英语作文写作指导之邮件【汇集20篇】

一、四级作文概述

四级作文是提纲作文，一般按提纲写出相应段落即可。在文章内容上无需追求高深新颖，切题合理便可落笔；在思路逻辑上则要求句意通顺，文字流畅；在文字表现上要求无语法错误，个别小错可忽略(如动介搭配，单词拼写等不涉及语法类小错)。另外，值得一提的是，在篇章结构上建议写三段，所以即便题目只给出两个提纲，最好在完成两个提纲后，再多补充一段，所补内容不限，但须跟话题相关。

二、四级作文例题分析

(1) The Shortage of Fresh Water

1. 目前淡水资源非常紧缺

2. 为什么会出现这种情况

3. 该如何解决

96年6月份曾考过此题，今天来看，似乎更有现实意义。这是一道负面社会现象题，那么挖掘其背后根源，并找出解决方案，就成为探讨的主要方面，而提纲也正是如此。三个提纲各属其类，界限清晰，直接按提纲写三段即可。段1为提出现象，确立研究对象。提纲1翻译后仅一句话，作为一段话则显内容单薄，字数匮乏，所以需进一步发挥。不妨从例证角度扩充，举例时即可基于国内现状，也可纵观全球，显然前者更易行。可从我国西南地区的生活缺水，水价上升，以及河流干涸等细节方面铺陈。段2是原因分析，建议分析主观原因和客观原因两方面。所谓主观原因即是基于人的思想意念，心理意识，行为动机以及行为举措，比如人们节约意识的淡漠或者人们误认为淡水取之不尽等不当想法。而客观原因则是从非人角度出发，如社会发展，人口激增，甚至污染的加剧等方面出发，这些因素均使得淡水消耗的增加。当然，考场上由于时间紧迫，无法细想，可能会写出的两个全是主观类或客观类的原因，其实也无妨，只要二者不同即可，谨防虽言明两原因，但实则彼此混淆，出现逻辑不清的窘况。段3是措施分析，措施可从官方措施和民众措施两方面写起，也可加入作为现代年轻人，我该如何约束自己，从生活中小事做起节约水资源等内容。总之，在内容上考生尽可发挥想象力，纵马驰骋，原则依旧：切题者皆可。

(2)Part-time Jobs for College Students

1.目前大学校园里很多学生业余时间做兼职

2.对于大学生是否该做兼职工作，人们看法不一

3.我的看法

这是一道校园话题，在内容上即涉及现象，又涉及观点，能很好地考察到学生的综合分析能力。提纲1依旧是现象提出，看到提纲1，大家脑海里会浮现很多熟悉的场景，如校园布告栏里张贴着的兼职广告，校园论坛上也经常发布的一些兼职信息等等，这些都可反映在段1中。所以当我们第一眼看到话题或提纲时，脑海中常常会浮现出相关场景，把这些画面定格，进行详细描绘即可，即自然又切题。当然，段1也可从学生的兼职渠道以及兼职类型等方面加以发挥。总之，提纲是总领，而符合总领的任何附属内容都可写。段2是人们对此学生兼职的不同看法，一正一反。切记在表达上述两类观点时，提出其相关论据。段3是提出作者本人看法。本人看法既可选择上述任一方(只要不极端)，也可提出与上述均异的第三类观点，对于极度偏激的正反方观点则需做一番调和与勾兑(这个一般很少见)。需要提醒的是，继提出己方观点后，还应补充其他内容，如论据；也可写我的下一步做法，甚至可写我所认为的大家对此问题所应采取的对策云云。

(3)Private Cars of Today

1.目前私家车越来多了

2.私家车为人们带来的益处和问题

这道题只有两个提纲，所以建议在完成提纲要求内容之后再补充一段相关内容，可以在提纲2之后续补段3(如举措类：如何合理地限制私家车的出行以减少废气排放等等)，也可在1，2之间插入一段(如原因分析，即为何私家车越来越多)。先来看提纲1，依然是事实陈述，看到提纲1，会很容易联想到马路上川流不息的过往车辆，以及高峰期令人沮丧的堵车，那么即可将这些内容付诸笔端。再看提纲2，是私家车给人们生活带来的影响，该事实是一中性事实，则需辩证地分析其影响的两面性，一方面它带来好处，如让人们的出行变得更自由更方便，另一方面它带来坏处，如排放废气，污染环境，或造成交通堵塞等等。

1918年11月11日，延续4年之久的第一次世界大战以英、美、法等国的胜利和德、奥等国的失败而告结束。1919年1月，获胜的协约国在巴黎凡尔赛宫召开和平会议。中华民国作为战胜国参加会议。中华民国代表在会上提出废除外国在华特权，取消二十一条等正当要求，均遭拒绝。会议竟决定日本接管德国在华的各种特权。对这丧权辱国的条约，中华民国代表居然准备签字承认。消息传来，举国震怒，群情激愤。以学生为先导的五四爱国运动就如火山爆发般地开始了。

In November 11, 1918, the first World War lasted for 4 years in Britain, America, France and other countries and the victory of Germany, Austria and other countries come to an end in failure. 1919 January, winning xiediguo held in the Palace of Versailles in Paris peace conference. The Republic of China as a victorious nation to attend the meeting. The representative of China at the proposed abolition of privileges in China and foreign countries, cancel twenty-one legitimate demands were rejected. Japan has decided to take over the meeting in Germanys privileges in china. To humiliate the country and forfeit its sovereignty of this treaty, the representative of the Republic of China was prepared to recognize the signature. When the news came out, the country burning, burning with indignation. The student led five four patriotic movement like a volcano began.

5月4日下午，北京3000多名学生在天安门前集会游行，他们高呼：“还我青岛”“收回山东权利”、“拒绝在巴黎和会上签字”、“废除二十一条”、“抵制日货”、“宁肯玉碎，勿为瓦全”、“外争国权，内惩国贼”等口号，并且要求惩办交通总长曹汝霖、币制局总裁陆宗舆、驻日公使章宗祥，呼吁各界人士行动起来，反对帝国主义的侵略行径，保卫中国的领土和主权。这一运动得到的工人和各阶层人士的声援和支持，上海、南京等地的工人纷纷举行罢工或示威。在全国人民的压力下，北洋政府被迫释放被捕学生，罢免曹汝霖等人的职务，并指令巴黎参加会议的代表拒绝在和约上签字。

The afternoon of May 4th, more than 3000 students in Beijing shouting at them in front of the Tiananmen demonstrations,: "I also Qingdao" "Shandong," refused to withdraw the right "in Paris and will sign", "the abolition of the twenty-one", "boycott Japanese goods," "would rather die, not for your guns", "defend our sovereignty, punish traitor" and other slogans, and for the punishment of traffic chief Cao Rulin, President of monetary Bureau Lu Zongyu, Minister Zhang Zongxiang, calls for action, fight against imperialist aggression, defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty Chinese. This campaign workers and all sectors of the solidarity and support, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places of the workers have held strikes and demonstrations. In the country under the pressure of the people, the government was forced to release the arrested students, and others recall Cao Rulins position, and ordered the Paris representatives attending the meeting refused to sign the peace treaty.

为了继承和发扬“五四”运动以来中国青年光荣的革命传统，1939年，陕甘宁边区的西北青年救国联合会规定5月4日为青年节。1949年12月，中央人民政府政务院正式宣布这一规定。

In order to inherit and carry forward the "five four" youth movement Chinese glorious revolutionary tradition, in 1939, the Shaanxi Gansu Ningxia border region of the Northwest China Youth Federation provides for the May 4th Youth day. In 1949 December, the Central Peoples government officially announced the provisions.

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。

真理它却不会弯腰。

花儿在风中笑弯了腰。

落叶随着风高低起舞。

行道树笔直的站在路边。

巨浪伸出双臂把我猛地托起。

绿油油的小草被风吹弯了腰。

华语网告诉你什么是拟人句。

荷塘里的荷花都羞涩地打着朵。

春天迈着轻盈的步伐来到我们身边。

微风柔和地吹，柔和地爱抚我的面孔。

顽皮的雨滴最爱在雨伞上尽情的跳舞。

风儿清唱着歌，唤醒了沉睡中的大地。

油蛉在这里低唱，蟋蟋们在这里弹琴。

顽皮的雨滴最爱在雨伞上尽情的跳舞。

华语网以博大的胸怀容纳了千万学子。

收音机天天说个不停，令邻居十分讨厌!

船头飞溅起的浪花，吟唱著欢乐的歌儿。

本文来自华.语.网，百度一下，怎么样?

