized. while many parents take television as an electronic baby-sitter, they neglect the fact that television may be more harmful than it is beneficial to children.

those who encourage small children to watch television claim that many programs for children on tv are helpful to develop children’s interest and enrich their knowledge. they also argue that preoccupied with tv programs, children are prevented from doing mischief. although at a first glance these arguments sound true, the behavior of some children doesn’t seem to prove them.

in the first place, programs for children are not always beneficial to them. one science fiction serial keeps telling about some supernatural beings who can fly and always fight against evildoers. after watching several episodes, a small child was so enchanted that he imitated the heroes and “flew” from his room on the second floor. there are also reports of children running away from home to the mountains to practice martial art. these incidents are naturally credited with tv programs for children.

further, being preoccupied with tv programs is not a good way for avoiding mischief. in the days before tv, parents used to gather together with their children, telling stories or reading poems to them. the communication between parents and children was thus better, so it was easier for children to understand what was good conduct.those who approve of children’s watching tv neglect television’s bad effects on children. firstly, children are surrounded and bombarded by commercials for toys and foods. they are tempted into becoming consumers. they earnestly ask their parents to buy things which they do not really need. as a result, the parents are in a financial dilemma, and the children themselves always become victims of bad products because of false advertising.

another bad effect of television is that children are over-exposed to violence. they watch hours of murders, fights, and crimes every week, with no adult around to tell them that life is not like that most of the time. the effect of the heavy dose of violence is to suggest to children that violence is an ordinary way of life, and that shooting and cheating are ways to success.most serious of all, children who often watch tv are becoming passive. they just sit back and let things happen to them. children are inventive; they have the ability to imagine a whole world of their own. but what happens when their imagination is not needed, when tv does all the imagination for them? obviously, these children are not going to grow up as inventive and imaginative as their parents, for they have been robbed of creative impulses by television.

to sum up, children’s indulgence in television is harmful. the problem, nevertheless, is not one of prohibition. parents should supervise and guide their children’s watching tv instead of parking them in front of the tube, hoping it will act as a baby-sitter.

导语：写作一直是语文中重要的一项，是对学生综合能力，语言应用的考察，也在考试分数中占有较大比例，但是如何才能写好作文，在考试中取得高分，对同学们来讲却一直是个难题。下面我们来看看如何提高写作能力。

专家指出老师们应该教学思路灵活，关注学生个体发展，注重学生语文能力的培养，注重从根本上改变学生对语文的认识：

分数固然非常重要，但同时应当也是能力的提高，靠一次、两次的押题或许一时能取得一个好成绩，但学习成绩的决定因素：学习习惯、思维习惯的培养及形成是需要一定的时间。一个老师辅导一个学生，老师根据学生的情况进行教学，或补差，或提优，进行个性化教学，实现真正意义上的因材施教。为此，老师教你用独特的方法学好初高中语文。

学生作文时最头疼的问题是无话可说。为了解决这一难题，专家告诉大家不妨用刘勰的话说“流连万象之际，沉吟视听之间”启发他们：要想写好作文，必须谈如何生活，体察入微。生活，是写作的“源头活水”。叶圣陶先生曾说过，“作文这件事离不开生活……必须寻到源头才有清的水喝”，可见观察是中学生认识生活的重要途径。因此，专家指出老师们应该帮助学生明确观察的重要性，结合课本中的名篇交给他们观察生活，表现生活的方法。“授之以鱼”，不如“授之以渔”。例如学了《我的老师》后，可以引导学生观察自己所尊敬的老师，让他们明白老师的高风亮节，除了表现在批改作业到深夜，或带病上课，累倒在讲台上等外，还有许多值得挖掘的素材。以前，同样的材料上代人用来赞颂老师，下一代“涛声依旧”。似乎老师永远是身穿中山装，口袋里插一支钢笔，不苟言笑;老的，少的，农村的，城市的，一个样。通过观察，让其明白不同时代，不同环境，不同科目的老师穿着打扮、兴趣爱好、精神面貌、教学方式等都有差异。当今教师不但追求内在美，还注重外在美;他们不仅仅追求脚踏实地，还注重巧干。课上，他们“激扬文字”“指点江山”，评估论今，妙语连珠;课外，他们驰骋球场，泼洒丹青，舞文弄墨，雅趣如流。罗丹曾说，世界上不是缺少美，而是缺少发现美的眼睛。实践证明，丰富的写作素材，都是靠仔细观察周围事物的来的。

要关注生活，博采众长。古人云：“熟读唐诗三百首，不会写诗也会吟。”可见广泛阅读的重要性。老师应当有计划地引导学生进行课外阅读。例如，在教学中，鼓励学生每天写日记，可写身边的人或事，也可摘录一些名言警句、优美的段落，或介绍一部生动的有趣的影视剧作;规定每月读一本优秀期刊;每个假期读两本名著，如学了《美猴王》《鲁提辖拳打镇关西》后，建议学生读吴承恩的《西游记》和施耐庵的《水浒传》，让他们领略作者刻画人物的手法，反映社会生活的方法。

我们只有“行万里路”——广泛深入生活，只有“读完卷书”——博采众长，才能文思泉涌，“下笔如有神”。

明年的高考即将来临，众多考生也进入了最后的紧张复习阶段，如何高效地复习，最大化地提高成绩呢?下面是小编给大家带来的高考满分作文写作技巧的内容，欢迎大家查看。

清代诗人、画家郑板桥有一幅对联：删繁就简三秋树，领异标新二月花。十九世纪英国诗人王尔德说：第一个把美人比成鲜花的人是个天才，第二个把美人比成鲜花的人是个庸才，第三个把美人比成鲜花的人则是个蠢才。要激活自己的创新意识，做到“人无我有，人有我深。常中求变，变中求新。”黑格尔也说过：“内容之所以成为内容，即由于它包括成熟的形式在内。” 高考作文在发展等级中设立“有创新”的条目，目的正是想通过一个侧面鼓励学生培养创造性思维。或是见解新颖，或是材料新鲜，或是构思精巧，或是推理想象有独到之处，或是有个性特征。这些方面都是可能蕴涵“创新”因素的地方，在高考作文中凡是有利于培养学生创造精神和思路解析的地方，我们就必须给予重视和鼓励。

古代戏曲理论家李渔在《闲情偶寄》中这样说过：“变则新，不变则腐;变则活，不变则板。”高中阶段的作文训练也是如此。只有时时处处将创新意识贯彻到写作中，才有可能写出内容和形式俱佳的作文。

怎样才能做到创新呢?重要的就是你比一般人思考得深，琢磨得透，才能从普通的事物中洞见其本质意义。古人说得好：“凡作文发意，第一番来者，陈言也，扫去不用;第二番来者，正语也，停止不可用;第三番来者，精语也，方可用之。”这三番意思代表了认识逐步深化、文章渐次深刻的一个过程。具体可从以下几方面下工夫：

1.精心打造首尾。你精心设计的有个性的“亮点”，你的精彩之笔，要尽量在文章的前头展示出来，不可遮遮掩掩，直到文章的末尾才露出姿容。要一“亮相”便获“满堂彩”，不能搞“图穷匕现”。河南一考生的《一把生锈的锁》，文章层层递进，步步为营，终于找到了问题的根源：自信随岁月逝去。文章题目一语双关，一方面指实实在在的锁，另一方面指心灵上的锁，生动形象。重庆一考生的《菊花飘香的时节》文章一开始就展示了一幅旷远的画面，想象丰富，文情并茂，引人入胜。结尾两段升华主题，前后照应，行文自然流畅。

