大学英语四级写作技巧简介
之一——文章结构
英文写作一直是学生们的弱项，四级考试将近，大家都很担心写作问题，在此我先简单介绍一下文章的结构问题，以后再谈其他方面。
四级写作一般以三段式展开，题目要求中通常包含三个要点，每个要点为一段（记住，一定要分段），第一段提出问题，第二段分析问题，第三段解决问题。以历年的真题为例，2006年12月的题目为Spring Festival Gala on CCTV，要求：1。许多人喜欢看春节晚会；
2。但有些人提出取消春节晚会；
3。我的看法。“喜欢看春节晚会”是正常现象，应该作为问题的开端进行简短介绍，“有些人提出取消春节晚会”才是重点，必须给出相应的篇幅做详细阐述。最后表明我的观点，其实就是问作者的态度及解决这个矛盾的方法。又如2006年6月的题目：An Announcement for a Voluntary Program, 要求：1。校学生会组织一次暑假志愿活动现招募志愿者；
2。本次志愿活动的目的、内容及安排；
3。报名条件和联系方式。这仍是三段式的结构，第一段提出问题——告之大家会举办一次暑假志愿活动，第二段描述问题——介绍志愿活动的相关信息，第三段解决问题——怎样加入志愿活动（报名信息）。往年还考过写简历，写演讲稿，论述社会现象等题目，总是跳不出三段式，因此学生们必须掌握如何写三段式作文。
总的来说有三点要注意：1。开篇就得点题。文章字数有限，必须采取开门见山的方法，但开篇点题并不是说第一段第一句话就得提出问题，在这之前可以有所修饰，有导入的成分，但不要太长，一般第三句就得清楚、突出地把问题点出来。2。中间段阐述必须清楚。中间段是全文的核心部分，要做到阐述清楚，论证充分，要有一致性、连贯性和条理性。一般由主题句和扩展句组成，主题句是观点的高度浓缩，应该言简意赅；
扩展句是对主题句的详细阐述，应该做到理由充分，内容一致。3。结尾段进行总结，并提出解决问题的方法。最后的总结在观点上可以重申但不可以重复，另外结尾一定要有所升华，不能仍停留在对问题的描述上，既然存在问题，就必须想办法解决。
至于如何开端、如何论述、如何结尾的问题，大家敬请期待下一回吧！当然我不会让大家久等的:)
写作能力无法一口气提高，大家必须在平时勤修苦练。
之二——突出主题
Well begun is a half done，如何开头是值得注意的问题，它能确定你的文章给人留下的first impression。中国人喜欢先讲道理最后给出结论，而西方人习惯先下定义，再慢慢解释。按照西方人的思维方式，我们在写文章开头的时候就得突出主题，不拐弯抹角。
常见的开头的写作方法大致有下面几种：
1。引述名言谚语
eg: "You have to believe in yourself. That"s the secret of success." Charles Chaplin ever said. In my opinion, self-confidence is the first element on the way to your goal.As the old saying goes:"Knowledge is power." The main way for us students to gain knowledge is from the books. So some students argue thatwe should read extensively...
It is well known to us all that "..."
2. 对比，比较
eg: Some people say ..., while others claim that ...
Some people believe..., but others argue that...
Old people often feel that..., but for the young, it is ....
3. 提出一个问题
eg：
What constitutes enough information for the decision-maker? It"s impossible to put a number on it, but...
Should the Spring Festival Gala be cancelled ? Different people have different answers.
Misunderstanding is inevitable in communications. If such misfortuns occurs, what is your response? Here are some tips for you to treat it in a proper way.
4。数据引证（一般用在看图作文中）
eg: As we can see in the charts(柱状图，圆形百分比图)，the number of Chinese people who go abroad has increased greatly between 1992 and 2002.
As is clearly shown in the charts, there is an increasing number of people who own a car during the recent three years.
The figures in this graph（曲线图）show us that...
According to the graph, we can find that...
It can be seen from the table（图表，表格）that...
5. 陈述现状
eg: With the rapid development of..., the interview is becoming more and more important in job-hunting.
Because of the development of..., great changes have occured in the educational system of China.
Nowadays mobilphone is very popular with college students.(很受学生欢迎)In recent years cheating in CET4 still prevails among the college students. （近几年里四级考试舞弊现象在大学生中仍然很普遍。）
It is well-accepted that nowadays dishonesty is a common phenomenon in society. (人们都意识到现今社会中普遍存在不诚实的现象)
There is a heated debate over private car.
Nowadays private car aroused a lot of controversy.
