(—)評(píng)分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和作文的重要性。
考試作文和平時(shí)練習(xí)的作文有所不同。因?yàn)楫吘故强荚囁杂袀€(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化的問(wèn)題以便于評(píng)分，不能像平時(shí)練筆那般隨意。作文在六級(jí)考試中居于十分重要的地位。從1997年6月起，考試委員會(huì)在計(jì)算成績(jī)時(shí)正式實(shí)施“作文最低分”的規(guī)定，對(duì)寫(xiě)作提出了更高的要求。其計(jì)算方法是將作文分的最低分定為6分，如果作文分為0，即使總分及格了也按59分處理，作文分在0—6分之間，其最后得分為：原計(jì)算總分-6+實(shí)得作文分。比如說(shuō)你的總分原為63分，實(shí)得作文分為2，那么最后得分是63—6+2=59分。由于作文分?jǐn)?shù)太低使原本可以通過(guò)的考試變成要再考一年，實(shí)在是件很令人遺憾的事。這足見(jiàn)英語(yǔ)教學(xué)工作者對(duì)寫(xiě)作的重視，也使我們?cè)谄綍r(shí)的學(xué)習(xí)中要注重實(shí)際英語(yǔ)能力的培養(yǎng)和提高。
六級(jí)考試作文采取總體評(píng)分的方法，閱卷老師根據(jù)文章的總體印象給分及獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)分，從文章的內(nèi)容和語(yǔ)言?xún)蓚€(gè)方面進(jìn)行綜合評(píng)判。這些都是我們?cè)诳记八私獾目荚囈?，以便在考試中?guī)范寫(xiě)作。
(二)命題范圍。
我總結(jié)了一下我做的真題，1996年1月一2000年6月的作文題如下：
1996年1月：Why I Take the College English Test Band 67
1996年6月：Health Gains in Developing Countries?(有圖表)
1997年1月：Haste Makes Waste
1997年6月：My View on Job—hopping
1997年12月：My View on Fake Commodities
1998年6月：Do“Luck Numbers Really Bring Good Luck”?
1999年1月：Don’t Hesitate to Say“NO'’
1999年6月：Reading Selectively or Extensively?
2000年1月：How I Finance My College Education?
2000年6月：Is a Test of Spoken English Necessary?
從這些考題中我們可以看出，近年來(lái)主要是以寫(xiě)議論文為主，即個(gè)人對(duì)問(wèn)題、觀點(diǎn)、現(xiàn)象等的看法，一般都是給出英語(yǔ)題目及中文提綱。我個(gè)人認(rèn)為，圖表題是其中難度最大的。它一般都是以較長(zhǎng)時(shí)間內(nèi)的現(xiàn)象變化為寫(xiě)作對(duì)象，對(duì)內(nèi)容的要求比較高，需要有一定的專(zhuān)業(yè)知識(shí)才能使文章顯得豐滿。應(yīng)用文如書(shū)信、簡(jiǎn)歷等考的比較少，摘要這幾年也未出現(xiàn)過(guò)。命題范圍主要包括：
l、工作、學(xué)習(xí)方面
如：Why I Take the College English Test Band 6 ?
Reading SelectiveIy or Extensively?
How I Finance My College Education?
2、人生觀方面
如：My View on Job—hopping
Don’t Hesitate to Say"NO'’
3、社會(huì)問(wèn)題、文化方面p>
My Views on Advertisement
How t0 Solve the Problem 0f Heavy Traffic
4、俗語(yǔ)、傳統(tǒng)習(xí)俗
如：Haste Makes Waste
Do“Luck Numbers Really Bring Good Luck”?
