实用英文写作技巧

第一单元 段落简介 11段落段落是构成文章的一组句子。段落必须表达完整的意思：或描写事物（describe something），或争论某事（argue about something），或对某事提出疑问（question something），或要求什么（demand something），或给事物下定义（define something），或驳斥某观点（reject something）。12典型段落的构成一个典型的段落通常由三部分组成：（1）主题句（the topic sentence）；（2）说明或支持主题的推展句（ supporting sentences）；（3）结论句（the concluding sentence）（有些段落没有该部分）。示范段落1-1We all know that cigarette smoking is a dangerous habit because it causes health problems Doctors say it can be a direct cause of cancer of the lungs and throat and can also contribute to cancer of other organs In addition， it can bring about other health problems such as heart and lung diseases It is clearly identified as one of the chief causes of death in oursociety13示范段落分析这是一个典型的段落，可概括提纲如下：主题句： We all know that cigarette smoking is a dangerous habit，because it causes health problems推展句： 1 Doctors say it can be a direc cause of cancer of the lungs and throat and can also contribute to cancer of other organs2 It can bring about other health problems such as heart and lung diseases结论句： It is clearly identified as one of the chief causes of death in our society从以上提纲可见，主题句提出了一个问题： What kind of health problems does cigarette smoking cause？随后的两个推展句回答了这个问题，结论句总结了推展句并再一次强调主题句。Exercise 1-1Directions： Read the following paragraphs and find out the topic sentence， the supporting details and the concluding sentence， if there is one（1）The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever beforeAbout a thousand species of animals are in danger of extinction,，and the rate at which they are being destroyed has increased With mammals， for instance， the rate of extinction is nowabout one species every year； from A D1 to 1800， the ratewas about one speciesevery fifty years Everywhere， men are trying o solve the problemof preserving wildlife while caring at the same time for the worlds growing populationTopic Sentence：The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever beforeDetails： 1About a thousand species of animals are in danger of extinction,，and the rate at which they are being destroyed has increased2With mammals， for instance， the rate of extinction is now about one species every year； from A D1 to 1800， the ratewas about one species every fifty years Concluding Sentence：Everywhere， men are trying o solve the problemof preserving wildlife while caring at the same time for the worlds growing population（2）The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customsFor example， in both America and England， people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time Also， most English men will open a door for a woman or offer their seat to a woman， and so will most Americans Promptness is important both in England and in America That is， if a dinner invitation is for 7 oclock， the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delayTopic Sentence：The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customsDetails： 1For example， in both America and England， people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time2Also， most English men will open a door for a woman or offer their seat to a woman， and so will most Americans3Promptness is important both in England and in America That is， if a dinner invitation is for 7 oclock， the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delayConcluding Sentence：_（3）Birds use many different materials to build nestsSome birds use bits of grass The tailor-bird of Africa and India uses grass to sew leaves together Other birds find twigs and pebbles usefulTopic Sentence：Birds use many different materials to build nestsDetails： 1Some birds use bits of grass2he tailor-bird of Africa and India uses grass to sew leaves together3Other birds find twigs and pebbles usefulConcluding Sentence：_第二单元 主题句简介 21主题句 作者的首要任务是让读者知道所写段落要谈的是什么，这就是每段的主题句的作用。因此主题句应该阐明段落的主要思想，所有支持主题句的细节和描述都与这一主要思想有关。22主题句的形式主题句通常有以下三种形式：1）肯定句（AffirmativeSentence）Example： The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before2）反诘句（RhetoricalSentence）Example： How do you think people will solve the problem of wildlifeprotection？