英语请假条写作【汇编20篇】

1、紧扣主题，短文必须包括提纲中的全部要点;与主题无关或关系不大的字句必须一律删去。

2、文章通顺，前后贯通，语言流畅。

3、句子开头多样化，句型多样化。

4、无句型结构错误，无语法错误和用语造句等方面的错误。

5、短文字数不得少于150个字。

对考研英语短文的策略：

1.分配好短文各部分篇幅比例

根据在40分钟内写150词的《大纲》要求，合理分配各部分篇幅比例显得非常重要。篇幅比例安排大致如下：

(1)开头：可控制在4句话之内，以2——3句较为适宜。该部分约占全文篇幅的10%——15%。

(2)主体：约占全篇短文的70%——80%。

(3)结尾：这部分应控制在2——3句话之内，约占全文篇幅10——15%。

2.合理分配时间

应该切记短文写作时间仅为40分钟，在这较短的时间内考生需完成120——150词的短文。这就要求考生做到有条不紊、忙而不乱，充分发挥自己应有的水平。从而稳操胜券，驾轻就熟，从容应对。建议考生在动笔之前，用5分钟的时间写个提纲理清思路，然后再动笔。此外，要留出5——6分钟来修改抄写。以避免不必要的笔误，给评卷老师留下良好的印象。

3.审题——紧扣主题的关键

所谓审题，就是正确理解题意，所写短文要紧扣题目要求。从每年的英文短文考题可看出，除了题目外，还有开头第一句话和一个写作提纲。这个写作提纲就是短文的写作具体范围。考生必须以指定的句子开头，按写作提纲规定的要点和顺序(通常是3个要点)往下写。

通常3个要点就是写三段话，每段开头(除第一段已给了外)第一句话必须把该段写作提纲中的主要的词或主要意思包括进去，这就是段落中心句。每段其他句子必须紧扣该段的段落中心句，与段落中心句无关的句子或关系不大的句子必须坚决删去。由于写作提纲中所给的3个要点(即关键词)已包括在每段开头的段落中心句(即每段开头的第一句)中，而每段的其他句子又紧扣段落中心句，这就使每段的内容紧扣主题，而不至离开主题去谈别的问题，这就是抓住主题的关键。

英语字母教学作为英语学习的基础，是小学英语教学中重要一环，这一阶段的教学，教师应给予足够的重视，通过各种教学组织形式使这一阶段的学习得以很好的落实。学好26个字母对以后单词的学习起着至关重要的作用。因此，在学习字母阶段，我们要利用一切可利用的资源，创设情境，让学生和字母交朋友、做游戏。

一、字母读音教学

1. 注重示范发音的正确性

字母发音直接影响着学生单词的发音，而且学生错误的发音一旦形成就很难再纠正。因此教师在教学字母之前一定要多听录音，纠正好自己的发音。在课堂教学中教师要让学生听磁带跟读，观察他们的口形，并鼓励模仿得好的学生示范领读，帮助其他同学纠正发音。

2. 把握学生的发音难点

受各地方方言的影响，学生对字母的发音往往会出错。比如：南方人容易把A读成/e/。因此，教师要把握好学生方言发音难点，预先采取各种教学方法防止错误发音的出现。

3. 强化个别字母教学

尽管许多学生对字母有了一定程度的掌握，但大多数学生都没有进行过系统的字母学习，中间难免存在着许多似是而非的现象。例如学生对GgJj两个字母的读音容易混淆，对Uu和Ii这两个字母的发音不到位。教师在教学中应针对这种情况加强这几个字母的训练。

4. 注重读音归类教学

把字母按读音进行分类是字母读音教学的一个重要任务，也是学生觉得有一定难度的一项内容。为了使学生能更好得掌握，教师可采用分家游戏的方法，按家族将26个字母进行分类记忆。首先将字母划分为七个家族，再对号入座，最终编成一首音素家族chant 帮助学生记忆：

A、H、J、K 是A 家族，A，A是族长。

E的家族有八位，BCDE，GPTV，E，E是族长。

/e/ 的家族没有族长，它的成员有七位，FLMN，SX 和Z。

U 的家族有三位，UQW，U，U是族长。

I 的家族有两位，IY，I，I是族长。(手势指着自己)

R 和O单独住，它们自己是族长。

5. 注重语音暗线的铺垫

在三年级下册学生用书中，字母读音和字母例词的安排是一条语音暗线，教师教学时要努力让学生掌握字母的正确读音，并初步感知字母在例词中的读音，为以后学习语音奠定基础。比如讲到字母Ee时，例词是egg，elepghant，教师可突出字母E的发音。英语有48个国际音标，如果学生能在学习 26个字母的同时掌握与此相关的26个音素，将会为以后的语音学习打好基础。

二、字母书写教学

字母的书写过程要一步步进行：先观察性状，再观察笔顺、占格情况，然后书空，使用活动手册进行描红，最后达到仿写。

1. 字母认读的教学

字母的书写首先要求学生能正确区分一些形近的字母。有些字母可以通过猜谜的方法让学生记住它们的形状特点。例如：弯弯的月牙(C)、一条小蛇 (S)、三叉路口(T)、1加3(B)、一座宝塔(A)、胜利的象征(V)、大号鱼钩(J)、一张弓(D)、一扇小门(n)、一棵小苗(r)、一把椅子 (h)。这些谜语既能让学生记住字母的形，又能激发学生的学习兴趣。同时，还可以让学生自编谜语学习字母，充分发挥学生的想象能力。另外，还可以将字母的一部份遮住，让学生根据漏出来部分来猜字母。

2. 字母书写的教学

字母的书写是小学生的一个薄弱环节。小学的英语书写一定要求学生做到严格遵照书写规范，教师绝对不能马虎。因为英语字母有印刷体和书写体之分，所以容易使学生在书写时发生混淆，教师在教学时应多在这方面进行强调。

(1)笔顺教学

教师要充分利用多媒体设施让学生仔细观察字母的笔画和笔顺。正确的笔顺在活动手册的描红练习中有正确的示范。但有时学生会受到汉语拼音笔顺的影响，错误书写字母，因此教师要对容易出错的笔顺进行比较细致的指导。如i和j都是后加点，t先写钩，H先两竖等。建议教师不妨采用汉语拼音的教法，使用一些形象的比喻，帮助学生理解记忆书写规则，防止笔画出错。比如：H是一双筷子拴根线，j是海豹顶皮球，i是小海狮头上顶个球，t是伞把带开关等。

(2)格式教学

字母的占格同样是字母书写教学中的一个教学难点，尤其是当字母的大小写混在一起的时候，学生很容易混淆。这样，教师要先清楚示范，提醒学生注意并总结字母占格的规律。同时，教师还可以借助儿歌帮助学生掌握字母的占格规律。如：英语书写，四线三格，大写字母一二格，上不顶线是原则;小写字母认准格，上面有 ‘辫’一二格，下面有‘尾’二三格，无‘辫’无‘尾’中间格;i，t中上一格半。在学生掌握了字母的占格规律后，还要通过活动手册上的描红来加强练习。这里要注意的是，到一定阶段的时候，教师要让学生能在没有四线格的一条线上，甚至是没有任何线的白纸上也能正确地表示出字母的书写格式。

三、操练

字母操练我们还可以采用游戏的形式。

1. What’s missing?游戏

学了几个字母以后，把字母卡片放在一起让学生认读，然后抽去其中的一张，让学生寻找：What’s missing?此时，学生注意力高度集中，急于表现自己，识记的效果就会很好。

