英语四级议论文写作格式及范文（20篇）

题目： Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay based on the picture below. You should comment on the role of mobile phone in peoples communication. You are required to write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

参考范文: The Role of Mobile Phone in Peoples Communication

The popularity of smartphones has exerted great influence on the way people communicate, so much so that an increasing number of individuals contend that face-to-face communication is being replaced by texts and images on the mobile phone.

There are more than one angle to consider this phenomenon. On one hand, it is pleasantly acknowledged that smartphones shorten the distance between families and friends. Even people from different sides of the globe can share pictures, feelings and thoughts through various types of apps on the phone, thus building a long-distance connection. On the other hand, as the picture warns us, too much smartphone addiction interferes with peoples real-life communication. Statistics show that over 70 percent of face-to-face communication consists of facial expressions and body language, which is why people should stay away from mobile phones when they have the chance to actually talk and communicate with others.

In a word, mobile phones act as an appropriate platform where people can always stay in tough however long the distance is, but a wise man should know when to put down his phone.

Directions：

Understanding is a drop of golden sun, is wellspring of life, and is a bridge between man and the soul of man. Understanding is tolerance, is a kind of se

lf restraint. The world needs understanding.

Write an essay which should cover:

1) describing the drawing below,

2) stating its main idea, and

3) giving your comment

范文1：

The human being differs from the wild beast in that the latter is liable to have a hostile view of others and interact in an unreasonable and aggressive manner. Primitive humans might have acted in such fashion, but civilized humans should cultivate more appropriate behaviors.

In the drawing above, a man carrying a large load accidentally steps on a womans foot. Given that he gracefully apologizes, the woman both accepts his apology and assures him not to worry.

The man and woman depicted interact with each other in a courteous and compassionate manner. The woman understands the man did not intentionally step on her foot, and therefore whether or not she is in pain, she does not attack or blame him. Because she is able to view the situation from his perspective, conflict is diverted. Mutual understanding such as this is a fundamental aspect of civilized society.

Some people tend to think the worst of others and become angry over even the smallest of matters, regardless of how their own actions are disturbing in turn. Such intolerance only leads to more conflict. Disrespecting or mistreating people not only inflicts pain upon others, but can also harm ones own conscience and attitude.

[英语四级考试作文预测日落

1、线形结构模式

所谓“线形结构的记叙文”就是全文只写一件事情的记叙文形式。就是将一件事情从开端、发展、高潮到结局一条线写下来。这种形式的记叙文从小学写到初中，又写到高考考场。这种形式的记叙文内容很单纯，不容易出彩，在高考考场很难得高分。要想写出代表高三水平、符合高考作文评分标准“发展等级”要求的优秀的“线形结构的记叙文”必须至少做好以下三个方面的工作：符合记叙文文体特征——善于描写，有意识使用各种修辞手法——使语言生动有表现力，适当的环境描写——渲染气氛增加文学意蕴。

下面我们就以高考“心灵的选择”话题优秀作文山西考生的《大米饭的洗礼》来谈谈这篇“线形结构的记叙文”得高分的原因。

大米饭的洗礼

(高考“心灵的选择”话题优秀作文)

幸福如一抹浅浅的雾，淡淡地飘在天涯，飘在村东的路口，与那个破旧的屋子里的大米饭的香味融合，弥漫在我的心窝。为了它，我曾等了一个夏天，等老了一个童年。而此刻，它竟像一笛箫音，轻轻回响在我心灵的深处……

小时候，家里很穷。穷人的天空在记忆中是灰白色的，而穷人总是有一双哀伤的眼睛，那是在他的孩子们咕噜咕噜地喝稀饭的时候。

那年，外婆害病了，为了外婆，母亲借了一升大米，细粮在当时是很奢侈的东西。每天早晨，母亲蒸一碗白稠稠的大米饭，然后一口一口给外婆喂下。每到此时，我就蹲在墙角咽口水。孝敬的定义就是把好东西留给外婆吃吗?那时，我常常这样想，直到有一天……

那天，天气晴朗得可爱。早上，照例是一碗大米饭和我们的稀饭，而外婆因身体不舒服没有起来吃饭，母亲急着去地里，临走时叮嘱我喂外婆。望着端过饭碗的瘦瘦的我，外婆说：“乖囡，外婆不想吃，你去吃了吧，啊?”外婆和蔼地抚着我的头。“哎!”我满心欢喜，忙不迭地端走了那碗我梦寐以求的大米饭。但就在这时候，一种莫名的感觉涌上心头，简单的思维告诉我：“这是外婆的饭，我不能吃!”就这样，我痴痴地盯着那碗大米饭，窗外的阳光，小鸟的鸣啾，全都变成了一碗碗的大米饭，在我眼前晃动。有好几次，我都差点忍不住了，一碗大米饭的诱惑力当时真是不亚于吸引一根针的那块大磁铁，而它又仿佛一个女妖，美丽地谄媚地笑着，想要一口把我吸进去似的。而我就端坐在那儿，在吃与不吃之间徘徊，耳边不断地响着一句话：外婆的饭，我不能吃……

门“吱”地被母亲推开了，我扭过头去，看着母亲：“娘，外婆的大米饭我没吃。”我的嘴一撇，想哭。母亲怔怔地看着，突然像明白了什么，紧紧地抱着我，大滴大滴的泪水滴在我的脖子上。那一刻，我知道，我做对了，那一刻，我好像突然长大了，因为我终于可以承载母亲的眼泪了。窗外的阳光斜射进来，暖暖地照在我和母亲的脸上，屋里一片淡淡的红色，在这静谧中，我尽情地分享着母亲的泪光……

那一年，我8岁。小小的我，像是经受了一次灵魂的洗礼，没错，就是这样的。我清楚地记得，外婆世的那天晚上，我梦见外婆就站在我面前，手里捧着一碗香喷喷的大米饭……

点评：

文中划线三句分别使用了比喻的修辞手法，使语言生动形象有表现力;文中的斜体红字部分使用了语言描写和表情描写，斜体蓝字部分使用了幻觉式的心理描写，斜体绿色部分是语言描写和表情描写，生动形象富于文采;文中的黑体字部分使用了环境描写更渲染了气氛，增加了文学意蕴。正是这些优点使得这篇内容单纯的“线形结构的记叙文”形象感人，给阅卷者留下了深刻的印象，成为一篇成功的考场作文。

2.块状结构的记叙文

所谓块状结构的记叙文就是指一篇记叙文可以分割成几个相对独立的单位，有明显的层次结构，是学生在特定场合——高考考场——易于结构的作文形式，也是易于被特殊读者——阅卷老师——在极短的阅卷时间里理解并产生好感的记叙文作文形式。块状结构的记叙文又可以分成以下两种：

(1)无标志块状结构记叙文

这种形式的记叙文一般又称为复杂的记叙文，每篇文章由多件事或多个人物组成，用来塑造同一人物和表达同一主题。这组成一篇文章的多件事中的每一件事和多个人物中的每一个人物片断就构成一篇记叙文块状结构中的一个板块，自然形成清晰的结构层次，让读者一目了然。这种形式的记叙文和线形结构的记叙文相比，其优势在于它容量大，内容复杂。在形式和内容两方面都给同学们提供了巨大的创造空间，易写出代表高三水平的复杂的记叙文来。当然它首先是记叙文，要求突出记叙文的文体特征——善于描写。这一点同上线形结构记叙文的要求，不再赘述。举例说明：

母 爱

(“答案是丰富多彩”话题作文)

二十年前父亲家很穷，只好娶了邻村的一个哑女为妻，这个哑女后来便成了我的母亲。

小的时候，同村的小伙伴在一起玩耍时，只要一见到我，便一哄而散，还丢下一句“他妈是哑巴，咱不跟他玩”。每当这时我只有哭着跑回家，将满肚子委屈全撒向无辜的母亲。她总是听完我的哭诉后默默地走开。从那时起我就开始埋怨老天对我的不公，也渐渐对我的哑母产生了一种厌恶。

调皮大概是所有顽童的天性吧。孤独的我惟一的爱好，便是“筑长城”：排满一长串的砖头，然后一推，便顺次倒下去，只有听见那轰轰烈烈的砖声时，我才能得到短暂的欢乐。有一次，我将邻居家的新砖砸断了好几块，邻居怒气冲冲地揪起我的耳朵将我拎到母亲的面前。她见到我在邻居手下揪得通红的耳朵，顿时眼泪像断了线的珠子直往下掉，用他公鸭般的嗓子训斥母亲：“不会说话，当然不会教导孩子。”只见母亲在他的训斥下，变得更加手足无措，最后“扑通”一下跪在地上。邻居见这架式，只好放开我，讪讪地离去了。当时我只觉得母亲的软弱对我是一种耻辱。

为了证明我这哑巴的儿子也能有出息，我一直发奋地读书。当我收到县重点中学录取通知书时，母亲的举动让我惊异：一直很沉默的她，拿着我的录取通知书横颠竖倒看了一遍又一遍：每看到一个村里人就拿出它兴奋地“嗷嗷”直叫，还手舞足蹈。我想她真的挺高兴，也许她只是想证明她哑巴的儿子不比别人差，她儿子的成功弥补了她的缺憾。看到她那副手舞足蹈的样子，我第一次觉得母亲其实也挺可爱的。

在县中念书挺不容易，为了不给原本就不富裕的家庭造成负担，我很少回家，只有父亲偶尔送些鸡蛋和自家的咸菜给我加加菜。那是一个数九天气的夜晚，上完晚自习往宿舍去，发现路边蜷着一个人。本来倒没注意，但当眼光触及那双破棉鞋时，我定住了脚步，是母亲!她抬起头抖了抖身上的雪，用笨重的步伐走到我身边，冻得伸不直的指头还死死扣住一个包。我打开包一看，一双新棉鞋和一些鸡蛋。我用手一摸，鸡蛋上还留有余温。她开心地拿出一个鸡蛋，剥开送到我的嘴边，看着她请求的目光，我含着泪咬下了一口。当知道她在雪地里等了我近两个小时后，我心疼地怒斥她：“为什么不到班级里来找我?”她委屈地低下头，用手语告诉我：“我不想让人知道你母亲是哑巴，他们会笑话你。”这时我再也不能抑制自己的感情，一把搂住了现在只及我肩高的母亲。她的表情更让我惭愧，她先是惊恐，后又转为高兴，最后试探性地搂住我。

