应用文写作英语四级考试计划【汇集20篇】

不知不觉的开学已经是近两个多月了，检验学生这一段时期学习效果的期中考试很快就要来临了。我应该如何合理安排时间，以保证我每一科都复习到位了呢?

第一，过于牺牲休息时间。第二，过于强调习题的训练。第三，过于寄希望于运气。当然还有少部分学生对于期中备考并不重视，指望考前几天的突击。

考前认真复习是能考出好成绩的前提，而有针对性的复习是提高复习效率的关键。考试之前要把学过的知识进行系统化复习，系统复习的过程其实是对学过的知识再认识和再加工的过程，使它更加系统化、条理化地保留在头脑中。

系统复习就是把每章、单元、阶段学过的内容进行整理，相对集中时间进行复习，把学过的知识重新推到一个新的层次的学习过程。

系统复习的基本要求与任务是：

(一)首先要作好思想准备

不管是哪种考试，要认识到考试的重要性，它是对自己学过的知识是否掌握多少的一次检验，反映出你学习过程中的成绩和存在的问题。所以思想上正确认识了，重视了，你就能全心地投入到复习过程中去。

(二) 制定的复习计划

根据学科特点制定出适合自己的切实可行的复习计划，对后几天的学习作出详细、科学、合理的安排，以便心中有数。同时要明确重点,攻克难点,侧重疑点。在对知识点进行梳理的时候应抓住重点、难点和疑点。复习更重要的是查漏补缺。

(三) 复习的方法多种多样

不同的方法也许适用于不同的人,我们应在实际运用中找到适合自己的复习方法,同时应注意不断地变换自己的复习方法。复习中要文理科交替，因为文理科交替复习能减少学科知识间的互相干扰和相互摄制，利于记忆，增强知识在脑海里的时间性。

(四) 适当做些综合题

综合题能反映出你对该学科的知识掌握的全面性。因为一门学科的知识之间都存在着密切联系，如果你做综合题做得较顺利，证明你在系统复习中对该学科的知识掌握是比较完善和系统化复习工作是做得较好的。如数学中的综合运算题就反映出你是否掌握各种运算法则和运算技能。这会增强你综合知识运用的能力。

(五)坚持做好系统复习

要认识相对集中的复习时间的宝贵，不能轻易浪费，所以要十分珍惜。把各学科的知识系统地进行整理，克服放松情绪。

(六)强化记忆，查漏补缺

在系统复习中，将平时自己在学习过程中对某方面的内容掌握不够的、理解还欠深刻的内容及时补正，达到完美无缺。

(七)融会贯通、强化记忆平时学习，是一个知识点一个知识点学习的，这就难免显得分散和凌乱，通过系统复习，可以把平时学过的知识一点一点地“串”起来。这样，“串”起来的知识就比较系统了。在“串”的过程中其实也是一个对知识的再认识过程，重新学多一次，再认识过程记忆中起着强化作用。系统复习次数越多，强化作用越多，印象也深刻。

下面是由语文网为大家整理的高分英语写作九大攻略，希望对你有帮助。

一、文章及段落起始常用的过渡词语

to begin with 首先

【例】To begin with, smoking should be banned in public areas. 首先，在公共场合应该禁烟。

first of all 第一，首先

【例】First of all, many people in remote areas still live in poverty. 第一，在偏远地区许多人还生活在贫困中。

in the first place 首先

【例】In the first place, she can read at the rate of 100 words a minute. 首先，她能每分钟阅读100字。

generally speaking 总体上讲

【例】Generally speaking, the more you practice, the more skillfully you can write in English. 总体上讲，练习地越多，你用英文写作就越熟练。

二、文章及段落结尾常用的过渡词语

therefore, thus 因此

【例】Taking exercise helps us build up our body and keep a clear mind. Therefore, we can work more efficiently.

锻炼可以帮助我们增强体质及保持清醒的头脑。因此，我们能够更有效率地工作。

in conclusion 总之，最后

【例】In conclusion, people around the world should be aware of the real situation of water shortage, protect the present water resources and explore potential ones scientifically.

最后，全世界人民都应该意识到水资源短缺的现状，保护现有水资源并科学地开发潜在资源。

in brief 简言之

【例】In brief, birth control is of vital importance in China.

简言之，计划生育对中国来说是十分重要的。

to sum up 总而言之

【例】To sum up, out of sight, out of mind.

总而言之，眼不见，心不烦。

in a word 总之

【例】In a word, to read the original work is better than to see the film adapted from it.

总之，读原著胜过看基于它改编的电影。

三、常用表示先后次序的过渡词语

first 第一;second 第二;next 其次，然后;eventually 最后，最终;since then 自此以后;afterward 以后，随后;meanwhile 同时;therefore 因而;immediately 立刻;finally 最后，最终

四、常用表示因果关系的过渡词语

accordingly 于是;for this reason 由于这个原因;as a result of 作为……结果;in this way 这样;consequently 结果，因此;due to 由于……; therefore 因而;because of 因为;thus因为;thanks to 由于

【例】When playing sports, you need to judge your competitor’s strategy and revise yours accordingly. 参加体育活动时，你需要判断对手的策略并相应调整你的策略。

五、常用表示比较和对比的过渡词语

in contrast with 和……成对照;similarly 同样;whereas 然而;on the contrary 相反; different from与……不同;likewise同样; equally important 同样重要; on the other hand 另一方面;however 然而

【例】On the one hand, tonics will make us put on weight, which does harm to our health, but on the other hand, they can help refresh us.