2. 左邻右舍游戏

学生准备好已经学过的字母卡片，教师出示一个字母，让学生找出它的左邻右舍，请找到的几个学生快速把字母拿到讲台上站在相应的位置上，其余的学生一起认读这几个字母。

3. Make letters游戏

让学生用肢体动作表示不同的字母，或让学生用火柴棒拼出不同字母的形状。

英语作文虽然不像语文作文在考试

高三英语作文写作技巧：练习

“没有规矩，不成方圆，英语作文写作技巧。”对于一般英语学习者而言，写出优秀的文章有赖于后天习得，但并不意味着机械背诵、生吞活剥，或者照搬照抄、人云亦云。所谓研习，需要有独立思考和个人的判断，本着“他山之石，可以攻玉”的精神，汲取文章的精华部分加以研究。研习主要侧重两个方面，包括文章章法和语言表达。文章章法指文章的行文思路、布局谋篇、结构安排、逻辑顺序。许多学习者面对一个话题，可能存在两种不同的困惑，一是下笔千言，但离题万里;二是思绪万千，却无从落笔。导致两种困惑的根源皆在于欠缺思考问题、组织思路的恰当方式，以至于文章不得要领、章法紊乱。这就要求我们从全篇脉络角度多研习范文，之后领悟如何以演绎法行文、怎样用归纳法谋篇以及如何围绕特定话题拓展思路等等。此外，研习还要侧重于语言表达，包括遣词造句和句子、段落之间的各种衔接手段，以期在自己日后的写作中派上用场，因为英文写作皆通一理。只有善于借鉴，勤加研究，才会借他人的优势和长处，提高自己的写作水平。

高三英语作文写作技巧：背诵

背诵是提高写作的又一有效途径。要学好写作文，首先要处理好语言输入与输出之间的关系。前者是后者的前提条件。如果头脑空空如也，就根本谈不上写出像模像样的文章。只有读过大量东西，并且有意识地将其中精彩部分储存于记忆之中（commit the highlights to memory），才能保证下笔流畅、文通字顺。因此，背诵对于写作极为重要。但背诵不是机械记忆，而是有选择性的背诵，是有意义的记忆。因为机械背诵的结果要么是记忆很快就荡然无存、了无痕迹，要么是无法活学活用、付诸实践。背诵包括五个方面：重点词汇、常用套语、精彩句子、优秀段落、经典篇章。

高三英语作文写作技巧：重点词汇

美妙的用词及搭配皆在此列，像fall victim（受害），stand a fair chance（大有希望）这种地道的动宾搭配要勤加记忆。为了积累写作词汇，应将文中同属一个话题的用词汇总归纳，组成主题词族（topic family）。归类记忆可以使自己日后即写即用，得心应手。下文是一篇阐释爱心的优秀文章，多处用词精巧，现将文中关于爱心这一主题的词汇总结如下：

emotional strength 情感的力量

the noblest of human emotions人类最高尚的情感

no thought of gain不计得失

the lamp of love爱心之灯

help the victims of natural disasters支援自然灾害受害者

donate whatever they can倾囊相助

help their needy fellow citizens 帮助有需要的同胞

be ready to give a helping hand 随时准备伸出援手

—When we use the word "love"， we do not simply mean an attraction to a person of the opposite sex， which is a very narrow definition of the word。 Love is emotional strength， which can support us no matter how dark the world around us becomes。 In fact， throughout history people of many different cultures have regarded love as the noblest of human emotions。

As an example of the power of love， we should remember how the Chinese people of all nationalities respond to the call to help the victims of natural disasters every year。 Although their incomes are still low by international standards， people all over the country do not hesitate to donate whatever they can — be it money or goods — to help their needy fellow citizens。 Moreover， they do this with no thought of gain for themselves。

In my opinion， the best way to show love is to help people who are more unfortunate than we are。 We should always be ready to give a helping hand to those who are in trouble， no matter whether they are family members or complete strangers。 In this way， we can help to make the world a better place， for the darker the shadows of sorrow become， the more brightly the lamp of love shines。

当我们用“爱”这个词时，我们不仅仅指异性对一个人的吸引，这只是对这个词非常狭隘的解释，小学生作文《英语作文写作技巧》。爱心是一种情感的力量，不论我们周围的世界多么黑暗，爱心都能支撑我们。事实上，纵观历史，不同文化背景的人都把爱看成是人类最高尚的情感。

说到爱心的力量，我们马上就会想起每年中国各族人民是如何响应号召支援自然灾害受害者的。尽管按照国际标准他们的收入还处于低水平，全国人民毫不犹豫地倾囊相助——不管是钱还是物——帮助那些有需要的同胞。而且，他们这么做并不考虑自己的得失。

我认为，表达爱心的最好方式是帮助比我们更加不幸的人。我们应该随时准备向有困难的人伸出援助之手，无论他们是家庭成员还是素昧平生。这样，我们就能够助一臂之力把世界变成一个更美好的地方，因为，悲伤的阴影越黑暗，爱心之灯的光芒就越闪亮。

[高三英语作文写作技巧

H1N1 influenza, since the claws reached into the earth and stuck it into our world caused great sensation. From Moscow, the United States, Japan, ... ... to China, have spared, showing the speed of its spread. While we use some of the medical technology we have can be prevented, you can cure, but it is still scary. The most laughable thing is that some people thus do not eat pork. However, these are not the focus of my concern, I am concerned, I am sad is:

When we state the first to be infected were found, one who returned from abroad Sichuanese, I heard mostly blame everyone, it makes me sad exception. Had returned from abroad is a good thing, is between the happy event. But because even not aware of being infected was a complete mess of things hands and become pieces of sad things. At first, I think we should sorry for him, should go to help him. However, many people said: "In the U.S., do not come back Well!" "We also are engaged in a state of panic." ... ...

So I write this, would like to call everyone together for their fuel.

Unfortunately, they are infected, and now has been isolated, they can not see their loved ones, they have lost freedom, they are very painful, very unwilling. So let us give them the courage to give them strength! Let us wish them a speedy recovery!

H1N1流感，自从这个魔爪伸进地球，伸进我们的世界就引起了极大的轰动。从莫斯科，美国，学习英语的网站，日本……到我们中国，无一幸免，可见其传播速度之快。虽然我们利用我们己有的医学技术，可以预防，可以根治，但是却还是令人恐慌。最可笑的是，有人因此而不吃猪肉。然而，这些都不是我关注的焦点，令我关注的，令我伤心的是：

当我们国家的第一个被传染者被发现时，就是那个从国外回来的四川人，我听到的大部分都是大家的苛责，这令我异常难过。原本从国外回来，是件好事，是间喜事。却因为连自己也不知道被传染的事搅的得一塌糊涂，成了件悲事。原本我想我们应该为他难过，应该去帮助他。然而，很多人却说：“在国外就不要回来嘛!”“还搞的我们人心惶惶的。”……

所以我写这篇，学英语的好网站，想呼吁大家，一起为他们加油。

他们不幸感染上了，现在被隔离，他们不能见到自己的亲人，好的英语学习网站，他们失去了自由，他们也很痛苦，很不甘。所以让我们给他们勇气，给他们力量!让我们一起祝愿他们早日康复!

