高一英语写作课（热门20篇）

In the past two years, my parents took me to travel to many places, including big cities, small towns, famous mountians and so on. Therefore, I like traveling and I hope I can visit to many more places. Since then, I hope I can be a tour guide in the future, so I can travel to many tourist attractions. Besides, I can meet various people and I think communicating with different people is interesting, wchich can broaden my field of vision. I hope they can share their life stories with me so that I can know the general life of a place. I know it would be a challenging job, but I believe I can do well in my job.

[高一英语作文我的梦想

一、什么是自传

自传是叙述自己生平经历的文章。生平经历是指一个人生活的整

个过程。婴儿——幼儿——上学——现在

1、婴儿时期（吃、哭、爬、学说话、学走路……）

听妈妈说那时候的我是怎样的？（高、矮、胖、瘦、乖、闹、聪明……）例文欣赏

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

特点：聪明、淘气

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

特点：爱闹

2、幼儿时期

⑴、脑中充满疑问

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

把家里的小闹钟、把我的玩具拆得七零八落

⑴、⑵表现出我很聪明

⑶、上幼儿园

哭着、喊着不肯上幼儿园这些表现出我又很淘气

例文欣赏

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

只掉进油锅里的虾。

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

3、我上学了

⑴、有了稳定的兴趣。如：①、爱上了学习②、迷上了阅读

⑵、进不了

⑶、交了很多朋友

例文欣赏

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

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

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

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

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

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

4、现在的我

长大了、懂事了、学会承担了、有理想了。

例文欣赏

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

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

“妈妈。”

“有什么事儿吗？”

“妈妈，您去休息吧，我帮您做饭。”

“不用了，你快去做作业吧，饭菜很快就好了。”

“妈妈，就让我为您做一顿饭吧，嗯？”

妈妈只好笑了笑，点了点头。

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

这就是12岁的我，懂事的我。

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

二、行文线索

1、不懂事，爱哭、爱闹——有点听话——开始懂事

2、听话的乖孩子——爱学习的好学生——懂事、知道孝敬父母

3、淘气，耍小聪明——明白事理，大智慧

三、详略取舍

1、详写部分的选择：

⑴、记忆最深刻、最难忘的那段岁月

⑵、最能体现你这个人的特点

⑶、转变最大、成长最快的那段时期

2、其它部分可略写

四、开头和结尾

㈠、开头：

1、简要的介绍自己

2、对自己有一个粗略、整体的评价

例文欣赏

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

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

1、对自己成长的总结

2、对未来的向往

例文欣赏

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

示例3：这就是我，一个有着多样性格的我。看完我的自传，你们喜欢我吗？

习作练习

我的自传

There is a library in every university, some schools pay special attention

to the building of the library, because the library always on behalf of

presentation of a school. We can find all kinds of books in the room, library

provides convenience, but it still has space to improve.

On the one hand, we can check the information and go to the library every

day. It is open all the week, and the time is from 8 o’clock to 10 o’clock. For

students, they can go to the place all the time. What’s more, the book they want

is easy to find, they can check on the computer, and find the number

quickly.

On the other hand, the library needs to improve its equipment. The books on

the library are very old, it is not good for students to do some research paper.

The amount of the computer is not enough, I always find the students wait for

the computer, while some students need to use the computer for a long time. So

there will be better if increase the number of the computer.

Despite these drawbacks, I am generally pleased with the library and hope

that it will continue to make improvement in the future.

Different people have different hobbies.For example,someone likes reading,someone likes swimming and someone likes collecting and so on.

I used to read books and draw pictures because by reading books I could learn many funny things.But now I dont like it.I can only learn from books.I couldnt get knowledge from others.I need a change.Traveling is my favorite hobby now.But I cant go traveling a lot.I can visit many different places of interest by traveling.I can learn a lot about people,places and history.Its very interesting.What is your hobby?Lets share each other!

I have many good friends.They all have their hobbies.Ann studies very hard.So her hobby is book reading.Tony loves labour,and his hobby is gardening.He usually plants flowers and trees in his yard.Judy is a quiet girl.She likes knitting.She always knits some sweaters for her dolls.We have different hobbies,but we are good friends.

I love traveling.I have great fun in traveling.

不同人有不同爱好。例如，有人喜欢读书，有人喜欢游泳，还有人喜欢收藏等等。

我过去喜欢读书和画画，因为从书中我能了解许多有趣的事。但我现在不喜欢了。我只能从书中得到知识，而不能从其他方面获得知识。我需要改变一下。旅行是我现在最喜欢的爱好，但我不能经常去旅行。通过旅行我能参观许多名胜古迹。我还可以学到许多关于人文、地理、历史方面的事。那真是非常有趣。你的爱好是什么?让我们一起分享!