一方面，补品会使我们变胖，这对我们健康不利。但另一方面，补品又能使我们有精神。

六、常用表示举例的过渡词语

a case in point 恰当的例子;for example 举例;namely( that is ) 即，这就是说;for instance 举例

【例】A case in point is the water control project along the Yangtze River.

一个恰当的例子就是长江沿线的水控项目。

七、有关描写图表的过渡词语

during this time 在此期间

【例】During this time, more women took various jobs. 在此期间，更多的妇女找到了各种各样的工作。

apart from 除了……之外

【例】Apart from the figures, the information below the table also suggests the growth of production. 除了数据之外，表格下面的信息同样也反应了生产量的增长。

compared with 与……相比较

【例】Compared with the percentage of the base year, it jumped by 15 percent. 与基准年相比，上升了百分之十五。

from the above table/ chart/ graph 根据上图 (表) 所示

【例】From the above chart, it can be seen that changes do occur in society. 从上面的图表来看社会确实发生了变化。

八、常用表示强调的过渡词语

furthermore 此外;moreover 而且;besides 此外;in fact 实际上;also 而且，也;indeed 的确;again 另外，还;in particular 尤其，特别;naturally 当然，自然，必然

【例】Naturally, he denied that he had committed the crime. 他必然不承认自己犯罪了。

九、逻辑连接词语

先后次序关系：second; last but not the least; seeing …

原因、结果关系：so …; as a result of this; consequently; in consequence

转折关系：even though; though; regardless of

并列关系：also; as well as; either…or…

递进关系：not only…but also…; in order to do it …; accordingly

比较关系：when in fact …; similarly; compared with

对比关系：on the contrary; contrary to; conversely

举例关系：as he explains; like; put it simply; for one thing … for another …

强调关系：particularly; to be true; other things being equal

条件关系：if so; if possible; provide that

归纳总结关系：in brief; in short; the conclusion can be drawn that …

There is a famous saying goes like that “Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.” This saying shows the relationship between knowledge and practice vividly.

As far as we know, if we don’t have corresponding knowledge of some fields, we cannot do well in the fields. There are innumerable examples to illustrate this point. For instance, a singer can sing well only if he or she possesses musical knowledge; a dancer can dance well only if he or she knows how to dance; a worker can get the job well-done only if he or she is familiar with the basic principles of the job, and so on. But in turn, if we do not apply what we have known to practice, knowledge cannot play its role. For example, if we have learned different methods of cooking vegetables, but we do not cook, then the different methods of cooking vegetables do not produce value for us.

Therefore, if we do not have knowledge, we have nothing to practice, but if we have knowledge without putting it into practice, knowledge is of no avail. So we should acquire as much knowledge and put it into practice.

national days plans

national day is coming.how are you spending the vacation?do you have an exciting plan?some of my pen pals told me their plans.

percy form changsha,hunan.

i am going to guilin. my aunt lives there.i am staying at my aunts house.she is showing me around the beautiful city.iam taking so恩平婚介网[*]me photos.i am sure ill have a good time there.

mary form wuhan,hubei

i plan to visit beijing for vacation.there are many places of interest in beijing,such as the great wall ,tiananmen square,ect.im going to beijing by plane.its very fast.i plan to stay in beijing for five days.

国庆计划

国庆节马上就要到了。你会怎样度过这七天假日呢?你有没有一个让人兴奋的计划呢?我的一些笔友告诉了我一些他们的计划。

湖南长沙的珀西：我会去桂林旅游，我的阿姨住在那儿，我去就住在她家。她会带我参加那个美丽的城市，我也会照一些照片。我相信在那儿我会玩得很开心。

湖北武汉的玛丽：我想在节日课件下载[*]去北京。北京有许多有趣的地方，像是长城，天坛等等。我会乘飞机去北京，因为那样比较快。我可能会在北京待五天。

[英语日记国庆计划

那么，到底什么是应用文呢?

关于应用文的概念， 1979 年上海辞书出版社出版的《辞海》的解释是：应用文是人们在日常生活、工作和学习中所应用的简易通俗文字，包括书信、公文、契约、启事、条据等。定义很简单，但没能概括出应用文的本质特征，仅仅指出应用文的“简易通俗”，这才只是应用文的一些方面，而不是全部特征。

根据国务院办公厅颁布的《国家行政机关公文处理办法》中对公文的定义，推广开来，应用文的定义应为：应用文是机关团体、企事业单位以及人民群众在日常工作、生产和生活中办理公务以及个人事务时，交流情况、沟通信息，具有直接实用价值和惯用格式的一种书面交际工具。这个定义规定了应用文的本质特征，使它明显区别于其他文体，又涵盖了应用文的基本特性。

应用文的起源至迟可以追溯到殷商社会晚期，也就是距今 3000 多年前，可以说我国有初步定型文字的最初年代也就伴随着有了应用文的使用。殷墟出土的甲骨卜辞，商周时期的钟鼎文，《周易》中的卦、爻辞等，都是应用文的原始形态。所以，如果说，神话是中国文学的“祖先”，那么甲骨文则是应用文的“祖先”了。

应用文的使用非常广泛，几乎涉及各个领域、各个部门、各个阶层、每个个人。比如，科研单位的人员，需要用学术论文;政府机关指导工作，需要用公文;工商企业经营，需要用合同;打官司，需要用诉状;即使个人今天生病了、不能上课，也需要用到请假条;……。相对于其它文体来说，应用文的使用频率要高得多：许多人可以一辈子不写小说、剧本、诗歌、散文，但他在工作、生活、学习中却免不了要写应用文，小到写张请假条，大到计划、总结、论文等。正如 叶圣陶 先生所说的那样：“大学毕业生不一定能写小说诗歌，但是一定要能写工作和学习中实用的文章，而且非写得既通顺又扎实不可。”