世界上母爱的方式何止千万种，但我独爱母亲对我的爱，因为它是默默地。

点评：

这就是一篇典型的无标志块状结构的记叙文。全文由四件事情组成。每件事前后没有明显的结构上的标志。但四件事有一条感情线索串联：“也渐渐对我的哑母产生了一种厌恶”，“当时我只觉得母亲的软弱对我是一种耻辱”，“我第一次觉得母亲其实也挺可爱的”，“这时我再也不能抑制自己的感情，一把搂住了现在只及我肩高的母亲”。由“厌恶”“耻辱”到理解、感激形成一条感情线索。还有一个统一的主题：“世界上母爱的方式何止千万种，但我独爱母亲对我的爱，因为它是默默地”——歌颂母爱。这样这篇文章虽然“形散”但“神聚”。四件事自然形成块状结构，层次清晰，一目了然。当然，这篇记叙文也突出了记叙文的文体特征——善于描写，从而让读者充分体会到作者要传达的深挚感情并留下了深刻的印象。这是一篇成功的考场作文。

(2)有标志块状结构记叙文

这类记叙文每篇文章不仅由几件事或几个人物构成一个个板块，组成一篇完整的文章，而且有这样那样的明显的标志，使得原本自然、原始、界线模糊的几个板块，层次更加清晰，形式更加美观，考场作文的特点表现得更加鲜明，更易被阅卷老师接受和青睐。

按“标志”的不同可将有标志块状结构记叙文再分成四种形式，下面分别举例说明。

①数字小标题标志 如下文：

06年湖北作文题：

阅读下面的文字，根据要求作文。(60分)

在汉语里，“三”是个有意味的数词，构成了很多词语。比如：“三思而行”，“三省吾身”，“举一反三”,“三人行，必有我师”，“三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮”等等。这些词语既是社会生活现象或人生经验的概括，又隐含着一定的文化意蕴和人生哲理。

请根据你对上述词语或你所熟悉的其他带“三”词语(注意“三”在词语中的含义)的联想与感悟，写一篇文章，可以就某一个词语联想思考，也可以把几个词语联系起来思考。

要求：自定立意，自拟标题，自选文体，不少于800字。

三岔口

三个我分别守在三个不同的岔道口，前两个渐渐绝望，只能选择逃避，一起逃向第三个岔口，三个我同时汇合，去作出郑重的抉择。 ─题记

一

“快考试了吧?”老妈坐在沙发上询问我。

“明白!”我起身回到自己的房间，重重关上门，背靠着门，深呼吸。

为什么我可以不做自己喜欢的事，而偏偏学习是个例外呢?

我总对自己说，既然不喜欢，难道就不能选择放弃?时间上的距离，使我除了彷徨，还是彷徨。我变得固执偏激，抉择着前行的路口。我喜欢文学和音乐，夜深人静的时候，戴上随身听，伏在我一个人的书桌前，放飞心情，让灵魂徜徉，享受自由的我的快乐;但这并不能长久，岔路口上的“我”总被现实中的我拉了回来，走向比我还高的作业。我只好祈求幸运之神，可是在学习上，一直是被动、消沉的我，总是抱有能够侥幸过关的心理，但哪能每次都那么幸运啊!

我变得莫名的恐慌，来自无形的压力。

我开始选择逃避，逃窜出第一个岔口，我变得不像是本我了……

二

“很久没见了吧……现在怎么样了?”渐渐我害怕听到从前的老友的这句话，总是觉得彼此的距离越来越远了。我恨透了那个叫作距离的抽象的东西，它让我们彼此变得陌生，变得不再像从前的我们自己。

“改天一起出去玩吧?”

“嗯。”

没过几天又是一个短信，“对不起，那天我们不休息了，去不了”。“呵──没事。”其实长大后，越来越觉得约定有时候不太需要遵守，不再像小时候一样，两个小拇指勾在一起，就允诺一百年不许变，现在想想的确可笑。

落寂的心情没人理解，我黯然地离开第二个岔口，漫无目的，就那样游走。

三

一个人的时候，变得出奇的安静，害怕吵闹，觉得吵闹后隐藏着的都是一个个空虚的灵魂。

我游走到三岔口，看着三个失落的自己，一样的感伤，一齐的抱怨，与平时每一个守在不同岔口的自己似乎总有差距。我面向三岔路口，尽量让三个我归于平静。

如果要真正走出那个彷徨、绝望的三岔口，必需先认清不同的自己。我再次来到三岔口的中心，审视着其他的岔口，我不再让那两个我游走，我似乎看到用书籍铺就的道路上，长满了知识之树，盛开着睿智之花，哦，那才是我的抉择，闻着书香，伴着动听的音乐，我迈步前行……

点评：

文章有三个片断，每个片断上标有一个数字作标志。层次非常清晰，形式非常美观。这是文章结构上的特点。当然，它首先是一篇记叙文，突出了记叙文的文体特征——善于描写。每个片断都有生动细致的语言描写和心理描写，这是另一个关键所在。

②文字小标题标志

这类记叙文在组成记叙文的每个片断前都有一个文字小标题作标志，使得文章层次更加清晰，形式更加美观。对文字小标题的要求：语言简洁，结构一致。对组成记叙文的每个片断的要求：夹叙夹议。“叙”要用描写的表达方式，力求描写生动具体、语言形象优美;“议”要承担两个任务：一方面要揭示所叙片断的中心意思，另一方面要用简洁的语言，议论或抒情的表达方式，把“叙”的内容和话题恰当挂钩。这类文章的结尾要有总评，将几个片断所写的分散的内容统一到一个主题上来，并再次巧妙照应话题或命题，既做到形散神聚，又做到符合话题或命题。举例说明。

爱是什么

(“答案是丰富多彩”话题优秀作文)

也许，当亚当和夏娃从伊甸园中走出的那一天起，爱就与人类结下了不解之缘。人从诞生的那一天起，他的成长，死亡、与爱都如影相随。爱是人类永恒的话题，但是这一个简简单单的字，却很难给它一个准确的定义。因为，不同的人会见有不同的理解。

公园里

草地上，一个小宝宝正在学走路。他蹒跚地向不远处正伸开双臂的妈妈走去。一不小心。宝宝跌倒了，妈妈飞快地跑过去，将宝宝紧紧地抱在怀中，轻轻地揉着他的痛处。轻轻地安慰着他。不久，宝宝用挂着泪珠的小脸冲着妈妈乐了。妈妈将他抱得更紧了……

也许，在妈妈看来，爱是一种无私的给予，全心的奉献。

捐款处

1998年的洪水来势迅猛。前方的人民抗洪抢险，后方的人们用捐款捐物来尽自己一份绵薄的力量。一大早我就来到捐款处，谁知门口已经排起了长长的队伍。这其中有白发苍苍的老者，也有天真活泼的孩子;有衣着鲜艳的青年，也有衣着朴素的中年;有“大款”，也有下岗职工。大家为了共同的愿望，走到一起。只愿我们的心意能够快快送到远方受灾的亲人手里。

也许，捐款的人们认为，爱是一种及时，无私的援助。

深夜里

灯下，妻子正不停地织着毛衣。她的眼睛里布满了血丝，她已经连续几天几夜了。丈夫明天就要出差了，她想赶在丈夫走之前为他织好御寒的衣服。丈夫心疼她，让她不要织了，旧的还能穿。可妻子却依旧坚持，她要把无尽的关怀和浓浓的思念织进衣服里，伴他远行，盼他早归。

也许，妻子觉得，爱是一种不尽的关怀和无悔的付出。

爱，是一个具体而又抽象的概念。一千个会对它有一种不同的解释。但，我们没有必要为它下一个固定的定义，因为不同的心灵对爱的体会也不是相同的。

点评：

这篇块状结构的记叙文有文字小标题作标志，三个小标题“公园里”、“捐款处”、“深夜里”，语言非常简洁，结构保持一致，使得文章层次更加清晰，形式更加美观;夹叙夹议，三个片断中的斜体红字部分的“叙”是生动具体的描写，三个片断中与正文字体相同部分的“议”能够揭示片断中心，照应话题;总评，最后一自然段将三个材料母子之爱、友爱、夫妻之爱——“形”统一到本文主题“爱的答案是丰富多彩的”“神”上来了，做到了形散神聚。这是一篇内容丰富充实，又符合题意的成功的考场记叙文。

③空格标志

给块状结构的记叙文加数字标题或文字标题也许考场功利色彩太浓，有时也让有的阅卷老师反感。怎样做到既让记叙文层次结构清晰，读者一目了然，易于接受，又不让读者因文章结构的功利色彩太浓形式主义色彩太重而产生反感呢?有办法：既让记叙文的块状结构有标志，又不那么明显，不那么功利。片断与片断之间有内在的、相似的、大致同一的结构形式，又以“空格”将各片断自然分开，形成相对清晰的块状结构层次。从标志的角度讲，显得含蓄，有分寸感，度拿捏得好。适合更多不同个性和年龄特点的人的欣赏口味。

八·十八·二十八

(福建漫画材料优秀作文)

啪!”一巴掌猛地打在屁股上。我大哭起来。“老师怎么教你的，小草是绿的，太阳是红的。看看你，怎么画的?”我透过泪眼，看着那张被撕掉的画：小草是黄的，太阳也是黄的。为什么非要把小草画成绿的，把太阳画成红的?我戴爸爸那个太阳镜，看到的小草和太阳就是黄的。我不解。

“还有你的作文，”老师的喊声把我拉回现实，“让你写爸爸、妈妈，你怎么写的?妈妈是书童，爸爸是车夫。”“本来就是嘛，妈妈陪我读书，爸爸背我上学，不是书童、车夫，是什么?”我不服，和老师顶嘴。(语言描写和心理描写)

那年我八岁，还是一个不规则的多边形，新颖、多变，极富想象力。周长长，面积小，人生阅历浅。(议论)

