英语四级段落写作(实用20篇)

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you have an email account. You may well have several – perhaps separate accounts for professional and personal contacts.

如果你正在阅读这篇文章，你肯定有一个或若干个甚至是不同帐号的私人或办公邮箱。

It’s easy to assume that we know how to use email effectively: it’s been around for long enough. But if you find yourself struggling to communicate effectively by email, these six tips should help:

邮件这样的沟通方式早已经渗入到了我们的生活工作中，因此可以说大多数人都能有效地使用邮件与他人交流。但如果你发现自己还没做得足够有效，我想以下这六点可以帮到你：

1. Start With an Appropriate Salutation

邮件开头称呼要恰当：

Some people jump straight into the text of an email without so much as a “hi”. It’s polite to add a salutation, just as you would with a letter. That might look like:

有些人写邮件不喜欢加称呼，甚至连简单的“你好”都忽略，直接开始正文内容。孰不知就像在传统的信件上一样，写上称呼是一种礼貌的象征。称呼可以这样写：

#Dear Sir/Madam 亲爱的先生/女士

#Dear Mr. Johnson 亲爱的约翰逊先生

#Hi Sue 苏，你好

#Hello Fred 你好，福瑞德

Your salutation needs to be appropriate. If you’re writing to a prospective employer, “Dear Mr. Johnson” is probably the best way to go. “Hi Bob” is going to look unprofessional.

称呼必须恰当。若邮件对象是你未来的上司，“亲爱的约翰先生”这样的称呼应该为最得体的。像“你好，鲍勃”更适用于随意的场合。

But don’t assume that formality is always the right answer. If you’re writing to a friend of a friend, using “Dear” plus their surname is going to seem oddly stilted.

那么，是不是正式的用语就万能呢?绝对不是。若你给你朋友的朋友写邮件，那用“亲爱的+姓”就显得异常别扭。

If in doubt, “Dear [first name]” will usually work just fine.

当你判断不出哪种场合该用什么称呼合适，你可以使用“亲爱的+名”来应付所有情况。

2. Get Straight to the Point

直奔主题

Your correspondent won’t want to wade through paragraphs of waffle – so get straight to the point. If you’re writing to someone out of the blue, don’t give them your life story before you make a request.

相信阅读你邮件的人不会愿意仔细浏览你那空洞无聊的长篇大论，所以你需要直奔主题。如果你想写封邮件安慰某个心灵受伤的朋友，开头先把你的建议亮出来，然后再用你的亲身经历来辅助说明。

Getting straight to the point might mean that the first line of your email (after the salutation) looks something like this:

直奔主题意味着邮件内容的第一行应该是这样：

#I’m working on an article about Acme Widgets for XYZ publication, and wondered if you had a few minutes to answer the following three questions.

我现在正在写一篇要交给某某出版社关于极致控件的文章，不知道您有没有时间回答3个问题呢?

#Could you supply me with a quote for the following project?

可否对下面的设计项目进行引证?

#I’d like to discuss the revisions with you. Would Tuesday at 2pm be a good time?

我想和你谈谈修订的事。这周二下午两点您有空吗?

#I’ve attached the documents you requested at our meeting yesterday.

昨天会议上您要求的文件已附上，请查收。

You may well need to include more details, but if you put the important point up front, your email is more likely to get a timely response. If your question comes too far down, the recipient may not even realise that you need a reply.

当然，你需要再增加更多的细节内容。若将邮件重点放到内容的开头，你将收到更加及时的回复信息。如果你的问题在邮件后头，收信人可能都不会意识到你在等他回复。

3. Keep it Short

内容言简意赅

try to keep your email as short as possible. Make the paragraphs short, too – long paragraphs can be difficult to read and take in.

尽可能将你的邮件内容写得简单明了。文章太长不易阅读和吸收。

Do make sure you give enough information for your correspondent to be able to make a decision, if that’s required. You might find that it’s best to offer this as an attachment – you’ll have more flexibility over formatting, and your correspondent can print out the attachment easily.

若对方需要通过你的邮件来做决策，那你一定要在邮件中将相关信息写完整。为了能更灵活地排版，你可以把这些信息作成附件形式，以方便对方将其打印出来。

4. Use Numbered Points

将内容编号

If you’ve got several questions or points to make, it’s very helpful to number them. This makes it easy for the other person to respond to each one, especially if some just require a yes/no response or a single word answer. For instance:

对于那些为了咨询或提供各种问题的邮件，最好将问题一点一点的列举出来，以便于他人对每个问题作答，尤其当某些人更倾向于对问题只回答“是”和“否”的时候。例如：

#Could you let me know:

能否告知：

#1. How much it would cost for the website design

1. 网站设计费用

#2. How much for the website design plus a tri-fold brochure

2. 网页设计加一份三页宣传册的费用

#3. Whether you could complete #2 by the end of April

3. 您能否在四月底完成第二点所述工作?

It’s also useful to list your questions or points as bullets in this way; if you write a single paragraph, some of your questions might get missed.

将你的问题或观点用图标的方式罗列出来是很实用的，倘若你用一段话将几个点全部涵盖，那对方有可能会漏看其中的几点。

5. Re-read and Use Spell-Check

重新阅读一遍，校对拼写错误

A typo or spelling mistake can turn one word into an entirely different one. If you’re using email in a professional capacity, that mistake could be embarrassing – or even offensive. It might alter the whole meaning of your email: a missing “not”, for instance, could potentially cause problems.

排版或拼写错误有时能导致对一个单词的误解。尤其当你用邮件来沟通专业性内容时，这样的错误就很尴尬，甚至有些失礼。它可能改变你整个邮件的意思。比如：少写了个“不”，就可能会引起某些问题。

Spell-check should help you avoid any silly mistakes – but use your eyes and brain too. There are plenty of words that spell-check won’t pick up. If you’re emailing from a device with predictive text and an auto-correct feature, make sure you always re-read what you’ve typed.

因此检查拼写将避免你犯这些低级错误，但这里强调——不仅仅用眼睛检查，还得用大脑思考。有些错误不一定能轻易检查出来。如果你的邮件系统有字句联想功能和自动纠错功能，一定要把写出来的内容再通读检查一遍。

6. Make Your Signature Useful

充分利用邮件签名

Do you have an email signature? (That’s the text that appears automatically at the bottom of your email.) Some people don’t use one at all; others have a funny quote or favorite saying.

你设置过邮件签名吗(它将会在你每次邮件内容的下方自动生成)?有些人从来都没有使用过它，但我们也看过一些非常有意思和哲理的签名。

Whether you’re using email for professional or personal reasons, make your signature useful for both you and your recipient. That might mean:

无论你是为了工作还是私人聊天，加注签名对你和邮件接收者都有好处，因为这意味着可以：

Giving the link to your website

加上你的网页链接

Including your work address and/or phone number

写上你的工作地址或电话号码

Adding links to your social media accounts

注上你的社会媒体工具帐号(例如博客，微博，论坛)

Putting in a line to promote your recent book / blog / product

宣传你最新的书籍，博文或产品

If your email provider allows it, you may even want to create several signatures to use for different purposes (e.g. one for emailing friends, one for new business contacts).

有些邮箱甚至还提供用户根据不同目的设计不同签名的服务(比如：一个对朋友使用，一个对新结识的企业伙伴使用)。

高考英语任务型写作训练练习（一）

读写任务（满分25分）

请阅读以下的短文，然后根据提供的任务说明和写作要求， 写一篇150字左右的英语短文。

（任务说明）

1.概括短文的内容要点（该部分的字数大约60-80）；

2.清楚地陈述你自己的看法；

3.提供具有一定说服力的论据或实例来支持你的观点，可以参照文中的内容，但不能抄袭文中的句子；

4.文章体裁不限，但必须结构合理，内容连贯，有条理性。

（阅读材料）

Almost everyone knows that water covers three-fourths of the earths surface. Most of it， however， is in the oceans and is too salty to drink. Also， some of it is frozen and cannot be used. In fact， less than one percent is left for the use of people， animals and plant life. All through history men have tried to build their homes near the sources of fresh water. Now fresh water is becoming scarce， but more and more is needed because of the increasing number of people in the world. Some industries also use large amounts of fresh water in the production of things such as steel， petroleum， paper and rubber and so on. Scientists estimate that the need for fresh water will have doubled by the year 2003. If they are correct， we must find new ways of saving it or producing it. Some nations have worked on the problem and are already sharing their information with others. They are trying to keep their rivers from becoming polluted. Deep wells are also being dug， and rain water is being collected in huge artificial lakes. In one way or another， they hope to provide enough water to satisfy the needs of their people.

参考范文

With the worldwide increase of population， more and more water is needed. Meanwhile，the water sources are getting polluted by human beings in one way or another. Some nations are taking measures to solve this problem. They even communicate with each other hoping to find better ways to save and produce water to meet the needs of their people.

随着世界范围内的人口增长,越来越需要更多的水。与此同时,水源被污染,人类以一种方式或另一种方式。一些国家正在采取措施来解决这个问题。他们甚至相互沟通希望能找到更好的方法来保存并生成水来满足人民的需要。

On a personal level， to solve the problem with fresh water， both the government and inpiduals should make every effort. For example， for the government， it is urgent to make detailed laws that require businesses and inpiduals to stop polluting the environment and to save water while it is not necessarily used. Besides， education should be offered to all the citizens to raise their awareness of the importance of protecting environment and saving water. As inpiduals， we need to take action to play our own part in our everyday life.

