提升写作技巧的英语作文【汇总20篇】

考场作文有时间限制，有字数要求，要想达到优秀作文的标准，就必须惜时、高效、力求语言生动、中心突出。作为“风头”的开头，更是有着至关重要的作用。下面结合近年来中考作文，介绍几种考场作文的开头方式：

一、 概述法：

从婴儿的“呱呱”坠地到哺育他长大成人，父母们花去了多少的心血和汗水，编织了多少个日日夜夜;从上小学到初中，乃至大学，又有多少老师为他呕心沥血，默默奉献着光和热，燃烧着自己，点亮着他人。

——《一颗感恩的“心”》

开头概述一个人的成长花费了父母老师等多个人的心血，引出下文“感恩是发自内心的、需要满怀敬重的、有意义的”三个分论点，结尾再点“拥有一颗感恩的心给个人带来的影响。”号召大家心存感恩。是典型的并列式结构作文，思路清晰，中心突出，在考场作文中最常见。

二、 假设式：

也许，你只是理所当然地享受着父母的关爱，从而从无心注意他们两鬓上日益斑白的发丝;也许，你只是运用自己过人的智慧，将商场上的对手打得狼狈不堪，甚至倾家荡产。而此时，你会说，“这是竞争”，而你可曾想，这会招来更多的“虎视眈眈”。

也许，你只是为了自己的一些蝇头小利，而欺诈行骗，到头来众叛亲离，而你却只管喜滋滋地沉醉于自己苦心得来的“战利品”上。

也许……

也许，在自己心中的舞台上，你一直是一个独舞者。

——《心的舞台》

本文为了表现“心有多大，舞台有多大”这一主题，开头运用了发散式思维，设想了生活中存在的几种现象，点其危害——“他将永远生活在‘自我’当中，直至孤独地死去。”从反面切入正文，摆事实，讲道理，结尾点出中心。这样贴合生活，使论述集中有力量。

三、 特写式：

好大的落地窗户!我看到阳光从窗口射进屋里，微微有些刺眼。眯起眼睛，我看到了那熟悉的精灵在你额角闪烁光亮，在阳光下那般绚丽……

——《劳动代表“我爱你”》

本文记叙了小时候妈妈为我操劳，长大了我也学着为妈妈做力所能及的事情，全文紧紧围绕“劳动代表‘我爱你’”这一中心，开头即用特写镜头，写妈妈额头的汗水晶莹闪烁，从一个巧妙的角度切入了正文。

四、 回忆式：

开头：芒果的芳香每每飘入我的鼻子，萦绕在我周围时，我便想起了那最好的奖赏。此时，奶奶的爱就如芒果的芳香，萦绕在我心中，充盈着我的心房……

结尾：又是一个夏季，芒果又熟了，那一个个金黄的芒果又唤起了我深深的思念。芒果的香味越来越浓，正如奶奶的爱，那是奶奶给我的最好奖赏。

——《最好的奖赏》

因一件事物引出回忆，中间叙述事情，结尾回扣开头。这种倒叙式写法在不少课文里能够见到。往往能起到叙事感人、主题集中的效果。

五、“开门见山”式：

我们应该学会赏识、赞美他人，努力去挖掘他人的闪光点。

同是一棵树，有的人看到满树的郁郁葱葱，而有的人却只看到树梢上的毛毛虫。

为什么同样一件事物，会产生两种截然不同的结果呢?原因就在于有的人懂得赏识、赞美，而有的人只会用挑剔、指责的眼光看待事物。

——《学会赏识、赞美他人》

本文开门见山提出论点，并在下文举出因为受到他人赏识而成功的例子。进而提出：怎样才能做到赏识赞美别人呢?把论证引向深入。

六、 欲扬先抑式：

春天是诗意的，美丽的，但我一直不喜欢春天。

——《又见枝头吐新芽》

作者为什么不喜欢春天呢?原因是自己就出生在春天，且被大家公认为是“丑女”。全文写自己如何用智慧重塑自尊，终于迎来了属于自己的春天——学习上争创优秀，演讲比赛第一名。用“我明白了人生的意义，我不丑。”结尾。感情跌宕起伏，文章有新意。

七、 直抒胸臆式：

从懂事起，我一直觉得爸爸很伟大——不管是“海拔”一米八三的身材，还是在我心中的形象。在曾经的一段失去半边依靠的日子里，是爸爸天天拉扯着我，他的疼爱、他的教诲让我终于长大懂事，我怎能不感谢他?

——《温馨的爱》

开头用议论抒情的表达方式直接抒发对爸爸的敬仰和爱，饱含感情，语言有感染力。为下文叙事奠定了感情基调。

八、 比兴式：

因为有了重重磨练，幼鹰才能展开双翅飞向广阔的蓝天;因为有了次次磨练，小树才能茁壮成长，追求更高的世界;因为有了番番磨练，梅花才能傲雪凌霜散发出沁人的清香……

——《梅花香自苦寒来》

比兴手法起源于《诗经》，“先言它物以引起所咏之辞也。”(www.fwsir.com)在作文中也叫“类比”。由写物开头，自然过渡到写人。起到生动新鲜的效果。

古人在谈到结尾时常以“豹尾”为标准，是指结尾时笔法要简结、明快、干净利落，犹如豹尾劲扫，响亮有力，给读者以咀嚼回味的余地。

一、自然收束水到渠成

技巧点拨：所谓自然结束式，是指把文章内容表达完了之后，自然而然地收束全文，而不去设计蕴意深刻的哲理语句，不去雕琢丰富的象征形体，以事情的终结作全文的结尾，干净利落，不枝不蔓。

如《一堂有趣的科学课》是这样结局的：“下课铃声响了，当同学们恋恋不舍地放下手中的实验时，一个个不由自主地埋怨道：“怎么搞的，这节课时间这么短!”

二、卒章显志画龙点睛

技巧点拨：这种结尾方式，是指在文章结束时，以全文的内容为依托，运用简洁的语言，把主题思想明确地表达出来，或者在全文即将煞尾时，把写作意旨交待清，使文章中心鲜明突出。

如一同学在写《承诺》时这样结尾：“无论在人生中会遇到什么样的困难，都永远不会放弃，做一个生活的强者——这就是我的承诺。”

三、首尾呼应凸显主旨

技巧点拨：首尾呼应是考场作文中最实用的方法之一，一般情况是作者先在开头提出文章的中心，然后在结尾时再次强调，照应开头，首尾遥相呼应，结构完整，浑然一体，从而使文章的中心鲜明突出，能唤起读者心灵上的美感。

荆州中考满分文《把梦想带给花季》的开头和结尾

(开头)“都说生活的船不能没有理想的帆，都说生活的理想就是为了理想的生活，而理想的生活中最快乐的时光，便是梦想的花季

(结尾)花季中，我希望自己能永远记住先哲的那句良训：生活的船不能没有理想的帆。生活的理想就是为了理想的生活。”

《战胜自己》的开头和结尾：(开头)：“善于战胜自己，这是我的长处。这个“自己”，是害怕困难缺少勇气的自己，成功时很得意洋洋的自己。 (结尾)：善于战胜自己，这就是我的长处。困难前面不失掉信心，要有勇气战胜之：成功时不趾高气扬，要看到缺点，保持冷静的头脑。”

四、引用佳句多姿多彩

技巧点拨： 用名言、警句、诗句、俗语、歌词等收尾，洋溢着诗意，揭示着真谛，呈现出含意深刻的耐人寻味的内容，使之深深地印在读者的心中，意味深长。

吉林省中考满分文《陶醉》的结尾：(“佐拉说：“人生——只有两分半种的时间，一分种微笑、一分种叹息、半分种的爱……”在我看来，在我陶醉于欣赏母亲的梳妆中，那一分钟的微笑不是勉强，那一分钟的叹息之后不再是叹息，而是爱的传递，母亲将她对生命的爱，对生活的爱，对亲人的爱融于平日的点滴中，我忘情天其中了…”)

如一同学如此写《美好的明天》的结尾：(明日歌中说：“明日复明日，明日何其多，我生待明日，万事成蹉跎……”希望大家能把握今天，创造出美好的明天。)

五、巧妙发问引人深思

技巧点拨：一篇好的文章做到言有尽而意无穷，要具有哲理启发性。如同欣赏一支优美的乐曲，曲虽终但余音缭绕，给人留下无穷的韵昧。结尾以发问的形式提出问题，启发读者思考，具有感染、强调的作用，可谓言有尽而意无穷。

如有同学这样写《我的语文老师》结尾：“难道我的语文老师不是一个称职的好老师吗?你见过这样的老师吗?” 如：自然的色、自然的香、自然的味、自然的美，这一切都源于自然。自然是伟大的。是神奇的。它与生活是那么的近，那么的紧。品味自然，不就同品味生活了吗?