“太过份了。”我回到家，把书包一扔，坐在沙发上生闷气。“怎么了?”爸爸关切地问。“今天考试，居然有人作弊，老师也没看到。”“他有没有抄你的?你有没有受影响?”说到作弊，父母如临大敌，紧张地问。“那倒没有。只是这样对努力学习的同学太不公平了。我要去举报。”“别傻了，没影响到你不就行了。举报，万一人家报复怎么办?再说了，那么多作弊的，你举报得过来吗?”听听父母的话，有道理，于是打消了举报的念头。

回到房间，我想起刚刚被老师读过的作文.写友情的.只是我所描述的友情与我遇到的相差甚远。文中用了很华丽的辞藻，而我拥有的友情都是简简单单，平平淡淡，却又很温馨的。“文章很唯美，但很违心。”我苦笑着对自己说。(语言描写和心理描写)

那年我十八岁，已经被渐渐改造成规则的图形，只是棱角还在，不新颖也不规范，不多变也不稳定。周长不长，面积也不小。(议论)

“我的这件衣服怎么样?”女伴向我展示她新买的衣服.“很不错，和你很配，你穿上它年轻了十岁.”我赞不绝口，其实那件衣服很难看，但我在‘赞美’的时候，竟没有任何感觉。全然没有第一次说违心话时的慌张.老板刚刚批评了我，说我工作的方法不对，并告诉我另一种工作方法。于是我很听话地按老板介绍的方法去工作，尽管方法更不对。但管他那么多，这是老板交待的工作方法，出了问题不关我的事。再说了，和老板顶嘴没好下场.多年的经历，已经让我有经验了。(语言描写和心理描写)

这年我二十八岁，已经被打磨成了一个圆了，我稳定，我周长短，我面积大。我的人生阅历丰富了，我变得世故圆滑了……(议论)

一天，去幼儿园接女儿，女儿哭着扑过来。“老师说太阳是红的，小草是绿的。可我戴爸爸那个黄黄的眼镜看到的太阳和小草就是黄的，老师说不行，还打我。”女儿哭哭啼啼地讲完。这些话猛地击中我的心，尘封已久的记忆大门猛地打开。我想起了那黄的草，黄的太阳，妈妈是书童，爸爸是车夫，想起那个未经世俗打磨的不规则的多边形。我的泪水悄然滑落，为不再拥有的那个不规则的多边形……

点评：

这篇块状结构的记叙文的结构标志体现在三个方面：一方面是题目的提示“八、十八、二十八”，提示主体内容有三块构成;另一方面是夹叙夹议，各片断内在的、相似的结构提示;再一方面是作者有意识在各片段之间设置的“空格”提示。当然，这篇文章首先是记叙文，有鲜明的记叙文的文体特征，描写生动具体，议论简洁精当，照应话题巧妙活泼细致贴切。(注：文中括号部分是点评老师加的)

④过渡句标志

这种块状结构的记叙文的标志形式是最美的记叙文结构形文。过渡句或领起句的标志有一石三鸟的作用：既在文章内容上有过渡作用或领起下文的作用，又在结构上有标明层次、美观形式的作用，还有统一主题、增加文学意蕴的作用，再次就是有娱人耳目，悦人身心的美妙的艺术效果。举例说明。

人与路

小时候，路是一条羊肠小道，你在这头，我在那头。

还记得么?那时的我，小小的，瘦瘦的，你从我妈手中接过我说：“这孩子，瘦成这样难养啊!”于是，你省吃俭用，把攒下来的钱给我买奶粉，买糖葫芦。渐渐地，我胖了，会走路了，一张小嘴甚是乖巧，一有空就跟在你后面，一个劲地叫“奶奶，奶奶”。而你却瘦了，村上人见了说：“老太婆怎么这么瘦啊?”你笑呵呵地抚摸着我的脑袋说：“千金难买老来瘦啊!”每到周末，你牵着我的手，走过那条羊肠小道来到村口等我妈来接，把我“归还”后你折身就走;奈不住我一再对你的呼唤，在小道的尽头，你转身再朝我挥挥手。我模糊地看到，你用袖子使劲地擦着自己的脸。

那条羊肠小道，如今已铺上水泥了罢?那些你踩过的脚印，早已不在了，可是，却深深地刻在我的心里。

再大些，路是一根电话线，你在家里，我在远方。

就像鹰要成为翱翔苍穹的使者，就必须离开母亲的怀抱，用双翅开拓出属于自己的蓝天，我离开了家，去远方念书，独自一人。背着沉甸甸的书包和你早就准备好的大袋水果，还有更沉的，是你的千叮咛万嘱咐。身处异地，成绩的不理想，以及同学关系的难处，让我屡次垂泪。于是打电话给你，向你倾诉，你的话语如涓涓细流，洗涤着我浮躁的、不安的心灵。慢慢的，我适应了环境，也很少想起你。偶尔打电话给你，听你用高兴而微颤的声音，叫我注意身体云云。我呢，总是用不在乎的口气应和着，老忘了提醒你不要吃热过几遍的菜。我知道，你一直在攒钱，为我。我听到你对隔壁的李婶说过：“俺孙女聪明着，俺现在多攒点钱，供她上大学!”

那根电话线，也许是天下最“窄”的路吧，可它却承载着天下最阔大的爱。

后来啊，路是一张张冥币，你在天上，我在地上。

你说，你要等我回来再走，可是你忍了三天三夜，念叨了一个礼拜，我还是没回来。看到你时，你那双在田间耕作了半个世纪的手凉了。我问自己，上哪找你?唯有借着这些冥币，让它们为我铺一条“心路”，寄托我的深情，问候天堂里的你……

点评：

这篇块状结构记叙文用三个过渡句“小时候，路是一条羊肠小道，你在这头，我在那头”、“ 再大些，路是一根电话线，你在家里，我在远方”、“ 后来啊，路是一张张冥币，你在天上，我在地上”串联起文章的三个片断，既提示结构层次，又丰富文章韵味。对过渡句或领起句的要求：尽量做到结构一致，尽量做到与上下文实际内容切合无际，逻辑上有并列关系或层递关系。结构构成一致，内容前后呼应本身就有内在地含蓄地提醒和标明层次的作用。妙就妙在这里，有提醒但很含蓄，有标志但很内在，很中国化，受众易理解，乐接受，老少皆宜。

2016年中考已经进入倒计时，作文对语文成绩十分重要，一定要加强作文练习，多多积累，下面是小编收集中考议论文的写作方法，欢迎阅读。

1悬念式开头

也称倒装式开头或直接切入式开头。即开篇以特写镜头写出事件的某个最富有吸引力的片段或事情的结果，以设置悬念，吸引读者。

例：以“空间”为话题写的一篇作文(开头)

“李轶凡自杀了!”“不会吧，他平时那么听话，学习成绩又是这么好，怎么可能呢?”“是呀。他的爸爸妈妈是那么地关心他……”

接着作者追叙了李轶凡自杀的原因及经过，从而表现像李轶凡那样的学生们对拥有自己的心灵空间的渴望。

例：“人生之桥”为题的作文开头：

楚子涵狠狠地踢了一下桥栏。

已经是离家出走的第三天了，三天中他就一直露宿在这座桥上，口袋里的几块零钱早已花光了，饥肠辘辘的他无力地坐在桥上。

(接着作者交待了楚子涵离家出走的原因，叙述了在桥上与一位老人的交谈，写出从中悟出一些深刻的道理)

2开门见山法

开门见山，就是直截了当的落笔扣题，总领全篇，纲举目张。

如：朱自清《背影》一文开头：“我与父亲不相见已二年余，我最不能忘记的是他的背影”。

又如：学生习作《生活需要笑声》开头：“笑一笑，十年少”，生活需要欢乐，生活需要笑声……

两篇文章直截了当的开头，直接进入主题，就更容易使中心突出，读者读起来也容易抓住要领，掌握内容，深刻了解主题。

3景物描写开头法

用景物描写可渲染气氛，推动情节发展;可以铺垫情节，导出下文。

如：“山，好大的山!起伏的青山，一座挨一座，延伸到远方，消失在迷茫的暮色中……”这里渲染了哀牢山中深远迷茫的气氛，对后文边疆助人为乐的感人事迹起了很好的衬托作用。

又如：《金黄的大斗笠》中开头：“干干净净的蓝天上，偷偷溜来一团乌云，风推着它爬上山头”，此处写景暗示有雨将至，为下文送伞作了很好的铺垫。

4诗词、歌词、格言等引用开头法

如：《人生需要挫折》开头：“不经历风雨，怎能见彩虹，没有人能随随便便成功”，在通往成功的道路上，不是一帆风顺的，磨难挫折必不可少。

这里小作者巧妙引用歌词，诗词开头既增添了文章的生动性，也起到了文眼的作用。

5抒情式开头法

这种开头的语言常常抒发某种感情、或赞美、或悲痛、或激动、或欢乐……在抒情过程中，也常常运用许多修辞手法。

如：《春》一文开头中“盼望着，盼望着，东风来了，春天的脚步近了。”开头就运用反复拟人手法表达了作者盼望春天的强烈感情。

又如：《我爱秋天》开头：“一年四季，春的姹紫嫣红，夏的绿满枝头，秋的丰盈充实，冬的银装素裹，都宛如一幅幅画卷，但我更钟情于秋天”，这样开头既写出四季特点，又巧妙抒发了作者对秋天的独特情怀。

6设问法

作文开头，提出疑问，既能总起下文，又能吸引读者，激起读者好奇心理，以致于急切地读下文。

如：《秋魂》中秋味篇开头：“你品味过秋吗?它是什么滋味?”秋色篇中开头：“秋是什么颜色?”

