英语二书信格式写作(推荐20篇)

要写好英语作文，还要带着敏锐的目光细心地观察，注意英语中一些表达上的习惯。小编收集了中考英语作文的写作技巧，欢迎阅读。

一、要善于模仿

对大多数学习英语的同学来说，英语的词汇量、句式的积累还极其有限，远不能达到用英文流畅表达，挥洒自如的境地。在这一阶段进行创作是不合时宜的，如果非要创造，只能写出“long time no see”这样的文字来。因此，模仿是这一阶段的必经途径。

谈到模仿，一些同学的办法就是背一堆范文，然后再到考场上进行一个“剪切”、“粘贴”的工作，效果可想而知。这不是真正意义上的模仿，充其量算是默写课文。如何模仿呢?

首先，模仿的目标要明确。模仿的重点永远要放在一定的句式结构上，而非个别的词汇。道理很简单：一个词，随着文章内容的变换，可能就不能用了;而句式结构是放置四海而皆准的东西，适用的范围广，学来对写作的帮助也就明显。

其次，模仿的材料要地道。像新概念英语这样的教材就提供了很多原汁原味的英语表达法。盲目选择文章学习，记一些不中不洋的句子，以讹传讹，浪费时间。

最后，模仿要体现在实际动笔上。比如说，新概念第三册有一个句式说：“…for the simple reason that…”表示某种现象的原因是什么，用在大学英语考试中，我们就可以拿来解释为什么自行车在中国如此的流行，表达为：“the bicycle is very popular in china for the simple reason that…”。然而，很多同学经常背了这些句式不用，一谈到原因仍然是“…because…”，等等。

二、要灵活变通

在批改英语作文的过程中，经常能发现一些将中文生硬地翻译成英文的表达法。由于中英文之间的差异和词汇量、表达法积累的不足，出现难于表达的情况是十分正常的。关键问题在于如何处理。有一句话叫做“立志如山，行道如水”，套用在这个问题上就很合适。写英文作文，一定要有决心把它写好，有信心把意思表达清楚，这是“立志如山”;但关键是遇到问题时要有个灵活的态度，能像流水一样变通解决问题。

有个翻译界的故事说：在某大型国际会议的招待会上，一道菜是用鸡蛋做的。与会的客人问翻译：“what is it made of?”本来是非常简单的一个问题，结果翻译太紧张，忘了“egg”这个词，但是他急中生智，回答：“it is made of miss hen’s son.”这里，就是一个灵活变通的范例。绕道表达，是写作中应该常常运用的一种方法。

三、要细心观察

要写好英语作文，还要带着敏锐的目光细心地观察，注意英语中一些表达上的习惯。

比如说，在正式文体的写作中，很少用 “it isn"t”这样的略缩形式，而往往是一板一眼地写作 “it is not”。同理，在正式文体中的日期一般不缩写，阿拉伯数字一般会用英文表达(特别长的数字除外)。

再比如说，翻翻新概念第三册所有的课文，会发现凡是一段文章的段首句出现转折时，转折词however都放在句子结构中的第二部分，以插入语的形式出现。分析原因，是因为段落一开始就用转折词，会时转折显得较生硬、突兀。

最后，许多同学在写作文时，习惯于把 “since” “because” “for”这样的词放在句首引导原因状语从句。事实上，在我们见到的英语报刊杂志文章中，这样的从句一般都是放在主句之后的。另外, “and”也常常被误放在一句话的开头，表示两个句子之间的并列或递进关系。其实，经常留心地道的英语文章能发现，如果是并列关系，完全可以不用连词;如果是递进关系，用 “furthermore” “what is more”更为普遍。

四、要心有全局

英文写作十分强调形式上的严谨性，特别是全局的丝丝入扣。如果写作时结构意识良好，应试写作就简化成为一个填空的过程了。框架万变不离其宗，适当地填如观点、素材，文章就自然而然地立起来了。

掌握了这些英文写作中的练习技巧，会使提高英文写作水平的努力有更大的收益。

下面智康教育跟大家分享写作的“五项基本原则” ：

1、 长短句原则

工作还得一张一驰呢，老让读者读长句，累死人!写一个短小精辟的句子，相反，却可以起到画龙点睛的作用。而且如果我们把短句放在段首或者段末，也可以揭示主题：

as a creature, i eat; as a man, i read. although one action is to meet the primary need of my body and the other is to satisfy the intellectual need of mind, they are in a way quite similar.

如此可见，长短句结合，抑扬顿挫，岂不爽哉?牢记!

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

2、 主题句原则

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

特别提示：隐藏主体句可是要冒险的!

to begin with, you must work hard at your lessons and be fully prepared before the exam(主题句). without sufficient preparation, you can hardly expect to answer all the questions correctly.

3、 一二三原则

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8)most important of all, moreover, finally

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

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

4、 短语优先原则

写作时，尤其是在考试时，如果使用短语，有两个好处：其一、用短语会使文章增加亮点，如果老师们看到你的文章太简单，看不到一个自己不认识的短语，必然会看你低一等。相反，如果发现亮点—精彩的短语，那么你的文章定会得高分了。其二、关键时刻思维短路，只有凑字数，怎么办?用短语是一个办法!比如：

i cannot bear it.

可以用短语表达：i cannot put up with it.

i want it.

可以用短语表达：i am looking forward to it.

这样字数明显增加，表达也更准确。

5、 多变句式原则

1)加法(串联)

都希望写下很长的句子，像个老外似的，可就是怕写错，怎么办，最保险的写长句的方法就是这些，可以在任何句子之间加and, 但最好是前后的句子又先后关系或者并列关系。比如说：

i enjor music and he is fond of playing guitar.

如果是二者并列的，我们可以用一个超级句式：

not only the fur coat is soft, but it is also warm.

其它的短语可以用：

besides, furthermore, likewise, moreover

2)转折(拐弯抹角)

批评某人缺点的时候，我们总习惯先拐弯抹角说说他的优点，然后转入正题，再说缺点，这种方式虽然阴险了点，可毕竟还比较容易让人接受。所以呢，我们说话的时候，只要在要点之前先来点废话，注意二者之间用个专这次就够了。

the car was quite old, yet it was in excellent condition.

the coat was thin, but it was warm.

更多的短语：

despite that, still, however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, notwithstanding

3)因果(so, so, so)

昨天在街上我看到了一个女孩，然后我主动搭讪，然后我们去咖啡厅，然后我们认识了，然后我们成为了朋友…可见，讲故事的时候我们总要追求先后顺序，先什么，后什么，所以然后这个词就变得很常见了。其实这个词表示的是先后或因果关系!

the snow began to fall, so we went home.

更多短语：

then, therefore, consequently, accordingly, hence, as a result, for this reason, so that

4)失衡句(头重脚轻，或者头轻脚重)

有些人脑袋大，身体小，或者有些人脑袋小，身体大，虽然我们不希望长成这个样子，可如果真的是这样了，也就必然会吸引别人的注意力。文章中如果出现这样的句子，就更会让考官看到你的句子与众不同。其实就是主语从句，表语从句，宾语从句的变形。

举例：this is what i can do.

whether he can go with us or not is not sure.

同样主语、宾语、表语可以改成如下的复杂成分：

when to go, why he goes away…

5)附加(多此一举)

如果有了老婆，总会遇到这样的情况，当你再讲某个人的时候，她会插一句说，我昨天见过他;或者说，就是某某某，如果把老婆的话插入到我们的话里面，那就是定语从句和同位语从句或者是插入语。

the man whom you met yesterday is a friend of mine.

i don’t enjoy that book you are reading.

mr liu, our oral english teacher, is easy-going.

其实很简单，同位语--要解释的东西删除后不影响整个句子的构成;定语从句—借用之前的关键词并且用其重新组成一个句子插入其中，但是whom or that 关键词必须要紧跟在先行词之前。

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

1、 More hasty，less speed. 欲速则不达。

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

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

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

5、 Look before you leap. 三思而后行。

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

7、 Great minds think alike. 英雄所见略同。

8、 well begun，half done. 好的开始等于成功的一半。

9、 It is hard to please all. 众口难调。

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

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

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

13、 Practice makes perfect. 熟能生巧。

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

15、 Easier said than done. 说起来容易做起来难。

16、 First things first. 凡事有轻重缓急。

17、 Ill news travels fast. 坏事传千里。

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

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

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

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

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

23、 Beauty will buy no beef. 漂亮不能当饭吃。

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

25、 The older， the wiser. 姜是老的辣。

26、 Do as Romans do in Rome. 入乡随俗。

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

词汇拼写错误较为严重，词汇选用上会有不当的情况。

应对策略就是平时阅读过程中注意单词拼写，关注单词使用语境，多积累高级词汇和句型。

语法掌握不好，句子的基本构成主谓结构掌握不清。

Due to the fact that the mental state, we have to keep a balance between the physical and the mental.

这句话中，due to the fact that后面需要接一个句子，而上句中只是一个名词性短语，所以错误。另外，between...and...需要连接两个名词短语，上句中形容词physical和mental后缺少名词性成分。改正为Due to the fact that the mental state plays a significant role, we have to keep a balance between the physical well-being and the mental health.

