大学英语写作常用句型实用八篇 作文范文（汇总20篇）

在今日全球化的经济环境下，有效地用英语(精品课)交流已经变得至关重要。

然而如何清晰地表达你的想法却是门大学问。太多时候人们只是简单地照抄他们眼中同事，尤其是上级写出来的“漂亮英语”。你每天都能在收件箱里看到很多例子——那些难懂的需要你读好多遍才能理解的邮件。

一个巨大的错误就是用一些不必要的单词和词组让你的文章变得冗长。你要牢记你写作的目的是为了更清晰地交流你的想法。

总是尽可能减少你句子中使用的字数，避免使用可以用更短的词代替的长词。以下是一些例子：

Instead of "prior to" use *before*

用“before”代替“prior to”

Instead of "subsequent" use *after*

用“after”代替“subsequent”

Instead of "in order to" use *to*

用“to”代替“in order to”

Instead of "in the event that" use *if*

用“if”代替“in the event that”

Instead of "with reference to" use *about*

用“about”代替“with the reference to”

Instead of "state of the art" use *latest*

用“latest”代替“state of the art”

Instead of "due to the fact that" use *since*

用“since”代替“due to the fact that”

Instead of "not later than 2pm" use *by 2pm*

用“by 2pm”代替“not later than 2pm”

Instead of "at the present time" use *now*

用“now”代替“at the present time”

同时也要记得文章有组织性。第一句话就要开门见山地点出你每一段要讲什么。除此之外，要控制你邮件的长度。没人想读一条长达10段的邮件。

通过使用简单的单词和易懂的词组，你就能最终提高你信息的清晰度。

With time goes by， it becomes a bit hard for me to remember everything about myself at the first day of my college life。 However， there was one thing for sure that I did feel quite excited and curious about my university。 There is no doubt that students like me have struggled for a long time so that can be permitted to enter the university。

随着时间的流逝，记得在我的第一天大学生活对我来说变得有点困难了。然而，有一点是肯定的，我对大学真的感到很兴奋很好奇。毫无疑问，很多像我这样努力了很长时间才可以进入大学的学生。

高考英语作文需要将有自己的想法，并且掌握好写作的方法，这样英语才能得到高分。

1、审题：审题是做到切题的第一步。所谓审题就是要看清题意，确定文章的中心思想、主题，并围绕中心思想组织材料。

2、进行构思，列出简单的提纲，打造文章之骨架：审好题、立好意后，就要写提纲，打造文章的骨架。文章布局要做好几件事：安排好层次段落，铺设好过渡，处理好开头和结尾。

3、扩展成文：根据字数多少扩展成篇。扩展的内容一定要紧扣主题，千万不要写那些与主题不相关的内容。展开的方式包括：顺序法、举例法、比较法、对比法、说明法、因果法、推导法、归纳法和下定义等。可以根据需要任选一种或几种方式。

在这一步骤中还需注意三方面问题：

1)确保提纲中段落结构的思路与各段主题句的一致性。只有这样，才能保证所写段落不偏题、不跑题。

2)要综合考虑各个段落的内容安排，避免段落内容的交叉。

3)用好连接词，注意段落间、句子间的连贯性。要做到所写文章层次分明，思路清晰，文字连贯，就需要在句与句之间、段与段之间架起一座座桥梁，而连接词起的正是桥梁作用。

在扩展的过程中也有些窍门，以下几点可供参考：

1)在整篇文章中，避免只是用一两个句式或重复用同一词语。英语中存在着极为丰富的同义词，准确地使用同义词可以给读者清新的感觉。同时要灵活运用各种句式，如倒装句、强调句、省略句、主从复合句、对比句、分词短语、介词短语等，从而增加文章的可读性。

2)使用不同长度的句子。如果一个意思用一句话写不清楚的话，通过分句和合句或用两句、三句来表达，增强句子的连贯性和表现力。

3)改变句子的开头方式，不要总是以主、谓、宾、状的次序。可以把状语至于句首，或用分词等。

4)学会使用过渡词。

(1) 递进furthermore，moreover，besides，in addition，then，etc

(2) 转折however，but，nevertheless，afterwards，etc

(3) 总结finally，at last，in brief，to conclude，etc

(4) 强调really，indeed，certainly，surely，above a11，etc

(5) 对比in the same way，just as，on the other hand，etc

5)确定文章用第几人称写，基本时态是什么。使用人称时人物不能张冠李戴或指代不明。

时态要尽量保持一致。

4、检查修改：要检查复核，不要写完了事。

要留时间通读全文，修改可能出现的错误。检查上下文是否连贯，句子衔接是否自然流畅。检验的标准主要是句子是否通畅，该用连词的地方用了没有，所用的连词是否合适，是否有语法错误，主谓是否一致，动词的时态、语态、语气的使用是否正确，词组的搭配是否合乎习惯，是否有大小写、拼写、标点错误等，还有就是注意卷面整洁。

可归纳为：中心突出，主题明确;层次清楚，条理清晰; 表达力强，传情达意;语句通顺，句型多变;过渡自然，衔接紧凑;标点正确，大小无误;字迹清楚，卷面整洁。

高中英语写作常用开头句型

1.As far as …is concerned 就……而言

2.It goes without saying that… 不言而喻，…

3.It can be said with certainty that… 可以肯定地说……

4.As the proverb says， 正如谚语所说的，

5.It has to be noticed that… 它必须注意到，…

6.Its generally recognized that… 它普遍认为…

7.Its likely that … 这可能是因为…

8.Its hardly that… 这是很难的……

9.Its hardly too much to say that… 它几乎没有太多的说…

10.What calls for special attention is that…需要特别注意的是

11.Theres no denying the fact that…毫无疑问，无可否认

12.Nothing is more important than the fact that… 没有什么比这更重要的是…

13.whats far more important is that… 更重要的是…

导语：小编提醒大家，要想把作文写好，要想在考研写作中得高分，平时一定得多阅读优秀的范文，特别是一些漂亮精彩的句型。同时也有必要掌握一些写作模式和技巧，不断地模仿练习，最后才能真正打造出高分作文。

一、命题依据

考研话题牵涉面广，包罗万象，变幻莫测。但从历年考研真题研究中可以发现写作基本上可粗略地划分为两大类话题：永恒话题(everlastingtopic)和热点话题(hotissue)。所谓永恒话题，是指那些不以时间和空间的转移为转移的话题。这类话题一般都是一些宏观的大话题，没有明显的时代印痕。如有关社会道德范畴的话题。另一大类是热点话题，即近几年或某一年特殊的社会现象， 媒体普遍报道过或公众普遍谈论的话题。如AdvertisementonTV(93)，温室的花朵经不起风雨(2003)等，所以，平时在生活和学习中留意类似话题的英文素材预以备战不妨是个好的办法。