我有许多好朋友。他们都有他们的爱好。Ann学习很努力，因此她爱好读书。Tony爱劳动，他爱好园艺，他总是在他的院子里植树种花。Judy是一个文静的女孩，她喜欢编织，她总是给她的玩具娃娃织毛衣。我们爱好不同，但我们是好朋友。

我爱旅行，我从旅行中获得了极大乐趣。

在外语四项技能中，写作对学生的要求是最高的，它要求学生具有以外语思维方式谴词造句，熟练掌握拼写、标点等写作的基本知识的能力。小编收集了提高英语写作水平的方法，欢迎阅读。

英语教学的目的在于发展学生的英语语言技能，培养学生良好的英语交际能力。《英语新课程标准》中语言技能包括听、说、读、写四项基本技能及这四种技能的综合运用能力，四者之间密切联系，相互渗透，互为基础。听、读是领会和理解别人表达的意思;说和写是用言语表达思想。写的能力要在听、说、读的基础上进行培养和提高，而写的训练又能进一步提高听、说、读的能力。

在外语四项技能中，写作对学生的要求是最高的，它要求学生具有以外语思维方式谴词造句，熟练掌握拼写、标点等写作的基本知识的能力。还需要学生有创造性、有合乎逻辑的表达思想的能力。目前的小学英语教学中，极其重视“听、说、读”的能力训练， “写”的教学基本一直停留在“抄写”阶段，没有开始真正意义上的写作教学。

一.写作准备阶段

(一)消除恐惧心理

自英语普及后，根据社会要求，杜绝“哑巴英语”，大多数的学校都从一年级就开设英语课程，到了四年级，学生的口头表达能力都很好，笔头方面就相对弱了。进行英语写作，他们就会觉得不自信，觉得自己水平达不到，能力也够不上。针对这点，就得需要教师在教学中，根据学生的实际能力安排教学。学生是教学的主体，要想教学有效果，就必须发挥学生的主动性。学生怕写作，一方面是觉得自己的所积累的词汇量和句子不够多，教师在教学中注重适量的拓展和培养积累单词，词组的好习惯，对句子进行举一反三的说。另一方面学生怕在写作中犯错，怕会因为一些小错误就受到老师的批评，就这方面，教师在指导时应多给予鼓励，只有让他们认识到了错误，改正了，才会减少错误，在鼓励中增强学生的自信心，从而消除他们对写作的恐惧感。

(二)创设写作环境

环境是非常重要的因素，人的成长需要好的环境，写作当然也要求有个好的环境。况且，写作是个复杂的思维过程，环境在此更显其重要性。在教学中，教师可以精心为学生创设一个积极、合作和富有鼓励性的环境，使他们乐于写作，充分发挥自己的思维能力。比如，在中年级的英语教学中可以安排学生对练习册上的短小语段摘抄下来，读读背背，培养语感;在高年级的英语教学中，可以安排写英语日记，一组的学生的共用一本日记本，每天由一位同学带回家写英语日记，内容及多少都不限制。老师每次都得对日记进行认真批改和给予鼓励性的评价。学生可以传阅，在其中他们能分享成功的喜悦，也扩大阅读量。

(三)传授基本知识

写作就像盖房子一样，有了材料，要把这材料以一定的形式堆放在一起才能形成房屋，这都需要老师的指导。英语写作技能的难度较大，学生也不能很快接受，提高英语写作质量也不容易，教师在进行英语写作教学时，要特别注意教学目标与学生特点，采用适当的教学方法，传授基本的写作知识。

1.科学指导学生对单词的识记，提高单词拼写的正确率，减少不必要的拼写错误。教师可以引导学生在阅读过程中和其他课内外学习中养成记单词的好习惯，同时也要鼓励学生注重词组及常用句型的积累，同时也要给与适合的场合让他们输出。

2.语法是英语学习中非常烦琐，枯燥的一项，小学生很难接受，但在教学中适当得进行句法结构操练还是必要的。让学生自然地接受语言结构，以便他们在写作时能正确地表情达意。

3.汉英表达存在着差异，如Ilikeit,too.中文的正确表达是：我也喜欢它。不会说成：我喜欢他，也。这就是中文和英文在词序上的不同，也是一种习惯表达的不同。没有特定的规律，这就需要学生多阅读，培养好的语感。

4.标点符号虽是小问题但不可忽视，教师应对此进行讲解，把两种语言中的标点符号的用法不同进行比较，阐明正确使用标点符号对正确表达思想十分重要。如，在表示一个人说话，汉语中用冒号和双引号，在英语中是没有冒号的，要表示一个人说话，得用逗号和双引号。

二.写作训练阶段

写作包括能用所学词汇、语法和句型造简单的句子、回答问题、改写课文、看图写话、依照学过的题材写小短文。这些需要循序渐进，要从最简单的语言和言语练习开始，从基本要求做起，由易到难，逐步提高要求，每一步都要有具体要求，切实可行。

(一)句的训练

词连成句，造句是英语写作教学的主要练习形式之一。可以先由教师提供词素，让学生学会连句，熟悉句子结构，为以后造句打下基础。教师也可以在教授一种句型结构时让学生改句子。而后，让学生自己造句，教师常常可以为学生造句提供一个结合实际生活的情景，这样可以避免注重语言形式，忽视内容，脱离一定的情景与主题。