格式不正确，结构不清晰，汉语式英文思维太过明显，翻译的过程中常常不合英文写作要求。

应对的策略是多阅读范文，写作前列提纲，注意使用衔接词。

格式不正确常常出现在应用文中，有人会忘记写落款。这是我们在写作过程中特别需要注意的，否则格式错误就要相应的扣分。另外，有些文章结构不清晰，或者没有分段，或者段落之间的内容混乱。开头段就开始论述问题，第二段提出建议，结尾段又给出原因，逻辑混乱不清，抓不住重点。所以我们在写文章时一定要先打腹稿，明确行文结构和大概内容，这样在写作过程中才不至于不知道说什么，甚至瞎写一通。

总而言之，新大纲非常强调大家的英语写作技能，我们在平时的备考过程中一定要多进行英文文章的写作，养成良好的写作习惯，注意单词拼写、语法检查、逻辑结构，这样写出的文章才能过关。

春华秋实，颗粒满仓。下面语文迷收集了秋天的英文句子，欢迎阅读。

1. 我认为秋天是一年中最美的季节。

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

2. 秋天时叶子变黄。

The leaves turn yellow in autumn.

3. 在秋天的晚上，我感到一丝凉意。

I feel a little cool in the autumnal night.

4. 秋天里树木都是光秃秃的。

The trees were naked during autumn.

5. 今天的天气已露出了一丝秋天的气息。

There is a breath of autumn in the air today.

6. 九月的天气确实像秋天了。

The weather in September was positively autumnal.

7. 我喜欢收集秋天赤褐色的叶子。

I like to collect russet autumn leaves.

8. 我们欣赏着秋天里新英格兰树林的瑰丽色彩。

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

9.夜半酒醒人不觉，满池荷叶动秋风

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

10.生命如此简单，如秋，如落叶。

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

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

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

12.那是一幅描绘秋天景色的油画。

That is an oil painting of a landscape in spring.

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。

高考中的写作部分既限制字数，又要包含所有要点，且不能逐条翻译。如果写作方法运动得当，会有明显的提分效果。下面来看看小编为大家带来的方法吧。

一、 从词汇入手，强化短语写作

有研究表明，词汇学习可以促进英语水平的提高(文秋方，1998)。培养和提高学生的英语写作能力应从词和句入手，抓好基础训练。英语是结构语言，具有其自身的固定搭配、习惯用语和基本句型(陈立华，2003)。而《牛津高中英语》教材大量的词汇和地道的生活语言、任务型编排体系以及文本体裁的多样性，为“写”提供了基本素材。教师可根据不同话题的写作要求，采用不同形式的方法对学生进行写作基础训练。比如：关键词和短语写作训练法，即教师根据本单元的写作话题，每天精心选择2～3个词组或句型，让学生做翻译和造句练习;一周之后，让学生运用这些词组和句型进行写作。通过这种训练方法，既可以培养学生的写作能力，又可以提高写作的效率，还可以帮助学生掌握一些习惯用语和句子结构，从而提高学生遣词造句的能力。

二、抓好基本句型的训练，促进写作

书面表达题是由许多句子组成的，句子是写文章的基础。要完成书面表达题，首先要从句子入手，指导学生如何用句子表意。从语言形态学的角度看，英语属于分析型的语言，它有较为固定的基本句型、稳定搭配、俗成短语等，要想在写作中用好它们，必须加强这方面的基本训练。

首先，要加强五种基本句型的教学训练。几乎所有的英语句型都是这五种句型的扩大、延伸或变化，因此训练学生“写”就要抓住五种基本句型，熟练掌握这五种基本句型。五种基本句型是：S+V，S+V+O，S+V+O+O，S+V+O+C，S+V+P。五种基本句型虽然能表达一定的意思，但无法比较自由地表达思想，因此还必须对学生进行扩句训练，在课堂上充分发挥学生的想象力。

其次，加强句型教学，要对一些句子进行分析，增强学生利用各种句子进行一意多种表达的训练。

最后，充分利用教材，对学生进行基本语感的训练。

三、从阅读入手，培养写作表达技巧

阅读与写作密不可分，阅读是写作的基础，是搜集素材、学习词汇句型和新颖表达方式的源泉。因此，教师应想方设法把阅读与写作结合起来，利用教材训练学生的写作技能，在阅读能力的培养过程中融入多种形式的写作技能训练，将写作教学贯穿于阅读教学中。笔者采用了如下方法：

1.利用教材，开展改写

在完成阅读教学，学生基本掌握文章内容的基础上，笔者进一步指导学生改写文章。改写要求学生注意人称、时态、直接引语、间接引语、遣词造句和谋篇布局等方面的变化，充分理解课文内容，认真思考，写出语言得体、内容完整的文章。例如：《牛津高中英语》模块6 Unit 2What Is Happiness to You?的Reading部分是一篇以对话采访形式出现的课文，在采访过程中，嘉宾Dr.Brain以体操运动员桑兰的经历为例，谈到他对幸福的理解。在完成阅读教学后，笔者要求学生用第三人称写一篇介绍桑兰的作文，并鼓励学生引用课文中描述桑兰的经典词汇和例句。如：hard?鄄working, energet?鄄ic, stay optimistic/positive, in good spir?鄄its; She was happy to devote herself to gym?鄄nastics等。通过这些训练，学生既加深了对课文的理解，又运用了所学重点词汇，同时学生的写作技能得到了实际的锻炼。

2.模仿范文，鼓励仿写

写的过程实际上是模拟读者阅读的过程;而阅读也是模拟写作的行为(戴军熔，2002)。教师可给学生一篇与书面表达体裁和题材相同的范文，让学生通过阅读完成类似话题的写作任务。例如：《牛津高中英语》模块1 Unit 3 Looking Good，Feeling Good的写作话题是保持健康。笔者从英文报刊上选择一篇有关如何科学合理地减肥、健身的报道，先让学生在课堂上进行限时阅读，然后提问学生：Which do you think is more important，looking good or feeling good? How would you keep fit?Why?等。学生通过模仿阅读材料的结构进行写作。通过阅读带动写作，由知识的输入到知识的输出，提高了学生表达的条理性和连贯性，为学生提供了写作策略和技能。

四、培养学生用英语写作的习惯

“临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网。”如果仅仅掌握了写作技巧，熟背了大量文章，不亲自动手实践还是不行的，没有一成不变的文章让你照搬。《英语课程标准》指出：基础教育阶段英语课程的总体目标是培养学生的综合语言运用能力。因此，我们要遵循“一切为了运用”的原则，提倡和鼓励学生亲自实践，动手写作，用英语给亲人、朋友、老师写信，用英语写日记，或用英语写便条，写留言短信，还可以用英语与老师谈心或反映情况，或给老师写每周情况报告或总结。只有将所学内容适时地运用于实际生活，才能内化成自己的能力。

五、重视写作的规范化训练

起始阶段的写作训练，培养学生良好的写作习惯非常重要。首先，书写和文体格式要规范。严格要求学生正确、端正、熟练地书写字母、单词和句子，注意大小写和标点符号，养成良好的书写习惯。同时对各种文体特点、格式要清楚，使学生熟悉规范的书面表达形式，用正确的标准评析和规范自己的书面表达。其次，写作过程要规范。一般来说，短文写作都要有以下步骤：审清题目要求;确定写作要点;选好动词，搭好句子骨架;有效连接，使短文结构紧凑;认真检查，保证卷面整洁。对学生进行写作模式的训练，这样看起来比较麻烦，但避免了反复，养成了好的写作习惯。

总之，随着新课改的实施和近几年高考(微博)评分标准的完善，对学生的书面表达能力提出了新的要求。作为高中英语教师，在教学中要根据不同时期学生的具体情况采取相应的教学方法，灵活多样地开展英语写作教学，有效调动学生的积极性，定能使学生厚积薄发，写出行文通顺、流畅、有文采的佳篇妙作来。

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

1、没有理解英语的基本句子成分是“主语”+“谓语”

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

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

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

2、动词短语搭配不准确

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

3、丛句语序和连接词问题

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

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

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

4、句子使用的句型单一

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

针对以上问题我以后在讲课文和精读篇阅读理解试题时，要注意以下两点：

1、利用课文逐句帮助学生分析理解英文句子的基本结构，即“主语+谓语”；

2、要求学生把有用的动词短语、名词短语以及插入语记牢记清楚。

3、每单元的语言目标，一定要理解并记忆。

4、是学生学会句子的变换使用，有必要时做些句型转换练习。

一、审题

我们拿到作文后第一件要做的事就是审题。审题的作用在于使你写作不跑题(如果跑题，条理和语言再好，也得不到及格分，甚至0分。)那末审题要审什麽呢?