二、写作技巧

1.精心构造全文的引言段

考研作文阅卷老师每天工作量很大，工作时间也较长，因此长时间批改水平参差不齐、质量高下不一的作文难免感到疲劳，厌倦，甚至气恼。据测试统计，一口气读完12 篇后才走神的人极少，定力惊人。因此，在考研写作三段制中，第一段最能吸引他们的目光和注意力，因为考研作文采用的是总体评分法(GlobalScoring)，作文评卷老师往往主要凭借第一段的总体印象打分。有人把文章的第一段说成是黄金段落，说老师就是在这一段中不断地“淘金”。这一说法是很有道理的，因此，作文要想得高分，一定要精心构造全文的第一段，最大限度地满足阅卷老师的期待心理，力争给他留下良好的第一印象。经验告诉我们，阅卷老师在看完文章的第一段后就已基本上给文章定了分数档次，即使在第二，第三段中发现文章中的其他一些美中不足之处，他也只是微调几分，总体分数还是比先定的档次低的文章要好得多。总之，引言段在全文三段中的重要性再怎么强调也不过分。如果要按重要性依次递减的顺序来排的话，那么应是引言在先，其次是结尾段，再次是拓展段。

2.制造语言的闪光点

“言之无文，行而不远”，同理语言干瘪平淡，让人看之面目可憎，读后味如嚼蜡。要想攫住阅卷老师匆匆的一瞥，留住他们的兴奋点，就非得在语言上猛下功夫，多制造些表达上的闪光点。语言是思维的外壳，语言的好坏直接影响到实际作文分数的高低。语言表达的亮点体现在小到一个词，短语大到一个句子中。高分作文往往是“锱铢必较”，几乎字字计较。很多人作文分数很低往往是因为用词面太窄。当然，词汇的积累是有个过程的。可惜的是，很多同学只能认词，却不能再现，更不用说写作时运用了。

3.避免中国式英语

母语为非英语的人学习英语时往往会将母语的思维和表达方式直接迁移到英语表达当中。中国人学英语时往往会受母语根深蒂固的影响，最易造出中国腔的英语。有人把“价格便宜”直接写成“The price is cheap”，把“这件事小菜一碟”说成“This is a small dish”，让人看后苦笑不得。因此要尽量摆脱中国试英语，方法看来只有一条：多看外国人写的文章，多多阅读。不难想象，阅卷老师如果在短短的二百字文章中到处看到Chinglish，他无法使自己对你文章的印象好起来。

4.尽量有路标词

路标词(signalword)又称衔接词(connectives)就像灯塔为在茫茫大海中航行的船只指引方向一样，它能突出文章的层次性和逻辑性。英语文章讲究启承转合。“启”就是开启观点：“承”就是接着话茬进一步发展论证或补充：“转”就是讲相反或对立的观点：“合”就是总结概括。一篇文章若没有路标词便会杂乱无章的乱堆在一起，给人凌乱没有条理的感觉。标志词或衔接词的作用绝对不可小觑。

此外，多种句型的交替使用，文章脉络层次的分明，论据的合理充分等在写作中都应引起足够的重视。

2015年12月19日大学英语四级考试继续沿用多题多卷形式，写作作文所占分值比例为15%，话题方面主要考查考生根据所提供的信息和命题考查对题目的理解和写作能力，本次考试本质要求无大变化。

本次四级写作考试作文类型：人生哲理类，话题方面均强调树立积极乐观向上、正面努力的观点的重要性，话题密切联系现实，具有一定教育启示意义。按题目要求写相应的内容是保证不跑题的方法。

我们已经拿到了三个题目，大家可以一起来看一下你考的是哪个题目。

第一篇作文题目是：

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Never go out there to see what happens, go out there to make something happen” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of being creative rather than mere onlookers in life. You should write at least 120 words, no more than 180 words.

第二篇作文题目是：

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying ‘Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission.” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of lifelong learning. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

第三篇作文题目是：

Writing

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Listening is more important than talking.” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of listening. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

此次作文，依旧没有考察“热点”的“环境、文化、网络”等大话题，而是“平民草根、接地气”的人生哲理类，三个题目在今年的考试当中有以下几个特点：

第一，易审题，延续了上一次四级写作考试“反押题”的倾向。

之前我们可能会去了解了宏观的大话题，这次考试题目预测和之前的准备有所出入。作文的主题非常开放而明显，基本上不存在跑题的问题，所有考生均可表达自己的观点。

第二，重语言，主题明确，考生比拼的就是“语言质量”本身。

一篇不再“假大空”的文章，注定不需要使用太多“大而华丽的空洞语言、口号语言”，而在于考生能否灵活运用一些基础词汇和固定表达，写出语法正确、语言流畅的文章。同学们比拼的是驾驭英语语言本身的能力，对词汇、语法、固定句型套用的熟练程度和精采程度。

第三，技巧和能力并重。

北京新东方四六级(精品课)课堂所倡导的“写作技巧与范文背诵”作文备考思路依旧得到体现和应用。考生既要规律性总结历年真题出题的特点，又要勤加背诵和练习考前的范文。宗旨，多背，多写，背好，写好，总能够在考场上有话好说，有分可拿。

第四，目前的题目是描述与议论文并重。

这次的考试其实更多的是重在考生的思考问题、发表评论、写议论文的能力。这样的话题涉及的面比较广、话题比较正式，作文考的是你真正的语言描述和议论点能力。

以上四点是我们对本次四级考试作文部分的题型的归纳和总结。大家在备考的时候还是要技巧与背诵并重。我们应该学会如何举例子、写过程、去描述，如何发表论述、论证。第二点我们可能更多的要进行考前的背诵。在新东方在线的官网上有大量的考前跟这三道题目话题非常接近的范文，不知道同学们有没有背到和下载。如果您有相应的准备加上新东方老师讲的相应的策略、技巧和方法，我想本次作文题目应该是非常简单的，手到擒来。这是我们对四级作文的一个点评。

通过我们的点评和解析，你大概了解自己的考试成绩和状态，如果你觉得自己考得不错的话，给自己放一个美好的寒假，让自己放松一下，多读一些书，跟朋友交流都可以。如果你发现自己的作文还是有问题，那你在寒假开始也许就应该开始背单词，甚至准备我们在2016年6月份四六级的考试。我们新东方在线诸多的课程包括全程班也许就是同学们一个不错的选择。

第二，对今天下午要考六级的同学，我们对作文这个专项也有一个小小的提醒，因为12月份的四级和6级的四级高度的一致，我们也可以进行一个预测，下午的六级是不是也会延续上次考试出题的风格，六级还是会出“引语作文”，给你一句名言警句，或者是给你一句名人名言，让你对名言进行评论、进行提炼、进行内涵的升华写成一篇议论文;我们也不排除出现图表作文的可能性，所以这些我们都希望同学们能够准备到，并且预祝已经考完四级的同学，能够考出理想的成绩。也预祝下午参加六级考试的各位考生能够考出理想的成绩。

如果一百份试卷里都是清一色的“I think”简单句,那阅卷人读起来将会多么的乏味,乏味至极的阅卷人又如何能给得出高分?所以,我们在写句子的时候,要尽可能的变换句式和结构,让文章富于变化,错落有致。具体地说:中考作文中,我们可以尝试使用更多的复合句,主要是宾语从句、状语从句以及尝试变化语态。例如,2008年中考北京卷作文题,以汶川地震为背景描写一个叫做林浩的小英雄的故事以及自身感受。其中有一句细节描写叫做“他救出了自己的同学并步行七小时到达安全地点。”例文给出的句子是“he saved two of his classmates. Then he walked for seven hoursto safety。” 这句话我们可以改写成为一个从句:saving two of his classmates, Lin Haowalked for seven hours to safety。

如果再加上语态的变换,还可以改写成:Being saved from the earthquake, two of LinHao’s classmates walked for seven hours to safety with Lin Hao。这样的变化在作文中能够主动使用的话,一定会增加阅卷人的青睐,从而给你的文章增加获胜的筹码。

下面是语文迷小编为大家整理提供的英语写作技巧以及关联词，供大家阅读参考。

英语写作技巧之一：用介词短语替代从句，例：

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

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

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

修改后：At the second traffic light turn left.

