英语四级段落写作【经典20篇】

一、首段

第一段四个句子,第一句宏观描述图画,并谈图画看似可笑但发人深思.第二句写出图画最强烈的视觉效果,第三句是主题句,谈用二十个单词的爆发力句型谈该现象对个人的发展和进步有破坏性,并引发思考,第四句是用贬义词批判这个现象是强烈的指责。

1、As is vividly depicted in the picture, which seems to be humorous and ridiculous but thought-provoking on second thoughts.

2、The most striking feature that impresses me deeply is that unbelievably,

3、Recent few years has witnessed a phenomenon of 主题 which seems to be disastrous to individual survival and prosperity.

4、This phenomenon of 主题 should be condemned severely or made illegal.

二、中间段落

中间段落从两方面论证问题的危害，并举例论证，预测危害的趋势

第二段七个句子,首先第一句从宏观上谈这种现象的总的有两到三个点危害或者原因,第二句谈这个现象的第一个危 害,用 “not only, but also”的五星级句子,通常是谈对个人身心健康的危害性, 第三个句子谈第二个危害,通常是用一个豪华级的比较级的句子,让老师耳目一新,通常是谈这个现象对社会的危害.第四个句子谈对家庭或学校的危害.第五个句 子谈一个代替 “for example”的十五个单词的好句子,意思是说没有更好的例子来证明正如下文.第六个句子是例子群体的出现,谈根据一项调查表明,80%以上的人只要从 事经历过这个消极的现象一定会对个人在精神和生活上有危害.最后一句话是预测趋势的二十五个单词的钻石级的句子,谈以下预测趋势,表明这种现象再这样下 去,就会导致恶劣的结果出现,甚至是毁灭性的后果。

1、To account for the above-mentioned phenomenon, several serious effects have been put forward.

2、To begin with,主题 not only results does harm to our physical and mental health but also results in a frustrating and humiliating life.

3、In addition, nothing is more harmful than主题 to contradict with a harmonious society.

4、Last but not the least, no issue is as harmful as 主题 to increase family burdens, which is a threatening situation we are unwilling to see.

5、No better illustration of this idea can be thought than the example mentioned below .

6、According to a survey made by China Daily, 63.93% of young people who have ever experienced主题will live a dull life or even feel loss of hope about the future.

7、If we cannot take useful means, we may not control this trend, and some undesirable results may come out unexpectedly, we will see the gloomy future of something.

三、结尾段落

最后一段要强调解决问题，谈的两点建议通常是提高人们的意识，加强执法

第三段六个句子, 第一个句子是下个结论,谈解决问题的必要性.第二个句子是第一个建议谈的是加强立法惩治这个现象,第三个句子谈提高人们的觉悟关于着这个现象能提高人们对 这个现象的觉悟.第四个句子谈个谚语,谈一下实践我的建议的重要性.五个句子谈解决的任重道远.第六个句子是解决问题之后的美好的未来。

1、From what have been discussed above, it is therefore, necessary that some effective measures are taken to prevent主题.

2、On the one hand, we should be sensible to strengthen the enforcement of the laws to protect something.

3、On the other hand, it is demanding for us to keep people aware of the importance of saving somebody out of the evil hands of destruction.

4、However, it is easier said than done.

5、Although the fight against it is long-standing and tremendous one,our efforts will eventually pay off.

6、Only when you attention to it can you see a colorful and harmonious future better sooner or later.

一、积累词汇

初中学生在阅读理解方面最大的障碍就是词汇量的缺乏，而扩大词汇量绝非死记硬背就能做到。最有效的方法就是大量接触各种不同体裁的英语文章，利用“在句中记，在文中记”的方法来积累词汇。因此我们指导学生依据英语报刊的特点，按栏目、话题、题材、体裁归类收集常用词，将出现频率较高的常用词汇积累到单词本子上，查字典写例句，初步学会这些单词的运用，放在身边，利用零散时间反复记忆，加强印象。还要求学生给出与单词有关的同义、近义、反义和词形相似的词，使词汇量得到最大限度的复现。如：反义词appear/disappear， crowded/uncrowded，polite/impolite/rude.词形相似的词except/expect，chance/change/challenge.这样，通过大量的词汇练习不仅仅能有效地积累词汇，还为组句打下了基础，同时还能训练学生的发散性思维和总结、归纳、比较的能力，为学生正确使用词句奠定了良好的基础。

二、活用词句

当学生有了一定的词汇量的时候，教师在教学中可以采用先易后难的方法，让学生用简单的词组成句子，再以句子的构成作为学生进行写作训练的起点，引导学生从对单个句型的掌握，逐渐过渡到多种句型的混用，直到学生能连贯自如地表达思想。一句多译，句型转换，是书面表达能力的关键。总的来说，教师在平时的教学中要将日常生活中经常出现的词、句作为材料让学生训练，使学生乐于接受，轻松完成，享受成功感。

例如：以study为中心组成句子。

I study in No.3 Middle School.I study very hard.My sister studies in the same school.But she studies harder than me.等等。

三、创设情景

例如，学生举行运动会，开“生日聚会”，以“A sports meeting”和“My birthday party”为语境，让学生在活动中仔细观察，亲身体验，然后试着用自己所学的语言知识，表达“A sports meeting”和“My birthday party”这些话题。在我们新教材的每个单元中，都设有写作训练题，它们用英语设置语境，用英语提示内容，这些写的练习，与我们平时用汉语给语境、用英语完成段落的方式相比，更为理想。当然，教师在设立语境话题时要与学生的水平和能力相适应，应从简到难，从浅到深进行。否则，学生会无从下笔，久而久之，他们会失去信心。