1.体裁(议论文，说明文，描述文)

审题就是要审作文的题材和体裁。因为什末样的体裁就会用什末样的题材去写。那末体裁包括那些呢?它包括议论文，说明文和描述文。从近些年看，四级作文不是单一的体裁，而是几种体裁的杂合体。例如： Directions: For this part ,your are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topicTrying to Be A Good University Student .You should write at least 100 words and you shouldbase your composition on the outline (given in Chinese ) below :

1.做合格大学生的必要性

2.做合格大学生的必备条件(可以从德智体方面谈)

3.我计划这样做

很多人说这种类型的作文是议论文。这是片面的，因为，第一段要求写"...必要性"，这说明本段体裁是议论文;第二段要求写"

...必备条件"，这说明本段要求写说明文;儿地三段要求写"...这样做"，这说明本段要求写描述文。所以在大多数情形下，四级作文是三种体裁的杂合体。

2.根据不同体裁确定写作方法

我们审题的目的就是根据不同体裁确定不同的写作方法。通过审题，我们可以看出四级作文大都是三段式。如上例第一段为议论体，第二段为说明体，地三段为描述体。而各种文体又不同的写作方式： 议论文;要有论点和论据，而且往往从正反两方面来论述。例如上面第一段的思路是：做合格大学生，会怎末样(这是从正面论述);不能做合格的大学生，会怎末样(从反面论述);所以我们要做合格的大学生(结了论)。

说明文：可以从几方面或几条来说明一个问题，就上作文而言，可以从方面(德智体)来说明合格大学生的必要性。

描述文：一"人"为中心描述一个"做"的过程。与上两段相比，本段的主语多为人称代词，他要与第二段相互应进行描述。 二 确定主题句

通过审题，我们知道该如何确定正确的写作思路。下边我们就谈如何些。第一部就是要写主题句。主题句是确保不跑题的前提，只有不跑题才有可得及格分。写主题句嘴保险的方法就是把中文提纲的各句译成英语。例如上述三段主题句分别为：

1.It is very necessary to be a good university student . (议论体的主题句)

2.There are several respects of necessities to be a good university student .(说明体的主题句)

3.What I will do in the future is the following .(描述体主题句)

如果要求句是英语就可以把它变成主题句，例如这样一篇作文：

Good Health

1.Importance of good health

2.Ways to keep fit

3.My own practice

这样的作文的要求句就可以扩充成主题句。扩充后三段的主题句分别为：

1.It is very important to have good health .(将名词 importance变成形容词important)

2.There are four ways to keep fit for me .(用 there be 句型)

3.My own practices are the following .(采用原词)

二、条理清楚

保证不跑提示写作当中第一任务，第二个重要任务就是要做到条理清楚。对于议论文来说，正反面要清楚，对于说明文来说条理要清楚，对于描述文来说，谁干什么要清楚。就拿上例Good health 来说，第一段保持正反面要清楚救应这样写：正面(With good health ,we can...)，反面(Without good health ,we cando nothing .We cant do...)

为了使文章更具有条理性，我们可以用first(ly) second(ly) third(ly)等副词，他们可以是文章的条例性更加突出。作文是主观题，想得告分就必须引起老师的主意，老师的时间很短(每篇作文只有一两分钟就要阅完)，所以我们在列调试最好不用: To be with,... after that ,...And then, ... The next , ... Thefollowing , ... As last ... 。因为用这样的词语不利于老师看出你作文的条理性。

三、保证作文符合字数要求的十二句作文法

考生一般都希望作文达到字数而又不至于写得太多，因为写得太多一方面暴露自己语言上的弱点，另一方面又会占用过多的时间。写得太多还易跑题，一个有效的方法就是十二句作文法。

我们知道，四级作文都是三段式。我们算一下，如果我们在每一段中写上四句，即主题句加两三句扩展句和一个结论句就可以了。这样全片在十二句左右，每一句十多个词，就又120-150个字。大家可以试图找一些作文题练一练。

想要写好英语作文平常肯定少不了积累，下面是语文迷网整理的关于中考英语作文的句子素材，希望对你有帮助。

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

人们似乎忽视了教育不应该随着毕业而结束这一事实。

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

越来越多的人开始意识到教育不能随着毕业而结束。

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

说到教育，大部分人认为其是一个终生的学习。

7. Many experts point out that physical exercise contributes directly to a persons physical fitness.

许多专家指出体育锻炼直接有助于身体健康。

8. Proper measures must be taken to limit the number of foreign tourists and the great efforts should be made to protect local environment and history from the harmful effects of international tourism.

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

9. An increasing number of experts believe that migrants will exert positive effects on construction of city. However， this opinion is now being questioned by more and more city residents， who complain that the migrants have brought many serious problems like crime and prostitution.

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

10. Many city residents complain that it is so few buses in their city that they have to spend much more time waiting for a bus， which is usually crowded with a large number of passengers.

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

11. There is no denying the fact that air pollution is an extremely serious problem： the city authorities should take strong measures to deal with it.

无可否认，空气污染是一个极其严重的问题：城市当局应该采取有力措施来解决它。

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

一项调查显示妇女欢迎退休。

13. A proper part-time job does not occupy students too much time. In fact， it is unhealthy for them to spend all of time on their study. As an old saying goes： All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

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

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

任何政府忽视这一点都将付出巨大的代价。

15.Nowadays， many students always go into raptures at the mere mention of the coming life of high school or college they will begin. Unfortunately， for most young people， it is not pleasant experience on their first day on campus.

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

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

考虑到问题的严重性，在事态进一步恶化之前，必须采取有效的措施。

17. The majority of students believe that part-time job will provide them with more opportunities to develop their interpersonal skills， which may put them in a favorable position in the future job markets.

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

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

无可争辩，现在有成千上万的人仍过着挨饿受冻的痛苦生活。

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

尽管这一观点被广泛接受，很少有证据表明教育能够在任何地点、任何年龄进行。

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

没有人能否认：教育是人生最重要的一方面。

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

人们把会使用计算机与人生成功相提并论。

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

在过去的几十年，先进的医疗技术已经使得人们比过去活的时间更长成为可能。

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

事实上，我们必须承认生命的质量和生命本身一样重要。

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

我们应该不遗余力地美化我们的环境。

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

人们相信拥有计算机技术可以获得更多工作或提升的机会。

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

从这几年我搜集的信息来看，这些知识并没有人们想象的那么有用。

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

现在，人们普遍认为没有一所大学能够在毕业时候教给学生所有的知识。

28. This is a matter of life and death——a matter no country can afford to ignore.

这是一个关系到生死的问题，任何国家都不能忽视。

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

我同意后者，有如下理由：

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

在给出我的观点之前，我想看看双方的观点是重要的。

31. This view is now being questioned by more and more people.

这一观点正受到越来越多人的质疑。

32. Although many people claim that， along with the rapidly economic development， the number of people who use bicycle are decreasing and bicycle is bound to die out. The information Ive collected over the recent years leads me to believe that bicycle will continue to play extremely important roles in modern society.

尽管许多人认为随着经济的高速发展，用自行车的人数会减少，自行车可能会消亡， 然而，这几年我收集的一些信息让我相信自行车仍然会继续在现代社会发挥极其重要的作用。

33. Environmental experts point out that increasing pollution not only causes serious problems such as global warming but also could threaten to end human life on our planet.

环境学家指出：持续增加的污染不仅会导致像全球变暖这样严重的问题，而且还将威胁到人类在这个星球的生存。

34. In view of such serious situation， environmental tools of transportation like bicycle are more important than any time before.

考虑到这些严重的状况，我们比以往任何时候更需要像自行车这样的环保型交通工具。

35. Using bicycle contributes greatly to peoples physical fitness as well as easing traffic jams.

使用自行车有助于人们的身体健康，并极大地缓解了交通阻塞。

36. Despite many obvious advantages of bicycle， it is not without its problem.

尽管自行车有许多明显的优点，但是它也存在它的问题。

37. Bicycle cant be compared with other means of transportation like car and train for speed and comfort.

在速度和舒适度方面，自行车是无法和汽车、火车这样的交通工具相比的。

38. From what has been discussed above， we may safely draw the conclusion that advantages of bicycle far outweigh its disadvantages and it will still play essential roles in modern society.

通过以上讨论，我们可以得出结论：自行车的优点远大于缺点，并且在现代社会它仍将发挥重要作用。

39. There is a general discussion these days over education in many colleges and institutes. One of the questions under debate is whether education is a lifetime study.

当前在高校和研究机构对教育存在着大量争论，其中一个问题就是教育是否是个终身学习的过程。

40. This issue has caused wide public concern.

这个问题已经引起了广泛关注。

41. It must be noted that learning must be done by a person himself.

必须指出学习只能靠自己。

42. A large number of people tend to live under the illusion that they had completed their education when they finished their schooling. Obviously， they seem to fail to take into account the basic fact that a persons education is a most important aspect of his life.

许多人存在这样的误解，认为离开学校就意味着结束了他们的教育。显然，他们忽视了教育是人生重要部分这一基本事实。

43. As for me， Im in favor of the opinion that education is not complete with graduation， for the following reasons：

就我而言，我同意教育不应该随着毕业而结束的观点，有以下原因：

44. It is commonly accepted that no college or university can educate its students by the time they graduate.

人们普遍认为高校是不可能在毕业的时候教会他们的学生所有知识的。

45. Even the best possible graduate needs to continue learning before she or he becomes an educated person.

即使最优秀的毕业生，要想成为一个博学的人也要不断地学习。

46. It is commonly thought that our society had dramatically changed by modern science and technology， and human had made extraordinary progress in knowledge and technology over the recent decades.

人们普遍认为我们的现代科技使我们的社会发生了巨大的变化，近几十年人类在科技方面取得了惊人的进步。

47. Now people in growing numbers are beginning to believe that learning new skills and knowledge contributes directly to enhancing their job opportunities or promotion opportunities.

现在越来越多的人开始相信学习新的技术和知识能直接帮助他们获得工作就会或提升的机会。

48. An investigation shows that many older people express a strong desire to continue studying in university or college.

一项调查显示许多老人都有到大学继续学习的愿望。

49. For the majority of people， reading or learning a new skill has become the focus of their lives and the source of their happiness and contentment after their retirement.

对大多数人来讲，退休以后，阅读或学习一项新技术已成为他们生活的中心和快乐的来源。

50. For people who want to adopt a healthy and meaningful life style， it is important to find time to learn certain new knowledge. Just as an old saying goes： it is never too late to learn.