2.紧跟时代步伐。北京高职一考生的《时尚流行我心定》作者首先用“时尚”作为文章的开篇之语，继而用现实生活中的五花八门，形形色色的“时尚”来阐述所谓的时尚。然后，旁征博引，列举古今中外各行各业的时尚生活。与现代生活紧密相连，有时代特色。江西一考生的《把“意见”刻录成光盘》，好就好在不落窠臼，采取网络搜索的形式，从而似乎出现了一个个画面感，历史和现实的例子就自自然然地展示在读者面前，“搜索结果”就成了作者简短的点评，最后的结论也就水到渠成。本文的内容没有过人之处，出彩的就是它的形式。

3.敢于逆向思维。北京一考生的《包容(七)》中，大对小，厚对薄的包容容易理解，但微小对广博的包容，静止对流动的包容，沉默对喧嚣的包容，此种创意实在是独辟蹊径，非同一般。江苏一考生的《项王项王若奈何》，作者进行丰富而大胆的想象，将思维的触角延伸到了历史之中，以一种全新的眼光对历史人物 ——项王进行了入木三分的刻画与诠释，也更深刻地揭示了一个主题：灵动的水可保持一片蔚蓝，灵动的智慧，可以造就一个英雄。

导语：借情于景，采用这种方法，能使情和景互相感应，互相交融，互相依托，从而创造一种物我一体的艺术境界，完善地表达作者的思想感情，有极强的感染力，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的2017高考写作素材之借景抒情，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

1.今天就是中秋节，我们全家一起在院子里赏月，皎洁的明月不禁引起我的无限遐想：圆圆的月亮中是否真的有着美丽的嫦娥仙子存在呢?是否真的有执着的吴刚在砍着月桂呢?是否有那纯洁的玉兔在仙子的怀抱……一切都是那么迷离。

2.我看到了，看到了，看到了日月星辰;我听到了，听到了，听到了天际回音;我想到了，想到了，想到了万物生灵;我闻到了，闻到了，闻到了天地间一人的芳香!站在窗前的我仰望天空，仰望那日月星辰，瞬息万变;我俯视大地，俯视那芸芸众生，和太安康!

3.夏日的午后，lucifer的羽翼遮天蔽日，重重阴霾笼罩人间，破碎的魔盒，释放黑暗与恐惧，孤独的舞者，小心的在天地的夹缝中生存，她微小但不卑贱，那坚定的目光划破长空，硬是撕开钢铁般的灰暗。

4.每个人的故事都会长大，臭小子和疯丫头变成了英俊少年和婷婷少女，那是一段充斥着叛逆逃离和波动的岁月，一如茧中之碟，苦苦挣扎着的青春，谁又敢，谁又能遗忘，这是一个蜕变的过程，痛并快乐着，为了证明我活着，我愿生如夏花般灿烂。

5.旋转，永不停息的旋转。像是上了发条的玩具，每个动作标准到不差毫分。她是人生的舞者，生命不息，舞蹈不止，跌倒，再爬起，受伤，咬牙继续。总有那么一种力量，让你能够再跌倒后站起，让您情愿受伤。那些被童话浸满了的日子，她最爱丑小鸭的努力，白天鹅的优雅，那些被梦萦绕着的岁月，她日夜不忘。

6.印象中的秋应该是杂草枯萎、树叶飘落、满目萧条的景象。如今眼前还是一片郁郁葱葱的景色，不免有几分反常。虽然说清晨起来能感到丝丝凉意，日落黄昏能体会到朦胧的悲凉，但感觉秋还是离我们那么遥远。可能面对同一片蓝，察觉不出秋那轻轻的脚步声，或许处在温暖的和谐的生活环境中，秋来得特别漫长。

7.不是树的冷漠无情，也不是风的追随，只因为叶的无奈……所以选择了离别。它知道选择离别，让它的老母亲伤心难过，让它的老母亲被别人说成了一个冷漠无情的人。但是它也没有办法，它也没有能力去改变这一切，因为从它长出来一后，它就被上帝安排好了命运，上帝的使命，无人能改变。

8.伴随夕阳，现代孔明，西边的落日，在天边的云霄中沉浮。火红的晚霞，早已染红半边天空。踏着田间的石子小路，来到你身边，放眼望去，你依旧是那样地变幻莫测。看着你永不停息的沉下山底，坐在河道旁的草地上，抚摸着那富有青春活力溪水，欣赏那河水与晚霞共长天一色，闻着小草下泥土的气息，嗅着夕阳下泥土的焦味，我的思绪早已飘到了远方。

9.秋已来临，可确实感觉不到秋的存在，其实是自己心境的原因。如果你保持一颗愉悦的心，生活就到处风景如画。我想到了我们老师说的一句话：“心在哪里，哪里就有亮丽的风景。”

10.脚不小心踩倒了几株小草，我蹲下身将她们扶起。草地是碧绿的，绿得含烟，绿得滴翠，仿佛一块无瑕的绿毡，轻盈得铺在地上，为大地穿上了绿衣，为世界带来了生机，将青翠欲滴的绿色送至每一个角落。无论是贫瘠的荒野，还是肥沃的土壤，哪里都有你的身影，“野火烧不惊，春风吹又生。”火烧不尽你，雨打不倒你，小草啊，是不是什么都阻挡不了你?荆棘丛生的成长之路上，若是也有小草这般闯劲，纵使鲜血淋漓，也能凭借顽强的毅力，开辟出属于自己的新天地。

11.轻轻吹过的微风中裹夹着几丝淡淡的清香，是从花丛那儿传来的。我走近花丛，轻触花朵，一朵朵叫得出叫不出名字的花儿们千姿百态地展现着自己的美丽。若是有一双鞋无情地踩了你，你也会倾尽所有把香气赠给鞋底。我该怎样形容你的无私?生活之中，亦是如此，少一份计较，多一份谦让，便也多一份美丽。

12.秋天空气挺清爽的，不像夏天那样浑浊了，不时也飘落几片树叶舞在水泥道上稀稀疏疏的，落叶随风飘舞时，像蝴蝶悠悠的舞姿，让人陶醉。忽而翻了几个跟头，忽而荡秋千似的，忽而又被风吹到远方去了。等到落在地上，便静静地不动了，带着丝丝缕缕。待下阵秋风到来，那时又像蝴蝶般起舞了。

13.水边的鸟刚悠闲地从河畔伴着云儿飞过，蝴蝶又在水面上飞舞，似乎给大地带来一份滋润，似乎新的希望马上来临。夕阳收回了最后一丝笑容，消失在西边的天空，鸟也归巢了，到处亮起盏盏明灯。此刻，我真切的感到心灵的踏实与自由，我又得到了安慰。

14.晨曦，天还未亮的时候，我借着微弱的灯光，来到窗台前。环视四周，天地间还沉浸在一片蒙胧之中。仰望天空，俯视大地，我感受到了其间的奥秘;天空洒下“醉意的粉尘”，大地的生灵都享受着这甜美的梦境!

15.天渐渐亮了，太阳以崭新的面貌再次露出红润的脸庞。顿时，放射出耀眼的光芒，着光芒照红了天;照明了地;照进了房屋;照亮了我的心。风，带着天地的灵气吹进我的胸膛;水，汇集天地的灵气流进我的心房!

16.月牙儿出来了，悠悠的挂在天上，像个慈祥的妈妈，笑眯眯的哄着地上的娃娃。月牙儿出来了，静悄悄的挂在天上，像个俏皮的娃娃，规规矩矩的看着稀稀朗朗的星星。月牙儿出来了，弯弯的挂在天上，像个金黄的小船，平稳地驮着那闪烁的金光。月牙儿出来了，轻轻地挂在天上，好像个笑着的眼睛，在黑暗的天空里，发出闪亮的光明。月牙儿出来了，多么美好，多么祥和，多么可爱!