在个人层面上,用淡水来解决这个问题,政府和个人都应该尽一切努力。例如,对于政府来说,迫在眉睫的是做出详细的法律,要求企业和个人停止污染环境,节约用水,而不一定是使用它。除此之外,教育应该提供给所有的公民提高他们的意识保护环境和节约用水的重要性。作为个人,我们需要采取行动来扮演自己的角色在我们的日常生活。

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

一、措辞

1、选择生动准确的词

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

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

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

Five houses burnt down yesterday (specific)

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

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

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

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

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

2、使用英语成语和习语

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

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

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

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

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

3、用词的宽度

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

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

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

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

二、句子的多样化

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

l、长短句交替使用

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

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

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

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

修改后三个句子长短不一，读起来就给人以不同的感觉。

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

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

2、句子开头的多样化

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

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

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

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

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

3、句子结构的多样化

写作中可以通过句型结构的变化来增添文采，强化表现力。如：

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

(平行结构.这类结构整齐、紧凑;句子生动、鲜明，语义贯通、语势强劲有力。)

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

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

(采用倒装句结构后，充分体现出受剥削受压迫的人民解放后扬眉吐气的心情。)

三、观点切题结构合理

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

l.Good health is important to everyone of us.

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

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

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

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

英语四级考试目的是推动大学英语教学大纲的贯彻执行，对大学生的英语能力进行客观、准确的测量，为提高我国大学英语课程的教学质量服务。下面是小编为大家带来的基础薄弱如何进行英语四级写作训练的知识，欢迎阅读。

英语四级写作备考可分为四大步骤：

一、 背诵：

首先认真研究历年四级写作真题，重点研究2001年6月—2005年12月的11次真题，分析近年来四级写作的出题规律和考试重点，从语言、结构、 内容三大层面，认真研读经典写作真题范文：语言方面学习范文中的精彩词汇、词组、句型；结构方面学习范文的框架结构、内在逻辑、关联词、同义替换和代词替换；内容方面学习范文的论点、论据和论证。同时背诵精彩写作范文，要求滚瓜烂熟、脱口而出、多多益善，扎扎实实提高自己的写作实力。历年英语四级六级真题 >>

二、默写：

背诵熟练之后默写下来，仔细对照原文，会发现你默写的文章与原文有一些语法、拼写、标点的区别，这些区别就是你的写作弱点，学习关键在于针锋突破，不要全面出击。这些弱点正是你在考试中扣分的原因所在，把这些弱点意义克服，分数自然就会提高。

三、 中译英：

首先将写作真题范文译为中文，或参考范文的正确译文，然后进行中译英的工作，根据自己的理解把中文译为英文，最后对照英文原文，你会发现你的译文与原文存在较大的差别，这些差别正是你写作低分的症结所在。同样的一个中文句子，仔细对比一下你使用了哪些词汇、词组和句型，原文使用了哪些，这样你的写作水平才会逐渐提高。

四、 写作：

进行完上述工作之后，在考前必须进行写作的工作，只有动笔写作，才会发现自己的问题。可以写5—10篇真题或模拟题，模仿自己曾经背诵过的精彩词汇、词组、句型、框架和范文，写出一篇新的文章。最初不要求速度，但考前一定要进行模考，半小时写出一篇120－150词的文章。写完之后仔细修改其中的语言错误，将其改的更加精彩。

英语写作基础不太好的四级考生，必须按照上述步骤严格进行；基础较好的考生学习顺序正好相反，首先写作，直接写作英语四级真题；其次中译英，在研读原文之前，进行中译英的工作，译完对比，找出差距；然后背诵；最后默写。同时可以准备自己的写作框架，应用文和论说文分别形成固定的写法，积累精彩句型。

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

英文日记和汉语日记一样，是用来记叙一天中所发生的有意义的事情或对将来的打算等。以下是小编整理的英语日记写作的格式，欢迎阅读！

日记可分为记事、议论、描写及抒情等。记事型是用英语记述当天自己生活学习中发生的事情。议论型是对生活中的某一事情或情况现象谈自己的看法，发表议论。描写型或抒情型，则是对某人物事物的特征做细致的描述，或针对某事物抒发自己的感情。

1、格式：

一般是在左上角记上当天日期，星期，时间的排列法与书信一致，星期写在日期之后；右上角写上当天的天气情况，表示天气情况的词一般是形容词，如：fine（晴朗的），cold（寒冷的），snowy（下雪），sunny（阳光充足的），rainy（下雨的），cloudy（阴天的）等。日记的小标题写在下一行，也可省略不写。

2、时态：

写日记的时间一般是在下午、晚上，有时也可以在第二天补写，因此，日记中所记述的事情通常发生在过去，常用一般过去时；但当记述天气、描写景色或展望未来时，可以用一般现在时或一般将来时。

写法大致和写汉语日记相同，都是在正文之前有日期、星期几及当天的天气情况。注意内容表达要清楚连贯、准确。

扩展阅读：

日期格式用月日年（美式）或日月年（英式）都可以

1. 年、月、日都写时，通常以月、日、年为顺序，月份可以缩写，日和年用逗号隔开，例如：december 18, xx或者dec. 18, xx。

2. 如果要写星期，星期要紧挨日期，它既可以放在日期前面，也可以放在日期后面，星期也可以省略不写。星期和日期之间不用标点，但要空一格，星期也可缩写，例如：thursday dec. 18, xx或dec.18，xx thursday

3. 天气情况必不可少，天气一般用一个形容词如:sunny, fine, rainy, snowy等表示。天气通常位于日记的右上角。

下面的材料旨在丰富学生在是非问题写作方面的思想和语言，考生在复习时可以先分类阅读这些篇章，然后尝试写相关方面的作文题。

对于素材中用黑体字的部分，特别建议你熟读，背诵，因为它们在语言和观点上都值得吸收。学习语言的人应该明白，表达能力和思想深度都靠日积月累，潜移默化。从某种意义上说，提高英语写作能力无捷径可走，你必须大段背诵英语文章才能逐渐形成语感和用英语进行表达的能力。这一关，没有任何人能代替你过。

因此，建议你下点苦功夫，把背单词的精神拿出来背诵文章。何况，并不是要求你背了之后永远牢记在心：你可以这个星期背，下个星期忘。这没有关系，相信你的大脑具有神奇的能力。背了工具箱里的文章后，你会惊讶的发现：I can think in English now！

1.?????? Proverbs

1. A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that individuality is the key to success.

2. The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make one’s mind a pleasant place in which to spend one’s time.

3. Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.

4. The classroom--not the trench--is the frontier of freedom now and forevermore.

5. Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

6. It is the purpose of education to help us become autonomous, creative, inquiring people who have the will and intelligence to create our own destiny.

7. You see, real ongoing, lifelong education doesn’t answer questions; it provokes them.

8. People will pay more to be entertained than educated.

9.the most important function of education at any level is to develop the personality of the individual and the significance of his life to himself and to others. This is the basic architecture of a life; the rest is ornamentation and decoration of the structure.

10. The essence of our efforts to see that every child has a chance must be to assure each as equal opportunity, not to become equal, but to become different-to realize whatever unique potential of body, mind, and spirit he or she possesses.

11. A great teacher never strives to explain his vision-he simply invites you to stand beside him and see for yourself.

12. If you can read and don’, you are an illiterate by choice.

2. Damaging Research

A study by National Parent-Teacher Organization revealed that in the average American school, eighteen negatives are identified for every positive that is pointed out. The Wisconsin study revealed that when children enter the first grade, 80 percent of them feel pretty good themselves, but by the time they get to the sixth grade, only 10 percent of them have good self-images.

3. Education and Citizenship

An important aspect of education in the United States is the relationship between education and citizenship. Throughout its history this nation has emphasized public education as a means of transmitting democratic values, creating equality of opportunity, and preparing new generations of citizens to function in society. In addition, the schools have been expected to help shape society itself. During the 1950s, for example, efforts to combat racial segregation focused on the schools. Later, when the Soviet Union launched the first orbiting satellite, American schools and colleges came under intense pressure and were offered many incentives to improve their science and mathematics programs so that the nations would not fall behind the Soviet Union in scientific and technological capabilities.

Education is often viewed as a tool for solving social problems, especially social inequality. The schools, t is thought, can transform young people from vastly different backgrounds into competent, upwardly mobile adults. Yet these goals seem almost impossible to attain. In recent years, in fact, public education has been at the center of numerous controversies arising from the gap between the ideal and the reality. Part of the problem is that different groups in society have different have different expectations. Some feel that children should be taught basic job-related skills; still others believe education should not only prepare children to compete in society but also help them maintain their cultural identity (and, in the case of Hispanic children, their language). On the other hand, policymakers concerned with education emphasize the need to increase the level of student achievement and to improve parents in their children’s education.

Some reformers and critics have called attention to the need to link formal schooling with programs designed to address social problems. Sociologist Charles Moscos, for example, is a leader in the movement to expand programs like the Peace Corps, Vista, and Outward Bound into a system of voluntary national service. National service, as Moscos defines it, would entail “the full-time undertaking of public duties by young people whether as citizen soldiers or civilian servers-who are paid subsistence wages” and serve for at least one year. In return for this period of service, the volunteers would receive assistance in paying for college or other educational expenses.

Advocates of national service and school-to-work programs believe that education does not have to be confined to formal schooling. In devising strategies to provide opportunities for young people to serve their society, they emphasize the educational value of citizenship experiences gained outside the classroom. At this writing there is little indication that national service will become a new educational institution in the United States, although the concept is steadily gaining support among educators and social critics.

4. The Teacher’s Role

Given the undeniable importance of classroom experience, sociologists have done a considerable amount of research on what goes on in the classroom. Often they start from the premise that, along with the influence of peers, students’ experiences in the classroom are of central importance to their later development. One study examined the impact of a single first-grade teacher on her students’ subsequent adult status. The surprising results of this study have important implications. It is evident that good teachers can make a big difference in children’s lives, a fact that gives increased urgency to the need to improve the quality of primary-school teaching. The reforms carried out by educational leaders like James Comer suggest that when good teaching is combined with high levels of parental involvement the results can be even more dramatic.

Because the role of the teacher is to change the learner in some way, the teacher-student relationship is an important part of education. Sociologists have pointed out that this relationship is asymmetrical or unbalanced, with the teacher being in a position of authority and the student having little choice but to passively absorb the information provided by the teacher. In other words, in conventional classrooms there is little opportunity for the students to become actively involved in the learning process. On the other hand, students often develop strategies for undercutting the teacher’s authority: mentally withdrawing, interrupting, and the like. Hence, much current research assumes that students and teachers influence each other instead of assuming that the influence is always in a single direction.