可以这么说，应用文使用的广泛，已经到了无所不在的程度。今天在中国特色的社会主义市场经济条件下，应用文是任何企事业单位和个人日常工作、生活中不可缺少的一个重要工具。

应用文同别的文体比较，有共性，也有个性。共性是他们都是对客观事物的反映，都要谋篇布局、用词造句、使用标点符号，讲究条理性、逻辑性，同样使用叙述、说明、议论等表达方式，要求准确、鲜明、生动的文风。具体表现在以下几方面。

教学内容：

第一节 应用文的主题

应用文写作基础知识既有与一般文体写作的共通之处，更多的是其在写作知识运用上的独特性，只有掌握其独特性，才能正确、规范地写好应用文体。

主题先行性

一、主题的特点 主题单一性

主题显露性

应用文的主题就是解决问题的方法、建议。其主题是十分明确直接的，主题的确立大多不是写作者有感而发，而是应客观实际的需要，为解决实际问题而产生的，由此可以说应用文主题就是解决问题的具体方法。因此应用文的主题具有以下特点：

文学作品的主题是从生活中、从已获取的材料中提炼出来的，往往反对主题先行。而应用文主题的确立与文学作品主题的确立不同，其主题确立在全文写作之前，所谓“意在笔先”。因为应用文总是先产生了具体问题而后产生写作的需求，而解决这一问题的方法、结论往往也产生在文章写作之前;同时执笔者的写作行为往往也是被动的，是应解决问题而动笔，写作的过程更是确切地体现主题。如《国务院关于同意黑龙江省调整哈尔滨市部分行政区划的批复》一文就是为答复《调整哈尔滨市部分行政区划的请示》而写的文章，表示同意请示提出的请求事项而作，主题一定是确立在写作之前。

一般说文学作品的主题具有其复杂性，对主题的理解更呈多元化。然而应用文的主题则必须单一、明确，读者对主题的理解不允许多元，而要求理解上的同一性，这样才利于统一认识，更有利于问题的解决。如：《关于当代青年消费问题的调查报告》一文就消费观念、消费现状、消费趋势和消费结构等四个方面，展开调查，尽管涉及面广，材料较丰富，但文章紧紧围绕“当代青年消费”这一中心，内容集中，一题一议，主题单一、明确。

文学作品的主题要求含蓄、曲折，令人回味。而应用文写作就不同，要求直截了当地点明主题，表明态度，提出解决问题的措施和办法，对文章所涉及的各类问题，必须有明确的观点立场，应该怎么做，解决什么问题，达到什么目的，都要明确地表达出来。

标题显旨

二、主题的表现方法 开头点旨

结尾点旨

应用文主题的表达要做到明确、显露。那么怎么才能做到主题从文章中显露出来呢?下面就给大家介绍几种表现方法：

标题显旨，就是在文章的标题中直接点明主题。如《三季度物价水平再次转降，出口增速趋于稳定》，这篇经济活动分析报告的标题就直接点明了主题，让人一看就大致明白了文章的主要内容，主题十分显露。这不失为是一种使主题显现的好方法。

这种方式是在文章的开头或每一段落的开头用简短的语句陈述主题，使主题凸现出来。如《 2001 年经济形势展望》一开头就指出： “展望 2001 年，经济回升的势头还比较微弱，促进经济的持续向好仍然需要克服许多困难。” 开宗明义，点明主题。再如《靠名牌赢得市场——关于深圳市飞亚达(集团)股份有限公司的调查》一文在 “启示：现代企业必须重视实施名牌战略” 的小标题下，分三段来阐述这一问题，在每段开头用段首句点明主旨：第一段的段 首句： 实施名牌战略是提高产品质量、提升企业品味的内在要求。 第二段的段首句： 实施名牌战略是企业参与市场竞争尤其是国际市场竞争的客观需要。 第三段的段首句： 实施名牌战略是增强国家经济实力的重要手段。 在这三句主题句的提示下，每段的中心就十分明了。

这种方式是在文章的的结尾之处点明文章主题。如李政道的论文《基础、应用科学与生产三者关系》一文就是采用这一方法结尾。文章的结尾指出： “我再重复一下，没有基础学科就没有应用学科，没有应用学科就没有生产学科，三者是紧密结合在一起的。” 非常清晰地显示了主题。

主题决定材料的选取

三、主题的作用 主题决定文种的选用

主题决定结构的安排

主题决定表达方式的选用

实训：

根据下面材料概括出主题，并用主题句表现出来。

1 .目前，全世界的年教育经费已超过 2000 亿美元，在公共资金的支出中仅次于军事经费，占第二位。世界工业化国家人口只占世界人口约三分之一，其教育经费比发展中国家多十倍以上。中国人口占世界总数超过五分之一，但教育经费仅占约三十分之一。按 1982 年的数字算，人均教育费为 11.2 元人民币，属世界 14 个人均教育经费不足 5 美元的国家之一。

2 .国外有两家鞋厂，各派一位推销员到太平洋某岛国去推销本厂的鞋子。上岛后不久，他们各发回一份电报。一位的电文是：“此岛上的人都不穿鞋，明天我就回去。”另一位的电文是：“太好了!这个岛上的人都没穿上鞋子，我打算长驻此岛。”

New Year is finally coming, we have sent away 2017 ushered in 2018, in the new year has a new starting point In this year, I have to study hard, every day, I also want to achieve my last year did not achieve Wish

I want to make a study schedule, schedule my schedule in the new semester and improve my grades through my own efforts. I will also respect my parents and not my parents so that I may have more life experience. I do not know that I got up before 8 oclock. I was distracted when I was homework, and I did not always write anything. I was not willing to let go Learning to go, so that students no longer think I study poor, learning is not good, I want to catch up with those good grades of students, at home, I want to help her mother do the housework, no longer let her mother so tired. I will also chat with my parents, make them happy a little happy.