17.生命中总有这么些时光，为春天百花争艳而迷恋，为夏天炫丽多姿而热诚，为秋天红叶洒疆而痴情，为冬天冰封万里而狂舞;踏着朝阳向青春问好，寻着微风向现在奋斗，伴着霞光向未来致敬;我们走过的流年，错过的风景，虚度的光阴，而时只剩下残缺的记忆，每一段都播放着喜与悲、苦与乐、泪水与欢笑。此时流年过半，我，你们都坚强。每一份辛酸都承载一段故事，我和你就书写在那春、那夏、那秋、那冬、那时时刻刻分分秒秒，因为那有你我完美的邂逅及微光的红晕。

18.操场边的绿化带里树立着一排苍翠挺拔的水杉，我走近它，用手抚摸它。疙疙瘩瘩的树皮上布满了斑驳的裂纹，组成了不规则的图案，透露出一种沧桑的美来，让人不由得想到那一个个风吹雨打电闪雷鸣的日子，时光流逝，四季变迁，水杉就像一名英勇的战士坚定地守在自己的岗位上寸步不离。酷暑炎炎，烈日当空，我仿佛看到他已经大汗淋漓，但他仍在为我们避暑遮阳;寒冬腊月，朔风凛凛我仿佛看到他已经瑟瑟发抖，他仍在为我们挡风避雨。水杉的毅力令我赞叹，令我倾佩。人生的道路上是充满障碍的，但若是有了水杉这种坚定不移的品质，又有什么能阻扰得了我们呢?

1、有三件事人类都要经历：出生生活和死亡。他们出生时无知无觉，死到临头，痛不欲生，活着的时候却又怠慢了人生。——拉布吕耶尔

2、品格能决定人生，它比天资更重要。——弗·桑德斯

3、只要你不计较得失，人生还有什么不能想法子克服的。——海明威

4、得之坦然，失之淡然，顺其自然，争其必然。

5、人生是指我们若没有嗜好的话，便不过如同极度无聊经营不善的剧院而已。——斯蒂文生

6、只有你学会把自己已有的成绩都归零，才能腾出空间去接纳更多的新东西，如此才能使自己不断的超越自己。

7、人生贵知心，定交无暮早。——袁中道

8、做一个决定，并不难，难的是付诸行动，并且坚持到底。

9、如果你不给自己烦恼，别人也永远不可能给你烦恼，烦恼都是自己内心制造的。

10、还能冲动，表示你还对生活有激情，总是冲动，表示你还不懂生活。

11、人生一世间，忽若暮春草。——徐干

12、勇气是控制恐惧心理，而不是心里毫无恐惧。

13、人生欲念千千万，且莫图利忘教子。——字严

14、在实现理想的路途中，必须排除一切干扰，特别是要看清那些美丽的诱惑。

15、背负着过去的痛苦，夹杂着现实的烦恼，这对于人的心灵而言是无任何益处。

16、人生最大的悲哀不是失去太多，而是计较太多，这也是导致一个人不快乐的重要原因。

17、人生如画，岁月如歌。

18、人生的小小不幸，可以帮助我们度过重大的不幸。——伊森伯格

19、我渴望随着命运指引的方向，心平气和地、没有争吵、悔恨、羡慕，笔直走完人生旅途。——魏尔伦

20、不论人生多不幸，聪明的人总会从中获得一点利益;不论人生多幸福，愚蠢的人总觉得无限悲哀。——拉·罗休弗克

假设你是红星中学高三(1)班的学生李华，请根据以下四幅图的先后顺序，用校刊“英语园地”写一篇短文，记述你和同学们向学校提推荐，解决自行车存放问题的过程。

注意： 1。 词数不少于 60。

2。 短文的开头已给出，不计入总词数。

范文：

There was a problem with the parking place for bikes in our school， I noticed the entrance was small and almost blocked。 So my classmates and I had a discussion and wrote a report。 Then we went to meet the schoolmaster in his office and gave the report to him。 He accepted our suggfestions。 Soon afterwards， a second entrance was opened to the parking place。 Now it is easy to park our bikes there。

1、故事发生在伦敦。

The story happened in London.

2、起初，他没看见那个人。

At first, he didn’t see the man.

3、然后，他走到汽车那儿。

Then he went over to the bus.

4、过了一会儿，他上了小汽车。

After a little while,he got on the car.

5、后来，他掏出了枪。

Later on he took out his gun.

6、最后，他被捕了。

At last, he was arrested.

7、开始时，老师给我们做了简短的介绍。

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

8、后来，他开始在黑板上写东西。

Afterwards, he began to write something on the blackboard.

9、同时，学生记笔记。

Meanwhile, the students took notes.

10、最终，学生们成功了。

In the end, the students succeeded.

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

考研英语应用文写作范文之感谢信感谢信

结构要点感谢信是就某事向收信人表示感谢的信件，分为三个部分：

1． 指出对方帮助自己的事情，表示感谢；

2． 展开叙述这件事；

3． 再次感谢，并可表示希望回报对方。

Suppose your were recommended by Professor Sun to get further education in Yale University last June and now you have been admitted by that university. Write a letter to Professor Sun to express your gratitude in about 100 words. Do not sign your own name, using “Li Ming” instead.Dear Professor Sun,

I am writing to extend my gratitude to you—without your help I would not have been a postgraduate student of Applied Mechanics Department of Yale University.

Last June, you helped me with no reservation when I applied for Yale University. You wrote a recommendation letter for me to Professor W, the dean of the department. You gave me instructions on how to fill the application forms and write the application letters. Whats more, you also taught me how to take care of myself and get along with others, which I believe are lifes great lessons.

Your help enabled me to fulfill my dream to pursue my studies in a great university. In the following days I will remember what you have told me and work and study hard to be a capable, conscientious and responsible person.

Yours truly,

Li Ming

感谢信

语言注意点感谢信应充分表达自己的谢意，切不可给对方草率的印象。可借助谈对方的帮助来进一步表达感激之情。言辞应真挚、得体。

Suppose you were taken good care of by Aunt Sun when you pursued your studies in Los Angels where Sun lived. Write a letter in about 100 words to extend your appreciation. Do not

sign your own name, using “Li Ming” instead.Dear Aunt Sun,

It is a great pleasure to extend my sincere gratitude to you for your hospitality and consideration while I pursue my bachelors degree at University of California.

As soon as I arrived in Los Angeles, you found me an apartment near my university. When I met with difficulties you often sent your daughter to help me and when I felt homesick you often talked to me patiently. You told me how to improve my efficiency in both work and study and how to get on well with teachers and schoolmates. Furthermore, you invited me to dinner on nearly every weekend.

Without your help, I would not have graduated with honors and found a satisfactory job back here in China. I know I can never repay you for everything you have done for me in the past four years, but you can be sure that I

Best regards.

Yours faithfully,

Li Ming ll never forget it.