天空中的星星眼睛一眨一眨的。

小树摆动着枝叶，向我们点头笑。

月亮一露面，满天的星星惊散了。

翠绿欲滴的椰子从叶间探出了头。

向日葵不断地面向太阳公公做运动。

蝴蝶初翻帘绣，万玉女、齐回舞袖。

秋便以翩跹之姿踏碎了夏天的流言。

杜甫川唱来柳林铺笑，红旗飘飘把手招。

夜空中的小星星眨着眼睛，似乎对你微笑。

一排排柳树倒映在水中，欣赏着自己的容貌。

宁静的夜晚，只有那天上的星星在窃窃私语。

那点薄雪好像忽然害了羞，微微露出点粉色。

秋天是美丽的，在曼妙的韵律中舞着她的裙摆。

海棠果摇动着它那圆圆的小脸，冲着你点头微笑。

阳春三月，沉睡了一冬的银梨树被蒙蒙细雨淋醒。

春尚浅，几处山顶上的梅花却挣扎着吐出红苞来。

梦像一片雪花在空中飘舞想抓住他，他已经融化了。

一个个红石榴小姑娘绽放出可爱的笑脸，躲在树枝间。

春天像刚刚落地的娃娃，从头到脚都是新的，它生长着。

树缝里也漏着一两点路灯光，没精打彩的，是渴睡人的眼。

秋天又迈着沉稳的脚步款款地向我们走来，悄无声息地走开。

秋天到了，树上金红的果子露出了笑脸，她在向着我们点头微笑。

小河清澈见底，如同一条透明的蓝绸子，静静地躺在大地的怀抱里。

天是个害羞的小姑娘，遮遮掩掩，躲躲藏藏;春天是出生的婴儿，娇小可爱。

我沐浴在大自然的怀抱中，让柔和的晚风轻抚着鬓角，吹去一切郁闷和烦恼。

蜘蛛把苍蝇拖来拖去，等苍蝇累得筋疲力尽，蜘蛛才高高兴兴地享用了这顿美餐。

女人坐在小院子当中，手指上缠绞着柔滑修长的苇眉子，苇眉子又薄又细，在她怀里跳跃着。

无论你从哪儿看到本文，它都诞生在华.语.网，在华语网编辑的培育下成长，绽开于网络世界。

山坡上，大路边，村子口，榛树叶子全都红了，红得像一团团火，把人们的心也给燃烧起来了。

春天就像活泼的儿童，憧憬渴望;春天就像健壮的青年，充满朝气;春天就像健康的老人，令人回味。

风是调皮的，一会把那朵悠闲的云赶得满天跑，还不断变化她的面具，一会儿卷起地上的落叶，让她们打着旋舞蹈。

它脱下破旧的外衣，又开始新的生活;它贪婪地吮吸着春天那清新、甜润的露珠儿，慢慢地长出逗人喜爱的嫩枝绿叶。

仲夏夜，清风徐徐吹来，明月追赶晚霞，早早爬过山头，挂在中天，那月光似乎带着一股清凉，驱赶着酷日留下的余热。

水是野的，索溪像是一个从深山中蹦跳而出的野孩子，一会儿缠绕着山奔跑，一会儿撅着屁股，赌着气又自个儿闹去了。

大海是如此的变换末测，平静却又很凶猛，温柔的但又很激烈，像光滑的穿衣镜，像肆虐的猛兽，像母亲的抚慰，像父亲的鞭打。

在那天边隐约闪亮的不就是黄河?那在山脚缠绕不断的自然是汶河;那拱卫在泰山膝盖下的无数小馒头，却是沮涞山等著名的山岭。

当悲伤的水流入稳重的山，水这可怜儿的悲伤也勾起了山的悲伤，于是他们的心一起碎了;水把头埋入地下，山却把心的碎片一块块收好。于是就有了迷乱复杂的溶洞，就有了千姿百态的石笋，就有了洞口突突的泉水。

人生如一次长长的旅行，旅行中有坦途也有弯路，你得以平静的心态面队每一天，挑战自我，执着向前，一如既往地朝着目的地走下去。当你到达终点站顾却来径时，才发现人生的旅途有喜有忧，有笑有泪，甚至得少失多，而这一切已构成了你生命旅程的全部。

日出江花红胜火，春来江水绿如蓝”这是革命的春天，这是人民的春天，这是科学的春天!让我们张开双臂，热烈地拥抱这个春天吧!

这些流云在落日的映照下，转眼间变成一道银灰、一道橘黄、一道血红、一道绛紫，就像是美丽的仙女在空中抖动着五彩斑斓的锦缎。

家就像根，永远是树叶的家;家就像红布条，永远系着游子的心，家就像大衣一件，不会提高温度，但却给予人们连火炉都不能替代的温暖。

高考即将到来，语文作文对成绩的影响是很大的，大家一定要多看多练，提升作文水平。小编收集了临场作文的写作技巧，欢迎阅读。

1、拿到考试卷，如果完成了基本的填写姓名等程序以后，可以先看看作文题，注意既然要看，就要看得仔细，以免没看清楚，引起错觉，影响后面的正式审题、答题。可以先看有一个准备，但不要先写作文。因为作文太耗时间和精力。考试开始的时候是精力最好的时候，这时候要用来解决前面的基础题。等到正式准备做作文时，还要仔细看题，要确保万无一失!

2、时间安排

花60分钟时间写作文是比较适当的，用8-10分钟构思很重要。因为，一旦写到一定字数发现思路不好，无论时间还是空间都来不及了。相信高考作文审题难度不大，但一定要审，之后再构思基本框架，根据自己的习惯，写个关键字的提纲(自己能看明白就行，主要的立意，哪些材料，还有哪些名言等)，开头部分最好在草稿纸上写好，修改，再誊抄。一定要仔细研究题目，审题不慎，满盘皆输。

3、标题

标题是文章的眼睛，也是阅卷教师对文章的第一印象，自拟题目，要确切、精练、生动、新颖、有意蕴。但坚决不能刻意求新，弄巧成拙!更忌涂改。当然，如果是命题作文，就不必为此烦神了。

4、文体

高考作文通常是“文体不限”(也有要求写议论文和记叙文)，但不代表没有文体，用什么文体写作，就要符合该文体的要求。记叙文要三分之二的篇幅落足于叙述，议论文反之。写记叙文，叙事务必清楚，情节设置或曲折或感人，不能是演绎中心的流水账;注意运用景物渲染和细节刻画、首尾呼应、伏笔过渡等写作技法。议论文，中心要突出，观点要鲜明;文章思路要清晰：或并列，或正反对照，或递进;论据要充分，表达要简洁，要懂得根据论点裁剪材料。还可以采用书信体，但务必符合书信格式，不能出现真实姓名和地点，要情真意切。

5、内容：精彩的构思必须用丰富的内容来支撑，丰富的内容必须紧扣主题。

要注意文章的主题不要偏离社会的主流价值观。虽然现在强调高考作文只要能够自圆其说，怎样的观点都可以，但这里必须有个度，这个度就是社会的主流价值观。不要触及敏感的政治事件，少谈宗教、政治话题，不要单纯发牢骚，不要写早恋、文革、批判政府无能等敏感话题。记叙文最好要有细节描写。推己及人，以情动人。议论文切忌大话、套话、废话，要避免空发议论，无情而“抒情”，无病呻吟，滥提口号，乱发号召，空表决心等等。议论文必须有分析，如果只是材料的堆砌就不叫议论文。

6、结构

高考作文的思路，务必清晰。除掉首尾，中间部分可以采用段首点题的方式，彰显文章的思路;也可以采用小标题的方式组织文章(慎用!)。另外，文章的段落安排，一定不能出现少于五段的情况。最好在5—8个自然段。

7、开头和结尾

考场作文最忌含蓄。高考作文的开头和结尾，必须做到开头起笔入题，结尾点明主旨。要确保开篇简洁，语句通畅，绝对不能出现病句和错别字，书写上也不能涂抹。要充分利用首因效应，在开篇给阅卷者留下良好的第一印象。开篇字数不宜过多，最多五句话，并且一定要有点明文章中心的句子。开篇确立的主旨，一方面要符合题目要求，另一方面必须贯穿全文。切不可前后矛盾。

文章的结尾也是阅卷看得相对仔细的地方。结尾亦不能草率。也要精心构思。或卒章显志，点明主旨;或画龙点睛，升华主题;或预留空白，引发想象或思考;或点题，首尾呼应。

8、语言

应试作文的表述要朴实大方，干净利索。严禁文白夹杂;严禁使用别人看不懂的方言;严禁使用别人看不懂的词汇;少用长句多用短句;尽量避免欧式的语言表述方式;多引用名言警句;引用流行的通俗歌曲歌词;但要注意：在作文中不要插上几句英语或网络语言(广东明令禁止采用)。总之，表达要符合现代汉语的语言规范，要简明、连贯、得体，要准确、鲜明、生动。

9、字数

应试作文一定要看清字数的要求，一定要写够数量或稍微超过50—100字才好。全文不要超过900字，写多了容易画蛇添足。

10、书写与卷面

书写要认真，卷面要整洁。不写繁体字、不写不规范的简化字(注意不要把“己”写成“乙”，注意修改的要求)。特别是民间流传的简化字，可以算作错别字，要扣分的。尽量写楷体字，一笔一画清清楚楚，不要写草字。标点符号，注意格式。近年高考作文评分标准中，“字体工整”是一项重要的评分细则。一般不要求写得好看，但要求书写整齐易辨认。总之，书写规范，卷面整洁，给阅卷老师留下好印象，至关重要!