5. Education Philosophy

For the past fifty years our schools have operated on the theories of John Dewey (1859-1953), an American educator and writer. Dewey believed hat the school’s job was to enhance the natural development of the growing child, rather than to pour information, for which the child had no context, into him or her. In the Dewey system, the child becomes the active agent in his own education, rather than a passive receptacle for facts.

Consequently, American schools are very enthusiastic about teaching “life skills” –logical thinking, analysis, creative problem--solving. The actual content of the lessons is secondary to the process, which is supposed to train the child to be able to handle whatever life may present, including all the unknowns of the future. Students and teachers both regard pure memorization as an uncreative and somewhat vulgar.

In addition to “life skills”, schools are assigned to solve the ever growing stoke of social problems. Racism, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, drug use, reckless driving, and are just a few of the modern problems that have appeared on the school curriculum.

This all contributes to a high degree of social awareness in American youngsters.

6. Student Life

To the students, the most notable difference between elementary school and the higher levels is that in junior high they start “changing classes”. This means that rather than spending the day in one classroom, they switch classrooms to meet their different teachers. This gives them three or four minutes between classes in the hallways, where a great deal of the important social action of high school traditionally takes place. Students have lockers in these hallways, around which thy congregate.

Society in general does not take the business of studying very seriously. Schoolchildren have a great deal of free time, which they are encouraged to fill with extracurricular activities—sports, clubs, cheerleading, scouts—supposed to inculcate such qualities as leadership, sportsmanship, ability to organize, etc. those who don’t become engaged in such activities or have afterschool jobs have plenty of opportunity to “hang out”, listen to teenager music, and watch television.

Compared to other nations, American students do not have much homework. Studies also show that American parents have lower expectations for their children’s success in school than other nationalities do. (Historically, there has not been much correlation between American school success and success in later life.) “He’s just not a scholar”, the American parents might say, content that their son is on the swim team and doesn’t take drugs. (Some of the young do choose to study hard, for reason of their own, such as determining that the road to riches lies through Harvard Business School.)

What American schools do effectively teach is the competitive method. In innumerable ways children are pitted against each other—whether in classroom discussion, spelling bees, reading groups, or tests. Every classroom is expected to produce a scattering of A’s and F’s (teachers often grade A=excellent; B=good; C=average; D=poor; and F=failed). A teacher who gives all A’s looks too soft—so students are aware that they are competing for the limited number of top marks.

Foreign students sometimes don’t understand that copying from other people’s papers or from books is considered wrong and taken seriously. Here, it is important to show that you have done your own work and are displaying your own knowledge. It is more important than helping your friends to pass, whom we think do not deserve to pass unless they can provide their own answers. Group effort goes against the competitive grain, and American students do not study together as many Asians do. Many Asians in this country consider their group study habits a large contributor to their school success.

7. Adult Education

After complaining about many aspects of American life, a 40-year-old woman from Hong Kong concluded, “But where else could someone my age go back to school and get a degree in social work? Here you can change your whole life, start a new business, do what you really want to do.”

So at least to this person, school requirements weren’t inhibiting. And to millions of others, adult education is the path to a new career, or if not to a new career, to a new outlook. Schools generally encourage the older person who wants to start anew, and besides regular classes, schedule evening classes in special programs. Today there are so many people of retirement age in college that it is no longer remarkable.

8. Moral Relativism in American

Improving American education requires not doing new things but doing (and remembering) some good old things. At the time of our nation’s founding, Thomas Jefferson listed the requirements for a sound education in the Report of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia. In this landmark statement on American education, Jefferson wrote of the importance of education and writing, and of reading history, and geography. But he also emphasized the need “to instruct the mass of our citizens in these, their rights, interests, and duties, as men and citizens.” Jefferson believed education should aim at the improvement of both one’s “morals” and “faculties”. That has been the dominant view of the aims of American education for over two centuries. But a number of changes, most of them unsound, have diverted schools from these great pursuits. And the story of the loss of the school’s original moral mission explains a great deal.

Starting in the early seventies, “values clarification” programs started turning up in schools all over America. According to this philosophy, the schools were not to take part in their time-honored task of transmitting sound moral values; rather, they were to allow the child to “clarify” his own values (which adults, including parents, had no “rights” to criticize). The “values clarification” movement didn’t clarify values; it clarified wants and desires. This form of moral relativism said, in effect, that no set of values was right or wrong; everybody had an equal right to his own values; and all values were subjective, relative, and personal. This destructive view took hold with a vengeance.

In 1985 The York Times published an article quoting New York area educators, in slavish devotion to this new view, proclaiming, “They deliberately avoid trying to tell students what is ethically right and wrong.” The article told of one counseling session involving fifteen high school juniors and seniors. In the course of that session a student concluded that a fellow student had been foolish to return one thousand dollars she found in a purse at school. According to the article, when the youngsters asked the counselor’s opinion, “He told them he believed the girl had done the right thing, but that, of course, he would not try to force his values on them. ‘If I come from the position of what is wrong,’ he explained, ‘then I’m not their counselor.’”

Once upon a time, a counselor offered counselor, and he knew that an adult does not form character in the young by taking a stance of neutrality toward questions of right and wrong or by merely offering “choices” or “options”.

In response to the belief that adults and educators should teach children sound morals, one can expect from some quarters indignant objections (I’ve heard one version of it expressed countless times over the years): “Who are you to say what’s important?” or “Whose standards and judgments do we use?”

The correct response, it seems to me, is, is we ready to do away with standards and judgments? Is anyone going to argue seriously that a life of cheating and swindling is as worthy as a life of honest, hard work? Is anyone (with the exception of some literature professors at our elite universities) going to argue seriously the intellectual corollary, that a Marvel comic book is as good as Macbeth? Unless we are willing to embrace some pretty silly position, we’ve got to admit the need for moral and intellectual standards. The problem is that some people tend to regard anyone who would pronounce a definitive judgment as an unsophisticated Philistine or a closed-minded “elitist” trying to impose his view on everybody else.

The truth of the real world is that without standards and judgments, there can be no progress. Unless we are prepared to say irrational things—that nothing can be proven more valuable than anything else or that everything is equally worthless—we must ask the normative question. It may come, as a surprise to those who fell that to be “progressive” is to be value-neutral. But as Matthew Amold said, “the world is forwarded by having its attention fixed on the best things” and if the world can’t decide what the best things are, at least to some degree, then it follows that progress, and character, is in trouble. We shouldn’t be reluctant to declare that some things, some lives, books, ideas, and values are better than others. It is the responsibility of the schools to teach these better things.

At one time, we weren’t so reluctant to teach them. In the mid-nineteenth century, a diverse, widespread group of crusaders began to work for the public support of what was then called the “common school”, the forerunner of the public school. They were to be charged with the mission of school felt that the nation could fulfill its destiny only if every new generation was taught these values together in a common institution.

The leaders of the common school movement were mainly citizens who were prominent in their communities—businessmen, ministers, local civic and government officials. These people saw the schools as upholders of standards of individual morality and small incubators of civic and personal virtue; the founders of the public schools had faith that public education could teach good moral and civic character from a common ground of American values.

But in the past quarter century or so, some of the so-called experts became experts of value neutrality, and moral education was increasingly left in their hands. The commonsense view of parents and the publicthat schools should reinforce rather than undermine the values of home, family, and country, was increasingly rejected.

There are those today still that claim we are now too diverse a nation, that we consist of too many competing convictions and interests to instill common values. They are wrong. Of course we are a diverse people. We have always been a diverse people. And as Madison wrote in FederalistNo.10, the competing, balancing interests of a diverse people can help ensure the survival of liberty. But there are values that all American citizens share and that we should want all American students to know and to make their own: honesty, fairness, self-discipline, fidelity to task, friends, and family, personal responsibility, love of country, and belief in the principles of liberty, equality, and the freedom to practice one’s faith. The explicit teaching of these values is the legacy of the common schools, and it is a legacy to which we must return.

9. Schools Should Teach Values

People often said, “Yes, we should teach these values, but how do we teach them?” this question deserves a candid response, one that isn’t given often enough. It is by exposing our children to good character and inviting its imitation that we will transmit to them a moral foundation. This happens when teachers and principals, by their words and actions, embody sound convictions. As Oxford’s Mary Warnock has written, “You cannot teach morality without being committed to morality yourself; and you cannot be committed to morality yourself without holding that some things are right and others wrong.” The theologian Martin Buber wrote that the educator is distinguished from all other influences “by his will to take part in the stamping of character and by his consciousness that he represents in the eyes of the growing person a certain selection of what is, the selection of what is ‘right’, of what should be.” It is in this will, Buber says, in this clear standing for something, that the “vocation as an educator finds its fundamental expression.”

There is no escaping the fact that young people need as example principals and teachers who know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, and who themselves exemplify high moral purpose.

As Education Secretary, I visited a class at Waterbury Elementary School in Waterbury, Vermont, and asked the students, “Is this a good school?” They answered, “Yes, this is a good school.” I asked them, “Why?” Among other things, one eight-year-old said, “The principal Mr. Riegel, makes good rules and everybody obeys them.” So I said, “Give me an example.” And another answered, “You can’t climb on the pipes in the bathroom. We don’t climb on the pipes and the principal doesn’t either.”

This example is probably too simple to please a lot of people who want to make the topic of moral education difficult, but there is something profound in the answer of those children, something education should pay more attention to. You can’t expect children to take messages about rules or morality seriously unless they see adults taking those rules seriously in their day-to-day affairs. Certain must be said, certain limits lay down, and certain examples set. There is no other way.

We should also do a better job at curriculum selection. The research shows that most “values education” exercises and separate courses in “moral reasoning” tend not to affect children’s behavior; if anything, they may leave children morally adrift. Where to turn? I believe our literature and our history are a rich quarry of moral literacy. We should mine that quarry. Children should have at their disposal a stock of examples illustrating what we believe to be right and wrong, good and bad—examples illustrating what are morally right and wrong can indeed be known and that there is a difference.