在写作的过程中我们偶尔会引用一些名言，下面是语文迷网整理的36个常用的名言，供大家阅读。

1、 More hasty，less speed. 欲速则不达。

2、 Its never too old to learn. 活到老，学到老。

3、 All that glitters is not gold. 闪光的未必都是金子。

4、 A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.千里之行始于足下。

5、 Look before you leap. 三思而后行。

6、 Rome was not built in a day. 伟业非一日之功。

7、 Great minds think alike. 英雄所见略同。

8、 well begun，half done. 好的开始等于成功的一半。

9、 It is hard to please all. 众口难调。

10、 Out of sight，out of mind. 眼不见，心不念。

11、 Facts speak plainer than words. 事实胜于雄辩。

12、 Call back white and white back. 颠倒黑白。

13、 Practice makes perfect. 熟能生巧。

14、 God helps those who help themselves. 天助自助者。

15、 Easier said than done. 说起来容易做起来难。

16、 First things first. 凡事有轻重缓急。

17、 Ill news travels fast. 坏事传千里。

18、 A friend in need is a friend indeed. 患难见真情。

19、 live not to eat，but eat to live. 活着不是为了吃饭，吃饭为了活着。

20、 Action speaks louder than words. 行动胜过语言。

21、 East or west，home is the best. 金窝银窝不如自家草窝。

22、 Its not the gay coat that makes the gentleman. 君子在德不在衣。

23、 Beauty will buy no beef. 漂亮不能当饭吃。

24、 Like and like make good friends. 趣味相投。

25、 The older， the wiser. 姜是老的辣。

26、 Do as Romans do in Rome. 入乡随俗。

27、 An idle youth，a needy age. 少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。

28、 As the tree，so the fruit. 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。

29、 Where there is a will，there is a way. 有志者事竟成。

30、 One false step will make a great difference. 失之毫厘，谬之千里。

31、 Slow and steady wins the race. 稳扎稳打无往而不胜。

32、 A fall into the pit，a gain in your wit. 吃一堑，长一智。

33、 Experience is the mother of wisdom. 实践出真知。

34、 All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. 只工作不玩耍，聪明孩子也变傻。

35、 Beauty without virtue is a rose without fragrance.无德之美犹如没有香味的玫瑰，徒有其表。

36、 To live is to learn，to learnistobetterlive.活着为了学习，学习为了更好的活着。

寂寞是心灵的慎独，若开放在高山之巅上的雪莲花，美丽、静肃！在独处的岁月流中，悄然绽放在自然界的天地间，孤寂，傲然！

寂寞着的人细数着生命漫漫的风流，歌者便从此印象于心灵的颂扬之中，寂寂的风华于无限的意境和神往中，灿燃生发！

寂寞其实更应是一朵开放在心灵深处最美丽的花，扎根于孤独的土壤，自我生发，自我妍丽。花开绝世的美，花谢也凄寂的风流，在流过的心海上徜徉。

人应该是需要点寂寞的，在专注于一项事业或研究成果时，寂寞和孤独便是日子的从容。淡然处世，潜心于自己的学术之中，这样的孤独和寂寞如盈育着的花蕾，也经受着失意的风雨，承载着攻克的喜悦，一步步的迈向成功的彼岸！

寂寞是精神领域最为素雅的一笔，当追求事业的坚贞自心灵深处溢于钻研之中，自我的孤芳自赏便如花开的幽香，诠释着人性的美。与生俱来的所有浮躁被模糊淡忘成弃后，重现芬芳的心灵花香，便细细的品，细细的孤独风流！

寂寞的美同时也散发着太多的绪动，诱惑着我们的情感。只有真正做到寂寞与美与孤独共有，才会拥有我们自己数载人生培育的花，且愈长愈香愈浓。

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

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

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

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

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

【参考翻译】

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

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

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

让我们拿起我们的“背包”-诚实，并开始精彩旅程!

相关标签: 真诚Sincere 重要Important

导语：梦想，人人都有，每个人生阶段，都有各自的梦想;一个国家，也有自己的梦想，比如中国梦。下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的作文素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

参与《开门大吉》节目的选手面对8扇大门，每按响一个门铃，会听到一段音乐，答对歌曲名字即可获得该扇门对应的家庭梦想基金。一旦答错，所获奖金将被清零;每个选手答题过程中有一次求助亲友团的机会。

节目播出后，观众对选手的做法有这样一些评价：

甲说，获得一定数额的奖金后就不再继续比赛的选手太不自信，尤其是那些求助后就停下脚步的人，依赖感太强。

乙说，所获奖金已经可以实现家庭梦想还继续向前走的选手太贪婪，已经失去了参加节目的意义。

丙说，觉得奖金不够，使用过求助机会，依然前进而最终空手而归的选手，值得尊敬。

丁说，实现梦想要靠自己的双手与智慧，依靠这类节目实现梦想，是不劳而获的表现。

对此你有什么感想?要求选好角度，确定立意，明确文体，自拟标题。不要脱离材料内容及含意的范围作文，不要套作，不得抄袭。

押题理由与解析

梦想，人人都有，每个人生阶段，都有各自的梦想;一个国家，也有自己的梦想，比如中国梦。现实生活中的人，都在为理想的生活而奋斗着，他们对理想的态度，以及为实现理想而采取的方法，都能引发我们的思考。

“开门大吉”的材料，兼具时代气息与思辨色彩，能够承担起考查学生分析能力与表达能力的任务。而且《开门大吉》是一个收视率较高的节目，学生们一般都看过，有了这样的基础，分析起来更容易切中肯綮。

参加节目的选手们有不同的表现，观众们也有不同的看法，从甲乙丙丁任一角度切入立意均可。从甲的角度切入，注意“不自信”“依赖感”这些关键词，正确的立意是：做人要自信。从乙的角度分析，“贪婪”是关键词，正确立意为：要知足，莫贪心。从丙的角度切入，立意为：失败者也值得尊敬。从丁的角度立意：靠自己实现梦想。

佳作展示

燃自信之烛，照人生之路

气球能升空，首先是因为它充满氢气;人生能否腾飞，首先在于有没有自信。充分的自信是一个人事业成功的重要因素。漫长的人生路，并不总是阳光灿烂，也会有阴霾乃至黑暗，这就需要我们燃起自信之烛，照亮人生之路。

以自信为刃，披荆斩棘。古时有一位智勇双全的将军，一次他遭遇强敌，士气低迷。将军取出一枚铜钱，对众将士说：“如果铜钱正面朝上，神将保佑我们胜利;反之，我们将会失败。”硬币抛出两次都是正面朝上，于是士气大振。凯旋后，众将士提出要感谢神灵，将军拿出铜钱，原来铜钱两面都是正面，众将士才明白，原来保佑他们胜利的不是神灵，而是他们自己。

命运掌握在自己手中，只要心中充满自信，奋力前行，定能披荆斩棘，所向披靡。

以自信为灯，照亮前方。秦军包围了邯郸，赵国一片愁云惨雾。毛遂自荐，随平原君出使楚国，说服楚王与赵国结盟，出兵解赵国之围。是毛遂的自信，驱散了笼罩赵国的愁云惨雾，也成就了自己的一世英名。动画电影《大圣归来》上映两个月创下了内地动画电影票房纪录9.56亿元的记录，成为国产动漫逆袭的范例。如果不是导演田晓鹏始终怀着强烈的自信，8年磨一剑，何来口碑与票房齐飞的《大圣归来》?

