风蛍月缓缓Writing Skills and Practice
C o n t e n t s
Part One Brief Introduction to College English Writing 2 (7)
Part Two Methods of Developing Paragraphs 8 (10)
Part Three Various Forms of Writing
(from appreciation to production) 10 (21)
Part Four Selected Model Compositions 21 (30)
Part Five A List of Most Commonly Employed
Sentence Patterns 30 (32)
Compiled by The First Section of Teaching and Research, Department of College English Teaching & Studies, Qingdao University
Part One Brief Introduction to College English Writing
I. Format and General Requirements of College English Writing
1.Format of College English Writing
It is stipulated in College English Curriculum Requirements(《大学英语课程教学要求》) that college students should be able to write within 30 minutes a short composition of 120 words on a general topic or an outline. The composition should be basically complete in content, appropriate in diction and coherent in discourse.
More often than not, college students are expected to write compositions based on topic sentences, outlines given in Chinese, key words, visual aids or given situations. Accordingly, it is normally of great help to decide on what style (narration, exposition, description or argumentation) to be employed to develop the whole essay, and then to determine the controlling idea contained in each of the topic sentences/Chinese outlines, or to state the controlling idea at the very beginning of each paragraph in respect of writing based on key words, visual aids or given situations.
2.General Requirements of College English Writing
Unity（一致性）and coherence (连贯) are two important general requirements of college English writing.
Unity is achieved by ascertaining that each sentence in the paragraph is relevant to the topic sentence, that is, each sentence should be a further development of the topic sentence. At the same time, the student writer must be positive that each of the 3 paragraphs is connected with each other in form as well as in meaning or content.
Coherence is the logical connection of the sentences in a paragraph and the paragraphs in a composition to each other. Coherence can be achieved through a variety of techniques, such as the employment of transitional words/link words/connectors（过渡词语）, repetition of key words, consistent use of the same point of view, proper pronoun reference, logical organization of the information and arguments in a paragraph and between paragraphs. The student writer must be certain that there is appropriate transition from one sentence or one paragraph to the next.
In order to make the paragraph more interesting and vivid, it is a good idea to use sentence variety. An effective way to do this is to vary the grammatical structures of
sentences to avoid monotony. Different structures not only convey distinct shades of meaning, but also give a composition an attractive atmosphere.
II. Form of Good Writing
It is generally assumed that a well-written paragraph contains a topic sentence, developing/supporting sentences and a concluding sentence if necessary.
Below is an example to show the process of writing a paragraph. Suppose that you are required to write a paragraph on the topic “Riding a bicycle is better than riding a motorcycle”. It is advisable for you to go through the following procedures before writing the paragraph proper.
Step 1. Determine the writing style —argumentation
Step 2.Seek out the controlling idea —better
Step 3.Collect some convincing facts about or arguments for the controlling idea —inexpensive to buy, easy maintenance , good for health, nonpolluting, safer,
etc.
Step 4.List details about some of the facts or arguments that will interest your audience,
e.g., health —more exercises, less pollution
Step 5. Outline the paragraph.
Step 6.Write the paragraph by using the details you have just listed.
Riding a bicycle is better than riding a motorcycle. First of all, a bicycle is relatively inexpensive to buy and to maintain. While a motorcycle may cost thousands of Yuan to buy and hundreds of Yuan annually for maintenance, a good bicycle will only cost two hundred Yuan or so, and its annual maintenance cost is very small. Biking is also healthful. Not only does the cyclist get more physical exercises than the motorcyclist, but bicycles are nonpolluting, so they keep the environment clean. Finally, bicycling is, unlike motorcycling, personally satisfying. Instead of being a robot inside a machine, the biker pedals along, enjoying the scenery and becoming part of the nature. In one word, the bicycle is a pleasurable means of transportation.
What is said above is true of a well-organized essay, i.e., an idealized composition is supposed to contain 3 paragraphs— a topic/introductory paragraph, a supporting paragraph and an ending paragraph. Let us take the following essay as an example.