健康：中药能够战胜甲流吗？

英语写作：Freedom in my Dream

导语：在英语作文中，运用一些成语或者俗语能够给作文加分哦，下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的优秀英语素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

1. 瞒天过海crossing the sea under camouflage

2. 围魏救赵relieving the state of Zhao by besieging the state of Wei

3. 借刀杀人killing someone with a borrowed knife

4. 以逸待劳waiting at one’s ease for the exhausted enemy

5. 趁火打劫plundering a burning house

6. 声东击西making a feint to the east and attacking in the west

7. 无中生有creating something out of nothing

8. 暗渡陈仓advancing secretly by an unknown path

9. 隔岸观火watching a fire from the other side of the river

10.笑里藏刀covering the dagger with a smile

11.李代桃僵palming off substitute for the real thing

12.顺手牵羊picking up something in passing

13.打草惊蛇beating the grass to frighten the snake

14.借尸还魂resurrecting a dead soul by borrowing a corpse

15.调虎离山luring the tiger out of his den

16.欲擒故纵letting the enemy off in order to catch him

17.抛砖引玉giving the enemy something to induce him to lose more valuable things

18.擒贼擒王capturing the ringleader first in order to capture all the followers

19.釜底抽薪extracting the firewood from under the cauldron

20.混水摸鱼muddling the water to catch the fish; fishing in troubled waters

21.金蝉脱壳slipping away by casting off a cloak; getting away like the cicada sloughing its skin

22.关门捉贼catching the thief by closing / blocking his escape route

23.远交近攻befriending the distant enemy while attacking a nearby enemy

24.假途伐虢attacking the enemy by passing through a common neighbor

25.偷梁换柱stealing the beams and pillars and replacing them with rotten timbers

26.指桑骂槐reviling/ abusing the locust tree while pointing to the mulberry

27.假痴不癫feigning madness without becoming insane

28.上屋抽梯removing the ladder after the enemy has climbed up the roof

29.树上开花putting artificial flowers on trees

30.反客为主turning from the guest into the host

31.美人计using seductive women to corrupt the enemy

32.空城计presenting a bold front to conceal unpreparedness

33.反间计sowing discord among the enemy

34.苦肉计deceiving the enemy by torturing one’s own man

35.连环计coordinating one stratagem with another

36.走为上decamping being the best; running away as the best choice

对于考研英语的应用文写作来说，考生平时复习时不仅要注意应用文写作特点、格式要求，还要有意识的掌握各类应用文的写作方法。考研辅导专家建议广大考生不要简单认为应用文的复习就是复习相应的格式，格式只是应用文写作的最起码要求，除了应用文特定的格式外，还要背诵一些经典的套话，在平时的写作训练中培养迅速构思成篇的能力，注意词句的多样性和准确性训练。下面，我们就针对应用文写作中的私人和公务信函、备忘录、摘要、报告几种形式介绍一下写作技巧。

一、私人和公务信函

信函是很重要的一种应用文。私人和公务信函是用以交涉事宜、传达信息、交流思想、联络感情、增进了解的重要工具，与同学们的生活、学习比较密切，也是以后工作中用的最多的一种沟通方式。所谓私人信函就是给家人、朋友或者同学等写信，谈事情的同时又交流感情，是四级考试(专业课历年考研试卷)中常见的一种信函，研究生英语考试(专业课历年考研试卷)中常考的是公共信函。所谓公务信函就是给亲朋好友之外的人写信，主要是为了办事，比方说给老板或是客户写信都属于公共信函。

信函一般都是由写信时间、信内地址、称呼、信的主要内容和信尾几个主要部分组成。收信人地址要写在左上角，寄信人地址要写在右上角，寄信人地址也可以不写，姓名写在地址上面，地址排列顺序依次为门牌号、街区名、城市和国名。在信的开头人名前一定要加Mr.,Mrs.,Dear等比较尊敬的称呼，信的结尾注意使用常用的客套话如：sincerelyyours,faithfullyyours或者yourssincerely,yoursfaithfully。英文书信写作要遵循五个原则，即正确、清晰、简洁、礼貌和体贴。

正确是指信中所谈的事情要准确、具体，不用含糊抽象的词如：本月、明天等。清晰要求的是主题要明确，层次要清楚，让读者看后了然于心。简洁是现代英语发展的一大趋势。书信写作要做到行文简洁流畅，避免迂回冗长的长句，使书信尽可能写得明白清晰。书信交往，同样需要以礼待人，因而在写信过程中，要避免伤害对方感情，措辞上多多使用would,could,may,please等词，要自然得体，彬彬有礼。体谅对方也是写书信时要注意的一个原则，不能以自己为中心，要尊重对方的习俗爱好，即便是拒绝，也要委婉而不失去友谊。书信的写作也要注意格式，避免语法、拼写、标点错误，信中所引用的史料、数据等也应准确无误。

二、备忘录

备忘录是一种录以备忘的公文，主要用来提醒、督促对方，或就某个问题提出自己的意见或看法。包括书端、收文人的姓名、头衔、地址，称呼，事因，正文，结束语，和署名，备忘录上一定要说明什么时间，谁写的？写给谁？什么事？并且正文、结束语和署名等项与一般信件的格式相同。

三、摘要

接着谈谈摘要。摘要分成两种，一种是文章摘要，一种是论文摘要。

文章摘要就是给一篇文章让写一个摘要，文章摘要是对文章主要内容的简练概括，内容上要涵盖全文，语言上要尽量简练。写摘要前一定要仔细阅读全文，弄懂文章大意；摘要涵盖原文的主要观点并与原文的观点保持一致；摘要应该简明扼要，字数在规定的字数范围内；摘要最好不要照搬原文，应该用自己的话概括原文的主要观点；并且注意千万不要照抄，也千万不要评论，只需要写出中心思想或者段落大意即可。

第二种摘要是论文摘要。比方说是大家写一篇学术论文，硕士博士论文需要写一个英文的摘要。相对来讲我们认为考论文摘要的可能性稍微大一点。写这种摘要时要注意时态和语态。叙述研究过程，多采用一般过去时；说明某课题现已取得的成果，宜采用现在完成时。摘要中多数情况下可采用被动语态。但在某些情况下，特别是表达作者或有关专家的观点时，又常用主动语态。英文摘要有一些常用句型，比如表示研究目的，可以用Inorderto……Thispaperdescribes……Thepurposeofthisstudyis……，表示表示结论、观点或建议可以用Theauthors[suggest/conclude/consider]that……。

四、报告

最后一种是报告。报告其实也分为两种，第一种是读书报告。比如读一本书或者看一本小说写一个读书报告。读书报告中首先要交代背景知识，比如作者生平，时代简介等，接下来对书的内容做一个简单的概括，与摘要不同的是读书报告最后一段可以发表评论。与摘要相同，读书报告也要注意时态，比如像科普类的知识应该用现在式。另一种报告就是书面报告，书面报告考试(专业课历年考研试卷)的可行性和可能性更大一些。书面报告与备忘录的写法很类似，所不同的就是书面报告一般是下级写给上级，它也需要交代清楚四件事：什么时间？谁写的？写给谁？什么事？

当然，应用文写作能力的提高必须经过长期的实践锻炼。在复习阶段，首先要熟悉不同类型的应用文写作格式，注意事项，写作特点等。其次要背诵大量的优秀范文，要整段整段的背，不仅是背会而且要脱口而出，并且转换成自己的语言，写作时可以随心所欲支配。再次，是要多动手写作，要写出属于自己的文章，多动手写作才能快速写出好文章来。写好的文章要注意检查，看有无语法错误，有无用词不当，能否用其他的句式表达相同的意思，可以让同学帮忙检查，让同学提一些宝贵的意见和建议。总的来说，虽然大家对应用文的写作还比较陌生，但是只要认真对待，只要花时间背范文了，花时间写文章了，就一定能取得理想成绩。