What kind of stories, historical events, and famous lives am I talking about? If we want our children to know about honesty, we should teach them about Abe Lincoln walking three miles to return six cents and conversely, about Aesop’s shepherd boy who cried wolf if we want them to know about courage, we should teach them about Joan of Arc, Horatius at the bridge, and Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. If we want them to know about persistence in the face of adversity, they should know about the voyages of Columbus and the character of Washington during the Civil War. And our youngest should be told about the Little Engine That Could. If we want them to know about respect for the law, they should understand why Socrates told Crito: “No, I must submit to the decree of Athens.” If we want our children to respect the rights of others, they should read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’ “Letter from Birmingham jail.” From the Bible they should know about Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi, Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers, Jonathan’s friendship with David, the Good Samaritan’s kindness toward a stranger, and David’s cleverness and courage in facing Goliath.

These are only a few of the hundreds of examples we can call on. And we need not get into issues like nuclear war, abortion, creationism, or euthanasia. This may come as a disappointment to some people, but the fact is that the formation of character in young people is educationally a task different from, and prior to, the discussion of the great, difficult controversies of the day. First things come first. We should teach values the same way we teach other things: one step at a time. We should not use the fact that there are many difficult and controversial moral questions as an argument against basic instruction in the subject.

After all, we do not argue against teaching physics because laser physics is difficult, against teaching American history because there are heated disputes about the Founders’ intent. Every field has its complexities and its controversies. And every field has its basics, its fundamentals. So they are too with forming character and achieving moral literacy. As any parent knows, teaching character is a difficult task. But it is a crucial task, because we want our children to be healthy, happy, and successful but decent, strong, and good. None of this happens automatically; there is no genetic transmission of virtue. It takes the conscious, committed efforts of adults. It takes careful attention.

10. College Pressures

Mainly I try to remind that the road ahead is a long one and that it will have more unexpected turns than they think. There will be plenty of time to change jobs, change careers, change whole attitudes and approaches. They don not want to hear such liberating news. They want a map—right now – that they can follow unswervingly to career security, financial security, Social Security and, presumably, a prepaid grave.

What I wish for all students is some release from the clammy grip of the future. I wish them a chance to savor each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a grim preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as instructive as victory and is not the end of the world.

My wish, of course, is na?ve. One of the national gods venerated in our media—the million-dollar athlete, the wealthy executive—and glorified in our praise of possessions. In the presence of such a potent state religion, the young are growing up old.

I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. It is easy to look around for villains—to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, and the students for driving themselves too hard. But there are no villains: only victims.

“In the late 1960s.” one dean told me. “The typical question that I got from students was ‘Why is there so much suffering in the world’ or ‘how I can make a contribution?’ Today it’s ‘Do you think it would look better for getting into law school if I did a double major in history and political science, or just majored in one of them?’” many other deans confirmed this pattern. One said: “They are trying to find an edge—the intangible something that will look better on paper if two students are about equal.”

Note the emphasis on looking better. The transcript has become a sacred document, the passport to security. How one appears on paper is more important than how one appears in person. A is for Admirable and B is for Borderline, even though, in Yale’s official system of grading, A means “excellent” and B means “very good.” Today, looking very good is no longer good enough, especially for students who hope to go on to law school or medical school. They know that entrance into the better schools will be an entrance into the better law firms and better medical practices where they will make a lot of money. They also know that the odds are harsh. Yale Law School, for instance, matriculates 170students from an applicant pool of 3,700; Harvard enrolls 550 from a pool of 7,000.

It’s all very well for those of us who write letters of recommendation for our students to stress the qualities of humanity that will make them good lawyers or doctors. And it’s nice to think that admission officers are ready reading our letters and looking for the extra dimension of commitment or concern. Still, it would be hard for a student not to visualize these officers shuffling so many transcripts studded with As that they regard a B as positively shameful.

The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just want to graduate and get a job. Long gone are the days of the “gentleman’s C.” when students journeyed through college with a certain relaxation, sampling a wide variety of courses-music, art, philosophy, classics, anthropology, poetry, religion—that would send them out as liberally educated men and women. If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates who have this range and curiosity than those who narrowly pursued safe subjects and high grades. I know countless students whose inquiring minds exhilarate me. I like to hear the play of their ideas. I do not know if they are getting As or Cs, and I do not care. I also like them as people. The country needs them, and they will find satisfying jobs. I tell them to relax. They cannot.

Nor can I blame them. They live in a brutal economy. Tuition, room, and board at most private colleges now come to at least $7,000, not counting books and fees. This might seem to suggest that the colleges are getting rich. But they are equally battered by inflation. Tuition covers only 60 percent of what it costs to educate a student, and ordinarily the remainder comes from what college receives in endowments, grants, and gifts. Now, the remainder keeps being swallowed by the cruel costs—higher every year—of just opening the doors. Heating oil is up. Insurance is up. Postage is up. Health-premium costs are up. Everything is up. Deficits are up. We are witnessing in American the creation of a brotherhood of paupers—colleges, parents, and students, joined by the common bond of debt.

Today it is not unusual for a student, even if he works part time at college and full time during the summer, to accrue $5,000 in loans after four years—loans that he must start to repay within one year after graduation. Exhorted at commencement to go forth into the world, he is already behind as he goes forth. How could he not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning? I have used “he,” incidentally, only for brevity. Women at Yale are under no less pressure to justify their expensive education to themselves, their parents, and society. In fact, they are probably under more pressure. For although they leave college superbly equipped to bring fresh leadership to traditionally male jobs, society has not yet caught up with this fact.

Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably, the two are deeply intertwined.

I see many students taking pre-medical courses with joyless tenacity. They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. It saddens me because I know tem in other corners of their life as cheerful people.

“Do you want to medical school?” I asked them.

“I guess so,” they say, without conviction, or “Not really.”

“Then why are you going?”

“Well, my parents want me to be a doctor. They are paying all this money and …”

Poor students, poor parents, they are caught in one of the oldest webs of love and duty and guilt. The parents mean will; they are trying to steer their sons and draughts toward a secure future. But the sons and daughter want to major in history or classics or philosophy—subjects with no “practical” value. Where’s the payoff on the humanities? It’s not easy to persuade such loving parents that the humanities do indeed pay off. The intellectual faculties developed by studying subjects like history and classics—an ability to synthesize and relate, to weigh cause and effect, to see events in perspective—are just the faculties that make creative leaders in business or almost any general field. Still, many fathers would rather put their money on courses that point toward specific profession—courses that are pre-law, pre-medical, pre-business, or, as I sometimes heard it put, “pre-rich.”

But the pressure on students is severe. They are truly torn. One part of them feels obliged to fulfill their parents’ expectations; after all, their parents are older and presumably wiser. Another part tells them that the expectations that are right for their parents are not right for them.

I know a student who wants to be an artist. She is very obviously an artist and will be a good one—she has already had several modest local exhibits. Meanwhile she is growing as a well-round person and taking humanistic subjects that will enrich the inner resources out of which her art will grow. But her father is strongly opposed. He thinks that an artist is a “dumb” thing to be. The student vacillates and tries to please everybody. She keeps up with her art somewhat furtively and takes some of the “dumb” courses her father wants her to take—at least they are dumb courses for her. She is a free spirit on a campus of tense students—no small achievement in it—and she deserves to follow her muse.

Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also intertwined, and they begin almost at the beginning of freshman year.

“I had a freshman student I’ll call Linda,” one dean told me, “who came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate, Barbara, was much brighter and studied all the time. I could not tell her that Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same thing about Linda.”

The story is almost funny—except that it is not. It is symptomatic of all the pressure put together. When every student thinks every other student is working harder and doing better, the only solution is to study harder still. I see students going off to the library every night after dinner and coming back when it closes at midnight. I wish they would sometimes forget about their peers and go to a movie. I hear the clacking of typewriters in the hours before dawn. I see the tension in their eyes when exams are approaching and papers are due: “Will I get everything done?”

Probably they won’t. They will get blocked. They will sleep. They will oversleep. They will bug out.

Part of the problem is that they are expected to do. A professor will assign five page papers. Several students will start writing ten page papers to impress him. Then more students will write ten page papers, and a few will raise the ante to fifteen. Pity the poor student who is still just doing the assignment.

“Once you have twenty or thirty percent of the student population deliberately overexerting,” one dean points out, “It’s bad for everybody. When a teacher gets more and more effort from his class, the student who is doing normal work can be perceived as not doing well. The tactic work, psychologically.”

Why cannot the professor just cut back and not accept longer papers? He can, and he probably will. But by then the term will be half over and the damage done. Grade fever is highly contagious and not easily reversed. Besides, the professor’s main concern is with his course. He knows his students only in relation to the course and does not know that they are also overexerting in their other courses. Nor is it really his business. He did not sign up for dealing with the student as a whole person and with all the emotional baggage the student brought along from home. That’s what deans, masters, chaplains, and psychiatrists are for.

To some extent this is nothing new: a certain number of professors have always been self-contained islands of scholarship and shyness, more comfortable with books than with people. But the new pauperism has widened the gap still further, for professors who actually like to spend time with students do not have as much time to spend. They are also overexerting. If they are young, they are busy trying to publish in order not to perish, hanging by their figure nails onto a shrinking profession.

If they are old and tenured, they are buried under the duties of administering departments—as departmental chairmen or members of committees—that have been thinned out by the budgetary axe.

Ultimately it will be the students’ own business to break the circles in which they are trapped. They are too young to be prisoners of their parents’ dreams and their classmates’ fears. They must be jolted into believing into themselves as unique men and women who have the power to shape their own future.

“Violence is being done to the undergraduate experience,” says Carlos Hortas. “College should be open-ended: at the end it should open many, many roads. Instead, students are choosing their goal in advance, and their choices narrow as they go along. It’s almost as if they think that the country has been codified in the type of jobs that exist-that they’ve got to fit into certain slots. Therefore, fit into the best paying slot.”