六、联想引申多姿多彩

技巧点拨：结尾展开联想，由此及彼，由表及里，使主题得到升华。

如某同学写《花》的结尾：“多姿多彩的花朵在校园里尽情绽放，也在我的心里播下了种子……”

七、抒发情感气势不凡

技巧点拨：用抒情的方式收束文章，运用排比、比喻修辞，以优美的文字抒发内心真实情感，并配以适当的议论，使文章结尾气势不凡，强劲有力。能够表达作者心中的情愫，激起读者情感的波澜，引起读者的共鸣，给人以真实感、充足感。

如吉林省中考满分文《花样年华》的结尾：“春光似海，青春如花。青春是美丽的，美丽的青春在于奋斗，在于拼搏。愿天下的人们都能让自己的青春绽放出花一样的馨香!” 《公园里的秋色》：“啊!我爱那迷人的秋色，我爱秋姑娘送给大地妈妈的一件衣服——秋天。”

八、景物烘托情景合一

技巧点拨：采用描写景物结尾，如同欣赏一支优美的乐曲，曲虽终但余音缭绕，给人留下无穷的韵昧。

如广州中考满分文《雨中品读》：“风停了，暴雨也结束了，太阳重新露出了笑容，两代人的那扇玻璃也被那片残阳熔化了。太阳在远处逐渐隐去，消失在一片晚霞中，两者混为一体，没有距离。” [ 这段结尾的特点十分突出，景物烘托的作用也很明显，小作者通过对雨后景物的描写暗示了两代人之间情感隔阂的消失，情与景有机地结合在了一起。含蓄隽永。余味无穷。 ]

例如《雨季》的结尾：雨停了，阳光放射出他温柔的光芒，天空中出现了彩虹，犹如一座七彩的桥架在天宇，我心也变得纯洁、明净。

九、启发思考意犹未尽

技巧点拨：即作者用恰当的词语组织形成句子，结尾给读者留下思考余地，让人有所启迪，获得感悟，可谓情韵深厚。

如一同学写的寓言《狐狸和乌鸦续》结尾：“乌鸦遇事不冷静思考，盲目听信狐狸，结果又上当了。”[这引起了读者的深深思考：不论做什么事，要学会冷静思考，明辨是非。]

十、出人意料戛然而止

技巧点拨：这种结尾不是按照故事情节的通常逻辑，来处理人物或事情的结局，而是用意想不到的结局戛然而止，让人在目瞪口呆之余，不禁感叹作者的奇思妙想、生活的千变万化。

如某同学创造性地写《龟兔赛跑续》：正当乌龟为自己的聪明而夺得冠军沾沾自喜时，裁判宣布了一个令大家非常意外的结果——兔子赢了。原来，比赛的规则是比赛谁跑得慢。

十一、含蓄深刻余味无穷

技巧点拨：含蓄结尾写法，就是把要说的话、表达的真情隐藏起来，使文章结尾留有空白，常采用比喻、象征手法和空白艺术，耐人寻味，给人留下无穷的想象余地，使人浮想联翩，能把读者引向更深远的境地，有“余音绕梁，三日不绝”之奇效。

如《挑山工》一文的结尾：从泰山回来，我画了一幅画——在陡直的似乎没有尽头的山道上，一个穿红背心的挑山工给肩头的重物压弯了腰，他一步一步向上登攀。这幅画一直挂在我的书桌前，多年来不曾换掉，因为我需要它。

十二、升华主题揭示本质

技巧点拨：所谓升华主题，就是在主题的基础上自然延伸，透过现象，揭示本质，丰富和深化主旨内涵，

如《母亲》的结尾：“谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。”我的母亲就是这样一位无私的伟大的母亲。然而，她是我们千千万万劳动人民中的一员，正是这些劳动人民才创造了这个美丽世界。我们要发奋学习，将来用实际行动来报答祖国和人民。[作者将自己的个人感情和普通劳动人民系在一起，表达赞美之情，立意深远。]

作文结尾方法千万，不管怎样落笔，都应与正文一线相生，不可缺痕。古人云：“结句当如撞钟，清音有余。”可见，文章的结尾关键要有丰富深厚的内容，经得起咀嚼，能启发读者想象和思考，达到“余音绕梁，三日不止”的境地。

切入角度要新颖

要想在众多的考生作文中脱颖而出，赢得阅卷老师的青睐，作文切入角度的新颖不失为一条行之有效的途径。

如写“告别”，很多同学写告别家人、告别同学、告别朋友等，这样的文题当然可以，但写的人多了，阅卷者难免会觉得乏味，如果作文语言不是很精彩，那么你的作文就很难得到高分。

但有些考生就很聪明，他们舍弃了这些考生常用的话题，而另辟蹊径，有的写“告别青春”，“告别幼稚”等，这样新颖别致的文题就很能引起阅卷老师的注意，如果言之成理或描述得当，则很容易得高分。

文章点题要适当

中考作文要有更鲜明的点题意识，一般都能注意在作文的开头和结尾点题，在文章的主体部分必须有意识地点题。

按表达方式的不同，大体可分三类。

①通过抒情点题。

②通过描写点题。

③通过议论点题。考场上，由于时间紧、任务重，考生宜在文章内容流转交汇之处，不失时机地点明题旨，回扣题意，才能大大加深阅卷者对作文思路清晰、中心突出的印象。

卷面书写要工整

卷面脏乱不堪的作文会让阅卷者望而生厌，难得高分，而且很多考区都把卷面书写列为得分项，由此可见对卷面书写要求之高。中考作文字迹要工整，卷面要整洁，这就要求考生在平时要养成一种良好的习惯。

写作时细心些，少写或不写错别字，如遇确实要修改的地方，千万不要在错误的地方肆意涂抹，你可以用小括号把错的地方括起来再用笔在错的地方轻轻地画一条横线，这样你的卷面就不会很差了。

作文题目要审清

在作文题目中，决定作文中心立意点的词语称为主题词。研读题目，找出主题词，进而挖掘主题词所蕴涵的思想、情感就显得尤为关键。

如题目“我也衔过一枚青橄榄”，作文题中的主题词是“青橄榄”，青橄榄的特点是先酸涩后甘甜，就如同我们成长过程中历经磨难方能采摘到的成功果实，推敲出这一点，文章的中心立意点恐怕也就不言而喻了。但是，审题到这里，远没有结束，我们还必须进一步探究题目中的“我”、“也”、“一枚”等词语的作用。“我”，说明文章该以第一人称写，写自己的经历，“一枚”，说明只要写一次收获。

只有将这些因素综合起来考虑，我们的审题过程才算完整，题意才有可能理解正确。

思想内容要深刻

在作文的思想内容上，不外乎“真、细、活”三个字。具体来说，“真”，就是写自己的真情实感;“细”，就是把主要的情节一定要写得细致;“活”，就是要在节骨眼上用一两句话传神。

如何做到这三点要求呢?即要学会“大中取小”、“小中见大”。

①“大中取小”，即有一类作文题目十分宽泛，可写的材料很多，写这类题目要善于缩小，把众多材料浓缩到一点，找准切人点，还要善于化抽象为具体，加上适当的限制或设置副标题，这些都是写好大题目的好方法。

②而“小中见大”，则是指题目小而具体要写出有深刻意义的主题，比如“今日家事”就应从一件家庭琐事反映社会变革的重大主题。

下笔之前要提纲

提纲要确实反映自己的思路，即在头脑中要有一个你这篇文章的大概写作思路。写之前要考虑好三点：选用哪些材料，怎样组织材料，和怎样连贯全文。提纲不需要细写，只需要画个层次即可。做到条理清楚、层次分明、简明扼要、突出文章每一部分的要求。至于文章细部的安排，可在写作过程中进一步落实。编写提纲没有固定格式。

文章标题要漂亮

“题好一半文”，标题应在作文之初就开始认真考虑，并且下工夫琢磨。

好标题的首要条件是：

①切旨。标题要吃透材料精神，反映其主旨。

②切体。拟题要合乎体裁。在此基础上，标题还要炼新求美求趣。可巧引流行歌曲，可运用拟人、比喻、反复、设问等修辞格，可套用流行语，可引用电影名、名句或成语，还可采用散文化或诗化语言。

开头结尾要精彩

文章的开头和结尾最忌讳出现套话、空话，作文的开头可以感情色彩适当浓一些，或者是开门见山地直接表达感情、立场，并为下文做铺垫。

有的同学在开头设置悬念，采用倒叙的写作手法，以达到引人注意的效果，这些都是可以尝试的。

二、作文与竞赛

1、认真的书写是成功的前提。阅读者会在第一眼就对你留下良好印象;

2、写作时，应在选材和形式上多加斟酌，表现出你的智慧、思想和追求，即使阅卷者也自愧不如;

3、文章中应充满强烈的感情色彩，因为唯有强烈的情感才能打动人心;

4、对手中的素材加以小小的修饰，使之更感人，更鲜明和更富有美感，这不是虚假，而是美化;

5、写作中要加进至少一种新颖的尝试，这种尝试是你从未使用过的。唯有你自己都觉得新鲜的东西，别人也才会觉得新鲜;

6、以第一人称写作最适宜抒情，并增加文章的真实感和可信度。

一、作文与考试

1、考试前几日，可以有选择地翻阅一些高品质作文图书，以帮助打开思路;

2、考试作文的最低要求是文顺和切题，达到了这两个要求，基本分数就可以拿到;

3、考试时要不要打草稿，这要视各人情况而定，一般来说，因为费时，所以尽量免去;

4、一篇文章起码分有四段，在六七段最为适宜;

5、书写整洁极其重要，阅卷老师的第一好感来自于你的字迹;

6、开头第一段一定要全力以赴，用描写手法描写人物形态、事件过程或景物特色。成功的开头占据全文得分的50%;

7、遇到生冷的作文题，不要害怕，缩小其范围，发现其核心，即可行文;

8、如果考试题已经做过，那肯定是一件大好事，当然，需要你“更上一层楼”;

9、像叙述一个故事给好朋友听一样，口语化的语言就像录音，非常生动有趣;

10、语言幽默一些，增加趣味性，让阅卷老师也忍不住笑出声来，这样的文章一定能得高分;

11、想象类的题目不要表现什么主题，只要写得有趣有益就行;

12、结尾段千万不能用议论或表决心，最后仍然是描写，与开头呼应，如果与开头基本相同，也很有特色;

13、考试中，要求你体裁不限，并不是说你想用什么体裁就用什么体裁，而应该根据“扬长”原则来完成;

14、语文大考时，起码要为文章留好一个小时的时间，基础知识的检查放在作文之后。修改时要使用标准的修改符号，并注意卷面的整洁。

话题作文是一个宽泛的作文命题，很多考生都不易把握，那么写好话题作文呢，下面整理了一些话题作文的写作技巧，希望对大家有所帮助!

