标题：英语作文
基本要求
在莱曼英语所倡导的五种英语语言能力中，写作被认为是必修的重要课题之一。它既是英语学习短期目标——考试所要求的内容之一，又是英语学习的长期目标——交流所必需的能力之一。毋庸置疑，英语写作是集基础知识，基本能力和课外信息于一身的综合体现，同时，又要兼顾到写作者高超的写作技巧。因而，没有扎实的英语语法知识；没有长期不懈的训练；没有科学的方法指导；没有广博的课本以外的知识和信息，写好一篇优秀的英语作文是非常困难的。
首先，一个段落必须有一个中心,即主题思想，该中心由主题句特别是其中的题旨来表达。整个段落必须紧扣这个主题（stick or hold to the topic），这就是段落的统一性（unity）。
其次，一个段落必须有若干推展句，使主题思想得到充分展开，从而给读者一个完整的感觉，这就是完整性（completeness or adequateness）。
再者，一个段落不是杂乱无章的，而是有机的组合，句子的排列顺序必须合乎逻辑，从一个句子到另一个句子的过渡必须流畅（smooth），这就是连贯性（coherence）。根据文章题目以及你所想要表示的意思下手，下面我们就对这三个标准分别加以说明。统一性一个段落内的各个句子必须从属于一个中心，任何游离于中心思想之外的句子都是不可取的。请看下例：
Joe and I decided to take the long trip which we'd always wanted across the country. We were like young kids buying our camper and stocking it with all the necessities of life. Bella bakes the best rhubarb pie. We started out in early spring from Minneapolis and headed west across the northern part of the country. We both enjoyed those people we met at the trailer park. Joe received a watch at his retirement dinner. To our surprise, we found that we liked the warm southern regions very much, and so we decided to stay here in New Mexico.
本段的主题句是段首句，controlling idea（中心思想）是take the long trip across the country。文中出现两个irrelevant sentences(不相干的句子)，一个是Bella bakes the best rhubarb pie，这一段是讲的是Joe and I ，中间出现一个Bella是不合适的。还有，Joe received a watch at his retirement dinner这一句更是与主题句不相关。再看一个例子：
My name is Roseanna, and I like to keep physically fit. I used to weigh two hundred pounds, but I joined the YMCA for an exercise class and diet program. In one year I lost eighty pounds. I feel much better and never want to have that much weight on my five-feet frame again. I bought two new suitcases last week. Everyday I practice jogging three miles, swimming fifteen laps, lifting twenty-pound weights and playing tennis for one hour. My mother was a premature baby.
本段的controlling idea 是like to deep physically fit，但段中有两个irrelevant sentences，一个是I bought two new suitcases last week，另一个是My mother was a premature baby。
从上面两个例子可以看出，native speakers同样会造出来irrelevant sentences。卷面上如果这种句子多了，造成偏题或离题，那问题就更严重了。完整性正象我们前面说得那样，一个段落的主题思想靠推展句来实现，如果只有主题句而没有推展句来进一步交待和充实，就不能构成一个完整的段落。同样，虽然有推展句，但主题思想没有得到相对圆满的交待，给读者一种意犹未尽的感觉。这样的段落也不能完成其交际功能。例如：
Physical work can be a useful form of therapy for a mind in turmoil. Work concentrates your thoughts on a concrete task. Besides, it is more useful to work —— you produce something rather than more anxiety or depression.
本段的主题句是段首句。本段的两个推展句均不能回答主题句中提出的问题。什么是“a mind in turmoil”（心境不平静）Physical work又如何能改变这种情况？为什么它能起therapy的作用？读者得不到明确的答案。因此，要达到完整就必须尽可能地简明。例如：
It is not always true that a good picture is worth a thousand words. Often writing is much clearer than a picture. It is sometimes difficult to figure out what a picture means, but a careful writer can almost always explain it.