人类因梦想而伟大，人生因拼搏而精彩。梦想引领人生，拼搏创造传奇!下面是语文迷小编整理的关于梦想的英语名言，希望对你有帮助。

the important thing in life is to have a great aim, and the determination to attain it. (johan wolfgang von goethe, german poet and dramatist)

人生重要的事情就是确定一个伟大的目标,并决心实现它。(德国诗人、戏剧家 歌德. j. m.)

the man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds. (mark twain, american writer)

具有新想法的人在其想法实现之前是个怪人。 (美国作家 马克·吐温)

the only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. (franklin roosevelt, american president)

实现明天理想的唯一障碍是今天的疑虑。(美国总统 罗斯福. f.)

when an end is lawful and obligatory, the indispensable means to is are also lawful and obligatory. (abraham lincoln, american statesman)

如果一个目的是正当而必须做的,则达到这个目的的必要手段也是正当而必须采取的。(美国政治家 林肯. a.)

ideal is the beacon. without ideal, there is no secure direction; without direction, there is no life.( leo tolstoy, russian writer)

理想是指路明灯。没有理想,就没有坚定的方向;没有方向,就没有生活。(俄国作家 托尔斯泰. l.)

if winter comes, can spring be far behind ?( p. b. shelley, british poet )

冬天来了,春天还会远吗?( 英国诗人, 雪莱. p. b.)

if you doubt yourself, then indeed you stand on shaky ground. (ibsen, norwegian dramatist )

如果你怀疑自己,那么你的立足点确实不稳固了。 (挪威剧作家 易卜生)

if you would go up high, then use your own legs ! do not let yourselves carried aloft; do not seat yourselves on other peoples backs and heads. (f. w. nietzsche, german philosopher)

如果你想走到高处,就要使用自己的两条腿!不要让别人把你抬到高处;不要坐在别人的背上和头上。(德国哲学家 尼采. f. w.)

it is at our mothers knee that we acquire our noblest and truest and highest, but there is seldom any money in them. ( mark twain, american writer )

就是在我们母亲的膝上,我们获得了我们的最高尚、最真诚和最远大的理想,但是里面很少有任何金钱。(美国作家 马克·吐温)

living without an aim is like sailing without a compass. (alexander dumas, davy de la pailleterie, french writer)

生活没有目标就像航海没有指南针。 (法国作家 大仲马. a.)

the ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully 19 have been kindness, beauty and truth.(albert einstein, american scientist)

有些理想曾为我们引过道路,并不断给我新的勇气以欣然面对人生,那些理想就是--真、善、美。 (美国科学家 爱因斯坦. a.)

the dream is not a dream, the difference between the two usually have a very worth pondering the distance.梦想绝不是梦，两者之间的差别通常都有一段非常值得人们深思的距离。

“two gates there are for dreams," said penelope to odysseus after his ten years’ wandering had ended. "one made for horn and one of for ivory. the dreams that pass through the carved ivory delude and bring us tales that turn to naught;those that can come through polished horn accomplish real things whenever seen."“梦想有两扇门，”在奥德修斯结束了十年的漂泊后，潘尼洛对他说，“一扇是号角制成，一扇是象牙制成。通过精雕细缕的象牙门得梦想不过是一场会归于无的海市蜃楼的童话;而那些通过磨砺的号角门的梦想才会成为真实，为人所见。”

who has the material to survive, people have a dream only talk about life. you have to understand life and life different animal survival, while others life.人有了物质才能生存，人有了梦想才谈得上生活。你要了解生存与生活的不同吗?动物生存，而人则生活。

the dream was always running ahead of me. to catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle.梦想总是跑在我前面，追寻它们，乃至仅有一瞬间的与梦想合而为一，也都是动人的生命奇迹。

a person rich money is not certain, but if the man is not a dream, the poor people.一个人有钱没钱不一定，但如果这个人没有了梦想，这个人穷定了。

if winter comes, can spring be far behind ?( p. b. shelley, british poet )冬天来了，春天还会远吗?( 英国诗人, 雪莱. p. b.)

dont part with your illusions. when they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live. (mark twain, american writer)不要放弃你的幻想。当幻想没有了以后，你还可以生存，但是你虽生犹死。((美国作家 马克·吐温)

to accomplish great things, in addition to dream, must act.要想成就伟业，除了梦想，必须行动。

when you truly want something, all the universe conspires to help you finish it.当你真心渴望一件东西的时候，整个宇宙都会联合起来帮你完成它。

everything is now for the future of dream weaving wings, soar to great heights to dream in reality.现在的一切都是为将来的梦想编织翅膀，让梦想在现实中展翅高飞。

11、human nature is the most pathetic: we always dream of the horizon of a wonderful rose garden, not to enjoy today in our window open rose.人性最可怜的就是：我们总是梦想着天边的一座奇妙的玫瑰园，而不去欣赏今天就开在我们窗口的玫瑰。

faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. it is not enough that a thing be possible for it to be believed.当还缺乏产生信仰的足够理由时，要用信念去包涵。模棱两可不足以支持一个信仰。(伏尔泰)

the dream is the other shore, the reality is that on this side, action is the bridge connecting.梦想是彼岸，现实是此岸，行动是那座连接的桥。

a heart will not be hurt for pursuing a dream, when you truly want something, all the universe conspires to help you complete the.没有一颗心会因为追求梦想而受伤，当你真心想要某样东西时，整个宇宙都会联合起来帮你完成。

dreams don’t abandon a painstaking pursuit of the people, as long as you never stop pursuing, you will bathe in the brilliance of the dream.梦想不抛弃苦心追求的人，只要不停止追求，你们会沐浴在梦想的光辉之中。

一、代入法

这是进行英语写作时最常用的方法。同学们在掌握一定的词汇和短语之后，结合一定的语法知识，按照句子的结构特点，直接用英语代人相应的句式即可。如：

1. 他从不承认自己的失败。

He never admits his failure.

2. 那项比赛吸引了大批观众。

The match attracted a large crowd.

3. 他把蛋糕分成4块。

He divided the cake into four pieces.

二、还原法

即把疑问句、强调句、倒装句等还原成基本结构。这是避免写错句子的一种有效的办法。如：

1. 这是开往格拉斯哥的火车吗?

Is this the train for Glasgow?

还原为陈述句：This is the train for Glasgow.

2. 他是因为爱我的钱才同我结了婚。

It was because he loved my money that he married me.

还原为非强调句：Because he loved my money, he married me.

3. 光速很快，我们几乎没法想像它的速度。

So fast does light travel that we can hardly imagine its speed.

还原为正常语序：Light travels so fast that we can hardly imagine its speed.

三、分解法

把一个句子分成两个或两个以上的句子。这样既能把意思表达得更明了，又能减少写错句子的几率。如：

1. 我们要干就要干好。

If we do a thing, we should do it well.

2. 从各地来的学生中有许多是北方人。

There are students here from all over the country. Many of them are from the North.

四、合并法

就是把两个或两个以上的简单句用一个复合句或较复杂的简单句表达出来。这种方法最能体现学生的英语表达能力，同时也最能提高文章的可读性。如：

1. 我们迷路了，这使我们的旅行变成了一次冒险。

Our trip turned into an adventure when we got lost.

2. 天气转晴了，这是我们没有想到的。

The weather turned out to be very good, which was more than we could expect.