一、化一为万

比如读书这个话题，有的同学尽管整日在书海中泛舟，但面对这一话题感觉还是有点单一，似乎无话可说。其实，只要打开思路，挖掘得法，有关读书的话题是一座取之不竭、掘之不尽的丰富宝藏。做到内容丰富是不难的，但你必须善于联想。围绕读书这个话题，你可以讲述读书的故事，奏响想书、买书、借书、偷书、读书中的小插曲;可以记叙读书的经历，见证读书陪伴成长的过程;可以介绍读书的方法，选书、精读与浏览，读书札记，经典诵读，读书与实践;可以品说读书的滋味，酸甜苦辣咸，味道各异，一一道来;可以漫谈读书的感受，读后感仁者见仁，智者见智;可以抒写读书的收获，书中自有为人之道、作文之法;可以渲染读书的陶醉，沉醉书海，自然如入仙境;可以推介所读的好书，或简叙书文内容，或罗列推荐理由;可以鉴评所读的书，赏析精彩片段，评价细小瑕疵;可以评价对书的态度，说长道短自有一番道理。如此等等，你尽可以选择其中一点进行作文

二、化浅为深

如我长大了这个文题，谁也不会在取材上发生困难，看样子真是浅得不能再浅了，但实际上，这个题的关键在于对长大的理解。如果在审题之中认为长大的含义只是生理、身体的变化或是学会了某种生活技能、能够料理自己、胆子变大了，或者能对付别人的欺负等等，那这种理解就很肤浅，写出来的文章在选材立意上也就上不了档次。如果说能够寓理于事，从不同的角度写出正处于花季年龄的初中生成长中的追求、向往、烦恼和困惑，以及对人生的初步认识，写出人生中的各种各样的责任感已经在心中出现，那么，这样的思考就是准确地把握了文题的含义。

三、化实为虚

如以风景为话题写作。写好这个话题，就要去拓宽思路，化实为虚。风景不仅指自然环境，还可指美好的人和事物。如生活中的风景随处可见;校园中寻求知识是一道富有诗意的风景;家庭中感受亲情是一道充满温馨的风景;社会上某一种新的、健康的气象是一道多彩多姿的风景;一个人冥思静想的意识中也会出现一种风景认真地想过这种种新风景后，我们再去构思自己的文章，显然就要高明得多。

四、化整为零

有一类作文命题先出材料再出题，所以必须先读后写。作为议论文，它可以是材料作文，但作为记叙文，它有时候只是暗示着一种作文的角度或者作文的方向，或者说是暗示要求表现的中心思想。请看下面这个作文试题：世界，充满七彩阳光，人生，充满美好向往，在通往理想的攀登之路上，每一步都弹奏着苦与乐的乐章。根据这首小诗的含义，以攀登为题写一篇不少于600字的文章，除诗歌以外文体不限。对这个文题，不论你写哪一种文体的文章，恐怕都得注意苦与乐这三个字，它是材料中暗示的方向。因此你在审题时必须先读懂材料，对材料进行化整为零，然后把材料中隐含的要点审出来。

五、化熟为生

有些看似很熟悉的题目，比如美在课余这个文题，可供取材的内容是不少的。其实这个题目有一个迷惑点，这个迷惑点在那个美字上。稍不注意，就会由于觉得这个文题似曾相识而忽视对美字的品读。由于没有抓住这个美字，就会写出丰富多彩的课余、好玩的课余、有趣的课余、热闹的课余等等内容，而就是没有突出这个美字。要记住，不管命题作文的形式多么复杂，你的眼睛要永远盯着它的题目。在熟悉的题目面前不要激动，不要以为它就是你做过的原题，仍要认真全面地审题。

六、化生为熟

先看试题：数百年前，一位聪明的老国王召集聪明的臣子，交代了一个任务：编一本《各时代智慧录》流传子孙。聪明的臣子工作了很长时间，完成了一本十二卷巨著。国王看后，认为书太厚，要求臣子把它浓缩一下。几经删减，浓缩为一本书。国王还认为太长。聪明的臣子把一本浓缩为一章，又把一章浓缩为一页，又把一页浓缩为一段，最后把一段浓缩为一句。国王看后，十分满意，说：这是各时代智慧的结晶，人们一旦知道了这个道理，我们担心的大部分问题就可以解决了。这句千锤百炼的话是：天下没有免费的午餐。请以天下没有免费的午餐为话题，自拟题目，自择文体，写一篇600字左右的文章。这个话题，是从材料中引出的，但是，材料不能作为作文的内容。原因是话题和材料没有因果关系。命题的这个特点，在审题时要明确，这样才能避免写作的失误。由于话题是一个比喻形式，所以在确定作文立意的时候，要明确比喻的具体含义。免费的午餐，这是西方人常用来说明没有付出就不会有收获的道理，即一切都要靠自己的奋斗才能获取。中国古代的寓言故事《守株待兔》也是说的这个意思。明确了话题的含义，就会化陌生为熟悉，就会有话可说。

以下是短文写作中使用率最高、覆盖面最广的基本句式，每组句式的功能相同或相似，考可根据自己的情况选择其中的个，做到能够熟练正确地仿写或套用。

1．表示原因

1）There are three reasons for this

2）The reasons for this are as follows

3）The reason for this is obvious

4）The reason for this is not far to seek

5）The reason for this is that

6）We have good reason to believe that

例如：

There are three reasons for the changes that have taken place in our life

．Firstly，people’s living standard has been greatly improved．Secondly，most people are well paid，and they can afford what they need or like．Last but not least，more and more people prefer to enjoy modern life．

注：

如考生写第一个句子没有把握，

可将其改写成两个句子。

如：

Great changes have taken place in our life．

There are three reasons for this．这样写可以避免套用中的表达失误。

2．表示好处

1）It has the following advantages

2）It does us a lot of good

3）It benefits us quite a lot

4）It is beneficial to us

5）It is of great benefit to us

例如：

Books are like friends．

They can help us know the world better，and they can open our minds

and widen our horizons．Therefore reading extensively is of great benefit to us

3．表示坏处

1）It has more disadvantages than advantages

2）It does us much harm

3）It is harmful to us

例如：

However，everything divides into two．

Television can also be harmful to us．It can do harm to our health and make us lazy if we spend too much time watching television.

4．表示重要、必要、困难、方便、可能

1）It is important（necessary，difficult，convenient, possible）for sb．to do sth．

2）We think it necessary to do sth．

3）It plays an important role in our life．

例如：

Computers are now being used everywhere，whether in the government，in schools or in business．

Soon, computers will be found in every home，too．

We have good reason to say that computers are playing an increasingly important role in our life and we have stepped into the Computer Age．

5．表示措施

1)We should take some effective measures．

2）We should try our best to overcome（conquer）the difficulties．

3）We should do our utmost in doing sth．

4）We should solve the problems that we are confronted（faced）with．

例如：

The housing problem that we are confronted with Is becoming more and more serious．Therefore，we must take some effective measures to solve it．

6 ．表示变化

1）Some changes have taken place in the past five years．

2)A great change will certainly be produced in the world’s communications．

3）The computer has brought about many changes in education．

例如：

Some changes have taken place in people’s diet in the past five years．The major reasons for these changes are not far to seek．Nowadays，more and more people are switching from grain to

meat for protein，and from fruit and vegetable to milk for vitamins．

7．表示事实、现状

1）We cannot ignore the fact that．．．

2）No one can deny the fact that．．．

3）There is no denying the fact that．．．

4）This is a phenomenon that many people are interested in．

5）However，that’s not the case．

例如：

We cannot ignore the fact that industrialization brings with it the problems of pollution．To solve these problems，

we can start by educating the public about the hazards of pollution．

The government on its part should also design stricter laws to promote a cleaner environment．

8．表示比较

1）Compared with A，B．．．

2）I prefer to read rather than watch TV．

3）There is a striking contrast between them．

例如：

Compared with cars ,bicycles have several advantages besides being affordable．Firstly，they do not consume natural resources of petroleum．Secondly，they do not cause the pollution problem．Last but not least，they contribute to people’s health by giving them due physical exercise．

9．表示数量

1）It has increased（decreased）from．．．to．．．

2）The population in this city has now increased （decreased）to 800，000．

3）The output of July in this factory increased by 15％compared with that of January．

例如：

With the improvement of the living standard,the proportion of people’s in some spent on food has decreased while that spent on education has increased．

再如：From the graph listed above,it can be seen that student use of computers has increased from an average of less than two hours per week in 1990 to 20 hours in 2000．

10．表示看法

1）People have（take，adopt，assume)different attitudes towards sth．

2）People have different opinions on this problem．

3）People take different views of（on）the question．

4）Some people believe that．．．

Others argue that．．．

例如：

People have different attitudes towards failure．Some believe that failure leads to success．

Every failure they experience translates into a greater chance of success at their renewed endeavor．However ,others are easily discouraged by failures and put themselves into the category of losers．

再如：

Do“lucky numbers really bring good luck？

Different people have different views on it（注：

一个段落有时很适宜以问句开始，考生应掌握这一写作方法。）

11．表示结论

1）In short，it can be said that ．．．

2）It may be briefly summed up as follows．

3）From what has been mentioned above,we can come to the conclusion that ．．

例如：

From what has been mentioned above，we can come to the conclusion that examination is necessary，however，its method should be improved．

12．套语

1）It’s well known to us that ．．．

2）As is known to us．．．

3）This is a topic that is being widely talked about．

4）From the graph

（table，chart）listed above，it can be seen that ．．．

5）As a proverb says，“Where there is a will，there is a way．

例如：

As is well known to us，it is important for the students to know the world outside campus．

The reason for this is obvious．Nowadays,the society is changing and developing rapidly，and

the campus is no longer an“ivory tower.As college students，

we must get in touch with the world outside the campus．

Only in this way can we adapt ourselves to the society quickly after

we graduate.