句型转换也是训练形式之一，让学生在不改变语言意义的前提下进行句型转换练习，理解表达同一个意思可以采用不同的句型，这样可以避免写作时句型的单调与重复。

(二)段的训练

句连成段，可以进行看图写作，教师出示一幅图，让学生对其进行描述写成小段。看图写作有其长处，可以在写作过程中可以增加图片与英语思维、表达的直接联系、培养想象力、减少对中文的依赖。为了使学生更多地参与写作教学，激发他们对写作的兴趣，看图写作的图画老师可以让学生自己根据喜好，选择适合他们水平的图画或照片，带到课堂上使用。图画生动多样，大大激发了他们的写作兴趣，可以选一部分优秀的进行展示，评价，相互学习，这样能提高学生的整体水平。

(三)短文的训练

提供学生一些生活化的话题，选择的话题材料要接近学生的现实生活和学习。比如学生可以写自我介绍，写最喜欢的动物，学生会很活跃地思考，用最简单的句子表达他们的意思，表达他们的感情。

同时，也可以是对书本内容进行的扩充，如《牛津小学英语5B》，Unit4中出现了writeane-mail，在这里可以补充教授书信的格式，通过网络让学生学会用电子邮件发信，教师可以让学生结合自己的实际，与自己的朋友写e-mail,但要做到有信必回，这样才是有效的训练。如6B讲到seasons时可以给他们一个topic：Whichseasondoyoulikebest?Why?这样的话题是他们自己切身感受，学生们可以畅所欲言。

(四)阅读的训练

俗话说：读书破万卷，下笔如有神。阅读是写作的基础，大量的，广泛的阅读，能加强学生理解和吸收书面信息的能力，有助于巩固和扩大词汇量，增强语感丰富学生的语言知识。教师可以指导学生读一些相同水平的文章、故事，记忆背诵一些典型的范文也是可以的。让学生在大量的阅读中积累词汇、句子，形成良好的语感，为学生更好的写作打下坚实的基础。

三.如何评价写作内容

学生的作文要及时地批改，对学生在写作中出现的错误，可以用一些柔和的方式指出，并给予他们指导，告诉他们怎么错了，订正在边上(订正在原位会使他们忽略他们的错误)，知道正确答案，再加以鼓励。这样，他们会慢慢积累知识。即使有学生的错误很多，也不要说“写得不行，不好”之类的话，打击他们的积极性，可以给予他们一些建议，给予他们多些指导这样会更好。

对于写的好的，可以当场给予表扬和鼓励，把好的文章读给大家听或者展贴出来，其余学生可以一起分享。俗话说“乐此不疲”，要学好一种东西，兴趣是至关重要的。它是获得知识进行创造性创作的一种自觉动机，是鼓舞和推动学生创作的内在动力，也是提高写作水平的重要途径。因此，在写作教学中要鼓励学生创作，培养他们创作的兴趣，好的作品可以将它们推荐到小学生学习报刊、杂志。这样，学生的积极性就调动了，他们也觉得有成就感，也更乐于写作了。

写作在英语教学中是不可忽略的一项，也是学生最难接受的。“宝剑锋从磨砺出，梅花香自苦寒来。”“滴水穿石非一日之功，冰冻三尺非一日之寒。”教师合理教学，学生长期持之以恒，做生活的有心人，做勤劳的小蜜蜂，多思考，多练笔，一定能对写作产生浓厚兴趣，提高英语写作能力。为今后的英语学习打下结实的基矗

When I was younger , I went through an thing which deeply influence me.

One day,I went to school as Usually. All of a sudden,I heard a voice

crying.I knew there were something wrong . So I walked towards the direction of

the voice .Then I found a child and his mother wandered off.My heart full of

compassion . So I decided to help him find his mother , and I took him to the

police station nearby . Then I went to school in a hurry , but when I arrived,I

found I’m still late . After my teacher’s preaching , I went back to the

classroom .I was so upset.

In the afternoon, my teacher asked me go out,he said he had wronged me. And

then I saw the child’s mother,she thanked me a lot,and I smiled shyly.

After the thing,I feel very happy to do good things,and I believe that

“give cake and ale to perfect soul”.

Since I went to middle school, I grew up very fast. On the one hand, I live

in school from Monday to Friday, so I need to learn to get along with roommates.

We share the cleaning work to make sure a good environment. It is everybodys

duty to sweep the floor on turn. On the other hand, I need to solve the problems

from life by myself. Without parents by my side all the time, I learn to face

troubles and figure out all the ways to solve them. I become much independent

and stronger. Now I can deal with my stuff alone.

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...

导语：随着生活水平的提高，人们在吃得饱穿得暖的基础上会加强生命的锻炼，也就是延缓衰老，保持年轻，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的相关优秀英语作文，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

Today, as the development of the medical, people can slow down their aging. As for the celebrities, they use the developed technology to keep young, seeing their unchangeable faces in the screen for so many years, the audience also want to imitate the celebrity, they believe that by using the developed technology, they can keep young all the time. While in my opinion, the way to keep young is to hold a young heart, some people look young outside, but in their hearts, they are old enough and refuse to keep pace with the time. While for another group, even they have wrinkles, they are curious about all the things and are willing to change. My grandpa is old, but he knows all the fashionable things, sometimes I have to ask him for the new things. The young heart is the way to keep young forever.