3. 狼是高度群体化的动物，它们的成功依赖于合作。

Wolves are highly social animals whose success depends upon their cooperation.

五、删减法

就是在写英语句子时，把相应汉语句子里的某些词、短语或重复的成分删掉或省略。如：

1. 这部打字机真是价廉物美。

This typewriter is very cheap and fine indeed.

注：汉语表达中的“价”和“物”在英语中均无需译出。

2. 个子不高不是人生中的严重缺陷。

Not being tall is not a serious disadvantage in life.

注：汉语说“个子不高”，其实就是“不高”。也就是说，其中的“个子”在英语中无需译出。

六、移位法

由于英语和汉语在表达习惯上存在差异，根据表达的需要，某些成分需要前置或后移。如：

1. 他发现赚点外快很容易。

He found it easy to earn extra money.

注：it在此为形式宾语，真正的宾语是句末的不定式to earn extra money。

2. 告诉我这事的人不肯告诉我他的名字。

The man who told me this refused to tell me his name.

注：who told me this为修饰the man的定语从句，应置于其后。

3. 直到我遇到你以后，我才真正体会到幸福。

It was not until I met you that I knew real happiness.

注：not...until...为英语中的固定句式，其意为“直到……才……”。

七、分析法

指根据要表示的汉语意思，通过进行语法分析和句式判断，然后写出准确地道的英语句子。如：

1. 从这个角度看，问题并不像人们一般料想的那样严重。

Seen in this light, the matter is not as serious as people generally suppose.

注：分词短语作状语时，其逻辑主语应与句子主语一致，由于the matter与see之间为被动关系，故see要用过去分词seen。

2. 我没有见过他，所以说不出他的模样。

Not having met him, I cannot tell you what he is like.

注：如果分词的动作发生在谓语动作之前，且与逻辑主语是主动关系，则用现在分词的完成式。

八、意译法

有的同学在写句子时，一遇见生词或不熟悉的表达，就以为是“山穷水尽”了。其实，此时我们可以设法绕开难点，在保持原意的基础上，用不同的表达方式写出来。如：

1. 汤姆一直在扰乱别的孩子，我就把他撵了出去。

Tom was upsetting the other children, so I showed him the door.

2. 有志者事竟成。

Where there is a will, there is a way.

3. 你可以同我们一起去或是呆在家中，悉听尊便。

You can go with us or stay at home, whichever you choose.

what should we thank?

the thankful great universe provides the environment of existence for us and give us sunlight, air, water and everything in keeping with we existence of space, bring storm to let us accept to toughen for us, bring to us mysterious let us look for.

the thankful parents give us the life, make us feel the merriment of the human life, feel the genuine feeling of the human life, feel the comity of the human life, feel happiness of the human life, also feel hardships and pain and sufferings of the human life!

the thankful teacher works with diligence and without fatigue everyday of teach, give us knowledge ability, put on the wing which flies toward the ideal for us.

the thankful classmate and friend grows up road of, let i no longer standing alone in the itinerary of life; the with gratitude is frustrated and let us become in a time the failure stronger.

[感恩节英语作文写作

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

一.开头句型

1.Recently the phenomenon has become a heated topic.

2.Recently the problem has been brought into focus.

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

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

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

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

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

8.It is well-known that…

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

10.According to a recent survey, ...

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

二.结尾句型

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

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

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

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

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

7.All things considered, ...

8.It may be safely said that...

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

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

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

三.表原因句型

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

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

2. The answer to this problem involves many factors.

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Perhaps the primary factor is that ...

10. But the fundamental cause is that ...

四.表比较句型

1.The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

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

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

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

6.Like anything else, it has its faults.

7.A and B has several points in common.

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

9. A and B differ in several ways.

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

五.表证明句型

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

2. The idea is hardly supported by facts.

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

4. Recent studies indicate that ...

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

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

六.表结果句型

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

2. The immediate result it produces is ...

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

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

七.表反驳句型

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

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

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

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

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

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

英语是一种语言，从语言学角度来看，学生在掌握一定数量的词汇与语法知识后，就要用来表达自己的思想、见解，这些落实到纸面上就是书面表达。针对初中生的实际能力，书面表达为初中英语教学的一大难题，其常见形式多为看图作文。结合自己教学与写作的经验，对看图作文谈几点体会。

看图作文的写作从整体上可分为两个过程：一，感性认识过程，即通过画面直接获得信息的过程(究竟画面展示了一个什么情景);二，理性认识过程，即针对画面让学生发挥想象力，挖掘画面间的内在联系融入自己的思想与见解(画面的内涵是什么)。在实际教学过程中我将这两个过程具体渗透到五个环节(一“抓”，二“列”，三“变”，四“连”，五“检”)中去。

一“抓”为抓主题。首先，根据图片内容确定好题材与体裁 — 是写人还是写景，是说理还是叙事，是书信还是日记或其他应用文体。这一环节可采用 a, 求同法，即寻找画面中相同的人物、地点或时间等，来帮助学生确定主线，不致于跑题; b ，求异法，即启发学生观察几幅图的不同之处，挖掘出它们之间的内在联系从而确定体裁。

二“列”为列要点。由于书面表达是以一定的情景为基础，考查具有一定的针对性，因此要点要全面，无遗漏。要点主要是结合图片中的情景用自己熟悉的结构与词汇列出，忌用生疏的结构与词汇按汉语思维盲目罗列，原则“不求难，不求异，唯求准”。

三“变”为变要点为句子。将第二个环节中所罗列的要点，先按一定的时间、空间及逻辑顺序排列;然后选定恰当的主语与人称，再根据动作发生的时间与主谓关系拓词成句。结合初中生的实际，要求用他们熟悉、简单的结构来表达，避免因用长句和大量的复合句而出现过多的语法错误。如果遇到必须用长句表达时，可仿照、套用课本或各种阅读材料中出现的句型，切勿用汉语思维生造句子。

四“连”为连句成篇。这一环节是最关键的一环。首先，要根据题目所要求及画面展示确定好题材与体裁。其次，要确定好行文的人称与时态的基调。再次，要在句与句以及段与段之间加一些表转折、递进和因果等关系的关联词与过渡句，使文章前后照应，行文流畅。最后结合题目要求字数适当加入一些表达自己思想、见解的内容，使文章丰满显得有血有肉。

五“检”为文章检查。文章写成之后错误在所难免，检查这一环节不能省。检查可从如下几方面入手： 1 ，文章的体裁格式是否正确。 2 ，要点有无遗漏。 3 ，句子(人称、时态、语态、主谓一致、结构、词语搭配等)。 4 ，词汇(意义、拼写、时态语态，形容词与动词的形式，名词单复数)。 5 ，标点符号是否有遗漏与错误。

在经过以上几个环节之后，一篇符合要求的看图作文就算完成了。在这里还要提到的是，英语做为一门语言基本功的训练不可忽视，书面表达中书写尤为重要。此外，还应不断加强基础词汇与语法的积累与锤炼，只有这样书面表达才能有真正的提高。

A man was going to the house of some rich person. As he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. He said, "I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat." Then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust.

He went on and came to a river. The river had become very big; so he could not go over it. He waited for some time; then he said, "I cannot go to the rich mans house today, for I cannot get over the river."

He began to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began to want food. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them.

Do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time.