自信是精神的航灯，是心灵的太阳，当人生遭遇迷茫或阴霾，自信的阳光会助你拨云见日，迎来属于你的艳阳天。

以自信为石，登顶巅峰。自信是成功的基石，带着自信上路，山穷水尽也会柳暗花明。一位哲人曾说过：“如果你对一件事从内心胆怯了，那你就真正失败了。” 爱默生也说：“自信是成功的第一秘诀。” 小泽征尔在世界优秀指挥家大赛的决赛中，凭着那句斩钉截铁的“不，一定是乐谱错了!”摘取了世界指挥家大赛的桂冠。是心中的自信让小泽征尔顶住了权威的质疑，坚定了自己的判断，在世界级大赛中一举夺魁。

自信是事业的基石，让我们奠石为阶，拾阶而上，攀登事业的巅峰。

通往成功的道路上，一定充满荆棘与黑暗，我愿燃自信之烛，照人生之路，为自己搏来万里晴空。

夺分亮点提醒

1.标题“燃自信之烛，照人生之路”暗用比喻手法，形象生动，令人眼前一亮。

2.结构严谨。正文部分设立三个分论点，“以自信为刃，披荆斩棘”“以自信为灯，照亮前方”“以自信为石，登顶巅峰”，也运用比喻手法，彼此呼应，从不同角度来形象表现自信之于人生的意义。

导语：我们要适应时代发展的要求，正确认识祖国的历史和现实，增强爱国的情感和振兴祖国的责任感，树立民族自尊心与自信心，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的写作素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

在古代，北斗星一直被人们认为是一个指路的路标，他为迷途的人们指明了回家的道路。今天，我终于发现了将照耀我一生的北斗星!那就是《找准人生的北斗星》一书。

这本书以胡锦涛爷爷提出的"八荣八耻"为主题，通过一个个生动的荣辱故事，告诉我们什么是真，什么是美;什么是假，什么是丑。其中，留给我印象最深的是那一幕幕的爱国篇章：爱国的中国女人王选用她无畏的精神和坚持不懈的努力，为那些不知名的同胞向日本侵略者讨回公道和尊严;"环保卫士"陈法庆为了祖国的环境,贡献出43万元钱投入环保公益广告,为的是青山绿水留子孙;8岁小欣月被判了"死刑"，可依然为那"红旗"梦而着迷，她的父亲和众多的热心人一起,用一重重精心编织的"谎言",在长春圆了欣月的北京之梦......

这一切的一切，震撼了我的心灵，激发着我的爱国情怀!我们的祖国，应该为拥有这些优秀的儿女感到骄傲，感到自豪!"天下兴亡，匹夫有责"，生活在这样一个和平的时代，我们应在在各个岗位上为祖国尽一份绵薄之力。

可是在我们的身边，常常会看见许多不尽如人意的事件：你看，在我们学校每周一升旗仪式上，伴随着隆重的国歌声的，是有些同学发出的嬉戏噪杂声。在我们的周围，流行着一股崇洋媚外的风气。车子，要进口原装的;房子，要欧美建筑风格的;动画片要看日本片;鞋子，要"耐克"的;钢笔，要"派克"的，玩具，要芭比娃娃......在这里，我想起徐特立爷爷说过一句话:"人民不仅有权爱国,而且爱国是一种义务,是一种光荣。"

我们都拥有温暖美满的家庭，天真而充满幻想的童年，有着许多美丽迷人的梦，那么让我们再编织一个更璀璨的彩色的梦：为祖国的繁荣而努力!这离我们似乎还十分遥远，但与现在息息相关，只有我们汲取更多的知识，将来才有能力来建设我们的祖国。"少年兴则国兴，小年强则国强"。我们要适应时代发展的要求，正确认识祖国的历史和现实，增强爱国的情感和振兴祖国的责任感，树立民族自尊心与自信心;弘扬伟大的中华民族精神，高举爱国主义旗帜，锐意进取，自强不息，艰苦奋斗，顽强拼搏，真正把爱国之志变成报国之行。今天为振兴中华而勤奋学习，明天为创造祖国辉煌未来贡献自己的力量!

The Spring Festival comes after New Years Day.Its usually in January or February.Its the Chinese New Years Day.The Spring Festival is the biggest festival in China.All of the Chinese like this festival.When it comes,people are busy.They usually do some cleaning,go to the stores to buy some new clothes and a lot of meat,vegetables and fruit.On the eve of the festival,everyone in the family comes back home from other places.They get together and have a big supper .They eat dumplings,New Years cake and some other delicious food in their houses.Some people like New Years cake,but more people think dumplings are the most delicious food of all.Some families have a party.They sing,dance and have a good time.I like this festival very much because I can play with my friends and I can get "red envelopes".

翻译：

春节是在新年的第一天.通常是在一月或二月.这是中国新年的日子.春节是中国最大的节日.所有的中国人喜欢这个节日当它来了,人正忙着他们通常通过清洁、去商店去买些新的衣服和大量的肉类、蔬菜、水果节日的前夕,家里人是从其他地方回来的他们聚在一起吃一顿丰富的晚餐,他们吃饺子,新年的蛋糕和一些其它美味的食物自己的房屋有些人喜欢新年的蛋糕,但更多的人认为水饺是最好吃的食物.一些家庭举行一个聚会他们唱歌,跳舞,玩得很开心的我喜欢这个节日得并不多,因为我可以玩我的朋友和我还能得到“红包”.

当前，对于高考作文来说，首先要解决的问题，不是“怎么写”，而是“写什么”。很多考生拿到了作文题，往往不知道写些什么，脑子里似乎不存在所要写的东西。这到底是怎么造成的呢？高考满分作文，他们无一例外地写出了生活的丰富多彩，在写作上根本不存在“写什么”的问题。难道他们有不同于一般学生的特殊生活吗？一般来说，是没有的。要说他们与一般学生有什么不同，那就是他们的观察力和思考力比一般学生强，心灵比一般学生敏感，能够从生活中观察和感受到那些令人心动的东西。造成多数学生作文课上不知道“写什么”的原因，大概就是在这里。

那么，怎样解决“写什么”的问题呢？

叶圣陶早就说过，要在平时充实生活，丰富经验，增长阅历，养成认真观察、仔细认识事物的习惯，养成有条理地周密地推理判断的习惯。叶老还强调，“一个人要在社会上有意义地生活，本来必须要求经验和意思的精当、语言的确切周密。那并不是为了写文章，为的是生活。如果是为了写文章而去求经验和意思的精当，语言的确切周密，那当然是本末倒置。”这就是说，不是为了写作才去生活，才去丰富生活经验，而是为了生活才写作，写作是生活的一部分。如果能够把叶老的说法化为实践，那么“写什么”的问题不就迎刃而解了吗？从高考满分的优秀作文中，也可以看出，作者是怎样观察事物的，怎样思考生活的，怎样感悟周围人物的，怎样体验美好人性的。从这一切，我们不难获得关于“写什么”的启发。而对于“写什么”的问题已经基本解决的考生来说，“怎样写”则是需要解决的头等问题了。关于学习“怎么写”，鲁迅先生说过，“凡是已有定评的大作家，他的作品，全部就说明着“‘应该怎样写’”。这就是说，应该从大作家的经典作品中去学。在中小学生语文教材中，大都是这类作品，它们应该是我们学的重点。最近几年颁布的语文课程标准推荐的课外阅读作品，也应该作为学习“怎样写”的对象。从这些作品中，学习作者怎样立意，怎样选材，怎样谋篇，怎样遣词造句。平时人们都说阅读是写作的基础，杜甫说“读书破万卷，下笔如有神”，有人说“熟读唐诗三百首，不会吟诗也会吟”，正是从这个角度上说的。

同学们不妨带着写作中的问题去阅读经典作品，如朱德熙先生所说：“重要的是得联系自己，要‘心中有我’，就是说要设身处地去想：这篇文章要是让我来写，会写成什么样子，照这样写是比原文好还是不如原文。如果不如原文，那是为什么？从这样的角度去分析文章，一定有很多收获，特别是从中悟出许多作文的道理来。”

