初一英语写作教学（精品20篇）

Mid-autumn Day is a Chinese festival. It usually es in September or October .On that day we usually eat a big dinner and mooncakes. It is said "Hou Yi" missed his wife，so he made mooncakes. It looks like the moon.

There are many kinds of mooncakes. They are small round cakes with meat,nuts or something sweet inside . eating mooncakes has been our custom. Families stay outside in the open air eat a big dinner and mooncakes. The most important thing is looking at the moon,On that day,the moon kooks brighter and rounder. We call this moon the full moon.

On that day,families get together,so we call this day getting together. This is Mid-autumn Day. I love it very much. Because on that day I can eat mooncakes. And my brother es back home. He works outside all year. Only that day and the Spring Festival. He es back. So that day I am especially happy. On that day my family gets together.

中秋节是一个中国节日，通常是九月或十月。当天我们经常吃一顿丰盛的晚餐和月饼。据说“后羿”想念他的妻子，所以他做了月饼。它看起来像月亮。

有各种各样的月饼。它们是小圆饼，里面有肉，坚果或者里面的甜点。吃月饼是我们的习惯。家人在户外露天吃大餐和月饼。最重要的是看着月亮，在那一天，月亮变得越来越明亮。我们称这个月亮为满月。

在那一天，家庭聚在一起，所以我们称这一天聚在一起。这是中秋节。我非常喜欢。因为那天我可以吃月饼。而且我的兄弟回家了。他全年都在外面工作只有那一天和春节。他回来了。所以那天我特别开心。那天我的家人聚在一起。

中考马上就要到来了，语文迷小编为大家整理提供中考英语写作万能句子，赶紧来看看吧。

1. 不用说…… It goes without saying that … = (It is) needless to say (that) …

= It is obvious that …

例：不用说早睡早起是值得的。

It goes without saying that it pays to keep early hours.

2. 在各种……之中，…… Among various kinds of …， … /= Of all the …， …

例︰在各种运动中我尤其喜欢慢跑。

Among various kinds of sports, I like jogging in particular.

3. 就我的看法……;我认为……

In my opinion, …

= To my mind, …

= As far as I am concerned, …

= I am of the opinion that …

例：In my opinion, playing video games not only takes much time but is also harmful to health.

就我的看法打电动玩具既花费时间也有害健康。

4. 随着人口的增加…… With the increase/growth of the population, …

随着科技的进步…… With the advance of science and technology, …

例：With the rapid development of Taiwans economy, a lot of social problems have come to pass.

随着台湾经济的快速发展许多社会问题产生了。

5. ……是必要的 It is necessary (for sb.) to do / that …

…… 是重要的 It is important/essential (for sb.) to do / that …

…… 是适当的 It is proper (for sb.) to do / that …

……是紧急的 It is urgent (for sb.) to do / that …

例：It is proper for us to keep the public places clean.

It is proper that we (should) keep the public places clean.

我们应当保持公共场所清洁。

6. 花费 spend … on sth. / doing sth. …

例：我们不应该在我们不感兴趣的事情上花太多的时间。

We shouldnt spend too much time on something we arent interested in.

7. how 引导的感叹句

例：那至少可以证明你很诚实。

At least it will prove how honest you are.

8. 状语从句

A)如果你不……，你就会…… If you dont …， youll …

例︰If you dont keep working hard, youll lose the chance.

如果你不坚持努力工作，你就会失去这次机会。

B) 如此 ……，以至于…… so … that …

例：At that moment, I was so upset that I wanted to give up.

当时，我非常伤心，最后都想放弃了。

9. 宾语从句

我认为，…… / 我认为……不 I think / I dont think that …

我想知道是否…… I wonder whether …

例：He doesnt think I should stop him joining the club.

他认为我不应该阻止他参加这个俱乐部。

10. Since + S + 过去式， S + 现在完成式。

例：Since he went to senior high school, he has worked very hard.

自从他上高中，他就一直很用功。

积累一些英语格言，对英文写作有一定的帮助。以下是小编带来的小学生经典英语格言，希望对你有帮助。

A cat may look at a king. 猫也可以看国王。

A friend in need is a friend in indeed. 患难识知已。

A good marksman may miss. 智者千虑，必有一失。

A good maxim is never out of season. 至理名言不会过时。

A good medicine tastes bitter. 良药苦口，忠言逆耳。

A good winter brings a good summer. 瑞雪兆丰年。

All roads lead to Rome. 条条道路通罗马。

Better early than late. 宁早勿晚。

Better late than never. 迟做总比不做好。

Great minds think alike.英雄所见略同。

It is good to learn at another man’s cost.前车可鉴。

It is never too late to learn. 活到老，学到老。

Love me, love my dog.爱屋及乌。

Men learn while they reach. 教学相长。

Second thoughts are best. 三思而后行 。

Today my parents took me to my grandfather’s house.I played with my cousin.Suddenly my cousin suggested going to the park and having a rest.“that’s a good idea.” I said.Then we prepared for the traveling.After lunch,the sky turned dark.After that ,it rained heavily.It meant our plan is impossible.What a pity day!

今天我父母带我去了外公家,我和唐/表,兄/弟/姐/妹一起玩.突然,我我和唐/表,兄/弟/姐/妹建议去公园玩,顺便休息一下.“那是一个好主意”我说到.然后我们为旅行准备着.午饭后,天变得昏暗,接着下起了大雨.那意味着我们的计划不可能实行了,多遗憾的一天哪!(圣诞节作文)

Chinese new year is a chinese traditional festival. We also call it the spring festival. It is on lunar january 1st.