【译文】

一个人正朝着一个富人的房子走去，当他沿着路走时，在路的一边他发现一箱好苹果，他说：“我不打算吃那些苹果，因为富人会给我更多的食物，他会给我很好吃的东西。”然后他拿起苹果，一把扔到土里去。

他继续走，来到河边，河涨水了，因此，他到不了河对岸，他等了一会儿，然后他说：“今天我去不了富人家了，因为我不能渡过河。”

他开始回家，那天他没有吃东西。他就开始去找吃的，他找到苹果，很高兴地把它们从尘土中翻出来吃了。

不要把好东西扔掉，换个时候你会觉得它们大有用处。

导语：英语作文在英语试卷中还是相当重要的一部分，你知道写作有哪些技巧吗?下面是yjbys作文网小编为您收集整理的资料，希望对您有所帮助。

初中英语作文分为四等。一等文：13-15分;二等文：9-12分;三等文：5-8分;四等文：0-4分。教给大家十个字，搞定初中英语写作，帮你拿到一等文。

要点+结构+逻辑+语法+亮点

要点：

实际上中考英语写作就等于两个字，翻译!因为中考英语写作一般会给出几个要点，要求必须在文章中有所体现。文章写的再好，只要缺少要点就会扣分。所以要点，也就是文章的第二段内容，要做到全，围绕中心。

结构：

中考最流行的结构就是三段式，深受各地区中考英语写作阅卷老师的喜爱。为什么尼?因为这种结构十分清晰。“观点——要点——总结”让人一目了然。三段式的第一段：简单明了，开门见山，不超过2句话，如，我们想表达小强很强壮，第一段直接说XQis extremely strong。观点明确，这一句足矣。2014年中考英语写作技巧

第二段：分2-3点说为什么他强壮。1. 每天吃10顿饭，He has ten mealseveryday!详举吃的是什么。2. 每天运动2小时，He does exercise 2 hours a day!详举做了什么运动。

第三段：经过第二段的论证，可以得出结论。但请注意，不能完全照抄第一段，要有升华。也可以提出希望和建议等。如，Howstrong and robust XQ is!I hope to be him one day!

逻辑：

这里的逻辑实际指的就是逻辑词。最常用的就是表示递进的，转折的，总结的逻辑词等。递进：除了first，second，third，finally等还可以使用高级点的，如first of all(首先)，in addition，whatsmore，moreover(都是另外的意思)，in a word，all inall(表示总结的)。转折：but，yet，however等。真正有经验的阅卷老师会很注意这些逻辑连接词，因为这些词体现了这个文章的思路。

语法：

其他几点都不是硬性的要求，不那样做不能说是错，只能说是不好，但是语法却是硬性的。如，单词的使用，时态等。

亮点：

当我们将前八个字都做得很完美的时候也只能得到一个二等文的上。要想得到一等文，最后两个字，亮点至关重要。大家设想如果我们是阅卷老师。有两篇写人美丽的作文摆在我们面前，都是结构清晰的三段式，要点都很全，都用了一些逻辑词，都没有语法错误，但是A篇只用了beautiful，good-looking，B篇却用到了attractive，charming，catching等，我坚信正常人都会给B篇高分的。这些高级一点的词汇，词组，句型便是我们得到一等文的最有力的绝招。所以，以后写英语作文要养成一般词汇限量用的好习惯。

英语作文依靠的是同学们的语感和平时的积累，但是在面临中考的紧要关头，要想在短时间内提高英语写作水平不是一件容易的事情，这就需要同学们掌握中考英语作文写作技巧。

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

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

= It is obvious that …

例：不用说早睡早起是值得的。

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

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

例︰在各种运动中我尤其喜欢慢跑。

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

3. 就我的看法……;我认为……

In my opinion, …

= To my mind, …

= As far as I am concerned, …

= I am of the opinion that …

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

就我的看法打电动玩具既花费时间也有害健康。

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

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

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

随着台湾经济的快速发展许多社会问题产生了。

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

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

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

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

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

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

我们应当保持公共场所清洁。

6. 花费 spend … on sth. / doing sth. …

例：我们不应该在我们不感兴趣的事情上花太多的时间。

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

7. how 引导的感叹句

例：那至少可以证明你很诚实。

At least it will prove how honest you are.

8. 状语从句

A)如果你不……，你就会…… If you dont …， youll …

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

如果你不坚持努力工作，你就会失去这次机会。

B) 如此 ……，以至于…… so … that …

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

当时，我非常伤心，最后都想放弃了。

9. 宾语从句

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

我想知道是否…… I wonder whether …

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

他认为我不应该阻止他参加这个俱乐部。

10. Since + S + 过去式， S + 现在完成式。

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

自从他上高中，他就一直很用功。

March 6th, 2014

Dear Mr Li,

李老师：

I’m sorry to tell you that I have to ask for sick leave for the whole afternoon class. Because I have a heavy headache now and feel very sick. I think I have to ask for sick leave to go to hospital for medicine. I will attend the next day classes on time.

我很抱歉地告诉你，我想请一整个下午的病假。因为我现在头很疼而且感觉很难受。我觉得我必须得请假去医院看医生。我会准时参加明天的课。

Yours repectful,

Tim

蒂姆

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

The winter solstice, the winter solstice as the "holiday" in han dynasty, the rulers to congratulate ceremony known as "He Dong", official holidays, routine officialdom popular each "winter" worship custom. "Were" has such records: "before and after the winter solstice, the gentleman place static body, baiguan, scenes, and then pick an auspicious day Chen save trouble." So on the court and off to rest, to the army on standby, frontier retreat, business travel out of business, family and all distinctions to food, visit each other, a joyous festival "place static body". When in the six dynasties, the winter solstice is called "the age", people to elders to extend holiday greetings to your parents; After the song dynasty, the winter solstice festival gradually become the sacrifice to ancestors and gods.

Tang and song period, the winter solstice is to worship the day of worship ancestors, the emperor held outside the day to worship, the people in this day to the parents or elders worship. Ming and qing dynasties, the emperor have to worship, of "winter solstice jiao days". There has to be given to a emperor, table officials ritual, but also to each other for congratulations, like New Years day.

Winter festival also called yesterday, hand in winter. It is one of the 24 solar terms, is a traditional festival of China, have "the winter solstice as big as a year". Winter solstice supplements, is Chinas traditional customs, folksay: fill a lump-sum winter, in the coming year without pain. Summer volts, winter lump-sum. The winter solstice mend, nutrients.

冬至到了，汉代以冬至为“冬节”，官府要举行祝贺仪式称为“贺冬”，官方例行放假，官场流行互贺的“拜冬”礼俗。《后汉书》中有这样的记载：“冬至前后，君子安身静体，百官绝事，不听政，择吉辰而后省事。”所以这天朝廷上下要放假休息，军队待命，边塞闭关，商旅停业，亲朋各以美食相赠，相互拜访，欢乐地过一个“安身静体”的节日。魏晋六朝时，冬至称为“亚岁”，民众要向父母长辈拜节;宋朝以后，冬至逐渐成为祭祀祖先和神灵的节庆活动。

唐、宋时期，冬至是祭天祀祖的日子，皇帝在这天要到郊外举行祭天大典，百姓在这一天要向父母尊长祭拜。明、清两代，皇帝均有祭天大典，谓之“冬至郊天”。宫内有百官向皇帝呈递贺表的仪式，而且还要互相投刺祝贺，就像元旦一样。

冬至节亦称冬节、交冬。它既是二十四节气之一，是中国的一个传统节日，曾有“冬至大如年”的说法。冬至进补，是我国传统风俗，俗语云：三九补一冬，来年无病痛。夏养三伏，冬补三九。冬至补一补,一年精气足。