段首句所表达的主题思想是一种看法，必须有具体事例加以验证。上述两个推展句只是在文字上对主题作些解释，整个段落内容空洞，简而不明。如果用一两个具体的例子的话，就可以把主题解释清楚了。比如下段：
It is not always true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes, pictures are pretty useless things. If you can't swim and fall in the river and start gulping water, will you be better off to hold up a picture of yourself drowning, or start screaming "Help"?连贯性连贯性包括意连和形连两个方面，前者指的是内在的逻辑性，后者指的是使用转换词语。当然这两者常常是不可分割的。只有形连而没有意连，句子之间就没有内在的有机的联系；反之，只有意连而没有形连，有时行文就不够流畅。[1]
1）、意连
段落中句子的排列应遵循一定的次序，不能想到什么就写什么。如果在下笔之前没有构思，边写边想，写写停停，那就写不出一气呵成的好文章来。下面介绍几种常见的排列方式。
A．按时间先后排列（chronological arrangement）
We had a number of close calls that day. When we rose, it was obviously late and we had to hurry so as not to miss breakfast; we knew the dining room staff was strict about closing at nine o'clock. Then, when we had been driving in the desert for nearly two hours —— it must have been close to noon —— the heat nearly hid us in; the radiator boiled over and we had to use most of our drinking water to cool it down. By the time we reached the mountain, it was our o'clock and we were exhausted. Here, judgement ran out of us and we started the tough climb to the summit, not realizing that darkness came suddenly in the desert. Sure enough, by six we were struggling and Andrew very nearly went down a steep cliff, dragging Mohammed and me along with him. By nine, when the wind howled across the flat ledge of the summit, we knew as we shivered together for warmth that it had not been our lucky day.
本段从“rose”（起床）写起，然后是吃早餐（“not to miss breakfast”, “closing at nine o'clock”），然后是“close to noon”，一直写到这一天结束（“By nine——”）。
B. 按位置远近排列（spatial arrangement）。例如：
From a distance, it looked like a skinny tube, but as we got closer, we could see it flesh out before our eyes. It was tubular, all right, but fatter than we could see from far away. Furthermore, we were also astonished to notice that the building was really in two parts: a pagoda sitting on top of a tubular one-story structure. Standing ten feet away, we could marvel at how much of the pagoda was made up of glass windows. Almost everything under the wonderful Chinese roof was made of glass, unlike the tube that it was sitting on, which only had four. Inside, the tube was gloomy, because of the lack of light. Then a steep, narrow staircase took us up inside the pagoda and the light changed dramatically. All those windows let in a flood of sunshine and we could see out for miles across the flat land.
本段的写法是由远及近，从远处（“from a distance”）写起，然后“get closer”，再到（“ten feet away”），最后是“inside the pagoda”……当然，按位置远近来写不等于都是由远及近。根据需要，也可以由近及远，由表及里等等。
C. 按逻辑关系排列（logical arrangement）
a. 按重要性顺序排列（arrangement in order of importance）
If you work as a soda jerker, you will, of course, not need much skill in expressing yourself to be effective. If you work on a machine, your ability to express yourself will be of little importance. But as soon as you move one step up from the bottom, your effectiveness depends on your ability to reach others through the spoken or the written word. And the further away your job is from manual work, the larger the organization of which you are an employee, the more important it will be that you know how to convey your thoughts in writing or speaking. In the very large business organization, whether it is the government, the large corporation, or the Army, this ability to express oneself is perhaps the most important of all the skills a man can possess.
这一段谈的是表达能力，它的重要性与职业，身份有关，从“not need much skill”或“of little importance”到“more important”，最后是“most important”。
b.由一般到特殊排列（general-to-specific arrangement）
If a reader is lost, it is generally because the writer has not been careful enough to keep him on the path. This carelessness can take any number of forms. Perhaps a sentence is so excessively cluttered that the reader, hacking his way through the verbiage, simply doesn't know what it means. Perhaps a sentence has been so shoddily constructed that the reader could read it in any of several ways. Perhaps the writer has switched tenses, or has switched pronouns in mid-sentence, so the reader loses track of when the action took place or who is talking. Perhaps sentence B is not logical sequel to sentence A —— the writer, in whose head the connection is clear, has not bothered to provide the missing link. Perhaps the writer has used an important word incorrectly by not taking the trouble to look it up. He may think that "sanguine" and "sanguinary" mean the same thing, but the difference is a bloody big one. The reader can only infer what the writer is trying to imply.