然而，在自己写作的时候，“愈不把阅读的文章放在心上愈好”。因为“阅读的文章并不是写作材料的仓库，尤其不是写作方法的程式”(叶圣陶语)。自己写作文，材料来自于自己的生活，应该寻找适合自己的作文内容的写作方法。换言之，从阅读中学习写作，只是借鉴，绝不是生搬硬套。

导语：舍生取义， 舍生：舍弃生命。指为正义而牺牲生命。 下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的关于舍生取义的高考写作素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

舍生取义 ( shě shēng qǔ yì ) 舍生：舍弃生命。指为正义而牺牲生命。 出 自先秦·孟轲《孟子·告子上·鱼我所欲也》：“生，亦我所欲也，义，亦我所欲也。二者不可得兼，舍生而取义者也。”

自沉江心的“渔丈人”。

楚国太子的老师伍奢遭费无忌陷害后，其子伍子胥为躲过追杀逃出边境昭关，一路马不停蹄奔向吴国，可吴国对岸的一条江河使得他只有望吴“兴叹”。就在追兵将至的紧要关头，河中心芦苇丛里飘然而出着一叶扁舟的“渔丈人”，得知子胥遭遇后即渡其过河。临别前伍子胥的一个担心却断送了老人的命，上岸后子胥请求“渔丈人”千万不要泄露自己的去处，深明大义的老人看得出子胥是个人中英杰，为消除其疑虑使其安心实现抱负，在江心自沉而亡。

以“死”守“密”的田光。

秦始皇以统一六国实现大统而闻名，剑客荆轲则以刺杀秦皇而出名，当然，他的出名并不仅因他的刺客身份，更主要的是他身上那股浓烈的燕赵侠风义胆，要不人们对于博浪沙刺杀秦皇的那位却知之甚少呢?荆轲之所以能到历史舞台的前沿，还得归功于一位燕国的隐士，那就是田光。对秦恨之入骨的燕太子丹将田光招为门客后，从他那得知智勇双全的荆轲的情况，于是便让田光安排与荆轲隐密地见面，并再三吩咐田光切不可让第三者得知此情，田光将荆轲带至太子宫殿回家后为守密挥刀自刎。

不食周粟的伯益叔齐。

伯益、叔齐是商汤时期的孤竹国国君的两位皇子，可他们两人倒也有趣，争着不愿当囯君，放着“普天之下莫非王土，率土之滨莫非王臣”的鸾位不坐，逃到山里做起了隐士。周武王伐纣时，兄弟两人倒也曾出山力劝武王切不可违了臣对君应有的“忠义”二字，未果的情况下便再度入山，武王定了天下后，兄弟二人终日以野菜为食，不食半点周粟，后饿死山中。

义救孤儿的程婴与公孙杵臼。

纪钧祥的戏曲《赵氏孤儿》之所以流传千古，不单因那精美的戏曲台词、跌宕的故事情节，更主要的是剧里时时处处流淌出的“义”的光芒，尽管有时也会被阴霾所遮挡。故事讲述的是曾伴着晋文公重耳在外流浪十九年之久的赵衰后代的故事。时为晋景公姐夫的赵朔(赵衰之孙)，享受着祖上留下的“福荫”和皇亲的“风光”，可因景公宠臣屠岸贾的陷害不得已弃家而逃，怀有身孕的庄姬(赵朔之妻)无奈转至母后宫中寻求庇护。庄姬暗中产得一子，为防遭不测，在家臣程婴与公孙杵臼的帮助下，将子转出宫外。屠贼四处搜“孤”，并要屠杀全城婴儿。为使全城的婴儿免遭屠岸贾的毒手，也为了确保小主子逃过劫难，程婴以自家之子易得小主人藏于家中，并与公孙合计让他假作营救赵家婴儿之人带着自家之子匿于山中，由己扮为告密之人前去告发。后屠贼终以上当，公孙与程氏婴儿未能幸免，遂赵氏婴儿得以保存。待晋悼公临政时冤情方以申雪，程婴献赵氏之子于朝堂后也挥剑自刎以伴公孙老友。

苏武牧羊的故事妇孺皆知。

苏武被扣于匈奴后，匈奴贵族先以名利引诱，后以严刑威胁。但苏武始终大义凛然，宁死不屈。匈奴贵族无计可施，便“徙武北海上无人处”。苏武则“掘野鼠，去草实而食之”。在如此艰难的环境下，他仍拄着汉朝的旄节，不屈节辱命。他出使时正值壮年，待其归汉之时，已是须发皆白。他成为我国历史上坚持民族气节的著名人物。

东汉末年，曹操“挟天子以令诸侯”，被视为国贼。

一位洛阳名医名唤吉平，忠汉室，与汉国舅董承等人共谋诛曹。他打算在为曹操送药时下毒，却不慎泄露了天机。曹操命人痛打吉平，逼他招出何人指使。吉平血流满阶仍只是痛骂曹贼，后撞阶而死。在罗贯中笔下，他是有名的忠义之臣。

清末，戊戌变法失败后，康有为、梁启超逃往日本。谭嗣同是“有心杀贼，无力回天”。他坚信“不有行者，无以图将来;不有死者，无以酬圣主”，泰然赴死，留下“我自横刀向天笑，去留肝胆两昆仑”的名句。

黄花冈起义时，大批革命志士抛头颅、洒热血。林觉民率敢死队冲进两广总督衙门，与清兵浴血奋战，中弹被俘，从容就义。喻培伦胸前挂满一筐炸弹，冲锋在前，弹尽力竭，后被俘，英勇牺牲。

解放前，由于国民党腐败无能，经济趋于崩溃，洋货充斥市场。著名作家朱自清宁肯饿死也不买美国救济粉，被称为“表现我们民族英雄气概的爱国知识分子”。

战国:屈原，看着楚国的大好河山一点点的被吞啮，看着那一群奸佞小人为了一己荣华谄媚楚王，至国家于不顾。此情何堪?他决不愿同流合污，最后在绝望之中毅然决然的投入汨罗江。我理解此时的屈原，他是带着对楚国的无限眷恋，带着对楚国人民无限的爱离开了这个他曾热恋过的世界。他知道与其卑躬屈膝的活还不如轰轰烈烈的死!是的，屈原的躯体是随着滔滔的江水流逝了，可他的浩然正气却永远激励着一代又一代的中国人。

德佑元年(1275)正月，闻元军东下，文天祥在赣州组织义军，开赴临安(今杭州，当时南宋的京城)。次年被任为右丞相兼枢密使。其时元军已进逼临安，被派往元营中谈判，遭扣留，押往北就。二月底，天祥与其客杜浒等十二人，夜亡入真州。复由海路南下，至福建与张世杰、陆秀夫等坚持抗元。景炎二年(1277)，进兵江西，收复州县多处。

不久，为元重兵所败，妻子儿女皆被执，将士牺牲甚众，天祥只身逃脱，乃退广东继续抗元。后因叛徒引元兵袭击，同年十二月，在五坡岭(今广东海丰县)被俘。元将张弘范迫其招降张世杰，乃书《过零丁洋》诗以诉之。末句云：“人生自古谁无死，留取丹心照汗青。”

次年，被押送大都(今北京)，囚禁四年，经历种种严酷考验，始终不屈。于1283年从容就义，年仅47岁。

1、关于……人们有不同的观点。一些人认为……

There are different opinions among people as to ____ .Some people suggest that ____.

2. 俗话说(常言道)……，它是我们前辈的经历，但是，即使在今天，它在许多场合仍然适用。

There is an old saying______. It"s the experience of our forefathers，however，it is correct inmany cases even today.