7诗意式开头法

也称整句式开头，即运用排比、比喻、拟人等修辞手法，采用骈句、整句的形式开头，来议论点题、抒发感情或点题、总领全文，以达到引人入胜的效果。

例如，《轻轻落地的一滴水》的开头：“一滴水轻轻落地，是森林中叶片上滚下的露珠，还是峭壁岩石间的清流?是云的哭泣还是雾的叹息?答案是丰富多彩的。你喜欢小桥流水的温馨，还是大漠孤烟的雄浑?你偏爱银装素裹的北国风光，还是热烈浪漫的南国风情?我想，答案也是因人而异的。”

再如《回家》开头：“远去的飞鸟，永恒的牵挂是故林;漂泊的船儿，始终的惦记是港湾;奔波的旅人，无论是匆匆夜归还是离家远去，心中千丝万缕、时时惦念的地方，还是家。”用三个结构相近的句子组成排比句，用“飞鸟”、“船儿”、“旅人”类比来点题，形象生动而富有吸引力。

再比如《感谢“挫折”》：“未经历坎坷泥泞的艰难，哪能知道阳光大道的可贵;未经历风雪交加的黑夜，哪能体会风和日丽的可爱;未经历挫折和磨难的考验，怎能体会到胜利和成功的喜悦。挫折，想说恨你不容易……”议论抒情相结合，并开篇点题。

导语：议论文的基本特点是议论的说服性。下面是中学议论文写作基础介绍，欢迎参考！

议论文展开议论是以说服读者为目的的。它无论对什么问题、什么事物展开议论，无论在议论中表达什么见解，提出什么主张，讲述什么道理，或者反驳他人的什么观点，都是为了达到说服读者，令读者信服的目的。如果说，说明文的基本特点是它的解说性，要把说明的对象是“什么”向读者解说清楚，那么，议论文的基本特点则是它的说服性，从思维类型上来说，要回答出“为什么”，要讲出道理来说服读者。叶圣陶说：“说明文以‘说明白了’为成功。而议论文却以‘说服他人’为成功。”（《文章例话》）这正说明了议论文的基本特点。

议论文不但要论说对某一议论对象的见解，表示作者的态度（即观点），而且要阐明为什么提出这种见解，为什么抱这种态度。这个阐述“为什么”的过程，就是证明的过程。一个完整的证明，必须由论题、论点、论证几个部分组成。这几个部分也就是构成议论文特点的要素。它们各自担负着不同的任务。

论题，是指作者在文章中提出来要进行论述的问题，是论证的对象。

论题并不表明作者对客观事物的认识。如“人的正确思想是从哪里来的？”是个设问句，无所判定，不表示判断，只表达发问，等待回答。“论权威”、“青年运动的方向”，“我们的文艺是为什么人的？”也不是判断。它们都规定和限制文章的论述范围和论述的重点，决定着议论展开的方向和途径，是贯穿全文内容、组织结构的线索。论题一般都出现在标题或序言中，论题的表达方式是设问句，如“什么是人才学”，也常用突出主要意念的词组，如“青年运动的方向”等。一篇文章论述的论题是全文论述的中心，不仅议论文的议论部分要围绕它，就是非议论性的内容也要服从它，它是全文内容的中心线索，起着统摄全文的作用。

论点，又叫论断，在逻辑学上，论点就是真实性需要加以证实的判断。

它是作者对所论述的问题提出的见解、主张和表示的态度。它是整个论证过程的中心，担负着回答“论证什么”的任务，明确地表示着作者赞成什么，反对什么。

在较长的文章中，论点有中心论点和分论点之分。

中心论点，是作者对所论述的问题的最基本看法。是作者在文章中所提出的最主要的思想观点，是全部分论点的高度概括和集中。

分论点是从属于中心论点并为阐述中心论点服务的若干思想观点。各分论点也需要加以论证。凡经证明而立得住的分论点，也就成为论证中心的有力论据。

论据，是用来证实论点的根据，在逻辑学上，它是用来确定论题的真实性的那些判断。在证明中，它担负着回答“为什么”的任务。

论据，依据其本身的性质和特征，可分为事实性论据和理论性论据两类。事实性论据是对客观事物的真实的描述和概括，具有直接现实性的品格，因此是证明论点的最有说服力的论据。所谓“事实胜于雄辩”就是这个道理。事实性论据包括个别事例，概括性事例和数字。理论性论据是指那些来源于实践，并且已被长期实践证明和检验过，断定为正确的观点。它包括马列主义、**思想的基本原理，党在不同时期内的路线、方针、政策、科学的定义、法则和规律，一般的公理、常识以及成语、谚语等等。

论证，就是运用论据证明论点的逻辑过程和方法，也就是指材料和观点有怎样的逻辑联系，例如论据和论点之间呈演绎推理或归纳推理的联系。它担负着回答“怎样证明”的任务。

议论文不分长短，皆须具有论题、论点、论据、论证几个要素。这些要素紧密地结合在一起，缺一不可。共同完成证明任务。

（一）安排要富有逻辑效果

在论点与论据的安排中展开论证，是议论文写作的重要环节。安排得好与差直接关系到文章的中心论点能否得到突出，能否有说服力量。安排得好，不但思路顺畅，层次分明，而且富有逻辑说服效果；相反，不但思路滞涩，层次不清，而且缺乏逻辑说服力量。可见，富有逻辑效果地安排论点、论据展开论证，在议论文的写作中是多么的不可忽视。

各种文体的文章的安排规律基本上是相同的，但由于各种文体思维形式的不同，安排也有各自的特点。议论文不同于描写记叙的文章。它主要是按照事理的逻辑联系进行安排的。议论文一般是按着提出问题、分析问题、解决问题的次序来安排，表现在文章中是序论、本论、结论三部分。人们常把它称为“三段式”。这“三段式”是个基本型。由于论题、论点、论据的广泛，内容的各种各样，不仅序论、本论、结论三个大部分变化多端，就是其中每个小的部分如何提出问题，如何分析问题，如何解决问题，也是变化多端。

1、序论

序论，是议论文的开头部分，即是提出问题，明确中心论点，使读者对文章所要论述的内容，首先有一个概括的了解，并引起注意。常见的序论写法有如下几种：

A  直接申明自己的主张和看法，提出中心论点。例如：

有步骤、有选择地引进国外先进的技术和设备，使引进工作更好地为国民经济高速服务，这是当前一项重大的经济方针。

B  交代背景，说明写作的目的和原因。例如：

检验真理的标准是什么？这是早经无产阶级的革命导师解决了的问题。但是这些年来，由于“四人帮”的破坏和他们控制下的舆论工具大量的歪曲宣传，这个问题被搞得混乱不堪。为了深入批判“四人帮”，肃清其流毒和影响，在这个问题上拨乱反正，十分必要。

C  提示内容，对全文作扼要的介绍。例如《关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题》第一段：

关于正确处理人民内部矛盾的问题，这是一个总题目。为了叙述的方便，分为十二个小题目。在这里，也要说到敌我矛盾的问题，但是重点是讨论人民内部矛盾问题。

D  因事设问，启人思考。例如：

武钢孟宪成同志对一米七轧机工程所提的意见，十分肯定，很值得我们认真读一读，想一想。花费了全国人民节衣缩食攒下来的钱，引进了当代最先进的轧钢设备和技术，为什么收不到应有的经济效果？今后怎样减少以至杜绝这种得不偿失的建设工程？

E  从日常生活现象落笔。例如；

笼里养着两只母鸡，一只爱唱，另一只喜静。主人根据母鸡下蛋之后报唱的现象，以为所有的蛋都是那只唱鸡产的，因此很偏爱它，捉得蟑螂也专是喂给它吃，但日子一久，秘密揭穿了：原来那只唱鸡下蛋很少，而不叫的那只却一天一个，且蛋刚落地就一声不唱离开鸡窝，由那只唱鸡站在蛋边大喊大叫。

下文便由此及人，主张人要少高谈阔论，多干实事。

G  引经据典，说古道今。例如《不要打错了屁股》说的是领导干部有了错误，要引咎自责，不要向下推卸。它的开头是这样的：

《龙文鞭影》中有一则《库狄杖吏》的故事：“南北朝库狄连姓，愚鲁，居室常患蝇，乃呼门吏杖之。曰:汝所司何事！乃故放其入来。”本来门吏只负责看家护院，哪里管得了苍蝇，可是愚蠢的库狄却以不忠于职守把苍蝇放进来为罪名，把门吏痛打了一顿。这就是打错了屁股。

上述叙论部分的开头，只是几种常见的类型。

序论是议论文之首，在一篇文章中具有重要作用。好的序论简明扼要，既能鲜明的提出问题，统领全文，又能引人入胜。抓住读者。

2、本论

本论是议论文的分析问题部分，也是论证中心论点的重点部分。它的任务是分析问题，组织论据来证明论点的正确或反驳谬论的错误。

这一部分的安排和论证层次要有严密的逻辑性。论点和论据的联系，论述的先后次序，文章的层层推理，这些都要根据事理的内在规律，并考虑说服效果来组织安排。要做到纲举目张，环环相扣，使观点和材料有机地，富有逻辑效果地统一起来。

本论的安排一般有以下几种形式：

A  并列式

并列式也叫平列式。它的安排特点是对中心论点所涉及的几个主要问题，分别进行论述。几个层次之间的关系是平列的，它们从不同角度来表现文章的论点。如张友渔的《论健全社会主义法制》围绕健全社会主义法制，正确地运用社会主义法制，以保证“四化”的顺利进行这一论点。讲了三个方面的问题：社会主义民主与社会主义法制的关系；社会主义法制在当前的重要作用；切实保障法律实施是进一步健全社会主义法制的关键。

B  推进式

推进式也叫递进式。它的安排特点是根据各层次之间的层层深入、步步发展的关系来进行论述。如周恩来的《要造成一种民主风气》郑重论述艺术民主的问题。文章开头部分就指出：现在有一种不好的风气，就是民主作风不够。接着，文章针对“一言堂”，不让别人讲话的弊病，对症下药，阐明“我们所发表的意见，都允许大家讨论、商榷”的道理。最后集中分析批判“五子登科”（套框子、抓辫子、挖根子、戴帽子、打棍子）的坏风气，只有去掉“五子登科”的坏风气，民主风气才能建立起来。再如陶铸的《崇高的理想》由远到近，从古到今，围绕中心论点，步步深入地阐发实现共产主义是我们最崇高，最伟大的理想。