对于那些想过上健康而有意义的生活的人们来说，找时间学习一些新知识是很重要的，正如那句老话：活到老，学到老。

从每年的考试情况来看，很多同学能完整地按照要求把文章写出来，但得分却较低。实际上，高考英语书面表达是一个分值颇高且易得分的题型，只是很多同学没有掌握得分技巧。下面我们一起看看怎样才能让高考作文拽起来。

一、几点重要原则

1.智者利用押题，傻子依赖押题!

2.书面表达整篇背诵绝无必要，可以以看读为主，关键是从中汲取一些常用的词汇和表达，并能得体熟练地运用。考场上应变能力很重要!

3.英文写作模仿很重要。有时也很有效。但不能过于牵强，尤其是对一些长难句的刻意模仿使用。

4.文似看山不喜平，起承转合一定要有!

5.见微知著，一叶知秋，几个亮点足矣：有道是：浓妆淡抹总相宜，作文写得简洁到位要比长篇大论更显功力。

6.心不为形役。不要身陷逐字逐句英汉对号式的字面翻译，要把表达的主动权始终握在自己手里。

二、善用万能句以不变应万变

历届高考，书面表达考得最多是提示作文，即提供一定的情景内容，要求考生完成100词左右的短文。

从命题方式看，有短文提示、要点提示、图画提示、情景提示以及图表提示等；体裁以应用文为主，记叙文为辅：题材为广大中学生所熟悉的日常生活。从提供要点的情景方面看，历届高考书面表达题均属供料小作文，采用文字供料或文字说明加图画(图表)的方式供料。

备考时，同学们要利用有限的时间把以前背的范文整理一下，从中选出不同体裁、不同题材的范文各一篇(范文以高考真题的高分作文为佳)，把它们重新记忆，一定记牢。这样，高考时不管什么样的文章都可套用背诵好的格式。避免考场上因紧张而无章可循。

最后阶段，还要总结一下写作时常用且能出彩的固定句型、句式，比如强调句型、定语从句、名诃性从句等，牢记英语的五个基本句式，背诵平时老师总结的万能句。以不变应万变。

考场答题前，应仔细审题，研究所提供的文字和图画(图表)材料和作文要求。分析、提炼要点，理顺要点，确立基本的写作思路，不要忽略任何一个词。关键的词更不能遗漏，构思好写几个方面，缺一不可。

写作时，尽量用学过的英语句型和词组。少写长句和复杂句以免弄巧成拙、漏洞百出。但目前高考有关书面表达的评分标准要求作文中应有较多的语法结构和词汇，因此同学们在书面表达中不能都写小句、短句和单句，还要正确运用高级词汇和复杂结构。恰当运用过渡词，使写出来的文章含金量更高，更具可读性。

三、高分作文六大特性

1.条理性。指的是合理安排文章结构。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。

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。

四、怎样才能有拽的感觉

1.高考写作的实质变相考查句型与词汇的灵活应用

英语写作不同于语文作文的写作，如果说语文作文是一个自由发挥的舞蹈，那么高考英语写作就是带着枷锁在跳舞。我之所以这样来形容，是因为高考英语写作的内容都已经通过文字、表格、图片这三种形式给定，内容方面，不需要学生进行发挥，大家所需要发挥的就是不要老去给这个不变的内容穿毫无变化的校服(简单句)，而要去穿一些不一样的衣服，让它显得不那么单调，让阅卷老师能看到不同，而那些所谓的衣服也就是多变句型与词汇。

2.写作的评分标准怎么去迎合评卷老师的胃口

我了解到目前很大一部分学生的作文都处在15分左右，写作满分25分，15分也就是个及格分，那么15分和20多分的作文到底差在哪里?这个问题很容易回答。15分的作文中规中矩，该对的都对，包括内容要点的完整，语法与词形的正确，但是全都是简单句子的堆砌，没有任何亮点。而20多分的作文在句型词汇方面就做了很好的包装，它的句子穿的衣服已经不是校服，而是李宁、耐克，或者是阿迪，所以让人觉得很拽，而高考英语写作要的就是这种很拽的感觉。

3.写作提分的三要素句型。连词。高级词汇

句子是我们写作文最大的单位。有了漂亮的句子。用好的连词将其连句成段，再加上一些如星星般亮点词汇的点缀，一篇好的高考英语作文就诞生了。而这三个因素中最容易把握的是句子，最难的是高级词汇，限于大家的词汇还比较有限。一篇文章中出现那么一两个就够了。我们应该把重心放在句型上，因为这个最容易把握。

但是大家又有这样的困惑，学校里老师也给了我们很多的句型啊，动辄成五十上百句的，大家背得挺多，但是面对考试的时候，发现背的那些怎么也用不上。其实不是那些东西没有用，而是它们太干了，就好比一根干骨头，大家嚼起来很没有味。也不知道该把它们往哪里放。

在这里我给大家提供一种比较切实可行、迅速提高的练习方法，在接下来的时间里只要大家按照这个方法来，就一定会有收获。

找出历年真题，一周只需要写两篇。但是要这么来写。

1.把你要写的内容要点用九到十句的汉语表达出来。

2.逐一地进行翻译，不是用简单句。而是要刻意地去想：

(1)可以用什么样的复杂句；

(2)怎样去避开不会的表达，转义。

例如：

这本书是如此的有趣，以至于我读了一遍又一遍。

1.This book was so interest，ing that l read it again and again，

2.This was such an interest，ing book that l read it again andagain，

3.This was s0 jnteresting abook that l read it again and again

4.So interesting was thisbook that l read it again and again

这四句译文当中无疑评卷老师最欣赏的是第四句，因为它用了倒装。

4.如何备考

其实这种思维大家都有。但是没有成为一种思路，让它能在考试中起到作用，那是因为大家练得少。英语写作处在一种很尴尬的境地，一方面大家要分数。但另外一方面大家一个学期里写的作文也就是期中期末的两篇。毫不夸张地说，有的学生上了三年的高中可能只写了六篇作文，所以练习是很重要的，要是现在不练而把高考当练习。那么作文只拿14、15分也合情合理了，到那时你不要骂评卷老师不公平，而应该问问自己备考的时候为什么不多练几篇。时间都是挤出来的，希望大家可以挤出时间来练写作。

英语写作中积累很重要。下面是语文迷网为大家整理的英语四级作文精彩句式，希望对你有帮助。

一.开头句型

1.Recently the phenomenon has become a heated topic.

2.Recently the problem has been brought into focus.

3. Nowadays there is a growing concern over ... .

4. What calls for special attention is that...

5. There’s no denying the fact that...

6. what’s far more important is that...

7.It is common knowledge that honesty is the best policy.

8.It is well-known that…

9.Many nations have been faced with the problem of ...

10.According to a recent survey, ...

11. With the rapid development of ..., ...

二.结尾句型

1.From what has been discussed above, we can draw the conclusion that ...

2.In conclusion, it is imperative that ...

3.In summary, if we continue to ignore the above-mentioned issue, more problems will crop up. 4.With the efforts of all parts concerned, the problem will be solved thoroughly.

5.Taking all these into account, we ...

6. Whether it is good or not /positive or negative, one thing is certain/clear...

7.All things considered, ...

8.It may be safely said that...

9.Therefore, in my opinion, it’s more advisable...

10. It can be concluded from the discussion that...

11. From my point of view, it would be better if...

三.表原因句型

1.A number of factors are accountable for this situation.

A number of factors might contribute to (lead to )(account for ) the phenomenon(problem).

2. The answer to this problem involves many factors.

3. The phenomenon mainly stems from the fact that...

4. The factors that contribute to this situation include...

5. The change in ...largely results from the fact that...

6. Part of the explanations for it is that ...

7. One of the most common factors (causes ) is that ...

8. Another contributing factor (cause ) is ...

9. Perhaps the primary factor is that ...

10. But the fundamental cause is that ...

四.表比较句型

1.The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

2.The advantages of A are much greater than those of B.

3.A may be preferable to B, but A suffers from the disadvantages that...

5.For all the disadvantages, it has its compensating advantages.

6.Like anything else, it has its faults.

7.A and B has several points in common.

8.However, the same is not applicable to B.

9. A and B differ in several ways.

10. Evidently, it has both negative and positive effects.

五.表证明句型

1. No one can deny the fact that ...

2. The idea is hardly supported by facts.

3. Unfortunately, none of the available data shows ...

4. Recent studies indicate that ...

5. There is sufficient evidence to show that ...

6. According to statistics proved by ..., it can be seen that ...

六.表结果句型

1. It may give rise to a host of problems.

2. The immediate result it produces is ...

3. It will exercise a profound influence upon...

4. Its consequence can be so great that...

七.表反驳句型

1. It is true that ..., but one vital point is being left out.

2. There is a grain of truth in these statements, but they ignore a more important fact.

3. Many of us have been under the illusion that...

4. It makes no sense to argue for ...

5. Such a statement mainly rests on the assumption that ...

6. Contrary to what is widely accepted, I maintain that ...

规范英语论文的格式,使之与国际学术惯例接轨,对从事英语教学,英语论文写作,促进国际学术交流都具有重要意义。下面是小编为你带来的关于英语论文的写作格式和规范，希望对你有帮助。

一、英语论文的标题

一篇较长的英语论文(如英语毕业论文)一般都需要标题页,其书写格式如下:第一行标题与打印纸顶端的距离约为打印纸全长的三分之一,与下行(通常为by,居中)的距离则为5cm,第三、第四行分别为作者姓名及日期(均居中)。如果该篇英语论文是学生针对某门课程而写,则在作者姓名与日期之间还需分别打上教师学衔及其姓名(如:Dr./Prof.C.Prager)及本门课程的编号或名称(如:English 734或British Novel)。打印时,如无特殊要求,每一行均需double space,即隔行打印,行距约为0.6cm(论文其他部分行距同此)。