一篇文章的结尾，是文章的画龙点睛之处，如何用精简的语言，最精确地总结和概括文章的意思呢?今天，的名师为您总结了5种文章结尾的方式，一起来看看吧。

1、Taking all these factors into consideration， we naturally come to the conclusion that…

把所有这些因素加以考虑，我们自然会得出结论……

2、Taking into account all these factors， we may reasonably come to the conclusion that …

考虑所有这些因素，我们可能会得出合理的结论……

3、Hence/Therefore， we’d better come to the conclusion that …

因此，我们最好得出这样的结论……

4、There is no doubt that (job-hopping) has its drawbacks as well as merits.

毫无疑问，跳槽有优点也有缺点。

5、All in all， we cannot live without … But at the same time we must try to find out new ways to cope with the problems that would arise.

总之，我们没有…是无法生活的。但同时，我们必须寻求新的解决办法来对付可能出现的新问题。

有了以上的五种万能的结尾句型，我们在托福写作结尾的时候，就不用啰嗦一大堆又得不到分了。

1.发言稿是介绍性说明文，在语言使用一定要准确简洁，通俗易懂，层次清楚，条理分明。介绍说明事物的内容关系要明确，要求逻辑性强。发言稿印版有开头语，正文和结束语三部分组成。开头语一般来说比较简单，目的就是吸引听众或读者的注意力。

发言稿的开头和结尾一般都有固定的的格式，如：

Dear friends,

I’m glad to introduce myself to you

.___________________________

That’s all. Thank you.

如果是熟悉的听众，头尾可以活泼一些，灵活一些，如：

(1)Good morning,/Good afternoon,everyone…

That’s all. Thank you.

( 2 )Good evening!Ladies and gentlemen..

That’s all. Thank you.

2.正文是发言稿的主体，主要是提供论点和相关的论据等，论点要明确，论据要充分有力。发言稿的正文常见形式：

第一部分：开门见山提出本人要谈的问题及对问题的看法;

第二部分：说明理由，常见的关联词有：First of all , Secondly, Finally等;

第三部分：照应开头，总结全文。最后可以做简明扼要的总结，也可以谈自己的希望或看法等。常见的句式有：In short, In a word…等。

3.发言稿的语句表达要直接面对听众，尽量不要用复杂啰嗦的句子，更不要采用深奥难懂的句子。话要说的准确易懂，最好用大众语言。除了要求以简单句为主的同时，可以适当穿插一些复合句结构。由于文章要求以简单句为主，所以不要把文章写成单句的罗列，适当的使用关联词承前启后，可以使文章前后连贯，浑然一体。

发言稿的时态一般以现在时态为主。

常用句型

1.I’d like to tell you something about our school.

2.Let me give you a brief introduction about our school.

3.Please allow me to introduce the travel arrangements to you.

4.It’s my honor to say a few words to welcome you.

5.I am sure we will benefit a lot from the lecture.

6.Personally, I think it’s a good idea for us to have daily exercise.

7.In my opinion,…

8.Personally,…

9,In a word,…

10,However,…

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

说明文写作历来是学生的难点，难点一在于把握不住文体特点，会写成记叙文或四不像文体;难点二在于学生选取的说明对象过于平淡，毫无特征;难点三在于语言十分乏味，难以引发阅卷老师阅读兴趣。针对以上情况，笔者进行了初中事物说明文写作指导。

一、请看作文题

请以“我的 ” 为题，写一篇事物说明文

要求

1.要抓住说明对象的特征。

2.要合理地安排说明顺序。

3.要采用恰当的说明方法。

4.不少于600字

二、抛砖引玉——老师写“下水文”

老师以同一题目写作两篇作文，一篇为记叙文，一篇为说明文，直观地指导学生区分记叙文和说明文文体的区别。

1、例文一：我的“老人机”

唉!我悲催的“老人机”!

一日，阳光明媚，春风宜人。我意气风发地上着“赏析刘禹锡”，我大声地吟唱着：“种桃道士归何处，前度刘郎今又来，哈哈，刘禹锡呀刘禹锡，你……。”“你”还未完,oppo独有的来电铃声“啦啦啦啦啦”响起，全班同学抿着嘴，你看看我，我看看你，笑容都被按在诡异的眼睛里。只有傻乎乎的万科憋红着脸，指着我的包说：“刘老师，你的电话响了。”

可悲，我的oppo-ulike ，我的新手机呀，洁白的手机外壳，多彩的手机屏保，还有特意从台湾故宫博物院带来的翠白玉手机链呀!伟大的班主任角色，为了让全班同学不带手机，我曾故作姿态说，我上课也绝不带，若手机铃声在课堂上响起，我自愿罚缴一个学期。我大步走向我的包，迅速拿出我的手机，完全不在乎地说：“等我拿出电话卡，手机给保管员吧，王子犯法都与庶民同罪，何况一介老师!”就这样我用起了我婆婆淘汰不用的一款“老人机”。

这款“老人机”可真土呀!馒头一样的外形，系着一根土蓝色的绳子，挂在脖子上，人整个成了一个傻老太太。

一日，“三·八”来临，网上疯传打折，办公室的女人们都亢奋了，胡洁老师眼睛都不转死盯电脑，口里喃喃说：“淘宝’亲’，京东‘亲’，哪个更亲?皇冠、钻石、几个钻……”，坐在离她不到三米的我顿时感觉“你看我时很远，你看云时很近”，连问：“什么意思，什么意思?”她头也不回，冷冷地说：“用老人机的人，跟你说了也白说。”我气愤地说：“机老我不老。”“老”字还未出口，我的老人机“铃铃铃铃铃铃铃”地狂响，办公室一片爆笑。

唉!我悲催的老人机!

2、例文二：我的“老人机”

我有一款“老人机”，顾名思义，就是专门研发出来供老人使用的手机。

首先从外形来看，它极其符合老人使用。它既不是流行的滑盖的，也不是时尚的翻盖的，而是直板的，乍一看，就像一个馒头。它长约11厘米，宽约5.5厘米，重约200克，塑钢的材质，这款手机拿到手里大小、重量适中，防滑耐磨。手机的正面是由屏幕和键盘两部分组成。屏幕上不似其它时尚手机般菜单栏里充斥着游戏、qq显示、闹钟、网络连接、蓝牙等，它的屏幕只有两项内容，一是硕大的时间显示(但无日期，完全没有星期几，对于老人来说每天都是星期天);二是温度显示(提醒老人注意天气变化)。键盘按键的大小是普通按键的3倍左右，数字似乎是用刀刻的，给人的触觉是凹凸有致，无论你的眼睛是老花还是近视，都完全可以仅凭触觉拨打电话。手机右边有个凹槽，突起的部件是开关，只要向上推，一道白光就会射出，原来是个手电筒。左边也有个凹槽，两个突起像多余的耳朵似的玩意是调节音量的。翻到背面，有个橘红色的按键特别显眼，上面刻着“sos”,往上一推，就会发出尖利的报警声(对突发心脏病或处于各类危急状况下的老人极为有用)。手机的最下端也有一个凹槽，是挂着手机链的，只不过，这条手机链巨长，就像开全国人代表大会代表证的绳子，为土蓝色。它的作用可不是美观，而是挂在老人的脖子上，以防丢失手机或丢失老人。

这款手机不光是外形能满足老人需要，功能更是如此。例如在“工具箱”栏下有个项目是“我的位置”，里面有具体的经度、纬度、高度、精度、当前位置，如果你即刻打开，会看到经度115.917259度，纬度28.670116度，高度75米，精度3971米，当前位置中国江西省南昌市青山湖区新魏路45号附近。“工具栏”下还有一个项目是“超级保姆”，里面有“买菜时间”、“吃药时间”、“接孩子时间”、“晨练时间”，手机到了固定时间会自动响铃及时提醒老人。如果拔出手机中的无线电线就成了一个标准的收音机，方便老人在晨练或傍晚散步时收听。最奇特的功能是它强大的来电铃声，只要铃声一响，大约方圆100米内你也可以清楚听到。

这样一款极具特色的“老人机”，你心动了吗?