C  推进和并列的结合式

这样安排的文章，一般是篇幅较长的。这样的文章往往是以安排形式为主，中间杂以别一种安排形式。如《中国社会各阶级的分析》开头提出问题，接着就对各个阶级进行分析，然后综合起来得出结论。文章步步深入，层层展开，用的是推进式。然而，在对各阶级分析的那一层次中，又逐一分析了地主买办阶级、中产阶级、小资产阶级、半无产阶级和无产阶级，用的是平列式。就整篇来而言，这叫推进式中包括着平列式。作者运用这种结合形式，完满地表达了文章的内容，收到了好的表达效果。

以上是议论文本论安排的三种基本形式。形式是为内容服务的，本论部分究竟采取哪种，这要根据文章内容的需要决定，不能随意安排。

3、结论

结论，是议论文的解决问题部分。引论提出问题，本论分析问题，结论做出答案。结论是全文的综合与概括，总结与提高。

（二）论证的方法

议论文的写法主要是论证。论证，从形式逻辑角度说，是运用论据证实论点的全部逻辑推理过程，这个过程表示论据和论点之间是用何种逻辑的方法联系起来或统一起来的。

那么，论点和论据究竟是怎样联系起来的呢？或者论据是以怎样的方式证明论点的呢？这就是论证方法的问题。论证的方法同推理形式有联系，但又不尽相同。它是多种多样的，人们可以根据不同的需要灵活地运用。下面介绍几种比较常用的。

1、举事例

举事例就是用典型的具体事实作论据来证明论点。通常所说的“摆事实”就是这种方法。这是运用归纳推理形式进行论证的一种方法，易于掌握，用得也普遍。

举事例论证，最重要的是注意论据和论点方向的一致性和紧密的统一，不可有距离。例如有一篇文章谈到写作要勤于观察，勤于思考问题时，举例道：

著名大作家、诗人莎士比亚就善于观察生活，提炼素材，写了大量的悲喜剧以及诗歌，终于成了不朽的艺术大师。伟大的物理学家牛顿，在傍晚乘凉时发现苹果往地上掉，为什么不往天上掉？经过反复实践，终于得出了地球表面上的物体都受到地球的引力这一科学论断。

这里，举莎士比亚一例还可以，虽然说得不够透彻，但与论点总还有一定的直接关系；举牛顿的事例则不恰当，因为他虽然也观察、思考，但非写作中的事。

2、事理引申

这种方法是用人们已知的事理论据来证明论点。这是运用演绎推理形式进行论证的一种方法，所以又有叫“演绎法”的。例如下面一段文字：

坚决执行中央的路线、政策和发扬民主并不矛盾，而是相辅相成的。中央的决策是在广泛地发扬民主的基础上形成的。中央允许同志们遵照正常的组织程序提出意见，但是绝不准从事党章所不允许的活动。这就是说，我们并没有限制民主。但是，一个共产党员，特别是领导干部，不允许随便发表和中央相对立的意见或不一致的意见。我们大家都晓得，步调一致才能得胜利。

这里面提到的“步调一致才能得胜利”就是一个大家已知的“大道理”，用它来证明“干部和党员都要团结在党中央的周围，坚决执行中央的路线、政策”这个论点是很有力量的。

运用事理论证常常表现为引用名言警句。名言警句具有公认的真理性，用它们来证明某一具体事物的真实性，是极有说服力的。这类例子很多，就不再赘述。

使用事理论证，特别是引用名言警句立论，应注意：

A  引用的事理与论点真正构成一种紧密的内存联系。

B  对于引语一般要作一些阐明、说明，不要引完就单下结论，以免给人浅薄的感觉。

C  除了由于论辩的需要，必须引用大量的论述外，引语要力求简洁。作者要善于抓住引语的精华。

3、反证

顾名思义，反证不是从正面直接来证明论点，而是从反面间接地证明论点。这是运用演绎推理形式进行论证的一种方法。先看下面一例：

如果反对实事求是，反对从实际出发，反对理论和实践相结合，那还说得上什么马克思列宁主义、**思想呢？那会把我们引导到什么地方呢？很明显，那只能把我们引导到唯心主义和形而上学，只能引导工作的损失和革命的失败。

这段文字中“如果”之后用的便是反证法：不是从正面讲实事求是会怎样，而是从反而讲不实事求是会怎样，来证明实事求是的意义。在论证中，凡是为了证明自己主动提出的论点的正确，先证明与这个论点相矛盾的另一个论点是错误的，或者为了证明对方论点是错误的，先证明与其相矛盾的另外一个论点是正确的，都是反证法。

4、类比

这种方法是将一类事物的某些相同方面进行比较，以另一事物的正确或谬误证明这一事物的正确或谬误。这是运用类比推理形式进行论证的一种方法，例如：

回顾苏联托洛茨基派在一九二三年这一年中反党篡权活动的史实，我们不难看出：王张江姚“四人帮”一九七六年在我国进行的篡党夺权活动，在很多方面就是托洛茨基匪帮的故伎重演。在本质上“四人帮”和托洛茨基匪帮没有什么不同，他们都是穷凶极恶的野心家，祸国殃民的害人虫，不择手段的阴谋家，彻头彻尾的反革命。这两个黑帮在共产党员和无产阶级专政国家的伟大领袖逝世前后，走的是同样的阴谋篡党夺权的反革命道路，遭到的也是同样的人心丧尽，完全破产的可耻下场。

“四人帮”与托洛茨基派有许多相同之处，可以类比。通过类比，“四人帮”篡党夺权的反革命面目暴露得更加清楚。

在进行这种类比论证时，特别应当注意所类比的事物一定是一类，具有本质方面的相同点，如同上例。如果不属一类事物，虽有某些相似之点，只可以比喻，而不能类比，例如把革命人民对反动派的坚决斗争同武松对老虎的斗争相比，只能说是比喻而不能类比。

最后谈谈练基本功的问题。基本功对拿笔杆子的人很重要，不练是不行的。俗话说：“拳不离手，曲不离口”，绘画的人常画，唱歌的人常唱，而搞文字的人怎么可以几个月不写东西呢？……

这里，写作、绘画、歌唱可以类比，因为这些都属于文艺创作的范围，有相同的本质属性。

5、对比

对比，是将论据中截然相反的两种情况进行比较。因为比较的双方形成鲜明的对照，互为衬托，所以，这种方法特别能突出一方面的性质，具有很强的论证力量，因而，用得也很普遍。

对比有两种情况：一种是“横比”，一种是“纵比”。“横比”是把同一时期的两种性质截然不同的事物进行比较。例如《赞牺牲精神》，开始列举了太原工学院副教授栾弗，归国定居的年轻女科学家赵芬，上海生物制品研究所九旬老人徐良董，浙江省象山县无机轻体板材厂女青年郭秀莲与王竹平等人，为建设四化甘愿牺牲一时一已的利益直至个人生命的模范事迹，作者热情地赞扬了人们的牺牲精神。接着，文章批评另外一些人：

可惜，现在有些人还缺少这种牺牲精神。他们脑子里装的不是党和人民的利益，不是四化大业，而是个人眼前的“实惠”。不是吗？……这种极端利已者的人生观，和前面那种人相比，显得何等渺小，和我们今天的历史重任何等不相称？

牺牲精神是可贵的、高尚的，由于以利已广义者的人生观来反衬，显得更为可贵、高尚。真善美与假恶丑总是相比较而存在，相斗争而发展的。人们在实践中认识到这一点，所以，在写作中能够经常运用这种论证方法。

“纵比”是把同一事物在不同时间的不同情况作比较。比如现在有些文章在论述党的某一经济政策的正确性时，往往讲到一个地区，一个单位的生产形势，群众生活过去与现在的变化，使用的就是这种对比方法。

6、因果互证

这是通过分析事理，揭示论点和论据之间的因果关系，来证明论点的一种论证方法。它可以用原因来证明作为论点的“结果”；以原因的必然性证实结果的必然性。例如刘少奇的《人的阶级性》中的一段：

人的阶级性，是由人的阶级地位决定的。这就是说，一定集团的人们，长期站在一定阶级地位，即站在一定的社会生产地位，以一定的方式，长期的生产着，生活着与斗争着，即产生他们的特殊生活样式、特殊的利益、特殊的要求，特殊的心理、思想、习惯、观点和气派，及其对其他集团人们与各种事物的特殊关系等等，而与其它集团的人们不同，或者相反。这就形成了人们特殊的性格，特殊的阶级性。

这段文字先讲了结果，亦即论点，然后讲促成这结果的原因，也就是论据。

7、比喻

用比喻来说明道理的方法，可以叫做“喻证法”。这是运用类比推理形式进行论证的一种方法。“喻巧而理至”，恰到好处的比喻往往能帮助说清道理。所以，这种方法也被广泛地应用于论证中。这类例子多得很。例如**在《一个极其重要的政策》一文中针对一些同志对实行“精兵简政”政策的意义认识不足，一连用随季换衣，孙悟空对付铁扇公主，“黔之驴”等三件事作比喻，深入浅出地加以阐明。再比如前面讲“引论”时举例的《下蛋、唱鸡及其它》一文，通篇是用鸡的形象来帮助说明问题的，给人的印象是具体的生动的，比喻是一种帮助说理的好方法，但由于任何比喻都是缺陷的，特别是同论点缺乏本质上的内在联系（有些喻体完全是文学作品中虚构的事物），所以，它不能作为论证的主要方法。要透彻有力的论证问题，主要还是靠对实际材料进行研究。《一个极其重要的政策》说理透彻，令人心悦诚服，主要不是靠几个比喻，而是靠对当时形势的科学分析。

8、归谬法

“归谬”，就是导致谬误。这种方法是先假定对方的论点是对的，然后用它作为前提，导出一个显然是荒谬的结论，从而证明对方的论点是错误的。这种方法仅用于反驳错误观点。

上面列举了几种主要的、常用的论证方法，其中，除了“归谬法”专用于驳论文章外，其余几种对于立论、驳论文章都是适用的。

论证方法作为人类思维活动形式的反映，是不难把握的。有时，我们所以感到难，除了由于书本介绍有关知识时显得过于零碎、抽象的原因之外，也有学习脱离实践的原因。联系实际，任何理论、知识都容易理解，也容易把握。掌握论证的方法，也是这样。只要把这方面知识的学习同我们日常的认识活动联系起来，再借鉴报刊上的优秀文章，又坚持练笔，一定会很熟练的运用这些方法。