3. 现在，……，它们给我们的日常生活带来了许多危害。首先，……;其次，……。更为糟糕的是……。

Today, ____, which have brought a lot of harms in our daily life. First, ____ Second,____. Whatmakes things worse is that______.

4. 现在，……很普遍，许多人喜欢……，因为……，另外(而且)……。

nowadays，it is common to ______. many people like ______ because ______. besides，______.

5. 任何事物都是有两面性，……也不例外。它既有有利的一面，也有不利的一面。

everything has two sides and ______ is not an exception，it has both advantages and disadvantages.

6. 关于……人们的观点各不相同，一些人认为(说)……，在他们看来，……

people’s opinions about ______ vary from person to person. some people say that ______.to them,_____.

7. 人类正面临着一个严重的问题……，这个问题变得越来越严重。

man is now facing a big problem ______ which is becoming more and more serious.

8. ……已成为人的关注的热门话题，特别是在年青人当中，将引发激烈的辩论。

______ has become a hot topic among people，especially among the young and heated debates are right on their way.

9. ……在我们的日常生活中起着越来越重要的作用，它给我们带来了许多好处，但同时也引发一些严重的问题。

______ has been playing an increasingly important role in our day-to-day life.it has brought us a lot of benefits but has created some serious problems as well.

10. 根据图表/数字/统计数字/表格中的百分比/图表/条形图/成形图可以看出……。很显然……，但是为什么呢?

according to the figure/number/statistics/percentages in the /chart/bar graph/line/graph，it can be seen that______ while. obviously，______，but why?

导语：知足常乐贵就贵在一种自我调节，在忙碌的追求中，能改变心态，积极乐观地面对生活，下面是yuwenmi小编为备考的同学准备的作文素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

1、唐伯虎曾写下“不见五陵豪杰墓，无花无酒锄作田。”与仕途擦肩而过，唐伯虎没有悲伤，反而对自己的田园生活感到快乐。“赌书消得泼茶香，当时只道是寻常。”

2、纳兰容若的恬适生活令他沉醉，他满足于这样的生活，所以他是快乐的。

3、苏轼的“一蓑烟雨任平生”豁达乐观令世人感慨，虽仕途不顺，但他不过分悲叹自己，反而生出这样的大境界，如何能令人不敬佩?

4、还记得那个“奉旨填词”的柳三变吗?“你且去浅斟低唱，何要浮名?”皇帝的一句话，即刻就断送了柳永的仕途。他悲伤过，低徊过，但他最后选择接受命运的安排，在勾栏瓦肆之地浅斟低唱，追寻自己的内心。朝廷只是少了一位小官，却成就了两宋的大词人，璀璨了两宋文坛，照亮了宋词的前程。不要老想着你没有什么，要想到你拥有什么，你就会快乐的。

人活着为了什么?有人告诉我，人活一辈子，实质上什么都留不下，不要单单想着做什么只为了名垂青史——人不在了，什么用都没有了。

在某种层面上，我们可以说这个人缺少追求和激情，但仔细回味，倒是有一番道理。知足常乐是一种处事态度——看过一篇米老鼠漫画，讲的是一次误会使得古斯离家出走找工作，结果工作搞得一团糟，根本没人要他，他就靠在树下睡觉，很多压力大的白领就问：“我们怎么才能活着不这么累?”“累了就在树下歇会儿。”“歇会儿，可是好多工作都没有做!”“做完了又怎样呢?”“做完了还有新的工作啊!”“有完的时候吗?”

知足常乐贵就贵在一种自我调节，在忙碌的追求中，能改变心态，积极乐观地面对生活，面对负担，其实收获的不一定比怨声载道的人少。

知足常乐是一种悠然情怀——“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山”陶渊明的与自然和谐共处、融为一体;“宁静致远，淡泊名志”诸葛亮高洁傲岸的情操;都体现出了古人知足常乐的高尚情怀。对于人间世事，都能以宽广的情怀对待，便可以拥有平平淡淡的自由生活。小时候，我们可以为得到一件心爱的小玩具而喜笑颜开，如今回首，可能觉得这没什么大不了，但其实这就是知足常乐的完美体现。知足常乐是一种高尚品质——人不免有贪欲，不是所有人在每件事上都放得开。

从小的说，无意间占了几次小便宜，便会有一种潜意识：只要有可能，下次还要占便宜。结果呢，看上去做了很多事，其实什么收获都没有。大的说，无数的贪官污吏，从不得不收几百块钱的小礼，到主动去收几千块钱的大礼，最后成把成把的公款往自己兜里塞，还不是一枪崩了。所以说能够克制自己不为利益所迷惑的人，才具有知足常乐的品质。知足常乐并不意味着不思进取——知足的意思是知道满足，请注意：知道满足是对于目前的状况，不是对于未来的前途。知足常乐的人，他是对于现在适当地满足，使得自己能够得到些许放松，从而精力充沛地投入到未来的学习工作中去，真正实现可持续性发展，这样的人是明智的，更易获得成功;而不思进取的人，他是由于一次或多次成功而被冲昏了头脑，身心上是完全的松懈，从而在未来没有前进的动力，这样的人不理智，会慢慢退步，最终一蹶不振。

知足常乐用在学生身上怎么理解——实质上学生的知足是对于自己的生活状况的满足，因为社会的压力是脱离不掉的，而学生也不能在学习成绩上得到满足。所以在大压力的环境下，只有对生活知足，对未来抱有希望，对前途有一个明确的目标，才能获得常乐。一天早上上学时，我在校车里向外看，看到了光芒万丈的壮丽的朝霞，我便喊朋友们都来看，看着他们若有所思的样子，我说了一段话并记了下来，作为文章结束语：“停下来，先停一会儿，看看远方的天，一望无际的金色的朝霞，这才真正感觉到人生的美好!”

【示例一】

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

【示例二】

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

作文的写作过程中我们经常用到一些课文里面的素材，比如诗歌名句，以及文章句子等。下面是语文迷网整理提供的课文素材，一起来看看吧。

1. 曹操《短歌行》：领兵南征北战，渴望一统天下，然而，人生苦短，人才难求，叹一声“周公吐哺，天下归心”。

2. 《梦游天姥吟留别》李白，这个飘逸的诗意不羁的坎坷的诗人，飘然把自己的理想浪漫在天姥山的上空。

3. 白居易《琵琶行》：商人的爱情总是站在天平上，对女子而言，一边是悠闲，一边是伤悲。于江州司马，泣的是否就是自己的影子。

4. 王维《山居秋暝》： “随意春芳歇，王孙自可留”在自己的诗画意境中，随意的撷取山村一片明月，看村姑浣衣，看莲动下渔舟，看人间的溪云起落。

5. 杜甫《登高》《蜀相》《兵车行》： 百年多病之躯，历经沧桑，用浑浊的的泪眼，凄凉的心境，悲万里清秋，怜天下苍生，以沙鸥的姿势深沉栖在顿挫之中。

6. 李煜《虞美人》：春花秋月已是梦中的往事，朱颜的凋落犹如昨夜的风雨，打湿了曾经的美好，梦醒时分，愁如春水。

7. 《再别康桥》:现实与天堂的距离，理想与黑暗的反差，曾经的回忆是最美丽的温暖，于是，你轻轻的招手，悄悄的挥袖，感叹一声，竟成了文学史上经典的徐氏康桥.