这一段谈的是a writer's carelessness，先给出一个general statement作为主题句，然后通过5个 "perhaps"加以例证。
c. 由特殊到一般排列（specific-to-general arrangement）
I do not understand why people confuse my Siamese cat, Prissy, with the one I had several years ago, Henry. The two cats are only alike in breed. Prissy, a quiet, feminine feline, loves me dearly but not possessively. She likes to keep her distance from people, exert her independence and is never so rude as to beg, lick, or sniff unceremoniously. Her usual posture is sitting upright, eyes closed, perfectly still. Prissy is a very proper cat. Henry, on the other hand, loved me dearly but possessively. He was my shadow from morning till night. He expected me to constantly entertain him. Henry never cared who saw him do anything, whether it was decorous or not, and he usually offended my friends in some way. The cat made himself quite comfortable, on the top of the television, across stranger's feet or laps, in beds, drawers, sacks, closets, or nooks. The difference between them is imperceptible to strangers.
本段的主题句是段首句，它仅提出一个问题：为什么两只猫会被搞混。然后对两者进行比较，末句才下结论。
2）形连
行文的逻辑性常常要靠适当的转换词语及其他手段来实现。请读下面这一段文字并找出文中用以承上启下的词语：
Walter's goal in life was to become a successful surgeon. First, though, he had to get through high school, so he concentrated all his efforts on his studies —— in particular, biology, chemistry, and math. Because he worked constantly on these subjects, Walter became proficient in them; however, Walter forgot that he needed to master other subjects besides those he had chosen. As a result, during his junior year of high school, Walter failed both English and Latin. Consequently, he had to repeat these subjects and he was almost unable to graduate on schedule. Finally, on June 6, Walter achieved the first step toward realizing his goal.
本文中起承上启下的词语有两种，一种是转换词语（transitional words or phrases），另一种是起转换作用的其他连接手段（linking devices）。前者依次有：first, though, so, in particular, and, because, however, besides, as a result, both…and, consequently, and, finally.后者依次是：he, he, his, his, he, these, them, he, those, his, he, these, his. 本段中共有词汇105个，所使用的转换词语及其他连接用语共26个词，约占该段总词汇量的四分之一。由此可见，掌握好transitions不仅对行文的流（smoothness）有益，而且对于学生在半个小时内写120个词也是不无好处的。
一个段落里如果没有transitions也就很难有coherence了.我们看下面一个例子：
Speaking and writing are different in many ways. Speech depends on sounds. Writing uses written symbols. Speech developed about 500 000 en211ago. Written language is arecent development. It was invented only about six thousand years ago. Speech is usually informal. The word choice of writing is often relatively formal. Pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from. Pronunciation and accent are ignored in writing. A standard diction and spelling system prevails in the written language of most countries. Speech relies on gesture, loudness, and rise and fall of the voice. Writing lacks gesture, loudness and the rise and fall of the voice. Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences.
本段中除了第6句开头出现一个起过渡作用的"it"之外，没有使用其他的过渡词语.这样，文中出现许多重复的词语，全段读起来也显得生硬而不自然。如果加上必要的过渡词语来修饰的话，这一段就成了下面一个流畅连贯的段落：
Speaking and writing are different in many ways. Speech depends on sounds; writing, on the other hand, uses written symbols. Speech was developed about 500 000 years ago, but written language is a recent development, invented only about six thousand years ago. Speech is usually informal, while the word choice of writing, by contrast, is often relatively formal. Although pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from, they are ignored in wiring because a standard diction and spelling system prevails in most countries. Speech relies on gesture, loudness, and the rise and fall of the voice, but writing lacks these features. Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences．有损连贯考生在写作中经常出现下面几种错误：改变时态In the movie, Robert Redford was a spy. He goes to his office where he found everybody dead. Other spies wanted to kill him, so he takes refuge with Julie Christie. At her house, he had waited for the heat to die down, but they come after him anyway.变单复数Everybody looks for satisfaction in his life. They want to be happy. But if he seeks only pleasure in the short run, the person will soon run out of pleasure and life will catch up to him. They need to pursue the deeper pleasure of satisfaction in work and in relationships.改变人称Now more than ever, parents need to be in touch with their children's activities because modern life has the tendency to cause cleavages in the family. You need to arrange family like it so that family members will do things together and know one another. You need to give up isolated pleasures of your own and realize that parents have a set of obligations to sponsor togetherness and therefore sponsor knowledge.