In the New Year, I have to go outside a few times to travel, to increase my knowledge, not when students talk about these topics have not been embarrassed to go there, I have to learn a lot of ethnic customs, to make themselves even better Close to my own motherland.

This is my 2018 New Year plan, looking forward to the arrival of the new year Looking forward to my achievements in 2018, as the saying goes: aspiring no longer ambitious Hundreds.

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

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

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

不知不觉的开学已经是近两个多月了，检验初一学生这一段时期学习效果的期中考试很快就要来临了。我应该如何合理安排时间，以保证我每一科都复习到位了呢？

第一，过于牺牲休息时间。第二，过于强调习题的训练。第三，过于寄希望于运气。当然还有少部分学生对于期中备考并不重视，指望考前几天的突击。

考前认真复习是能考出好成绩的前提，而有针对性的复习是提高复习效率的关键。考试之前要把学过的知识进行系统化复习，系统复习的过程其实是对学过的知识再认识和再加工的过程，使它更加系统化、条理化地保留在头脑中。

系统复习就是把每章、单元、阶段学过的内容进行整理，相对集中时间进行复习，把学过的知识重新推到一个新的层次的学习过程。

我爱学语文，可是以前的基础不好，总跟不上别人，有时感觉自己很笨。妈妈说是因为我学习总是三心二意，不爱动脑筋的缘故。听了妈妈的话我略有所悟，于是我暗下决心：我一定要认真的复习每一节课，并仔细的完成老师给我们留下的作业，写生字练新词，还要多看课外书，进而提高我的写作水平。

数学也是更不能有半点马虎，我以前就是因为马虎，很简单的题都算错了，所以被老师批评了好几次。这次，我要认真的对待每一道题，以前做过的题，再不能就这么忽略掉，要在就错奔上再重新做一遍，理解解题思路，掌握解题技巧和方法。

转眼间，开学已经两个月了，还有几天就要期中考试了。这是我们本学期的第一次大型考试。一提到期中考试，不少同学十分紧张，看看书本，学了不少知识，但所剩时间不多。如何搞好期中复习，我想给大家提几点建议：

1、制定计划：

我们应该制订一个详细的计划表，将每天要复习的各门学科的内容详细地画在一张表格上，每天给自己一定的复习任务，同时对于复习制订一定的保证措施，如果不完成任务，对自己有什么样的惩罚措施。制订复习计划，必须从自己的学习实际出发。每个人都有自己的学习特点，对于复习，我们应该根据自己的学习特点进行，如果自己在理科方面欠缺，我们在制订计划时，应该在理科方面多花点时间，在某一学科上自己的成绩还不错，我们就应该少花一点时间，争取更多的时间复习自己的弱科。

2、认真读课本：

现在的孩子大多数比较浮躁，没有读课本的习惯。其实，所有的考试都是从课本知识中发散来的，所以在复习时就必须读课本，反复的读，细节很重要，读书你一定要很仔细的阅读，最好读出声，这样子，一些细节就在不经意中记得了。读完之后，应该能够对本单元的内容有个清晰的思路，并且用自己的方式构建出一个知识框架，并且对照着框架能够复述本章节的内容。这样就可以在整体上把握书本知识。从整体上把握书本知识有利于我们对于试卷中的一些基本的题目有一个宏观的把握，对于试卷中的问答题，可以从多角度去理解和把握，这样就能够做到回答问题的严密性。

另外，期中考试不会很难，着重考基本知识以书为主，所以回答简答题时最好用书中的语言，这样子得分率比较高，老师改简答题，都是看关键字答到没有，关键的几条有没有，没有时间完整的浏览你的答案。

3、复习要讲究科学性

复习也是一门科学，复习时应该注意反复性、体系性、理解性，学会尝试回忆、学会整体安排等。

根据人脑的记忆特点，我们在复习时，不要希望能够通过一遍复习就能够掌握书本的基础知识，一般地认为，人们对于某一知识的完全掌握，至少需要六至七遍，这样，希望通过一遍复习就能够掌握书本知识是不可能的。

记忆是建立在理解的基础上的，感觉到了东西我们不能够理解它，只有理解了的东西我们才能够更深刻地感觉它。学习书本知识需要我们加以理解，比如，我们在学习数学时，我们是否思考过数学的例题为什么选四条而不选八条，这四条例题各有什么特点?具有什么典型性?它们有什么共性的东西?我们在复习时，越是思考就越能够理解书本，就越能够掌握知识。

记忆是一个复杂的过程，在复习时，不能眼睛只盯着书本，在我们看一段书后，应该抬起头来，好好思考，尝试回忆，看我们刚才看的书本的内容是否记住了，是否理解了。也可以张开嘴大声的讲给自己听，只要你能把知识点讲出来，就说明你背过了。所以，在复习的过程中，我们是脑筋动得最快的时期。