8. 李乐薇《我的空中楼阁》：水泥森森挤兑了人们的心灵空间，李乐薇诗意的将精神家园建上空中，建在远离了车马之喧的眉黛之山。

9. 史铁生《我与地坛》：不能承受生命之痛，残疾的躯体，在轮椅上思考，从大自然中得到启示，死是一个必然降临的节日，应该健康的活着，恪守并遵循生命的轨迹。

10. 马丁.德金《我有一个梦想》：用爱搽亮种族的锈区域，用仁慈图绘种族的灰色彩，告诉人们，什么是自由、民主、平等与光明，用最嘹亮的歌喉唱响古老的黑人灵歌。

11. 史怀哲《我的呼吁》： “非洲之父”，一个充满理想的法国男人，一生致力于非洲的医疗事业，挽救人的生命的同时，还不断地呼吁，请敬畏生命，谱写了一曲高昂的生命之歌。

12. 鲁迅《〈呐喊〉自序》：国人精神的麻木石作者心中难以言表的伤痛，清醒者的呐喊换来的虽是一天一天成长起来的寂寞。可老槐树下，依然有毁坏铁屋子的希望，依然有撑起民族的脊梁。

13. 《〈宽容〉序言》：谁能走出宁静地无知山谷，走出自我的早已习惯的幸福，在荆棘的路途开拓新的天地，用生命换来残酷的光阴，即使血色，也为后来人重重的记下你平凡的名字，不平凡的形象。

14. 《〈名人〉序言》： “我愿证明，凡是行为善良与高尚的人，定能因之而担当患难”贝多芬：这个在用音乐舞蹈精神的男人，将生活的苦难看到一粒灰尘，看一眼就轻轻地弹去，弹去一地纯洁。

15. 《烛之武退秦师》： 烛之武看清局势，胸有成竹，舍身救国。

16. 《勾践灭吴》： 勾践矢志不移，存恤爱民，终于流芳百世。

17. 荀子《劝学》：“学不可以已”学习是人生的必须得生存方式，要爱学还要善学。

18. 鲁迅《为了忘却的纪念》： 用青年的激情演绎文学的人生，用带刺的思想指向敌人的心脏，可墨黑的夜让红色的血液流淌不止，让鲁迅的悲伤流淌不止。让我们也悲伤不止。

19. 《读》：九个故事从不同的角度，或演绎或推理或改变条件，读出不同的新意。你的寓言呢?

20. 魏征《谏太宗十思疏》：良臣还是明君，爱民还是暴民，忧思还是安逸，你看到了什么?

21. 王勃《滕王阁序》：江水悠悠，历史悠悠，可生命短暂如虹;刹那间的辉煌造就了一部历史文化，后人只有仰望，悲嘘。

22. 韩愈《师说》：天、地、君、亲、师，所谓“师”者，父母也。传道、授业、解惑。师，是一道过河的桥，一叶渡江的舟，呕心沥血，只为让学生走的更远飞的更高。古人尊师，后人呢?

23. 杜牧《阿房宫赋》：秦国，永远的强者，永远的辉煌，可也是永远的奢靡的笑柄。于是告诉人们，俭守天下，爱民应如子。

24. 苏洵《六国论》：占六国天时、地利，却不占人和，面对强者，请直起自己的胸膛，无使积威之所劫!

25. 王安石《游褒禅山记》： 世之奇伟，诡怪，非常之观，常在于险远，人之所罕至。无限风光在险峰!

26. 归有光《项脊轩记》： 轩室里的温馨，弥漫着血浓于水的亲情。爱情深似海，如树，亭亭如盖矣。

27. 契诃夫《装在套子里的人》： 雨伞、雨衣、车篷、床帐等别里可夫的“套子”，五花八门，他躲在里面战战兢兢的生活，并让人恐惧、窒息。笑过之后，看看你的套子。

28. 沈从文《边城》： 田园式的茶桐养育好纯洁的爱情，还有朴素真挚的人性，那一把虎耳草会随着山歌悠扬在有明月的夜空。

29. 孙犁《荷花淀》： 诗意的荷花淀没有残酷的战争，只有崇高的纯美的朴素爱情，只有唯美的喜悦和家国之爱。

30. 鲁迅《药》： 透过舐犊情深的爱，我们看到了野蛮、愚昧、凶残、*猾等社会画卷，当然，还有希望。药，能医好愚昧的人们和扭曲的社会吗?

31. 莫泊桑《项链》：生活总是戏剧性的，上帝给了你美貌的同时也给了你虚伪，给了你虚伪，给了你真诚，也给了你枯萎。

32. 《守财奴》：金钱的温暖能换来亲情的依偎，镀金的十字架里可以有向往的天堂。

33. 曹雪芹《林黛玉进贾府》：娴静时如娇花照水，行动处似弱柳扶风。心较比干多一窍，病如西子胜三分。

34. 罗贯中《失街亭》：智者千虑也有一失，一步不慎，岐山之功毁于一旦，看来感情的亲疏影响事物的成败。还好，能对事不对人，为肃军纪，忍痛割爱，不过，以泪水换取，那马谡呢。

35. 龚自珍《病梅馆记》：梅树的残疾，是人思想的残疾还是社会的扭曲，龚自珍感叹一声，疗梅，请老天“不拘一格降人才”。

36. 屈原《离骚》： 为国的忠贞，虽九死犹未悔，以香草，芰荷为裳。只可惜，在小人*诈，君王昏庸的压迫下，“美政”的理想化作汨罗江上的一道忠魂，五千年来，飘在每年阴历的五月初五。

37. 《孔雀东南飞》：爱情的美好让人间的每一个凡夫俗子铭刻骨髓，可封建礼教残酷的竟让一个天地男子柔软如丝。双双徇情，夜夜啼鸣。

38. 陶渊明《归园田居》《归去来兮辞》： 不为五斗米折腰，毅然跳出尘网，守拙归园，从此，构建文人的“乌托邦”式的理想的精神的桃花源，为多少仕子诗意栖居筑上一道篱笆。

39. 柳永《雨霖铃》：登科落第，对长亭晚，满腔心绪化作千种风情，执纤纤细手，酒醒处，伤感冷落飘零。

40. 《死水》: 如火的热情，表达的却是零度的冰冷，铜绿的翡翠，锈满的竟是伤心的冷艳，满眼的繁华理想，看到的是一汪绝望的死水，忍不住大痛哭一声：我的中国。

41. 普希金《致大海》:用诗人的激情战斗，即使换来的是溪流般的磕磕碰碰，也绝不回头，目光指向大海的自由与光明，用生命刻在剑锋上的光芒，追求至高无上的爱情，即使命丧黄泉，也依然活在情深处。

42. 舒婷的诗：五百年的繁华绿意，五百年的肃穆愁眉，用前世一万次擦身而过，换取今生的一次回眸。望夫崖的忧伤化作滔滔的江水。

43. 海子《面朝大海，春暖花开》： 尘世的忧伤化作优美的诗句，个人的感伤上升到人类的关怀，愿每个人都有一个灿烂的前程，却把自己拒绝在面朝大海，春暖花开的天堂之外。

44. 朱自清《荷塘月色》: 外面的世界的光线很暗，于是，走进清华园看河塘，用淡淡的喜悦淡淡的忧伤从文学的门廊走过。

45. 李清照《一剪梅》：国仇家恨，婚难业孤，黄花秋月中寻寻觅觅，凄风哭雨成一座乱世中的极致美神。

46. 辛弃疾《永遇乐》： 金人的铁蹄踏破中原，也踏痛了多少爱国志士的忠魂。曾经，横枪槊马，金戈铮铮，气吞万里;而今，斜阳草树，雨打风流，往事不堪回首。

47. 姜夔《扬州慢》：春风扬州，繁华似锦，翠柳堆烟，自胡马窥江，水寒山瘦，冷月无声，梢问一声，桥边红药，谁赋深情。