3）不完整句（Fragments）Example： And the workingman？初学者最好使用肯定句作为主题句。23主题句的位置主题句出现的位置有以下四种情况：1）段首（At thebeginning）主题句经常居于段首，以便读者浏览主题句就可掌握文章的概要。这个位置适用于写提供信息或解释观点的段落。2）段末（At the end）用推理方法展开段落时，主题句往往位于句末。3）段中（In themiddle）有时为了使段落多样化，主题句也可以居于段中。4）隐含（Implied）有时候，尤其在写叙述性或描写性段落时，当所有的细节都围绕着一个显而易见的主题时可以不用主题句。Exercise 2-1Directions： Read the following paragraphs and identify the topic sentence If it is implied， summarize it yourself （1） But no matter what it is called， all polyester has certain good points It does not wrinkle easily It dries quickly after it is washed It holds its shape It is strong and keeps its colors wellTopic Sentence：_Position：_ （2） Black is the colour of mourning Red symbolizes danger，violence，or bloodshed If you are afraid， you are yellow None of these sayings is true outside the English speaking world In China and Korea， white is the color of mourning In Russia red stands for beautyand life In Italy andGermany you are yellow with anger，not with fearTopic Sentence：_Position：_ （3） Our chief source of fresh water is rainfall that collects in lakes，rivers， and reservoirs Recently， however， we have discovered anew source， aquifers， which are rock formationscontaining waterEven underdeserts， vastaquifers may be waiting to be tappedCompanies drilling for oil in the Middle East have sometimes struckaquifers， whichprovide unexpected water supplies for arid regionsTopic Sentence：_Position：_ （4） Suppose youre playing a game You make a silly mistake and lose Do you become angry？ Or can you laugh at yourself and hope to do better next time？ Suppose you are at a specialdinnerYouaccidentally spill some foodWhy keep worrying about how clumsy you look？Why not laugh it off and enjoy yourselfanyway？If you can， its good sign youve really grown upTopic Sentence：_Position：_ （5） Young men sometimes bring edelweiss back for their girlfriends The girls think of the flowers asa proof of true loveMountain climbers， guides， and hunters pick edelweiss tooThey wear it on their hats To them it is a sign of courage and daringTopic Sentence：_Position：_ 第三单元 如何写好主题句 31关于写主题句的建议 1）要写合乎语法的句子Example 1： Two causes of the American Civil War这个句子是个不完整的句子，不合乎语法，因此不能用作主题句。Example 2： There were two causes that led to the American Civil War重写后的句子合乎语法，是个较好的主题句。2）要使用限写词限定主题为了正确表达观点，好的主题句经常使用关键词或词组，即限制词（controllers）限制这一观点。Example 3： Air travel is more convenient than train for at least three reasons从上例主题句我们得知作者将要写“air travel”（ topic），他将要把 “train”（ aspect）和“ air travel”作比较，并且陈述“reasons”。由此可见，作者在“aspect”（方面）和“reason”（原因）两方面限制他的主题。3）要注意主题的可写性所定的主题不能太笼统，也不能太具体。Example 4： In Hemingways story “Soldiers Home”，Krebs tellshis mother that he wants no part of Gods Kingdom这个句子太具体以至于无东西可写，无法展开段落。Example 5： In Hemingways story “Soldiers Home”， Kreb is alonely， cynicalveteran这个句子可作为主题句，因为可以围绕“lonely，cynical”展开段落。Example 6： Let me tell you something about overpopulation这个句子太笼统，作为一个段落的主题太大，难于驾驭。Example 7： Why has the world population been increasing sorapidly in the lastdecades？这个句子是个较好的主题句，作者用“the reasons foroverpopulation in the last decades”，从“原因”（cause）和“时间”（time）两方面限制了主题，能在一个段落内论述。Exercise 3-1Directions： Identify the areas which limit the topic sentences311 Soccer has become increasinglypopular in the U S in the last ten yearsTopic：_Limitations：_312 Pollution has caused three majorproblems in the last decadesTopic：_Limitations：_313There are two kinds of memory： short-term and long-termTopic：_Limitations：_314 Women are playing an increasinglyimportant part in society todayTopic：_Limitations：_315 Women are paid less for equalwork than men in some companiesTopic：_Limitations：_Exercise 3-2Directions： Write two topic sentences for each of the topics，limiting the topic in differentways3 2 1 Topic： the study of EnglishTopic Sentence 1：_Topic Sentence 2：_322 Topic： college students todayTopic Sentence 1：_Topic Sentence 2：_323 Topic： women in ChinaTopic Sentence 1：_Topic Sentence 2：_324 Topic：crimeTopic Sentence 1：_Topic Sentence 2：_ Exercise 3-3Directions： Read the following paragraphs and supply the missing topic sentence （1） _Icelands flag， for instance， stands