一、从写作内容角度上看。

公基作文一般是议论性质的文章，字数一般要求在800--1200字之间。公基作文要求结合材料进行写作，属于材料作文类，考生不能脱离材料自行写作。此外，考生在写作的时候一定注意不要跑题，不要脱离总论点。因为作文的阅卷是先定档后给分，这就要求我们一定不能跑题，而且虽然都是议论文但是不能跟高中初中作文那样随意抒发议论，要找到自己的角度，站在报考岗位的角度去思考问题，不能盲目抒情、大发特发议论，此乃作文大忌。

二、从文章标题角度来看。

标题即论点，刚才我们谈到作文阅卷先定档，因此，如果能标题就是论点的话能够大幅度减轻阅卷人的压力，使得自己更容易获得高分。对于标题给大家简单提醒一下，通常情况下标题不建议大家使用标点符号。

三、从文章结构上来看。

一定要保证文章结构的完整性，在阅卷规则当中，有重要一条就是逻辑完整，因此适当运用逻辑结构词就显得特别重要。这里提示广大考生，我们的逻辑词经历过四个阶段，第一个阶段是第一、第二、第三、第N个，这种结构因为第多少个没有上限，因此不建议采用，第二个阶段是首先、其次、再次、最后，第三个阶段是一方面、另一方面、与此同时、此外、加之等。这里推荐大家使用第二第三个阶段，逻辑结构比较完整，第四个阶段是运用过渡句过渡段，这种逻辑不推荐大家使用。

四、公基作文一定要写对策。

考查公基作文的目的就是考查考生进入单位之后分析与解决问题的能力，因此，考生必须在文章中必须有所体现。从文章写作对策段落来说，建议大家在对策段落里面运用“结论+原因+措施”的写作结构，这种结构简单理解就是是什么、为什么、怎么办逻辑，比如说某地的某个行业出现一定的发展问题，那么对于这个行业的发展政府起主要作用，那么我们应该先说政府大概应该如何去做，如政府应该多渠道扶持，此即结论，接下来就应该叙述政府为什么要去扶持，也即原因部分，最后要写明政府如何扶持也即具体措施，如运用宏观调控、减免税收、提供政策支持等。

五、从结尾段落来说，结尾要做到与首段呼应。

浑然一体的结尾与开头要相呼应，写出既呼应开头，又不简单重复的语句，这种结尾方式是各类文章极常见的收束方法。这种收束方法能唤起读者心理上的美感，产生一种首尾圆合，浑然一体的感觉。

公共基础知识写作点拨

第一：理解、分析、研究文体。事业单位写作其实就是议论文写作，因为只有议论文这种文种才能够承载对一个事物的确定观点和论述。所以对议论文来说，要把握一点，就是议论文是围绕一个观点进行展开，这对议论文来说是最重要的，也就是要有确实的观点，即总论点，目前来看事业单位考试的总论点一般都是已经确定的。

第二：确定了总论点之后，再去议论观点。例如：上海是个好地方，那么整个文章展开的核心就是证明观点，也就是为什么说上海是个好地方，再比如：要勤奋，整个文章展开的核心就是论述为什么要勤奋。

近几年来公职类考试的写作命题有了新的变化。首先，会有给定材料，材料围绕着一个主题展开，主题通常是社会问题或者施政要点。例如：要推进民生改革;要提高政府公信力;要推进服务型政府建设;要勇于探路等。其次，针对这样主题的变化，论述的方向也随之有所变化。例如：要提高政府公信力。基于这样的总论点，文章展开的逻辑就是为什么要提高公信力、如何提高政府公信力。再比如：要勇于探路，那么文章展开的逻辑就是为什么要勇于探路、如何探路。通过以上事例，小伙伴们能基本理清两个最重要的内容：议论文就是围绕一个确定的观点展开，整个文章的核心要求就是把观点论述清楚。解决了这两个问题后，接下来就是填充内容了，在此根据情况来说明。

第一：如果平时比较关注新闻、热点时事，自然有内容可写，而且能够做到内容充实、立意高远、理解透彻。如果是这样的情况，就摸索出适合自己表达的语言风格即可。

第二：如果是平时看书比较多，有自己对事物的思考。这样的基础能让写作体现出比较好的人文素养和知识储备，如果是这样的情况，就把看书多的优点发挥出即可。

第三：如果是既不看新闻、也不看书、学习马马虎虎或者工作后没有时间复习，这样的情况比较普遍，如果是这样的情况，就需要找一些捷径了，比如选择培训班等等。

在写作文中，我们要懂得运用技巧，下面是小编整理的中考优秀作文写作的5项技巧分享，欢迎阅读。

1、有一个灵活的头脑：造句法、筛选法、换题法。

2、有一张可爱的脸蛋：书写要工整，自己的字能够写多好就必须写多好，不得使用涂改液，不得随意修改，特别是开头、结尾和段落的开头句，不能修改。

3、有一双闪亮的眼睛：好的文题等于成功了一半。参见《中考满分作文拟题技法——眉目传神惹人眼》

4、有一身漂亮的衣装：(1)一个最拿手的题材(适合自己);(2)一个好故事(好布料);(3)一个好结构(好设计);(4)一口流畅、优美的语言(好花纹、好色彩)。

5、有几件精美的饰品：(1)倒叙、描写、引用开头(好发型)(2)结尾：议论反问式、含蓄余味式、赞美抒情式、哲理深思式、名言点睛式、联想做梦式、决心号召式(名鞋);(3)名言名句名作的恰好点缀(钻石哟);(4)用景物描写渲染气氛(如梦的纱巾)。

新闻标题是新闻的题目，读者看新闻时首先看的就是标题。好的新闻标题能使读者在最短的时间内了解新闻的主要内容，小编收集了英语新闻标题写作技巧，欢迎阅读。

新闻标题是新闻的题目，读者看新闻时首先看的就是标题。好的新闻标题能使读者在最短的时间内了解新闻的主要内容，引起阅读兴趣。写作标题的原则，是要尽量用有限的语句将新闻的主要内容和意旨表达清楚。在英语(优习英语网)新闻标题的写作中，选取准确的动词及正确的时态、语态，是一项重要技巧。例如下面这几行标题，不管是硬新闻还是软新闻标题，都含有一个动词：

High tax levels “driving away foreign investors”

Bush acknowledges Viet Nam parallel

Nigerian plane crashes with over 100 aboard

Myles Quin likes to collect stuff-most of all good yarns

The City cultivates a thriving poetry corner out of The Waste Land

如果缺乏动词，新闻标题会显得单调、千篇一律，例如：

Bill Gates and the Microsoft

American views on China

这两则标题显得大而空泛，华而不实，没有提供关于新闻具体内容的实际信息，应该尽量避免这种写法。

动词的选择

动词使新闻标题变得活跃，但它本身必须是一个活跃的词，能最准确、生动地描述新闻事实，因为标题里没有多余的空间来容纳形容词，所有修饰性的内容，包括程度、颜色、感觉等，都必须依靠这个动词来体现。因此，要尽量避免使用“ask”这类平淡的动词和表达含糊的混合动词，例如“American government gives views on Mexican’s racism”，如果报道对象“American government”在谴责“Mexican’s racism”时用了很有力很明确的语句，那么就应该避免“gives views”这种含糊的写法。

此外，还应该尽量使用表达力强、有力的动词，尽量不使用较弱的助动词“be”、“have”作为新闻标题的主要动词。

时态的使用

一种观点认为新闻标题应使用现在时态，因为所报道的事件虽然已经过去，但它是新近发生的，对读者来说仍然是第一次了解该事件，现在时态能给他们一种事件正在发生的感觉，这对新闻报道来说很重要;另一种观点认为新闻标题不能用现在时，例如法庭报道，对于过去发生的事件，绝对不能用现在时态，避免产生歧义，例如应该写成：“Old retiree stole grocery loaves”，不能写成“Old retiree steals grocery loaves”，否则会使人误会此人一直在继续这种偷窃行为，引起争端。甚至认为任何含有过去的时间因素的标题都应使用过去时态。这一观点可能深受上世纪70年代以来美国新闻学者梅耶(Philip Meyer)的精确新闻报道理论的影响。

那么，究竟应该使用什么时态?考虑的重要依据是看使用现在时态会不会带来歧义，如果不会，则适宜使用现在时。英语新闻标题中不宜使用“yesterday”这个词，尤其是在早报的标题中，因为早报所报道的几乎所有事情都可以被认为是发生在“昨天”的。但如果报道的是将来要发生的事，则应尽量使用确切的时间，如：“Paper industry will strike tomorrow /next week/next month”。再如：“Beijing to fulfill promises for 2008 Olympics”，即使省略了“will”，意思仍很清楚。

有一种新闻标题采用“be+动词不定式”结构，助动词“be”通常省略：

Princess (is) to Visit Baffinaland in August.

Financier (is) killed by burglars.

Countries (are) to Spend More on Cancer Research.

使用将来时态报道即将和日后将会发生的事情是很常见的。

主动语态与被动语态

在英语新闻标题中，主动语态比被动语态的表达效果更好。试比较下面两则新闻标题：

France rejects EU Constitution

EU Constitution rejected by France

对比后，我们发现，使用被动语态的新闻标题，比主动语态标题长，单词数量多，这对有长度限制的标题来说是很不利的。同样长度的标题，主动语态所提供的信息内容更多，结构更生动，而且可以有更多的空间去阐述其他内容，例如“Boy found dead by teacher”如果改写成主动语态“Teacher found boy dead in lab”，不但阐述更加自然，包含的信息也更多。

例外的情况是当事件或动作的承受人比执行者更重要时，可以使用被动语态。

关于动词，还有一个问题需要注意。英语中有不少单词既能作名词，又能作动词，其词性是根据具体语法位置来决定的。写作标题时如果省略了一些前后辅助辨别的词汇，单词的词性就可能变得不确定和含糊，下面这些单词都属于此类：

tax, ban, plan, drive, move, probe, protest, bat, share, watch, cut, axe, ring, bank, rises, state, pay, pledge, talks, riot, attack, appeal, back, face, sign, jump, drug

英语新闻标题的动词应尽量使用一般现在时，但在遇到该动词兼有名词和动词两种词性的情况下，有时可以使用过去时态，以使这个动词的词性更加清楚，避免产生歧义。

1. why to read original edition novel

要想真正提高外语水平,阅读原版小说是必经之路,正如不是每个人都能成为外语高手一样, 不是每个人都能够有毅力读完N本原版小说的.(我特佩服门卫,能够把一本都上N遍,如果我有这种毅力的话,早就成为高手了…)

2. fundamental conditions

语法:系统准确的掌握语法. 基本上,如果是E,高中毕业以后这一点都达到了

词汇: 熟练词汇>2.5k, 认知词汇>5k

工具书:一本C-E,

一本E-E,或者用文曲星代替,但我偏好字典----词汇认知学指出,词汇的记忆效果与词汇的检索时间正相关(我现在读法文,由3本D, F-C,F-E,F-F)

3. 选材,仁者见仁,就我个人而言, 我偏好当代中篇作品(我现在选了一本Marcel Pagnol 写于1957年的, 280pages)

4. 前期工作:

查找百科全书或相应的工具书,了解到作者的生平,作品,世人的评价.

5. 阅读中的词汇学习:

每天阅读6 pages(6X225=1350字),在阅读过程中碰到new words先做标记,读完后再查D, 把生词记载在本子上,并及时背诵(我现在最怕的就是这一点,会不会半途而废???)

6. how to read

我准备默读, 这是我的习惯,朗读太费尽了,泛读也没有意义,介于精泛之间

7. read what

我主要研究其词汇搭配.词汇的用法是语言中最难的,比如,法语中最简单的一个介词à,用法不计其数,在大型D上有好几页,为什么同样的词汇在名家手下就生龙活虎,到了我的手下就一潭死水呢?我认为这应该是读原版小说的最根本目的.

