武侠小说里的大侠常常武功盖世，“小李飞刀”的“刀”已出神入化，但也是源于最初的基本套路；现代化的高楼大厦可以风格迥异，却也都是构建于最基本的建筑结构之上。英语写作也不例外，写好它，有一套常规整体构建模式。今天我们就奉献给大家一盘“丰盛的大餐”，花8分 钟认真地读完它，你可能会提高2－3分，花15分钟仔细地研究一番，那么你的大作有可能一不小心就到了高分档啦！好吧，现在就开始行动吧！
英语写作一般包括一个开头段、一至两个扩展段和一个结尾段。开头段和结尾段一般比扩展段短。各种段落的作用、特点和写作方法如下所示。
A still tongue makes a wise head.
沉默者有智慧。
一、开头段
【芝麻开门】
开头段一定要语言精练，并且直接切入主题。开头段一般不对主题进行深入的探讨，具体的论证或叙述应该在扩展段进行。一般在开头段写四、五句即可。
开头段的作用：概括陈述主题，提出观点或论点，表明写作意图。
【写作要点】
写开头段时考生应该避免的若干问题:
1) 开头偏离主题太远；
2) 使用抱歉或埋怨之词句；
3) 内容不具体，言之无物；
4) 使用不言自明的陈述。
【方法例释】
写作文时，好多考生也是觉得开头难，其实，写开头段有多种表达方法，如主题句法、提问法、引语法、数据法、背景法、定义法，等等，下面分别讲解开头的几种展开方法:
1.主题句法：开篇点明主题，用主题句，然后围绕主题内容进行发展。例如：
Now people become increasingly aware of the importance of acquiring a mastery of a foreign language. To them, the knowledge of a foreign language, say, English, often means a good opportunity for ones career, even a passport to a prosperous future. Many of them equate success in life with the ability of speaking a foreign language.
2.提问法：提出有争议或探讨性的具体问题，然后加以简要回答或展开引导性简短讨论。例如：
What do you want from your work? Money? Promotions? Interesting challenges? Continual learning? Workbased friendships? The opportunity to develop your own idea and potentials? Though we are all individuals and so our answers will differ, all agree that work provides more than material things.
3.引语法：使用引语(use a quotation)：使用一段名人名言，或人们常用的谚语、习语，以确定文章的写作范围和方向。例如：
“Great minds must be ready not only to take the opportunity, but to make them.”Colton, a great writer once remarked. But it still has a profound significance now. To a person, in whose lifetime opportunities are not many, to make opportunities is more essential to his success.
4.数据法：使用具体详实的数字或数据，然后作出概括性分析，指明问题的症结所在。例如：
In the past 5 years, there has been a marked decline in the number of young married couples who want to have children, coupled with a growing trend toward delayed childbearing. According to official statistics, in 2003, about 28 percent of married couples with wives under 35 gave no birth to children, compared with the 1993 level of 8 percent.
5.背景法：给出背景，描述具体事件的时间、地点和发生背景等，例如：
Once in a newspaper I read of a crowd of people who remained appallingly indifferent to the plea of a mother. As she failed to offer the required amount of cash as a price to save her drowning son, the woman at last watched her son sink to death. The story is not rare in newspapers and on TV, and the casualness and detachment our people now have developed has aroused nationwide concern.
6.定义法：针对讨论的主题或问题加以定义，然后进行深入探讨。例如：
It is but a step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
从崇高到荒谬只有一步之遥。Flexibility is defined as being adaptable to change. In the course of your lifetime, it is essential that you learn to bend and flex around every new circumstance, as rigidity deprives you of the opportunity to see new possibilities. Paradigms change over time, and so must you. Your company may restructure, and you will have to survive. Your spouse may choose to leave the marriage, and you will have to cope. Technology will continue to advance and change, and you must constantly learn and adapt or risk becoming a dinosaur. Flexibility allows you to be ready for whatever curve lies ahead in life instead of getting blindsided by it.
【他山之石】
开头段常用核心句型
开头段的常用核心句型，选一选适合你自己的“武器”：
1) The arguer may be right about..., but he seems to neglect to mention the fact that ....
2) Contrary to generally accepted views, I argue that....
3) There is an element of truth in this argument, but it ignores a deeper and more basic fact that....
4) It is true that ..., but this is not to say that....
5) The main / obvious problem with this argument is that it is blind to the basic fact that....
6) It would be natural / reasonable to think that..., but it would be absurd to claim that....
7) In all the discussion and debate over..., one important fact is generally overlooked / neglected.
8) There is absolutely no reason for us to believe that....
9) To assume that...is far from being proved.
10) A close inspection of this argument would reveal how flimsy (groundless) it is.