for features of the landRed for the fire of Icelands volcanoes White is for ice Blue is for the mountains On Indias flag， the blue wheel stands for peaceand progress The whitestripe behind it is for truth The black stripe on the flag of Malawi stands for the Negro peopleof that African land The red stripe represents the blood they shed to free themselvesfrom foreign rule （2） _The one most people are familiar with is the“desk dictionary”，sometimes refered to asgeneral-purpose dictionary Another kind is the pronouncing dictionary， which is concerned with a wordspronunciation more than with its meaning A third type is the bilingual dictionary， which lists the words in onelanguage and attempts to give equivalent meaning in another language Other types include technicaldictionaries， specialpurpose dictionaries，and scholarly dictionaries 第四单元 如何写推展句 41段落的推展在前几单元中，我们谈到写段落的第一个步骤是写主题句。作者要对主题句在某些方面加以限制。第二个步骤将是写推展句。例如你要陈述你选择某院校的理由，第一步，写出主题句：There are two main reasons why I have decided to attend BingstonUniversity next year第二步，以数个理由推展你的主题：示范段落4-1 There are two main reasons why Ihave decided to attend Bingston University next year First of all， there is the question of money：Bingstonvs tuition is reasonableand I dont even have topay it all at once This is very important， since my father is not a rich man With Bingstons “deferred payment plan，” my father will be able to pay my tuition without too muchdifficultyThe secondresaon is the fine education which I feed will receive there in agriculture， my chosen field It is a well-known fact thatBingston hires only the finest professors in its Agriculture Department Moreover， the university reqires allagricultural students to get practical experience by working on farms in theareawhile they are still going to school42示范段落分析细节： two main reasons：理由 1financial considerationa reasonabletuitionb deferredpayment plan理由 2quality of educationa fineteachersb practicalexperience在两个主要理由之下，作者用更小的细节支持它们。由此可见，段落的推展依赖于支持主题句的细节（details）。推展段落的方法很多。通常每个段落以一种方法为“支配方法”（ thedominant method），必要时，可运用其它一种或数种方法作为“辅助方法”（ the supporting method）。上面的示范段落使用因果法（cause-and-effect）作为支配方法，分类法（division and classification）作为辅助方法。作者还运用了“重要性排列顺序”（the order of importance）作为安排细节、组织段落的手段。我们将在以下各单元逐个讨论这些方法。Exercise4-1Directions： Read the following paragraphs and find out what details the authorsuse to support their topic sentences （1） Warm water freezes more quickly than cold Sir Francis Bacon stated thatalmost four hundred years ago But few people believedhimtill 1970 In that year， Canadian scientist George Kell proved the English scholar right Dr Kell filled an open pail with cold water He filled another with warm water He exposed both to the same lowtemperature The warmwater froze firstTopic Sentence：_Details：1_2_ （2） There is a relationship between your blood type and your nationality Among Europeans and people ofEuropean ancestry，about 42percent have type A while 45 percent have type OThe rarest is type B Other races have different percentagesFor example， some American Indian groups havenearly 100 percent type OTopic Sentence：_Details：1_2_ （3） Although thousands of people have been killed by sudden eruptions， volcanoes also benefit man， Tin， tungsten， gold and other metals have been brought closer to the earths surfaceChemicals in the ash have enrichedfarmland When solid， lava is agood building material And in Italy， steam from active volcanoessupplies heat and power to surrounding areasTopic Sentence：_Details：1_2_3_4_ （4） The Womens Movement has had several effects on the English language It has created Ms， a title for women comparable tothe title Mr for men The creator of the new titleobjected to the title Miss and Mrs once given to women because these titles violated a womans privacyby indicating her marital status The use of Msnow permits women to enjoy the same privacy that men have enjoyedwith the use of Mr Second， the Movement has changed the ending of many compound words from-manto-personFor instance， the word “chairman” has been replaced in manyorganization with the word “chairperson”， and the