就学生而言,如果英语论文篇幅较短,亦可不做标题页(及提纲页),而将标题页的内容打在正文第一页的左上方。第一行为作者姓名,与打印纸顶端距离约为2.5cm,以下各行依次为教师学衔和姓、课程编号(或名称)及日期;各行左边上下对齐,并留出2.5cm左右的页边空白(下同)。接下来便是论文标题及正文(日期与标题之间及标题与正文第一行之间只需隔行打印,不必留出更多空白)。

二、英语论文提纲

英语论文提纲页包括论题句及提纲本身,其规范格式如下:先在第一行(与打印纸顶端的距离仍为2.5cm左右)的始端打上 Thesis 一词及冒号,空一格后再打论题句,回行时左边须与论题句的第一个字母上下对齐。主要纲目以大写罗马数字标出,次要纲目则依次用大写英文字母、阿拉伯数字和小写英文字母标出。各数字或字母后均为一句点,空出一格后再打该项内容的第一个字母;处于同一等级的纲目,其上下行左边必须对齐。需要注意的是,同等重要的纲目必须是两个以上,即:有Ⅰ应有Ⅱ,有A应有B,以此类推。如果英文论文提纲较长,需两页纸,则第二页须在右上角用小写罗马数字标出页码,即ii(第一页无需标页码)。

三、英语论文正文

有标题页和提纲页的英语论文,其正文第一页的规范格式为:论文标题居中,其位置距打印纸顶端约5cm,距正文第一行约1.5cm。段首字母须缩进五格,即从第六格打起。正文第一页不必标页码(但应计算其页数),自第二页起,必须在每页的右上角(即空出第一行,在其后部)打上论文作者的姓,空一格后再用阿拉伯数字标出页码;阿拉伯数字(或其最后一位)应为该行的最后一个空格。在打印正文时尚需注意标点符号的打印格式,即:句末号(句号、问号及感叹号)后应空两格,其他标点符号后则空一格。

四、英语论文的文中引述

正确引用作品原文或专家、学者的论述是写好英语论文的重要环节;既要注意引述与论文的有机统一,即其逻辑性,又要注意引述格式 (即英语论文参考文献)的规范性。引述别人的观点,可以直接引用,也可以间接引用。无论采用何种方式,论文作者必须注明所引文字的作者和出处。目前美国学术界通行的做法是在引文后以圆括弧形式注明引文作者及出处。现针对文中引述的不同情况,将部分规范格式分述如下。

1.若引文不足三行,则可将引文有机地融合在论文中。如:

The divorce of Arnolds personal desire from his inheritance results in “the familiar picture of Victorian man alone in an alien universe”(Roper9).

这里,圆括弧中的Roper为引文作者的姓(不必注出全名);阿拉伯数字为引文出处的页码(不要写成p.9);作者姓与页码之间需空一格,但不需任何标点符号;句号应置于第二个圆括弧后。

2.被引述的文字如果超过三行,则应将引文与论文文字分开,如下例所示:

Whitman has proved himself an eminent democratic representative and precursor, and his “Democratic Vistas”

is an admirable and characteristic

diatribe. And if one is sorry that in it

Whitman is unable to conceive the

extreme crises of society, one is certain

that no society would be tolerable whoses

citizens could not find refreshment in its

buoyant democratic idealism.(Chase 165)

这里的格式有两点要加以注意。一是引文各行距英语论文的左边第一个字母十个空格,即应从第十一格打起;二是引文不需加引号,末尾的句号应标在最后一个词后。

3.如需在引文中插注,对某些词语加以解释,则要使用方括号(不可用圆括弧)。如:

Dr.Beaman points out that“he [Charles Darw in] has been an important factor in the debate between evolutionary theory and biblical creationism”(9).

值得注意的是,本例中引文作者的姓已出现在引导句中,故圆括弧中只需注明引文出处的页码即可。

4.如果拟引用的文字中有与论文无关的词语需要删除,则需用省略号。如果省略号出现在引文中则用三个点,如出现在引文末,则用四个点,最后一点表示句号,置于第二个圆括弧后(一般说来,应避免在引文开头使用省略号);点与字母之间,或点与点之间都需空一格。如:

Mary Shelley hated tyranny and“looked upon the poor as pathetic victims of the social system and upon the rich and highborn...with undisguised scorn and contempt...(Nitchie 43).

5.若引文出自一部多卷书,除注明作者姓和页码外,还需注明卷号。如:

Professor Chen Jias A History of English Literature aimed to give Chinese readers“a historical survey of English literature from its earliest beginnings down to the 20thcentury”(Chen,1:i).

圆括弧里的1为卷号,小写罗马数字i为页码,说明引文出自第1卷序言(引言、序言、导言等多使用小写的罗马数字标明页码)。此外,书名A History of English Literature 下划了线;规范的格式是:书名,包括以成书形式出版的作品名(如《失乐园》)均需划线,或用斜体字;其他作品,如诗歌、散文、短篇小说等的标题则以双引号标出,如“To Autumn”及前面出现的“Democratic Vistas”等。

6.如果英语论文中引用了同一作者的两篇或两篇以上的作品,除注明引文作者及页码外,还要注明作品名。如:

Bacon condemned Platoas“an obstacle to science”(Farrington, Philosophy 35).

Farrington points out that Aristotles father Nicomachus, a physician, probably trained his son in medicine(Aristotle15).

这两个例子分别引用了Farrington的两部著作,故在各自的圆括弧中分别注出所引用的书名,以免混淆。两部作品名均为缩写形式(如书名太长,在圆括弧中加以注明时均需使用缩写形式),其全名分别为Founder of Scientific Philosophy 及 The Philosophy of Francis Baconand Aristotle。

7.评析诗歌常需引用原诗句,其引用格式如下例所示。

When Beowulf dives upwards through the water and reaches the surface,“The surging waves, great tracts of water, / were all cleansed...”(1.1620-21).

这里,被引用的诗句以斜线号隔开,斜线号与前后字母及标点符号间均需空一格;圆括弧中小写的1是line的缩写;21不必写成1621。如果引用的诗句超过三行,仍需将引用的诗句与论文文字分开(参见第四项第2点内容)。

五、英语论文的文献目录

论文作者在正文之后必须提供论文中全部引文的详细出版情况,即文献目录页。美国高校一般称此页为 Works Cited, 其格式须注意下列几点:

1.目录页应与正文分开,另页打印,置于正文之后。

2.目录页应视为英语论文的一页,按论文页码的顺序在其右上角标明论文作者的姓和页码;如果条目较多,不止一页,则第一页不必标出作者姓和页码(但必须计算页数),其余各页仍按顺序标明作者姓和页码。标题Works Cited与打印纸顶端的距离约为2.5cm,与第一条目中第一行的距离仍为0.6cm;各条目之间及各行之间的距离亦为0.6cm,不必留出更多空白。

3.各条目内容顺序分别为作者姓、名、作品名、出版社名称、出版地、出版年份及起止页码等;各条目应严格按各作者姓的首字母顺序排列,但不要给各条目编码,也不必将书条与杂志、期刊等条目分列。

4.各条目第一行需顶格打印,回行时均需缩进五格,以将该条目与其他条目区分开来。

现将部分较为特殊的条目分列如下,并略加说明,供读者参考。

Two or More Books by the Same Author

Brooks, Cleanth. Fundamentals of Good Writing: A

Handbook of Modern Rhetoric. NewYork: Harcourt, 1950.

---The Hidden God: Studies in Hemingway, Faulkner, Yeats,

Eliot, and Warren. New Haven: Yale UP,1963.

引用同一作者的多部著作,只需在第一条目中注明该作者姓名,余下各条目则以三条连字符及一句点代替该作者姓名;各条目须按书名的第一个词(冠词除外)的字母顺序排列。

An Author with an Editor

Shake speare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Louis B.

Wright. New York: Washington Square, 1959.

本条目将作者 Shakespeare 的姓名排在前面,而将编者姓名(不颠倒)放在后面,表明引文出自 The Tragedy of Macbeth;如果引文出自编者写的序言、导言等,则需将编者姓名置前,如:

Blackmur, Richard P.Introduction. The Art of the Novel:

Critical Prefaces. By Henry James. New York: Scribners,

1962.vii-xxxix.

如果引言与著作为同一人所写,则其格式如下例所示(By后只需注明作者姓即可):

Emery, Donald. Preface. English Fundamentals. By Emery.

London: Macmillan, 1972.v-vi.

A Multivolume Work

Browne, Thomas. The Works of Sir Thomas Browne. Ed.

Geoffrey Keynes. 4 vols. London: Faber, 1928.

Browne, Thomas. The Works of Sir Thomas Browne. Ed.

Geoffrey Keynes. Vol.2. London: Faber, 1928. 4 vols.

第一条目表明该著作共4卷,而论文作者使用了各卷内容;第二条目则表明论文作者只使用了第2卷中的内容。

A Selection from an Anthology

Abram, M. H.“English Romanticism: The Spirit of the Age.”

Romanticism Reconsidered. Ed. Northrop Frye. New

York: Columbia UP,1963.63-88.

被引用的英语论文名须用引号标出,并注意将英语论文名后的句点置于引号内。条目末尾必须注明该文在选集中的起止页码。

Articles in Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers

Otto, Mary L.“Child Abuse: Group Treatment for Parents.”