On new years eve, all the people sit around the desk and have a big family dinner. There are some vegetables, some fish, some meat, some fruits and some drink like juice, coke, pepsi and some nice wine. Overall, this is a good and delicious dinner. After dinner, we always watch tv new year progammes. We have a wonderful evening on new years eve.

On the first day of the spring festival, most of people get up early and say “happy new year” to each other. for breakfast, people often eat dumplings and baozi. After breakfast, people often make many delicious foods, and children often play cards, computer games and fireworks. On the second and third day, we visit friends and relatives.

Everyone is busy on chinese new year, and everyone is happy, too.

春节是中国的传统节日。我们也称它为春节。它是在农历1月1日。

在新年前夕,所有人围坐在桌子上,有一个大的家庭晚餐。有一些蔬菜,一些鱼,一些肉,一些水果和一些喝果汁、可口可乐、百事可乐和一些不错的葡萄酒。总的来说,这是一个很好的和美味的晚餐。晚饭后,我们总是看电视节目。我们有一个美好的晚上在新年前夕。

在春节的第一天,大部分的人早起,说“新年快乐”。早餐,人们经常吃饺子和包子。早餐后,人们常常做出许多美味的食物,和孩子经常打牌,电脑游戏和烟火。第二和第三天,我们拜访亲戚、朋友。

在中国新年每个人都很忙,每个人都是快乐的,也是。

My favourate animal is panda.i think panda is the cutist animal in the

world.It has black and white fur and especially it have black fur around eyes

which looks like wear a pair of sunglasses.

Panda likes banboo shoots and leaves a lot.I saw panda ate apply and cakes

in Zoo before,but I know in nature world they would not eat these things.

Now almost everyone in the world love panda,but only China has panda.

So as a Chinese I feel proud to be born in a country has panda.

导语：小编就高考英语广东卷写作题将由基础写作(满分15分)和任务型写作(满分25分)两节组成。为了更有效地备考基础写作题，需要搞清楚基础写作题的特点和对考生写作能力的要求。本文将探讨这两个方面的问题，并对备考给出一些建议，供考生参考。

一、基础写作题的特点

高考设置基础写作题目的目的是要检测考生最基础的书面语言表达能力，如用词的合理性、句子结构的复杂度、语法运用的正确性、信息内容的完整性、句子之间的连贯性等。因此，基础写作题与往年的书面表达依然会有很多相似点，但也会出现一些新的特点。

1. 写作题材贴近考生的学习和生活。历年来高考作文题的题材都非常贴近考生的学习和生活，如校园活动、校外见闻、交友、旅游，和考生有关的话题讨论等。可以预料明年高考写作题的题材还会在这些范围之内，并为所有所考所熟悉。

2. 写作的体裁主要是故事性描述和应用文。基础写作题的体裁主要有故事性描写和应用文写作两大类。命题形式可能是看图写故事、看图表说明、根据表格信息完成一封短信或一份通知这类的应用文等。

3. 内容呈现的方式具有半封闭性。作文试题逐步走向开放将是大势所趋。但是，基础写作题还只能是半封闭的，其特点是写作的内容是被规定了的，考生必须将文章所规定的信息点完整、全面地表达出来，但对于语言表达的方式、信息组织的先后秩序、需要补充哪些必要的信息等，考生又有一定的自主构思空间。

4. 用5句话表达。这是基础写作题与往年书面表达题最显著的不同点。往年是规定字数(100词左右)，句子的数量不作规定，所以很多考生为了不犯句法错误总是用一些简单句。而基础写作只能用5句话来表达题目所给的全部信息点，但所给的信息点与往年的书面表达相比并不会减少，所以，用5个简单句很难完成任务，必须使用复合句或并列句来综合多个信息点，而且还要照顾句子之间的衔接和语意上的连贯。从这一点来说，基础写作题对考生运用语言能力的要求大大提高了。

二、基础写作题提出的新要求

由基础写作题的特点可以看出，它对考生提出了一些新的要求。

1. 信息组织能力。笔者认为，信息组织能力包括信息归类、信息排列和信息表达三个环节。对于题目所提供的各种信息点，考生首先需要依照一定的标准将信息进行归类，并初步计划将哪些信息放到同一个句子中;其次是将信息进行合理的排列，排列必须依照一定的标准，如时间顺序、空间顺序、因果关系、递进关系等;第三是选择信息表达的秩序，确定句子之间的先后关系，这既要考虑语法上能否衔接，还要考虑语意上的连贯。在组织信息的过程中，还要对某些信息进行必要的增删，使文章意思连贯、语言畅通、逻辑严密。

2. 运用复杂句子的能力。在整理和归类信息点之后，就需要正确地使用比较复杂的句子，综合地表达信息。复杂句子主要有三类：

第一类是复合句，包括含有名词性从句的复合句，含有定语从句的复合句，含有状语从句的复合句。

第二类是并列句，包括具有递进关系的并列句， 如由and，then，besides，in addition, furthermore，moreover, what’s more等连接的并列句，具有转折关系的并列句，如由but，however，on the contrary, after all等连接的并列句，具有平行选择关系的并列句，如由both…and…，as well as，as well，neither…nor…or，either…or…，not only…but also…等连接的并列句。