word“salesman”has become salesperson Feminists insist that the substitution of-person for-man makes theposition more suitable for members of either sex Third， the Movementis responsible for new termsOne example is male chauvinist pig， a term applied to a man who refuses to recognize the equality ofwomen Another exampleis female chauvinist sow， a phrase used to describe a female who believes that she issuperior to males The mostprofound effect the Movementhas had on the language is on the third personsingular pronounThirty yearsago most English instructors forced their students to se he， him， and his for the third person singular when the sex of the personwas not known Thus， students were taught to say，“Everyone has his books”Today many English teachers permitstudents to follow the feminist lead and use the masculine and femininepronouns together Therefore， constructions such as his or herbooks are common Although theWomens Movement may not have yet achieved all of its goals， it has made a mark on the EnglishlanguageTopic Sentence：_Details：1_2_3_4_ 第五单元如何写结论句 51结论句第一单元曾提到，段落由三个部分组成，最后一部分就是结论句（ theconcluding sentence）。结论句通常与主题句一样包含有段落的中心思想，然而所用措辞与主题句不同。在示范段落 1-1，主题句是： We all know that cigarettesmoking is a dangerous habit because it causes health problems结论句是： It is clearly identified asone of the chief causes of death in our society52关于写结论句的建议1）把握主题句的关键词例如在关于“cigarette smoking”的示范段落 1-1中，中心思想是“the health problems causedby cigarette smoking，关键词是“health problems”。2）总结细节，回答主题句中隐含的问题。在上述示范段落中，隐含的问题是“What are the healthproblems caused by cigarette smoking？”结论句作出的回答是 It is identified as one of the chief cause of death in our society3）用不同的措辞表达同一中心思想。在上述段落中，主题句的关键词是“health problems”，而在结论句中，关键词是“causes of death”。示范段落5-1Our neighborhood has been greatly changed When I last visited there， about half the homes had been torndown to make way for a superhighway The remaining buildings were plastered with billboards andsurrounded by traffic signs and litter Now the whole neighborhood has become dirty， noisy and full of cars53示范段落分析主题句： Our neighborhood has beenchanged主题句关键词： changed主题句隐含的问题：“How has the neighborhoodchanged？细节： 1 a superhighway builtnoisy and full of cars2 full ofbillboards， trafficsigns and litterdirty结论句： Now the whole neighborhood hasbecome dirty， noisyandfull of cars结论句关键词： dirty，noisy and full of cars结论句总结了细节并回答了主题句提出的问题。Exercise 5-1Directions：Read the following paragraphFind out the topic sentence and the concluding sentence， and rearrange the details so thatthe paragraph will make sense In less than three years the farmhad gone to piecesAll the windows had been broken out of the big two-story farm houseIn the front of the house thegrass was about three feet tall andthe barn yard was full of weeds instead ofpigs squealing to be fedThere were no more cows to milk or horses to rideMy grandmothers farm has a lot ofenjoyable memories for me，but after she died， I left home to join the army and when I returned，I was disappointed at the changesthat had taken place Paint was peeling off the house and the porch roof was sagging Lively as the place had beenbefore my grandmother died， it seemed to have died with her nowThis farm had once been lively with the noise of a tractor plowingthe land and a dog barking whenever someone came up to the houseTopic Sentence：_Supporting Details：_Concluding Sentence：_Exercise 5-2Directions： Read the following paragraphs and underline the topic sentence ofeach Then write yourown concluding sentence to complete each paragraph （1） Pollution has caused three major problems in the last decadesFirst， with the development of industry， more and more factories have been built and have sent out smoke andpoisonous gasesThus the airis polluted Theincreasing number of cars adds to the air pollution Second， farmers use chemical fertilizersto increase production and insecticide to kill insects When rain flows with thesepoisonous chemicals to rivers， water is polluted A third formof pollution， noise， is becomingmore and more serious Very loud noises can make people sick， and even drive them mad_