四、注重听、说和阅读的培养

在英语写作中听、说、读、写应同步发展。写作是一种语言输出形式，只有语言输入大于语言输出，语言输出才有可能。英语写作训练作为英语综合能力训练之一，是与英语的听说读不可分割的，它们是相互影响、相互作用的有机统一体，必须注重听、说、读、写能力的同步发展。

比如笔者实施多年的“五分钟课前演讲”：在上正课前五分钟里，要学生用英语讲述一个故事(积累素材);或者课前朗读一篇短小精 的文章，让大家课后模仿;或者就大家平时关心的话题写一个发言稿或演讲稿进行课前发言;或者让学生自立主题，围绕自己喜欢的主题写一段话。这种课前训练取得了很好的效果。

五、写英文日记

要养成记英语日记勤练笔的习惯。经常用英语记日记等于天天在练笔，这无疑是提高英语写作行之有效的好办法。在记日记时，不要总是用简单句，要有意识地用一些好的词组、句型和复合句等，使文句更优美生动。对一些所给情景写的文章，写好后要对照一些范文，找出差距，然后再去练习，不仅能促使学生及时巩固所学的知识，还能锻炼他们的恒心和学习毅力，同时对提高英语作文也是很有帮助的。只有这样，学生才能通过多练习提高英语写作水平。

总之，学生英语写作水平的提高不是一朝一夕的事，英语写作能力培养的训练方法也是多方面的，因此需要我们英语教师在教学工作中不断探索、不断研究，总结出一些更富有创新活力的英语写作方法。鼓励学生平时要多积累语素材，要求他们坚持长期写作训练，做到善于思考、勤于训练、勇于探究，充分发挥学生的潜力。久而久之，学生的写作水平就会有大幅度的提高。

Dishonesty in Tourism

1. 近年来旅游行业中不诚信现象比较普遍

2. 出现这一现象的原-因

3. 我对这一现象的看法和建议

Since 1980s, the economy of China has developed greatly. With more money in their pockets, people are spending more money on travelling, which has brought prosperity to tourism. Nevertheless, many travel agencies or agents are reported to cheat their customers and make money in a dishonest way.

The reason for dishonesty in tourism is various. First and for most, money is the spur. Some travel agencies use all means to cheat their customers in order to get more money. Secondly, to survive in the fierce competition, travel agencies have to make enough profits. To realize profit maximization, they cheat. Last but not least, their victims seem to have little sense of defending their rights.

To regulate travel agencies and protect the rights of tourists, the government has issued various laws. However, I think tourists can take the following tips to avoid travel scams. First, choose a trustworthy travel agency for your trip. Secondly, use your common sense and keep alert while travelling. Finally, defend yourself if your rights are violated.

[英语四级作文预测旅游中的不诚信现象

从世界各地来看，读书节已成为当代社会的文化景观，而且是最近20年的新风潮。不过，现代意义上的第一个“读书节”，最早可追溯到1926年西班牙国王首次设立的“西班牙自由节”，并把伟大作家塞万提斯的生日10月7日作为这个节日的庆祝日。

From all over the world, Reading Festival has become the cultural landscape of contemporary society, and it is a new trend in recent 20 years. However, the first "Reading Festival" in the modern sense, the earliest can be traced back to 1926, the king of Spain for the first time to set up a "Spanish freedom festival", and the great writer Cervantess birthday in October 7th as a celebration of the holiday.

1930年庆祝活动移到4月23日――塞万提斯的忌日，碰巧这一天也是加泰罗尼亚地区大众节日“圣乔治节”。传说中勇士乔治屠龙救公主，并获得了公主回赠的礼物――一本书，象征着知识与力量。每到这一天，加泰罗尼亚的妇女们就给丈夫或男朋友赠送一本书，男人们则会回赠一枝玫瑰花。由此相沿成习，如今每到这一天，书籍减价10%，玫瑰花的价格则陡然上涨。

Celebration on 1930 to April 23rd -- the anniversary of the death of Cervantes, to this day is also the Catalonia area public holiday "St. Georges day". The legend goes that the knight George slew a dragon and saved a princess, and was granted a gift in return: a book, representing knowledge and power. Every year on this day, Catalonia women will give a book to their husband or boyfriend, the men will give a rose. Thus become a custom through long time usage, and now every day, the book price by 10%, prices rose sharply rise.

世界读书日就来源于此。巧合的是，这天是著名作家塞万提斯、莎士比亚、维加3位著名文学大师的辞世纪念日，又是美国作家纳博科夫、法国作家莫里斯・德鲁昂、冰岛诺贝尔文学奖得主拉克斯内斯等多位文学家的生日。巧合之外，则是人们对书籍的热爱和对阅读重要性的深层认识。主旋律都是一样的：无论是年老还是年轻，无论是贫穷还是富有，无论是患病还是健康，都能享受阅读的乐趣，都能尊重和感谢为人类文明作出巨大贡献的文学、文化、科学思想大师们，都能保护知识产权。

World Book Day comes from this. Coincidentally, this is the famous writer Cervantes died, Shakespeare Vega, 3 famous literary masters of the day, and Nabokov, French writer USA writer Maurice de Rouen, Iceland Nobel prize winner Laks Ness and many other writers day. Coincidentally, is that people love of books and a deep understanding of the importance of reading. The main theme is the same: whether old or young, whether rich or poor, whether it is sick or healthy, can enjoy the pleasure of reading, respect and gratitude can make great contributions to human civilization, literature, culture, scientific thinking gurus, can protect the intellectual property rights.