记得AS以前告诫我,要多学词法,少背词汇, 可惜一直没有好好的实行, 现在,我就以法语作为实验品吧…再次谢谢AS!!!

我准备把注意力集中在届词,练词,动词上面,因为名词和形容词的用法太简单了,不知这样是否OK?

8. how to digest

每读完一章写一篇读后感,相当于开卷考试,经常并及时背诵本子上的new words

9. 结语

方法人人都有,上面只是我个人的对策,真诚的希望大家对阅读原版小说提出意见和建议.

如何写好风景作文?今天小编给大家分享风景作文写作技巧，欢迎大家查看。

一、什么是景物描写?

A、晚秋的天空是澄清的，山脚下的高粱成熟了。

B、晚秋底澄清的天，像一望无际的平静的碧海;强烈的白光在空中跳动着，宛如海面泛起的微波;山脚下片片的高粱时时摇曳着丰满的穗头，好似波动着的红水;而衰黄了的叶片却给田野着上了凋敝的颜色。

很明显前者是景物叙述，后这才是景物描写;前者虽涉及景物，但只是简单的状态介绍，后者则是从形象、色彩等方面进行感性的叙述，并综合运用多种修辞手法。

描写，是指用准确、鲜明、生动的语言文字，对人、事、景、物进行具体描绘和刻画的一种表达方式。从描写的对象看，描写分成三种，分别是人物描写、环境描写、景物描写。景物描写的主要内容有形状、颜色、质地以及音响、气味等方面。

二、景物描写的方法

(一)、从多种感官写。(触觉、视觉、听觉)

秋天的风，吹走了春季的“湿”，吹走了夏季的“闷”，带来了一阵清凉。人们都说，秋风是干燥的。我却不以为然，我喜欢秋风拌面的感觉，它可以让人头脑清醒;可以让身上的尘埃飞向远方;可以带我们的灵魂走进秋色。秋风一闪，万树都会报以热烈的掌声和优美的舞姿，那个场面隆重盛大，不亚于盛大晚会的热闹场面，满天飞舞着蝶一般的落叶。叶子之间碰撞出的响声似乎在向大地母亲报喜，离家的孩子要回到大地母亲的怀抱，激动的心情是无以用言语表达的，也不需要表达，因为秋风已经悄悄地告知大地。

(二)、正面与侧面相结合。

正面描写：就是指直接描写人物的外貌、心理和行动和语言。

又称“直接描写”。文章的描写手法之一,与“侧面描写”相对。它主要是指对人物的肖像、心理、语言、行动以及对正面描写一般包括动静描写，虚实描写，色彩渲染描写，观察角度变化描写，点面结合描写五种描写方法;对人物的肖像、语言、动作、心理方面进行的直接描写。(也叫实写)

侧面描写：侧面描写也叫间接描写,是指在文学创作中，作者通过对周围人物或环境的描绘来表现所要描写的对象，以使其鲜明突出，即间接地对描写对象进行刻画描绘。

黄果树瀑布虽不如庐山瀑布那样长，但远比它宽得多，所以显得气势非凡，雄伟壮观。瀑布激起的水花，如雨雾般腾空而上，随风飘飞，漫天浮游，高达数百米长，形成了远近闻名的“银雨撒金街”的奇景。瀑布从岩壁上直泻而下，如雷声轰鸣，山回谷应。坐在下面，仿佛置身在一个圆形的乐池里。 *四周乐声奏鸣，人就像漂浮在一片声浪之中，每个细胞都灌满了活力。 我们久久地坐着，任凉丝丝的飞珠扑上火热的脸庞，打湿薄薄的衣衫。聆听着訇然作响的瀑布声，只觉得胸膛在扩展，就像张开的山谷，让瀑布飞流直下，挟来大自然无限的生机。

(三)、虚实相结合写。

景物描写中，我们在此时此地所见之景是实的，由眼前所见实景生发联想、想象而得的彼时彼地之景是虚景。

虚写是叫常见的一种手法，与之相对应的是实写。虚实结合是其运用最多的地方。虚即是空。通过浮想联翩将画面描写得美妙绝伦。

秋姑娘来到了森林里，一片片黄叶像一只只蝴蝶在空中飞舞。只有松树和柏树的叶子是绿的，他们挺直了身体，威武地站在山坡上。

秋姑娘又来到了果园里。果园里的果子成熟了，葡萄架上挂满了一串串紫里透红的大葡萄，它们相互掩映着自己的身体，太阳出来了，照射在葡萄上就像一颗颗透明的紫色宝石。 桔树上，一个个金黄色的桔子，让人看了忍不住想咬一口。假如你剥开桔皮，你就可以看见一瓣瓣桔子就像一弯弯亏月时的月亮，晶莹剔透。

(四)、多角度的进行描写。

比如上看、下看、近看、远看，要变换各种观察角度。就像一个摄影师，一会儿把镜头遥远，一会儿拉近呈放大特写，一会儿俯拍，一会儿仰拍，这样文章才有动感。

黄果树瀑布，真是一部大自然的杰作!

刚进入黄果树风景区，便听到“哗哗”的声音从远处飘来，就像是微风拂过树梢，渐近渐响，最后像潮水般涌过来，盖过了人喧马嘶，天地间就只存下一片喧嚣的水声了。

透过树的缝隙，便看到一道瀑布悬挂在岩壁上，上面折为三叠，好像一匹宽幅白练正从织布机上泻下来。那“哗哗”的水声便成了千万架织布机的大合奏。

(五)、生动的描写。

运用一些艺术手法，尤其是修辞手法，使得内容生动形象起来。

(六)、动静结合。

孤立的写动态或静态，往往不能给人以深刻的印象。若能将动态描写与静态描写结合起来，以动衬静，以静写动，则会塑造出栩栩如生的艺术形象。

(七)、色彩的渲染。

三、安排好描写的顺序

景物描写的顺序一般分为空间顺序和时间顺序两种

空间顺序--一般是取一个固定的观察点，按照视线移动的顺序依次写出各个位置上的景物。还有一种空间顺序，不取固定的观察点，而随着观察者位置的转移来描写景物，这叫做游览顺序。

时间顺序--同一个地方在不同的时间里，其景物是有变化的，按一定的时段依次写来，可以表现出景物的丰富多姿，使人产生美的感受。时段有长短之分，长时段如春、夏、秋、冬，短时段如晨、午、暮、夜。选用哪一种时间顺序，应视描写对象的特点而定，

描写手法：

描是描绘，写是摹写。描写就是用生动形象的语言，把人物或景物的状态具体地描绘出来。这是一般记叙文和文学写作常用的表达方法。它分为细 描与白描、静态描写与动态描写、正面描写与侧面描写、虚写与实写、人物描写、环境描写、物体描写、细节描写、渲染与烘托、欲扬先抑、联想和想象等。

作用

一、正面描写：直接描写人物外貌、语言、心理和行动。

1)肖像描写：揭示人物身份、境遇、所处的社会环境，以形传神，表现人物内心世界和性格特点。

2)行动描写：展示人物精神面貌，直接体现人物性格。(在人物描写中有重要地位。)

3)语言描写：表达人物情感，反映人物性格特征，折射出人物所处时代的特点。

4)心理描写：是人物在特定环境下的心理活动。揭示人物内心，刻画人物性格。

二、侧面描写：从对其他人物、事件的叙述和描写中渲染气氛、烘托人物。

1)环境描写

A、自然环境描写：衬托人物心情;点明时令、地点;表现人物关系;表现人物性格。

B、社会环境描写：从狭义上讲，社会环境是指人物活动的处所、背景、氛围等;从广义上讲，是指一定历史时期社会生活、人际关系的总和。

2)周围人物的反应、评价等。

三、细节描写：抓住生活中细微而具体的典型情节，加以生动细致的描绘。作用是丰富人物形象、使人物描写有血有肉有灵魂。写人则如见其人，写景则如临其境。

此外还有：

细描：使用大量生动、贴切的比喻，绚丽的文字，斑斓的色彩，进行浓笔涂抹。

白描：以质朴的文字，抓住人物或事物形象的特征，寥寥几笔就勾勒出人物或事物形象。

静态描写：平面地、静止地对人物或景物进行描写。

动态描写：以动写静，或把物用拟人化的手法进行描写。

阿•托尔斯泰认为：“小小说是训练作家最好的学校。”微型小说又名小小说，超短篇小说，一分钟小说。过去它作为短篇小说的一个品种而存在， 后来的发展使它已成为一种独立的文学样式，其性质被界定为“介于边缘短篇小说和散文之 间的一种边缘性的现代新兴文学体裁”。下面是小编为你带来的微型小说写作技巧，欢迎阅读。

微型小说在写作上追求的目标是四个字：微、新、密、奇。

微

微。指的是篇幅微小，不超过一千五百个字。因此，构思和行文时必须注意字句的 凝炼，不允许作品中有赘词冗句。如马克•吐温的《丈夫支出帐本中的一页》。全文只有七行字，却具有长篇小说的全部情节。

新

新。指的是立意新颖，风格清新。星新一写作一分钟小说，就极力追求“新”。他写道： “有些评论家把我的小说与美国的超短篇小说(Short-Short)混为一谈，这是不妥当的。 我是受了美国超短篇小说的影响。但是没有完全依靠，而是发挥了自己独特的风格和技巧。 我的小说强调一个‘新’字，给读者以新题材、新知识，甚至让他们感到惊讶!”(星新一《一分钟小说选》)为此，他常常借助于童话、寓言、科幻、推理等手法，通过非现实的题材或 现实题材的非现实笔法，反映他在现实生活中的独特的感觉，表现清新的主题，如他的《保 修》。 当然，微型小说的立意和其它形式的小说作品一样，有时并不是一眼能看出的，有时主题并 非一个，是多元化的，这都是可以的。例如美国著名科幻作家弗里蒂克•布朗写的一篇被称 为世界上最短的科学幻想小说：“地球上最后一个人独自坐在房间里，这时忽然响起了敲门声……”就写得十分别致而耐人寻味。

密

密。指的是结构严密。微型小说的作者在结构上，应力求时间、场所、人物都尽可 能地压缩、集中，使作品结构简练、精巧，如同微雕工艺品那样。因此，特别要在选材、剪裁和布局上下功夫。

奇

奇。指的是结尾要新奇巧妙，出人意料。微型小说的特点多半在于一个“奇”字。 中外作家的许多优秀作品就常在结尾处使人拍案叫绝。如邵宝健的《永远的门》的结尾就出人意料。

中考英语试卷写作的分数各个省市有所不同，一般在15-20分之间。下面从阅卷老师的角度分析一下中考英语作文的得分点和扣分点。

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

一：先看一下扣分点：

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

2.字数：少于60字的作文要酌情扣分。

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

3. 语法和拼写错误：每个扣0.5，重复错误不计;

4. 标点错误：每4个扣0.5.