4、复习小技巧

该背的一定要背，比如说单词、短语固定搭配、语文的文学常识、易错的字词、古文翻译。答题时，字迹一定要工整，其实很多题目是主观题，你字迹工整，老师心情就好些，给的分也就高一些。最省事的复习方法是看错题(你的错题本，或者是上课时错了，用红笔改过的地方)，这样很快就可以看完，而且效果不错，唯一的缺点是，较久前的知识，会有些没复习到，在考试前，要背的、要默的一定要搞定。

5、复习注意事项：

在复习的过程中，应该注意调整我们的身体和注意休息，一般地说，我们的大脑集中于某一学科的时间不是很长的，时间一长，我们的思维就可能处于停滞的状态，所以我们应该合理地安排时间，争取在晚上复习时将所学的几门学科 都能够安排一定的时间，这样保证大脑的高效率。同时，还应该注意休息。

考试期间的复习效率很低，那时看看书就行，再搞什么别的基本上也学不进去了。考前注意保持充足的睡眠，现在很多孩子在期中考试前和期中考试中点灯熬夜，晚上不注意休息，考试没有精神，甚至睡着了，很容易的题目也没有时间做了。

希望同学们保持一个良好的心态，做好期中复习，考好这次考试，加油!

环保是一个热点话题，下面语文迷网整理提供了关于环保的英语写作素材，希望对你有帮助。

环保的英语名言

1、 Dont litter the floor.不随地扔垃圾。

2、 Governments of many countries have established laws to protect the air, forests and sea resources and to stop environmental pollution.许多国家制定了法律来保护大气、森林和海洋资源，制止环境污染。

3、 Please keep off the grass.不要践踏草坪。

4、 It’s our duty to save water节约水是我们每个人的责任。

5、 Safety First.安全第一。

6、 Earth is our home, you rely on green.地球是我家，绿化靠大家。

7、 Environmental problems directly affect the quality of peoples lives.环境问题直接影响人们的生活质量。

8、 Lets do our best to make it more beautiful.让我们尽力让它更美丽。

9、 If we dont save water, the last drop of water will be a tear-drop of us.如果我们不节约水，那么最后一滴水也许会是我们人类的眼泪。

10、 Handle with Care.小心轻放。

11、 No climbing.禁止攀爬。

12、 Save the earth, Our Only Home.保护地球，我们唯一的家。

13、 As we know , water is very important to man.我们知道，水对人类来说是非常的重要。

14、 Most environmental litigation involves disputes with governmental agencies.许多环保诉讼都涉及与政府机构的争端。

15、 Do not throw rubbish onto the ground. Do not waste water. Use both sides of paper when you write. Stop using plastic bags for shopping. Make classrooms less noisy.不要在地上扔垃圾。不要浪费水。当你写字时要在纸的两面都要写。停止使用塑料袋去购物。减少教室里德吵闹声。

16、 The most important question in the world today is pollution.当今世界最重要的话题就是污染问题。

17、 No one can live without water or air.没有人能离开水和空气生存。

18、 We should stop factories from producing harmful gases.我们应该阻止工厂生产有害气体。

19、 Many rivers and lakes are seriously polluted.很多河流湖泊已经受到严重污染。

20、 Without the shade from trees, Earth would get too hot to live on.没有了树荫，地球将会变得太热而不能生存。

21、 We need to protect Earth because it is our home.我们需要保护地球因为它是我们的家。

22、 Discharge pipes directly take pollutants away from the plant into the river.排泄管道直接将污染物从工厂排入河流。

23、 Please shut the door after you.出入请关门。

24、 We should plant more and more trees in order to live better and more healthy in the future为了将来我们的生活过得更好、更加健康我们应该种更多的树。

环保的词汇

21世纪议程：Agenda 21世界环境日(6月5日)：World Environment Day (June 5th each year)

世界环境日主题：World Environment Day Themes冰川消融，后果堪忧!(2007年)Melting Ice–a Hot Topic!

莫使旱地变荒漠!(2006年)Deserts and Desertification–Dont Desert Drylands!

营造绿色城市，呵护地球家园!(2005年)Green Cities – Plan for the Planet!

海洋存亡，匹夫有责!(2004年)Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive!

水——二十亿人生命之所系!(2003年)Water - Two Billion People are Dying for It!

让地球充满生机!(2002年)Give Earth a Chance!

世间万物，生命之网!(2001年)Connect with the World Wide Web of life!

环境千年-行动起来吧!(2000年)The Environment Millennium - Time to Act!

拯救地球就是拯救未来!(1999年)Our Earth - Our Future - Just Save It!

为了地球上的生命-拯救我们的海洋!(1998年) For Life on Earth - Save Our Seas!

为了地球上的生命!(1997)For Life on Earth我们的地球、居住地、家园：(1996)Our Earth， Our Habitat， Our Home国际生物多样性日(12月29日)：International Biodiversity Day (29 December)

世界水日(3月22日)：World Water Day (22 March)

世界气象日(3月23日)：World Meteorological Day (23 March)

世界海洋日(6月8日)：World Oceans Day (8 June)

植树节(3月12日)：Arbor Day (12 March)

Finally put the winter vacation!! So happy!!!!! In this semester the joys and sorrows of the school, suantiankula, is about to end before the coming winter vacation.