What can I say about Pixar? Amazing?? Perfect?? Got to see this at the Cannes Film Festival in France (went>【扩展阅读篇】

所谓“感”

可以是从书中领悟出来的道理或精湛的思想，可以是受书中的内容启发而引起的思考与联想，可以是因读书而激发的决心和理想，也可以是因读书而引起的对社会上某些丑恶现象的抨击、讽刺。读后感的表达方式灵活多样，基本属于议论范畴，但写法不同于一般议论文，因为它必须是在读后的基础上发感想。要写好有体验、有见解、有感情、有新意的读后感，必须注意以下几点：

首先，要读好原文

“读后感[1]”的“感”是因“读”而引起的。“读”是“感”的基础。走马观花地读，可能连原作讲的什么都没有了解，哪能有“感”?读得肤浅，当然也感得不深。只有读得认真，才能有所感，并感得深刻。如果要读的是议论文，要弄清它的论点(见解和主张)，或者批判了什么错误观点，想一想你受到哪些启发，还要弄清论据和结论是什么。如果是记叙文，就要弄清它的主要情节，有几个人物，他们之间是什么关系，以及故事发生在哪年哪月。作品涉及的社会背景，还要弄清楚作品通过记人叙事，揭示了人物什么样的精神品质，反映了什么样的社会现象，表达了作者什么思想感情，作品的哪些章节使人受感动，为什么这样感动等等。

其次，排好感点

只要认真读好原作，一篇文章可以写成读后感的方面很多。如对原文中心感受得深可以写成读后感，对原作其他内容感受得深也可以写成读后感，对个别句子有感受也可以写成读后感。总之，只要是原作品的内容，只要你对它有感受，都可能写成读后感，你需要把你所知道的都表示出来，这样才能写好读后感。

第三、选准感点

一篇文章，可以排出许多感点，但在一篇读后感里只能论述一个中心，切不可面面俱到，所以紧接着便是对这些众多的感点进行筛选比较，找出自己感受最深、角度最新，现实针对性最强、自己写来又觉得顺畅的一个感点，作为读后感的中心，然后加以论证成文。

第四、叙述要简

既然读后感是由读产生感，那么在文章里就要叙述引起“感”的那些事实，有时还要叙述自己联想到的一些事例。一句话，读后感中少不了“叙”。但是它不同于记叙文中“叙”的要求。记叙文中的“叙”讲究具体、形象、生动，而读后感中的“叙”却讲究简单扼要，它不要求“感人”，只要求能引出事理。初学写读后感引述原文，一般毛病是叙述不简要，实际上变成复述了。这主要是因为作者还不能把握所要引述部分的精神、要点，所以才简明不了。简明，不是文字越少越好，简还要明。

第五，联想要注意形式

联想的形式有相同联想(联想的事物之间具有相同性)、相反联想(联想的事物之间具有相反性)、相关联想(联想的事物之间具有相关性)、相承联想(联想的事物之间具有相承性)、相似联想(联想的事物之间具有相似性)等多种。写读后感尤其要注意相同联想与相似联想这两种联想形式的运用。

编辑本段如何写读后感

格式

一、格式和写法

读后感通常有三种写法：一种是缩写内容提纲，一种是写阅读后的体会感想，一种是摘录好的句子和段落。题目可以用《读后感》;还可以用自己的感受(一两个词语)做题目，下一行是——《读有感》，第一行是主标题，第二行是副标题。

二、要选择自己感受最深的东西去写，这是写好读后感的关键。

三、要密切联系实际，这是读后感的重要内容。

四、要处理好“读”与“感”的关系，做到议论，叙述，抒情三结合。

五、叙原文不要过多，要体现出一个“简”字。

六、要审清题目。

在写作时，要分辨什么是主要的，什么是次要的，力求做到“读”能抓住重点，“感”能写出体会。

七、要选择材料。

读是写的基础，只有读得认真仔细，才能深入理解文章内容，从而抓住重点，把握文章的思想感情，才能有所感受，有所体会;只有认真读书才能找到读感之间的联系点来，这个点就是文章的中心思想，就是文中点明中心思想的句子。对一篇作品，写体会时不能面面俱到，应写自己读后在思想上、行动上的变化。

八、写读后感应以所读作品的内容简介开头，然后，再写体会。

原文内容往往用3～4句话概括为宜。结尾也大多再回到所读的作品上来。要把重点放在“感”字上，切记要联系自己的生活实际。

九、要符合情理、写出真情实感。

写读后感的注意事项

①写读后感绝不是对原文的抄录或简单地复述，不能脱离原文任意发挥，应以写“体会”为主。

②要写得有真情实感。应是发自内心深处的感受，绝非“检讨书”或“保证书”。

③要写出独特的新鲜感受，力求有新意的见解来吸引读者或感染读者。

④禁止写成流水账!

编辑本段要写关于学习的读后感应该读什么有感

(1)引——围绕感点 引述材料。简述原文有关内容。

(2)概——概括本文的主要内容 ,要简练,而且要把重点写出来。

(3)议——分析材料，提练感点。亮明基本观点。在引出“读”的内容后，要对“读”进行一番评析。既可就事论事对所“引”的内容作一番分析;也可以由现象到本质，由个别到一般的作一番挖掘;对寓意深的材料更要作一番分析，然后水到渠成地“亮”出自己的感点。要选择感受最深的一点，用一个简洁的句子明确表述出来。这样的句子可称为"观点句"。这个观点句表述的，就是这篇文章的中心论点。"观点句"在文中的位置是可以灵活的，可以在篇首，也可以在篇末或篇中。初学写作的同学，最好采用开门见山的方法，把观点写在篇首。

(4) 联——联系实际，纵横拓展。围绕基本观点摆事实讲道理。写读后感最忌的是就事论事和泛泛而谈。就事论事撒不开，感不能深入，文章就过于肤浅。泛泛而谈，往往使读后感缺乏针对性，不能给人以震撼。联，就是要紧密联系实际，既可以由此及彼地联系现实生活中相类似的现象，也可以由古及今联系现实生活中的相反的种种问题。既可以从大处着眼，也可以从小处入手。当然在联系实际分析论证时，还要注意时时回扣或呼应“引”部，使“联”与“引””藕”断而“丝”连这部分就是议论文的本论部分，是对基本观点(即中心论点)的阐述，通过摆事实讲道理证明观点的正确性，使论点更加突出，更有说服力。这个过程应注意的是，所摆事实，所讲道理都必须紧紧围绕基本观点，为基本观点服务。

1)结构2)内容要点 3)语言(词组搭配、句型、句式变化、过渡词)看结构和内容要点定分数档，看语言给成绩。这是中考英语阅卷的潜规则。 三段四步法——中考英语满分杀手锏 知己知彼，方能百战不殆，既然中考阅卷流程和内部标准已经明朗化，相对的策略也就顺利成章的形成了。现在和大家分享，笔者教学和阅卷过程中总结创立的写作满分秘诀。

1 “三段”(三个段落)——针对的阅卷老师先看文章结构和内容要点，让阅卷老师不得不给你定位一类文。 中高考情景是作文，无论是那种文体，都可以用三段法来表示。这个方法的起源是来自美国的“高考”SAT考试，(SAT是美国或它国学生想要申请美国大学必须参加的考试，故被叫过美国的高考)。 我们管这样的文章叫做HamburgerWriting(汉堡写作)

顾名思义，就是无论是记叙文、还是议论文、或者08年中考以及09一模西城的夹叙夹议文章，都可以通用。简单解释如下：

要点：实际上中考英语写作就等于两个字，翻译!因为中考英语写作一般会给出几个要点，要求必须在文章中有所体现。文章写的再好，只要缺少要点就会扣分。所以要点，也就是文章的第二段内容，要做到全，围绕中心。

结构：中考最流行的结构就是三段式，深受各地区中考英语写作阅卷老师的喜爱。为什么尼?因为这种结构十分清晰。“观点——要点——总结”让人一目了然。三段式的第一段：简单明了，开门见山，不超过2句话，如，我们想表达小强很强壮，第一段直接说XQis extremely strong。观点明确，这一句足矣。

第二段：分2-3点说为什么他强壮。1. 每天吃10顿饭，He has ten mealseveryday!详举吃的是什么。2. 每天运动2小时，He does exercise 2 hours a day!详举做了什么运动。

第三段：经过第二段的论证，可以得出结论。但请注意，不能完全照抄第一段，要有升华。也可以提出希望和建议等。如，Howstrong and robust XQ is!I hope to be him one day!

