高级英语写作讲义.doc

句子结构及段落写作Sentence structure and paragraph writing句子结构Simple sentences:1. Running for the chairman of the students union held our attention for more than three hours.2. Passengers stood in lines in the ticket booking hall waiting for their turns to buy train tickets.3. The police officer stopped the pickpocket from stealing a customers wallet by seizing his hands.4. It was decided to bring up the matter to the students meeting for discussion.5. To see one time is better than to hear a hundred times.6. How much does it cost to have all these pages photocopied in that store?7. No stretch of imagination could visualize anything half so lovely and so beautiful.8. I have enough to do to attend to my first foreign language, to say nothing of attempting a second.9. By her significant look she has as good as told the secret.Compound sentences:1. The giant motor does, no doubt, play the key role, but the tiny screw may determine quite as much.2. Trouble is the next best thing to enjoyment; there is no fate in the world so horrible as to have no share in either its joys or sorrows.3. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them.4. Modesty helps one to go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag behind.Complex sentences:1. Man can no more help craving for expression than birds can help singing.2. If they can finish it in three hours we should have no difficulty in accomplishing it in as few.3. The schoolboy addressed the august audience with no more fear than if he had been talking to a group of his playmates4. What he said just now is what I want to say.Compound complex sentences:1. The express elevator is not operating today, so the elevators that stop at every floor will handle all the people.2. The difference between us lies in that we think in different ways, maybe the generation gap, but the difference between you two lies in that you do things in different ways and think in the same way.3. As he walked along, he sang to himself, for he felt especially strong and happy that day.4. I asked a man who has a wife and a nineteen-year-old daughter who did the cooking at home and he replied that whoever came home from work first did it. 段落写作练习What makes a good paragraph?Five Elements of a ParagraphA well written paragraph contains five elements:1. A topic sentence2. Supporting sentences3. Concluding sentence4. Unity5. coherenceParagraph Structure1. A topic sentence2. Supporting sentencesSupport ASupport BSupport C3. Concluding sentenceLook at the following paragraphs: to locate the topic sentence and to analyze how it is organized. Gold Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold has a lustrous (glowing) beauty that is resistant to corrosion. (Chemical damage). Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was minted twenty-three centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications. The most recent use of gold is in astronauts suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated head shields for protection outside spaceships. In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.The Topic sentencev The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. v It consists of two parts: the topic and the controlling ideas.v The topic names the subject or main idea of the paragraph.v The controlling idea makes a specific comment about the topic, which indicates what the rest of the paragraph will say about the topic. It links or controls the topic to one or two specific aspects of the topic to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph.v The topic sentence is a complete sentence. It contains a subject, a verb and usually a complement.v Identify the topic sentence in the paragraph. What is the topic and what is the controlling idea?E.g. Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics.v Gold (the topic), a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics (controlling idea). v In this example, the topic is named: gold. And specific comment is then made about the topic: two important characteristics. From this sentence, the reader immediately knows the supporting sentences in the remainder of the paragraph explain the two characteristics and perhaps give some examples.v One more example:v Convenience foods (the topic), are easy to prepare (controlling idea). v In this example the topic is named: convenience foods and specific comment is then made about the topic: they are easy to prepare. From this sentence, the reader immediately knows the supporting sentences in the reminder of the paragraph will explain or prove how quick and easy it is to prepare convenient foods, and perhaps give some examples (from dinners, canned soups, etc)Study the following paragraphs: to locate the topic sentenceHurricanes Hurricanes, which are also called cyclones, exert tremendous power. These violent storms are often a hundred miles in diameter, and their winds can reach velocities (speed) of seventy-five miles per hour or more. Furthermore, the strong winds and heavy rainfall that accompany them can completely destroy a small town in a couple of hours. The energy that is released by a hurricane in one day exceeds the total energy consumed by humankind throughout the world in one year.Synonyms Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do not always have the same emotional meaning. For example, the words stingy and frugal both mean careful with money. however, to call a person stingy is an insult, while the word frugal has a much more positive connotation. Similarly, a person want to be slender but not skinny, and aggressive but not pushy. Therefore, you should be careful in choosing words because many so-called synonyms are not really synonymous at all.Medical Miracles to Come By the year 2009, a vaccine against the common cold will have been developed. By the same year, the first human will have been successfully cloned. By the year 2014, parents will be able to create designer children. Generic therapy will be able to manipulate genes for abilities, intelligence, and hair, eye, and skin color. By 2020, most diseases will be able to be diagnosed and treated at home, and by 2030, cancer and heart disease will have been wiped out. These are just a few examples of medical miracles that are expected in the next few decades.Position of the topic sentencev The topic sentence may be the first or last sentence in a paragraph. v The topic sentence may also be the first and last sentence of the paragraph- sandwich-stylev A sandwich-style paragraph is especially helpful to your reader if the paragraph is very long. The second topic sentence in the sandwich-style paragraph also serves as a concluding sentence.Two more examples of paragraphs: topic sentences + supporting sentences:Topic sentence: Smoking cigarettes can be an expensive habit.Support: 1. an average smoker smiles one pack a day, which costs about five Yuan. 2. The annual expense for this smoker is Y5x365=Y1825 3. The smoker must also pay for extra cleaning of carpeting, furniture and closes.Topic sentence:The