第三类是一些特殊句型，如使用强调句、倒装句、含有with复合结构的句子、there be开头的句子、以形式主语it开头的句子等。

正确地使用各种句型，不仅能够完成题目所要求的任务，还能使文章的句式变得丰富、行文更加流畅、中心和主旨更加突出。

三、基础写作题的备考策略

在基础写作的备考过程中，一方面要重视养成一些良好的写作习惯，如认真审题、巧妙构思、常写草稿、工整誊写、仔细核对等好习惯，另一方面在组织信息和训练复杂句子结构方面要多下些功夫。下面我们以“广东省普通高等学校招生全国统一考试广东省英语科考试说明”中的样题为例，探讨如何备考基础写作题。

第一节：基础写作(共1小题，满分15分)

假设你最近参加了由某电视台举办的中考生英语演讲比赛并获奖，该台准备组织获奖者去北京参加一次英语夏令营活动，下表是这次活动的时间安排和活动内容。

活动时间

7月15日-22日或8月15日-22日

活动内容

参加英语角 学唱英语歌曲

听英语讲座 表演英语短剧

看英语电影 教外宾学中文

【写作内容】

电视台现就活动时间和活动内容征求你的意见。请按照以下要求用英语以书信形式给予答复。

1. 选择适合你的时间并说明理由;

2. 解释你只能参加其中的两项活动(听英语讲座和教外宾学中文)，虽然你认为所有的活动都很有意义;

3. 说明你选择的理由：听英语讲座了解英美文化的信息;教外宾学中文因为2008北京奥运让越来越多的外宾想了解中国。

【写作要求】

1. 必须使用5个句子表达全部的内容

2. 信的开头和结尾已给出。

Dear Sir or Madame,

I’m glad to be invited to the English summer camp.

Thank you very much.

Yours truly,

Li Ping

【评分标准】

句子结构的准确性和复杂度;信息内容的完整性和连贯性。

由此我们可以看出，信息点的数量与往年的书面表达题相比并没有减少，要想用5个句子把所有的信息都表达出来，考生必须从以下三个方面进行备考：

1. 养成重视审题的习惯。虽然基础写作题是半封闭性的，但审题仍然十分重要。现以样题为例，谈谈如何审题：

思考的问题

样题分析

要写的文章主题是什么?(topic)

参加夏令营。

为什么要写这篇文章?(purpose)

电视台邀请参加夏令营，写信回复

要写文章的信息点有哪些?(information items)

选择的时间、参加活动的内容、解释为什么。

怎样安排信息点的逻辑顺序?(order)

说明要参加的活动并解释原因—→说明要参加的时间并解释原因。

动作是什么时候发生的(时态)?(when)

夏令营还没有开始，文章主要用一般将来时。

2. 提高组织信息的能力。组织信息的过程包括信息分类、信息排列和信息表达三个环节。这些步骤看起来好像很繁琐，但对于中下成绩的考生来说，一步一步地思考这些问题是很有必要的。现以样题为例，说明该怎样组织信息。

信息分类

信息排列

信息表达

时间信息：两个时间段。

内容信息：6项活动。

选择信息：其中的两个活动及其理由。

夏令营的内容信息点排列：可以将自己要参加的两项活动放在前面，其它信息点可以略写。

作者的选择信息点排列：依照自己所参与的活动顺序逐项表述，紧接着给出选择的理由。

结合已经给出的头和尾，写作的顺序可安排如下：

很高兴被邀请(已给出)——感谢安排这么多的活动——说明活动的意义——表达自己只能参加两项活动的遗憾和原因——说明参加的活动内容及原因(两项活动用两句话)——说明自己选择的时间及原因。

3. 夯实基础，掌握基本的句子结构及其用法。对于大多数考生来说，用词不准和句子结构错误是写作失分的“罪魁祸首”。夯实基础、掌握基本的句子结构及其用法是基础写作备考的主要任务，完成这项任务可以分步骤进行：

第一步：练习写简单句，练就写简单句基本不犯语言错误的“真功”。简单句大体上可以分为两个基本类型，考生必须掌握：“主语+谓语+(其它成分)”“主语+系动词+表语”。

第二步：练习运用复杂句。要提高运用复杂句的能力，考生必须要攻克三个易错点：一是主句与从句之间主谓结构混乱，造成主句缺谓语;二是没有掌握关联词的用法，错用、多用、漏用关联词;三是该使用简单句的地方人为地复杂化，如可以用分词或介词短语来表达的，却偏要用从句。

下面以样题为例，介绍笔者是如何思考写这篇文章的(为了分析方便，笔者将5个句子进行编号)，仅供参考：

Dear Sir or Madam,

I’m glad to be invited to the English summer camp. ①Thank you very much for arranging so many activities, such as English corner, English lectures, English films, English songs, English plays and helping foreigners learn Chinese. ②I am sure all the activities will do a lot of good to us students. ③But it’s a pity that I can only take part in two of them, because I will have to spend some time in doing my research project. ④I would like to listen to the lectures, by which I will learn more about western culture, and help foreigners learn Chinese, as more and more foreigners want to know about China and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

⑤I want to see my grandparents in the country right after our school finishes in mid-July, so I am going to attend the camp from August 15th to 22nd.

Thank you very much.