【参考译文】

今天，随着医疗的发展，人们能够延缓衰老。对于名人来讲，他们使用高科技来保持年轻，看到他们常年在屏幕上保持不变的容颜，观众也想要模仿名人，他们相信通过使用高科技就能一直保持年轻。然而在我看来，保持年轻的方法就是拥有一颗年轻的心，一些人表面看起来年轻，但是在他们的心里，他们足够的老，并且拒绝去与时俱进。对于另外一些人来讲，虽然他们有皱纹，但是他们对一切都保持好奇，并且愿意去改变。我的爷爷年纪大，但是他对一切时尚的东西都了如指掌，有时候我不得不问他关于新的事物。年轻的心是永葆青春的方法。

攻克英语写作：滴水穿石，积累成章

考研作文作为考查考生语言表达等综合能力的题型，是考研英语的压轴戏。考生在日常复习中应更趋向于积累。考研作文的复习和提高是与一些科学的学习方法和有效的学习技巧分不开的，在此，万学海文考研英语辅导专家提供大家一些练习方法及技巧，希望对同学们有所帮助。

考研作文分为大、小两类。小作文多以应用文体裁为主，例如求职信、感谢信、辞职信，道歉信等，这类作文不需要复杂华丽的文采修饰，表意明确就可以了；大作文的题型多是通过图片或者提示文字，要求考生完成提示所透视出来的问题。命题范围，从近几年看，都比较倾向于当前社会热门话题或观念。

一、欲速则不达，步步行进

想要达到一定的程度，首先要向这个程度看齐。就写作来说，如果你想将自己的作文水平提高到一个质的飞跃，首先你要懂得去吸取别人文章中的精华。这个吸取精华的过程就是阅读。只有多阅读，才能够培养起良好的语感，才会知道如何去构思，如何去质疑别人的观点，表达清楚自己的意思。正所谓"读书破万卷，下笔如有神"。无论何时，大家都勿急躁，因为"跑"得好的前提是"走"，

作文这种慢火候才能提高的题更是如此，一步一个脚印才是写作稳步提高的策略。

近些年写作考题的内容和主题，基本都与当年的热点话题有一定的关系，所以平时多阅读英语报纸、杂志，能够帮助你掌握更多的话题资源。对于比较热点、比较重要的主题，可以有目的地进行搜集整理。阅读的过程也应该讲究方法，应该以泛读与精读结合的方式进行学习。一些好的文章建议你读过以后做英文阅读笔记（即观后感）。在读与写的过程中，你的写作水平自然会得到快速提高。

二、在研读中背记

除了读与写，还要进行适当的背。背诵是积极备战快速提高写作成绩的一条捷径。建议考生可以选择历年真题中的写作佳文，先是研究，思考人家是怎么构思，怎么写的，获得高分的闪光点在哪。再在理解的基础上记忆，更能够在无形中增强你的表达能力。同学们也可以拿一些英语原著名篇来读、背，这样可以加强自己的语感，使自己的表达更加地道。

三、每周一练，积累成章

表达能力需要考生平时多一点练习，给自己制定一个写作计划。一周至少练习一篇文章。在加强写作练习之后，你的文章才能够 "成章"。因此，实际动手的能力至关重要。平时训练的重点应该锁定在文章是否切题，行文是否表意明确、通顺，有无语法错误等。另外，一定要给每一次行文限定一个可行的时间。并且，按照这个时间严格要求自己完成。

如果你能够找到范文，然后在练习之后进行比较，效果会更加明显。假使没有范文作为标样，建议你可以找英语水平较好的同学看一看。也许评看你作文的这个考生英语水平不是很高，但个人看别人文章的缺点很容易看出来。如果条件允许，找老师请教一下最好。

掌握好的方法加之持之以恒，相信最后的成功一定属于你，继续坚定的考研信念，自信满满的走下去。

Some people believe (argue, recognize, think) that 观点1. But other people take an opposite side. They firmly believe that 观点2. As for me, I agree to the former/latter idea.

There are a dozen of reasons behind my belief. First of all, 论据1. More importantly, 论据2. Most important of all, 论据3.

In summary, 总结观点. As a college student, I am supposed to 表决心. 或 From above, we can predict that 预测.