三、学法指导：说明文和记叙文的区别

1、从内容上，说明文是介绍对象的形状、性质、成因、关系、功能、价值等属性，而记叙文是叙述人物的经历和事物发展变化，以写人、叙事、写景、状物为主要内容。

2、在表达方式上，前者是说明为主，后者是记叙和描写为主。

3、从目的上看，前者是让人们认识一种事物的特性，后者是为了表达作者的一种感情和感悟。

4、语言上，前者是准确、周密，而且语言的风格一般是平实，也有生动活泼的，但是为了服务于说明事物的需要，让人容易理解和接受。而后者是利用多种修辞手法，使文章非常生动，给人一种美的感受。

四、学法指导——怎样能写出一篇规范的事物说明文

说明文的写作要点：

1.要抓住说明对象的特征

2.要合理地安排说明顺序。

3.要采用恰当的说明方法。

4.语言要准确、简洁、通俗。

五、如何写出生动的说明文

1、穿插一些修辞手法

2、精美的语言

3、运用描写

4、例文展示：

我的一件工艺品

盘虬交错的根雕，洁白飘逸的羽扇，璀璨夺目的灯饰……工艺品在日常生活中无处不在。多数人误认为它们只是华而不实的装饰。其实不然，我家床头的小夜灯就是一件集美观和功能于一身的工艺品。

这盏小夜灯外型极其小巧玲珑，长宽不过一分米的身量，不仅不占空间，而且轻便容易携带，还不及一枚鸡蛋重。更让人过目不忘的怕是它独一无二的设计。普通夜灯大部分只是一个光溜溜的灯光，插上电源就会发出惨白的光。可这盏夜灯偏偏与众不同，一千多片大小不一的水晶薄片以各种各样的角度被乳白色万能胶疏密有致地粘合在一起，成为一颗剔透的爱心，晶片间的缝隙仿佛埃菲尔铁塔的留白，神来之笔间传递出无限韵味。别以为这仅仅是为了好看。瞧，由晶片组成的表面不单单可以使发出的光强弱交织显得华美脱俗，还能使人在使用时手与凹凸不平的灯面增大摩擦力，利于抓握而不易掉落。不过，即使摔了几下也不必担心，因为晶片灯面具有一定弹性，从约两米高的空中重重跌下，小夜灯也可以毫发无损。

这都不算什么，更神奇的还在后面。当某个漆黑的夜晚你打开小夜灯，你肯定会惊异地发现它在变色，有如变奏的焰火，时而嫣红，时而粉紫，不一会儿又在黑暗中焕发出一朵鹅黄。这是怎么回事呢?原来，在晶片灯面内部安有一枚直径大概一厘米的灯泡，这可不是普通灯炮，经过设计师改装后可发出十种颜色的光。由于灯面为半透明体，其颜色自然就随透过它的灯泡色光的不同而改变了。这样别出心裁的夜灯，用它研究物理学中色彩的奥秘也丝毫不在话下。

且慢!现在就认为已经参透了这盏夜灯的玄机还为时过早。翻过夜灯，观察它的底座。底座就在灯心形造型的背面，像是把那颗完美无缺的心削去了一部分。不要以为这就会破坏其美感。这个底座安置的位置正好使不规则的心形与桌面有了一个相接点，不仅正好掩饰了这个缺口，还增强了小夜灯的稳定性。最令人拍案叫绝的是，小小的底座上居然容纳着三样东西：开关、纽扣电池盒以及约三毫米的微型支架，真是麻雀虽小，五脏俱全。这样既不会让夜灯拉着一条长长的电线而大煞风景，也避免了晚上夜起时灯不能随人而动的麻烦。由此足见设计师的良苦用心。

我经常喜欢在睡前点上小夜灯，静静地凝视它柔和而绚丽的光芒。这是心灵手巧的设计师智慧的结晶。想必将来还会有更多这样集美观与功能于一身的工艺品出世，超越前人，为我们的生活增添乐趣。

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”。

Some people hold the opinion that A is superior to B in many ways. Others,

however, argue that B is much better. Personally, I would prefer A because I

think A has more advantages.

There are many reasons why I prefer A. The main reason is that ... Another

reason is that...(赞同A的原因)

Of course, B also has advantages to some extent... (列出1~2个B的优势)

But if all these factors are considered, A is much better than B. From what

has been discussed above, we may finally draw the conclusion that ...(得出结论)

立意：主要抓住“子藄得出结论：这是一棵无用的树，所以能够长得这样的高大”一句中关于“无用”的结论，由此生发开去，探讨“有用”与“无用”的问题。

结构：什么是“有用”“无用”(摆出论点)——为什么“有用”“无用”(两者关系)——怎样才能正确认识“无用”(结论)。

论据：

1、庄子在《人间世》中庄子对这种“无用”的啧啧赞言，不由得我思考起这无用中所蕴含的深意来。何为无用?《庄子》成书已达千年，茫茫时间阻隔，但人们仍可以从字里行间里去揣度思想家所表达的深意和韵味。“无用”是什么都不擅长吗?什么都不去干预吗?成天无所事事，一无所成吗?从庄子在《人间世》中举的几个例子，比如前面举的南伯子薺到商丘看到的那颗硕大无比的树，似乎是这样。没有什么特殊的技能，也不争强好胜，反而能够消除烦恼，免除嫉妒者的排挤和迫害，精力反而旺盛，能够长生久视呢!但我们断不能如此断章取义，仔细阅读全文的话，我们会发现这样的判断实在是太草率，太幼稚了。庄子以硕大无比的树为例，只是为了说明当人以“无用”的心态、方式去生活的时候，便可以做到不被人侵犯，无忧无虑，长生久视了。

2、“天生我材必有用”，在人们的心目中，这似乎已成定理。人生而有用，一无所用的人总被人无情地唤作“废人”，毫无余地让人怀疑其作为人的价值和意义。人似乎只有建立一番功勋、成就一番伟业，才算得上是无愧于自己、无愧于他人，不枉此生了。因此，人生在世，十有八九的人都在汲汲进取、不敢松怠地追逐所谓的“有用”。不知疲倦地追求所谓的“有用”的人，往往容易陷入迷途之中，找不到方向。或殚精竭力，机关算尽、或心胸狭窄，排挤诽谤、或阿谀奉承，委曲求全、甚至作奸犯科、无恶不作……一些聪明的人开始审视，开始反思，这有用是否真的“有用”?无用是否就是无用?

3、如交朋友吧，有的人喜欢“结势”，有的人喜欢“结心”，随着现实势利的考虑，总以为结交有权有势的朋友最受用，结交有财有利的朋友极实用，但是在觥筹交错、谄媚逢迎的场合里，去镜子里照一照自己的样子，就会明白这种友谊并不美的。哪里比得上同心知交，一无互相利用的价值，也一无言谈上的禁忌，心境坦然，不想有甚么用处，才是情谊间最美的。

4、鹰犬是可以作为爪牙之用的，比起舞风唳月的鹤来说，有用多了，但就是少那分带点仙气的逸态。鹅鸭是肉蛋都可以食用的，比起忘机得趣的鸥来说，有用多了，但就是少那分引人远思的翎羽。所以在中国人的心目中，鹤高贵于鹰，鸥高贵于鹅，出尘的东西胜过红尘里的东西，无用的禽鸟胜过有用的家禽。

5、也许有人会说，中国人的“美”字，由“羊大”构成，羊长大了滋味才美，认为中国人的美是起于实用，那是由于美的字义太抽象，不易传述，才找一种具体的滋味来造字，原始人的造字，并不能代表数千年来中国人正统的审美观，中国人是最懂得“无用之用”的民族，只可惜近代以来只顾现实势利，误以“有用”为第一罢了。

我最心爱的礼物是乒乓球拍，它是爸爸送我的礼物。

在球拍的最末端，是一个蝴蝶翅膀的名牌标志。它的正面胶皮是黑色的，我叫它黑脸，胶皮的名字是红双喜狂飚三，它摩擦起来可有劲儿了，一拉就是一个旋转球，质量非常好。这的反面胶皮是红色的，我叫它红脸，胶皮名字是ZKT，这种胶皮反手拉球和防守效果很好。对方要是发球，我就要反手拉球打过去才能赢。只要把正手反手配合好，就能赢得最终的胜利。

有一次，在参加市南区乒乓球比赛中，我碰到一个和我水平差不多同学。比赛开始，他先发球，发的非常快，我也毫不示弱的用反手拉了过去。他还没反应过来，球已经掉到了地上。我们俩你追我赶，连续打了好几个回合，小小的乒乓球在空中飞来飞去，忽上忽下，忽右忽左，场上的气氛变得非常紧张。在最后一局关键的时刻，我发了一个侧转球，他侧身一个猛打，只见那小球以迅雷不及掩耳之势向我劈来，就在这时，我瞅准时机一个扣杀，打到了对方的死角，球落地了，我取得了胜利。

乒乓球拍给我带来了胜利的喜悦，我爱我的乒乓球拍。

1. There is absolutely no reason for us to believe that a brighter future

for the world is an impossibility .