英语写作技巧之二：删除诸如"who is”或"that is"之类的关系代词，变从句为短语，例：

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

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

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

英语写作技巧之三：剔除你不需要的单词，例：

Two joint partners will present their views over a long-distance telephone call.

写完这样的句子后，你自己再读一遍，挑出单词"joint"和"telephone"，注意删去不必要的词。

关联词的积累

1.提出观点不要只用I think，要学会用：

As far as I am concerned

In my opinion

From my point of view

From my perspective

The way I see it

2.转折不要只用but， 要多用：

However,

nevertheless, nonetheless,

Whereas

Some people like fat meat, whereas other people hate it.

转折也可用比喻：as a coin has two sides(就象硬币有两面一样), …(陈述转折内容)

3.表递进的：

In addition, in addition to, additionally,

what is more, moreover, furthermore,

more importantly，

what is worse (更槽糕的是)

4.表示“事实上”：

In fact,

as a matter of fact,

actually

5.表总结：

in conclusion, as a result,

all in all 总而言之

In short,

In a word, 一句话讲

Taking into consideration,

Taking into account all the factors that I have mentioned above, it is safe to draw a conclusion that …

6.表示因此：

Consequently,

Hence,

Therefore,

Thus,

as a result,

resultingly

7.表因为：

because of

due to,

owing to,

thanks to,

as a result of,

8.虽然

Although, even though, even if, though

Proud as these nobles are, …

As flattered as I am, I would say no.

In spite of, despite

I love you in spite of that.

9.比较：

In comparison with,

compared to,

compared with

She’s nothing compared to you.

10.表最后：

Finally,

eventually,

in the end,

at last,

ultimately,

11.表示程度的副词词组亦非常重要，会使文章看起来比较成熟、辨证：

To some extent 在某种程度上讲

To some degree 在某种程度上讲

To a large part 在很大程度上说

In a sense 在某种意义上讲

In general, generally 大体上说

Generally speaking 一般地讲

In some cases 在有些情况下

Basically 基本上

Broadly speaking 宽泛地讲

12.其他(要尽可能多用在文章中。始终牢记内容次要，而语言形式第一位。内容服务于形式)：

Not only, but also

Neither nor, either or

Instead of, instead

For example, for instance (替换使用), take … for example

Be likely to

Be able to

Speaking of, when it comes to …

When it comes to food, he is really picky.

In terms of 根据

First of all, second of all

Above all,

Significantly,

The more, the more

☆定语和状语（时间、地点等）都属于附加成分，在基本句型中一般都不列出。

☆时态包含于句子中，任何句子都有时态。

1主语＋谓语(不及物动词)：S+V

It will rain tomorrow.

He often runs in the morning.

They cried.

Tom exercises every day.

2主语＋谓语(及物动词)＋宾语：S+V+O

I miss my mother very much.

She wants to go home now.

The English club is going to hold an English party.

They all love her.

3主语＋系动词＋表语：S+V+P

The music sounds wonderful.

The leaves have turned red.

She is a student.

We keep silent about that.

4主语＋谓语(及物动词)＋间接宾语（人）＋直接宾语（物）：S+V+IO+DO

The teacher gave a book to him.=The teacher gave him a book.

They told me an interesting story.

The waitress offered me a bottle of wine.

My father will buy me a bike.=My father will buy a bike for me.

Miss Smith teaches us English.

5主语＋谓语(及物动词)＋宾语＋宾语补足语：                                      S+V+O+C

They call me Xiao Wang.

I saw him swimming in the river.

We elected him monitor of the class.

spend one’sweekend in many different ways过周末的方式各不相同

enjoy doing things by oneself喜欢独立做事

go swimming去游泳

go for an outing/have an outing at (the seashore)去海边玩

see the sights of Beijing游览北京风光

play the piano弹钢琴

play chess下棋

have dances on weekends参加周末舞会

have a picnic over the weekend周末野餐

go to the cinema去看电影

have a party聚会

hold a sports meeting举行运动会

do some reading看书

help sb. do sth.帮某人做某事

enjoy a family trip家人共同出游

get everything ready for...为……做准备

ride one’sbike with sb. to the park骑自行车载某人去公园

She would like to bring...to the picnic.她要带……去野餐。

It was a very relaxing Sunday.这个周日过得很轻松。

There are good programs on TV on weekends.周末有好看的电视节目。

take a message for sb.给某人留口信

send a message to sb.给某人发信息

Every day is not Sunday.好景不常在,好花不常开。

hear from sb.收到某人的来信

talk about/of sth.提到某事

tell sb. to do sth.告诉某人做某事

get information about...得到……的消息

express one’sidea/feelings in English用英语表达某人的思想(感情)

Write sb. a letter saying...给某人写信说……

apologize to sb. for...因……向某人道歉

thank you for...感谢你……

make a speech at the meeting在会上讲话

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

写作是最灵活的一种测试形式。写自己提前准备的表达是提分最有效的利器。下面是语文迷为大家提供的高分英语写作方法，希望对你有帮助。

一、“功能段落”突破CET写作

“To be or not to be: that is a question。”莎士比亚如是说。冲刺阶段，背模板还是不背?我的答案：背，但绝不是盲目地背。

整篇背诵模板不是最有效的方法，因为模板的写作思路是固定的，然而很多时候试题的命题思路可能与所背模板思路不同。因此，可能导致“所背非所考”，甚至导致文不对题，生搬硬套。

但是，无论四六级写作话题如何变化，一般都对应三个或两个汉语提纲。只要按提纲要求去写相应的内容段落，就做到了紧扣主题。历年写作提纲可以总结为六种功能段落：现象描述、危害分析(弊)、原因分析、建议措施、观点阐述(观点的本质为利弊：支持方观点等于分析“利”，反方观点等于分析“弊”)、意义阐述(利)。

下面，结合近年真题展示功能段落内容：

2011-06：Online Shopping

1.现在网上购物已成为一种时尚

2.网上购物有很多好处，但也有不少问题

3.我的建议

解析：本次四级作文对应四个段落分别是：现象、观点(利、弊)和建议。该类作文可以被称之为：观点对比型作文，对比的内容重点在利弊分析上。

2010-12：How Should Parents Help Children to Be Independent?