Just days before the arrival of winter vacation, Im still thinking what to do to make my life more meaningful winter vacation. I suddenly thought of mother daily toil in recent years, always wash his clothes, and cook for us every day, mop the floor... Such as housework. Change is my words might complain about, but mother doesnt even have a complain about words, mom is really great!! So I decided to a large mobilization "family", want to let mom have a good rest, to comfort her daily toil. Come before the Spring Festival, cleaning, make the home look brand-new, like a pipe dream of beautiful.

In addition, I want a winter vacation, go to the aunt home borrows a few good book. As a result, there are two benefits: first, can increase my knowledge. Two, would not have to think about the computer, the computer is like a naughty little monkey, will only tell me: "come and help me to boot, Im waiting for you!" Carelessly will fall into the abyss ─ ─ ─ increase my myopic degree!!!!!

Look!! My winter holiday plan is very full!! I also feel this way in this summer holiday, I will very happy, very happy. May this winter holiday can bring more joy for me!!

终于放寒假了!! 好开心!! 这一学期在学校的喜怒哀乐、酸甜苦辣，即将在寒假来临前结束。

在寒假来临之前，我 还在思考要做什么事才能让我的寒假生活更有意义。突然我想到，这几年妈妈平日的辛劳，每天总是为我们洗衣服、煮饭、拖地......等家事。换成是我的话 可能会抱怨连连，可是妈妈连一句抱怨的话都没有，妈妈真的是很伟大呀!! 于是我决定来个“全家大动员”，想让妈妈好好休息，来慰劳她平日的辛劳。趁春节的时候，来个大扫除，让家里焕然一新，有如镜花水月般的美丽。

另外，我想要在寒假的时候，去阿姨家借阅几本好书。这样一来，有两种好处：一、可以增加我的知识。二、就不会去想到电脑，电脑就像个顽皮的小猴子，只会告诉我：“快来帮我开机，我在等你唷!”一不小心就会掉进深渊───增加我的近视度数!!

看!! 我的寒假计划很充实吧!! 我也觉得这样一来在这个暑假，我会过的很快乐、很开心的。愿这个寒假能带来给我更多的快乐!!

在申论的命题原理和作答思路中，解决问题能力成为了最基本也是最重要的能力。此能力在诸多题型中都有所体现，不管是提出对策、贯彻执行、还是综合分析，都有着很高的比重，对于文章写作亦意义重大。因此，策论文是广大考生必须掌握的基本申论文章写作类型。

一、追根溯源——什么是策论文

所谓策论文，简言之即文章的正文部分以提对策为主。近几年的国考和省考文章命题中都有所涉猎，且题干或要求中已限定只能写策论文。例如：

[2013年国考地市]请以“让……大放异彩”为题，写一篇内容充实的文章。

要求：1.用恰当的文字替换“让……大放异彩”中的省略号部分，是指构成一个完整具体的文章标题;2.主题应与“给定资料”相关，但素材不必拘泥于“给定资料”要结合生活中的具体感受，切忌空谈政策;3.观点鲜明，结构完整，语言流畅;4.字数800-1000字。

[2010年广东省考]针对材料中所反应的问题(仅限所给材料)，以“进一步加强农民工工作”为题，写一篇800字左右的策论文章。

要求：措施全面，结构完整，条理清晰，行文流畅，针对性强，具有可操作性。

二、明确规范——策论文的文章格式

作为申论的文章写作，行文规范是文章的基本要求，也是体现政府机关工作的基本特点。对于策论文写作理应体现以下之规范：

P1：开头 概括材料，分析主题、提出总论点

P2：分论点一(段首为对策性分论点)

P3：分论点二(段首为对策性分论点)

P4：分论点三(段首为对策性分论点)

P5：结尾 总结升华

从此规范可见，策论文的基本特点在于文章主体段落必须以对策加以呈现，望考生能谨记。

三、避免误区——策论文的注意事项

当前很多考生在写策论文的过程中有以下两个误区：

误区一：策论文即文章只能写对策，不能有分析。这是很多考生在文章写作常犯的一个错误，申论文章的写作在于说理，说理势必有理有据，因此自当有分析有对策，分析愈透彻，方显对策之针对性。

误区二：文章主体段落有对策即为策论文。申论文章角度的区分不在于文章篇幅的大小，对策多即为策论文，这是常见的误解。而根本性的判定文章是否为策论文在于段旨句是否为对策。

四、学以致用——策论文分论点来源

古语有云“他山之石可以攻玉”，不管是作为考生平时的知识积累，或是来自于材料中主题所涉及的对策都可成为文章写作的分论点。

以2013年国考地市文章写作为例，材料中谈到了很多文化发展的对策，例：发展文化人才、搭建文化阵地、扶持本国文化事业、重视传统文化教育，都可成为本文写作的分论点，考生可根据对策与主题之间的关系以及对策之间的密切程度酌情筛选，确定分论点。

同时，考生还可根据平时的积累，对于文化发展的对策也可以结合自身，从实际中出发，例如，扎根群众，提高文化自觉性;认真学习，提升文化自信;抵制西化，捍卫文化尊严等等，从这些方面进行论述，进而打造“人无我有，人有我优”的文章写作亮点。

一、用于作文开头的万能模板：

1、Many people insist that... 很多人(坚持)认为……

这句话乍看没亮点，但将众人皆知的"think"换为"insist"有没有觉得高大上了许多?

2、With the development of science and technology, more and more people believe that... 随着科技的发展,越来越多的人认为……

这个可是小编当年的"杀手锏"啊，虽谈不上洋气，但正确率百分百啊，还超好记!