因此写作中，一定要注意时态，人称以及数的变化是否正确，要注意保持一致。
书写格式
英文的书写和移行
英文书写应符合书写规范，英文字母要写清楚、写整齐、写美观，字母的大小和字母之间的距离要匀称。书写应做到字形秀丽漂亮，通篇匀称和谐。 
写英文字母要掌握正确笔顺。如小写字母i ，应该先写下面的部分，然后再打点。有的学生却按写汉字的习惯从上到下写，写快了，就会把点和下面的竖笔连在一起，显得十分别扭。字形t应为两笔。不少人却将两笔合成一笔，看上去不像t，倒像l或是e，难以辨认。另外，把r写成v，把q写成把g，把k写成h等等，都是中学生书写中常见的毛病。 
不少人在四线三格的练习纸上书写尚有规矩，能按字母的占格、高低和大小要求书写，但在白纸或横线纸上书写，却显得十分幼稚拙劣。字母或跳上跳下，或一律写成同一高度，占上中两格的字母与占中下两格的字母完全没有高低之别。这些现象都要防止。 
另外，书写时还要注意词与词之间要保持一定的距离，不能紧靠在一起。字母之间的连写也应该按照习惯，不能随意乱来。 
在一篇字数有限的作文里，我们还要注意尽量不把一个单词拆开移行。万一要移行，则必须以音节为单位进行，如revolution这个词，依照音节移行的原则可以按re-，revo-, revolu-这几种方法移行。在移行时，我们还应特别注意以下几点: 
1. 单音节词不能移行，即使是字母较多的单音节词，如through等也不能例外。
2．缩略词如Mr.、Dr.等不能和后面的名字拆开移行。 缩略的专用名词如U.K.(the UnitedKingdom)、U.S.A(United States of America)等也不能拆开移行。 
3．时间、量度及货币单位应视为一个整体；不能分开移行。
如: 11：00 P.M. 应写在一行内，不能将11：00和PM.分开移行；写38℃时，不能将38和℃分开移行。 
4．由“年、月、日”表示的日期。如果必须分开移行只能将“月、日”与“年”分开。如January 6，1980不能将January和6分开移行，但可以把January 6，和1980分成两行。 
5．含双写辅音字母的单词，在移行时要将辅音字母拆开。如better可拆成better，necessary可拆成necessary。 
但如果双写辅音字母属于词根，后面又加了后缀，就不能将两个辅音字母拆开。如drill加上-ing后构成了drilling，就不可以将它拆成dril-ling，而只能拆为drilling。
写作技巧
英语考试作文试题的一个最大的特点就是时限性，即在有限的时间内（一般分配30分钟）按试题要求完成作文试题。有很多参试者最后交卷时作文题要么没有完成要么质量比较差，这其中当然有很多原因，但不可忽视的一点原因便是写作文时间不够来不及完成作文或来不及仔细思考写一篇合乎题目要求的文章。通过本次培训课程，各位可以学会一些减省写作时间的良方佳策。
英语作文试题一般要求字数在120字左右，段落一般为三段，因而有“三段论”一说。所谓“三段论”即全文分为三个自然段，一般结构为“首段摆事实（现象）、提观点（论点或问题），在这一部分参试者最好将题目要求中的第一个要点（一般为提出问题或观点）作为首段的内容之一；第二段剖析现象、分析论点，这也是全文的主体部分。在这一部分参试者需要将试题要求中的所有要点的内容都加以阐述和扩展，同时注意不要信马由缰的写一些与文章主题无关的内容以免被当作跑题处理；第三段为结论段，这一段的主要任务是为全文做一个结论性的终结，让文章显得完整和连贯。至于开头和结尾有无固定的套路可循，我们后面的讲解中将会接触到。
写作能力
一 丰富学生词汇量，培养学生遣词造句的能力
词汇是组成语言最基本的单位，是写作的必需材料。词汇量不足或掌握得不好，都会给写作带来困难。众所周知，作文是信息的输出，一定要以输入为前提；只有头脑中储备有一定数量的词汇，才有可能写出好作文。因此，加强词汇教学、扩大和丰富学生的词汇量是提高学生写作能力的基础工作。[2]