1. 目前不少父母为孩子包办一切

2. 为了让孩子独立， 父母应该……

解析：该题目只有两个提纲：现象和建议，可以添加一个功能段落：原因。这样这篇作文就是“三段论”的形式：提出问题(负面现象描述)、分析问题(原因)、建议措施段。2010年6月CET也属于该种那类型。

2009-12：Creating a Green Campus

1. 建设绿色校园很重要

2. 绿色校园不仅指绿色的环境……

3. 为了建设绿色校园，我们应该……

解析：该段对应提纲如下：意义阐述(即分析：利或好处)、现象描述(解释绿色校园环境之外的因素)、建议措施段。

综合以上分析，六种功能段落已经涵盖住了以上考试的所有提纲。因此，如果能够掌握住六种功能段落的写作实际就掌握了四六级考试写作考题的最本质特征。那样的话，无论题目如何变化，我们准备都是有的放矢的。反观，死背模板容易导致生搬硬套，甚至文不对题。

二、写作短期提分方略

在了解了四六级考试在命题特点的基础上，考生在冲刺阶段最需要准备的是两个内容：思路和表达。思路解决怎么写的问题，表达解决写什么的问题。如果拿到一个作文题目，你知道应该按照什么思路去写，又知道应该写什么表达，这篇作文就已经成功了一半。

思路点拨：在本人所讲授的基础班、强化班、精品班等不同班型上都曾讲授到现象、原因、建议、利弊、观点分析时的逻辑：“一个中心，四个基本点”。具体内容：“以孩子(学生、事件)为中心，以家长[微博](老师、相关人员)、家庭(学校、管理机构)、社会、法规(道德意识)为基本点”。

试举例说明：以2010年12月真题为例，主题为子女教育话题。谈到子女，必然涉及到家长，孩子和家长组成家庭，千千万万的家庭组成社会，是什么在维护着社会稳定?法规和道德意识。这样我们就找到了可以入手去分析的五个方面：孩子、家长、家庭、社会、法规道德意识。如何使用这五个方面?比如分析家长溺爱孩子原因时至少可以从家长意识、家庭结构变化、社会背景角度去分析。

同理，2010年6月话题为学生英语学习，可从学生自身、教师教学、学校教学政策角度去分析。那么，如果主题不是孩子也不是学生，怎么分析?2011年6月主题为网络购物，分析时就以该事件为中心，可以想到相关人或物(买方：customers/clients/shoppers;卖方：online shops/stores;中间方：支付宝、淘宝等)，其管理机构(政府)、社会背景，相关法规是否健全等。

“一个中心，四个基本点”的分析逻辑形成一种立体化网状结构，考生运用该思维模式，只要能想到其中两到三点，思路问题即可迎刃而解。建议童鞋们首先将该思路背诵下来，以备将来可以在考场上灵活应用。

表达积累

表达分为四个层次：词句段篇。其中篇章层面只要按照提纲要求去组织文章即可，因此篇章方面不足为虑。段落方面按照“功能段落”的六种形式去识别，也小菜一碟。

词和句是表达的基本元素，也是语言质量的根本体现。在新东方教书的这几年中和参加四六级考试阅卷的经历中，看过无数学生的作文，深感学生词句方面能力的薄弱。同时结合过往教学中的成功案例，提出冲刺阶段表达积累的高效途径。

背写：思路+表达

很多同学考前也在背，背的滚瓜烂熟，脱口而出，觉得自己水平很牛!上了考场也顺利将文章写了出来，却得了一个很低的分数，为什么?因为单词都拼错了。冲刺阶段，请牢记：口头背诵得再好不等于能够写对。背写是提高写作和翻译唯一也是最有效的方法。

那么，背写什么内容哪?答案是思路和表达。思路上文中已有论述，遣词和造句的表达方面应该紧密结合功能段落来背诵有效句式和用词。考生不必刻意追求适用难词，但可以将常见词汇稍作替换：如，

exceedingly, extremely, intensely替换very;an army of/a great many/a host of 替换a lot of;advancement 替换 development; positive, favorable, promising(有希望的)， perfect, pleasurable, excellent, outstanding, superior替换good; give rise to, lead to, result in, trigger 替换cause; harbor the idea that, take the attitude that, hold the view that替换think; beneficial, rewarding替换helpful; bear in mind that替换remember; enjoy, possess替换have; shopper, client, consumer, purchaser替换customer……

表达精彩体现在三个方面：遣词、造句、连贯。大家可以结合以下例文感受这三个方面：

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minute to write a short essay on the topic of To Help or Not to Help. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given bellow:

1. 帮助别人是一种美德

2. 但是帮助陌生人容易使自己陷入麻烦

3. 我的看法

首段阐述意义：In contemporary society, it should be a virtue for individuals to offer help to those who are in need. Without this morality, it is impossible for the society to be named “Harmony”. Apparently enough, it is of great importance/ significance/ value/ benefits for people to help each other, especially in difficulties。

二段描述负面现象：However, a host of people find it hard or troublesome to offer helps to strangers. We have been frequently informed that(A typical example is that) a warmhearted man —who lends a hand to an old lady—gets himself in trouble. Since helping others may trigger trouble, a few people refuse to offer help timely. And if we let/allow this situation to continue as it is now, we would not know where civilized society will be in the forthcoming future。

尾段我的看法或建议：As college students, we should bear in mind this virtue. However, it is essential that regulations should be worked out to support this virtue. In addition, it is suggested that we should offer aid to strangers in a safe way, such as dialing 12o or 110 for help. If we try our utmost to do so, the future of our society/ civilization will be promising, hopeful and rosy. (以上范文字数为202词，请自己酌情删减即可)

三、冲刺复习安排建议

总体原则：先背再写、阶段总结、适当模拟。

先背再写：基础较差同学一定要先背一些功能句式和教材相关范文，然后模仿该作文的思路和表达去写。背写的目的是积累语言表达实力，同时练习书写的公正和优美。建议书写较差的考生买本英语字帖练一下书写，也许你会有意外的惊喜。

阶段总结：每过一周就要问自己几个问题：所背诵的表达可以用来写什么类型的文章?该类文章的相关词汇或表达有什么?关键词如何避免重复?请记住：没有复习，没有巩固。

适当模拟：在熟练掌握背写了六种功能段落的思路和表达之后，可以结合适当题目在写作中运用所讲所背所总结提分词汇、句式。建议大家能够灵活运用，做到一例多用。比如我在多个班上讲过的关于英语学习的话题作文，可以写13次四级考试的作文。

题目：On English Learning

提纲：1. 英语学习很重要;2. 英语者所面临的困难;3. 如何学好英语

In contemporary world, English learning has gained great popularity and it is of great significance. (主题句) Firstly, based on a survey, a majority of tourists acknowledge that they prefer to speak English when traveling around the world. (调查法表述)Secondly, compared with the poor English speakers, good English-speakers are superior in many ways. (比较模板句式)