“They ought to take chances. Not taking chances will lead to life of colorless mediocrity. They’ll be comfortable. But something in the spirit will be missing.”

I have painted too drab a portrait of today’s students, making them seem a solemn lot. That is only half of their story; if they were so dreary I wouldn’t so thoroughly enjoy their company. The other half is that they are easy to like. They are quick to laugh and to offer friendship. They are not introverts. They are usually kind and are more considerate of one another than any student generation I have known.

Nor are they so obsessed with their studies that they avoid sports and extracurricular activities. On the contrary, they juggle their crowded hours to play on a variety of teams, perform with musical and dramatic groups, and write for campus publications. But this in turn is one more cause of anxiety. There are too many choices. Academically, they have 1,300 courses to select from; outside class they have to decide how much spare time they can spare and how to spend it.

This means that they engage in fewer extracurricular pursuits than their predecessors did. If they want to row on the crew and play in the symphony they will eliminate one; in the ‘60s they would have done both. They also tend to choose activities that are self-limiting. Drama, for instance, is flourishing in all twelve of Yale’s residential colleges, as it never has before. Students hurl themselves into these productions—as actors, directors, carpenters, and technicians—with a dedication to create the best possible play, knowing that the day will come when the run will end and they can get back to their studies.

They also cannot afford to be the willing slave of organizations like the Yale Daily News. Last spring at the one-hundredth anniversary banquet of that paper—who’s past chairmen include such once and future kings as Potter Stewart, Kingman Brewster, and William F. Buckley, Jr.—much was made of the fact that the editorial staff used to be small and totally committed and that “newsies” routinely worked fifty hours a week. In effect they belonged to a club; Newsies is how they defined themselves at Yale. Today’s students will one or two articles a week, when he can, and he defines himself as a student. I’ve never heard the word Newsie except at the banquet.

If I have described the modern undergraduate primarily as a driven creature who is largely ignoring the blithe spirit inside who keeps trying to come out and play, it’s because that’s where the crunch is, not only at Yale but throughout American education. It’s why I think we should all be worried about the values that are nurturing a generation so fearful of risk and so goal-obsessed at such an early age.

I tell students that there is no one “right” way to get ahead—that each of them is a different person, starting from a different point and bound for a different destination. I tell neither them that change is a tonic and that all the slots are not codified nor the frontiers closed. One of my ways of telling them is to invite men and women who have achieved success outside the academic world to come and talk informally with my students during the year. They are heads of companies or ad agencies, editors of magazines, politicians, public officials, television magnates, labor leaders, business executives, Broadway products, artists, writers, economists, photographers, scientists, historians—a mixed bag of achievers.

I asked them to say a few words about how they got started. The students assume that they started in their present profession and knew all along that it was what they wanted to do. Luckily for me, most of them got into their field by a circuitous route, to their surprise, after many detours. The students are startled. They can hardly conceive of a career that was not pre-planned. They can hardly imagine allowing the hand of God or chance to nudge them down some unforeseen trail.

11. To Err Is Wrong

In the summer of 1979, Boston Red Sox first baseman Carl Yastrzemski became the fifteenth player in baseball history to reach the three thousand hit plateaus. This event drew a lot of media attention, and for about a week prior to the attainment of this goal, hundreds of reports covered Yaz’s every more. Finally, one reporter asked, “Hey Yaz, aren’t you afraid all of this attention will go to your head?” Yastrzemski replied, “I look at this way: in my career I’ve been up to bat over ten thousand times. That means I’ve been unsuccessful at the plate over seven thousand times. That fact alone keeps me from getting a swollen head.”?

Most people consider success and failure as opposites, but they are actually both products of the same process. As Yaz suggest, an activity that produces a hit may also produce a miss. It is the same with creative thinking; the same energy that generates good creative ideas also produces errors.

Many people, however, are not comfortable with errors. Our educational system, based on “the right answer” belief, cultivates our thinking in another, more conservative way. From an early age, we are taught that right answers are good and incorrect answers are bad. This value is deeply embedded in the incentive system used in most schools:

Right over 90% of the time = “A”

Right over 80% of the time = “B~”

Right over 70% of the time = “C~” Right over 60% of the time = “D~” Less than 60% correct, you fail.

From this we learn to be right as often as possible and to keep our mistakes to a minimum. We learn, in other words, that “to err is wrong.

Playing It Safe

With this kind of attitude, you aren’t going to be taking too many chances. If you learn that failing even a litter penalizes you (e.g., being wrong only 15% of the time garners you only a “B” performance), you learn not to make mistakes. And more important, you learn not to put yourself to situation where you might fall. This leads to conservative thought pattern designed to avoid the stigma our society puts on “failure”.

I have a friend who recently graduated from college with a Master’s degree in Journalism. For the last six month, she has been trying to find a job, but to no avail. I talked with her about situation, and realized that her problem is that she doesn’t know how to fail. She went through eighteen years of schooling to try any approaches where she might fail. She has been conditioned to believe that failure is bad in and of itself, rather than a potential stepping-stone to new ideas.

Look around. How many middle managers, housewives, administrators, teachers, and other people do you see who are to try anything new because of this failure? Most of us have learned not to make mistakes in public. As a result, we remove ourselves from many learning experience except for those occurring in the most private of circumstances.

Different Logic

From a practical point of view, “to err is wrong” makes sense. Our survival in the everyday world requires us to perform thousand of small tasks without failure. Think about it: you wouldn’t last very long if you were to step out in front of traffic or stick your hand a pot of boiling water. In addition, engineers whose bridges collapse, stock brokers who lose money for their clients, and copywriters whose ad campaigns decrease sales won’t keep their jobs very long.

Nevertheless, too great an adherence to the belief “to err is wrong” can greatly undermine your attempts to generate new ideas. If you are more concerned with producing right answers than generating original ideas, you’ll probably make uncritical use of the rules, formulae, and procedures used to obtain these right answers. By doing this, you’ll by-pass the germinal phase of the creative process, and thus spend litter time testing assumptions, challenging the rules, asking what-if questions, or just playing around with the problem. All of these techniques will produce some incorrect answers, but in the germinal phase errors are viewed as a necessary by-product of creative thinking. As Yaz would put it, “if you want the hits, be prepared for the misses.” That’s the way the game of life goes.

Errors as Stepping Stones

Whenever an error pops up, the usual response is “Jeez, another screw up, what went wrong this time?” the creative thinker, on the other hand, will realize the potential value of errors, and perhaps say something like, “Would you look at that! Where can it lead our thinking?” and then he or she will go on to use the error as a stepping stone to a new idea. As a matter of fact, the whole history of discovery is filed with people who used erroneous assumptions and failed ideas as stepping-stones to new ideas. Columbus thought he was finding a shorter route to India. Johannes Kepler stumbled on to the idea of interplanetary gravity because of assumptions that were right for the wrong reasons. And, Thomas Edison knew 1800 ways not to build a light bulb.

The following story about the automotive genius Charles Kettering exemplifies the spirit of working through erroneous assumptions to good ideas. In 1912, when the automobile industry was just beginning to grow, Kettering was interested in improving gasoline engine efficiency. The problem he faced was“knockthe phenomenon in which gasoline takes too long to burn in the cylinder-thereby reducing efficiency.

Kettering began searching for ways to eliminate the “knock.” He thought to him, “How can I get the gasoline to combust in the cylinder at an earlier time?” the key concept here is “early”. Searching for analogous situations, he looked around for models of “things that happen early.” He thought of historical models, physical models, and biological models. Finally, he remembered a particular plant, the trailing arbutus, which “happens early,” i.e., it blooms in the snow (“earlier” than other plants). One of this plant’s chief characteristics is its’ red leaves, which help the plant retain light at certain wavelengths. Kettering figured that it must be the red color, which made the trailing arbutus bloom earlier.

Now came the critical step in Kettering’s chain of thought. He asked himself, “How can I make the gasoline red?” perhaps I’ll put red dye in the gasoline—maybe that’ll make it combust earlier.” He looked around his workshop, and found that he didn’t have any red dye. But he did happen to have some iodine—perhaps that would do. He added the iodine to the gasoline and, lo and behold, the engine didn’t “knock”.

[英语作文写作的需要背诵的部分

一、描述图画

图画作文对图画的描述应在第一段进行，且最好在首句即开始。此类作文大部分是一幅图，也会有两幅图出现的情况。如果出现两幅图，则很有可能是突显对比的情况。

图画上可能没有任何文字，也可能在上面出现了一句话，也可以单个人物说话或两个人物对话，也可能在图画外写了总结性的一句话。大家注意，这一句话或两句话一般是非常重要的，应予译出。

一般说来，对图画的描写不必过长，应以简练、准确为标准。

二、图画类作文结构分析

我们想象中的最典型最理想的图画题提纲应该是下面这样：

1. 描述图画

2. 推导绘画者的意图

3. 做出评论

对于这一提纲我们来做具体分析，其中第三点更要细致研究。首先由图画引出一种社会现象或社会问题，可以是好的，也可以是不好的。在推导绘画者的意图时多是展开说此现象或问题的表现，以证明其引人注目。还有一种可能性是说此现象或问题产生的原因，提纲可直接列出，或还用上述提纲。这时可把简单意图推导直接放到第一段描述图画之后，而在第二段中说原因。

第三段做出评论，有可能只是简单评论、深化主题就结束，但这种可能性越来越小了。这一部分很可能说的是办法，不好的事情就是如何解决的办法，好的事情就是如何进一步发展的方法。

通过上述列表，我们可以看出，多年以来，真实的提纲是怎样一步步地向我们想象中的理想模式靠近的。对于提纲里面出现的变化和规律，我们来分析一下。

我们仔细分析，会发现历年考研真题基本上都呈现"现象或问题——原因解释——解决办法"这样的模式，但变化非常多。因为我们谈论的既可以是一件值得弘扬的好事，也可能是一个令人忧心忡忡的社会问题;针对后者我们极有可能需要提出做法;而对于前者，可能解释一下就结束了，也可能要写出相应的做法。