逻辑：这里的逻辑实际指的就是逻辑词。最常用的就是表示递进的，转折的，总结的逻辑词等。递进：除了first，second，third，finally等还可以使用高级点的，如first of all(首先)，in addition，whatsmore，moreover(都是另外的意思)，in a word，all inall(表示总结的)。转折：but，yet，however等。真正有经验的阅卷老师会很注意这些逻辑连接词，因为这些词体现了这个文章的思路。

语法：其他几点都不是硬性的要求，不那样做不能说是错，只能说是不好，但是语法却是硬性的。如，单词的使用，时态等。

亮点：当我们将前八个字都做得很完美的时候也只能得到一个二等文的上。要想得到一等文，最后两个字，亮点至关重要。大家设想如果我们是阅卷老师。有两篇写人美丽的作文摆在我们面前，都是结构清晰的三段式，要点都很全，都用了一些逻辑词，都没有语法错误，但是A篇只用了beautiful，good-looking，B篇却用到了attractive，charming，catching等，我坚信正常人都会给B篇高分的。这些高级一点的词汇，词组，句型便是我们得到一等文的最有力的绝招。所以，以后写英语作文要养成一般词汇限量用的好习惯。

一、纵观近年各地中考英语写作题，题材一般是写人、写事、写物、写景、日记、书信、通知、便条等文体。一般来说，不同的写作题材，它的人物，时间，写作的重点也是不尽相同的。下面结合一些常见的题型介绍一下写作的注意事项以及写作技巧。

1、以图表提供情景的作文要以“读”为主，首先要读懂图表中的数据、时间、编码、序号以及相互间的变化关系，对所给的信息加以分析、推断、筛选、概括、去粗取精；在写作时目的要明确，要注意内容的准确性和严肃性，尤其是图表中的数据、时间等不得有误。

2、以图画提供情景的作文应以“看”为主，通过细心观察图中的人物、景物、文字、环境、数字等，弄清写作的意图，通过分析思考把握逻辑联系，找出主题并借助所给的文字，把图中的信息转化成文章，但要注意，文章不能停留在图画的浅表，而要表达出提供情景的意图和内涵。

3、以提纲提供情景的作文。这种形式本身的要点已经很明确，重点也很突出，只要把各个提纲加以发挥，注意遣词造句的灵活性和语法规则的正确性，就不会造成审题不清而偏离主题，但要注意，文章必须覆盖所提供的各个提纲的要点。

4、以书信格式提供情景的作文。首先要了解书信的格式，英文书信格式与中文有所不同，(1)、一般在信纸的右上角写上写信人的地址和日期，地址应按从小到大的顺序排列；(2)、左边顶格写上收信人的姓名；(3)、正文部分；(4)、祝愿的话；(5)、写信人签名。信的内容一定要按所给的要求写，不要漏写。

二、各地的评分标准略有差异，但是都包括以下几个方面：整体印象、语言表达、词数规定等几方面内容。我们在写作中要尽量避免扣分，争取有加分点。当然用英文写作不同于用母语那样得心应手，常常会受到生词、语法、惯用法的限制，只要同学们平时注意两种语言的异同性，抓住写作要点，也可妙笔生花。

1、为了保证文章层次分明、条理清楚，要把时间固定下来，如：记叙一件事要用过去时；写经常发生的事或对人物的描写，要用一般现在时。整个文章中的人称要一致，首尾呼应，不要随意改动，以免造成误解。

2、不要为了追求“一鸣惊人”而去找一些生冷的词汇，对这些一知半解的词你不会用，不知道如何搭配，结果可能适得其反，使文章显的生硬、不协调，甚至错误百出，所以要使用有把握的词，避免不必要的失分。比如说发生了一起意外事件，我们通常用“have an accident”来表示，不要错误的使用“have an incident”。

3、注意不同语言的表达习惯，也是写好英语作文的重要环节，如“我的理想是做一名歌手”，很多同学写成“My ambition is to do/make a singer，”“to do”表示“做”或者“干”，“to make”表示“制作”，而“做一名歌手”则表示“成为一名歌手”应该用“be/become a singer”；又如“看书、看报”应用“read a book/newspaper”，而不是“see a book/newspaper”。因此，平时应该注意不同语言的表达习惯，切忌望文生义或一味生搬硬套。

4、有些同学因怕出错而只写短句或简单句，写出的文章过于幼稚、空洞乏味。要使文章有血有肉就要把平时学的知识用进去，如：定语从句、宾语从句、非谓语动词和比较等句型，关键时用上一、二个，就能使文章不同凡响，更有文采，特别是对关联词的使用，如“so that”、“not…but”“not only。。。but also”等，会使你的文章逻辑结构紧密、层次鲜明、条理清楚，更能显示出你的英文功底，但要做到这些并非一日之功，要靠平时的不断训练和积累。

5、最简单的增分点就是认真的书写。工整漂亮的书写会给评卷老师留下美好的第一印象，在扣分时自然会“手下留情”，而且很多地区都在写作上有1分的书写分。只要平时多下点功夫，得到这一分并不难。

三、最后将中考写作的基本步骤和技巧归纳为以下几个环节：

1、细心审题细读题目中每一项提示或观察所给的每一幅画，明确文章的中心思想，弄清题意，确定写作体裁，掌握所要表达的要点做到心中有数，避免随心所欲，文不对题。

2、理顺要点在所给提示或图上标出要点，然后按事件先后的顺序或各要点之间的内在联系排序，分出层次。如果是看图作文，则要按图构思，这样做既可避免要点遗漏，又可使表达内容条理清楚。

3、构成框架将理顺的要点或每幅图画的含义加以连贯，构成写作的整体框架，进一步定人称、定时态语态、定顺序、定段落、定开头结尾。基本框架构成后，写作就有了把握。4、组织句子用自己最熟悉的短语或句型将理顺的要点逐句表达出来，多用简单句，用有把握的复合句。要扬长避短，避难就易。若遇到表达障碍，可换一种说法，将一句变成两、三句，只求达意。

5、串句成篇将写好的句子连贯地组织起来，注意上下句的逻辑关系，适当采用递进、让步、转折、因果等关联词语，使短文浑然一体，层次分明，过渡自然。6、检查修改文章草成后，默读1～2遍，检查修改，尤其要注意人称、大小写、拼写、习惯用语、格式有无错误，要点有无遗漏，文句有无语病，词数是否恰当，行文是否连贯。