Yours truly,

Li Ping

第①句顺应已给出的句中的glad心情，表示感谢安排这么多的活动，具有较好的连贯性。同时很自然地将活动内容做一介绍。

第②句用简单句表达活动的意义，语意上连贯，句式上没有继续用“长”句，有变化。

第③句用but转折并用it’s a pity 句型表示委婉的歉意，然后解释原因。

第④句用一个长句子表达自己要参加的两个项目，并解释原因，解释原因的第一句用定语从句，第二句用状语从句，使句子结构富于变化。

第⑤句解释参加的时间并给出解释。之所以把时间放在后面，主要是考虑它与题目已经给出的句子之间在语意上的连贯性不够。

不管做什么是，找对技巧很重要。下面语文迷网整理了英语六级的写作技巧，供大家阅读参考。

一、 长短句原则。

工作还得一张一弛呢，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。

二、 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.

三、 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)

建议：不仅仅在写作中注意，平时说话的时候也应该条理清楚!

四、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。

五、多实少虚原则

原因很简单，写文章还是应该写一些实际的东西，不要空话连篇。这就要求一定要多用实词，少用虚词。我这里所说的虚词就是指那些比较大的词。

比如我们说一个很好的时候，不应该之说nice这样空洞的词，应该使用一些诸如generous, humorous, interesting, smart, gentle, warm-hearted, hospitable 之类的形象词。

再比如： 走出房间，general的词是：walk out of the room 但是小偷走出房间应该说：slip out of the room 小姐走出房间应该说：sail out of the room 小孩走出房间应该说：dance out of the room 老人走出房间应该说：stagger out of the room 所以多用实词，少用虚词，文章将会大放异彩!

六、 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 enjoy 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。

6)排比(排山倒海句)文学作品中最吸引人的地方莫过于此，如果非要让你的文章更加精彩的话，那么我希望你引用一个个的排比句，一个个得对偶句，一个个的不定式，一个个地词，一个个的短语，如此表达将会使文章有排山倒海之势!Whether your tastes are modern or traditional, sophisticated or simple, there is plenty in London for you. Nowadays, energy can be obtained through various sources such as oil, coal, natural gas, solar heat, the wind and ocean tides. We have got to study hard, to enlarge our scope of knowledge, to realize our potentials and to pay for our life. (气势恢宏) 要想写出如此气势恢宏的句子非用排比不可!

七、挑战极限原则。

既然十挑战极限，必然是比较难的，但是并非不可攀!原理：在学生的文章中，很少发现诸如独立主格的句子，其实也很简单，只要花上5分钟的时间看看就可以领会，它就是分词的一种特殊形式，分词要求主语一致，而独立主格则不然。比如：The weather being fine, a large number of people went to climb the Western Hills. Africa is the second largest continent, its size being about three times that of China. 如果你可以写出这样的句子，不得高分才怪!

下面是由语文迷网整理的三类英语作文开头句型，希望对你有帮助。

一、常规开头句型

1.As far as …is concerned 就……而言

2.It goes without saying that… 不言而喻，…

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

4.As the proverb says， 正如谚语所说的，

5.It has to be noticed that… 它必须注意到，…

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

7.Its likely that … 这可能是因为…

8.Its hardly that… 这是很难的……

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

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

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

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

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

二、四级引出开头

1：It is well-known to us that……(我们都知道……)==As far as my knowledge is concerned, …( 就我所知…)

2：Recently the problem of…… has been brought into focus. ==Nowadays there is a growing concern over ……(最近……问题引起了关注)

3：Nowadays(overpopulation)has become a problem we have to face.(现今，人口过剩已成为我们不得不面对的问题)

4：Internet has been playing an increasingly important role in our day-to-day life. It has brought a lot of benefits but has created some serious problems as well.(互联网已在我们的生活扮演着越来越重要的角色，它给我们带来了许多好处但也产生了一些严重的问题)

5：With the rapid development of science and technology，more and more people believe that……(随着科技的迅速发展，越来越多的人认为……)

6：It is a common belief that……==It is commonly believed that……(人们一般认为……)

7：A lot of people seem to think that……(很多人似乎认为……)

8:It is universally acknowledged that + 句子(全世界都知道...)

三、高考英语引出开头

Recently, the problem of … has aroused peoples concern. 最近,……问题已引起人们的关注.

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

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

Nowadays, (overpopulation) has become a problem we have to face.

如今,(人口过剩)已成为我们不得不面对的问题了.

It is commonly believed that … / It is a common belief that … 人们一般认为……

Many people insist that … 很多人坚持认为……

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

随着科技的发展,越来越多的人认为……

A lot of people seem to think that … 很多人似乎认为……

清明，是24节气之一，是中国的流传千年传统节日，我想，在每一个人的心中，它都有着不一样的含义。它的由来很耐人寻味。

Qingming Festival, is one of the 24 solar terms, is Chinas thousands of years of traditional festivals, I think, in each persons heart, it has a different meaning. Its origins are quite afford much food for thought.

清明节与春秋五霸晋文公重耳有关。重耳耳垂大，肋骨是连在一起的，一只眼睛里有两个眸子。晋国内乱，公子夷吾和重耳逃亡在外。公子夷吾杀太子自封晋惠公，对他更加无礼，重耳只好带着狐偃、狐毛、介子推等人去投奔齐国，在途中公子重耳因连日吃野草，发病了，奄奄一息，可在荒山野岭中哪有大夫?为了就自己主公，介子推割下身上的一块大腿肉生火做汤，把肉汤送给重耳，他的病好了。

The Qingming Festival is associated with the spring and Autumn Annals chonger. One ear, the ribs are linked together, one eye in two eyes. The civil strife, Wu and his son in exile. Who killed the prince - Wu Jin Hui Gong, more rude to him, he had to take the Huyan, fox fur, Jie et al to Qi, on the way to one of the princes due to days of eating weeds, disease, be at ones last gasp, but in the wild hills where the doctor? In order to his master, the muon push to cut a piece of thigh meat fire off the soup, broth gave Chonger, his disease.