我们丝毫没有理由相信，世界不可能会有一个更光明的未来。

2. Meteorologists offer computer models leaving little doubt that this

years El Nino phenomenon has disappeared .

气象学家提供计算机模型，充分证明今年的厄尔尼诺现象已经消失了。

3. Facts prove the unjustifiability of claims that China will be unable to

feed itself by the year 2020 .

事实证明：断言中国到2020年将不可能养活自己是不合道理的。

4. Previous explanations of the rising divorce rate in China are simply

untenable . The fact is that many marriages were simply based on convenience and

wives are no longer willing to accept the abusive domineering attitudes of

husbands .

以前对中国离婚率升高的解释是完全站不住脚的。事实是许多婚姻仅仅建立在便利的基础上，而且妻子不再愿意接受丈夫作威作福的态度。

5. Claim that entering the Chinese market offers foreign companies an

immediate road to profits are grossly misstated and have been proven wrong time

and again . The key to entering China rests with the phraseology " vast

potential market " , and how long one is willing to wait for returns .

声称进入中国市场会给外国公司带来立即获利的途径是非常错误的，事实已经一次次地证明了这一点。进入中国的关键在于“广阔的潜在市场”这一说法以及为了回报愿意等待多久。

记叙文的写作要注意六要素：时间、地点、人物，事件的起因、经过、结果。要综合运用记叙、议论、抒情、描写等多种表达方式，但相对于记叙、描写来说，其他表达方式都只是辅助手段，不能喧宾夺主。

高考中，在什么情况下适合写记叙文呢?一是考生自己擅长写记叙文，就选择写记叙文;二是试题适合写记叙文，就写记叙文，如2012年高考江苏卷作文题“忧与爱”，就比较适合写记叙文;三是试题要求写记叙文，就写记叙文。

技法指导一：叙事清晰完整

以叙事为主的记叙文，必须做到清晰完整。清晰，指叙述的条理性;完整，指叙述事件要体现出事件的起因、发展、高潮、结局。要达到清晰完整的要求，最重要的是要有一条明晰的叙事线索，并按照线索有条不紊地叙述事件。

叙事类文章安排线索的方法有以下几种：

①以时间为序。

文章以时间的推移为顺序，叙写客观事物发展的自然进程：如写一天，从早晨、中午写到晚上;写一个人，从童年、少年、青年写到老年;写一件事，从发生、发展写到结束。这样写事情，可以使经过有头有尾，文章脉络清楚，层次井然。

以时间为序作文时，要注意以下三点：一要根据文章主题的需要对材料进行取舍，做到主次分明、重点突出;二要学会彩线串珠，用一条红线把所有的材料贯串起来，做到脉络贯通、头绪清楚;三要巧设悬念，灵活穿插，运用先抑后扬、疏密相间、张弛结合等手法，做到文章波澜起伏、引人入胜，以免落入记“流水账”的俗套。

近年来高考中出现的“日记式”作文，也属于以时间为序的写法，这种文体给作者选材带来了更大的自由，也便于抒写真情实感。

②以空间为序。

文章以空间转移为序，通过对人物在不同地点、场合表现的描述，多角度塑造人物形象，或通过对不同地点、方位等发生的事件的描述表现主题。

以空间为序作文时，整体运思上有以下两种方式：一是按作者行踪的先后顺序来写，例如《游了三个湖》《长江三峡》《雨中登泰山》等;二是按景物所处的空间方位来写，这种写法常见于写建筑物及名胜景观，例如《故宫博物院》《蒲松龄故居》等。无论采用哪一种方式写作，都要交代清楚方位，都要让读者清楚地感知写作的立足点(观察点)。

近年来的高考中，一些考生写的“镜头组合式”作文，也应属于以空间为序的作文。这种写法，选材空间大，取材自由，且层次清楚，可操作性强。

③以事件为序。

文章以事件的发生、发展、结局为序，对事件的来龙去脉进行具体描述，以表现人物的精神世界，表现某种主题。

以事件为序行文，要注意以下两点：一是作者要明确事件本身的含义，并能将这种含义准确地表达出来;二是要善于使用悬念、抑扬、渲染等艺术手段，把故事讲得跌宕多姿、有声有色、曲折动人。

④以情感为序。

文章以人物的情感跌宕为序，让人物的思想感情在事件的发展中如大海的波涛，时起时伏，一波未平，一波又起。人物的情感富于变化，更显真实动人;事件的发生矛盾迭起，情节更为曲折，更能引人入胜。

【文例】

维纳斯，你在哪里?

李 阳

维纳斯不见了。

我翻箱倒柜地寻找着，心房完全被气愤和悲哀占据了。我心里明白，它肯定是被他们拿走了。

这座维纳斯小石膏像是我放假时从学校里借回来的。我爱绘画，想在假期里画几张不同角度的维纳斯素描。她那优雅、端庄、娴静的姿态，虽然断了臂，却给人留下了充分想象的空间，更具有一种摄人心魄的艺术魅力。

可是，这种美带给家里的却不亚于一次六级地震。两个姐姐目光一触上它，就“呀”的尖叫一声，满脸羞红地躲开了，爷爷气得胡子直抖：“这，这成何体统!伤风败俗啊!”爸爸更是拍桌子，瞪眼睛，骂我不要脸，没教养。我急忙解释说这是艺术品，是美!可他们就是不听，认为赤裸裸的见不得人。妈妈倒是没有说别的，只是问我这东西有什么用处。我说用来画画。妈妈叹了口气：“又是画画!你考进了，干吗还要画个没完没了?看你都瘦成什么样子了!”我该怎么说呢?妈妈，你能够理解儿子对精神生活的追求吗?

妈妈挑水回来了，见我急得发疯了似的，爱怜地叹气：“唉，昨晚爷爷对你爹说家丑不可外扬，要从速处理。一早，你爹去山里翻地，顺手用布包了带走了。妈劝不住……”

我狠狠地跺跺脚，往外就跑。

是的，生活在山沟里的爷爷、爸爸他们是勤劳、善良、纯朴的，可同时又是落后、愚昧、无知的——多么令人悲哀的一面啊!

太阳已经升起来了。大山、小溪、田野、村庄，一切都沐浴在灿烂的阳光里。爸爸到哪儿去了?他是埋了它，还是扔了它?或者——我不敢想下去，急忙朝最可疑的地方——溪谷跑去。进了溪谷，视野顿时狭窄了。谷壁上爬满了野葡萄，谷底是一大片一人多高的蒿草，神秘地簌簌地响动着。我正四处张望着，不防脚底一滑，“噗”地一声摔倒在蒿草丛里，费了九牛二虎之力，才把两只脚拔了出来，我顾不上洗去污泥，又急急地寻找起来……爬过一道陡坡，却仍然没有找到维纳斯。我气喘吁吁地在一块被骄阳烤得烫人的岩石上坐下来，头一阵晕眩，豆大的汗珠一粒粒地摔碎在岩石上，一眨眼就被吸干了。瞧瞧裤子的污泥早已变成干块脱落得差不多了，我只觉得全身又累又乏。可是，要找维纳斯的决心非但没有减弱，反而更加坚定了。

愚昧无知可以扼杀美，却无法阻止我对美的追求!

维纳斯呵，你在哪里?

技法鉴赏：作者在叙述自己创作过程的文章里说：“去年暑假，喜欢涂涂画画的我从学校带回一座维纳斯小石膏像，没想到竟引起一场家庭风波，面对父亲的责骂，我抱怨、气愤!这原始的情感冲动，是促使我写作《维纳斯，你在哪里?》的最初因素。可以说假如没有这次情感冲动，没有这种切身的体验，《维纳斯，你在哪里?》是不可能凭空出现的。”“我”有高尚的审美情操，对美的追求，对美的热爱，对破坏美的庸俗的思想行为的愤懑，交织着向前发展，跌宕起伏，激情层层推进，产生了震慑人心的艺术力量。

技法指导二：情节波澜起伏

“凡做人贵直，而作文贵曲。”(清·袁枚)特别是写记叙文，要学会一些设计情节波折的方法：

①误会。利用时间、地点、人为因素，故意造成人物之间的误解，丰富情节的戏剧性，于尺水兴波。如习作《期望》写“我”整天沉醉于武侠小说的刀光剑影之中，成绩急剧下降。而没有文化偏想培养出一个文化人的母亲见“我”整天抱着厚厚的一本书“用功”，心中有几分欢喜。“我”则为自己的瞒天过海之术而得意。直到一个风雪肆虐的日子里，母亲一大早起来，踏着冰雪，忍着饥饿，来到二十里外的学校，给“我”送来“我”常念的厚书——《神雕侠侣》时，“我”才流下了悔恨的泪水。文章用误会法，写母亲因“我”学习用功而欢喜，又用误会法，写母亲错把“我”常看的武侠小说当成教材，冒着风雪严寒与饥饿到二十里外的学校送书的感人情节，突出了母亲的善良和盼子成才的热切心情，也表现了“我”的忏悔和惭愧。