township resort has nearly solved our local employment problem.Support:1. The unemployment rate has dropped from 19% in 2003 to 5% in 2007.2. The tourist industry has created many jobs.a) Three new hotels have opened up in town.b) Five new stores have opened up on Beachc) Tourist-related industries have opened up such as3. The resort has attracted two non-tourist companies.Practice: I. Study the following groups of sentences. Circle the number of the better topic sentence.1. There are many things that make learning the English language difficult.2. What makes English particularly difficult to learn is pronunciation.3. Enrolling in college is not an easy task.4. Registration at State College is a painful process.5. Gone with the Wind may be an old movie, but it is still a good movie.6. The acting in Gone with the Wind was superb.7. The wide variety of merchandise makes Sears convenient.8. The home-repair department in Sears is convenient.9. The architecture in Chicago reflects trends in modern design.10. Chicago is an interesting city because of its history, architecture and sports activities.II. Study the following sentences. If the sentence can be used as a topic sentence, write Yes in the blank; if it cannot, write No.1. _What I know about our university and our college.2. _The differences between Mandarin cuisine and Hunan cuisine.3. _I would like to discuss my views on the Olympic Games.4. _Knowing a foreign language can be beneficial to anyone.5. _Why do I want to be a lawyer?6. _Being a punctual person is very important in America.7. _I am going to describe my hometown.8. _Students should be allowed to manage the bookstore.9. _There are many similarities and differences between New York and Hong Kong.10. _When I first came to the United States, I wasnt used to eating in fast-food places, and I was amazed at the shopping centers.11. _Cows produce milk.12. _The milk cows produce is not always fit for human consumption.13. _The advantages of going to university far outweigh the disadvantages.14. _Her fear of the dark has made her life miserable.III. Study the following statements, which can not be used as topic sentences. Rewrite each of them to make it a topic sentence and then provide two supporting sentences for two three of them.1. I am going to explain why I decide to go to college.2. The hazards of storing chemical wastes.3. There are many advantages and disadvantages of living in the country and in the city.4. New York is the largest city in the United States.5. Universities in the U.S. should required more humanities courses; they should also have more social activities.Supporting sentencesv Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. v They explain the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples, facts, statistics, and quotations depending on the purposes of the writing. v For example:v Some of the supporting sentences that explain the topic sentence about the GOLD are:v First of all, gold has a lustrous (glowing) beauty that is resistant to corrosion. v For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was minted twenty-three centuries ago. v Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and sciencev The most recent use of gold is in astronauts suits. The concluding sentence v The concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with important points to remember.v In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.v A concluding sentence serves three purposes:v 1. It signals the end of the paragraph.v 2. It summarizes the main points of the paragraph.v 3. It gives a final comment on the topic and leaves the reader with the important ideas to think about.Two types of concluding sentencesv The first one paraphrases the topic sentence; that is the concluding sentence repeats the main idea of the topic sentence in different words as in the paragraph - Synonymsv The second example summaries that two main point of the paragraph, which were not specifically stated in the topic sentence in the paragraph - GoldUnityv Unity means that you discuss only one main idea in a paragraph.v The main idea is stated in the topic sentence, and then each and every supporting sentence develops that idea directly. If, for example, you announce in your topic sentence that you are going to discuss two important characteristics of the gold, discuss only those. Do not discuss any other ideas, such as the price of gold or gold mining.v You should avoid irrelevant sentences, the sentence that is “off the topic”. For example, if you are writing a paragraph about the high cost of college tuition, you could mention inflation as a factor. However, if you write several sentences about inflation, you are getting off the topic and your paragraph will not have unity.Lets look at an example of an ununified paragraph.The Eskimos in the far northern part of Alaska used to play dominoes for very high stakes. Chess is also a popular game in many parts to the world. Sometimes an Eskimo would even put up his wife as stake and lose her. Yet a good wife would often manage to change this situation. She would sit down to play dominoes and win herself back for her former husband.v Questions:v Does this paragraph state only one single thought?v Is there any idea that doesnt add to a paragraphs main? If there is, should it be left out?In this paragraph we read an interesting anecdote about Eskimo culture. Yet we can find that the paragraph does not read as smoothly as it should be. In fact， we should remove the second sentence from the paragraph.v Keep in mind that:v Each paragraph must state only a single thought.v All the facts, examples, and reasons in a unified paragraph should explain this thought.v Any idea that strays away from the paragraphs main idea should be removed.v An example of paragraph with unity.In rock music there is a distinct and almost overwhelming beat. No single beat is characteristic of the music today. Yet each song has an easily recognizable rhythm. As you listen to a song, your foot usually starts to pick up the beat. Before long, your entire body seems to be moving with it. Your head pounds with the beat, and there is no room for thought. Only the surge of the music is important. In its own way, rock music is as dominant as the rock of Gibraltar. Its message is an overpowering emotional one.v Questions:v What is the topic sentence? The topic and the controlling idea?v Is this paragraph a well unified one? Answers:v The first sentence of the above paragraph is the topic sentence, and the word beat gives us the controlling idea. v Notice how well the writer ties every sentence to the idea of the beat of rock music. The writer does this by word repetition.v The word beat is repeated in sentences 2,4, and 6. rhythm, another way of say beat, appears in sentence 3. Surge also a synonym, is in sentence 7. the pronoun it in sentence 5 refers back to beat. In the last two sentences, the writer sums up the opening statement about rock music. v From the first sentence to the last, this is a tightly