他到了秦国，在秦穆公的帮助下回了晋国做了晋文公，国家建立之后，晋文公把手下的有功之臣都封了官，有人告诉他那肉汤是介子推的肉，说重耳忘记给介子推封官了。于是他后悔忘了给介子推封，可是现在六部的尚书都有人做了，他去请介子推去做官，谁知介子推隐居绵山，文公不忘本，就亲自去绵山请他，但是就是找不到他。

He went to Qin, Qin Mugong help next time in the Jin Jin, after the establishment of Jin State, his meritorious official seal, someone told him that the broth is muon push meat, that he forgot to give demonstration of the muon push. So he regrets that he forgot to muon push email, but now six of the book is done, he went to please muon push an official, who knows the meson pushes in Mianshan, Wen did not forget, then went Mianshan to please him, but I could not find him.

有人出了一个馊主意：烧山必他出来。但是介子推和老母就是不出来，后来两个人抱着两棵老柳烧死了。文公命一看追悔莫及，下令举国哀悼介子推，把绵山重新命名介山，规定每年的这一天全国不许用火，并要插柳，还将4月5号命名为清明，又称寒食节。

Someone out of a bad idea: burning mountain will him out. But Jie Zitui and mother is not out, then two people holding the two old tree willow. Wen Gongs life at her mourning, ordered the muon push, to rename the Mianshan medium mountain, stipulated every year on this day the no fire, and must be inserted Liu, also named April 5th as the Qingming Festival, also known as.

两千年来，我们中国人很重视这个节日，在清明节这一天家家不动火，只吃一些隔天的菜或青团之类的。近来我国又把它定为法定假日。让人们有时间去祭祖、扫墓、踏青。

In two thousand years, we the Chinese people attach great importance to this holiday, during the Ching Ming Festival this day every family does not get angry, just eat some vegetables such as green or the next day. Recently, our country had made it a statutory holiday. Give people time to worship ancestors, sweep the tombs, outing.

清明节，标示着中国千百年来的一个传统，说明中国人是讲义气的，重感情的，中国人有恩不忘。

The Qingming Festival, marked by a tradition for thousands of years in China, shows that the Chinese people is the sense of obligation, the feelings of the Chinese people did not forget, grace.

The Spring Festival, the most important festival to Chinese. Is China the biggest, the most lively, one of the most important ancient traditional festivals, is also unique to Chinese festival.

Festival, is the beginning of the lunar calendar, another name is called New Years day, Spring Festival is the biggest, the most lively, China one of the most important ancient traditional festivals, is also unique to Chinese festival. Is the most concentrated expression of Chinese civilization. Since the western han dynasty, the custom of Spring Festival continues today. The Spring Festival, generally refers to New Years eve and the first day. But in private, in the traditional sense of the Spring Festival is from the Greek festival of the day or month, 23 or 24 people, until the fifteenth, among them with New Years eve and the first day of the first lunar month. How to celebrate this holiday, in one thousand years of history development, formed some relatively fixed customs and habits, there are a lot of handed down also. During the traditional festival, the Spring Festival of the han nationality in our country and most of ethnic minorities have to hold various celebration activities, these activities are to worship deities, worshiping ancestors, blow away the cobwebs, meet jubilee blessing, pray for good harvest as the main content. Form rich and colorful, activities with strong ethnic characteristics. On May 20, 2006, "Spring Festival" folk have been approved by the state council listed in the first batch of state-level non-material cultural heritage list.

The origin of the Spring Festival has a legend, the Chinese ancient times have a kind of call "year" monster, head long feelers, fierce abnormalities. "Year" the elder deep in the bottom of the sea, every New Years eve just climbed out, swallowed cattle damage lives. Therefore, every New Years eve that day, the people of CunCunZhaiZhai could flee to the mountains, to escape the "year" animal damage. One NianChuXi, from the village outside a begging the old man. Folks a hurried panic scene, only the east village, an old woman gave the old man some food, and urged him quickly up the hill avoid "year" beast, the old man stroked his beard say with smile: "mother-in-law if let me stay overnight in the home, I must have" years "beast." Old woman continue to persuasion, begging the old man smiling without a word. At midnight, "nian" beast into the village. It found the village atmosphere unlike previous years, village east wifes husbands family, the door stick red paper, candle lit the room. "Year" beast was a shake, long a sound. Nearly the door, hospital suddenly spread "banging spluttered" Fried sound, "nian" shuddered, again dare not go up. Originally, "year" the most afraid of red, fire and exploding. At this time, her mother-in-laws door open and saw hospital a red-robed man laughed. "Year" frightened to disgrace, mess up. The next day is the first day, the people of refuge back very surprised to see the village safe. At this point, the old woman was suddenly enlighted, quickly spoke to the fellow villagers begging the old mans promise. This matter quickly spread around the village, people know driven "years" beast approach. (the legend of hakka) from then on, every year New Years eve, families paste red couplets, firecrackers; Household candle lit, keeping stay by age. Beginning in the early morning, still walk close bunch of congratulate friends say hello. This custom spread more widely, Chinese the most solemn of the folk traditional festival.