因而，在进行词汇教学时，教师应通过例句讲清楚常用词的意义、使用条件、用法及搭配关系，然后再让学生模仿造句。此外，英语有自己的固定短语、固定搭配、特殊句型等，如果学生能在作文中恰到好处地使用它们，那将会大大地提高作文档次 。因此，平时必须加强这方面的基本训练，还要督促学生课后多多记忆。
二 适时传授语法知识，注意由浅入深
其实，在教学实践中，学生作文中的语法错误屡见不鲜，诸如名词的形式、动词的时态、代词的格、形容词的形式，乃至于语态、主谓搭配等多方面常会出现错误。如果学生不了解语法，写出的文章就会错误百出，显得档次很低。如果说高级词汇是珍珠，它们在文章中闪耀着夺目的光芒，那语法就一定是丝带，把珍珠有序地串联组合起来，这样才能使之成为精彩的文章。
由此可见，语法在英语作文中占有重要的地位。所以，在教学过程中，教师应设法将语法由浅及深、由易到难地渗透到课堂教学中去。其步骤第一，针对高一新生，可先介绍简单句的五个基本句型及存在句句型，即：S+V；S+V+O；S+V+O1+O2；S+V+O+OC；S+link－v+P；There be+S+…几乎所有的英语句型都是这些句型扩大、延伸或变化而来，如果学生能够掌握这些句型，并运用自如，就为后面的复合句和非谓语动词的学习奠定了基础。不过，同时也要注意动词时态的引入。第二，加强时态练习，训练学生正确使用动词形式。
三 依托教材多形式地训练
新课标教材的内容、题材和体裁丰富多彩，学生课文中有人物传记、剧本、科普文章、英美国家概况等，这些不仅开拓了学生视野，也为学生写作提供了写作素材和模板，在学习完一个单元后教师可根据不同内容对学生进行相应的训练，如复述课文、缩写课文、续写课文、扩写课文或改写课文等，还可模仿课文仿写。我个人体会改写和仿写是写作训练的好形式。
考试注意
常见的英语作文类型分为议论文、图表文、记叙文、应用文等，不同类型文章的写作要求上相同，考场写法也有相通点。[3]审题立意定文章之灵魂对命题作文必须认真审题，对自由作文必须立好意。文章要有明确的主题，必须具备4个条件：准确、鲜明、深刻、集中。草拟提纲打造文章之骨架审好题，立好意后，就要写提纲，打造文章的骨架。文章布局要做好3件事：安排好层次段落，铺设好过渡，处理好开头和结尾。如命题作文中有提示句，还要从提示句的关键词出发，围绕关键词开拓思路，发挥联想，记录下联想到的东西，可以是句子或单词词组，可以是英语或汉语。段落主题句理文章之脉络一篇短文的段落一般分为引导段、主题段和结尾段。每段的主题句非常重要，是作者思维的起点，切题的准绳，阐述的对象。看到段落主题句，读者大致了解段落要阐述的内容。段落主题句通常是一个语法结构完整、内容概括、用词简洁明了的单句。通常将段落主题句置于段落的开头，可使文章结构更清晰，有说服力。参照提纲紧扣主题句，完成各段落，充文章之血肉有了段落主题句后，还需要顺着段落主题句的方向，参照提纲中的思路，从而完成各个段落。引导段要能引起读者的注意和兴趣，为主题段铺路架桥。主题段应围绕文章和该段的主题来展开。展开的方式包括：顺序法、举例法、比较法、对比法、说明法、因果法、推导法、归纳法，和下定义等。可以根据需要任选一种或几种方式。注意进行这一步骤还需注意四方面问题： 
1）确保提纲中段落结构的思路与各段主题句的一致性。只有这样，才能保证所写段落不偏题，不跑题。
2）要综合考虑各个段落的内容安排，避免段落内容的交叉。
3）用好连接词，注意段落间、句子间的连贯性。要做到所写文章层次分明，思路清晰，文字连贯，就需要在句与句之间，段与段之间架起一座座桥梁，而连接词起的正是桥梁作用。 增加文采小窍门: 如果说第一、二步是对文章的构思，第三、四步骤则是真正地“写”了，用词是否贴切，文法是否正确，句式是否多变，文采是否有生气，关系到写作者的语言功底和水平，但也有些窍门是需要长时间累积的。
4）平时多注重积累一些高级词汇也是很重要的