There is no consensus [knsenss] 一致of opinions among people about X(争论的焦点)。Some people are of the view that 观点1，while others take an opposite side, firmly believing that 观点2。As far as I am concerned, the former/latter notion(观念) is preferable in many senses. The reasons are obvious. First of all, 论据1。 Furthermore, 论据2。

Among all of the supporting evidences, one is the strongest. That is, 论据3。 A natural conclusion from the above discussion is that总结观点。 As a college student, I am supposed to 表决心. 或 From above, we can predict that 预测

写人的英语作文在高考中不少见，什么样的作文更能吸引人呢?下面请看语文迷为大家带来的技巧。

写人记叙文，一般为肖像描写、行动描写、语言描写、心理描写以及对细节的描写，应根据要求，灵活掌握，突出重点。

【几点注意】

1.使用正确人称和时态。

①时态：

一般现在时--描写人物外貌、性格、兴趣等

一般过去时-- 描写人物出生、教育背景、经历、事迹

②人称：第一人称或第三人称

2.介绍人物的姓名、年龄、外貌、学历、经历、专业、爱好、特长、事迹、性格等，包括所给的全部信息点，不能遗漏或随意添加。

3.对所给的信息进行适当重组，安排好写作顺序，突出重点信息。

4.正确运用描写人物的词汇和句型。

【常见词语】

①外貌特征：

pretty, beautiful, good-looking，handsome,ordinary-looking, with a big nose, with a big

smile, short, tall,thin, strong, white-haired，1.80 metres tall, …

②性格特点：

absent-minded, charming, attractive, bright, wise smart, confident, naughty，talkative, diligent,

lazy, friendly, generous, be ready to help others,kind-hearted, warm-hearted, patient, humorous,

have a good/ bad temper, independent,narrow-minded, …

③童年情况：

as a boy of 15, be born on, during his childhood, live a happy/hard life, the son of a poor family,

spend his childhood in, ...

④兴趣爱好： be delighted in doing, be good at , be interested in , be fond of , be crazy about, be pleased with, do well in, enjoy doing, have a strong desire to do, long for/long to do), take a pleasure in doing,…

⑤教育背景： be admitted to Beijing University, be enrolled in, fail in the test, get a master’s

degree, get on well with one’s lessons, go abroad to further one’s study, graduate from,major in, receive a doctor’s degree, pass the examination, take an active part in, …

⑥ 成就或事迹：

become a member of the team, encourage sb to do sth, give up one’s life for sth, receive the

Nobel Prize for physics, set a new world record of,win the first prize in, win a gold /silver/ bronze

medal, have a talent for, make up one’s mind to do sth., put one’s heart into, work hard at,

concentrate oneself to, devote oneself to,do sth.with great determination and perseverance, ...

⑦他人评价：

an inspiring leader, a model worker, an advanced teacher, be respected by , be honored as, be

considered/regarded as, be famous/known as,his hard work brought him great success, make

great contributions to our country, set a good example for , be highly spoken of for, ...

例文

你班要举办以“Ordinary but Great”为题的英语主题班会。

请根据下列信息准备一篇发言稿，介绍赵郁的成长经历。

注意： 1、词数不少于60。

2、文章的题目和开头已经给出。

3、可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

提示词：首席技师 chief technician

Ordinary but Great

We are all ordinary people, but following what we are interested in and doing what we are good

at can help us make great achievements for society and go far. Here’s a convincing and inspiring example.

______________________________________

【范文】

Zhao Yu, the chief technician in the Benz Company,is regarded as a great success. However, his success is no accident. As a young boy with a sense of creativity, he was eager to learn and to make a lot of inventions. Being an ordinary worker in the Benz Company for 17 years, not only did he do well in his job, but he also made efforts to teach himself English and to learn how to use computers. Now it is easy for him to read English materials about cars. Besides, he became expert at solving various technical problems.Because of his great contribution, he has received awards many times.

Zhao Yu has set a good example that ordinary people can stand out by doing their jobs with interest and enthusiasm.

【评析】

1.作者运用了所给出的全部信息：姓名、职务、经历。对所给的信息进行了适当重组，突出了重点信息(赵郁的经历)，内容完整、详略得当，体现了话题“Ordinary but great”所表达的内容。

2. 正确使用人称(第三人称)，灵活使用时态(一般过去时、一般现在时);合理使用过渡词，使文章层次分明、结构紧凑。

3. 语言规范，表达准确。文章运用了一些高级句式，如同位语、介词短语、分词短语、倒装句、同位语从句等，增加了文章的亮点。

下面是语文迷小编为大家整理提供的英语写作技巧以及关联词，供大家阅读参考。

英语写作技巧之一：用介词短语替代从句，例：

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

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

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

修改后：At the second traffic light turn left.

英语写作技巧之二：删除诸如"who is”或"that is"之类的关系代词，变从句为短语，例：

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

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

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

英语写作技巧之三：剔除你不需要的单词，例：

Two joint partners will present their views over a long-distance telephone call.

写完这样的句子后，你自己再读一遍，挑出单词"joint"和"telephone"，注意删去不必要的词。

关联词的积累

1.提出观点不要只用I think，要学会用：

As far as I am concerned

In my opinion

From my point of view

From my perspective

The way I see it

2.转折不要只用but， 要多用：

However,

nevertheless, nonetheless,

Whereas

Some people like fat meat, whereas other people hate it.