精彩的作文开头能一下子打动阅卷老师的心。古人说，文章的开头要像“凤头”。今天就给大家推荐10招议论文开头的写作方法！

1开门见山，点明论点。

如《劝学》，一开头就摆出了论点：“君子曰：‘学不可以已。’”《六国论》，《善于建设一个新世界》也是这样。

2解释题意，介绍论题。

如《崇高的理想》，它的开头是先论理想的普遍性，说明每个人都有自己的理想，它起着解释题意，介绍论题的作用。《义理、考据和辞章》，也属这一类。

3谈天说地，引出论点。

如《事事关心》，开头摆出对联“风声、雨声、读书声，声声入耳；家事、国事、天下事，事事关心”。然后谈对联出处，解释上下联，评论东林党的治学态度，再引出论点。

4论据先行，归纳论点。

如《散文重要》，开头先用常见事例，说明生活中运用最广的书面语言是散文，指出写信、写日记、笔记、报告、评论、小说、话剧，以及报刊上的文字绝大多数是散文，从而归纳出论点“散文重要”。

5引用诗文，导入论题。

如《说谦虚》。开头就引用格言“谦受益，满招损”提出论点。《论积贮疏》开头先引管仲的话“仓廪实而知礼节”导入论题，然后论积贮的重要。

6概述故事，引出论题。

如《在马克思墓前的讲话》，开头概述了马克思的逝世时间、地点、状况，接着引出论题。

7介绍人物，导入论题。

如《纪念白求恩》，开头记白求恩这个“人”以及他来到中国帮助抗日不幸以身殉职的这件“事”，然后才导入论题。

8设问自答，阐明论点。

如《实践是检验真理的唯一标准》，开头就用了设问的手法：“检验真理的标准是什么？这是早经无产阶级的革命导师解决了的问题”。然后说明为什么现在还要来谈这个问题的原因。之后，就逐层阐明“实践是检验真理的唯一标准”这个论点。

9设喻取譬，引出看法。

如《树木、森林、气候——谈改革是大众的事业》，就是这样开头的：就象一棵树木不能调节气候，只有茂密的森林才能净化空气、调节气候一样，在我国目前进行的经济体制改革中，一个改革者是不能改变我们落后面貌的。要振兴我中华，需要千千万万个改革者，需要一代人、两代人的兴起。

10先树靶子，然后驳斥。

如《“友邦惊诧”论》开头，写出学生请愿原因，揭露日寇侵略行径，国m民党反动派投降卖国嘴脸后，引出“通电”，树起靶国m民党反动派投降卖国嘴脸后，引出“通电”，树起靶子：“友邦人士，莫名惊诧，长此以往，国将不国”，然后分层进行驳斥。

一、了解高分作文的特点

要想作文获得高分，必须了解高分作文具有的特点，才有助于我们朝之而努力。高分作文一般具有以下特点：

1、书写工整，书面整洁，很少有涂改痕迹。

2、分段合理。全文分段一般不止一个自然段，让阅卷老师很容易就能找到作文所要求写的要点和重要句子。

3、要点齐全，不缺要点。

4、首尾呼应，自然成一体。

5、使用了大量的高级词汇和句型。阅卷老师一看就知道这个同学的功底非不一般，自然就给打高分了。

6、开头言简意赅，不啰嗦，不偏题，迅速引入主题。

7、段与段之间，自然过渡。有合适的连接词。

8、句与句之间，有恰当的连接词，使之自然成一体。

9、全文中同一个意思，基本没有重复使用某一个词、短语或者句型等，说明这个同学的词汇量不同寻常。老师自然就对该作文有好感了。

10、能够恰当使用谚语、格言等给文章添彩。

二、勤积累，巧准备

要想作文得高分，除了了解以上的特点外，还要在平时的学习中注意一下方面：

1、牢记课标词汇是基础

一篇作文多数是由积极词汇写出来的，这些词汇主要来源于课标。因此，牢记课标词汇是写好作文的基础。

2、掌握课标词汇和短语的用法

要想作文不扣分或者少扣分，有个要求是作文的语病少。怎么能够减少语病呢?这就要求我们在平时的学习过程中反复通过练习，掌握课标词汇和短语等的用法。例如，对于assoonas、stopsomebodyfromdoingsomething、other、another等的用法很多学生就经常出错。

3、高度重视同一个意思的多种表达方式

高分作文有个特点是：让老师发现你拥有丰富的词汇量，你的水平高人一筹。这由何而来?靠我们在平时学习过程中，逐步积累起来的。比如：今年的中考作文，谈的就是帮助他人的问题。同一个意思“帮助”，假如你就用一个动词“help”，岂不显得你词汇贫乏?假如你在作文中不断地变换方式，用help、givesomebodyahand、giveahandtosomebody、beinneedof等以表达“帮助”同一个意思，岂不更好呢?

像这样的例子很多，比如：大家都觉得很简单又很基础的“表示姓名的方式”就有：MynameisJim.I’mJim.I’mcalled/namedJim.I’maboycalled/named/withthenameofJim.等等。

表达年龄的方式有：Sheis12.Sheis12yearsold.Sheisaged12.Sheisagirlof12(yearsold)。Sheisagirlaged12.等等。

很显然，使用高级一点的更好。

4、加强练习，积累经验

学习语言最好的方法是运用，作文也不例外。我们要想作文得高分，必须经常练习，才能提高水平。

5、充分利用作文范文

很多资料书上都有作文范文。诚然，他们有很多值得借鉴的地方。

我们怎么利用它们呢?首先，我们先不要看文章，自己先思考一下：假如你来写，你会怎么去写，会用到哪些词或者句子等。然后去比较，勾出其中的好词佳句，并且把它摘录在专门的作文册子上。供写作时选用。

另外，背一些范文也是很有必要的。

6、背诵一些谚语和警句

作文中如果出现恰当的谚语和警句，会有锦上添花的效果。

三、精心审题，沉着写初稿

很多同学看到作文后，下笔就写。这是不对的。一则很容易写偏题、写出病句，涂改后书面又不整洁，影响得分。

其实，会写作文的同学都知道，审题非常的重要，可以防止很多毛病，提高得分。那么我们审题要做些什么呢?

审题主要要做一下事情：

1、审人称、时态、体裁等

审题时，要求我们要弄清楚这篇文章主要使用的人称是第几人称，什么时态、什么体裁。这些问题解决后至少不会犯很严重的错误：全文皆错。例如，如果一篇文章，本来应该一般过去时，你的每句话却用了一般现在时态。你想想，那还能得高分吗?

2、明确必须表达的要点

高分作文有个特点是要点齐全。如果漏掉一个要点，则要扣分。因此我们必须认真细读其要求，把必须表达的要点勾出来。保证不漏掉任何一个要点。

3、罗列出可能会用到的短语、句型，确定好使用哪个?

4、确定好如何分段

导语：我们大家都知道，每个公民都有维护好自己权益的义务，所以日常生活中发生一些小摩擦我们当然要理智的去处理，那么投诉信是不是一个很好的办法呢?下面是yuwenmi小编为还在备考的同学整理的优秀英语素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

Dear_______,

I am . (自我介绍) I feel bad to trouble you but I am afraid that I have to make a complaint about_______.

The reason for my dissatisfaction is ______________(总体介绍). In the first place,_________________________(抱怨的第一个方面). In addition, ____________________________(抱怨的第二个方面). Under these circumstances, I find it ___(感觉) to ____________________________(抱怨的方面给你带来的后果).

I appreciate it very much if you could_______________________(提出建议和请求), preferably __________(进一步的要求), and I would like to have this matter settled by ______(设定解决事情最后期限).

Thank you for your consideration and I will be looking forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely

Li Ming

我们都知道，想在小升初英语写作拿高分，就要摸透老师的喜好，引起“读者”的注意。而在写作中句子偏长恰恰会适得其反，很容易让人漏听一、两个单词，影响对整个句子的理解，所以我们要教大家一些化繁为简的技巧——

1、巧用单个词：即用一个单词代替一组意义相同的单词。比如：

用forget(忘记)代替do not remember(没有记住)

用ignore(忽视)代替do not pay attention to(不注意)

用now(现在)代替at this point in time(此时此刻)

用because(由于)代替due to the fact that(鉴于下列事实)

2、省略同义词或近义词。比如在下面例句中，形容词important(重要的)和significant(有重要意义的)，就是两个同义词(也可以说是近义词)，我们可以省略important，只保留significant。

The government project is important and significant.(这项政府计划是重要的，有重要意义。)

The government project is significant.(这项政府计划有重要意义。)

3、在不改变句子含义的前提下，省略所有可以省略的单词。比如在下面例句中，the cover of the book(书的封面)可以省略成the book cover，is red in color(是红色的)可以省略成is red。

The cover of the book is red in color.(书的封面是红色的)

The book cover is red.(书的封面是红色的)

现在我们把这三种方法结合起来，将一个冗长、绕嘴的句子，改写成一个简短、易懂的句子。

University malls must be accessible and free from congestion in order that students, faculty and employees may have unobstructed passage through those areas of the campus.(校内道路必须是便于通行的，不拥堵的，以便让学生、教师和职员能够无阻碍地通过，到达校园的各处。)

University malls must be free enough from congestion to allow people to walk through easily.(校内道路不应当拥堵，以便人们顺利通行。)

4、用介词短语替代从句。比如：

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

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

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

修改后：At the second traffic light turn left.