3、A lot of people seem to think that... 很多人似乎认为……

"think"终于闪亮登场，但"seem to"为整个句子增添了点婉转之感，这种客观的方式貌似较受老外(尤其腐国人)喜爱。

二、引出不同观点的万能模板：

1、Peoples views on... vary from person to person. Some hold that... . However, others believe that.... 人们对……的观点因人而异。有些人认为.....然而其他人却认为……

看这个长度就已然鹤立鸡群。其实，也是一个蛮简单也好记的模板。

2、Attitudes towards (drugs) vary from person to person. 人们对待吸毒的态度因人而异。

乍一看，跟上句的开头神似，其实就是省略掉了"peoples"，不仅清爽而且好像高端了一些。

3、People may have different opinions on... 人们对……可能会有不同的见解。

又是一个婉转的句子，展示其客观性。

4、There are different opinions among people as to... 关于……人们的观点大不相同。

"different"虽拉低了水准，但"as to"又拯救了回来。

5、Different people hold different attitudes toward (failure). 对(失败)人们的态度各不相同。

这句话貌似亮点不多，顶多一个"hold"，但也是安全牌，容易理解。

三、得出最终结论的万能模板：

1、Taking all these factors into consideration, we naturally come to the conclusion that... 把所有这些因素加以考虑，我们自然会得出结论……

很完全的答法，"take sth into consideration"短语的应用，加分。

2、Taking into account all these factors, we may reasonably come to the conclusion that... 考虑所有这些因素，我们可能会得出合理的结论……

"Take into account sth"短语似乎又比上句的"take sth into consideration"提升了一个层次。

3、Hence/Therefore, wed better come to the conclusion that... 因此，自然我们得出以下结论。。。

"Hence"一词用在文章中大气吧，但别平时口语中用，否则即使老外也用一种看老古董的眼神看你。。。

再特意提一句："wed better"在这里不是“不得不”或“最好”的意思，而是一种自然而然，水到渠成的得出结论。

4、There is no doubt that (job-hopping) has its drawbacks as well as merits. 毫无疑问，跳槽有优点也有缺点。

短语"there is no doubt that"上线，同时运用我们的老朋友"as well as"增加看点。

5、All in all, we cannot live without... But at the same time we must try to find out new ways to cope with the problems that would arise. 总之，我们没有……是无法生活的。但同时，我们必须寻求新的解决办法来对付可能出现的新问题。

这句话一般用于作文结尾，属万能句式，句式较为简单，方便操作。

[英语四级考试作文万能句

The laba festival, commonly known as "laba", namely the lunar December 8, the ancients worship our ancestors and gods, pray for harvest auspicious tradition, some areas have the tradition of drinking laba rice porridge.Legend has it that day and the Buddha sakyamuni into way, known as the "magic festival", is one of the grand festival of Buddhism.

Somehow called "la" end of the month at the age of three: the meaning of the "la, also", combine the meaning of a new era (sui, etiquette volunteers record);The "la with hunting", and refers to the good hunting for the beast ancestor worship to god, "la" from the "meat", "the winter" is to use meat;Spring-heralding "three yue" la, pursuit of epidemic diseases, and the tradition of "Buddha into a festival, is also a" tao ", actually is the origin of December eighth day for LaRi, so to speak.

腊八节，俗称“腊八” ，即农历十二月初八，古人有祭祀祖先和神灵、祈求丰收吉祥的传统，一些地区有喝腊八粥的习俗。相传这一天还是佛祖释迦牟尼成道之日，称为“法宝节”，是佛教盛大的节日之一。

何故岁终之月称“腊”的含义有三：一曰“腊者，接也”，寓有新旧交替的意思(《隋书·礼仪志》记载);二曰“腊者同猎”，指田猎获取禽兽好祭祖祭神，“腊”从“肉”旁，就是用肉“冬祭”;三曰“腊者，逐疫迎春”，腊八节又谓之“佛成道节”，亦名“成道会”，实际上可以说是十二月初八为腊日之由来。

If you start preparing for the exams ahead, you’ll feel a lot better about getting everything accomplished.

Here are some ways to help you prepare your mind and body for a successful final exam season:

First,you should focus your time on difficult classes.

If you always do well in a course,then you obviously don’t need to spend as much time studying for that course.You should spend most of your study time on the difficult courses where your grade is borderline.

Second,spending time reviewing notes is also necessary.

By simply going over all your class notes, you’ll get a good overview of the specific areas you should start studying. This will also provide your mind with a good summary of everything you’ve been learning

Besides,you can design a study schedule and stick to It.

By setting aside time now to focus on the final exam, you’re preparing your mind for what’s ahead. And you’ll also find areas that you have questions about. This will provide you plenty of time to get answers from your professors.

1. The latest surveys show that quite a few children have unpleasant 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。

2. 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。

3. According to a recent survey, four million people die each year 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。

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 with graduation.

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 efforts should be made to protect local environment and history from the harmful effects of international tourism.