综上所述，可以看出，比起图表作文来，图画作文要更灵活，更富于变化。我们一定要多练习，以达到一看到图画(含图中和图边文字)和提纲(有时有文章标题)就能有效地审题解题，构造出合理的具体段落的目的。

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

2005年英语考纲有重大变化，其中之一就是作文考查的变化。新增加一篇小作文，使作文考查由一篇变为两篇，而原来的大作文的字数也由“不少于200字”调整为“150至200字”，满分20分。新增的作文是一篇100字左右的应用性短文，文体包括有信件、便笺、备忘录等，满分10分。既然是新增题型，就不会太难，但不好预测文体，这就要求考生复习时力求面面俱到，掌握写作规律及注意事项，尤其是对常见的应用文体如书信等

大作文的写作一般会给考生写作提纲，或图表，图画，或图文并茂。命题方式虽然多样，但题目涉及面往往是考生比较熟悉的内容，目的是测定考生语言的实际应用能力。要求表达清楚，文字连贯，中心突出，内容丰富，句式多变，句子结构和用词正确。

语言的应用能力不可能一蹴而就，必须厚积薄发，必须经过长期的实践锻炼。在提高英语写作能力方面，我觉得：一是要背大量的优秀范文，整段整篇地背，并转换为自己的语言，写作时自己能随心所欲支配。考试时避免套用以前死记硬背的几个范文，把一些不达意的词堆积在一起，没有统一性，无法很好地表现主题；二是要多动手。包括对背过的文章进行词语替换，句式转换，句子重组等，以及对某一主题展开写作。多动手才能提高笔下功夫，才能保证在考场上顺利写作。可以说背诵范文是培养语感，积累素材，掌握写作方法，动手写作是实践，是最终目的，这两者结合起来，就是“理论联系了实际”。另外，背诵范文应有针对性，写作训练也是一样，在训练中要掌握每一类型作文的写作规律，根据其每一类作文的写作特点——如提纲式作文就要求考生根据提纲提示的思路和规定的要点展开段落——全面训练，但不要带有押题的心理，靠背几篇范文就能应付考试的心态是不可取的。

下面说一下英语写作过程中的注意事项

一、认真审题

作文第一步是仔细审题，考生要仔细阅读试题要求及相关信息，如图表，图画，数字等，准确把握出题者意图。考研作文忌信手掂来，提笔就写，根本不审题，想到哪儿就写到哪儿，或完全凭自己想象编故事，置考试要求于不顾， “下笔千言，离题万里”。比如1998是一幅卡通画，老母鸡申明外加一首打油诗，讽刺一些企业把该尽职之事作为推销产品的承诺。如果考生说老母鸡很可爱，但爱自夸，然后说自己某个同学也爱自夸，这就偏离主题。2000年的作文“A Brief Histiry of World Commercial Fishing ”.它给出了两张图，从1900年的渔船和鱼量之比到1995年的渔船和鱼量之比的变化谈如何保护渔业资源，应从商业性滥捕鱼这一主题展开话题，有的考生却大谈环境污染。这就偏离了主题，因为题中自始自终都没有谈到环境污染问题。

有的同学没有审题习惯，或担心时间不够草草审题，最后发现文不对题，草草收场，这就影响了英语成绩，同时也会影响后两门考试的考试心情。

二、列出提纲

考试规定的时间是很有限的，所以不能花太多时间准备一个详细的提纲，但关键词提纲或粗略提纲还是非常有必要的。对原始材料分析归纳后要形成一个基本的框架。文章打算分几段写，每段大概怎样写，自数控制在多少，开头段落是道破主题，点名要旨，引人入胜还是先给出主题一般的背景情况和对主题进行浓缩的陈述呢，中间段落和结尾有怎样写呢。这些都要心中有数。有的考生习惯用汉语构思文章，逐句翻译提纲，当碰到某个词卡住时就翻译不下去，僵在那里。要注意列提纲是为了更好更全面的表达主题。主题的表达可有多种形式，不一定非要寻找一个特定的词或句子。考试时考生要充分调动大脑，灵活运用以前所学知识。

三、开始写作

一篇文章往往由四部分组成，标题(title)，首段(opening paragraph),主体(body paragraph),结尾段( concluding paragraph)。标题要新颖，能引起读者兴趣，首段的内容根据文章的体裁而变化，比如议论文可以从一种现象，一种观点出发引出作者的观点。记叙文往往交代人物和故事背景。主体是文章的主要部分，通过合适的语篇模式表达一定的观点，考生要围绕中心按一定顺序分层次有重点的展开叙述，描写，议论。结尾段是对全文的总结，论点上要与前面的叙述一致和统一。写作时要注意以下几点。

1、要统一，连贯。

选择那些最能体现中心思想最具代表性的材料，这些材料要共同表达一致的信息。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。

2、用词准确，语法正确

考试时要特别注意语法，此语，语气，标点符号等，为了避免太多单词拼写错误，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。考试时最好选择自己最有把握的词汇，短语，句式。

3、足够字数，卷面整洁

绝对不能字数不够，即使一句话颠来倒去说也要凑够字数。字数不够，即使写的非常精彩，也不能拿高分。

四、修改

英语写作时考生由于仓促，紧张等原因，很容易犯一些简单的，一眼就能发现的错误。所以考生一定要留出几分钟时间用于修改。不要大幅度进行修改，更不要因为修改破坏卷面整洁，影响阅卷老师心情。修改时可以从以下几点进行

1、语法

包括时态是否一致，主谓是否一致，名词单复数是否对应，被动主动语态是否错用等

2、词汇

包括连接上下句或段落的关联词，习惯用语，固定搭配，词类混淆，误用及物不及物动词等。

3、拼写和标点符号

良好的开端等于成功的一半，下面是小编整理的高考英语写作基础知识，欢迎阅读。

一. 开头用语：

良好的开端等于成功的一半.在写作文时，通常以最简单也最常用的方式---开门见山法。也就是说, 直截了当地提出你对这个问题的看法或要求，点出文章的中心思想。

1.议论文：

A. Just as every coin has two sides, cars have both advantages and disadvantages.

B. Compared to/ In comparison with letters, e-mails are more convenient.

C. When it comes to computers, some people think they have brought us a lot of convenience. However,...

D. Opinions are divided on(关于) the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city and in the countryside.

E. As is known to all/ As we all know, computers have played an important role/part in our daily life.

F. Why do you go to university? Different people have different points of view.

2. 书信：

A. I am writing to you to apply for admission to your university as a visiting scholar.

B. I read an advertisement in today’s China Daily and I apply for the job...

C. Thank you for your letter of May 5.

D. How happy I am to receive your letter of January 9.

E. How nice to hear from you again!

3. 口头通知或介绍情况：

A. Ladies and gentlemen, May I have your attention, please? I have an announcement to make.

(词典例子：Can I have your attention please?请注意听我讲话好吗?)

B. Attention, please. I have something important to tell you.

C. Mr. Green, Welcome to our school. To begin with, let me introduce Mr. Wang to you.

4. 演讲稿：

A. Ladies and gentlemen, I feel very much honored to have a chance here to make a speech on the subject -- A Balanced Diet and Health.

(词典解释：be/feel honoured to do sth=feel proud and happy做某事感到荣幸

例子：I was honoured to have been mentioned in his speech. 他在讲话中提到了我，真是荣幸。)

B. Good morning everyone! Allow me, first of all, on behalf of all present here, to extend our warm welcome and cordial greeting to our distinguished guest.

(词典解释：extend=to offer or give sth to sb 提供;给予

例子：I’m sure you will join me in extending a very warm welcome to our visitors. 我肯定你们会同我一起向来访者表示热烈的欢迎。)

(词典解释：allow me=used to offer help politely (礼貌地表示主动帮忙)让我来

二.并列用语：

as well as, not only…but (also), including,

A. Not only do computers play an important part in science and technology, but also play an informative role in our daily life.

B. All of us, including the teachers / the teachers included, will attend the lecture.

C. He speaks French as well as English.=He speaks English, and French as well.=He speaks not only English but also French.

D. E-mail, as well as telephones, is playing an important part in daily communication.

三.对比用语：

on the one hand---, on the other hand---, on the contrary/contrary to ..., though, for one thing, for another; nevertheless

A. I know the Internet can only be used at home or in the office, but on the other hand, it is becoming more and more popular for much information as well as clear and vivid pictures.

B. It is hard work; I enjoy it, though.

C. Contrary to what I had originally thought, the trip turned out to be fun.

(词典：contray to sth 与之相异的，相对的，相反的

Contrary to popular belief, many cats dislike milk. 与普通的想法相反，许多猫并不喜欢牛奶。)

四. 递进用语：

even, besides, what’s more, as for, so…that…, worse still, moreover, furthermore; but for, in addition, to make matters worse

A. The house is too small for a family of four, and furthermore/besides/what’s more/moreover /in addition/worse still , it is in a bad location.

1、Practice makes perfect.

熟能生巧。

2、Take care of the pence/pennies，and the pounds will take care of themselves.

积少成多。/小事谨慎，大事自成。

3、Swift to hear,slow to speak.

多听少讲。

4、Procrastination is the thief of time.

拖延就是偷走时间。

5、Tomorrow is another day.

明天又是新的一天。/明天还有指望。

6、Exploit to the full one’S favorable conditions and avoid unfavorableones.

扬长避短。

7、Promise little，but do much.

少许愿，多做事。

8、cripples learns to limp.

近朱者赤，近墨者黑。

9、Bend the willow while it is still youn.

修树要趁早，育人要趁小。

10、Knowledge is power.

知识就是力量。

11、Passion，though a bad regulator,is a powerful sprin.

激情虽难驾驭，却是强大动力。

12、Learn from other’S strong points to offset one’S weaknesses.

取长补短。

13、He than run fast gets the rin.

捷足先登。

14、We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

井干方知水宝贵。

15、Our greatest glory consists not in never failin9，but in rising every time we fall.