一、认真审题，确定时态人称，同时关注题材格式

时态：故事性文章一般用过去时，其中表达感受时可用现在时。

说明性或议论性文章一般用现在时，举例时可用过去时。

根据题目要求也会出现时态的交错使用，如过去和现在的对比等。

如果句中出现了时间状语，时态则要遵循时间状语。

如ago，last…——过去时

next，in…——将来时等

人称：注意在句子中人称的统一。

例如：Thanks to the teachers， we have improved our English。

其中we和our就是人称的统一。

格式：注意书信格式的开头和结尾。

二、找全信息点，紧扣主题，突出重点

切忌只看表格中或所列1、2、3中的信息点。一定把题读全，找齐信息点，建议用铅笔标出，写完后再涂掉。

根据题目，可适当增加合理内容。

特别注意文章要有开头和结尾。

三、成文时表述正确，文字流畅

切忌与汉语提示的一一对应，使用所学表达方法将语义表达出来即可。

首先考虑句子结构(如主谓宾，主系表等)。

同时注意短语的正确使用和单词的拼写，最好使用课本上学过的短语和句式。

四、文章结构清晰，重点句型出彩，可使文章在得分上提高一个档次

考虑文章的篇章结构，使用适当的连接短语，使文章结构紧凑。

常用连接词：

1.表文章结构顺序：First of all，Firstly/First，Secondly/Second…

And then，Finally，In the end，At last

2.表并列补充关系的：What ismore，Besides，Moreover，Furthermore，Inaddition

3.表转折对比关系的：However，On the contrary，but

Although+clause( 从句)，In spite of+n/doing

On the one hand…

On the other hand…

Some…，while others…

4.表因果关系的：Because，As

So，Thus，Therefore，As a result

5.表换一种方式表达：In other words

6.表进行举例说明：For example，句子;For instance，句子;such as+n/doing

7.表陈述事实：In fact

8.表达自己观点：As far as I know，In my opinion

9.表总结：In short，In a word，In conclusion，In summary

文中正确使用两三个好的句型，如：宾语从句、状语从句、动名词做主语等。

宾语从句举例：I believe Tianjin will be more beautifulandprosperous。

状语从句举例：If everyone does something for the environment， ourhometown will become clean and beautiful。

动名词做主语举例：Reading books in the sun is bad for our eyes。

It’s bad for our eyes to read books in the sun。

常用状语从句句型：

1)时间when，not…until，as soon as

2)目的so that+clause;to do( 为了)

3)结果so…that+clause，too…to do(太……以至于……)

4)条件if，unless(除非)，as long as(只要)

5)让步though，although，even though，even if

no matter what/when/where/who/which/how

6)比较as…as…，not so…as…，than

五、认真检查，检查信息点是否全面，时态、人称是否一致，句子结构是否清晰，短语使用、单词拼写是否准确等。

检查后，将草稿誊写在纸上，请注意按结构分段，书写清晰。

下面列举一些在检查中可发现的错误：

1.We live more and more comfortable。

改正：comfortably(副词修饰动词)

2.we can get many informations by reading newspapers。

改正：much information

(不可数名词由much修饰)

3.There has many programs in TV。

改正：There are many programs on TV。

(There be句型和介词短语)

4.I think ride a bike can keep our health。

改正：I think riding a bike can keep us healthy。(动名词作主语)

建议大家练习或模仿不同题材的文章，特别注意改错总结和吸取范文中好的结构与表达方法，适当运用于自己的文章中。

高一生活的英语作文【1】

new high school life is both exciting and challenging for me. first, im in a new environment with my new teachers and new classmates. many of them are all from top middle schools in the area. im so excited to meet them all. the new school building is designed creatively and attractively. i loved it . my new teachers are nice and them teach very weel. they are always willing to answer my questions at the end of the class. second, i have to take some new subjects and choose some subjects myself. i liked that because it gives students freedom and i can develop more in my areas of interest. third, im glad to join into some of the clubs and activities in my school. they are very interesting and i could learn more social experience through those activities. im proud to be in this new school and i wish that i can unleash my potential and achieve my best in this school.

The New Life A few months ago, I was a primary pupil. I had many good friends and teachers that I remember all the time. My new life is very exciting. I’m in Dongzhou Middle School. It’s famous in Jiangsu. It’s bigger and more beautiful than the primary school. I love it very much. I’m in Cla10, Grade 7. It’s a good class. The students are clever, nice, friendly and helpful. All my classmates study hard. They want to be on the top. I get up at 5:30. Sometimes I read English, sometimes I learn Chinese. Studying is very / interesting. I’m sure our clawill get better and better. I like my new class, the new school and the new life.

高一生活的英语作文【2】

My high school life, nothing exciting - from flat to start, but also in the flat end. Can not call it exciting, but it can not be pleased to lament the difficult, but it can not be portrayed as odd. But "dull" is not possible to rub out the highlights of my life, but it will show a more bright, brilliant ... ... 我的高一生活平平淡淡——是从平淡中开始，又是在平淡中落幕。既不能称之为精彩，又不能欣然去感叹它的艰难，更不能将它描写得那样曲折离奇。但“平淡”是不可能抹杀掉我生活中的亮点的，反而会将它呈现得更加明亮，辉煌……

Long and short years, I learned the most important thing, not a textbook knowledge of those endless, but people learned how to do - to get along with everyone in the days, I learned a technique called "unity" thing, it allows us to hear the voice of 54 hearts beat together; short life in boarding school a few months, I learned to "inclusive", which is a blend of our strength; in ride out the storm with friends when I know the "concern", a pair of "It better to give than to receive." The best interpretation of ... Yes, I learned a lot of things like that, they are impossible to find in the textbook knowledge, they can not be called a capability. They are the people, heart to heart between the alternating collision, can really feel the same things, maybe you can in an instant perception of their true meaning, but maybe you really can not fathom the life out of the mystery ... ...