Staying Healthy
Good health is the most valuable possession a person can have. There are three things that a person can do to stay in good health. One should eat the right foods, get enough rest, and exercise properly. (Topic/introductory paragraph)
Proper nutrition is important for good health. Avoid food with lots of sugar and fat. Eat plenty of high protein foods, vegetables and fruits. But do not overeat because it is not healthful to be overweight. Getting the proper amount of sleep is also important. Without enough sleep, you are likely to feel tired and irritable. So allow yourself eight hours of sleep each night. Finally, get plenty of exercise since it improves your heart and lunges, and prevents you from gaining weight. (Supporting paragraph)
If everybody were to eat the right foods, get plenty of sleep, and exercise regularly, there would be much less complaining about poor health. (Ending paragraph)
III. Specific Steps Involved in Writing and Noteworthy Points
要想在30分钟内完成一篇不少于120词的文章, 应认真审题，仔细构思，拟出提纲，拟订各段的主题句，或根据所给主题句确定各段中心思想，想好用什么事实或细节来支持主题句的观点。这样写出的文章语言通顺、逻辑严密、观点明确、错误较少。
1. 审题
就是根据所提供的有关写作范围、内容要求、目的方面的信息进行仔细推敲斟酌，从而确定文章的主题、体裁、重点、长短等等。审题主要是解决“写什么”的问题。
1.1 确立文章主题
通过审题，明确文章主题即中心思想，才能理清思路，抓住重点，这样的文章才能紧扣主题，立意鲜明，文笔流畅。例如：
Directions:For the part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the toipc: Global Shortage of Fresh Water. You should write at least 120 words and you
should base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below: （1）人们以为淡水是取之不尽的。
（2）实际上淡水是非常紧缺的。
（3）我们应该怎么办？
根据对本篇作文的审题，可以明确文章中心是淡水资源保护。可以从淡水资源看似非常丰富的错误表象出发，列举出淡水资源实则严重匮乏的事实及原因，最后提出问题的解决办法。思路清晰后，文字自然通顺连贯。
范文：Global Shortage of Fresh Water
Some people believe that the fresh water will never be used up. Because people can get fresh water from the rains, from the rivers, from the wells and from the lakes, it seems that we have more than enough fresh water to use.
But as a matter of fact, the whole world is in severs shortage of fresh water. With the development of industry, more and more factories use a lot of fresh water. Many factories discharge a large number of poisonous wastes into the rivers and lakes and cause serious pollution of the fresh water. And because of the rapid increase of the world’s population, there is a continuously rising demand for fresh water. In fact, in some big cities, fresh water cannot meet the people’s daily needs.
Now it is time for us to do something to solve the problem of fresh water shortage. First, we must take efficient steps to protect our fresh water from being polluted and make it clean. Then we must let everyone understand the dangerous situation he is in. We must also educate the people to know: where there is no water, there is no human being.
1.2 确定文章文体
文体，即文章的表现形式，其中包含体裁和语言。一般来说，不同的体裁应具备不同的语言表达模式和特点，比如说明文说明事物时强调语言明确清晰，实事求是；议论文则要求语言具有逻辑性，肯定性强。大学英语作文文体可分四大类，即议论文、应用文、描写文和记叙文。例如：
Directions: For the part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition in three paragraphs. Your part of the composition should be no less than 120 words, not
including the words given. Remember to write clearly. You should write this
composition on the Composition Sheet.
Time
(1)Some people think time is valuable and make good use of it.
(2)Some people make poor use of it.
(3)I think we should form the good habit of saving time.
根据对本篇作文的审题，可以明确它的主题是：珍惜时间。议论文体裁，但兼有说明部分。本篇提纲中的第1、2点要求说明人们对待时间截然不同的两种态度及其原因和表现，第3点则要求在前文的基础上论述自己的观点——应养成珍惜时间的习惯，总结全文的同时，强调了珍惜时间这一主题。由于说明的目的是为了“告知”，所以应侧重摆事实，注意客观、准确；论说的目的是为了“说服”，应注意提出有力的论据和明确的结论。
范文：Time
Some people think time is valuable and make good use of it. They really understand the meaning of “Time and tide wait for no man”. Hence they treasure every single minute of every day and make good use of it in practice. They arrange every day’s time properly, not to waste it.
Some people make poor use of it. They spend their precious time oversleeping, drinking, and sometimes playing games or gambling. They do not realize that wasting time is equal to wasting part of their precious life and that they are to pay much for these some day. They always regret having made little achievement in their career owing to their poor use of time.
I think we should form the good habit of saving time. Never put off what can be done today till tomorrow. We should think highly of our time just like our lives. Wasting time just like staying in the tomb, you are not yourself, just a walking corpse.