However, English learners may have a variety of difficulties or troubles in their learning. (主题句) For example, it can be noticed that a large number of students have difficulty memorizing words. Sometimes, it is difficult for them to understand the rules of grammar. In addition, though some are good at reading or writing, they can not express themselves freely in English。

Then, how to get a good command of (学好) this language? I am convinced that practice makes perfect. Only practice can enable one to speak and write fluently. And it is also through practice that one can master the rules of grammar and remember words, and there is no other way. (强调句式)

导语：听说读写是构成英语语言交际能力的重要组成部分，其中要求较高的是“写”的能力。下面是yjbys作文网小编为您收集整理的资料，希望对您有所帮助。

一、学生写作过程中出现的现状

1.词汇量太少

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

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

2.词汇错误较多

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

3.写出的长句达不到表达效果

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

4.听力较弱影响写作能力

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

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

5.单词书写不规范，卷面书写较乱

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

二、提高写作的方法

1.词汇的积累

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

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

2.熟练记住单词

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

3.熟练使用简单句

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

4.加强听力训练，促进写作

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

5.书写规范，促进写作

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

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

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

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

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

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

总之，学生要提高写作能力应在教师有计划、有组织的引导下进行，开展多种形式的写作实践，努力扩大学生的生活面和知识面，以提高学生的写作能力。

开头部分:

How nice to hear from you again. Let me tell you something about the activity. I’m glad to have received your letter of Apr. 9th. I’m pleased to hear that you’re coming to China for a visit. I’m writing to thank you for your help during my stay in America.

结尾部分：

With best wishes. I’m looking forward to your reply. I’d appreciate it if you could reply earlier.

标题是文章的眉目：要以全部或不同的侧面体现作者的写作意图、文章的主旨。

毕业论文的标题一般分为总标题、副标题、分标题几种。

* (1)总标题

总标题是文章总体内容的体现。常见的写法有：

* ①揭示课题的实质。这种形式的标题，高度概括全文内容，往往就是文章的中心论点。它具有高度的明确性，便于读者把握全文内容的核心。诸如此类的标题很多，也很普遍。如“关于保险资金运用模式问题”、“保险利益论”、“机动车辆保险改革之我见”等。

* ②提问式。这类标题用设问句的方式，隐去要回答的内容，实际上作者的观点是十分明确的，只不过语意婉转，需要读者加以思考罢了。这种形式的标题因其观点含蓄，容易激起读者的注意。如“雇主责任保险没有市场吗?”。

* ③交代内容范围。这种形式的标题，从其本身的角度看，看不出作者所指的观点，只是对文章内容的范围做出限定。拟定这种标题，一方面是文章的主要论点难以用一句简短的话加以归纳;另一方面，交代文章内容的范围，可引起同仁读者的注意，以求引起共鸣。这种形式的标题也较普遍。如“试论机动车辆第三者责任强制保险制度”、“论寿险公司‘产销分离’的利弊”等。

* ④用判断句式。这种形式的标题给予全文内容的限定，可伸可缩，具有很大的灵活性。文章研究对象是具体的，面较小，但引申的思想又须有很强的概括性，面较宽。这种从小处着眼，大处着手的标题，有利于科学思维和科学研究的拓展。如“从费率的自由化看保险市场改革与监管”、“法律完善与责任保险”等。

⑤用形象化的语句。如《激励人心的营销管理体制》、《中国健康保险史上的曙光》等。

标题的样式还有多种，作者可以在实践中大胆创新。

* (2)副标题和分标题

*为了点明论文的研究对象、研究内容、研究目的，对总标题加以补充、解说，有的论文还可以加副标题。特别是一些商榷性的论文，一般都有一个副标题，如在总标题下方，添上“与××商榷”之类的副标题。

另外，为了强调论文所研究的某个侧重面，也可以加副标题。如《如何看待现阶段营销人员报酬的差别——兼谈个人所得税的合理性》。

需要注意的是：无论采用哪种形式，都要紧扣所属层次的内容，以及上文与下文的联系紧密性。

标题的要求：一要明确。二要简炼。三要新颖。

一、名人名言必背部分。

在英语作文中，我们经常会引用一些名人名言。这里就向大家介绍一些，务必要全部脱口而出!

高考英语作文素材，Culture 文化篇

1.A great poem is a fountain forever overflowing with the waters of wisdom and delight.(P. B. Shelley , British poet )伟大的诗篇即是永远喷出智慧和欢欣之水的喷泉。(英国诗人 雪莱. P. B)

2.Art is a lie that tells the truth .( Picasso , Spanish painter )美术是揭示真理的谎言。 (西班牙画家 毕加索)

3.Humor has been well defined as thinking in fun while feeling in earnest. (Mark Twain , American novelist )幽默被人正确地解释为"以诚挚表达感受，寓深思于嬉笑"。(美国小说家 马克·吐温)

4.The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation; the two keep in their downward tendency.( Johan Wolfgang von Goethe , German poet )文学的衰落表明一个民族的衰落。这两者走下坡路的时间是齐头并进的。(德国诗人歌德 . J . W .)

5.When one loves ones art no service seems too hard .(O. Henry, American novelist)一旦热爱艺术，什么奉献也不难。 (美国小说家 欧·亨利)

Education 教育篇

6.And gladly would learn , and gladly teach .( Chaucer , British poet)勤于学习的人才能乐意施教。(英国诗人, 乔叟)

7.Better be unborn than untaught , for ignorance is the root of misfortune.(Plato , Ancient Greek philosopher)与其不受教育,不如不生,因为无知是不幸的根源.(古希腊哲学家 柏拉图)

Friendship 友谊篇

8. Some friends come and go like a season. Others are arranged in our lives for good reason.(Sharita Gadison)一些朋友随季节离去，而另外一些则伴我们度过美好的季节。

9.A true friend is someone you can disagree with and still remain friends. For if not, they werent true friends in the first place.(Sandy Ratliff)真朋友是可以与你有不同见解的，如果不是，首先就不是真朋友。

10.True friendship is felt, not said.(Mariecris Madayag)朋友是说不出的感觉。

11.Friends are like stars,you dont always see them, but you know theyre always there.(Hulali Luta)朋友是感觉不到的存在。

12.Memories last forever, never do they die. Friends stay together, never say goodbye.(Melina Campos)记忆永不死，朋友永不说再见。

Health 健康篇

13.light heart lives long.( William Shakespeare , British dramatist )豁达者长寿(英国剧作家莎士比亚. W.)

14.Early to bed and early to rise , makes a man healthy , wealthy and wise.(Benjamin Franklin , American president )早睡早起会使人健康、富有和聪明。 (美国总统 富兰克林. B.)

15.The first wealth is health .( Ralph Waldo Emerson , American thinker )健康是人生第一财富。 (美国思想家爱默生. R. W.)

Happiness 幸福篇

16.A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it; it would be hell on earth. (G. Bernard Shaw, British dramatist)终身幸福!这是任何活着的人都无法忍受的，那将是人间地狱。(英国剧作家肖伯纳. G.)高考英语作文素材

17.Happiness is form courage .(H. Jackson, British writer)幸福是勇气的一种形式。 (英国作家 杰克逊. H.)