②抑扬。从“抑”“扬”的顺序看，有“先扬后抑”“先抑后扬”两种;从“抑”“扬”的对象来看，有“抑人”“抑物”两种。

如梁实秋的《我的一位国文老师》一文，开头交代老师的绰号是“徐老虎”，给人穷凶极恶的感觉;接着写外貌，“脑袋有棱有角”“头很尖，秃秃的，亮亮的”“脸，方方的，扁扁的”，还说他像《聊斋志异》中的夜叉，真是有些古怪;让人难以忍受的是他的“狞笑”和“鼻孔里常川的藏着两筒清水鼻涕”。然而就是这样一个形容猥琐、可怜可鄙的人，却是一位满腹经纶、古道热肠、热心教学、严肃育人的好先生。梁实秋的这篇短文，不但张扬了自己老师的个性风采，而且给我们留下了抑扬结合的珍贵的写作技巧。

③陡转。故事情节不是循常理发展，而是陡然遇到情理中的“意外”，转向另一方面去。如《窗》写两位卧床的重病人，住在仅有一门一窗的狭小房间里，只有透过窗口才可望见外界，生活死寂如灰。为了安慰病友，近窗病人每天向病友讲述窗外斑斓多姿的景观，病友摆脱了寂寞，得到了快慰。至此故事似乎可以作结了。然而病友突生嫉妒，在近窗病人疾病发作时竟见死不救，待争到近窗的铺位，见到的只是光秃秃的一堵墙。文末陡起波澜，出现逆转，使小说有了强烈的艺术魅力。

④巧合。故事巧合是指在文章中设置故事的偶合或人物的奇遇。如《卖牛》一文，写由于家庭贫穷，哥哥三十多岁了还没有找到媳妇。母亲十分着急，好不容易托一个能说会道的媒人找到一个愿意嫁过来的姑娘，但对方要求5 000元的彩礼。母亲东奔西走，只借得了2 000元，还剩3 000元，母亲决定让“我”与哥哥一起去卖牛。牛顺利地卖给了一个老汉，卖后哥哥却又主动告诉老汉自己卖的牛曾得过烂蹄病，并同意老汉退牛，最后又把经纪人拿走的那100元也送给了老汉。由于哥哥的老实，好端端的一桩婚事又要告吹了，“我”埋怨哥哥，母亲也为哥哥不能娶上媳妇而再次流下了伤心的眼泪。此时，作者安排了一个使人物命运柳暗花明的“巧合”：那买牛的老汉，原来正是姑娘的父亲，哥哥未来的老丈人。老人看上了哥哥“心地好，诚实守信”，决定不要彩礼，把姑娘嫁过来。这使文章顿生波澜，善良诚实的哥哥终因善良而改变了命运，过上了幸福生活。

【文例】

三双鞋子

付美洲

躺在垃圾箱中的鞋子终于耐不住寂寞，开始说话了。

布鞋说：“想当初我是多么年轻漂亮。我是女主人的母亲一针一线精心缝制的，大年三十晚上，我诞生了。女主人把我放在她的床头，过年那天穿上我高兴地东跳西蹦。她对妈妈说一定要好好上学，长大了当干部，孝敬母亲，为人民服务……真没有想到，这人说变就变，变得这么快呀!”皮革鞋说：“老弟，好汉不提当年勇，你不是一双布鞋吗?我可是顶好的皮鞋呀!而且价值两千元，还是王经理把我送给女主人的。女主人一见我就喜出望外，她当初常和我去找王经理，我们还多次一起去王经理的别墅呢，听她说她是局长，还让王经理有什么困难直接去找她，不过呢，倒是她常去陪王经理坐轿车，进宾馆，吃海鲜，唉……”

尖头皮鞋听他俩说得那样热闹，也开口道：“两位老弟，你看，我才可惜呢，还锃亮锃亮的，这不好好的就被抛弃了。想当初我可是女主人用公款买的。那时，女主人和一个俊男在一块跳舞，我亲耳听她说道：‘我手上有公款，可用来买了这双鞋，你可以借给我点，先补上吗?现在查得严。’这位女主人，怎么说不要我就不要我了呢?以后，她能穿什么样的高级鞋呢?”

皮革鞋说：“考虑她干什么，我现在只是很怀念过去美好的时光!”皮鞋说：“走惯了灯红酒绿的舞会，见惯了山珍海味的筵席，这与垃圾为伍的日子可怎么过呀!”布鞋说：“我虽然没有过过高级生活，可我曾拥有过快乐时光，现在到哪里去找呢?”三双鞋子累了，慢慢睡去了。

突然，一个黑影钻进了垃圾箱，三双鞋子都被惊醒了，它们万万没有想到，那个黑影竟是它们的女主人。随后，便是凄厉的警笛和杂乱的脚步声，还有一颗心在惊悸地跳动……

技法鉴赏：文章从女主人穿过的三双鞋子这个全新的角度切入，通过饶有趣味的对话，展示女主人由一个纯洁的少女蜕化为腐败分子的过程。故事的结局前文已经有了大量的伏笔，如果再让鞋子来转述就显得平板而老套，作者采用“巧合”之法，让女主人“钻进”垃圾箱，既增加了情节的故事性，又昭示了故事的结局。

技法指导三：描写细致入微

①景物描写重形象。记叙文中的景物描写，对烘托主题、刻画人物、推动情节发展都有重要的作用。景物必须写得形象、真切、具体可感，才能起到应有的作用。

②人物描写显个性。人物的思想感情和个性特征主要通过自己的语言和行动表现出来。我们写记叙文要善于使自己笔下人物的一言一行，一举一动，一笑一颦，都具有特色，充满鲜明的个性，以展示其独特的内心世界。

③场面描写求丰富。场面描写要做到通过一个场景表现出丰富多彩的人物个性和思想内涵，并能做到主次分明，点面结合。

万圣节又叫诸圣节，在每年的10月31日，是西方的传统节日。以下是关于万圣节的英语素材，供大家参考。

11月1日万圣节英文：Hallowmas，南瓜是万圣节的代表。

10月31日是万圣夜英文：Halloween，华语地区常将万圣夜称为万圣节。

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. By tradition, Halloween begins after sunset. Long ago, people believed that witches gathered together and ghosts roamed the world on Halloween. Today, most people no longer believe in ghosts and witches. But these supernatural beings are still a part of Halloween.

万圣节前夜是在10月31日庆祝的一个节日，根据传统，万圣节前夜的庆祝活动从太阳落山开始。在很久以前，人们相信在万圣节前夜女巫会聚集在一起，鬼魂在四处游荡。现在，大多数人们不再相信有鬼魂和女巫的存在了，但是他们仍然把这些作为万圣节前夜的一部分。

The colors black and orange are also a part of Halloween. Black is a symbol for night and orange is the color of pumpkins. A jack-o’-lantern is a hollowed-out pumpkin with a face carved on one side. Candles are usually placed inside, giving the face a spooky glow.

黑色和橙色仍然是万圣节前夜的一部分，黑色是夜晚的象征，而橙色代表着南瓜。南瓜灯是用雕刻成脸型，中间挖空，再插上蜡烛的南瓜做成的，带来一个毛骨悚然的灼热面孔。

Dressing up in costumes is one of the most popular Halloween customs, especially among children. According to tradition, people would dress up in costumes (wear special clothing, masks or disguises) to frighten the spirits away.

盛装是最受欢迎的万圣节风俗之一，尤其是受孩子们的欢迎。按照传统习俗，人们会盛装(穿戴一些特殊的服饰，面具或者装饰)来吓跑鬼魂。

Popular Halloween costumes include vampires (creatures that drink blood), ghosts (spirits of the dead) and werewolves (people that turn into wolves when the moon is full).

流行的万圣节服装包括vampires(吸血鬼)，ghosts(死者的灵魂)和werewolves(每当月圆时就变成狼形的人)。

Trick or Treating is a modern Halloween custom where children go from house to house dressed in costume, asking for treats like candy or toys. If they dont get any treats, they might play a trick (mischief or prank) on the owners of the house.

欺骗或攻击是现代万圣节的风俗。孩子们穿着特殊的衣服走街串巷，讨取糖果和玩具之类的赏赐。如果他们得不到任何的赏赐，就可能会对屋主大搞恶作剧或者胡闹了。

The tradition of the Jack o Lantern comes from a folktale about a man named Jack who tricked the devil and had to wander the Earth with a lantern. The Jack o Lantern is made by placing a candle inside a hollowed-out pumpkin, which is carved to look like a face.

南瓜灯的传统来自于一个民间传说。一个名叫Jack的人戏弄了恶魔，之后就不得不提着一盏灯在地球上流浪。南瓜灯是用雕刻成脸型，中间挖空，再插上蜡烛的南瓜做成的。

There are many other superstitions associated with Halloween. A superstition is an irrational idea, like believing that the number 13 is unlucky!