5、科技與未來(lái)
如：Internet to Change Society
Looking Forward to the 21st Century
(三)“三段式”的寫(xiě)作。
我們常愛(ài)說(shuō)考試作文像“八股文”。的確，在形式上是有些八股，但是這些規(guī)范又是我們所必須掌握的，因?yàn)槔蠋熅透鶕?jù)它來(lái)評(píng)分，也由不得你喜歡不喜歡。六級(jí)作文要求至少120個(gè)詞一般都是寫(xiě)150~180個(gè)詞，大都是三到四段，因此我將其稱(chēng)做是“三段式”的寫(xiě)作，即不論什么題材都要有開(kāi)頭、展開(kāi)和結(jié)尾三部分。而且每個(gè)部分的寫(xiě)法都有一定的套路，掌握了這些套路，就可以使你的文章看起來(lái)有條有理。當(dāng)然能不能拿高分就取決于你的內(nèi)容和形式是不是結(jié)合得很好，你對(duì)形式會(huì)不會(huì)靈活編排以避免呆板，你的內(nèi)容是不是充實(shí)豐富以避免單調(diào)?？荚囎魑牡奶茁房梢越?，內(nèi)容的填寫(xiě)就要靠同學(xué)們自己在基本功訓(xùn)練階段的努力了。
1、Well begun is half done：
好的開(kāi)始是成功的一半。文章的開(kāi)頭是你留給閱卷老師的第一印象，所以這第一炮一定要打響才行，也就是說(shuō)既清楚明白又引人注目。開(kāi)頭是總領(lǐng)全文的，有一定的統(tǒng)攝性，因此一定要言簡(jiǎn)意賅，不要寫(xiě)得太長(zhǎng)。關(guān)于開(kāi)頭的寫(xiě)法，傳統(tǒng)的方法有很多，比較常用的有：
1)開(kāi)門(mén)見(jiàn)山。這一般都用于談及對(duì)某個(gè)觀點(diǎn)或現(xiàn)象的看法的文章，在文章的開(kāi)頭就簡(jiǎn)單的談出個(gè)人看法，然后在下文里展開(kāi)論述。如：
A. The benefits of television: With the improvement of people’s living standard, almost every family can afford to buy a television set. Television is becoming increasingly popular because of its values in entertaining and educating.
B. Chinese people in my eye: The Chinese have a 5000 - year history, and modesty, industry, bravery, kindness are the flower of their virtues. In my opinion, they still remain true in reality.
2)引用名言。用名人名言或諺語(yǔ)開(kāi)頭，往往比直接用個(gè)人的話更有說(shuō)服力，也給文章增添色彩。當(dāng)然這要以廣泛的積累為基礎(chǔ)，不然臨時(shí)可想不出來(lái)。在引用古語(yǔ)或名人名言的時(shí)候要注意引用的準(zhǔn)確性，如果把握不準(zhǔn)的話，不如不引用。
A. Women are not treated equally with men: “we hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable right...”, the American Declaration of Independence declares. While in china, everyone is familiar with the saying “women are equal with men” or “women can hold half of the sky”. It seems that men and women are treated equally, at least in law. But the reality is a different story.
B. Can money buy everything? As the saying goes” Money makes the mare go”, but there is something that can’ t be bought with money, such as time and true love.
3)自問(wèn)自答。通過(guò)提問(wèn)的方式引起讀者對(duì)文章的興趣，你可以在篇首就簡(jiǎn)單給出答案，也可以將答案放到接下??式或是
結(jié)論式的文章中。比如說(shuō)Should people be always honest?Don’t hesitate to say“NO”!