偏离主题是写作中的大忌讳，它意味着考生做了30分钟的白工。为了避免这个问题我们一定要仔细省题，弄清楚考题要求是写议论文、说明文还是记叙文，然后确定文章主题和大致思路。
之三——主题句和扩展句
在明确了题目要求、确定立意后，应该根据题意构思出文章的框架结构。其中写好主题句是最关键的步骤。
论述的段落包含多个主题句。主题句（topic sentence）反映段落的中心思想，体现文章的整体结构，让读者对作者的思路一目了然。要写好主题句必须注意以下几个方面：
1。主题句必须是个完整的句子，与文章主旨密切相关。
2。主题句一般是general sentence，内容明确、具体。
3。主题句内涵要广，便于展开细节论述。
比如，写一篇论述计算器的文章，主题思想是反映计算器能帮助人们快速解决算术问题，但过分依赖计算器会对人脑有不良影响。那么主题句应该要紧扣计算器的使用利弊这个方面，
eg: Calculators can obveousely benefit us.
However, overusing calculators will also do some harm to us.
如果句子不够具体明确，段落的主题便模糊不清，在进一步阐述时会失去方向感。如：To improve English proficiency, one needs to acquire some skills. 这句话中的some skills太泛，读者弄不清到底是哪方面的技能技巧。改成：To improve reading ability, one needs to acquire some reading skills. 这样含义清楚，范围明确，便于细节描述。
而如果句子涉及的面太窄，不够general，没有进一步讨论的余地，这样的句子就不适合作主题句。如：Today more and more women are going out to work. 这句话含义非常清楚，没有进行详细阐述的必要，所以它本身只能是细节句，用来解释主题句。
主题句确定后，必须有足够的细节去支持主题句所提出的观点，给出充分、有力的论证。这就是扩展句的任务。扩展句是段落的主干部分，是对主题句的中心思想的详细解释，它的特点是：1。清晰详实；
2。条理分明；
3。内容一致。如：主题句为：Cellphone is one of the most popular means of communication. 那么接下来的扩展句应该要紧跟这个中心意思，有条理地进行阐述：（扩展句1）People make use of it to make an appointment, take a message for others, discuss a question and so on. （扩展句2）People even use it to have a meeting or give a notice.这两句话都说明了手机的社交功能，而且以递进的顺序排列，让读者更好地理解主题句的含义，具有说服力。
之四——段落的展开
主题句与扩展句构成段落，那么文章段落有什么样的特点呢？
1。段落一致性。
在一个段落就只有一个主题句，就是说一个段落就只能有一个中心思想，一个核心，段落中所有其他句子都要围绕这个中心展开或铺述，一切与主题句没有
直接关系的句子都要舍弃掉。如：However, fake commodities are extremely harmful to consumers as well as to the whole society. First of all, fake commodities may cause losses to consumers. Meanwhile, fake commodities may harm people"s health, sometimes even lives. And in the 1998 fatal alcohol poisoning case in Shanxi Province, for example, a peasant produced "alcohol", dreaming of becoming rich overnight; which, with 27 people killed and about 700 poisoned, caused great
sufferings to the victims and shocked the whole country as well. Therefore, it is really high time we took action to crack down on the production and sale of fake
commodities. 第一句显然是主题句，其后作者用了三个扩展句进行说明，每句话都与主题句密切相关，最后的结尾句对整段论述做了升华。所以这一段落是符合一致性原则的。
2。段落连贯性
一个好段落在具体语言上和内容上要有连贯性，段落中的句子要符合一定的条理和逻辑顺序，句与句之间衔接要紧密，过度要自然、流畅，这样才能反映出一个清晰的思路。如：It is known to us all that modern transportation plays an important role in our life. In the past people used to suffer a great deal if they had to make a long journey or convey some heavy goods, the fact is that the transport means at that time was simple and rare. Today, various vehicles, ships and airplanes have enabled us to go wherever we like to. Not only does modern transportation bring people much
convenience, but is also frees people from the hard work of conveyance. What is more important is that modern transportaion has saved much of our time so that we can do more work and learn more knowledge. 第一句话点明主题，然后通过古今对比展开论述，按时间顺序排列，条理清楚，语句连贯自然。
按逻辑顺序安排细节是使段落连贯的方法之一，常用的顺序有四种：时间顺序、空间顺序、演绎法和归纳法。演绎法是先通过主题句给出一般的总体的观点，然后给出扩展句摆具体的事实，体现了一般到具体的顺序；
归纳法是先给具体事实和细节，再概括总结出其中道理、规律，体现了具体到一般的顺序。
使段落连贯的方法之二是使用适当的连接手段，一般是指关联词的使用。这个问题我下次再详许述。
之五——段落的连贯性
在确定好一条条的扩展句后，怎样把这些句子流畅而连贯地组合在一起呢？这便是关联词发挥作用的时候了。在英语中，句与句之间、段与段之间一般都有连词或关联词连接，通过这些词读者能够很清楚地明白文章前后的逻辑联系。适当使用关联词是四级写作必备的技能，大家应该要引起特别重视。常用的关联词分为四类：
1。列举类
列举法常用在议论文中，当作者提出一个论点后，可通过列举出一系列事实对其进行说明或论证。列举类关联词有：
first(ly), second(ly),... finally; for one thing, for another; on the one hand, on the other hand; moreover; furthermore; what"s more; in addition; besides; first of all; in the first place, in the second place; (at)last; then; next; the last but not the least
2。举例类
举例法是用事例或数据对中心观点进行说明论证的方法，举例类关联词有：
for example; for instance; such as; like; take...for example; a case in point; namely; in other words; that is; especially; in particular
3。比较和对比
比较是把两种或两种以上的事物进行比较，以辨别出它们的相似之处；
对比是将这些事物进行对照，辨别其差异而指出各自的特征和本质。这类关联词有：but; however; yet; otherwise; while; in contrast; by contrast; on the contrary; similarly; likewise; like; conversely; rather than; instead; on the other hand; equally; nevertheless; nonetheless; unlike; still; in the same way; compared with...