和万圣节有关的迷信还有很多。迷信是一种不合常理的想法，比如认为13是不吉利的数字!

Halloween is also associated with supernatural creatures like ghosts and vampires. These creatures are not part of the natural world. They dont really exist... or do they?

万圣节还和一些诸如鬼魂和吸血鬼之类的超自然的生物有关。这些生物不是自然界的一部分。他们实际上是不存在的......或许他们其实真的存在?

Witches are popular Halloween characters that are thought to have magical powers. They usually wear pointed hats and fly around on broomsticks.

女巫是万圣节很受欢迎的人物，人们认为她们具有强大的魔力。他们通常戴着尖顶的帽子，骑在扫把上飞来飞去。

Bad omens are also part of Halloween celebrations. A bad omen is something that is believed to bring bad luck, like black cats, spiders or bats.

恶兆也是万圣节庆祝活动的一部分。人们相信恶兆会带给坏运气，黑猫、蜘蛛或者蝙蝠都算是恶兆。

一个阳光明媚的中午，妈妈给我烧美味的红烧鲑鱼。不巧的是酱油“光光”了。于是，妈妈叫我去买酱油，我爽快地答应了。

我走在去超市的路上时，才想起我没有问过妈妈酱油是什么牌子的，不过转念一想，不要紧，这个难不倒素有小机灵之称的我。

到了超市，只见一排排的货柜上面有琳琅满目的物品。有缤纷的饮料，有各类的老酒，还有丰富多样的生活物品的……真是应有尽有。

我在摆着酒的货柜里面找了一找，可是没有找到酱油。我又跑向了饮料货柜处，当然也是一无所有。我急得跺脚。这时一个超市的员工叔叔正好走过。我马上笑眯眯地问道：“员工叔叔，您好!酱油在哪里呀?”叔叔手一指，回答道：“酱油就在放醋的那一边呀!难道你没有看见吗?”

我没有听员工叔叔说完，就急急忙忙地去放醋那一边的货柜了。我在货柜前上下左右瞪大眼睛找，怎么找都找不到酱油。我抓耳饶腮，干愣着。

就在这个时候，一位阿姨走了过来问：“小朋友，你是在找什么东西呀?”我回答说：“我要买酱油呀，阿姨哪一个是酱油呀?”“是老抽、生抽就是酱油。”阿姨肯定地回答。

老抽?生抽?他们难道是酱油吗?但阿姨肯定的眼神让我相信了生抽老抽就是酱油。可是我想起来，自己出门前没问妈妈要生抽，还是要老抽。我又一次犯难了。

我灵机一动，回忆起妈妈平常烧红烧的食物都用老抽来烧的。于是我拿了一瓶老抽开开心心付完钱回家了。

这次小小的购物行，让我知道了酱油有别名。有的叫老抽，有的叫生抽啊。呵呵，这次小小的购物体验真不错。

为了帮助考生打开思路，前几年江苏卷的命题者们常常要在题目前加上一段提示语，但提示语也是个双刃剑，提示语框死了或是提示得不周密，反而弄巧成拙。有人因提示语而打开了思路，有人也因提示语而误入歧途。

今年的高考作文的命题者打破常规，没有费尽心思拟什么提示语，而是在文题前提供了三则材料，这三则材料很有代表性，有中有外，有古有今;既有家庭人伦的忧与爱，也有国家民族的忧与爱，更有广泛意义上的忧与爱，给了考生诸多提示与启发。这种材料加命题的方式不知是不是将来转为材料作文的一个过渡，反正江苏的命题模式也应该有所改变，总是命题作文，命题者也会有江郎才尽的一天的。

文题与现实生活紧密联系，能引发考生对“忧”与“爱”的深层次的思考，而且这种关系型的作文题更有利于考查学生辩证思维的能力。“忧”或“爱”的对象是什么?应该是同一的。忧是一种社会责任，历史使命，有了责任感和使命感，对生活、家庭、社会就会充满爱。“忧”中要有“爱”，“爱”中又要有“忧”，忧国与爱国，要写出忧与爱的逻辑联系，先有忧后有爱，爱从忧中来。这是对学子们水平与智慧以及人性与品德的综合大考验，任何一个方面的肤浅与缺失，都或多或少影响着精彩作品的诞生。

同时，文题的发散性又很强，既可写小忧小爱，对亲人、对同胞，体现亲人、同学、师生、邻里之间的关心和爱护，对生命个体的忧与爱，也可写大忧大爱，写对祖国、对民族命运忧与爱，不同层次的考生也都有话可说。人们常说“居安思危”，实际上就含有“忧与爱”的意思，有了忧患意识，忧患的最终是为了爱，这样文章选材比较广阔，自然就会有深度。

在文体的选择上还是比较公平的，考生无论选择哪种文体都可成文。写记叙文，你可以叙写生活中的点滴片断;写议论文，你可以纵论“忧”与“爱”的内在联系和辩证关系。无论是写记叙文，还是写议论文，都要扣住两点写，如果阅卷老师能从你的文章中感觉到你的“忧”是因爱而生的，而你的“爱”又因为“忧”而显得更加浓烈，那你的文章就一定能获得高分!

金陵中学特级教师、语文教学专家喻旭初认为，这个题目也对中小学的教学有一些启示。他认为，在教学中要引导学生热爱生活，观察、了解生活，引导学生理性地思考生活，增强公民意识。喻旭初认为，现在社会欠缺公民意识，对很多事情都麻木了。而有了忧患意识，就会发现问题，思考问题，解决问题，这样也会促进生活中一些不良现象的改变。

南京一中特级教师孙芳铭如果考生在考场上不是胡编乱造，不是像往年一样靠引用古人、死人过日子的话，好好去写这个题目，写作过程就会是一次灵魂的洗涤。据我了解，今年考生中很多都是从大的方面来写，写忧国忧民的不少;也有一部分从小的方面来写，写忧父母，比如忧父母年龄大、责任重等，我觉得这些都可以写。但是这样写很可能写出来的就是“大路货”。考生写自己有真切体验的“忧与爱”会更好。例如一高二的学生作文《吃饭》，写的是他爸爸在一个大饭店请人吃饭，结果人一个也没来，他爸爸就打电话给他爷爷奶奶，谁知爷爷奶奶开心地一路跟别人说。直到回家后还在讲儿子今天请我吃饭。结果小作者看到爸爸回家后痛哭流涕，感触很深。这种文章就很好。如果考生能够从自己的实际情况出发，写一点真切的体验，就能写出动人的文章来。

中国写作学会副会长尉天骄认为这个题目很多学生都有话说，写得好却不太容易。因为很多学生很容易走到套路上，拿屈原、文天祥等等来举例。这个题目要写好，怎么写呢?比如抓住孟郊的诗，是母亲对儿子的爱，可以反过来写儿子对母亲的爱;也可以取自己熟悉的入手，比如农村学生可以写河流的污染、土地的减少，比如“我为什么忧患河流污染呢?因为我太爱我门前这条小河了。这是我从小长大的地方，所以看到河流污染忧心忡忡。”城市学生可以写因为居住环境的变化而引起的亲情淡化。但很多学生想不到这些，容易写到套路上。我还担心一个问题，这个题目可能有的学生会把忧和爱写分离了。只写爱不写忧、只写忧不写爱，或者将两者写脱离了都是属于跑题了。

一、什么是自传

自传是叙述自己生平经历的文章。生平经历是指一个人生活的整

个过程。婴儿——幼儿——上学——现在

1、婴儿时期（吃、哭、爬、学说话、学走路……）

听妈妈说那时候的我是怎样的？（高、矮、胖、瘦、乖、闹、聪明……）例文欣赏

示例1：听妈妈说，小时候的我胖乎乎的，很聪明。刚到了九个月就会说话了，把妈妈叫得很开心；10个月就会学走路了，摇摇晃晃，东倒西歪但不让人扶。有一次从床上掉下来，至今胳膊上还留有伤疤；奶奶说我那时候特别乖巧，但也特别淘气。

特点：聪明、淘气

示例2：刚出生的我在医院里又哭又闹，说着平常人不懂的“外星球语”，让爸妈很苦恼，白天我咬着奶瓶呼呼大睡，晚上我就活跃起来，让大人抱着我到处去溜达，如果一松手，那哭声在你耳朵里徘徊，仿佛一栋楼都会震动起来！