A. What is a good student? Different people may have different answer to this question. Someone thinks that a good student should be good at academic work. Others claim that a good student should be one who is all round development of morality, intelligence and physique. But I think, in addition to the above mentioned, a good student, above all, should be capable of doing practical work, and must be competent in the future work.這是自問(wèn)自答式的，在第一段中根據(jù)題目所給的問(wèn)題，先寫(xiě)出提示中的兩種觀點(diǎn)，然后有連接詞but，提出自己不同的看法，使人對(duì)作者的意圖一目了然
B. “Reading makes a full man” is a saying of the famous English philosopher Francis Bacon. It means that anyone who wants to be a full man must keep on reading. But books are ot various kinds and different contents, dealing with different things in the world. Then what kind of book should we read? And how to read?這個(gè)開(kāi)頭段我認(rèn)為是寫(xiě)得很精彩的，因?yàn)樗皇羌兇獾陌斯墒綄?xiě)法。用名言開(kāi)頭，最后用問(wèn)句點(diǎn)明主題。沒(méi)有按常規(guī)在開(kāi)頭即交代兩種相反的觀點(diǎn)，然后說(shuō)as far as I am concerned…而是在認(rèn)識(shí)到讀書(shū)的重要性的前提下提出我們?cè)撟x什么樣的書(shū)和怎么讀，使文章在認(rèn)識(shí)上有一定的深度。
4)對(duì)比式。在命題作文中，它往往會(huì)給出一些提示，表明兩種不同的態(tài)度，再要求你寫(xiě)出自己的看法。用這種開(kāi)頭的方法要考慮一下整個(gè)文章的布局。如果你的主體是論述個(gè)人的看法而非別人的觀點(diǎn)，那么在開(kāi)頭就有必要交代一下對(duì)于這個(gè)問(wèn)題目前存在的一些看法。比如以下的例
A，考題的提示是：有人說(shuō)成功主要靠運(yùn)氣，有人則認(rèn)為成功主要靠勤奮，而與運(yùn)氣無(wú)關(guān)。你的觀點(diǎn)是什么?說(shuō)明你的理由。這其實(shí)就是要你以你的理由為表達(dá)主體。如果按照作文提示要求是要把別人的觀點(diǎn)單獨(dú)成段的話，則不需要在開(kāi)頭展開(kāi)對(duì)雙方看法的論述，留到下面再說(shuō)。如下面的
B，題目要求是：1、有人認(rèn)為業(yè)余時(shí)間應(yīng)多參加一些體育活動(dòng)。2、有人認(rèn)為業(yè)余時(shí)間應(yīng)多做一些智力活動(dòng)，如讀書(shū)、看報(bào)、寫(xiě)作等。3、我的看法。這就是要你將題目的要點(diǎn)單獨(dú)成段，所以在開(kāi)頭就不用交代得太清楚，點(diǎn)到即可。
A. How to achieve success: Some people say that the key to success is the luck, while others claim it is hard work. There is no doubt that successful people take advantage of opportunities. But if he works little and just waits to see opportunities pass by, he still can’t succeed. So, in my opinion, diligence, devotion and perseverance are three fundamental factors to success.
B. How to spend spare time: Physical activities and intellectual pastimes are two basic ways for us to spend our spare time. Different people may have different means of spending their leisure time.
5)講故事。這種方法比較新穎，能使文章活潑有趣，但是要注意故事的長(zhǎng)短。如果你整篇文章都要圍繞該故事展開(kāi)，你的開(kāi)頭即是故事的開(kāi)頭。如果你僅是用其做個(gè)例子，就要寫(xiě)得簡(jiǎn)單清楚，往往可以是生活中常遇到的一些情景。
Most of us may have such experience: when you go to some place far away from the city where you live and think you know nobody there, you are surprised to find that you run into one of your old classmates on the street, perhaps both of you would cry out: “what a small world!”
6)數(shù)字開(kāi)頭。這一般都是用于圖表題，將圖表顯示的數(shù)字先概括性的總結(jié)出來(lái)。然后再提出問(wèn)題，給與分析和解答。
A.”Health gains in developing countries: It can be seen from the graph that health gains a lot in developing countries from 1960 to 1990. Their life expectancy increased 20 years, while the mortality decreased 10%. Why are there such big changes during the 30 years?
B. Changes in people’s daily expenses in the past five years: In the past five years, there have been great changes in people’s daily expenses in XX city. According to the figures given in the table, the amount of money spent on food decreased gradually, accounting for 35 percent in 1998. However, there was a rapid increase in clothing expenses, which made up 17% in 1998. In addition, the table shows an upward tendency in recreation expenses. The same was the case with other expenses.
劃線部分都是圖表題中常要用到的一些詞組和語(yǔ)句。
7)自創(chuàng)法。寫(xiě)作有時(shí)是需要靈感的，考場(chǎng)上也會(huì)有靈感。這就看你對(duì)文字靈活運(yùn)用的能力了。比如說(shuō)：Do"Luck Numbers Really Bring Good Luck?"碰到這樣的題,你可以用比較幽默的方式開(kāi)場(chǎng)：If luck numbers really bring good luck, I needn’t to worry about my band 6 because the last four figure of my confirmation number is 6666. But what if the teacher who reads my paper doesn’t believe this? So it’s my exertion that determines my scores, not the numbers. It’ s the same in other situation.這樣寫(xiě)老師一看就會(huì)會(huì)心一笑，自然認(rèn)同你的寫(xiě)作水平了。