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 construction of city. However, this opinion is now being questioned by more and more city residents, who complain 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 much more 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。

2005年英语考纲有重大变化，其中之一就是作文考查的变化，如何在短期内提高考研英语作文。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，其它英语写作《如何在短期内提高考研英语作文》。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

纵观历年的高考书面表达，其文体题材各异，有书信、口头通知、简介、日记、自我介绍、记叙文、描写文、说明文、看图作文等，不同的体裁需要考生应用适当的篇章结构，将题目所提供的信息清晰、明了、准确，逻辑合理地表达出来。

篇章结构在语言表达中起着非常重要的作用，同样的信息点会因为不同的表达顺序传达出不同的信息。层次分明，逻辑合理的篇章结构会让读者在很短的时间内获得并准确理解题目所规定的信息;而叙述顺序混乱，前言不搭后语的篇章则让人一头雾水，不知所云何物。当然，后者是失败的表达，即使作者在写作的过程中使用了再漂亮的词汇和句型，混乱的文章结构也不会让读者准确领悟作者的意图。

记叙文主要是记叙所发生的事情和经历。常见的形式有：故事、日记、新闻报道、游记等。

记叙文的写作要素：

1 要交待清楚五要素的内容，即where, when, what, who ,how，给读者一个内容完整、细节清晰的故事。

2. 事情的叙述可以按时间或空间的顺序叙述，让读者易于把握所叙述内容之间的内在关联，从而理解文章主题。

3. 时态通常使用与过去有关的时态，如一般过去时。

记叙文的篇章结构：

开头 the beginning——交待必要的背景。如：时间、地点、人物等。

中间 the middle——交待故事情节(事情的主体)。如：事件的发生、发展和前因后果。(可以使用表示时间或空间的连接词，使文章连贯。 如：at first…then…few minutes later…)

结尾 the ending——事情的结果或感想、愿望等。(所表达的感想或愿望应与所记叙的内容有关系，起到扣题或点题的作用，使文章结构紧凑)。

例如NEMT2000

假设你是李华，正在美国探亲。2000年2月8日清晨，你目击了一起交通事故。警察局让你写一份材料，报告当时的所见情况。请根据下列图画写出报告。

注意：1. 目击者应该准确报告事实

2. 词数100左右

3. 结尾已为你写好

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

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.

英语是世界上最流行的语言，也是所有语言中使用最广泛的语言，学好英语有利于我们对外交流。下面是小编带来的是关于期中考试的英语作文，希望对您有帮助。

Today, I feel very unnatural when I go to bed together. No wonder! Mom and dad kept telling them that the air around them seemed to be frozen together.

After breakfast, our classmates went upstairs to do the preparatory work. The first two classes to test Chinese, I excitedly took out the pencil box, take out the Chinese book, began the last review. I havent had such a big exam for a long time, and Im nervous! I have learned Chinese books do not have to worry about basic questions, can recite fluently from memory, the key lies in reading, my level is not very good. Writing is OK, maybe get a full score.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and the faces of the students were so ugly that I got serious. My father always told me, "dont giggle in exams, it will distract your attention."." This is a very common examination, parents are stirred in disorderly fashion not tense, and are not calm down! The teacher rolled it, I got the first volume and looked back, huh?! Thats easy! I was secretly happy. But I still clear my throat, ready to jump into the "sea" to travel, explore. I also believe that peace is an important point, so that it can be static thought; seriously is also very important, the so-called "nothing is unachievable, as long as seriously, what things can be solved; also must be careful, careful person, who will love you!

I finally wrote my name, class, and started thinking about every question! The first question seems like I started doing it from grade one. Its a piece of cake! After second volumes, I suddenly realized that it was so hard and difficult to read. I read three times and didnt come up with the answer! Oh!

Finally, its time to roll in, and Ill have to take a good look at the next door! I think.

"Ding ding." The bell rings again, and I have to start doing some boring questions again.

After several I have done very well, that is, to the last one - English, and I am stumped.

Was that right? Whats this again?! Listening to a very vague English word, I really dont know what to choose is the correct answer, ah! Another door is doomed! What a bad luck!

Then I want to treat bad places I have seriously, for the future to test out koko!

今天，我一起床，就感觉十分不自然。怪不得呢！爸爸妈妈不停地叮嘱，周围的空气好像都凝固在一起——要期中考试了。

吃完早饭，我们班同学陆续上楼做准备工作。前两节课要考语文，我激动地拿出铅笔盒，取出语文书开始最后的复习。很久没有举行这样大型考试了，我不免有些紧张！语文书我已背得滚瓜烂熟，不用操心基础题，关键就在于阅读题，我的水平不是很好。作文倒是还可以，说不定能得个满分。

突然，上课铃响了，同学们的表情十分难看，我也严肃了起来。爸爸总是告诉我：“考试不要嘻嘻哈哈，这样会分散注意力。”这本是很普通的一个考试，都被家长们搅得糊里糊涂，不紧张的人，都冷静不下来！老师发卷了，我拿到第一卷后一看，咦！好简单呀！我心中暗暗高兴。可我还是清了清嗓子，准备跳入“题海”中去遨游、探索。我还认为平静是重要点，这样才可以静心想；认真也很重要，所谓“天下无难事，只怕有心人”，只要认真，什么事都可解决；还必须具备细心，细心的人，谁都会喜欢呀！

我终于写好姓名、班级，开始思考每一题啦！第一题好像是我从一年级就开始做的啦，简直是小菜一碟！一直做到第二卷，我突然发现，阅读题好难好难，我读了近三遍都没想出答案，算了，凑合凑合编一个吧！唉！

终于到收卷的时候了，下一门我一定得好好考！我想。

“叮叮叮。”铃声又响了，我只得又开始做那一些无聊的题目。

之后几门我都考得挺好，就是到了最后一门——英语，又把我难住了。

刚才是不是啊？这个又是什么呀！听着一个个极其模糊的英语单词，我真不知道选什么才是正确答案，啊！又一门要完蛋了！真倒霉！

以后我要认真对待我掌握的不好的地方，争取以后科科考满分！