Perhaps this is my high school life, perhaps it will make you feel very empty, but it really is I want to sway the hearts of all, but I am very clumsy, but seemingly meaningful words can not make you feel I feel nothing at this moment ... ... 漫长而又短暂的岁月里，我学到的最为重要的东西，并不是课本上那些层出不穷的知识，而是学到了应该怎样去做人——在与大家一起相处日子里，我学会了一种叫做“团结”的东西，它能让我们听到 54颗心一起跳动的声音;在住校几个月的短暂生活里，我学会了“包容”，这是一种将我们融为一体的力量;在与好友共度的难关之时，我懂得了“关心”，一个对“ It’ better to give than to receive.”的最好诠释……是的，我学到了很多诸如此类的东西，它们都是在课本中所无从寻觅的知识，它们也不能被称作是一种能力。它们是在人与人，心与心之间，交替碰撞的时候，才能真正所感受到的东西，也许在瞬间你就可以感悟它们的真谛，但也许你真的就一辈子也无法参透出其中的玄机…… 也许这就是我的高一生活，也许它会让您觉得很空洞，但这确实是我内心深处所想要挥洒出的一切，只不过我那些看似隽永却笨拙无比的文字无法让您感受到我此时此刻的心情罢了……

记叙文是记人叙事的文章，它主要是用于说明事件的时间、背景、起因、过程及结果，即我们通常所说的五个“ W ”( what, who, when, where, why )和一个“ H ”( how )。记叙文的重点在于“述说”和“描写”，因此一篇好的记叙文要叙述条理清楚，描写生动形象。下面就谈谈英语记叙文的特点和写好记叙文的基本要领。

一、记叙文的特点

1. 叙述的人称

英语的记叙文一般是以第一或第三人称的角度来叙述的。用第一称表示的是由叙述者亲眼所见、亲耳所闻的经历。它的优点在于能把故事的情节通过“我”来传达给读者，使人读后感到真实可信，如身临其境。如：

The other day, I was driving along the street. Suddenly, a car lost its control and ran directly towards me fast. I was so frightened that I quickly turned to the left side. But it was too late. The car hit my bike and I fell off it.

用第三人称叙述，优点在于叙述者不受“我”活动范围以内的人和事物的限制，而是通过作者与读者之外的第三者，直接把故事中的情节展现在读者面前，文章的客观性很强。如：

Little Tom was going to school with an umbrella, for it was raining hard. On the way, he saw an old woman walking in the rain with nothing to cover. Tom went up to the old woman and wanted to share the umbrella with her, but he was too short. What could he do? Then he had a good idea.

2. 动词的时态

在记叙文中，记和叙都离不开动词。所以动词出现率最高，且富于变化。记叙文中用得最多的是动词的过去的，这是英语记叙文区别于汉语记叙文的关键之处。英语写作的优美之处就在于这些动词时态的变化，正是这一点才使得所记、所叙有鲜活的动态感、鲜明的层次感和立体感。

3. 叙述的顺序

记叙一件事要有一定的顺序。无论是顺叙、倒叙、插叙还是补叙，都要让读者能弄清事情的来龙去脉。顺叙最容易操作，较容易给读者提供有关事情的空间和时间线索。但这种方法也容易使文章显得平铺直叙，读起来平淡乏味。倒叙、插叙、补叙等叙述方法能有效地提高文章的结构效果，让所叙之事跌宕起伏，使读者在阅读时思维产生较大的跳跃，从而为文章所吸引，深入其中。但这些方法如果使用不当，则容易弄巧成拙，使文章结构散乱，头绪不清，让读者不知所云。

4. 叙述的过渡

过渡在上下文中起着承上启下、融会贯通的作用。过渡往往用在地点转移或时间、事件转换以及由概括说明到具体叙述时。如：

In my summer holidays, I did a lot of things. Apart form doing my homework, reading an English novel, watching TV and doing some housework, I went on a trip to Qingdao. It is really a beautiful city. There are many places of interest to see. But what impressed me most was the sunrise.

The next morning I got up early. I was very happy because it was a fine day. By the time I got to the beach, the clouds on the horizon were turning red. In a little while, a small part of the sun was gradually appearing. The sun was very red, not shining. It rose slowly. At last it broke through the red clouds and jumped above the sea, just like a deep-red ball. At the same time the clouds and the sea water became red and bright.

Now, the new semester has begun for more than one week. I gradually adapt

to my new life in senior school. In senior school, my biggest feeling is busy,

for I have classes all the day and teachers leave us a lot of homework. In the

morning, I have two periods for morning reading, Chinese and English, beginning

from 7:00. After that, I have four periods in the morning and four other in the

afternoon. There are many more subjects than in middle school, Chinese, math,

English, physics, chemistry, history and so on. Sometimes, I am afraid of seeing

so many textbooks in my desk. In addition, the contents are much more difficult

than before. Math and physics are the most difficult ones for me. No matter how

hard I work, I still can’t do well in them, which makes me frustrated.