春节，中国人最重要的节日。是中国最盛大、最热闹、最重要的一个古老传统节日，也是中国人所独有的节日。

节，是农历的岁首，春节的另一名称叫过年，是中国最盛大、最热闹、最重要的一个古老传统节日，也是中国人所独有的节日。是中华文明最集中的表现。自西汉以来，春节的习俗一直延续到今天。春节一般指除夕和正月初一。但在民间，传统意义上的春节是指从腊月初八的腊祭或腊月二十三或二十四的祭灶，一直到正月十五，其中以除夕和正月初一为高潮。如何过庆贺这个节日，在千百年的历史发展中，形成了一些较为固定的风俗习惯，有许多还相传至今。在春节这一传统节日期间，我国的汉族和大多数少数民族都有要举行各种庆祝活动，这些活动大多以祭祀神佛、祭奠祖先、除旧布新、迎禧接福、祈求丰年为主要内容。活动形式丰富多彩，带有浓郁的民族特色。2006年5月20日，“春节”民俗经国务院批准列入第一批国家级非物质文化遗产名录。

春节的来历有一种传说，中国古时候有一种叫“年”的怪兽，头长触角，凶猛异常。“年”长年深居海底，每到除夕才爬上岸，吞食牲畜伤害人命。因此，每到除夕这天，村村寨寨的人们扶老携幼逃往深山，以躲避“年”兽的伤害。有一年除夕，从村外来了个乞讨的老人。乡亲们一片匆忙恐慌景象，只有村东头一位老婆婆给了老人些食物，并劝他快上山躲避“年”兽，那老人捋髯笑道：“婆婆若让我在家呆一夜，我一定把‘年’兽撵走。”老婆婆仍然继续劝说，乞讨老人笑而不语。 半夜时分，“年”兽闯进村。它发现村里气氛与往年不同：村东头老婆婆家，门贴大红纸，屋内烛火通明。“年”兽浑身一抖，怪叫了一声。将近门口时，院内突然传来“砰砰啪啪”的炸响声，“年”浑身战栗，再不敢往前凑了。原来，“年”最怕红色、火光和炸响。这时，婆婆的家门大开，只见院内一位身披红袍的老人在哈哈大笑。“年”大惊失色，狼狈逃蹿了。第二天是正月初一，避难回来的人们见村里安然无恙十分惊奇。这时，老婆婆才恍然大悟，赶忙向乡亲们述说了乞讨老人的许诺。这件事很快在周围村里传开了，人们都知道了驱赶“年”兽的办法。(客家人的传说)从此每年除夕，家家贴红对联、燃放爆竹;户户烛火通明、守更待岁。初一一大早，还要走亲串友道喜问好。这风俗越传越广，成了中国民间最隆重的传统节日。

对比观点题型

（1） 要求论述两个对立的观点并给出自己的看法。

1． 有一些人认为......

2． 另一些人认为......

3． 我的看法

The topic of

①-----------------（主题）is becoming more and more popular recently. There are two sides of opinions about it. Some people say A is their favorite. They hold their view for the reason of

②-----------------（支持A的理由一）What is more,

③-------------理由二). Moreover,

④---------------(理由三).

While others think that B is a better choice in the following three reasons. Firstly,-----------------(支持B的理由一). Secondly (besides),

⑥------------------（理由二）. Thirdly (finally),

⑦------------------(理由三).

From my point of view, I think

⑧----------------（我的观点）. The reason is that

⑨--------------------(原因). As a matter of fact, there are some other reasons to explain my choice. For me, the former is surely a wise choice .

（2） 给出一个观点，要求考生反对这一观点

Some people believe that

①----------------（观点一）. For example, they think

②-----------------（举例说明）．And it will bring them

③-----------------(为他们带来的好处).

In my opinion, I never think this reason can be the point. For one thing,

④-------------(我不同意该看法的理由一). For another thing,

⑤-----------------(反对的理由之二)．

Form all what I have said, I agree to the thought that

⑥------------------(我对文章所讨论主题的看法)．

阐述主题题型

要求从一句话或一个主题出发，按照提纲的要求进行论述．

１． 阐述名言或主题所蕴涵的意义．

２． 分析并举例使其更充实．

The good old proverb ----------------（名言或谚语）reminds us that ----------------(释义). Indeed, we can learn many things form it.

First of all,-----------------(理由一). For example, -------------------(举例说明). Secondly,----------------(理由二). Another case is that ---------------(举例说明). Furthermore , ------------------(理由三)．

In my opinion, ----------------(我的观点). In short, whatever you do, please remember the say------A. If you understand it and apply it to your study or work, you”ll necessarily benefit a lot from it.

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。

My mother of medium height, white skin, not very beautiful but dignified and easy, her dress is just like people, not fashionable but very elegant. My mothers character is bad, often lose his temper. Strengths, weaknesses, you want to know? My mother is a man of ingenuity, will do a lot of exquisite handicrafts. Fengling is very good-looking, she will do what all have, in the shape of different colors, hung in the window, my home is very beautiful, especially under the wind chimes look gorgeous in that some of small ornament, whenever there is a wind blowing, they will send melodious bell, it sounds like the wings, can fly far away.