转折也可用比喻：as a coin has two sides(就象硬币有两面一样), …(陈述转折内容)

3.表递进的：

In addition, in addition to, additionally,

what is more, moreover, furthermore,

more importantly，

what is worse (更槽糕的是)

4.表示“事实上”：

In fact,

as a matter of fact,

actually

5.表总结：

in conclusion, as a result,

all in all 总而言之

In short,

In a word, 一句话讲

Taking into consideration,

Taking into account all the factors that I have mentioned above, it is safe to draw a conclusion that …

6.表示因此：

Consequently,

Hence,

Therefore,

Thus,

as a result,

resultingly

7.表因为：

because of

due to,

owing to,

thanks to,

as a result of,

8.虽然

Although, even though, even if, though

Proud as these nobles are, …

As flattered as I am, I would say no.

In spite of, despite

I love you in spite of that.

9.比较：

In comparison with,

compared to,

compared with

She’s nothing compared to you.

10.表最后：

Finally,

eventually,

in the end,

at last,

ultimately,

11.表示程度的副词词组亦非常重要，会使文章看起来比较成熟、辨证：

To some extent 在某种程度上讲

To some degree 在某种程度上讲

To a large part 在很大程度上说

In a sense 在某种意义上讲

In general, generally 大体上说

Generally speaking 一般地讲

In some cases 在有些情况下

Basically 基本上

Broadly speaking 宽泛地讲

12.其他(要尽可能多用在文章中。始终牢记内容次要，而语言形式第一位。内容服务于形式)：

Not only, but also

Neither nor, either or

Instead of, instead

For example, for instance (替换使用), take … for example

Be likely to

Be able to

Speaking of, when it comes to …

When it comes to food, he is really picky.

In terms of 根据

First of all, second of all

Above all,

Significantly,

The more, the more

删除诸如"who is”或"that is"类的关系代词，变从句为短语，例：

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

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

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

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

作文是六级考试的一个重要得分部分，可说起写作技巧，很多同学都会皱眉头，抱怨无话可写，内容平淡。下面是小编整理的六级写作的七大要点，欢迎阅读。

一、 长短句原则。

工作还得一张一弛呢，老让读者读长句，累死人!写一个短小精辟的句子，相反，却可以起到画龙点睛的作用。而且如果我们把短句放在段首或者段末，也可以揭示主题：As a creature, I eat; as a man, I read. Although one action is to meet the primary need of my body and the other is to satisfy the intellectual need of mind, they are in a way quite similar. 如此可见，长短句结合，抑扬顿挫，岂不爽哉?牢记!

强烈建议：在文章第一段(开头)用一长一短，且先长后短;在文章主体部分，要先用一个短句解释主要意思，然后在阐述几个要点的时候采用先短后长的句群形式，定会让主体部分妙笔生辉!文章结尾一般用一长一短就可以了。

二、 主题句原则。

国有其君，家有其主，文章也要有其主。否则会给人造成“群龙无首”之感!相信各位读过一些破烂文学，故意把主体隐藏在文章之内，结果造成我们稀里糊涂!不知所云!所以奉劝各位一定要写一个主题句，放在文章的开头(保险型)或者结尾，让读者一目了然，必会平安无事!

特别提示：隐藏主体句可是要冒险的!To begin with, you must work hard at your lessons and be fully prepared before the exam(主题句). Without sufficient preparation, you can hardly expect to answer all the questions correctly.

三、 一 二 三原则。

领导讲话总是第一部分、第一点、第二点、第三点、第二部分、第一点… 如此罗嗦。可毕竟还是条理清楚。考官们看文章也必然要通过这些关键性的“标签”来判定你的文章是否结构清楚，条理自然。破解方法很简单，只要把下面任何一组的词汇加入到你的几个要点前就清楚了。

1)first, second, third, last(不推荐，原因：俗)

2)firstly, secondly, thirdly, finally(不推荐，原因：俗)

3)the first, the second, the third, the last(不推荐，原因：俗)

4)in the first place, in the second place, in the third place, lastly(不推荐，原因：俗)

5)to begin with, then, furthermore, finally(强烈推荐)

6)to start with, next, in addition, finally(强烈推荐)

7)first and foremost, besides, last but not least(强烈推荐)

8)most important of all, moreover, finally

9)on the one hand, on the other hand(适用于两点的情况)

10)for one thing, for another thing(适用于两点的情况)

建议：不仅仅在写作中注意，平时说话的时候也应该条理清楚!

四、短语优先原则。

写作时，尤其是在考试时，如果使用短语，有两个好处：其一、用短语会使文章增加亮点，如果老师们看到你的文章太简单，看不到一个自己不认识的短语，必然会看你低一等。相反，如果发现亮点—精彩的短语，那么你的文章定会得高分了。

其二、关键时刻思维短路，只有凑字数，怎么办?用短语是一个办法!比如：I cannot bear it. 可以用短语表达：I cannot put up with it. I want it. 可以用短语表达：I am looking forward to it. 这样字数明显增加，表达也更准确。

五、多实少虚原则

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

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

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

六、 多变句式原则。

1)加法(串联)都希望写下很长的句子，像个老外似的，可就是怕写错，怎么办，最保险的写长句的方法就是这些，可以在任何句子之间加and, 但最好是前后的句子又先后关系或者并列关系。比如说：I enjoy music and he is fond of playing guitar. 如果是二者并列的，我们可以用一个超级句式：Not only the fur coat is soft, but it is also warm. 其它的短语可以用：besides, furthermore, likewise, moreover