人生最大的光荣，不在于永不失败，而在失败还能站起。

16、Ideals are like stars-we never reach them，but like marlners，we chart our courses by them.

人之需要理想，如水手之需星辰；星辰虽不可及，但可指引我们航程。

17、Youth’s stuff will not endure.

青春易逝。

18、A pet lamb makes a cross ralTl.

宠坏的羊羔会变成恶羊。

19、Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

做最坏的准备，怀最好的希望。

20、Do not throw the baby with the bath water.

别把小孩和洗澡水一起泼掉。

21、Wisdom is only found in truth.

惟有在真理中才能找到智慧。

22、A stitch in time saves nine.

小洞不补，大洞吃苦。

23、An hour in the morning is worth two in the evenin9./The morning hour has gold in its mouth.

一天之计在于晨。

24、Where there is a will，there is a way.

有志者事竟成。

25、Broaden one’S scope ofknowledge and widen one’S horizon.

拓宽知识，开拓视野。

26、He that can have patience can have what he will.

惟坚韧者始能遂其志。

27、Thought is the seed of action.

思想是行动的种子。

28、As you give，as you receive./As you sow，you shall mow.

种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。

29、Every man is the master ofhis own fogune.

每人都是自己命运的主人。

30、Good health is the best treasure a person can procure.

健康是一个人最宝贵的财富。

31、Disappointment is the nurse of wisdom.

失败是成功之母。

32、The first step to knowledge is to know that we are ignorant.

走向知识的第一步是知道自己无知。

33、Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits.

孩子不见世面，知识少的可怜。

34、People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

自己有缺点，勿揭他人短。

35、Give me where to stand，and l will move the world.

给我一个支点,我可以跷起整个地球。

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

一、 长短句原则。

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

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

二、 主题句原则。

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

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

三、 一 二 三原则。

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8)most important of all, moreover, finally

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

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

建议：不仅仅在写作中注意，平时说话的时候也应该条理清楚!

四、短语优先原则。

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

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

五、多实少虚原则

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

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

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

六、 多变句式原则。

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

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

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

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

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

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

七、挑战极限原则。

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

1．词语选择的重要性

在The Right Word at the Right Time的“序言”中，编者对词语选用的重要性作了一个很好的比喻：“Using the right word at the right time is rather like wearing appropriate clothing for the occasion：

it is a courtesy to others，and a favor to yourself-a matter of presenting yourself well in the eyes of the world."

显然，说话或写文章时用词适当比穿着适当难度大得多，因而也具有更大的重要性。在我国，古人写文章时常为一个词语的选用具思苦想，因而有“语不惊人死不休”的说法。

成语“一字值千金”也说明了选择词语的极端重要性。有时“一字之差”造成令人遗憾的败笔，或招致成千上万的经济损失。这些反面的教训也告诉我们必须重视词语选用的问题。

2．词语选择的可能性

实际上，我们每个人的脑子里都有了一个或大或小的词库，只要我们肯去发掘，往往可以得到更好的表达方式。这是我们做好词语选用的主观条件。

从客观条件广看，我们有各种类型的词典和参考书，只要我们平时多翻译、多阅读，写作时勤查考，就会在词语选用上不断进步。当然，一部好词典也不会毫无缺点，更难以面面俱到，因此在这里我们应牢牢记住著名英国作家、评论家和辞书编纂家Johson的话：

一、审题的“精确性”

在上篇中，笔者已经介绍了部分考题中的“绝对性”的应对措施，而根据专家对于过去2年独立写作考题的分析，发现有90%以上的题目属于“支持/反对”型：

2011.01.30

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Because the change of the society is so rapidly, people are less happy or less satisfied with their life than people did in the past time.

而剩下的则是由“对比论述型”构成的：

2011.03.13

Some people think children should spend most of their time in studying and playing while others think they should help their parents with the household chores. What’s your opinion?

在审题时，考生必须首先把题目通读1-3遍，彻底把握题目主旨后，方可进行段落布局。在这里，笔者结合自己的经验给考生们一些建议：首先，判断题目是否包含“绝对”含义的词，若有，则按照上篇讲过的建议布局，若没有，则对于同意或者反对的理由进行快速的brain storming, 然后根据分论点的数量及论点的可延展性来敲定立场：

Some people think that human needs for farmland, housing, and industry are more important than saving land for endangered animals. Do you agree or disagree with this point of view? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Disagree:

1) Endangered animals are valuable because of their limited quantities

2) Environment balance

3) Endangered animals sometimes stand for the country, so they are more valuable than farmlands

Agree:

1) life quality is the top priority

2) endangered animals can be raised in the zoos

经过一番考量，假如考生得出了上述的一些分论点及想法，这时候，主体段的布局基本就可以敲定大方向了。第一种就是完全反对题目的说法，采用五段式结构布局，每个主体段论证上述三个分论点中的一个;第二种也是反对题目的说法，采用五段式结构布局，但是前2个主体段从三个分论点中选二个去论证，而第三个主体段从“同意”的二个分论点里去选一个，最后的结论还是倾向于反对的。第三种是采用四段式结构布局，即第一个主体段从三个反对意见中选择二到三个分论点去写，而第二个主体段则从赞同的分论点里去选择，数量上比前一段少一个即可，最后结论还是倾向于反对多一点。这样说是不是有些同学看了会有点“晕”呢?那下面笔者就再举个简单点的例子吧：

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television, newspapers, magazines, and other media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people such as public figures and celebrities. Use specific reasons and details to explain your opinion.

Disagree:

1) Most people are common, so they want to know something about famous ones

2) Famous people stand for some fashion

3) Constrain the public figures

4) Celebrities can improve the national cohesion and unity

又经过了几分钟思考，我们得出了上述的四个分论点，但是一时半会赞同的理由实在是想不出。若考试的时候遇到这种情况，千万别犹豫不决，马上从已经想好的观点里面进行挑选。于是，这个题目我们就采用完全反对的立场，以五段式结构布局全文，主体段的分论点从上述四点中挑选三个展开论述即可。这样一来，大家是不是明白一点了呢?

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents or other adult relatives should make important decisions for their older (15 to 18 year-old) teenage children. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

Agree: Parents make decision for children.

1) Parents have more experience

2) 15-18 years old children are not adults, so they cant take responsibility

还有一种情况就是我们只能想出两个分论点，这时候考生应该果断采用四段式布局，而这一次，两个主体段都分别论述一个同意的理由，而在结尾时，可以顺便提一些反对的理由，这样也不失为一种灵活的方法，希望考生们可以借鉴。

二、分论点的排列原则

专家提醒考生们，在布局的时候我们不是随意编排分论点的先后顺序，而是需要有一定的逻辑性和合理性。一般说来，五段式的三个主体段，若都是同意或者都是反对的理由的话，一般这些分论点有两种逻辑顺序，即第一种按照“重要性”来排，将你认为最主要的理由放在第一个主体段中详细论证;第二种是按照“小到大”的原则，即个人方面的理由先写，然后再是家庭，公司，最后再是社会，国家等。倘若所有的论点都是在一个范围内的，比如都是属于个人的论点，则这个时候要看这些分论点后续的论证内容的多少，比如某一个分论点你既举得出例子，又可以进行对比或者因果论述的话那肯定应该先写这个分论点，若某一个分论点后续能够阐述的理由只有一句话的时候那就应该果断地将其排在后面写。若文章是四段式的结构，则在一个主体段中的排列顺序和前面讲的原则是一致的。

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。

导语：我们大家都知道，每个公民都有维护好自己权益的义务，所以日常生活中发生一些小摩擦我们当然要理智的去处理，那么投诉信是不是一个很好的办法呢?下面是yuwenmi小编为还在备考的同学整理的优秀英语素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

Dear_______,

I am . (自我介绍) I feel bad to trouble you but I am afraid that I have to make a complaint about_______.

The reason for my dissatisfaction is ______________(总体介绍). In the first place,_________________________(抱怨的第一个方面). In addition, ____________________________(抱怨的第二个方面). Under these circumstances, I find it ___(感觉) to ____________________________(抱怨的方面给你带来的后果).

I appreciate it very much if you could_______________________(提出建议和请求), preferably __________(进一步的要求), and I would like to have this matter settled by ______(设定解决事情最后期限).

Thank you for your consideration and I will be looking forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely

Li Ming

1.1词汇方面

如果把写英语作文比作建楼房的话，英语词汇在英语写作中起着砖、瓦的作用，是句子的最基本的组成部分，所以词汇是我们高中英语教学中的重点，单词听写是课堂教学必不可少的一个环节，但学生的词汇量毕竟有限，遇到问题时，便会用汉语词汇去补充英语词汇的空缺。

例如：交通十分繁忙。误：The traffic is busy. 正：The traffic is heavy.

她和一位教授结婚了。误：She married with a professor.

正：She married a professor.

英语词语的词义往往比较复杂，并和汉语有着一定区别。这种不同就会会导致学生仅把写作当作一词一句的翻译来做，结果是事倍功半。

1.2语法方面

英语中难点就是时态，语态的掌握。英语中常用时态共十六种，语态分为主动语态与被动语态，语气有陈述语气与虚拟语气之分。不同的时态有它特有的句法结构。如现在进行时态使用be＋v－ing形式来表示。现在完成时则用have／has ＋p．p来表示。一般将来时则用shall／will／be going to＋v来表示。英语中时间意义的表达是通过动词的时和体来加以反映，而汉语中不存在时、体等，汉语则依靠表示时间的副词（如“曾经”、“正在”、“已经”、“将要”）作状语，或利用虚词“了”、“着”、“过”等作补语这一语法手段来体现，动词本身无任何变化。在英语中，“already”和“ever”常常用在完成时态之中，不能与表示过去的时间状语连用。学生常常把上述句子错译成“Yesterday I have been to the park．”“Five years ago，they have known each other．”又如在英语中，我们常常用否定前置来

But what are the reasons for our government to encourage college students to start their own undertakings? I think there are several reasons can account for it. First, it is a good way to relieve our social heavy employment pressure. If some students can start their own undertakings, they will not go to compete with others as well as provide some job opportunities for others. Second, encouraging college students to start their own undertakings is good for our national development in many aspects, such as commerce, industry. In addition, encouraging students to start their own undertakings has a contribution to encourage students to apply their knowledge to practice and then make their contribution to our motherland.