11) On the surface (At first thought), it may seem an attractive idea, but on second thought, we find that....
12) Too much emphasis placed on...may obscure other facts....
13) The problem / fact is that....
14) However logical this argument may be, it only skims the surface of the problem.
15) As far as I am concerned, I believe that....
16) Although I appreciate that..., I cannot agree with ....
17) Those who object to ... argue that.... But people who favor..., on the other hand, argue that....
18) Currently, there is a general concern over....
19) Now it is widely acknowledged that.... But I wonder whether....
20) These days we often hear about ..., but is this really the case?
Ordinary people think merely of how they will spend time, a man of intellect tries to use it.
常人只想如何消磨时间，智者则努力利用时间。 二、中间段
【芝麻开门】
中间段是文章的正文，其作用是从不同的层面对文章主题进行具体和详实的解释和论证。中间段的篇幅一般比开头段和结尾段长，每段有相应的主题句，说明主题思想的扩展句可以采用实例、数据或个人经历等写作手段。不同种类的段落采用不同的扩展手段。
【写作要点】
中间段的具体写作要点如下：
1) 所涉及内容应该准确、清楚，颇具说服力；
2) 段落中一定具备主题句；
3) 段落内容应该保持完整、统一，没有说明不足之处或多余冗长的细节；
4) 内容顺序安排合理，逻辑性较强；
5) 段落之间连贯自然；
6) 段落中讨论的内容主次分明，材料比例适当；
7) 词与句型运用合理并且有变化。
【方法例释】
正如我们在第七天和第八天中所介绍的，段落展开的基本方法很多，这里简要介绍三种中间段中常用的展开方法：列举法、因果法、例证法。
1.列举法：用来列举一系列的原因、方法等等，使文章层次分明，眉清目秀，阅卷老师在疲惫不堪的状态下，看到这样的文章，往往会有种在清澈的小溪边小憩片刻的感觉，手一抬，分就高。下面这篇例文写的是“健身的几种方法”，脉络一目了然。例文如下：
There are a number of ways for us to keep fit. First, no matter how busy we are, we should have exercise every day to strengthen our muscles. Second, it is important to keep good hours. For example, if we are in the habit of going to bed early and getting up early, we can avoid overworking ourselves and get enough sleep. Finally, entertainment is also necessary so that we may have some moments of relaxation. If we follow those instructions, we will certainly be in good health.
2.因果法：说明原因，论述事理。下面这篇作文讲的是“汉堡受欢迎的原因”，第一段提出问题“为什么受欢迎呢？”接下来在说原因时，用到了上面的列举法，只不过不是“first, second, finally”而是“first, then, besides that”，让人感觉不落俗套。例文如下：
Anger begins with folly, ends in repentance.
愤怒以愚蠢开始，以后悔告终。 The hamburger is the most popular food item in the United States. Every year Americans consume billions of them. They are sold in expensive restaurants and in humble diners. They are cooked at home on the kitchen stove or over a barbecue grill in the backyard. Why are they so popular?
First, a hamburger is extremely easy to prepare. It is nothing more than a piece of ground beef, cooked for a few minutes. Then it is placed in a sliced bun. Nothing could be simpler. Even an unskilled cook can turn out hundreds of them in an hour. Besides that, the simple hamburger can be varied in many ways. You can melt some cheese on top of the beef to create a cheeseburger.
3.例证法：举具体的事例来证明观点，这是议论文最常用的方法，尽量找最能体现观点的例子，具体点，微观点，给人说服力。请看下面作者论证“不劳无获”的观点，用的是拳击运动的例子。例文如下：
The saying “No pains, no gains” is universally accepted because of the plain yet philosophical moral teaches: if one wants to achieve something, he has to work and tolerate more than others. The saying is true of any pursuit man seeks. A case in point is boxing. While we heap cheers on the winner, few happen to imagine that his gold belt is won at the cost of his sweat, tears, blood, even life over years before the arrival of that exciting moment.
【他山之石】
中间段常用核心句型
中间段的常用核心句型，同样是20句，任你选！
1) The change in...mainly results from ....
2) The increase in...is due to the fact that....
3) Many people would claim that....
4) One of the reasons given for...is that.... What is also worth noticing is that....
5) There are a variety of reasons for this dramatic growth in.... First, ... Second, ... Finally, ...
6) There is no evidence to suggest that....
7) Why are (is / do / did)...? For one thing, .... For another, ....
8) There are numerous reasons why..., and I shall here explore only a few of the most important ones.
9) It will exert remarkable effect on....
10) A multitude of factors could account for (contribute to) the change in....
11) With the development of..., vast changes awaits this countrys society.