5、删除诸如"who is”或"that is"之类的关系代词，变从句为短语。比如：

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

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

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

在学习英语写作之前先来看下练习写作对你的英文有什么样的帮助：

好处1、辅助提升口语语言组织力

好处2、提升语法

好处3、帮助背单词和句型。

了解到联系英语写作带来的好处后让我们来看看学习英语写作有哪些方法：

零基础英语写作入门方法一：背单词

单词是英语写作的基本构成之一，拥有大量的词汇才能写出你想要的文章，背单词有很多方法用mp3在零碎的时间边听边背边写，还有单词前后缀记忆法等众多方法，只要掌握其中一种适合你的方法，就开始大量的充实你的词汇吧。

零基础英语写作入门方法二：语法

语法是将单词串联在一起变成文章的那根线，学习好语法是整个英语阅读的重中之重。推荐熟读语法俱乐部，同时搭配大量的阅读自己感兴趣的文章，在大量的语境中去领受感悟本书的妙处。

零基础英语写作入门方法三：长时间的练习

写日记，这是最简单最长久的写作练习你不需要有任何的准备，这是你会接触到最基础的写作练习，你可以写任何你感兴趣的事情，你要做的就是拿起笔和本子把自已生活上的点点滴滴用英文记录下来。下面就是我的第一篇英文日记！

"today i rest,i stayed at home.sister call me go to the mother.i want not go there,because i must go to the company .去领 clothes.刚刚上完课come back.at home i find my 皮 shoes.now 要穿皮shoes了,write 日记好搞笑，还可以写点english了,i believe 以后 i sure i会更好。”

大家可能会看不懂这篇文章。你可能会觉得很好，说老实话当我现回过头去看我以前的日记我看了也觉得很好笑。但这就是我的第一篇英文日记，我的英文写作就是从这里开始的。你会发现写得非常直白，简直就是中文翻译毫无语法可言。但没有关系每个人开始都是这样的。

在写日记的开始阶段，你可能会像我这样不知道怎么去写或跟本无法组织语言，你可以像我这样按自已大脑里中文的想法去写，把会的单词都写上去不会的就用中文代替。在这个阶段你更多的是在使用你所学的词汇，有时候你会觉得这样很好玩。每天坚持写一篇，慢慢的你会发现你用的中文越来越少了有时候整篇文章都可以用英文写出来，随着你英语学习的进度不断推进，你在写句子的时候你不会直译了，你开始吧语法考虑到你的语言组织里面去。

当你要表边一个句子又找不到这个单词的时候，这种映像会深深的印在你的脑海里，当你在收集单词时候你就会注意收集那些非常实用的单词了。你会背更多的单词因为你想终有一天我的整篇文章是用英文写的。对于初期的写作，我认为就是这样写吧，请注意兴趣的培养。

(一)发散思维——定立意

举例：西方人吃铁蚕豆，吃了壳，吐了豆，摇头说：“肉薄、核大，什么好吃?”西方人煮茶吃，倒去茶水吃茶叶，皱眉说：“涩而无味，有什么好?’

这个事例告诉我们什么道理呢?

至少包含如下道理：1、看问题切忌片面化 2、不能死板硬套，搞经验主义 3、不要自以为是，凡事想当然 4、切莫盲目排外 5、孤陋寡闻会误事 6、不可轻率下结论 7、客观事物的价值不以人的主观意志为转移

(二)逆向思维——定立意

举例：

1) 近墨者黑：身正，近墨未必黑。

2) 知足常乐：不自满是永远向上的车轮。

3) 言者无罪：因言获罪者比比皆是。

4) 后生可畏：激情四射，才华横溢的同时别忘了沉淀，否则江郎也会有才尽的一天。

5) 艺高人胆大：但是也要看到“大意失荆州”“河里淹死的多是会水的人”，因此艺高也要谨慎。

6) 开卷有益：好书有益多多，坏书则未必。

7) 班门弄斧：弄斧到班门方可有长进。

8) 勤能补拙：勤奋也要讲究方式方法，否则徒劳。

9) 守株待兔：老师和家长在教育学生时这种“等待”最为需要。

10) 识时务者为俊杰：一味迎合世俗岂不让人平庸。

(三)辩证思维——定立意

写出下列事物的两面性。

(1)虎 (2) 蚕 (3)笑 (4)哭

参考答案：

(1)老虎有勇猛的一面，所谓“虎虎有生气”，也有凶恶的一面，所谓“苛政猛于虎”。

(2)蚕有其无私的一面，所谓“春蚕到死丝方尽”，也有其自我束缚的一面，所谓“作茧自缚”。

(3)笑有欢愉的一面，所谓“欢歌笑语”，但偶尔也有悲伤的一面，所谓“落第举子笑是哭”。

(4)哭本是痛楚的表现，所谓“欲哭无泪”，但是也有高兴的一面，所谓“出嫁闺女哭是笑”。

英语一考生要在三十分钟内写出160-200个词汇的文章，英语二的考生需要完成150个词汇左右的文章。写作时要求主题突出、结构清晰、文字通顺、连贯性好，祛除语法错误。在考试过程中，考生能在有限时间内详细解读考题设问要求，并匠心独运的构想、拟题、列提纲，最后完成一篇考场佳作，这需要前期十分认真的备考。

在写作中，考生要特别注意文章的中心思想是否切题，论据是否足够充分，如不充分则要对论据详细展开。句语句、段与段连接要自然，逻辑关系清晰明晰，切忌不要出现与主题无关的句子。人称、时态等细节处要保持一致，单词拼写、大小写以及标点也要注意到位。

由于近些年图画作文较热，是考研英语写作中出现频率最高的一类文体，我们来重点学习一下这种文体的写作方法。

图画作文通常是给出一幅或多幅漫画或图片，所给图画多反映当前的热点社会现象或热点社会现实。这类作文难度较大，要求考生首先仔细剖析图画内容，并通过文字形式将图中所包罗的思想内容准确无误地表达出来。大家可将此类作文转化为三段或四段式的提纲作文写作。

1、认真审题

在审题时，考生要在认真剖析图画所反映的内容以及出题者出题意图的前提下，通过表层含义剖析图画真正想要说明的问题是什么，深入研究图画的表层含义和深层含义，从而挖掘出其深层含义以确定文章的中心思想。

2、确定写作重点

认真审题后，考生就要确定写作重点了，根据剖析和研究的结果列出提纲并安排段落。确定每一个段落的主题和写作重点，考生要根据题目要求对选材进行筛选。

3、确定写作提纲

如何列提纲，即考生对题设材料的剖析得出结论后形成的基本框架结构，漫画标的主题、directions中的要求包罗了哪些内容，文章段落应该如何组织，基本提纲确定了的基础上，才能思路清晰、行文流通。

中考英语作文对考生的要求有四点：1、内容要完整。 2、语句流畅。3、没有语法错误。4、书写规范。能达到上述要求的作文，都会得到相应的高分。

一：先看一下扣分点：

1.内容方面：要点缺失，可酌情扣分。比如中考作文“I want to do something for my school”，若没有写一件具体的事情，是要扣3分以上的;若写的事情太过于虚幻，没有实际内容，也会扣1-2分。

2.字数：少于60字的作文要酌情扣分。

中考英语作文要求60字以上，标点符号不算，少了就要扣分。但是60字的作文能不能得高分?从我们拿到的实例作文来看，16分以上的作文，没有少于75字的，甚至少于80字的也少之又少。当然，也极少有超过100字的，因为中考试卷的短线格一共80个，在格子下面大约还有2行的空间，可以加20字左右，再多阅卷人就很难看清了，也会影响卷面的美观。所以，同学们如果想让作文得到高分，最好是让字数在75-100字之间。

3. 语法和拼写错误：每个扣0.5，重复错误不计;

4. 标点错误：每4个扣0.5.

二：加分点

除了这些扣分点，还有一些得分点：比如说作文的组织结构分，就是根据学生使用复杂句型、单词和谚语、俗语的情况来加分。

只要文章中有1个亮点，基本就可以争取到1分(3分的文采分是很难全部拿到的)。而这1分的亮点，是可以提前准备的。例如，有一些“万金油”式的复杂句型，例如强调句型、only相关的倒装句等，只要同学们多操练几次，几乎是一定能用到作文当中，从而为自己争取到这1分。

其次就是卷面分

很多家和同学，尤其是部分书法并不是十分整洁的同学，都会关心是否真的有“卷面分”的存在。虽然在阅卷标准里面并没有卷面分这一项，但是这个分数却真切地反映在了同学们的分数里面。

据阅卷老师的经验，在阅卷的时候并不是按这3个部分逐项打分的，而是在第一遍读完全文之后，心里已经形成了一个“印象分”，然后再细读第二、三遍，把印象分分配到各个打分部分。因此，这个“印象分”就非常重要，而同学们的书法，也正是在这个环节，影响到了自己的分数。所以初三的考生，如果书法不好，一定要注意。所谓的书法并不需要写的很漂亮，符合3个简单的标准即可：没有斜体、没有连笔、涂改较少。

一、开头句型

1.As far as ...is concerned

2.It goes without saying that...

3.It can be said with certainty that...

4.As the proverb says，

5.It has to be noticed that...

6.It`s generally recognized that...

7.It`s likely that ...

8.It`s hardly that...

9.It’s hardly too much to say that...

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

11.There’s no denying the fact that...毫无疑问，无可否认

12.Nothing is more important than the fact that...

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

二、衔接句型

A case in point is ...

As is often the case...

As stated in the previous paragraph 如前段所述

But the problem is not so simple. Therefore 然而问题并非如此简单，所以……

But it’s a pity that...

For all that...In spite of the fact that...

Further, we hold opinion that...

However , the difficulty lies in...

Similarly, we should pay attention to...

not(that)...but(that)...不是，而是

In view of the present station.鉴于目前形势

As has been mentioned above...

In this respect, we may as well (say) 从这个角度上我们可以说

However, we have to look at the other side of the coin, that is... 然而我们还得看到事物的另一方面，即 …

三、结尾句型

I will conclude by saying...

Therefore, we have the reason to believe that...

All things considered,总而言之

It may be safely said that...

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

From what has been discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that….

The data/statistics/figures lead us to the conclusion that….

It can be concluded from the discussion that...从中我们可以得出这样的结论

From my point of view, it would be better if...在我看来……也许更好

四、举例句型

Let’s take...to illustrate this.试举例以兹证明

let’s take the above chart as an example to illustrate this.

Here is one more example.

Take … for example.

The same is true of….

This offers a typical instance of….

We may quote a common example of….