1. According to a recent survey， four million people die eachyear from diseases linked to smoking.

依照最近的一项调查，每年有4，000，000人死于与吸烟有关的疾病。

2. The latest surveys show that quite a few children haveunpleasant associations with homework.

最近的调查显示相当多的孩子对家庭作业没什么好感。

3. No invention has received more praise and abuse than Internet.

没有一项发明像互联网一样同时受到如此多的赞扬和批评。

4. People seem to fail to take into account the fact that education does not end with graduation.

人们似乎忽视了教育不应该随着毕业而结束这一事实。

5. An increasing number of people are beginning to realize that education is not complete withgraduation.

越来越多的人开始意识到教育不能随着毕业而结束。

6. When it comes to education， the majority of people believe that education is a lifetime study.

说到教育，大部分人认为其是一个终生的学习。

7. Many experts point out that physical exercise contributes directly to a persons physical fitness.

许多专家指出体育锻炼直接有助于身体健康。

8. Proper measures must be taken to limit the number of foreign tourists and the great effortsshould be made to protect local environment and history from the harmful effects of internationaltourism.

应该采取适当的措施限制外国旅游者的数量，努力保护当地环境和历史不受国际旅游业的不利影响。

9. An increasing number of experts believe that migrants will exert positive effects on constructionof city. However， this opinion is now being questioned by more and more city residents， whocomplain that the migrants have brought many serious problems like crime and prostitution.

越来越多的专家相信移民对城市的建设起到积极作用。然而，越来越多的城市居民却怀疑这种说法，他们抱怨民工给城市带来了许多严 重的问题，像犯罪和卖淫。

10. Many city residents complain that it is so few buses in their city that they have to spend muchmore time waiting for a bus， which is usually crowded with a large number of passengers.

许多市民抱怨城市的公交车太少，以至于他们要花很长时间等一辆公交车，而车上可能已满载乘客。

导语：听说读写是构成英语语言交际能力的重要组成部分，其中要求较高的是“写”的能力。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。

一、学生写作过程中出现的现状

1.词汇量太少

词汇是英语写作必不可少的基本要素，要写好一篇作文以表达自己的思想，必须以足够的词汇量为基础，但实际上大多数学生掌握的词汇量都达不到规定的要求，因而在写作时也就不能随心所欲地表达自己的思想。出现的问题往往有拼写错误，影响理解;词语误用，表达不准确;某一词语反复使用，语言表达缺乏变式，文章显得单调乏味;文章中出现大量“造词”，让人看了啼笑皆非等。

语法规则和句型句式是英语写作涉及的另一基本要素。学生英语写作中出现的“大错”又多半是由语法错误引起的，学生在写作中语法不规范、句子结构混乱、含义不清等情况屡见不鲜，Chinese English现象更是不乏其中，所以词汇量和语法问题是中学生英语写作时首先要解决的问题。

2.词汇错误较多

学生在写作的时候，中式英语Chinglish ：如There are many people would like to go on a vacation. I by bike to school every day. 2、词汇错误：错别字、近义词混淆、词性误用3、词组、句型使用不正确，缺乏重点句型的使用：如I spent one hour to read the book yesterday. 4、时态、语态、人称把握不正确(审题不正确)。思维模式总是先汉语，后转化为英语，可能他想到了句子该怎样写，句型也知道的，但却有个别单词不会。如：“对我来说学英语是困难的”这个句子可能他想到了，句子结构“it is+adj for sb to do sth”也知道，但里面的形容词difficult不会写，导致句子表达含糊，以至于整篇文章错词百出，面目全非。

3.写出的长句达不到表达效果

一般的英语应试作文，总会给出汉语提示，学生写作也是从提示上入手，有的提示意思较长，所以学生写的时候会直接翻译，但对太长的句子又没有驾驭的能力，导致整个句子错误。

4.听力较弱影响写作能力

我们所面临的是一群农村学生，他们没有特别好的条件练习听力，每次的练习时间仅仅是每节英语课上，听听力的时间是在太少。有位作家说过：“不写没有读过的语言，不读没有说

的语言，不说没有听过的语言”。很明显，通过听的渠道获得语言信息及语言感受在英语学习中基础的基础。听不来也就写不上。

5.单词书写不规范，卷面书写较乱

对于大多数学生来说，格式、大小写、标点，书写不规范：句首字母大写不注意，使用从句时不会使用标点、大小写等)。如：After he went back home. He cooked supper.，考试时把单词写整齐的很少，学生普遍认为只要把单词写正确就可以得分，虽然觉得自己写的作文还可以，但卷子发下之后却没有得到期望的分数，而有的同学写作能力较差但书写整齐，写作得分也不是很低。

二、提高写作的方法

1.词汇的积累

初中学生在阅读理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。

同时拟定时以单选、完型、阅读等形式考察学生对这些单词的掌握情况，通过测试和竞赛的方式进一步激发大家学习词汇的热情。不过，由于课程的时间安排问题，测试的工作开展较少，这也是实验工作中的一个不足。

2.熟练记住单词

( 1.) 巩固单词拼写，培养组句能力。 词汇匮乏是妨碍英语写作的最大障碍之一，有话想说，无词可写是大部分学生的苦恼。因此，我要求学生坚持每天听写、默写、循环记忆单词，掌握巩固词汇。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. 还以某一词为中心，写出该词的不同形式或词性，组成典型的句型，从而不断丰富词汇和句型。如拼写单词die 时，不但要写出其过去式过去分词died，而且要写出其他词性(death, dead, dying), 再分别组句，如：The old man died two years ago. He has been dead for two years. His death made his dog very sad. It is dying.又如写到易混淆的词pay, spend, cost, take 时，可以多种方式表达句意。He paid 20 yuan for the book. He spent 20 yuan on the book. He spent 20 yuan buying the book. The book cost him 20 yuan. It takes him 20 minutes to read the book every day.等等。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。以上这些机械操练虽然枯燥，但很有必要，它是能力培养的基础。在词句落实的基础上，可向学生提出稍高的要求，如写出高质量的句子： What a happy family I have ! (I have a happy family.) The story is so interesting that everyone likes it.( The story is very interesting. Everyone likes it. ) He didn’t come to school, because he was ill. (He was ill. He didn’t come to school.) I am good at not only English but also math.(I am good at English and I am good at math ，too. )( 2、) 阅读背诵精彩段落，围绕单元话题设计书面表达。 阅读是写作的 熟练记住每一话题的单词。熟记单词后让他们能够熟练的运用，能够把重点单词用来造句。然后熟记词组，特别是能够熟练的运用词组，能够用词组熟练造句。用词组和单词连成简单句，只要学生将句子表达清楚，语意连贯，就是一篇好的英语文章。

3.熟练使用简单句

简单句对学生来说相对好掌握些，可以要求学生们能够熟练划分主语、谓语、宾语。 正确掌握并列连词andbutor等词。在写作中要求学生不能随意发挥，也不能逐字逐句的翻译所给的文章，要求学生能抓住题中所给的条件，只要考生能将题中所给的要点全部表达清楚，而没有遗漏，在写作中并且注意到语言的连贯，那么就是一篇很好的英语文章。

4.加强听力训练，促进写作

目前英语听力教材使用的具体做法是：事先提出每课生词，教师领读几遍。排除生词障碍后，第一遍学生主让学生在课后反复听课文内容，并逐字逐句写下。每周星期五布置，星期一用课堂时间，教师将该文念一、二遍，让学生听写，教师收上来查阅，加以评讲。通过这种训练，提高学生的听力水平和表达能力。

5.书写规范，促进写作

关于书写的卷面整洁与否，字体如何，是老生常谈话题。可是由于印象分数的一分半分之差，很可能影响一生。在此处丢分纯属不值得，这也是笔者把它放在第一位的原因。在教学过程中，应坚持要求学生书写规范，写好匀笔斜体行书，注意连写，以及文面美观。可以采用出专刊的形式，让全班同学都参加英语书法评比，从而激发学生练习英语书写的兴趣，养成良好的书写习惯。

综上所述，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，是与英语的听说读是不可分割的，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“五分钟课前训练”：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悍的文章，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。

美国作家舒伯特指出:“Reading is writing”，即：阅读能够促进写作，因为对学生而言,他们对生活的体验、对人生的认识大多是从书本上获得，从大量的阅读中获取的，阅读不仅能帮助学生积累思想,也能帮助他们积累语言素材。“You ought to read very carefully. Not only very carefully，but also aloud，and that again and again till you know the passage by heart and write it as if it were your own.” 这就清楚地说明了熟读成诵对写作是多么重要。所以要想写出好文章,就必须大量读书，它是写作的基础。

阅读对写作固然重要，但其它形式写作训练同样不可忽视，英语写作实践是英语写作理论转化为写作能力的“中介”。英语写作要突出实践，正如学习游泳一样，写作的能力是练出来的。课外练笔是课堂写作训练最有益的补充，因为课堂时间有限，仅靠课堂写作训练培养学生的写作能力是不够的。作文不是“学”出来的，而是“写”出来的。学生必须进行大量的写作练习才能掌握并且灵活运用各种写作技能，而且写作技能只有在不断写作的过程中才能逐步得到提高和完善。

此外,学生的英语语言意识和英语思维能力的培养也需要大量的练习。可见,课外练笔非常必要，应该给予重视。课外练笔的形式多种多样，可采用让学生写英语日记、写英语周记，教师也可有意识地给学生提供一些尽量贴近生活的时尚话题，如奥运会、环境保护等，让学生在课外习作。

总之，学生要提高写作能力应在教师有计划、有组织的引导下进行，开展多种形式的写作实践，努力扩大学生的生活面和知识面，以提高学生的写作能力。