2)转折(拐弯抹角)批评某人缺点的时候，我们总习惯先拐弯抹角说说他的优点，然后转入正题，再说缺点，这种方式虽然阴险了点，可毕竟还比较容易让人接受。所以呢，我们说话的时候，只要在要点之前先来点废话，注意二者之间用个专这次就够了。The car was quite old, yet it was in excellent condition. The coat was thin, but it was warm. 更多的短语：despite that, still, however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, notwithstanding

3)因果(so, so, so)昨天在街上我看到了一个女孩，然后我主动搭讪，然后我们去咖啡厅，然后我们认识了，然后我们成为了朋友…可见，讲故事的时候我们总要追求先后顺序，先什么，后什么，所以然后这个词就变得很常见了。其实这个词表示的是先后或因果关系!The snow began to fall, so we went home. 更多短语：then, therefore, consequently, accordingly, hence, as a result, for this reason, so that

4)失衡句(头重脚轻，或者头轻脚重)有些人脑袋大，身体小，或者有些人脑袋小，身体大，虽然我们不希望长成这个样子，可如果真的是这样了，也就必然会吸引别人的注意力。文章中如果出现这样的句子，就更会让考官看到你的句子与众不同。其实就是主语从句，表语从句，宾语从句的变形。举例：This is what I can do. Whether he can go with us or not is not sure. 同样主语、宾语、表语可以改成如下的复杂成分：When to go, Why he goes away…

5)附加(多此一举)如果有了老婆，总会遇到这样的情况，当你再讲某个人的时候，她会插一句说，我昨天见过他;或者说，就是某某某，如果把老婆的话插入到我们的话里面，那就是定语从句和同位语从句或者是插入语。The man whom you met yesterday is a friend of mine. I don’t enjoy that book you are reading. Mr liu, our oral English teacher, is easy-going. 其实很简单，同位语--要解释的东西删除后不影响整个句子的构成;定语从句—借用之前的关键词并且用其重新组成一个句子插入其中，但是whom or that 关键词必须要紧跟在先行词之前。

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

七、挑战极限原则。

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

1. To cherish the enviroment is to love ourselves.

爱护环境就是爱护我们自己。

2.Water is the source of ourlives

水是生命之源。

3.I make an urgent appeal that measures should be taken to cope with the situation

我急切呼吁应该采取措施改变现状。

4.Our government is doing its best to take measures to fight against pollution.

我们政府正努力制定措施与污染作斗争。

5.We are sure that well win the battle.

我们坚信我们能赢得战斗。

6.Its high time that we should protect our enviroment from being polluted.

是时候我们应该防止环境污染了。

7. Keep our mountains green，the wate clean，and the sky blue.

使我们山更绿，水更清，天更蓝。

8.However，natural resources are not inexhaustible.some reserves are already on the brink of exhaustion.

然而自然资源并不是无穷无尽的，一些储量已经到了穷尽的边缘。

9.If we do something with no thought for the furture . The later generation would be in danger.

如果我们不为将来考虑，后代就会受到威胁。

10.Our earths days are numbered without urgent help.

没有及时的帮助我们的地球就屈指可数了。

11(Sth.)are bound to generate severe consequences if we keep turning a blink eye to them.

如果我们继续睁一只眼闭一只眼的话，……一定会有恶劣的后果。

一、了解高分作文的特点

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

1、书写工整，书面整洁，很少有涂改痕迹。

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

3、要点齐全，不缺要点。

4、首尾呼应，自然成一体。

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

6、开头言简意赅，不啰嗦，不偏题，迅速引入主题。

7、段与段之间，自然过渡。有合适的连接词。

8、句与句之间，有恰当的连接词，使之自然成一体。

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

10、能够恰当使用谚语、格言等给文章添彩。

二、勤积累，巧准备

要想作文得高分，除了了解以上的特点外，还要在平时的学习中注意一下方面：

1、牢记课标词汇是基础

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

2、掌握课标词汇和短语的用法

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

3、高度重视同一个意思的多种表达方式

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

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

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

很显然，使用高级一点的更好。

4、加强练习，积累经验

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

5、充分利用作文范文

很多资料书上都有作文范文。诚然，他们有很多值得借鉴的地方。

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

另外，背一些范文也是很有必要的。

6、背诵一些谚语和警句

作文中如果出现恰当的谚语和警句，会有锦上添花的效果。

三、精心审题，沉着写初稿

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

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

审题主要要做一下事情：

1、审人称、时态、体裁等

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

2、明确必须表达的要点

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

3、罗列出可能会用到的短语、句型，确定好使用哪个?