二：加分点

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

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

其次就是卷面分

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

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

记事型作文，写不好就成了流水账，正在学写作文的小朋友要学会使用以下七个技巧，一起来看看吧。

1.要交代清楚时间、地点、人物、事件。

让读者明白文章写的是什么人，在什么时候，什么地方发生了怎样的事。

2.找出事件闪光点。

如果根据题目的要求选定了某件事，你就要对这件事进行认真的回忆，并仔细琢磨，反复思考，挖掘出这件事中含有的生活道理，或找出它闪光的地方。

3.必须把事情发生的环境写清楚。

因为任何事情总是在一定的环境中发生、发展的。环境写好了，写出特点来，还能渲染气氛，表达感情，使文章更生动。

4.一般要按事情发展顺序写。

把一件事的起因、经过、结果写清楚，不能颠三倒四，还应把事情的前因后果，来龙去脉写清楚。

5.记事中要围绕中心，抓住重点，不要面面俱到。

重点部分（一般指事情发展高潮处）要详写，写具体，写详尽，给读者以深刻的印象。

6.写事不能离不开写人。

同此在记事过程中，一定要把人物的语言、神态、动作、心理活动等写细致，写逼真，这样才能表达出人物的思想品质，才能更好地表达这件事所包含的意义，即文章的中心思想。

7.必须把事情发生的环境写清楚。

因为任何事情总是在一定的环境中发生、发展的。环境写好了，写出特点来，还能渲染气氛，表达感情，使文章更生动。

写作技巧就是表现时运用的方法，是作者为表情达意而采取有效艺术手段。语文说明文的写作技巧，我们一起来了解一下。

一、 说明文的定义

说明文是以说明为主要表达方式来解说事物、阐明事理而给人知识的文章体裁。它通过揭示概念来说明事物特征、本质及其规律性。说明文一般介绍事物的形状、构造、类别、关系、功能，解释事物的原理、含义、特点、演变等。说明文实用性很强，它包括广告、说明书、提要、提示、规则、章程、解说词、科学小品等。

二、 说明文的特点

说明文的特点是说，而且具有一定的知识性。这种知识，或者来自有关科学研究资料，或者是亲身实践、调查、考察的所得，都具有严格的科学性。为了要把事物说明白，就必须把握事物的特征，进而揭示出事物的本质属性，即不仅要说明是什么，还要说明为什么是这样。应用性说明文一般只要求说明事物的特征，阐述性说明文则必须揭示出问题的本源和实质。 说明文是客观地说明事物的一种文体，目的在于给人以知识：或说明事物的状态、性质、功能，或阐明事理。《中国石拱桥》属于前者，它以赵州桥和卢沟桥为例说明中国石拱桥不但形式优美，而且结构坚固的特征。《大自然的语言》属于后者，文章科学地说明了物候学知识。说明事物特点和阐明事理是说明文的两种类型。

三、 说明文的常用说明方法及作用

1、说明的方法有：下定义,作诠释,举例子,列数字,打比方,作比较,分类别,引资料,摹状貌,做图表 2、明白各种方法的作用。

举例子：这里使用了举例子的说明方法，具体说明了 这种说明方法的作用是使说明的对象具体形象，便于读者理解。

作比较：这里拿和作比较，突出(具体)说明了 作比较用于突出强调被说明对象的特点(地位、影响等)。

列数字：这里使用了列数字的说明方法，准确说明了 (列举了的数字，准确说明了)其作用是使说明准确无误，令读者信服。

分类别：分类别的作用是使说明条理清楚。

打比方：它的主要作用是使说明对象生动形象，增强文章的趣味性。

作诠解：用于解释被说明内容的成因及内在联系。

下定义：其作用是科学准确地解释说明对象的内涵，使说明更严密。

画图表：可使说明内容直观形象。

摹状貌：使说明生动形象，使文章更具可读性。

3、有时说明文借用其他修辞手法来帮助说明，这些手法的作用分析应当紧紧围绕说明对象，依照说明文的要求。

四、 如何写好说明文

如何使说明文物理并重、形神兼备的呢?首要的一点是观察。说明文写作的前提是对要说明的事物非常熟悉。要做到这一点，就要养成认真观察、深入了解的习惯：

观察要有针对性。要带着问题观察，而不是走马观花、浮光掠影。最好能在观察前列出观察提纲，观察时要记笔记、画图标。要善于提出问题。

观察时要分清主次。这就要求我们注意观察的顺序。观察有概括性观察和特写性观察之分。前一种方法有助于抓住事物的概貌，后者则利于把握观察对象的细节和特征。由概括到特写、由全局到局部，是观察的一般原理。

观察重在事物的形。要想传神，写出事物的内涵、原理等，则需要有很好的查阅资料、作调查的能力。比如我们要写一篇文章来说明洛阳牡丹。在写好它的形状、颜色、品种之外，如果能够考察一下洛阳牡丹的来历、其中的牡丹名品在培育中的科学原理，这篇文章就会有说服力，使读者更深刻地认识到洛阳牡丹的文化特色。这就要求我们具备相当的知识积累、广阔的知识面和优秀的调查能力。作为小学生，应当从小注重积累知识和调查能力的训练。比如通过剪报、记笔记、上图书馆和阅览室等途径来有意识地训练自己。

写作说明文还要注意说明的顺序。有合理的顺序，文章才能条理清晰，让人看得明白。说明顺序一般有三种，即空间顺序、时间顺序、逻辑顺序。间顺序一般有从上到下、从左到右、从前到后、从远到近等。时间顺序一般有从古到今、从过去到现在等。逻辑顺序有从现象到本质、从原因到结果、从主要到次要、从整体到部分、从概括到具体等。什么是合理的顺序呢?这要根据人们认识事物的过程以及说明对象本身的特征、规律而定。说明事物的形状、构造等，往往以空间为顺序;说明事物的成因、方法，往往以时间为顺序;说明事物的事理，往往以逻辑关系为顺序。

当然，大多数说明文会综合使用多种说明顺序。因此，在写作时，我们要合理地安排好说明顺序，理清说明文的结构层次。常用的结构层次有并列式、层进式和总分式三种。比如我们以水为题目进行写作，可以先写水的外形特征，再写水的分类，然后写水的用途，这是并列式的写作层次。我们也可以先写水的外形，再写水的成因，最后写水给人类带来的利与害，这是层进式的结构层次。先概括水的用途和特征，再一一细述，就是总分式。结构层次能力需发同学们在长期的写作过程中培养。

小升初的作文看似简单，但是因为考生主体年龄与知识能力的局限，所以实际上是学生所经历的小、中、高考三大阶段性升学考试中难度相对较大的一个阶段。如何打好这一阶段的基本功，不仅仅是试管小升初考试，更为重要与紧迫的是它对中学阶段的影响。这一阶段的技巧，既是基本的技巧，优势跨越的桥梁与成长的阶梯，所以是绝对忽略不得的。

这一阶段的作文考题方式，大多是以命题作文为主。下面我们就对于这一阶段的命题作文写作技巧加以系统分析与探讨。

一、确定内容范围

有的题目，对写作内容做出规定。所以，审题时，要确定题目规定的内容范围：记人的，要记什么人;叙事的，要叙什么事;写景的，要写什么景;状物的，要状什么物，等等。确定了范围，写作的时候就必须要把握详略，不能“失重”。

二、确定时间范围

有的题目，从时间上规定了写作范围。因此，作文必须是反映规定时间范围内的事。否则就会视为跑题或超范围，考生必须清楚：这种“罪名”下，扣分是非常“惨烈”的。而犯下这种错误的原因，通常仅仅是审题不细致而已。

三、确定材料数量范围

有的作文题目，对选材的数量做出规定。审题时必须注意，不能超范围选题。选材多了，不但没功，反而显得啰嗦，这是这一阶段学生最容易犯的错误。

四、确定人称范围

有的作文题目对写作的人称做了规定，审题时要依照要求确定人称范围，明确是写自己的还是写别人的，该用第一人称的，就绝对不能用第二人称或第三人称。

五、确定处所范围

有的题目规定了处所范围。这就要求我们在审题时必须依照文题要求，把握住事情发生的地点，不能把应在操场上发生的事搞到野外去，有些考生，写至兴头上非常容易“忘我”，信马由缰，这是大忌。

六、确定“题眼”

“题眼”也可以称作“文眼”，就是作文题目中的关键词，它是作文标题意思的核心，是你文章的主题与主旨所在，是作文要反映的具体内容的重点所在。学习、做事都要抓住关键，这个道理用在作文上，就是要抓住“题眼”这个关键。没有“题眼”，你的文章就没有灵魂，说白了，那就是一笔“流水账”。

七、确定比喻意义或者象征意义

比喻，就是打比方，是一种常用的修辞方法。这种修辞方法有助于形象地说明问题。我们平时见到的作文题中，有很多运用了这种修辞方法。因此，弄清文题的喻意，就显得非常重要。例如，文题“难忘的一幕”，其中的“一幕”本该是指舞台上的演出。但它具有比喻意义，可以用来说明生活中的一瞥、一个镜头、一个场面等。因此，在作文前，必须先确定好它的比喻意义，以增加文章的内涵。

象征意，就是某一命题本身包含了明与暗两层内涵，你看到的是明的，就是现实生活中的事物，你所要挖掘的，就是暗的，就是它所象征的那部分内涵。比如《桥》，如果写现实生活中的事物，那边写成了说明文，如果写它的象征意，那就要把方向定在人与人之间情感与心灵沟通的“桥”。内涵不一样，作文的品位也就不一样，你的得分也就不一样了。

写作是英语的第二大重头戏，仅次于阅读。但是这部分又经常被考生忽略，考前不动手，依赖临考模板，很难写出高分作文。下面是小编为大家整理的大学基础英语写作诀窍，欢迎阅读。

1、灵活改变句子开头

在通常情况下，英语句子的排列方式为“主语+谓语+宾语”，即主语位于句子开头。但若根据情况适当改变句子的开头方式，比如使用倒状语或以状语开头等，会使文章增强表现力。

- You can do it well only in this way.→ Only in this way can you do it well.