18.Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money ; it lies in the joy of achievement , in the thrill of creative effort .(Franklin Roosevelt ,American president )幸福不在于拥有金钱，而在于获得成就时的喜悦以及产生创造力的激情。(美国总统 罗斯福. F.)

19.Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be .(Abraham Lincoln ,American president )对于大多数人来说，他们认定自己有多幸福，就有多幸福。(美国总统 林肯. A.)

20.The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved .(Victor Hugo , French novelist )生活中最大的幸福是坚信有人爱我们。( 法国小说家 雨果. V .)

21.We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it . (George Bernard Shaw , British dramatist)正像我们无权只享受财富而不创造财富一样，我们也无权只享受幸福而不创造幸福.(英国剧作家肖伯纳. G. )

高考英语作文素材Ideal 理想篇

22.Do not, for one repulse, give up the purpose that you resolved to effect. (William Shakespeare , British dramatist)不要只因一次失败，就放弃你原来决心想达到的目的。(英国剧作家莎士比亚.W.)

23.Dont part with your illusions . When they are gone you may still exist,but you have ceased to live. (Mark Twain , American writer)不要放弃你的幻想。当幻想没有了以后，你还可以生存，但是你虽生犹死.(美国作家马克·吐温)

24.Ideal is the beacon. Without ideal, there is no secure direction;without direction, there is no life. ( Leo Tolstoy , Russian writer)理想是指路明灯。没有理想，就没有坚定的方向;没有方向，就没有生活。(俄国作家托尔斯泰. L .)

25.If winter comes , can spring be far behind ?(P. B. Shelley, British poet)冬天来了，春天还会远吗? ( 英国诗人, 雪莱. P. B.)

26.Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.Alexander Dumas (Davy de La Pailleterie, French Writer)生活没有目标就像航海没有指南针。 (法国作家 大仲马. A.)

27.The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.(Franklin Roosevelt , American president)实现明天理想的唯一障碍是今天的疑虑。 (美国总统 罗斯福. F .)

Knowledge 知识篇

28.Activity is the only road to knowledge.(George Bernard Shaw , British dramatist)行动是通往知识的唯一道路 。 (英国剧作家 肖伯纳. G.)

29.Imagination is more important than knowledge .(Albert Einstein , American scientist )想象力比知识更为重要。 (美国科学家 爱因斯坦. A. )

30.Knowledge is power . (Francis Bacon , British philosopher )知识就是力量。 (英国哲学家 培根. F.)

Struggle 奋斗篇

31.Genius only means hard-working all ones life. ( Mendeleyev , Russian Chemist)天才只意味着终身不懈的努力。 (俄国化学家门捷列耶夫)

32.I have nothing to offer but blood , toil tears and sweat . (Winston Churchill, British Politician)我所能奉献的没有其它，只有热血、辛劳、眼泪与汗水。(英国政治家 丘吉尔 . W.)

33.Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet . (Jean Jacques Rousseau , French thinker)忍耐是痛苦的，但它的果实是甜蜜的。 (法国思想家 卢梭. J. J.)

34.There is no royal road to science ,and only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb of gaining its numinous summits . (Karl Marx, German revolutionary )在科学上没有平坦的大道，只有不畏劳苦沿着其崎岖之路攀登的人，才有希望达到它光辉的顶点。( 德国革命家马克思. K .)

35.Where there is a will , there is a way .( Thomas Edison , American inventor )有志者，事竟成。 (美国发明家 爱迪生. T.)

二、精彩必背部分。

在作文中经常有一些好句子可以借鉴，为此，特总结如下，务必全部脱口而出。高考英语作文素材

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

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

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

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

许多专家指出体育锻炼直接有助于身体健康。

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

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

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

8.How he enjoyed himself on the computer!

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

10.However,other students are against the idea.

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

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

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

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

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

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

三、写作指导

多使用过渡性词语。这样使文章更加连贯、更具有逻辑性。

(1)表示增加的过渡词：also，and，and then，too，in addition，furthermore，moreover，again，on top ofthat，another，first second third等。

(2)表示时间顺序的过渡词：now，then，before，after，afterwards，earlier，lat er，immediately，soon，next，in afew days，gradually，suddenly，finally等。(3)表示空间顺序的过渡词：near(to)，far(from)，in frontof，behind，beside，beyond，above，below，tothe right left，around，outside等。

(4)表示比较的过渡词：in thesameway，justlike，justas等。

(5)表示对照的过渡词：but，still，yet，however，on theotherhand，onthecon trary，in spite of，even though等。

(6)表示结 果 和 原 因 的 过 渡 词：because，since，so，as a result，therefore，then，thus，otherwise等。

(7)表示目的的过渡词：forthisreason，forthispurpose，so that等。

(8)表示强调的过渡词：in fact，indeed，surely，necessarily，certainly，withoutanydoubt，truly，torepeat，aboveall，mostimportant等。

(9)表示解释说明的过渡词：forexample，in fact，in thiscase，foractually等。

(10)表示总结的过渡词：finally，atlast，inconclusion，asIhaveshown，inoth erword，in brief，in short，in general，on the whole，ashasbeen stated等。

四、获得高分的英语书面表达的六大特性。

(1)条理性。指的是合理布局文章结构。首先，在文章思路、组织材料、叙述顺序等方面要有一定的条理性。其次，根据需要，安排好段落，各段之间要层次分明，也要重视每一段的开头和结尾，开头语往往是总起句，结尾语往往是总结句。

(2)准确性。指要求写出语法正确的句子，包括时态、语态、用词和句法等，要准确、地道地表达。必须要牢牢掌握一些常用句型或习惯表达，避免中式英语，在实践中不断总结中英用法的差异，养成用英语思维写作的习惯。高考英语作文素材。

(3)流畅性。指根据整篇文章思想的需要，有效采用不同的连接手段，使文章层次清楚、行文连贯。(4)简洁多样性。简洁性就是语言简洁，不重复。多样性就是能随情景内容的变化写出句式多样的语句。这也是新课程标准对写作的评价标准。

(5)思想性。新标准对写作的要求，增加了情感因素，在准确流畅表达写作要点的同时，适当增加句子的感情色彩，增加一些人情味，使文章读起来更亲切，完全达到与读者进行交流的目的。

(6)美观性。指的是卷面书写规范、清楚、干净、整洁。

五、写作步骤

高考英语作文素材，每次写作前问自己四个问题：这篇文章的体裁格式是怎样的?主体时态用什么时态?人称用第几人称?可以分几段，之间用什么过渡词、连接词?带着这四个问题去审题，搞清楚文章的主要内容，然后列出提纲。最后丰富自己的提纲就可以了。

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

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

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

下面说一下英语写作过程中的注意事项

一、认真审题

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

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

二、列出提纲

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

三、开始写作

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

1、要统一，连贯。

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

2、用词准确，语法正确

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

3、足够字数，卷面整洁

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

四、修改

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

1、语法

包括时态是否一致，主谓是否一致，名词单复数是否对应，被动主动语态是否错用等

2、词汇

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

3、拼写和标点符号

我们知道，很多人认为大学生活是自由、舒适的，但我想说这不是真的。事实上，我的大学生活是如此的忙碌，以至于我都不知道我的能量是否足够。下面是小编帮大家整理的大学生活感触英语作文，希望大家喜欢。

As we know, many people favor theidea that the college life is free and comfortable, but I’d like to say it’snot true. As a matter of fact, my life in university is so busy that I wonderif my energy is enough. As to my college life, I divide it into four parts,including study, student activities, library and the others.