4、确定好如何分段

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

所谓写作教学策略，就是用来促进写作教学开展的方式方法。

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

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

做好“书面表达”这道题，学生应该从以下几方面人手：

一、充分准备。打好基础。

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

二、仔细审题，明确要求。

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

三、抓住重点。寻求思路。

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

四、遣词造句，表达规范。

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

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

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

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

下面是由语文迷网小编精心为大家整理的英语写作高分技巧，供大家阅读参考。

一、要善于模仿

一些同学的办法往往是背一堆范文，然后再到考场上进行一个“剪切”、“粘贴”的工作，真正的模仿重点永远要放在一定的句式结构上，而非个别的词汇。有一个句式说：“…for the simple reason that…”表示某种现象的原因是什么，用在高考(课程)写作中，我们就可以拿来解释为什么自行车在中国如此的流行：“The bicycle is very popular in China for the simple reason that…”。然而，很多同学一谈到原因仍然是“…because…”。如果要表示“总是能够”的概念，很多同学提笔就会写can always，但理想的句子应该是用双重否定表示强烈的肯定，用never fail to。

二、要灵活变通

在批改过上万份同学们英语(课程)作文中，经常能发现一些将中文生硬地翻译成英文的表达法。有一句话叫做“立志如山，行道如水”，写英文作文，一定要有决心把它写好，有信心把意思表达清楚，这是“立志如山”;但关键是遇到问题时要有个灵活的态度，能像流水一样变通解决问题。有个翻译界的故事说：在某大型国际会议的招待会上，一道菜是用鸡蛋做的。与会的客人问翻译：“What is it made of”本来是非常简单的一个问题，结果翻译太紧张，忘了“egg”这个词，但是他急中生智，回答：“It is made of Miss Hen’s son.”这里，就是一个灵活变通的范例。绕道表达，是写作中应该常常运用的一种方法。

三、要细心观察

注意英语中一些表达上的习惯。比如在正式文体的写作中，很少用 “it isn’t”这样的略缩形式，而往往是一板一眼地写作 “it is not”。同理，在正式文体中的日期一般不缩写，阿拉伯数字一般会用英文表达(特别长的数字除外)。

许多同学在写作文时，习惯于把 “since” “because” “for”这样的词放在句首引导原因状语从句。事实上，在我们见到的英语报刊杂志文章中，这样的从句一般都是放在主句之后的。另外, “and”也常常被误放在一句话的开头，表示两个句子之间的并列或递进关系。其实，经常留心地道的英语文章能发现，如果是并列关系，完全可以不用连词;如果是递进关系，用 “furthermore” “what is more”更为普遍。

四、要心有全局

英文写作如果结构意识良好，应试写作就简化成为一个填空的过程了，适当地填入观点、素材，文章就自然而然立起来了。

导语：不论从何种角度，环保都是当代世界发展不可忽视的一环。它也不再仅仅是一种措施和行动，而是一种经济行为，并带动了一系列相关的产业。下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的说明中国发展环保经济的状况的英语句子，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

1. While developing its economy， China will handle properly the relationship among the population， natural resources and the environment.

2. The Chinese government pays great attention to environmental problems arising from Chinas population growth and economic development.

3. China relies on improving supervision， management and technological progress to promote environmental protection.

4. Land， arable land in particular， should be used reasonably and economically. Strong measures will be taken to strengthen the building of the urban environmental infrastructure， regulate industrial structure and lay-out， shun the unpromising way of pollution first， treatment afterwards， and strengthen prevention and control of the pollution in major river valleys to ensure the security of the drinking water of the inhabitants.

【参考译文】

1、中国在发展经济的同时，将处理好的人口之间的关系，自然资源和环境。

2、中国政府高度关注中国人口增长和经济发展所带来的环境问题。

3、中国依靠强化监督管理和技术进步，促进环境保护。

4、土地，特别是耕地，应该合理和经济地使用。将采取强有力的措施来加强城市环境基础设施建设，调整产业结构和布局，避免“先污染，后治理的工作方式，加强预防和控制主要河流污染以确保居民饮用水安全。

1.I hate hiking and Im not into classical music.

2.I surf the Internet all the time and I like playing computer games.

3.Rock music is OK, and so is skiing.

4.Chuck is a businessman who is always so busy that he has little time for his friends.

5.One day Chuck is on a flight across the Pacific Ocean when suddenly his plane crashes.

6.He realizes that he hasn’t been a very good friend because he has always been thinking about himself.

7.Chuck learns that we need friends to share happiness and sorrow, and that it is important to have someone to care about.

8.When he makes friends with Wilson, he understand that friendship is about feelings and that we must give as much as we take.

9.The lesson we can learn from Chuck and all the others who have unusual friends is that friends are teachers.

10.I found the bathroom, but I didn’t find what I was looking for.

11.Don’t forget to buy me some ketchup on your way back.

12.There are more than 42 countries where the majority of the people speak English.

13.In total, for more than 375 million people English is their mother tongue.

14.In China students learn English at school as a foreign language, except for those in Hong Kong, where many people speak English as a first or a second language.

15.In only fifty years, English has developed into the language most widely spoken and used in the world.

16.With so many people communicating in English every day ,it will become more and more important to have a good knowledge of English.

17.For a long time the language in America stayed the same, while the language in England changed.

18.In the same way Americans still use the expression “I guess “(meaning “I think”),just as the British did 300 years ago.

19.At the same time, British English and American English started borrowing words from other languages ,ending up with different words.

20.Except for these differences in spelling, written English is more or less the same in both British and American English.

21.However,most of the time people from the two countries do not have any difficulty in understanding each other.

22.Many people travel because they want to see other countries and visit places that are famous, interesting or beautiful.

23.Many of today’s travelers are looking for an unusual experience and adventure travel is becoming more and more popular.

24.Instead of spending your vacation on a bus, in a hotel or sitting on the beach, you may want to try hiking.

25.Hiking is fun and exciting, but you shouldn’t forget safety.

26.A raft is a small boat that you can use to paddle down rivers and streams.

27.If you want a normal rafting trip, choose a quiet stream or river that is wide and has few fallen trees or rocks.

28.The name “whitewater “comes from the fact that the water in these streams and rivers looks white when it moves quickly.

29.As with hiking ,you should always think about your safety and wear good clothes.