只有这样你才能把它做好。

- A young woman sat by the window.→ By the window sat a young woman.

窗户边坐着一个年轻妇女

2、避免重复使用词语

为了使表达更生动，更富表现力，同学们在写作时应尽量避免重复使用同一词语来表示同一意思，尤其是一些老生常谈的词语。如有的同学一看到“喜欢”二字，就会立刻想起like，事实上，英语中表示类似意思的词和短语很多，如 love, enjoy, prefer, appreciate, be fond of, care for等。

- I like reading while my brother likes watching television.→ I like reading while my   brother enjoys watching television.

我喜欢看书，而我的兄弟却喜欢看电视。

3、合理使用省略句

合理恰当地使用省略句，不仅可以使文章精练、简洁，而且会使文章更具文采和可读性。

- He may be busy. If he’s busy, I’ll call later. If he is not busy, can I see him now?→ He may be busy. If so, I’ll call later. If not, can I see him now?

他可能很忙，要是这样，我以后再来拜访。要    是不忙，我现在可以见他吗?

- If the weather is fine, we’ll go. If it is not fine, we’ll not go.→ If the weather is fine, we’ll go. If not, not.

如果天气好，我们就去；如果天气不好，我们就不去了。

- She could have applied for that job, but she didn’t do so.→ She could have applied for that job, but she didn’t.

她本可申请这份工作的，但她没有。

4、运用非谓语结构

非谓语结构通常被认为是一种高级结构，适当运用非谓语结构，会给人一种熟练驾驭语言的印象。

- When he heard the news, they all jumped for joy.→ Hearing the news, they all jumped for joy.

听了这消息他们都高兴得跳了起来。

- As I didn’t know her address, I wasn’t able to get in touch with her.→ Not knowing her address, I wasn’t able to get in touch with her.

由于不知道她的地址，我没法和她联系。

5、结合使用长、短句

在英语写作中，过多地使用长句或过多地使用短句都不好。正确的做法是，根据实际情况在文章中交替使用长句与短语，使文章显得错落有致，这样不仅使文章在形式上增加美感，而且使文章读起来铿锵有力。

-At noon we had a picnic lunch in the sunshine. Then we had a short rest. Then we began to play happily. We sang and danced. Some told stories. Some played chess.→ At noon we had a picnic lunch in the sunshine. After a short rest, we had great fun singing and dancing, telling jokes and playing chess.

中午我们晒着太阳吃野餐。休息一会儿后，我们唱的唱歌，跳的跳舞，还有的讲笑话、下棋，大家玩得很开心。

6、使用短语代替单词

使用短语代替单词。

- He has decided to be a teacher when he grows up.→ He has made up his mind to be a teacher when he grows up.

他已决定长大了当老师。

- He doesnt like music.→ He doesnt care much for music.

他不大喜欢音乐。

- He told me that the question was now under discussion.→ He told me that the question was now being discussed.

他告诉我问题现正正在讨论中。

7、套用某些固定表达

套用某些固定表达

- He was very tired. He couldn’t walk any farther.→ He was too tired to walk any farther.

他太累了，不能再往前走了。

- The film was very interesting. Both the teachers and the students liked it.→ The film was so interesting that both the teachers and the students liked it.

这电影很有趣，学生和老师都很喜欢。

- Your son is old. He can look after himself now.→ Your son is old enough to look after himself now.你的儿子已经长大，可以自己照顾自己了。

8、使用地道英语

使用地道英语

- Dont worry. Be bold and try it, and youll learn it soon.→Dont worry. Just go for it, and youll get it soon.

别担心，大胆试一试，你很快就会学会的。

-Thank you for playing with us.→Thank you for sharing the time with us.

谢谢你陪我玩。

9、综合使用“高级”结构

综合使用“高级”结构

- We had to stand there to catch the offender.→ What we had to do was (to) stand there, trying to catch the offender.

我们所能做的只是站在那儿，设法抓住违章者。

- If her pronunciation is not better than her teacher’s, it is at least as good as her teacher’s.→ Her pronunciation is as good as, if not better than, her teacher’s.

如果她的语音不比她的老师好的话，至少也不会比她老师的差。

10、引用名言警句点缀

在写作时根据实际情况恰当地用上一两句名言警句来点缀文章，不仅使文章显得有深度、有智慧，而且会让文章在评分中上一个“得分档次”。

- As the proverb says, “Where there is a will, there is a way.” Though you fail this time, you needn’t lose heart. As long as you work hard and stick to your dream, you will succeed one day.- There is a proverb goes like this “Life isn’t a bed of roses.” It is ture that it is likely for everyone to meet problems and difficulties in life.- In the modern world, more and more people live alone, which is not so good for our life. It is better for us to make more friends and enjoy friendship. Just as a proverb says, “A near friend is better than a far-dwelling kinsman.”

引言：培养小学生的英语写作能力,应从培养良好的书写习惯、扎实的词汇句型开始。接下来小编给各位读者总结了一些小学英语写作必备句型，希望大家认真打好基础，不断提高写作水平。

一、~~~ the + ~ est + 名词 + (that) + 主词 + have ever + seen ( known/heard/had/read, etc)~~~ the most + 形容词 + 名词 + (that) + 主词 + have ever + seen ( known/heard/had/read, etc)

例句：Helen is the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen.

海伦是我所看过最美丽的女孩。

Mr. Chang is the kindest teacher that I have ever had.

张老师是我曾经遇到最仁慈的教师。

二、Nothing is + ~~~ er than to + V

Nothing is + more + 形容词 + than to + V

例句：Nothing is more important than to receive education.

没有比接受教育更重要的事。

三、~~~ cannot emphasize the importance of ~~~ too much.

(再怎么强调…的重要性也不为过小学英语写作必备句型小学英语写作必备句型。)

例句：We cannot emphasize the importance of protecting our eyes too much.

我们再怎么强调保护眼睛的重要性也不为过。

四、There is no denying that + S + V …(不可否认的…)

例句：There is no denying that the qualities of our living have gone from bad to worse.

不可否认的，我们的生活品质已经每况愈下。

五、It is universally acknowledged that + 句子~~ (全世界都知道…)

例句：It is universally acknowledged that trees are indispensable to us.

全世界都知道树木对我们是不可或缺的。

六、There is no doubt that + 句子~~ (毫无疑问的…)

例句：There is no doubt that our educational system leaves something to be desired.

毫无疑问的我们的教育制度令人不满意。

七、An advantage of ~~~ is that + 句子(…的优点是…)

例句：An advantage of using the solar energy is that it won’t create (produce) any pollution.

使用太阳能的优点是它不会制造任何污染。

八、The reason why + 句子 ~~~ is that + 句子(…的原因是…)

例句：The reason why we have to grow trees is that they can provide us with fresh air.

The reason why we have to grow trees is that they can supply fresh air for us.

我们必须种树的原因是它们能供应我们新鲜的空气。

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

英语作文怎么写？写不好作文是很多初中生存在的问题。而作文是初中英语考试的重要内容，怎么才能写一篇高分英语作文呢？下面是星火小编给大家总结的一些英语写作经验，大家可以看看。

要写好作文，首先要写好开头，怎么写开头呢？下面是一些不同的开头表达方式，大家可以参考看看。

“开门见山”式开头

即要用简单明了的语言引出文章的话题，使人一开始就能了解文章要说明的内容。

①.对于叙事类的文章，可以在开头把人物、时间、事件和环境交代清楚。

如“A Trip to Huangshan(黄山之旅)”的开头就可以是：Last month, my family went to Huangshan by train. It took us ten hours to get there. What a long and tiring journey! We were tired but the beautiful scenery excited us.

②.对于论述性的文章，可以在开头处先阐明自己的观点，接着展开进一步的论述。

如“The Time and the Money(时间和金钱)”的开头可以是：Most people say that money is more important than time. But I don’t think so. First, when money is used up, you can earn it back，but?

这样就将自己想要谈到的话题表达清楚了，接下来再继续论述就可以了。

回忆性开头

在描述事件或游记类的文章中，采用回忆性的开头往往更能吸引人的眼球。这种类型的开头中通常含有描述自己心情或情绪的词汇，如never forget (永远无法忘记), remember (记得)，unforgettable (难以忘怀的), exciting(令人激动的)，surprising(令人惊讶的), sad (难过的)……如“A Trip to Huangshan(黄山之旅)”的开头还可以这样写：I will never forget my first trip to Huangshan. 或It was really an unforgettable experience I had.

疑问性开头

在叙事类或论述性的文章中，都可采用疑问型开头，这样既可以吸引阅卷者的注意又容易抓住中心。

如“Planting Trees(种树)”的开头可以是：Have you ever planted trees? Don’t you think planting trees is ……

再如“Traveling Abroad(出国之旅)”的开头可以是：If you have an opportunity to travel abroad, why not consider Singapore?

倒叙式开头

在有的文章，特别是叙事类的文章中，可以采用倒叙的写作手法，先写出事件的结果，再陈述过程。

如“Catching Thieves (捉贼)”的开头可以这样写：I lay in bed in the hospital. I smiled at my friends even though my legs hurt. Do you want to know what happened to me? Let me tell you. It’s a … story.