Do you know? My mother a bath just half an hour. Her do the housework is also very clean. 5 o clock in the morning get up to do breakfast for the family to eat, at 9 o clock in the morning will go to the market to buy food, come back and then do a housework. Cook a meal at 11 o clock. Wash his clothes, and 2 PM 3 PM to do the housework. Shes housework: sweeping, washing clothes, sweep the floor, washing the dishes, and so on household chores, few are also countless. The evening she often said: "oh ~ today the housework so much do I waist sour backache." Father and sister, I have no words to say. In fact, we want to help her, but we help her. She said: "go away, you do not clean."

You say my mother is very love clean and industrious again?

我的妈妈中等身材，皮肤白白的，不十分漂亮但端庄大方，她的穿衣打扮也跟人一样，不时髦但很高雅。妈妈的性格不好，常发脾气。优点很多，缺点也不少，你们想知道吗? 妈妈是个心灵手巧的人，会做许多精巧的手工艺品。她做的风铃很好看，什么形状的都有，颜色各异，挂在我家窗前，非常漂亮，特别是风铃下的有些小装饰好看极了，每当有风吹起的时候，它们就会发出悦耳的铃声，那声音像是长了翅膀，能飞得很远很远。

你知道吗?我妈妈一洗澡就半个钟头。她做家务也非常干净。早上5点起床做早餐给一家人吃，早上9点就去市场买菜，回来后就做一做家务。到了11点就做饭。下午2点洗衣服，3点做家务。她的家务范围是：扫地，洗衣服，拖地，洗碗，等等家务，数也数不清。晚上她常常说：“唉~今天家务好多做得我腰酸背痛。”爸爸和姐姐，我都没话可说。其实我们想帮她，不过我们一帮她。她就说：“走开走开，你们做得不干净。”

你说我的妈妈是不是很又爱干净和勤劳?

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

英语写作和汉语写作一样，要写出好文章除了要有好的内容外还少不了好的结构，而句子的好坏又取决于选词造句。小编收集了关于英语作文的写作技巧，欢迎阅读。

一、措辞

1、选择生动准确的词

词是语言的基本单位，人们要表达思想，就要选择适当的词语，这是写作的基本要求。

词可分为一般概念的词(general words)和具体概念的词(specific words)。表示一般概念的词含义模糊;表示具体概念的词含义明确，表达准确，生动形象。写作时合理地使用具体概念的词能够使句子表达的意思准确，内容生动，更富有感染力。试比较下面各组句子：

(l) A few houses were destroyed yesterday (general)

Five houses burnt down yesterday (specific)

(2)His relatives gave him two gifts(general)

His aunt and uncle gave hima watch and a Pen as the birthday gifts。(specific)

(3) Jack went to the window and looked at the crowd outside(general)

Jack tiptoed to the window and peeped into the room(specific)

上面各组句中，第一个句子抽象概括，给人以空泛的感觉：第二个句子用词具体，有个件，使人感到意思确切，生动逼真。

2、使用英语成语和习语

人们在长期使用语言的过程中，积累了大量的习惯表达法。这些成语、习语内涵丰富，语言生动活泼。文章中适当地使用这类短语，可避免语言的单调贫乏，使句子生动而富于内涵。如：

(l)George has lost his social position since his business failed.

可改为：George has come down in the world since his business failed

(2).Maybe you have time to go to the cinema,but I have more importavt businessto attend to.

可改为：Maybe you have time to go to the cinema,but I have other fish to fry.

3、用词的宽度

用词的宽度可以反映出写作者所掌握的词汇量。如果一个人掌握的词汇量大，那么当表达同一概念有不同的表达方法时，则可以换一种说法。如：

The teachers maintained that the students should give up love for the sake ofleaming Students,however,hold that fordidding love among college students is nogood.

这两句话里，谓语分别用了maintain和hold。如果将它们换为think，所表达的意思相同，但用词宽度则不如原文。这两句话中for the sake of，give uP,is no good等都是用词宽度的表现。

所以在英语写作中有意识地适当增加用词宽度既能体现学以致用的原则又能使文章取得良好效果。

二、句子的多样化

英语中，同一思想用不同句式表达，其效果会大不相同。要想写出好的文章，就要不断地变化句子的结构形式。

l、长短句交替使用

句子的长短是为表达思想服务的。英语短句结构简单，意思明白具有生动活泼而又干脆利索的表达效果，而长句结构复杂，信息丰富，能表达成熟的思想与复杂的概念。一味地使用长句或短句会使文章显得单调，乏味，从而影响文章的总体效果。科学地交替使用长短句使句子结构变化多样，不仅给文章带来顿挫起伏的语言美感，而且可以受到理想的修辞效果。请看下面的这段话：

She returned to her office.There was a note under the door. It was from Mr May.He said he was waiting for her in the coffee room.And he bad not found her sister.Hewas sorry to have missed her.

这段话用了一连串的短句，读起来单调呆板，平淡无味。为使文字更加生动，意思更加明确可改为：

When she returned to her office，the found a note from Mr May under the door.He said he was waiting for her in the coffee room and hadnt found her sister yet.Headded that he was sorry to have missed her.