Just think of….

五、常用于引言段的句型

1. Some people think that …. To be frank, I can not agree with their opinion for the reasons below.

2. For years, … has been seen as …, but things are quite different now.

3. I believe the title statement is valid because….

4. I cannot entirely agree with the idea that …. I believe….

5. My argument for this view goes as follows.

6. Along with the development of…, more and more….

7. There is a long-running debate as to whether….

8. It is commonly/generally/widely/ believed /held/accepted/recognized that….

9. As far as I am concerned, I completely agree with the former/ the latter.

10. Before giving my opinion, I think it is essential to look at the argument of both sides.

六、表示比较和对比的常用句型和表达法

1. A is completely / totally / entirely different from B.

2. A and B are different in some/every way / respect / aspect.

3. A and B differ in….

4. A differs from B in….

5. The difference between A and B is/lies in/exists in….

6. Compared with/In contrast to/Unlike A, B….

7. A…, on the other hand,/in contrast,/while/whereas B….

8. While it is generally believed that A …, I believe B….

9. Despite their similarities, A and B are also different.

10. Both A and B …. However, A…; on the other hand, B….

11. The most striking difference is that A…, while B….

七、演绎法常用的句型

1. There are several reasons for…, but in general, they come down to three major ones.

2. There are many factors that may account for…, but the following are the most typical ones.

3. Many ways can contribute to solving this problem, but the following ones may be most effective.

4. Generally, the advantages can be listed as follows.

5. The reasons are as follows.

八、因果推理法常用句型

1. Because/Since we read the book, we have learned a lot.

2. If we read the book, we would learn a lot.

3. We read the book; as a result / therefore / thus / hence / consequently / for this reason / because of this, we’ve learned a lot.

4. As a result of /Because of/Due to/Owing to reading the book, we’ve learned a lot.

5. The cause of/reason for/overweight is eating too much.

6. Overweight is caused by/due to/because of eating too much.

7. The effect/consequence/result of eating too much is overweight.

8. Eating too much causes/results in/leads to overweight.

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

英语说明文的写作技巧说明文是阐述事物的特征、本质、性能、结构、用途或科学原理的一种文体。其说明的对象可以是具体的，如：自然环境，仪表设备等;也可以是抽象的，如概念定律等。

说明文的写作相对于论说文来说，有一定的套路可循，因此不是十分复杂。说明科技方面的内容常用定义法、比较对比法、分类法、因果法等;说明自然环境方面的内容常用时间次序法、分类法等。当然，随着对象的不同，具体应该采用的方法也会有所不同。

说明文的写作应该注意的事项有下面几点：

1.语言简明扼要，通俗易懂，避免夸张华丽的辞藻，要把真实的一面展现在读者面前。

2.说明时一定要把握一个中心主题。说明文中细枝末节较多，但不能喧宾夺主。

3.说明的次序非常重要。合理的次序会使文章条理清楚，脉络明晰。因此，练习时可以尝试不同的次序进行写作，找出最合理的一种。

4.由于说明文写实性较强，有时难免会让人感到没有生气。因此，可以适当使用一些比喻、拟人等修辞手段，来增加文章的色彩。

Lets prevent H1N1 from happening to usDuring the last few months,H1N1 ful has set off across the whole world.If we have the right way to prevent it ,it wont scare.Here are some suggestions for you:First of all,you should cover your mouth with a napkin whtn you cough re sneeze,Next youd better stay away from the public place if possible, if you have to,please wear a mask.Wash your hands carefully before meals and always keep your windows open so that the air will be fresh.At last,try to do more excisice to make your body strong so that you can stay in health.I think this is the most important.

最近这几个月里，H1N1病毒在全世界引发起来。如果我们用正确的方法预防它，免费学英语网站，它就不会那么可怕。这里有一些为你的建议：首先，当你在咳嗽或者打喷嚏的时候，你应该用手捂着嘴。然后你最好尽可能的离公共场所远一点，如果你必须去，免费英语学习网站，请戴上口罩。饭前仔细洗手，经常打开窗后这样使空气保持清新。最后你应该做更多的运动去使你身体更强壮，这样你就可以保持健康了。我认为这才是最重要的。

英语写作：Freedom in my Dream

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

一、日记的格式

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

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

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

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

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

以上的1或1st都应读作the first.

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

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

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

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

二、日记的要求

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

三、日记的类型和训练

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

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

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

「范文与点评」

March 12th，2003，Tuesday Sunny (Fine)

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

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

1)We have (take) pleasure in informing you that......

兹欣告你方......

2)We have the pleasure of informing you that......

兹欣告你方.....

3)We are pleased (glad) to inform you that......

兹欣告你方......

4)Further to our letter of yesterday, we now have (the) pleasure in informing you that......

续谈我方昨日函, 现告你方......

5)We confirm telegrams/fax messages recently exchanged between us and are pleased to say that......

我方确认近来双方往来电报/传真,并欣告......

6)We confirm cables exchanged as per copies (cable confirmation) herewith attached.

我方确认往来电报,参见所附文本.

7)We learn from Messrs......that you are interested and well experienced in ......business, and would like to establish business relationship with us.

我方从...公司获悉,你方对...业务感兴趣且颇有经验,意欲与我方建立业务关系.

8)Although no communication has been exchanged between us for a long time, we trust that you are doing well in business.

虽然久未通讯,谅你方生意兴隆.

9)Although we have not heard from you for quite some time, we hope your business is progressing satisfactorily.

虽然好久没接到你方来信,谅业务进展顺利.

10)We have pleasure in sending you our catalog, which gives full information about our various products.

欣寄我方目录,提供我方各类产品的详细情况。

11)We are pleased to send you by parcel post a package containing...

很高兴寄你一邮包内装...

12)We have the pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of your letter dated...

欣获你方...月...日来信.

13)We acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your letter of...

谢谢你方...月...日来信.

14)We have duly received your letter of ...

刚刚收悉你方...月...日来信.

15)We thank you for your letter of ...contents of which have been noted.

谢谢你方...月...日来信,内容已悉.

16) Refering to your letter of ......we are pleased to ....

关于你方...月...日来信,我们很高兴...

17) Reverting to your letter of ...we wish to say that...

再洽你方...月...日来信,令通知...

18)In reply to your letter of ...,we...

兹复你方...月...日来函,我方...

19) We wish to refer to your letter of ...concerning

现复你方...月...日关于...的来信

20) In compliance with the request in your letter of ... we...

按你方...月...日来函要求,我方...

关于信念

尼可洛·帕格尼尼是意大利小提琴家、作曲家，被人称为“独弦琴上练出来的小提琴家”。他的艺术道路坎坷不平。他生于一小商人家庭，据说，曾因为政治犯罪坐了20年牢。但即使是身陷囹圄，他也不曾灰心，而是坚持狱中学习。他在狱窗边，用一把只剩下一根弦的提琴，坚持苦练，几十年如一日，终于在演奏技巧方面达到了出神入化的境地。他的创作和演奏，奔放不羁，富于激情，对同时代的浪漫派作曲家有较大的影响。

关于合作

希尔顿集团在当今世界旅店业中可称是扬名五洲，200多幢巍峨壮观的高楼大厦遍布世界各都市，希尔顿集团能在激烈的竞争中立于不败之地，其原因中最值得称道的是希尔顿集团上下团结一致，唐拉德?希尔顿曾这样说过：“我可能是得克萨斯州最幸运的，是福中之人，这种福来自于友谊，来自于志同道合的伙伴，我希望我的一生能永远与同僚相处愉快，合作无间，因为我的福来自于他们。”

关于大爱

懂得关爱别人的人是受世人尊敬的。以前有个加拿大科学家在做实验时，不小心使两块铀移动了，并且相互冲了过去。若这两块铀相接触，其威力不亚于一颗小原子弹的爆炸。就在这危急的时刻，科学家用自己的双手，硬是把这两块铀掰开了。一次危机渡过了，可这位科学家也因受到太多辐射，而不幸以身殉职。政府为了表彰其伟大的博爱精神，而授予了他“用手分开原子弹的人”的称号。他用他伟大的爱，无私地关爱别人，关爱全人类，他赢得了人们对他永恒的敬佩和赞叹。

关于心态

在许多国人眼里，海尔这个成功企业已经很强大、很了不起了。然而，一位跟踪报道海尔多年的记者却说，在他接触到的诸多企业中，海尔的“忧患意识”是最强的。海尔集团首席执行官张瑞敏时常挂在嘴边的一句话是：“战战兢兢，如履薄冰。”一个16年平均年增长速度达81。6%、年销售收入已突破400亿元、不仅在国内而且在国外都有较高知名度的企业能有这样的意识，很值得我们深思。按照张瑞敏的说法，他们进军中国的战略非常简单：赢家通吃。他们的目标就是不给你留任何一点市场和地盘。毋庸讳言，我们的许多企业，不要说弱势企业，就是像海尔这样的佼佼者，与世界500强相比也还有一段差距，也不敢有丝毫放松和懈怠。实事求是地正视挑战的严峻性，充分估计到竞争对手的力量和困难的一面，向最坏处着想，向最好处努力，这样较为有益，而较少有害。

关于孝道

王祥，琅琊人，生母早丧，继母朱氏多次在他父亲面前说他的坏话，使他失去父爱。父母患病，他衣不解带侍候，继母想吃活鲤鱼，适值天寒地冻，他解开衣服卧在冰上，冰忽然自行融化，跃出两条鲤鱼。继母食后，果然病愈。王祥隐居二十余年，后从温县县令做到大司农、司空、太尉。

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

一、学生能充分认识英语写作的重要性是写作能力提高的必要条件。

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

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

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

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

二、指导写作应注意的几个问题：

1．教师要有明确合理的教学计划和教学程序，组织系统规范的有序训练。

2．帮助和要求学生养成积极主动地坚持英语写作的良好习惯。

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

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

5．注意讲评。要经常指出优点，以利模仿，指出缺点，警示避免。

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

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

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

三、训练写作的常用方法。

写作训练应考虑循序渐进的原则，采取逐步提高的形式进行。

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

四、注意纠正学生英语作写中容易出现的错误。

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

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