倒叙式的写法有一些难写，并且在写作过程中很有可能出现时态混淆的问题，在此建议大家在写作过程中尽量不要倒叙式的方式，避免犯错。

开了一个好头之后，当然要开始写文章的主体部分了，那就是文章的正文。

文章的正文应以文章的开头为线索，具体地叙述、说明或论证文章的主题。文章不论长短，每个段落都必须为主题服务。像说明文和议论文这一类的文章，一个主题还常分成几个小主题，每个小主题要用一个段落处理，另起一段时，应是一层新的意思。每一段的开头，要放一个表示段落小主题的主题句，这样可使文章条理化，易于阅读，便于读者抓住主题。段内的所有句子应围绕主题句的意义加以阐述或论证，为中心思想服务。句子之间应衔结自然，有条不紊，而且还要合乎逻辑，段落中不能出现任何与主题无关的句子；英语写作比较重视主题句的作用，缺少它段落意义就会含糊不清。主题句也可放在段落的中间和末尾等部位，但对初学者来说，以放在段首为好。

在记叙文中，段的结构有时可以很简单，不需要有主题句，叙事一气呵成，中途没有停顿。段与段之所以分开，只是为了起修辞作用，以便把某一细节置于显著的地位。

分段是文章组织上重要的一步，在写一篇文章的时候，一般都会将文章分为3段，第一段也就是文章的开头，第二段是主体部分，第三段自然就是结尾了。当然也可以分成4段等，不管怎么分段，都请大家要记住，在写一篇作文的时候，一定不可以不分段。

接下来就是文章的结尾了，以下是一些写好结尾的方法

1.自然结尾，点明主题。随着文章的结束，文章自然而然地结尾。

如“Helping the Policeman(帮助警察)”的结尾可以是：The two children were praised by the police and they felt happy.

再如“The Tortoise and the Hare(龟兔赛跑)”的结尾可以是：When the hare got to the tree, the tortoise had already been there。

2.首尾呼应，升华主题。在文章的结尾可以用含义较深的话点明主题，深化主题，起到“画龙点睛”的效果。

如“I Love My Hometown(我爱家乡)”的结尾可以是：I love my hometown, and I am proud of it.

3.反问结尾，引起深思。这种方式的结尾虽然形式是问句，但意义却是肯定的，而且具有一定的强调作用，可引起他人的深思。

如 “Learning English can Give us a Lot of Pleasure (学英语能为我们带来许多乐趣)” 的结尾可以是：If we learn English well, we can …Don’t you think learning English is great fun?

4.表达祝愿，阐述愿望

这种方式的结尾常出现在书信或演讲稿的文体中，表示对他人的祝福或对将来的展望等。

如“A Letter to the Farmers(给农民们的一封信)”的结尾可以是：I hope the farmers’life will be better and better. 另外，书信的结尾常有以下形式的祝福语：Best wishes；I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year；I wish you have a good time等。

第四种方法在中考作文中并不会太常用到，中考作文一般都不会要求写关于书信方面的文章，大家可以只是稍加了解。

[初中英语作文写作方法技巧

记叙文写作，是把自己的亲身感受和经历，通过生动、形象的语言，描述给读者。

记叙文包括的范围很广，如记人记事,日记、游记、传说、新闻、通讯、小说等，都属于记叙文的范畴。

记叙文写的是生活中的见闻，要表达出作者对于生活的真切感受。

总的说，以记叙和描写为主要表达方式的文章叫记叙文。

但记叙文写作,伴随自然流漏的适当议论和抒情。

记叙文有广义与狭义之分。

广义的记叙文，包括记叙性的文学作品，如散文、小说，等。

狭义的记叙文是指以记人、叙事、写景、状物为主，对社会生活中的人、事、景、物的情态变化和发展进行叙述和描写的一类 文章，常见的如消息、通讯、特写、报告文学、游记、日记、参观记、回忆录，以及一部分书信等。 正因为记叙文写的是生活中的见闻，所以一定要表达出作者对于生活的真切感受。

记叙文的特点

记叙文的特点就是以记叙为主要表达方式，综合其他表达方式;以记人、叙事、写景、状物为主要内容;通过描述人物、时间及状物、写景来表达一定的中心。

记叙文是指记人、叙事、写景、状物等类的文章。古代的记、传、序、表、志等，现代的消息、通讯、简报、特写、传记、回忆录、游记等，都属于记叙文的范畴。

写作记叙文要做到一下几点：

第一，要交代明白。无论记人记事，还是写景状物，一般都要交代明白时间、地点、人物、事件、原因、结果，否则文章就不完整。

第二，线索清楚。虽然观察的角度、记述的方式可以不同，但每一篇文章都应当有一条绾联材料、统贯全篇的中心线索，否则文章就会松散。

第三，人称要一致。无论用第一人称“我”记述，还是用第三人称“他”记述，都要通篇一贯，一般不宜随意转换，否则就容易造成混乱。

第四，时间，地点，人物，起因，经过，结果。 记叙文以记叙为主，但往往也间有描写、抒情和议论，不可能有截然的划分。它是一种形式灵活、写法尽可能多样的文体。

记叙文,是以叙述为主要表达方式，以写人物的经历和事物发展变化为主要内容的一种文体。

一个好的题目，或交代文章内容，或体现行文思路，或蕴涵文章题旨，或表明文章特色，能给人清新脱俗耳目一新之感，它决定了读者(尤其是阅卷者)对文章的第一印象与第一判断。

郑板桥就说过：“题高则诗高，题矮则诗矮，不可不慎也。”对于自拟题目类作文而言，这张“脸面”的美或丑则更为重要.

一、拟题要求

1.准确鲜明。标题应紧扣材料与文章内容，一目了然，不能作摆设，更不能让人摸不着头脑。在给材料的作文中，文题须切合材料的内涵，或抓住材料的中心话题。一般说来，审题出现偏差往往在文题上有所反映。如果对材料把握不透，最好拟非论点式的题目，如“由……想到的”、“从……谈起”等。

2.简洁凝练。标题应短小精悍，醒目上口。如《泥泞•脚印》、《阳光总在风雨之后》、《不经风雨那见彩虹》等。

3.新颖生动。标题应不落俗套，能激起阅读兴趣。作文的题目与文章的立意、构思的角度密切相关、相辅相成。巧的立意、巧的构思才会拟出巧的题目，反之亦然。所谓“题好一半文”即是此意。如：《阳光总在风雨后》、《把脚印留在泥泞上》、《穿过泥泞走向成功》等。这样的标题把握住了题意，简洁醒目，信息含量多。

4.含蓄隽永。标题应含义丰富、耐人寻味富有启发性。例如：《走过人生的泥泞路》、《不见风雨，那见彩虹》、《艰难困苦，玉汝于成》等题目，予人想象，有内涵，耐人寻味。

5.紧扣文体。虽然同一标题可以写成不同的文体，但大多数标题还是能体现出一定的文体特征的，如明明是写记叙文，拟成议论文的题目，那么就文不对题。

6.有文采。标题应通俗易懂而不晦涩难解，简洁流畅而不繁冗呆滞，新颖出奇而不平庸俗套，读起来上口，听起来悦耳。也可引用或化永蕴含哲理性的古诗文、名句做文题。如《霜叶红于二月花》、《生命岂能无坎坷》、《快乐走我坎坷路》、《在那坎坷的路上》等。

二、拟题方法

1.借助修辞。将修辞方法运用到标题创写上。各类修辞格能帮我们创造性地运用语言拟出精彩漂亮的标题，从而增强文章的文采与感染力。如：

《走过泥泞见彩虹》(比喻)、《感激泥泞》、《与泥泞同行》(拟人)、《不经历风雨，怎么见彩虹》《艰难困苦，玉汝于成》《阳光总在风雨后》(引用)、《泥泞之路，我们走呀!》(呼告)、《逆境，生命的磨砺?》(设问)。其它如对偶、双关、反复、夸张、等修辞格，在实际操作中均可运用，囿于本文所引材料的局限性，在此不一一例举。

2.引用化用。是在材料或诗文、歌词、文章中采撷一句话，或依据写作需要，巧妙截取剪裁，重新组合，为我所用。这句话能够揭示文章的写作方向，概括文章的主旨，同样可以显现作者的文化积累和语文素养。如《泥泞的路才能留下脚印》、《泥路留痕》、《留下人生的脚印》、《霜叶红于二月花》、《梅花香自苦寒来》、《阳光总在风雨之后》，或撷取材料，或取自诗句，或引用歌词，暗寓哲理，紧扣中心，为全文的着眼点所在。

3.哲理代入。就是从所给材料中挖掘出一则道理、哲理，用充满哲理、思辩的词句或直接用一般哲学原理写出来。如：《走过泥泞》、《磨难铸就成功》、《逆境，创造人生》。

4.套语借用。议论文的标题有许多固定的用语，这些固定格式，不失为一种拟题方法，只是较为平庸些。如《……论》或《论……》、《也谈……》、《由……联想到的》、《小议……》、《“……”小议》、《“……”之我见》、《读……有感》、《从……说起》、《驳……》

5.诗意标题。如04年上海卷《忙兮忙兮奈若何》，写现代人对忙的态度，运用楚辞中的标志词语“兮”，增强了文章题目的文学色彩。06年福建卷《那人却在灯火阑珊处》中“灯火阑珊”取材于诗句，点明一种突然明白的境界。

6.设置意象。如《走过一路泥泞》。如04年浙江卷《听泉》，用“泉”象征人们内心那种对民族、对他人、对生命的关怀，来说明人文对我们每个人生存和发展的意义。04年江苏卷《画》中，“画”成为贯穿全文的一条线索，推动文章情节的发展。

7.反弹琵琶。对传统或普遍的言论观点进行反说，这样拟写标题，能使人耳目一新，眼前一亮。如04年广东卷话题是“语言与沟通”，本是阐述语言的作用，但有考生以《此时有声胜无声》为题，对中国传统的“沉默是金”作反驳。作者巧妙地对白居易《琵琶行》中诗句“此时无声胜有声”进行反用，既彰显了文化底蕴，又显示了作者的机智。

三、拟题要特别注意的几点：

1.一定要紧扣材料或话题。此次有标题如《患难见真情》、《小事蕴藏大智慧》、《谁的脚印留下了》、《蝶恋花语》、《勇敢者的脚印》、《努力了，无悔了》、《浪淘沙》、《泥泞路上的佛法》、《留下脚印，在来时的路上》，就未能达到这一要求。

2.标题范围尽量要小，不要太大太泛，大而无当。万一标题太大，可以采用副标题的方式加以限制。如《脚印》，就显得太大，立意方向都不明确。

3.标题不能过长，标题过长则显得松散。《人生因为一路的坎坷才变得美丽》、《在泥泞不堪的路上走出精彩的人生》，虽意蕴不错，但确实有点松散。

4.话题作文不用话题作标题。