30.Jane and Betty are going on separate holidays in a few days’ time.

31.When are you off to Guangzhou?

32.My plane leaves at seven, so I think we’ll take a taxi.

33.See you when I get back.

34.The next moment the first wave swept her down, swallowing the garden.

35.Now ,the water, which was cold as ice and flowed faster than a river, was above her knees.

36.Jeff and Flora looked into each other’s face with a look of fright.

37.Flora,whose beautiful hair and dress were all cold and wet, started crying.

38.Tree after tree went down, cut down by the water, which must have been three meters deep.

39.The garden that was once so beautiful was completely destroyed, swept away by the wild water.

40.I found some photos of interesting places which were not too far away from Chengdu.

41.He told me that I could go on a two-day trip to Leshan and Emei, which wasn’t too expensive.

42.First,we went to Leshan, where we climbed all the way up the mountain to see the Buddha.

43.Looking up at the large head and down at the large feet makes you feel so small.

44.Wei Bin took photos of us standing in front of the Buddha.

45.Steven Spielberg, whose mother was a music teacher, was born in 1946 in a small town in America.

46.In 1959 Spielberg won a prize for a film which he made when he was thirteen years old.

47.The reason why he could not go there was that his grades were too low.

48.Here he worked on a short film, which won him a job as the youngest film director in the world.

49.This was the moment when Spieberg’s career really took off.

50.It is about a big white shark that attacks swimmers who are spending their holidays in a small village by the sea.

Directions:

Suppose you are a librarian in your university.Write a notice of about 100 words,providing the newly-enrolled international students with relevant information about the library.

You should write neatly on the ANSWER SHEET.

Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter.Use “Li Ming”instead.

Do not write the address.(10 points)

参考范文：

Notice

Welcome you to this university and this new-bulided library. I am a libraian in our university and will give you relevent information about the library.

To begin with, there is circulation desk in the circulation hall so that you can borrow and return books more quickly and conveniently. Besides, the hours of loan books is during 9:00-17:00 from Monday to Friday so that you can take best advantage of the library. Moreover, the computer room in the library is big enough for you to search for some academic information charged by the hour so you must ensure that some money is left in your ID card.

I hope you will find the above information useful and I would be ready to discuss the matter with you to further details. If you have any questions about the library, please call 123456or send messages to 123456@abc. Wish you a good time during your colledge life.

请注意

欢迎你来这所大学和这个new-bulided库。我是一个libraian在我们的大学会给你有关信息图书馆。

首先,在循环大厅有循环桌子,这样您就可以借并返回书更快更方便。此外,小时的贷款是在9:00-17:00从星期一到星期五,这样您就可以最好的利用图书馆。此外,在图书馆计算机房对你来说是足够大的去寻找一些学术信息按小时收取所以你必须确保一些钱留在你的身份证。

我希望你会发现上面的信息是有用的,我准备和你讨论此事进一步的细节。如果你有任何问题关于图书馆,请致电123456或123456 @abc发送消息。祝你一段美好的时光在你科莱奇的生活。

一、明确作文要求，提高写作能力

一篇好的作文，要有一个主题思想，整篇作文应该是紧扣文章主题，遵循特定的文体格式，选用恰当的语言合理组织文章结构，内容统一、连贯，语法、拼写、标点 正确，用词恰当。很多同学在准备英语写作时找不到方向，一味的想在考研英语写作上面抓分，却又不知道怎么样提高。杨老师在此特别提醒考生首先要学会抓住考研英语写作要领，尤其注意文章逻辑关系在阅读中的运用。逻辑关系散布在文章的句子内部、句句之间、以及段落之间。最基本的逻辑关系有以下几种：

1、因果关系：as a result ，therefore，hence，consequently，because,for, due to, hence, consequently等等。

2、并列、递进关系：and, or, then，in addition，besides，in other words，moreover等等

3、转折关系：however，but, yet, in fact等等。

这些其实是已经很熟悉的逻辑提示词在文章中起的效果，并非仅仅是衔接文章的句子，从阅读的角度来看，其实同时在给我们某种提示，告诉我们哪些句子是有效信息，相对重要的信息，哪些信息是相对不重要的信息，因为我们在英语写作的时候，有一条清晰的思路，你不是为了完整翻译文章而进行阅读，而是为了获取主旨来写作。

二、摆脱无话可说 练习“三段式”思维

在英语作文写作时，无话可说的确让人比较头疼，无话可说是一个极端，有的考生题目看得懂，提纲也一目了然，就是不知道该说什么，在考场上头脑一片空白，想到的也只是空泛的东西，在考试过程当中，这会在很大程度上影响大家的做题效果和做题速度。杨老师表示，当头脑出现空白时，应该从具体的、细小的、琐碎的、微不足道的事物所引发的思考变成观点，再进行论述。例如，领导讲话总是第一部分、、第二部分、第三部分…这样条理比较清楚。考官们看文章也必然要通过这些关键性的“标签”来判定你的文章是否结构清楚，条理自然。破解方法很简单，只要把下面任何一组的词汇加入到你的几个要点前就清楚了。