12) History is filled with the examples of....
13) The story is not rare (isolated / unique), it is one of many examples.
14) As is shown in the table released by the government, it can be learned that....
15) There is (no) good evidence to....
16) We must admit the undeniable fact that....
17) No one can deny (brush aside) the fact that....
18) Experience (Evidence) suggests that....
19) The same is true of....
All lay load on the willing horse.
〗 人善被人欺，马善被人骑。20) As the saying goes, “....”
三、结尾段
美文赏析
Youth
Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.〖〗青春
塞缪尔·厄尔曼
青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象，炙热的恋情；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生而有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，并非垂老，理想丢弃，方堕暮年。Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, selfdistrust bows the heart and turns the spring back to dust.〖〗岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓废必致灵魂。忧烦，惶恐，丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human beings heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of whats next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.〖〗无论年届花甲，拟或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一个无线电台，只要你从天上人间接收美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80. 〖〗一旦天线下降，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二十，实已垂垂老矣；然则只要竖起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。太平洋战争打得正酣之时，麦克阿瑟将军常常从繁忙中抬起头，注视着挂在墙上的镜框，镜框里是篇文章，名为《青春》。这篇文章一直伴随着他，也跟着他到了日本。后来，日本人在东京的美军总部发现了它，《青春》便开始在日本流传。在日本实业界，只要有成就者，没有哪一个不熟知不应用这篇美文的，就连松下电器的创始人松下幸之助几十年来也把《青春》当作他的座右铭。
评语：强烈建议将该文背诵，无论英文和译文。所附的译文也是很美的，可谓与原文互为辉映，令人赞叹不已。如此佳作，不敢私藏，献与诸位共赏。
【方法例释】
结尾段要干脆利落，深化主题。结尾段的写作方法很多，常用的有如下四种：
1.总结归纳：简要总结归纳文章要点，以便深化主题印象。例如：
In conclusion, I would like to say that change is a problem confronting most of us today. The changes which have already taken place in every field of our life are irreversible. Continuation of the growth which has already begun is inevitable. During this evolution there are great rewards to be won—by those who are willing to take the opportunities being offered.
2.重申主题：再次强调和确定文章开头阐述的中心思想。例如：
Admittedly, science has created atomic bombs and produced pervasive pollution. But it has transformed the lives of millions of people. It has multiplied mans energy, hopes, ambitions and understanding. It has elevated and will continue to elevate man intellectually and spiritually.
3.预测展望：立足当前，放眼未来。例如：
It is time that the government should speak out against corruption and take strong action to punish whoever takes bribes or embezzles fund. For present official corruption, if permitted to continue, will not only tarnish the governments popularity, but lead to its ultimate downfall.
4.提出建议：提出解决问题的途径、方法或呼吁人们采取相应的行动。例如：
College athletics plays such a vital role that it deserves close attention and persistent effort. It is suggested that physical training should be regarded as a required course wedged into college curricula, however crowded it may be, and that a fair share of college budget should be devoted to athletic programs. We sincerely hope that this suggestion will be a commitment that all colleges and universities will take up.
【他山之石】
结尾段的常用核心句型
He who commences many things finishes but a few.
样样都搞，完成者少。 开了个好头，结尾也要漂漂亮亮。下面是结尾段的常用核心句型，总共归纳精选了20句。
1) Taking into account of all these factors, we may reach the conclusion that ....
2) Judging from all evidence offered，we may safely come to the conclusion that
3) It is high time that we place great emphasis on the improvement of ....
4) It is high time that we put an end to the unhealthy situation (tendency / phenomenon) of ....
5) There is no easy solution to the problem of ..., but ... might be useful.
6) Given the factors I have just outlined, I can only say that ....
7) Unless there is a common realization of ..., it is very likely that ....
8) There is no denying that serious attention must be called to the problem of ....
9) It is essential that effective measures should be taken to prevent the situation.
10) It is fundamental that effective actions should be taken to control the tendency.
11) It is suggested that great efforts should be made to control the growth of ....
12) It is hoped that great efforts should be focused on finding (developing / improving) ....
13) It remains to be seen whether ..., but the prospect is not quite encouraging.
14) It remains unknown whether ..., but the outlook is quite rosy.
15) Anyhow, wider education should be given to the possible consequences of ....
16) Anyway, more publicity should be given to the potential effects of ....
17) To reverse the trend is not a light task, and it requires a different state of mind towards ....
18) To control the tendency is not an easy job, and it involves a different state of attitude towards ....
19) For the reasons presented above, I strongly commit to the notion that ....
20) To put all into a nutshell, I ....
Courage and resolution are the spirit and soul of virtue.
勇气和坚定是美德的精神与灵魂。