4. 因果类
as a result; since; because(of); thanks to; due to; owing to; for this reason; hence; thus; therefore; on this/that account; on account of; consequently
5. 总结类
总结法是指在表达了一个观点或举了一个例子后，进行总结、给出概括，这类关联词有：
in this case; according to; in a word; in brief; in short; to sum up
之六——四级写作万能句型
1）第一段：
（1）现状说明：“用于文章开头的语句”
1.When asked about.../ When it comes to.../ Faced with... most/many people believe that ..., but other people consider it differently/ regard it as...
2. When it comes to ..., people"s opinions differ. Some hold the opinion that ..., while others claim that ...
3. There is no consensus of opinions among people as to the role/ view/ idea of .... Some people claim that ..., while others believe that ....
4. There is a general discussion today about the problem/ issue of .... Those who
criticize ... argue that .... They believe that ... But people who advocate ..., on the other hand, argue that ....
5. Most people are of the opinion that .... But I personally believe that ....
6. Now people in growing numbers are beginning to realize that ....
7. Now, it is generally acknowledged that ..., but I doubt whether ....
（2) 图表描述：“用于描写图片或数据的语句”
1. In 1990, it increased/decreased from ... to ...
2. By comparison with 1998, it decreased/increased by
3. The figure has nearly doubled,compared with/ as against that of last year.
4. It has increased/ decreased almost twice/ six times, compared with ...
5. The number is twice/ four times/ half as much as that of 1990.
6. It accounts for/ takes up... percent of the total.(占……的比例)
7. The number was more than/ less than ...,a half/ third/ quater of the 1990 total.
2）第二段：
（1）原因列举：“用于解释原因的语句”
1. The phenomenon/change in ... mainly result from the fact that ...
2. One may regard the phenomenon as a ...sign of.../ response to...
3. There are many causes/ reasons for this dramatic growth/decrease. First, ... Second, ... Finally, ...
4. A number of factors can account for the change in ...
5. Another contributory factor of ... is ...
6. Why do people ...?For one thing, ... for another, .../ One reason is... Another is... Perhaps the primary reason is ....
7. ... is also responsible for the rise/ decrease in ...
（2）观点陈述：“用于比较、驳斥的语句”
I．用于比较的语句
1. The advantages of A outweigh any benefit we gain from B.
2. Good as A is, it has its own disadvantages. For one thing, it ...; for another, it ....
3. Although A has enormous/ much/ considerable/ a distinct advantage over B ..., it can not compete with B in ...
4. A"s advantage sounds ridiculous/ means nothing when B"s advantages are considered.
II．用于驳斥的语句
1. Although a lot of people believe that ..., I doubt/ wonder whether the argument bears much analysis/ close examination
2. As opposed to widely held ideas, I believe/ think/ argue that ...
3. Although the popular belief/ idea is that ..., (a) current study/ survey indicates that ...
4. They may be right about ..., but they seem to neglect/ fail to mention/ consider the fact that ...
5. Although it is widely accepted that ..., it is unlikely to be true that ...
6. It is true that ..., but this is not to say/ it doesn"t mean that ...
7. There is/are absolutely no/ in fact every reason(s) for us to believe/ accept/ resist/ reject that ...
8. What these people fail to understand/ consider/ mention is that ...
9. You/ One may think/ argue/ say that .... It probably will. But ...
10. It is one thing to believe that ..., but it is quite another to say that ...
3）第三段：
结束语：“用于文章结尾的语句”
1. From what has been discussed above/ Taking into account all these features/ Judging from all evidence offered, we may safely draw the conclusion that ....
2. All the evidence supports an unshakable conclusion that ....
3. It is (high) time that we placed great emphasis on ....
4. It is (high) time we put an end to the undesirable phenomenon of ....
5. There is little doubt/ no denying that further attention must be paid to the problem of ....
6. It is necessary that effective actions should be taken to prevent the situation.