Firstly, I want to talk about thestudy. In my opinion, study is the priority in college. When I received theletter of admission in summer, I knew clearly that what I should do. So I makeup my mind to study hard and pursue learning as much as possible. I’m greatlyconvinced that knowledge can change my life. Therefore, I often go to the quietstudy room where many people study there. By working so hard, I get good gradesin the exams.

Secondly, student activities playan important role in our college life. To be honest, the student Union is agood place where one can develop social skills, get his abilities trained. Itake part in many student activities. For example, I’ m a volunteer, teachingthe kids to learn to dance and write. I think it’s meaningful for everyone togive a hand to others. I can also do some jobs in the Student Union, includingreceiving and sending fast mail, selling papers and magazines. I think they’re unforgettableand worthwhile experiences for me.

Thirdly, I also visit the libraryconstantly. It’s said that “shelves of books, oceans of knowledge”, so I readbooks that I’m interested in. In this way, I can share stories with my new friendsand it also changes my horizons .When I’m sad, lost or in trrouble, staying thelibrary makes me quiet and comfortable. After all, every life has bad momentsas well as good ones, and the library for me is a support in bad moments. So it’s wise choice for me to stay in thelibrary.

Finally, I often do other thingsin my spare time. In order to alleviate parents’ burden, I often do somepart-time jobs and write some articles to earn money. It helps me to beindependent and improve my social skills.

In short, mylife in university is busy but valuable. You can see that study brings me knowledge,student activities improve myself, library changes my horizons, the othersthings make me independent. They get all my abilities trained. And I see thatthe chance will come only if you have a prepared mind, so I’m sure that I canachieve my dreams in college life.

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

六级考试作文怎么办?来不及积累词汇来不及练习了，这里有一些作文模板挑几个熟记于心吧，一定能在考试中帮到你。

一、常见开头

1、It is well-known to us that……我们都知道……

As far as my knowledge is concerned， …就我所知…

2、Recently the problem of…… has been brought into focus

Nowadays there is a growing concern over ……最近……问题引起了关注

3、Nowadays(overpopulation)has become a problem we have to face

现今，人口过剩已成为我们不得不面对的问题

4、Internet has been playing an increasingly important role in our day-to-day life. It has brought a lot of benefits but has created some serious problems as well.

互联网已在我们的生活扮演着越来越重要的角色，它给我们带来了许多好处但也产生了一些严重的问题。

5、With the rapid development of science and technology，more and more people believe that……

随着科技的迅速发展，越来越多的人认为……

6、It is a common belief that……

==It is commonly believed that……人们一般认为……

二、阐述观点

1、People‘s views on……vary from person to person。 Some hold that……However， o thers believe that……人们对……的观点因人而异，有些人认为……然而其他人却认为……

2、People may have different opinions on……

人们对……可能会持有不同见解

3、Attitudes towards (drugs)vary from person to person。

==Different people hold different attitudes towards(failure)。人们对待吸毒的态度因人而异。

4、There are different opinions among people as to……

对于……人们的观点大不相同

三、结束语

1、In short， it can be said that……

总之，他的意思是……

2、From what has been mentioned above， we can come to the conclusion that……

从上面提到的，我们可以得出结论……

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

把所有的这些因素加以考虑，我们自然可以得出结论……

4、Hence/Therefore， we‘d better come to the conclusion that……

因此，我们最好的出这样的结论……

5、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

6、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……无法生活，但同时我们必须寻求新的解决办法来面对可能出现的新问题。

四、提出建议

1、It is high time that we put an end to the (trend).

该是我们停止这一趋势的时候了

2、There is no doubt that enough concern must be paid to the problem of……

毫无疑问，对……问题应予以足够重视

1.爱屋及乌 Love me, love my dog.

2.百闻不如一见 Seeing is believing.

3.比上不足比下有余 worse off than some, better off than many; to fall short of the best, but be better than the worst.

4.笨鸟先飞 A slow sparrow make an early start.

5.不眠之夜 whe night

6.不以物喜不以己悲 not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personnal losses

7.不遗余力 spare no effort; go all out; do ones best

8.不打不成交 No discord, no concord.

9.拆东墙补西墙 rob Peter to pay Paul

10.辞旧迎新 bid farewell to the old and usher in the new; ring out the old year and ring in the new

11.大事化小小事化了 try first to make their mistake sound less serious and then to reduce it to nothing at all

12.大开眼界 open ones eyes; broaden ones horizon; be an eye-opener

13.国泰民安 The country flourishes and people live in peace

14.过犹不及 going too far is as bad as not going far enough; beyond is as wrong as falling short; too much is as bad as too little

15.功夫不负有心人 Everything comes to him who waits.

16.好了伤疤忘了疼 once on shore, one prays no more

17.好事不出门恶事传千里 Good news never goes beyond the gate, while bad news spread far and wide.

18.和气生财 Harmony brings wealth.

19.活到老学到老 One is never too old to learn.

20.既往不咎 let bygones be bygones

21.金无足赤人无完人 Gold cant be pure and man cant be perfect.

22.金玉满堂 Treasures fill the home.

23.脚踏实地 be down-to-earth

24.脚踩两只船 sit on the fence

25.君子之交淡如水 the friendship between gentlemen is as pure as crystal; a hedge between keeps friendship green

26.老生常谈陈词滥调 cut and dried, cliché

27.礼尚往来 Courtesy calls for reciprocity.

28.留得青山在不怕没柴烧 Where there is life, there is hope.

29.马到成功 achieve immediate victory; win instant success

30.名利双收 gain in both fame and wealth

31.茅塞顿开 be suddenly enlightened

32.没有规矩不成方圆 Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards. 33.每逢佳节倍思亲 On festive occasions more than ever one thinks of ones dear ones far away.It is on the festival occasions when one misses his dear most.

34.谋事在人成事在天 The planning lies with man, the outcome with Heaven. Man proposes, God disposes.