1）first, second, third, last（不推荐，原因：俗）

2）firstly, secondly, thirdly, finally（不推荐，原因：俗）

3）the first, the second, the third, the last（不推荐，原因：俗）

4）in the first place, in the second place, in the third place, lastly（不推荐，原因：俗）

5）to begin with, then, furthermore, finally（强烈推荐）

6）to start with, next, in addition, finally（强烈推荐）

7）first and foremost, besides, last but not least（强烈推荐）

8）most important of all, moreover, finally

9）on the one hand, on the other hand（适用于两点的情况）

10）for one thing, for another thing（适用于两点的情况）

建议：不仅仅在写作中注意，平时说话的时候也应该条理清楚！

三、用词准确保证语言连贯

考研英语写作中，同样是一篇作文，在没有语法、词汇等基础性错误的前提下，一个考生的句式平平，而另外一个考生的句式灵活多变，非常漂亮，毫无疑问，后者肯定比前者的分数高。但写英语作文时最忌讳的是用一些模棱两可的词，表达不够准确，而且考试时要特别注意语法、词语、语气、标点符号等，避免单词拼写错误、语法错误，不要为了追求词语的华丽而堆积一些自己也没把握的单词，不要刻意追求长句而写一些自己不知对错的有多个从句组成的长句。建议考生考试时，最好选择自己最有把握的词汇、短语和句式。

很多考生习惯背诵模版，在写作文是喜欢套用背诵模版，但由于仓促，紧张等原因，很容易犯一些简单的错误，如语句不通。所以提醒考生选材时切忌胡子眉毛一把抓，词语堆积，不伦不类。前后及段落之间在逻辑关系上要紧密衔接，不能把没有任何逻辑关系的词放在一起，可以用恰当的关联词把思想连贯的表达出来。总之，无论想要套用那个模版，前提都要保证语言通顺，文章思想连贯。此外，要有自己的style，一来通过背诵或研究范文，把握考研英语作文的整体结构特点，以及写作格式，二来要在研究范文的基础上寻找自己的闪光点，比如闪光词汇。如果大家仔细研究真题，就会发现，几乎所有的高分作文都有一个共同点，那就是都具有几个闪光词汇，这个词汇可能并不是什么高级词汇，但是你能把它的延伸意，或者说你能把我它的一词多义，并且应用到你的文章中。

四、长短句巧搭配 精悍短语当亮点

写作时，尤其是在考试时，如果使用短语，有两个好处：其一、用短语会使文章增加亮点，如果老师们看到你的文章太简单，看不到一个自己不认识的短语，必然会看你低一等。相反，如果发现亮点—精彩的短语，那么你的文章定会得高分了。此外短小精辟的句子，也可以起到画龙点睛的作用。而且如果把短句放在段首或者段末，也可以揭示主题：

As a creature, I eat; as a man, I read. Although oneaction is to meet the primary need of my body and the other is to satisfy theintellectual need of mind, they are in a way quite similar.

杨老师强烈建议：在文章第一段（开头）用一长一短，且先长后短；在文章主体部分，要先用一个短句解释主要意思，然后在阐述几个要点的时候采用先短后长的句群形式，定会让主体部分妙笔生辉！文章结尾一般用一长一短就可以了。

记叙文是以写人、记事、状物为主要内容，以叙述和描写为表达方式的文章。

以写人为主的记叙文，应该注意肖像描写、行动描写、语言描写、心理描写以及对细节的描写，考生应根据写作的要求，灵活掌握，突出重点。

以写事为主的记叙文，应该注意交待六要素(时间、地点、人物、事件、原因、结果)，应该注意描写先后顺序以及记事的相对完整，注意把握好事情的开始、发展、高潮及结局。

以与景为主的记叙文，应该注意景物的主要特征，景物描写的层次，以及人与物的情感交融。

记叙文写作要点如下：

1. 明确写作目的和叙述的中心思想，段落叙述始终围绕着主题而展开，避免空间的叙述和与主题无关的内容。

2. 一篇好叙述文需要直接或间接表达以下六个问题，即：when?该事发生的时间， where?该事发生的地点，who?人物角色是谁，what?发生的是什么事，why?该事发生的原因，以及how?事件的结果是如何造成的等等。

3. 一篇记叙文，无论长短如何都应该是一个完全独立的事实，因此，在下笔时必须明确：该从何处开始叙述，该在何处结束叙述，以及应该提供何种事实才能使叙述完整。

4. 写作顺序可以采用“顺叙”、“倒叙”和“穿插叙述”的方法，但初学者最好采用“顺叙”的方法进行训练，以情节发生时间的先后为序。

记叙文高考指引

记叙文是高考书面表达中比较常用的一种形式。

1)记叙文要写作者比较了解的人或事物。

2)仔细审题，看准题目要求，确定文章的主题。文章的内容、结构、层次及所用语言都应围绕主题进行。

3)具体详细地描述。要使文章有说服力，叙述就必须繁简疏密相间。详细具体的描写有助于读者对所叙述的人物或事件等有个深刻的印象。

4)写作时要避免句子单调、毫无花样。这就要求写作时长短句结合，注意衔接词的运用。

5)叙述要生动。要使文章叙述生动，具有吸引力，必须请注意词汇的选择，时态的运用以及上下文的一致问题。词语的运用应注意是否恰当、通顺、简洁和准确。时态的运用应注意上下文的相关性、连续性，要与表达的内容一致。

6)叙述的顺序。大多数情况下叙述都是按照事情的发展及时间的先后进行的，但有时也可以采用其它顺序，如倒叙、插叙等。

7)人称。一般说来，记叙文用第一人称或第三人称来叙述。用第一人称叙述的优点是：文章比较生动、形象，使读者有身临其境的感觉，因而加强了故事的真实感和感染力。其缺点是，描写的范围受到限制。一篇文章中，由于角色的变化，人称也要随之而变，但应注意前后一致性。

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.

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