Personnel and Guidance Journal 62(1984): 336-48.

报刊杂志名需划线,但其后不需任何标点符号。62为卷号或期号,如既有卷号,又有期号,则要将二者以句号分开。如:(3.3);1984为出版年份,应置于圆括弧中。

Arnold, Marilgn.“Willa Cathers Nostalgia: A Study in

Ambivalance.”Research Studies Mar.1981:23-24,28.

月刊或双月刊须同时注明出版年月;23-24,28表示该文的前一部分刊于第23和24两页,后一部分则转至第28页。

Gorney, Cynthia.“When the Gorilla Speaks.”Washington Post

31 July,1985:B1.

引用日报上的英语论文必须同时注明报纸出版的年、月、日。B1为该文在报纸中的版面及页码。参考文献(略)(摘自《外语与外语教学》1999年第8期，原文：“英语论文写作规范”作者 刘新民)

句型1.

It (so) happened(chanced) that +clause. = sb. happened /chanced to do sth. =sb.did sth. by chance. 如：

It happened that he was out when I got there. 当我到那儿时，碰巧他不在。=He happened to be out when I got there.= It chanced that he was out when I got there= He was out by chance when I got there.

句型2.

It seems that sb. do/ be doing/ have done/ had done= Sb. seems to do/ be doing/ have done/to be done/to have been done(还有动词appear等可这样使用)如:

It seemed that he had been to Beijing before.他好象以前去过北京。=He seemed to have been to Beijing before.

句型3.

It is / was+被强调的部分+that(who)+剩余的部分.如：

It wasn’t until he came back that I went to bed.直到他回来我才睡觉。(一定要注意被强调句型中的谓语动词否定的转移)。 It was because he was ill that he didn’t come to school today.只因为他有病了今天没有来上学。(只能用because而不能用for, as 或since)

It is I who am a student. 我确实是个学生。(句中am不能用are来代替。)

句型4.

It is high time (time/ about time)+ (that) 主语+should do / did+其它。(从句中的谓语动词用的是虚拟语气。)如:

It is high time that we should go / went home.我们该回家了。

句型5.

It is / was said ( reported…)+that+从句. 如：

It was said that he had read this novel.据说他读过这篇小说。=He was said to have read this novel.

句型6.

It is impossible / necessary/ strange…that clause.(从句中的谓语用should+do / should have done，其形式是虚拟语气。)如：

It is strange that he should have failed in this exam.真奇怪，他这次考试没有及格。

句型7.

It is + a pity/ a shame…that clause.(注意从句中的谓语动词用should do或should have done的形式，但should可以省略。)如：

He didn’t come back until the film ended. It was a pity that he should have missed this film. 他直到电影结束才回来。他没有看到这部电影真可惜。

句型8.

It is suggested / ordered/ commanded /…that +clause.(从句的谓语动词用should do, 但should可以省略。)如：

It is suggested that the meeting should be put off.有人建议推迟会议。

句型9.

It is/was+表示地点的名词+where+从句。(注意本句不是强调句型，而是以where引导的定语从句。)如：

It was this house where I was born.请比较：It was in this house that I was born.(后一句是强调句型。)

句型10.

It is / was +表示时间的名词+when+从句。(注意本句型也不是强调句型，而是以when引导的定语从句。)如：

It was 1999 when he came back from the United States. 请比较：It was in 1999 that he came back from the United States.

句型11.

It is well-known that+从句。如：

It is well-known that she is a learned woman.众所周知，她是个知识渊博的妇女。

句型12.

It is +段时间+since+主语+did. 请比较：

It was +段时间+since+主语+had done. 如：

It is five years since he left here.他已经离开这儿五年了。

It was five years since he left here.(同上)

注意下列句型的翻译:It is five years since he lived here.他从这儿搬走已经有五年了。

句型13.

It +谓语+段时间+before+主语+谓语.( before引导的是时间状语从句。) 如：

It wasn’t long before the people in that country rose up.没有多久那个国家的人民就起义了。

It will be three hours before he comes back.三个小时之后他才能回来。

句型14.

It is +形容词(possible, impossible, necessary等) +for+ sb.+ to do. 如：

It is impossible for me to finish this work before tomorrow.我明天之前完成此工作是不可能的。

句型15.

It is +(心理品质方面的)形容词+of + sb. +to do.= 主语+ be +形容词+to do.(常用的形容词有：kind, stupid; foolish, good, wise等。)如：

It is kind of you to help me.=You are kind to help me.你真好给我提供了帮助。

俗话又说：一言既出，驷马难追。诚信是立足之道，为人之本。下面请看语文迷为大家整理的关于诚信的英语名言，希望对你有帮助。

believes really is to link the intelligent bridge up , to be expert in the people who cheats , to arrive at forever the bridge another one holds without end. The sincere message, is one strands of Qing Quan诚信是沟通心灵的桥梁，善于欺骗的人，永远到不了桥的另一端。

Heres the rule for bargains "Do other men, for they would do you." Thats the true precept.Charles Dickens. British novelist这里有一条交易法则：“欺骗他人，因为他们也欺骗你。”这是真正的经商之道。英国小说家 狄更斯 C

it will wash away Augean stable cheating , lets everyone the world corner be flowing cleanly.诚信，是一股清泉，它将洗去欺诈的肮脏，让世界的每一个角落都流淌着洁净。

Economy the poor mans mints; extravagance the rich mans pitfall.Martin Tupper. American economist.节约是穷人的造币厂，浪费是富人的陷阱。美国经济学家 塔珀 .M。

the sincere message is the most beautiful overcoat of person , is an intelligent the holiest and purest fresh flower.诚信是人最美丽的外套，是心灵最圣洁的鲜花。

the sincere message is your no humble price shoes , traverses the length and breadth of a journey filled with numerous difficulties and dangers, mass cantrespondtoeternalinvariable.诚信是你价格不菲的鞋子，踏遍千山万水，质量也应永恒不变。

Did you ever expect a corporation to have a conscience, when it has no soul to damned, and no body to be kicked?Edward Thurlow, British Lawyer公司既没有灵魂可以被诅咒，又没有躯体可以被踢翻，难道你指望它有什么良心吗?英国律师 瑟洛杉矶 .E.

If Enterprise is afoot, wealth accumulates whatever may be happening to Thrift; and if Enterprise is asleep, wealth decays, whatever Thrift may be doing.John Maynard keynes British economist如果企业在进展，不论节俭不节俭，财富也在衰落。国经济学家 凯恩斯 .J.M.

the sincere message is a road, with the fact that pioneers step extends; The sincere message is wisdom , seeks rope accumulation with having a wide knowledge of a scholars; The sincere message is successful , persons going all out approaches with advancing bravely; The sincere message is the wealth seed , is therefore likely to find the key opening a state treasury as long as your sincere desire moves downwards kind.诚信是道路，随着开拓者的脚步延伸;诚信是智慧，随着博学者的求索积累;诚信是成功，随着奋进者的拼搏临近;诚信是财富的种子，只要你诚心种下，就能找到打开金库的钥匙。

sincere message resembles a mirror , break in a single day, crack will appear over your personality.诚信像一面镜子，一旦打破，你的人格就会出现裂痕。

is sincere for message glorious , breaking faith disgraceful. That诚信为荣，失信可耻。

Busineunderlies everything in our national life, including our spiritual life, Witnethe fact that in the Lords prayer the first petition is for daily bread, No one can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stoach.Woodrow Wilson. American President生活包括精神生活的基矗不容置疑的事实是，在主祷文中向上帝祈求的第一件事是让我们天天有面包。没有人能饿着肚子敬奉上帝或热爱他的邻居。 美国总统 威尔逊 W.

the sincere message is foundation of conducting self , base of starting ones career.诚信是做人之根本，立业之基。

establishes up sincere message campus , sets up up sincere message style of study , becomes the sincere message student.创起诚信校园，树起诚信学风，成为诚信学子。

诚信的英语作文

What is integrity? Integrity is a good quality of being honest. It is a fine virtue for everyone. A man of integrity is loved by all. Without integrity, he will lose the best friend.

Integrity is especially important for students. We should finish our homework independently. We must return books when it is due. We should listen to the teacher carefully no matter what kind of lesson it is. If we promise to do something, we should try our best to do it well.

导语：春节是中国最隆重的节日，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的优秀英语作文，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

假定你是李华，你的美国朋友Mike想了解中国的春节，请你给他写封回信介绍这个节日。要点如下：

1)春节的由来及寓意;

2)春节的庆祝活动;

3)邀请他到来中国欢度春节。

注意：

1)词数100左右;

2)可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;

3)开头和结尾已为你写好。

范文：

Dear Mike,

In your last letter, you mentioned that you want to know something about the Spring Festival. I am writing to tell you about it. Spring Festival has a long history, which was originally celebrated to scare away a fierce beast “Nian”. Slightly different from that in the past, it is now given new meanings and regarded as a way forpeople to enjoy reunion with their families however far they live or work. On the New Year’s Eve, each family has its members gathered together. They tell each other their lives in the past year, exchange gifts and eat a lot of delicious meals in the warmth of the family. Children can get lucky money in red paper. People have a good time, holding opera performances, and other celebrations.

I hope you will come here and experience this wonderful festival.