特点：爱闹

2、幼儿时期

⑴、脑中充满疑问

“妈妈，天上的星星为什么会眨眼睛？”“妈妈，我的肚子为什么会饿？”“妈妈，为什么天上的月亮有时是圆的，有时是弯弯的？”⑵、探索世界

把家里的小闹钟、把我的玩具拆得七零八落

⑴、⑵表现出我很聪明

⑶、上幼儿园

哭着、喊着不肯上幼儿园这些表现出我又很淘气

例文欣赏

示例1：一眨眼的功夫，时间老人已把婴儿时期带走了，幼儿时期缓缓走来。妈妈和幼儿园的老师都说我好动。为此我觉得自己得了儿童多动症，其实我确实挺爱动的。在幼儿园里，我基本不会规规矩矩的坐上三分钟；就算坐在椅子上，也是东摇西摆。结果一次在课堂上“发挥”多动时，老师误以为我在吃东西，我的脸烧了又烧，简直就像一

只掉进油锅里的虾。

示例2：幼儿时期的我最爱跳舞。记得有一次，妈妈手机里传出了一阵响亮的歌声，在一旁搞东西的我听见了，便情不自禁的跳起来，屁股一扭一扭的，手也摆动起来，不时还走一下猫步，仿佛我已经沉浸在这欢乐地歌声里，无法自拔一样！一旁的妈妈鼓起掌来，笑着说：“看来我们家会有一位舞神了。”奶奶听后，大笑起来，家里充满了快乐的气氛。

3、我上学了

⑴、有了稳定的兴趣。如：①、爱上了学习②、迷上了阅读

⑵、进不了

⑶、交了很多朋友

例文欣赏

示例1：进入小学后，在优美的校园里，我感受到了学习的快乐，从此爱上了学习。现在，我是班里的学习委员、语文课代表。我的作文经常受到老师表扬，不仅在作文比赛上获过奖，还经常在一些刊物上发表呢！

示例2：八岁的我爱书如命。故事书、漫画书、作文书、科幻书、小说等等，不管什么书，我都一股脑儿拿起来就读。不管晚上作业有多少，事情有多忙，我都会挤出一点时间来看书。

我看书很着迷。我会随着书中的趣事哈哈大笑；也会为着书中令人落泪的悲惨故事而伤心痛哭；看到本领高超、助人为乐的人，我会产生敬佩之情；看到那些烧杀抢掠的恶人和那些贪赃枉法的坏人，我心中的愤怒油然而生……每当妈妈看见我忽而大笑、忽而大哭，忽而喜悦，又忽而愤怒时，总会无可奈何地叹息道：“这丫头，真是没办法！”

示例3：我进入了XX小学读书，在这座优美的校园里，我对学习有了比较大的变化，表现比较积极，一年级第一批就加入了少先队，四年级参加了鼓号队，曾经当过体育委员、语文课代表。在学习上能多看课外书籍，经常去剑英图书馆借书或去新华书店看书，同时注意积累好词好句，坚持每个星期写一扁日记，因此语文成绩比较理想，对作文比有兴趣，作文经常被老师表扬；数学成绩还算可以，但是英语一直是我的弱项，总感到压力好大。

示例4：我结交了很多朋友，他们也十分乐意和我交往，使我从交往中得到了许许多多的快乐。我对他人十分的诚实守信，从来不说恶意

的谎言，答应别人的事情绝对做到，因此，他们也很乐意跟我玩，和我谈心。我有时也会跟别人一起哈哈大笑或讲悄悄话，跟同学们打成一片，让我成为他们心目中的好朋友。有了他们我的生活充满了朝气，充满了快乐。我对人十分有礼貌，助人为乐也是我的本份，他人有困难，我一定会竭尽全力去帮助他。

4、现在的我

长大了、懂事了、学会承担了、有理想了。

例文欣赏

示例1：随着年龄的增长，我变得越来越懂事了。想起妈妈以前整天都为我操心，而我却总是惹她生气，我的心里真不是滋味。

星期五放学回到家，妈妈放下我的书包，就径直走进厨房准备做饭。我想：妈妈工作了一整天，已经很累了，又要去接我，回到家还要做饭，这多么不应该！想到这，我马上走进厨房。

“妈妈。”

“有什么事儿吗？”

“妈妈，您去休息吧，我帮您做饭。”

“不用了，你快去做作业吧，饭菜很快就好了。”

“妈妈，就让我为您做一顿饭吧，嗯？”

妈妈只好笑了笑，点了点头。

晚饭后，我又替妈妈把碗碟洗得干干净净，把家里打扫了一遍，最后还为妈妈捶背按摩。妈妈很高兴，对我说：“孩子，你长大了，懂事了，妈妈真高兴！”我听到这句话，心就像被浸在一罐世界上最甜的蜜糖里。

这就是12岁的我，懂事的我。

示例2：现在的我，会承担责任了；十二岁的我会像挤海棉一样挤时间了；十二岁的我，会自己面对困难了；十二岁的我，成熟了许多；十二岁的我已经长大了，一些鸡毛蒜皮的小事，我自己已经会应付了。面对十二岁的人生，我好像还有点混浊，但比起以前已经进步了许多。对于我来说，未来是一条坎坷的岔路，我一定要选择正确地道路，要一直努力认真的向前走。只要努力学习，就会考上重点大学。

二、行文线索

1、不懂事，爱哭、爱闹——有点听话——开始懂事

2、听话的乖孩子——爱学习的好学生——懂事、知道孝敬父母

3、淘气，耍小聪明——明白事理，大智慧

三、详略取舍

1、详写部分的选择：

⑴、记忆最深刻、最难忘的那段岁月

⑵、最能体现你这个人的特点

⑶、转变最大、成长最快的那段时期

2、其它部分可略写

四、开头和结尾

㈠、开头：

1、简要的介绍自己

2、对自己有一个粗略、整体的评价

例文欣赏

示例1：本人名叫陈思婷，属龙，2000年11月18日，伴随着一阵哭声，我从医院诞生了，胖乎乎的显得十分可爱，嫩滑的脸蛋上，有着一对小酒窝。长大后，我的皮肤黝黑，有人叫我“非洲黑珍珠”！我只好不好意思地笑纳！

示例2：2000年7月20日，随着一阵“哇哇”的哭声，一个可爱的婴儿来到了这个五彩缤纷的世界。从此，生活的大舞台上就有了我的小天地。我的小脚丫在小天地里任意的涂鸦，涂鸦成我难忘的昨天。㈡：结尾

1、对自己成长的总结

2、对未来的向往

例文欣赏

示例1：岁月如梭，整整12年过去了，我从不懂事的小孩子，变成了有志气的大姑娘，我希望，以后能改掉坏习惯，开心快乐地成长。示例2：比起小时的我确实是进步了很多，可是人生的道路是曲折而漫长的，学海无涯，我还有许多东西不懂，我想：只要有远大理想，带着顽强拼搏的意志和勇气走下去，就能够迈进成功的殿堂，就能对国家有贡献！

示例3：这就是我，一个有着多样性格的我。看完我的自传，你们喜欢我吗？

习作练习

我的自传

环境保护

随着中国经济的发展，环境问题也越来越突出。保护环境，成了我们重要的职责。如果我们再让状况如此下去的话，留给我们后代的恐怕就不是一个健康的地球了。这给我们敲响了一个警钟，那就是要尽快实施环境保护的一些措施。最近，很多问题越来越明显的出此刻公众的眼中。食品安全问题、酸雨问题、水资源缺乏问题、气候问题，all of all，归根结底都是环境的问题。社会的发展就应成为环境保护的基石，我们就应用不断产生的新技术来保护环境。同时，环境的保护就应成为社会发展的一个重要的部分。综上所述，我认为环境的保护就应从两个方面来实施。On the one hand， 相应的法律就应被制定by政府。On the other hand， 环保意识就应在公众中间进行广泛的宣传。我相信如果我们始终把环保问题放在发展的第一位，我们的社会将更快更健康的发展。

As the developing of Chinese economy， the problem of protecting environment is being more and more important。 It is a crucial responsibility for us。 If we let this situation go as it is， it would be almost not a health earth for our offspring。 It sounds an alarm to us that we should execute the steps of protecting environment quickly。 Recently， a large number of problems appeared obviously， the security of food， the acid rain， the lack of water， the worse weather， all of all， it is the problem of environment in the final analysis。 The development of society should be the basic of protecting environment， we ought to protect environment by newer technology。 Meanwhile， the protecting environment should play an important role in the development of society。 Accordingly， I argue that we should protect environment in two aspects。 On the one hand， the related laws should be established by government。 On the other hand， the consciousness of protecting environment ought to be publicized in public。 I have an unshakable believe that if we put the problem of protecting environment be the first place， our society would have been developing fast and healthily。

Last week, our school held an activity to the nursing house to visit the

old people. I was so excited to be a volunteer, because it was my first time to

join such big activity. When we got there, the old people were so happy to see

us. They smiled all the time. We brought them some fruit and presents, and they

were so moved. When we chatted face in face, they talked about the old times and

the happiness they had. I thought about my grandparents, who lived in the

hometown. I should spend more time with them. Being a volunteer is such a

precious experience for me.