Therefore, in the new beginning, I must change my learning strategies to make my

work more effective. All in all, my new life in new school is good and rich,

though it’s busy.

对于作文这一部分来说，大家应该首先了解不同文章的特点和规律，下面是小编整理的2017考研英语高分作文写作方法，欢迎阅读。

一、了解意图，抓住精髓

近年来的大作文非常玄妙，值得细品。首先，很可能大作文正在经历由时事向哲理过渡的重大变革，这在2001年、2002年、2004年、2007年、2009和2010年真题上表现得最为明显。其次，出题人将尽量用图画来表达意图，而不借助或少借助图中或图旁的文字，这样意义表达的会更深刻，对考生的思考力和判断力的要求也就更高。第三，图画的含义深刻，可以接受的解释也较多，但要想取得高分，必须紧扣图画，把握住其中的精髓，最深刻地表达其核心的意义。

二、扣紧主题

写大作文时切记要扣紧主题，切不可离题太远，导致最后回不来或时间不够写不完。另外，各部分之间的比例应适当，第一段不要太长。与主题相关的关键词语一定要用对，否则会影响分数。

三、看清要求

有的同学一看到写“网络”，就立即联想到这方面最火爆的话题“网络成瘾”，将主题确定为此。有的同学干脆将之转变为自己看到过的文章——“网络的利与弊”。这些都是不正确的做法。写大作文时，首先要减少语言的错误，提高语言的准确性。语言错误有许多种，有的是小错误，甚至可以忽略不计，而有些是大错误，是让老师看到后不得不扣分的错误。另一方面就是增加闪光点，除了结构清晰外，闪光点主要指好的词、词组或句型，一是使用恰当，二是要有变换。上述这两点都不容易，而结合起来就更难了。如果文章分为三段，那么起始段、结尾段和中间段落的开始部分是非常关键的。对于背诵的好词、词组和句型，一定要和具体的行文联系起来，融入到文章中去，不仅要用对，还要用好，避免给人突兀的感觉。

四、避免投机取巧

近年来，有些考生有投机的心理，结果却很惨烈。有的考生准备了万能模板，直接往上套，这样的效果并不好。正如有的较为激进的阅卷老师所说，这些考生是想通过不诚实的手段得到不属于他的东西，这样的人应该得到惩罚。实际上这些考生中有的水平还不错，如果坚持依靠自己，咬紧牙关奋力拼搏的话，结果会是不错的。

综上所述，对于作文这一部分来说，大家应该首先了解不同文章的特点和规律，而后用心地学习范文并进行模仿，然后练习全文写作并请老师批改再细细揣摩。相信通过这样的过程，大家的写作一定会有长足的进步。

Novak Djokovic is one of the top tennis players in the world. He has won

many grand slams, which is the greatest honor for a player, but there is only

one grand slam he hadn’t achieved—the French Open. In the last three years, he

was so close to the champion, but was defeated by the final winner. In order to

fulfill career Grand Slam, he practised so hard and never felt depressed. This

year, he came to the final match again, everybody wanted him to win the match,

for they knew how important the champion was to him. At the first game, he felt

a little nervous and lost, but in the second and third game, he found his pace

and controlled the match. At last, he beat his rival and finally fulfilled his

career Grand Slam. The dream was not easy to realized but insistance helps him

wins.

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。递进furthermore，moreover，besides，in addition，then，etc ;转折however，but，nevertheless，afterwards，etc ;总结finally，at last，in brief，to conclude，etc ;强调really，indeed，certainly，surely，above a11，etc ;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。

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

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

一、注意段首句式的变化

图画作文的段首句往往是"如图所示"或"从图画中可以看出"之类，下面为经常采用的一些句型：

As is shown in the picture, 和As can be seen from the picture,是经常能看到的首句话，但是模板迹象过于明显，所以应该稍加升级，比如添加一些结构和修饰语：

It is of considerable interest to see in the bizarre picture that…

当然还可以添加一些引出话题的句子：

No one can skip the issue of…(图画表现出来的意图)。Just as what is illustrated in the above drawing,…

二、适当用被动替换主动，这样能更客观地反映事实。

句子开头不要总是用we / I (比如写结尾时不用we should pay attention to而用Attent

ion should be paid to. ) 举个经典结尾的例子：It is, therefore, high time that some applicable approaches were implemented by the service industry like that. By doing so，its competitive edge will be sharpened effectively。

三、一句话用不同的句式来表达

为了加强同学们对语法知识在写作中的灵活应用，下面给出一句话的14种句式及语言

调整的效果，内容上没有太大差异，但是请同学们仔细辨别每句话所侧重的句式：

1.使用表语从句

The picture shows two people reading the announcement on a billboard, and being shocked at the message. The reason is that the billboard is advertising a "sale of the dead bodies"。