修改后三个句子长短不一，读起来就给人以不同的感觉。

又如《大学英语》第一册第十课 Going Home，当汽车驶至 Brunsnick，车上的年轻人看见黄手帕时，出现了以下这两行文字：

Then，suddenly，all of the young people were up out of thelr seats，screamlng andshouting and cryin, doing small dances of joy.All except Vlngo.这两句话一长(23个词)一短(3个词)，彼此衬托互为凸现。第一句的两个and和四个-ing词，把热闹、喧哗的气氛喧染极至，长句之后，蜂回路转，一个仅三个词的短句扑入读者的双目几乎沸腾的场面顿时凝固但其余音未绝，此时外表虽冷漠，内心却炙热难当。

2、句子开头的多样化

“主-谓-宾”、“主-系-表”是英语的基本句型，主语领先句也是用得最多的句型。写作中为避免形式单一，当句子可以用主语开头，同时又可以其它结构开头时，不妨变换一下。如：

(1)Defeated in the minor exchanges,I now play my queen of trumps.(分词短语做状语开头)

(2)There are two ways in which one can own a book.( there be句型开头)

(3)Equally important is a good habit of reading(表语开头)

以上各句都可以用主语开句，但在篇章中通过改变句子开头，文章就会疏落有致，语言形式丰富多采。

3、句子结构的多样化

写作中可以通过句型结构的变化来增添文采，强化表现力。如：

(l) The love of the liberty is the love of the others;the love of power ls thelove of ourselves.

(平行结构.这类结构整齐、紧凑;句子生动、鲜明，语义贯通、语势强劲有力。)

(2)The days when we suffered from oppression and exploitation are gone.(这样表达文字通顺，但语意不很突出。)

改为：Gone are the days when we suffered fron oppression andexploitation.

(采用倒装句结构后，充分体现出受剥削受压迫的人民解放后扬眉吐气的心情。)

三、观点切题结构合理

这是写作中最重要的要求之一它要求写作开门见山直入主题。如写一篇谈“健康重要性”的文章，提示是1、健康的重要性;2、保持健康的方法;3、我的看法。按要求文章应按三个自然段来写，而每段开头都必须是提示的内容，因此，三段可以这么开头：

l.Good health is important to everyone of us.

2.There are many ways which can help build up our health.

3.As for me，I like running as well as playing basketball and football.

除了开门见山以外，论述的内容必须与提示保持一致，否则文章的语言再好，也只能算是失败之作。一般来说，这类文章的每个自然段都由三部分组成，即主题句，论述句和结论句。主题句由提示给出，论述句提供观点来论证主题句，结论句则是总结、归纳、概括主提句的观点。

总之，要写出一篇好的英语作文不是一朝一夕就能做到的。除了借助以上方法之外，还需从平时入手，勤写多练，以提高自己的写作水平和语言表达能力。

How to Learn English Well

English is one of the most important subjects in middle school.  Almost everyone knows that we should learn English well, but few of us know how to learn it well. Karl Marx has set a good example for us. He once said, "When one is learning a foreign language, he must use the foreign language." In this way, he could use several languages. A saying goes, "Practice makes perfect." When we learn English, we should read more, speak more, listen to English from time to time and practise writing every day. Don"t be afraid of making mistakes. Only in this way can we learn it well.

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

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

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

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

在这一步骤中还需注意三方面问题：

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

2)要综合考虑各个段落的内容安排，避免段落内容的交叉。

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

在扩展的过程中也有些窍门，以下几点可供参考：

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

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

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

4)学会使用过渡词。

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

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

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

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

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

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

时态要尽量保持一致。

4、检查修改：要检查复核，不要写完了事。

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

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

高中英语写作常用开头句型

1.As far as …is concerned 就……而言

2.It goes without saying that… 不言而喻，…

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

4.As the proverb says， 正如谚语所说的，

5.It has to be noticed that… 它必须注意到，…

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

7.Its likely that … 这可能是因为…

8.Its hardly that… 这是很难的……

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

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

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

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

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

I often go to see my grandma and grandpa during winter vacation. They are both seventy years old and live in the country happily. I can do many interesting things there. I am used to getting up early in the morning and breathing the fresh air in the countryside. After snow, I would like to skate and ski with my friends. When night comes, I am used to sitting by the fire and listening to grandma telling me many funny stories. And I tell her some new things happening in the city. When I have to go back, I am always reluctant to go. I really feel happy living in the country.

i have a good friend , her name is gina . she is a girl. she is 13 years old.she is a student in class 1 of no.1 middle school . she studies very well. her favorite subject is chinese , beacuse it is very interesting.her like strawberries best.

she usually gets up at 6:00am .then she brushes her teeth. next she goes to school at 7:40. she has four classes in the morning . her last ciass is history . that is her faorite subject , too.she goes to bed at 9:00pm.

she has a big family.she love her mother and father . and she also has a sister.she also like she.

this is my good friend . i want to learn about your good friend. please write and tell me about your friend.

一. 肯定不如否定好

修辞的使用在书面表达中算作很大的亮点，在高中阶段很少有学生会注重修辞的应用。

双重否定也是种修辞，而且对于考生来说，只要稍加注意，可以在文章中设计双重否定的句子。

例如想表达“邮递员天天准时到”，如果写成The postman comes on time every day，就不如变成双重否定，The postman never fails to come on time，就变成了亮点句，起到强调作用。

“几乎每个人对生活的态度都不同程度受到地震的影响”，写成双重否定There was hardly a man or a woman whose attitude towards life had not been affected by the earthquake.

应用类似的修辞会在中为同学们加分。

二. 陈述不如倒装妙

在书面表达中阅卷老师喜欢看到的高级语法共有五种：倒装，强调，从句，独立主格和分词结构，以及虚拟语气。

倒装是一种最简单易行的使句子呈现亮点的方法。在高中阶段只需掌握倒装的四种形式，就足以应对书面表达。