Yours,

Li Hua

【参考译文】

亲爱的迈克，

在你的上一封信中，你提到你想知道春节的一些事情。我写信是想告诉你这件事。春节有着悠久的历史，最初是为了吓走一只凶猛的野兽“念”。略有不同，在过去，现在是赋予了新的内涵和作为人与他们的家人不管他们居住或工作的团聚。除夕之夜，每个家庭成员都聚在一起。他们在过去的一年里告诉彼此的生活，交换礼物和吃了很多美味的饭菜在温暖的家庭。孩子们可以用红纸得到压岁钱。人们有一个很好的时间，举行歌剧表演，和其他庆祝活动。

我希望你能来这里体验这个美妙的节日。

你的，

李华

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

Grasp all, lose all. 贪多必失.

Whats lost is lost. 失者不可复得。

Waste not, want not. 不浪费,不会穷.

Tomorrow never comes. 切莫依赖明天. / 我生待明日,万事成蹉跎.

No man is infallible. 没有人不犯错误。

Alms never make poor. 施舍穷不了人.

Love will find a way. 爱心所至,金石为开.

Manners make the man. 举止见人品。

Patience is a virtue. 忍耐是一种美德.

Pity is akin to love. 怜悯生爱.

Call a spade a spade. 是啥说啥，难听不怕。

Delays are dangerous. 因循出危险.

Diamond cuts diamond. 强中自有强中手.

Counsel is no command. 劝告不是命令.

Poverty tries friends. 贫穷考验朋友.

Once bitten,twice shy. 吃一次亏,学一次乖.

Pain past is pleasure. 痛苦过去即欢乐.

Leal heart lied never. 心诚无谎言。

Hot love is soon cold. 过热的爱情冷得快.

As good lost as found. 有得必有失. /得失同喜.

Every dog has his day. 瓦块也有翻身日，人人都有运来时。

Wise fear begets care. 懂得担心,就会小心.

"Never”is a long word. 不要轻易说“决不”。

After wind comes rain. 风是雨的头。

Nurture passes nature. 教养胜过天性.

Time tries all things. 时间检验一切.

Boys will be boys. 男孩子总是男孩子.

No song, no supper. 不出力,不得食.

The truth will out. 真相总会大白.

Time works wonders. 时间能创造奇迹.

To think is to see. 思考就是明白.

Truth will prevail. 真理必胜

A lie begets a lie. 谎言生谎言。

Years bring wisdom. 年岁带来智慧.

In love is no lack. 爱情不会感到缺乏.

Easy come, easy go. 来得容易去得 . /悖入悖出.

Every little helps. 点滴都有用.

Forgive and forget. 恢弘大度，勿念旧恶。

Manners maketh man. 举止造人品.

Laugh and grow fat. 心宽体胖 。

Knowledge is power. 知识就是力量.

Let the world slide. 人世沧桑,听其自然.

Love me,love my dog. 爱屋及乌.

Life means struggle. 生活就是斗争.

Fair plays a jewel. 比赛风格好,胜过珠宝.

Early sow,early mow. 种得早,收得早.

Love,It would have to be to you

[爱，它只属于你]

Softhearted is sick, but you are life.

心软是病，可你是命.

island is the scar of the sea

[岛是海的疤痕]

You ever far is my fixed lattice

(你永远是我的定格.)

The time that you are my most fatal.

时光深知你是我最致命的爱

Learn to sorrow blind eye.

[学会熟视无睹对于悲伤]

You dont laugh tears away.

[你别笑了眼泪都掉了]

I want to be your bride .

【 我想成为你的新娘 】

Lets make thing better.

(让我们做得更好)

Does not belong to me,I will let go

不属于我的 我会离开.

I am not greed but I envy.

我没有贪婪 我羡慕海枯石烂.

Let the time tell the truth.

任由时间说真话

Promises are often like the dust

承诺像尘埃

Everybody wants to be loved

谁都想被疼爱

I will always be, even if love pale.

我会一直在,纵使爱变苍白

The time that you are my most fatal

时光深知你是我最致命的爱人

Let me make you whole life youth

[愿我许你一生青涩年华]

You are my most adventure youth dream

[你是我年少时最冒险的梦]

If through time, through love

[倘若看透时光看透爱]

Who gives us meet but not concurrently give us forever.

是谁赐我们遇见 却不一并赠我们永远。

I think I will love you for a long time

我想我会爱你很久

Laugh Until You Cry; Cry Until You Laugh

笑到终于哭出来;哭到终于笑出来。

You were never mine to lose.

你从来就不属于我，谈不上什么失去

一个句子必须按照一定的模式来组织，这个模式称为句式。下面是语文迷为大家提供的高考英语写作优秀句式，供大家参考。

1) on the other hand, the contribution of day schools cant be ignored.

2) due to high tuition fee, most of ordinary families cannot afford to send their children to boarding schools.

3) since it is unnecessary to consider students routinelife, day school can lay stress on teaching instead of other aspects, such as management of dormitory and cafeteria.

4) furthermore, students living in their own home would have access to a comfortable life and have more opportunities to communicate with their parents, which have beneficial impact on development of their personal character.

5) from what has been discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that both of day schools and boarding schools are important to train young students for our society.

6) there is much discussion over science and technology. one of the questions under debate is whether traditional technology and methods are bound to die out when a country begins to develop modern science and technology.

7) According to a recent survey, four million people die each year from diseases linked to smoking.

8) The latest surveys show that quite a few children have unpleasant associations with homework.

9) No invention has received more praise and abuse than Internet.

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

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

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

13) Many experts point out that physical exercise contributes directly to a persons physical fitness.

14) Proper measures must be taken to limit the number of foreign tourists and the great efforts should be made to protect local environment and history from the harmful

15) An increasing number of experts believe that migrants will exert positive effects on construction of city. However, this opinion is now being questioned by more and more city residents, who complain that the migrants have brought many serious problems like crime and prostitution.

16) Many city residents complain that it is so few buses in their city that they have to spend much more time waiting for a bus, which is usually crowded with a large number of passengers.

17) There is no denying the fact that air pollution is an extremely serious problem: the city authorities should take strong measures to deal with it.

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

19) A proper part-time job does not occupy students too much time. In fact, it is unhealthy for them to spend all of time on their study. As an old saying goes: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

20) Any government, which is blind to this point, may pay a heavy price.

21) Nowadays, many students always go into raptures at the mere mention of the coming life of high school or college they will begin. Unfortunately, for most young people, it is not pleasant experience on their first day on campus.

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

23) The majority of students believe that part-time job will provide them with more opportunities to develop their interpersonal skills, which may put them in a favorable position in the future job markets.

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

25) Although this view is wildly held, this is little evidence that education can be obtained at any age and at any place.

26) No one can deny the fact that a persons education is the most important aspect of his life.

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

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

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

30) We should spare no effort to beautify our environment.

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

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

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

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

35) For my part, I agree with the latter opinion for the following reasons:

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

37) This view is now being questioned by more and more people.

38) Although many people claim that, along with the rapidly economic development, the number of people who use bicycle are decreasing and bicycle is bound to die out. The information Ive collected over the recent years leads me to believe that bicycle will continue to play extremely important roles in modern society.

39) Environmental experts point out that increasing pollution not only causes serious problems such as global warming but also could threaten to end human life on our planet.

40) In view of such serious situation, environmental tools of transportation like bicycle are more important than any time before.

41) Using bicycle contributes greatly to peoples physical fitness as well as easing traffic jams.

42) Despite many obvious advantages of bicycle, it is not without its problem.

43) Bicycle cant be compared with other means of transportation like car and train for speed and comfort.

44) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that advantages of bicycle far outweigh its disadvantages and it will still play essential roles in modern society.

45) There is a general discussion these days over education in many colleges and institutes. One of the questions under debate is whether education is a lifetime study.

46) This issue has caused wide public concern.

47) It must be noted that learning must be done by a person himself.

48) A large number of people tend to live under the illusion that they had completed their education when they finished their schooling. Obviously, they seem to fail to take into account the basic fact that a persons education is a most important aspect of his life.

49) As for me, Im in favor of the opinion that education is not complete with graduation, for the following reasons:

50) It is commonly accepted that no college or university can educate its students by the time they graduate.

51) Even the best possible graduate needs to continue learning before she or he becomes an educated person.

52) It is commonly thought that our society had dramatically changed by modern science and technology, and human had made extraordinary progress in knowledge and technology over the recent decades.

53) For lack of distinct culture, some places will not attract tourists any more. Consequently, the fast rise in number of foreign tourists may eventually lead to the decline of local tourism.

54) There is a growing tendency for parents to ask their children to accept extra educational programs over the recent years.

55) This phenomenon has caused wide public concern in many places of world.

56) Many parents believe that additional educational activities enjoy obvious advantage. By extra studies, they maintain, their children are able to obtain many kinds of practical skills and useful knowledge, which will put them in a beneficial position in the future job markets when they grow up.

57) In the first place, extra studies bring about unhealthy impacts on physical growth of children. Educational experts point out that, it is equally important to take some sport activities instead of extra studies when children have spent the whole day in a boring classroom.

58) Children are undergoing fast physical development; lack of physical exercise may produce disastrous influence on their later life.

59) In the second place, from psychological aspect, the majority of children seem to tend to have an unfavorable attitude toward additional educational activities.

60) It is hard to imagine a student focusing their energy on textbook while other children are playing.

61) Moreover, children will have less time to play and communicate with their peers due to extra studies, consequently, it is difficult to develop and cultivate their character and interpersonal skills. They may become more solitary and even suffer from certain mental illness.

62) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that, although extra studies indeed enjoy many obvious advantages, its disadvantages shouldnt be ignored and far outweigh its advantages. It is absurd to force children to take extra studies after school.