2.使用介词短语

In the picture, two people are reading the announcement and they are being shocked at the message of "a sale of dead bodies" on a billboard。

3.使用疑问句

The picture shows two people reading the announcement on a billboard. Why are they so shocked? The reason is that the billboard is advertising a "sale of the dead bodies"。

4.使用原因状语从句

The picture shows two people reading the announcement on a billboard. As the billboard is advertising a "sale of the dead bodies"， they are shocked at the message。

5.使用结果状语从句

The picture shows two people reading the announcement on a billboard. The billboard is advertising a "sale of the dead bodies" so that they are shocked at the message。

6.使用时间状语从句

In the picture, while the two people are reading the announcement on the billboard about "a sale of the dead bodies"， they are being deeply shocked。

7.使用分词短语

In the picture, reading the message of a ‘sale of the dead bodies" advertised on the billboard, the two people are deeply shocked。

8.使用主动语态

In the picture, the announcement on a billboard advertising a "sale of the dead bodies" shocks the two people reading it。

9.使用There be 结构

In the picture, there is an announcement on a billboard advertising a "sale of the dead bodies" and shocking the two people reading it。

10.使用倒装句

On a billboard is an announcement advertising a "sale of the dead bodies". The two people reading it are being shocked。

11.使用定语从句

In the picture, the announcement on a billboard which advertises a "sale of the dead bodies" shocks the two people reading it。

12.强调句

In the picture, it is the announcement on a billboard advertising a "sale of the dead bodies" that shocks the two people reading it。

13.虚拟语气

In the picture, were it not for the announcement on the billboard advertising a "sale of the dead bodies"， the two people would not be so shocked。

14. 尽量复杂作文中的句式

It is of considerable interest to observe in this bizarre caricature that a couple of citizens, reading an announcement issued on the billboard, are taken aback as a result of the astounding message which informs people of a "sale of dead bodies"。

句中使用的词组包括：be of considerable interest, a couple of, taken aback, as a result of, inform sb. of

长句采用的特殊语法包括：宾语从句+分词结构做插入语+分词作后置定语(issued)+被动语态+原因短语+定语从句。

初中英语写作教学要把握一定的基本策略。写作是一个角度复杂的思维过程，对认知能力、思维能力、语言能力、组织能力和自我监控能力都有相当高的要求。写作水平的提高依赖于学生的参与，依赖于教师的指导和课堂教学的有效开展。

所谓写作教学策略，就是用来促进写作教学开展的方式方法。

1.写作的早期训练。英语写作是一门技巧、技能，需要一个长时间的发展过程才能趋于稳固，因此无论从写作能力本身的培养角度来说，还是从写作教学方法的运用角度而言，写作训练都需要早期化。

2.随着学习内容的增多，如学了数字、年龄、年级、班级、个人的喜好和生活习惯等之后，这时可让学生逐步增加写作内容。

做好“书面表达”这道题，学生应该从以下几方面人手：

一、充分准备。打好基础。

为了提高书面表达水平，平时应加强阅读，应背诵一些句型、段落甚至短文。只要读得多、背得多，就能出口成章，下笔成文。其实，用英文写信，记日记等都是学生力所能及且行之有效的练习写作的好方法。

二、仔细审题，明确要求。

对题目所提供的信息要认真分析，明确要求，做到心中有数。要对所提供的信息加以分析、整理，使之更加具体化、条理化，为开始动笔做好准备工作，还要搞清题目的要求，以便根据不同的题材、体裁，写出不同格式，风格各异的文章，此外，还要注意人称、时态、地点等信息，避免出错。

三、抓住重点。寻求思路。

根据题目所提供的信息，草拟提纲，寻求逻辑次序，确定如何下手，否则，语无伦次的文章将不会被人接受，也不可能得到高分。

四、遣词造句，表达规范。

用词要适当，不可逐句把提示汉译英，亦不可生拼硬凑，不要硬拿英语单词到中文句子里去对号，否则写出中文式英语，闹出笑话。一般来讲，写作时，应尽量选出你有把握的词，尽量使用短句(简单句)。如果有的单词不会写，有的思想不会用英语表达，你可以设法绕开，最好找一个同义词、同义句，或近义词、词组短语来代替。要正确使用关联词，如and，or，but，so，because，since等，以便行文自然流畅。

作文写完之后，应注意检查修改，修改时先从全局修改。首先要检查主题是否明确，表达方式是否恰当，接下来检查所写内容是否切题，该交待的内容是否交待了，最后检查所用时态、人称是否符合要求，最后是否一致。

写完后，还应仔细校阅1—2遍。校阅要逐词逐句进行，注意检查语法、拼写、标点、大小写等方面的错误。校阅是自检的最后一关，应严肃认真的进行，尽可能地消灭一切差错，增强文章的效果。

因此，要写好一篇作文，不仅需要具有丰富的思想内容，掌握扎实的词汇、语法及修辞等方面的语言基本功，而且还需要掌握因不同思维方式和文化背景而形成的英语特有的篇章机构模式 惟有这样才能进行最有效的书面交际活动。