35.弄巧成拙 be too smart by half; Cunning outwits itself

下面是语文迷为大家整理的常用的英语短语集锦，希望对大家写英语作文有所帮助。

一、动词+介词

1.look at…看…， look like … 看上去像……， look after …照料…

2.listen to…听…… 3.welcome to…欢迎到……

4.say hello to …向……问好 5.speak to…对……说话

此类短语相当于及物动词，其后必须带宾语，但宾语无论是名词还是代词，都要放在介词之后。

二、动词+副词

“动词+副词”所构成的短语义分为两类：

A.动词(vt.)+副词

1.put on 穿上 2.take off脱下 3.write down记下

此类短语可以带宾语，宾语若是名词，放在副词前后皆可;宾语若是人称代词，只能放在副词前面。

B.动词(vi)+副词。

1.come on赶快 2.get up起床 3.go home回家

4.come in进来 5.sit down坐下 6.stand up起立

此类短语属于不及物动词，不可以带宾语。

三、其它类动词词组

1.close the door 2.1ook the same 3.go to work/class 4.be ill 5.have a look/seat 6.have supper 7.1ook young 8.go shopping 9.watch TV/games 10. play games

[介词短语聚焦]

“介词+名词/代词”所构成的短语称为介词短语。现将Unitsl-16常用的介词短语按用法进行归类。

1.in+语言/颜色/衣帽等，表示使用某种语言或穿着……。

2.in + Row/ Team/ Class/ Grade等，表示“在……排/队/班级/年级”等。

3.in the morning/ afternoon/ evening/ 表示“在上午/下午/傍晚”等一段时间。

4.in the desk/ pencil-box/bedroom 等表示“在书桌/铅笔盒/卧室里”。

5.in the tree表示“在树上 (非树本身所有)”;on the tree表示“在树上(为树本身所有)”。

6.in the wall表示“在墙上(凹陷进去)”;on the wall表示“在墙上(指墙的表面)”。

7.at work(在工作)/at school(上学)/at home(在家)应注意此类短语中无the。

8.at + 时刻表示钟点。 9.like this/that表示方式，意为“像……这/那样”。

10.of短语表示所属关系。 11.behind/ beside/ near/ under+ 名词等，表示方位、处所。

12.from与to多表示方向，前者意为“从……”，后者意为“到……”。

另外，以下这些短语也必须掌握。如：on duty, after breakfast, at night, at the door, in the middle, in the sky, on one’s bike等。

[重点句型大回放]

1.I think…意为“我认为……”，是对某人或某事的看法或态度的一种句型。其否定式常用I don’t think…，

2.give sth. to sb./ give sb. sth. 意为“把……给……”，动词give之后可接双宾语，可用这两种句型;若指物的宾语是人称代词时，则只能用give it/ them to sb.

3.take sb./ sth. to…意为“把……(送)带到……”，后常接地点，也可接人。

4.One…, the other…/One is…and one is…意为“一个是……;另一个是……”，必须是两者中。

5.Let sb. do sth. 意为“让某人做某事”，人后应用不带to的动词不定式，其否定式为Don’t let sb，do sth.，或Let sb. not do sth. 另外，Let’s 与Let us的含义不完全相同，前者包括听者在内，后者不包括听者在内，

6.help sb. (to) do sth./help sb. with sth.意为“帮助某人做某事”，前者用不定式作宾补，后者用介词短语作宾补，二者可以互换. Help… out

7.What about…?/How about…?意为“……怎么样?”是用来询问或征求对方的观点、意见、看法等。about为介词，其后须接名词、代词或V-ing等形式。

8.It’s time to do…/ It’s time for sth. 意为“该做……的时间了”，其中to后须接原形动词，for后可接名词或V-ing形式。

9.like to do sth./like doing sth.意为“喜欢做某事”， 前一种句型侧重具体的一次性的动作;后一种句型侧重习惯性的动作，

10.ask sb.(not) to do sth. 意为“让某人(不要)做某事”，其中ask sb.后应接动词不定式，

11.show sb. sth. / show sth. to do. 意为“把某物给某人看”，该句型的用法同前面第2点。

12.introduce sb. to sb. 意为“把某人介绍给另一人”;introduce to sb.则是“向某人作介绍”。

[重点短语快速复习]

1.kinds of 各种各样的 2. either…or…或者……或者……，不是……就是……

3. neither…nor…既不……也不…… 4. Chinese tea without, anything in it 中国清茶

5. take a seat 就坐 6. home cooking 家常做法

7. be famous for 因……而著名 8. on ones way to在……途中

9. be sick/ill in hospital生病住院 10. at the end of在……的尽头，在……的末尾

11. wait for 等待 12. in time 及时

13. make one’s way to…往……(艰难地)走去

14. just then 正在那时 15. first of all 首先，第一

16. go wrong 走错路 17. be/get lost 迷路

18. make a noise 吵闹，喧哗 19. get on 上车

20. get off 下车 21. stand in line 站队

22. waiting room 候诊室，候车室 23. at the head of……在……的前头

24. laugh at 嘲笑 25. throw about 乱丢，抛散

26. in fact 实际上 27. at midnight 在半夜

28. have a good time=enjoy oneself玩得愉快

29. quarrel with sb. 和某人吵架 30. take one’s temperature 给某人体温

31. have/get a pain in…某处疼痛 32. have a headache 头痛

33. as soon as… 一……就…… 34. feel like doing sth. 想要干某事

35. stop…from doing sth. 阻止……干某事 36. fall asleep 入睡

37. again and again再三地，反复地 38. wake up 醒来，叫醒

39. instead of 代替 40. look over 检查

41. take exercise运动 42. had better(not) do sth. 最好(不要)干某事

43. at the weekend 在周末 44. on time 按时

45. out of从……向外 46. all by oneself 独立，单独

47. lots of=a lot of 许多 48. no longer/more=not…any longer/more 不再

49. get back 回来，取回 50. sooner or later迟早

51. run away 逃跑 52. eat up 吃光，吃完

53. run after 追赶 54. take sth. with sb. 某人随身带着某物

55. take(good) care of…=look after…(well) (好好)照顾，照料

56. think of 考虑到，想起 57. keep a diary 坚持写日记

常用英语短语

1. go to school 上学(用于专业的)go to the school 去学校(不一定是上学)

2. good way to 好方法

3. hate to do 讨厌没做过的事hate doing 讨厌做过的事

4. have a party for sb 举办谁的晚会

5. have a talk 听报告 谈一谈

6. have been doing 现在完成进行时eg : You have been talking You have been sleeping since

7. have been to …( 地方)……去过某过地方have gone to …(地方) 去了某地还没回来

8. have fun +doing 玩得高兴

9. have sth to do 有什么事要做

10. have to do sth 必须做某事

11. have trouble (problem) (in) doing sth 做什么事情有麻烦

12. have…time +doing

13. have…(时间)…off 放……假eg: I have month off 我请一个月得假

14. hear sb +do/doing 听见某人做某事/正在做某事

15. help a lot 很大用处

16. help sb with sth ones sth 帮助某人某事(某方面)help sb (to) do sth 帮助某人做某事

17. hope to do sth 希望做某事

18. How about(+doing) = What about(+doing)

19. how do you like = what do you think of 你对什么的看法

20. if : 是否=wether

21. eg: I dont know if (wether) I should go to the party 我不知道我是否应该去参加晚会

22. He dont know if (wether) we will arrive on time tomorrow morning 他不知道我们明天早上是否能准时到达

23. if :如果，假如(全部接一般时态)+条件语态从句

24. in ones opinion = sb think 某人认为

25. in some ways 在某些方面

26. in the end = finally(adv) 最后