63) Any parents should place considerable emphasis on their children to keep the balance between play and study. As an old saying goes: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

64) There is a growing tendency for parent these days to stay at home to look after their children instead of returning to work earlier.

65) Parents are firmly convinced that, to send their child to kindergartens or nursery schools will have an unfavorable influence on the growth of children.

66) However, this idea is now being questioned by more and more experts, who point out that it is unhealthy for children who always stay with their parents at home.

67) Although parent would be able to devote much more time and energy to their children, it must be admitted that, parent has less experience and knowledge about how to educate and supervise children, when compared with professional teachers working in kindergartens or nursery schools.

68) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw a conclusion that, although the parents desire to look after children by themselves is understandable, its disadvantages far outweigh the advantages.

69) Parents should be encouraged to send their children to nursery schools, which will bring about profound impacts on children and families, and even the society as a whole.

70) Many leaders of government always go into raptures at the mere mention of artistic and cultural projects. They are forever talking about the nice parks, the smart sculptures in central city and the art galleries with various valuable rarities. Nothing, they maintain, is more essential than such projects in the economic growth.

71) But is it really the case? The information Ive collected over last few years leads me to believe that artistic and cultural projects may be less useful than many governments think. In fact, basic infrastructure projects are playing extremely important role and should be given priority.

72) Those who are in favor of artistic and cultural projects advocate that cultural environment will attract more tourists, which will bring huge profits to local residents. Some people even equate the build of such projects with the improving of economic construction.

73) Unfortunately, there is very few evidence that big companies are willing to invest a huge sums of money in a place without sufficient basic projects, such as supplies of electricity and water.

74) From what has been discussed above, it would be reasonable to believe that basic projects play far more important role than artistic and cultural projects in peoples life and economic growth.

75) Those urban planners who are blind to this point will pay a heavy price, which they cannot afford it.

76) There is a growing tendency these days for many people who live in rural areas to come into and work in city. This problem has caused wide public concern in most cities all over the world.

77) An investigation shows that many emigrants think that working at city provide them with not only a higher salary but also the opportunity of learning new skills.

78) It must be noted that improvement in agriculture seems to not be able to catch up with the increase in population of rural areas and there are millions of peasants who still live a miserable life and have to face the dangers of exposure and starvation.

79) Although rural emigrants contribute greatly to the economic growth of the cities, they may inevitably bring about many negative impacts.

80) Many sociologists point out that rural emigrants are putting pressure on population control and social order; that they are threatening to take already scarce city jobs; and that they have worsened traffic and public health problems.

81) Now people in growing numbers are beginning to believe that learning new skills and knowledge contributes directly to enhancing their job opportunities or promotion opportunities.

82) An investigation shows that many older people express a strong desire to continue studying in university or college.

83) For the majority of people, reading or learning a new skill has become the focus of their lives and the source of their happiness and contentment after their retirement.

84) For people who want to adopt a healthy and meaningful life style, it is important to find time to learn certain new knowledge. Just as an old saying goes: it is never too late to learn.

85) There is a general debate on the campus today over the phenomenon of college or high school students doing a part-time job.

86) By taking a major-related part-job, students can not only improve their academic studies, but gain much experience, experience they will never be able to get from the textbooks.

87) Although peoples lives have been dramatically changed over the last decades, it must be admitted that, shortage of funds is still the one of the biggest questions that students nowadays have to face because that tuition fees and prices of books are soaring by the day

88) Consequently, the extra money obtained from part-time job will strongly support students to continue to their study life.

89) From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw a conclusion that part-time job can produce a far-reaching impact on students and they should be encouraged to take part-time job, which will benefit students and their family, even the society as a whole.

90) These days, people in growing numbers are beginning to complain that work is more stressful and less leisurely than in past. Many experts point out that, along with the development of modern society, it is an inevitable result and there is no way to avoid it.

一、审题的“精确性”

在上篇中，笔者已经介绍了部分考题中的“绝对性”的应对措施，而根据专家对于过去2年独立写作考题的分析，发现有90%以上的题目属于“支持/反对”型：

2011.01.30

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Because the change of the society is so rapidly, people are less happy or less satisfied with their life than people did in the past time.

而剩下的则是由“对比论述型”构成的：

2011.03.13

Some people think children should spend most of their time in studying and playing while others think they should help their parents with the household chores. What’s your opinion?

在审题时，考生必须首先把题目通读1-3遍，彻底把握题目主旨后，方可进行段落布局。在这里，笔者结合自己的经验给考生们一些建议：首先，判断题目是否包含“绝对”含义的词，若有，则按照上篇讲过的建议布局，若没有，则对于同意或者反对的理由进行快速的brain storming, 然后根据分论点的数量及论点的可延展性来敲定立场：

Some people think that human needs for farmland, housing, and industry are more important than saving land for endangered animals. Do you agree or disagree with this point of view? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Disagree:

1) Endangered animals are valuable because of their limited quantities

2) Environment balance

3) Endangered animals sometimes stand for the country, so they are more valuable than farmlands

Agree:

1) life quality is the top priority

2) endangered animals can be raised in the zoos

经过一番考量，假如考生得出了上述的一些分论点及想法，这时候，主体段的布局基本就可以敲定大方向了。第一种就是完全反对题目的说法，采用五段式结构布局，每个主体段论证上述三个分论点中的一个;第二种也是反对题目的说法，采用五段式结构布局，但是前2个主体段从三个分论点中选二个去论证，而第三个主体段从“同意”的二个分论点里去选一个，最后的结论还是倾向于反对的。第三种是采用四段式结构布局，即第一个主体段从三个反对意见中选择二到三个分论点去写，而第二个主体段则从赞同的分论点里去选择，数量上比前一段少一个即可，最后结论还是倾向于反对多一点。这样说是不是有些同学看了会有点“晕”呢?那下面笔者就再举个简单点的例子吧：

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television, newspapers, magazines, and other media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people such as public figures and celebrities. Use specific reasons and details to explain your opinion.

Disagree:

1) Most people are common, so they want to know something about famous ones

2) Famous people stand for some fashion

3) Constrain the public figures

4) Celebrities can improve the national cohesion and unity

又经过了几分钟思考，我们得出了上述的四个分论点，但是一时半会赞同的理由实在是想不出。若考试的时候遇到这种情况，千万别犹豫不决，马上从已经想好的观点里面进行挑选。于是，这个题目我们就采用完全反对的立场，以五段式结构布局全文，主体段的分论点从上述四点中挑选三个展开论述即可。这样一来，大家是不是明白一点了呢?

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents or other adult relatives should make important decisions for their older (15 to 18 year-old) teenage children. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

Agree: Parents make decision for children.

1) Parents have more experience

2) 15-18 years old children are not adults, so they cant take responsibility

还有一种情况就是我们只能想出两个分论点，这时候考生应该果断采用四段式布局，而这一次，两个主体段都分别论述一个同意的理由，而在结尾时，可以顺便提一些反对的理由，这样也不失为一种灵活的方法，希望考生们可以借鉴。

二、分论点的排列原则

专家提醒考生们，在布局的时候我们不是随意编排分论点的先后顺序，而是需要有一定的逻辑性和合理性。一般说来，五段式的三个主体段，若都是同意或者都是反对的理由的话，一般这些分论点有两种逻辑顺序，即第一种按照“重要性”来排，将你认为最主要的理由放在第一个主体段中详细论证;第二种是按照“小到大”的原则，即个人方面的理由先写，然后再是家庭，公司，最后再是社会，国家等。倘若所有的论点都是在一个范围内的，比如都是属于个人的论点，则这个时候要看这些分论点后续的论证内容的多少，比如某一个分论点你既举得出例子，又可以进行对比或者因果论述的话那肯定应该先写这个分论点，若某一个分论点后续能够阐述的理由只有一句话的时候那就应该果断地将其排在后面写。若文章是四段式的结构，则在一个主体段中的排列顺序和前面讲的原则是一致的。

导语：父爱也是伟大的，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的优秀英语作文，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

今天是父亲节。假定你是李华，请给你的美国笔友John 写一封电子邮件，谈谈你将如何与父亲一起度过这个特别的日子。要点如下：

1)表述你与父亲间的情感;

2)为父亲制作一张卡片;

3)帮助父亲做点事

4)陪父亲散步等

注意：词数80-100

Dear John,

It’s Father’s Day today. It’s a special day, isn’t it?

I think we should do something to show our love for our fathers on this special day. My father and I are good friends. Whenever I meet with difficulties, he is always there, ready to help me.

Today I will make a beautiful card for him, with my thanks and best wishes on it.Then I will help him wash his shirts afternoon and cook his favourite food in the evening. Besides, I’ll take a walk with him after dinner and then play chess with him, for he likes it very much. I’m sure he’ll be happy.

What’s your plan for Father’s Day? I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours,

Li Hua

【参考译文】

亲爱的约翰，

今天是父亲节。今天是特别的一天，不是吗?

我想在这个特殊的日子里，我们应该做点什么来表达我们对父亲的爱。我和爸爸是好朋友。每当我遇到困难，他总是在那里，随时帮助我。

今天我要为他做一张漂亮的卡片，带上我的感谢和最美好的祝愿，然后我会帮他洗衬衣，下午在晚上做他最喜欢的食物。此外，晚饭后我会和他一起散步，然后和他下棋，因为他非常喜欢。我肯定他会幸福的。

你父亲节的计划是什么?我期待着你的消息。

你的好朋友，

李华