要提高寫作能力，掌握足夠的單詞、詞組和句型是至關(guān)重要的。有的考生認(rèn)為通過(guò)機(jī)械記憶《大綱》上的詞匯表，認(rèn)為只要記熟上面的五千多個(gè)詞匯就萬(wàn)事大吉，就能下筆成章了。這種方法是不可取的。

　　語(yǔ)言的學(xué)習(xí)離不開語(yǔ)境。在某種語(yǔ)境中學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言，不僅有助于學(xué)習(xí)者記憶語(yǔ)料，更重要的是能夠幫助他們了解和掌握詞匯的各種變化、慣用法、相互關(guān)聯(lián)、各種修辭和特殊用法等。閱讀則是學(xué)習(xí)者熟悉英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)境的主要方法之一。

　　學(xué)習(xí)者可以從眾多的原汁原味的閱讀材料吸取語(yǔ)言素材，再通過(guò)記憶、運(yùn)用(口語(yǔ)、寫作等)內(nèi)化成自己的語(yǔ)言。比如，在沖刺階段，考生通過(guò)做模擬題的方式，從一篇文章及語(yǔ)境中學(xué)到許多有用的詞組和表達(dá)法。

　　①Invention and innovation have been quintessentially American puisuits from the earliest days of the republic. BenjaminFranklin was a world-famous scientist and inventor. Cyrus McCormick and his harvester, Samuel F.B. Morse and the telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone—the 19th century produced a string of inventors and their world-changing creations. And then there was the greatest of them all, Thomas Alva Edisonl. He came up with the crucial devices that would give birth to three enduring American industries: electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures.

　�、贛uch of the world we live in today is a legacy of Edison and of his devotion to science and innovation. Edison taught us to invent, and for decades we were the best in the world. But today, more than 160 years after Edison’s birth, America is losing its scientific edge. A landmark report released in May by the National Science Board lays out the numbers: while U.S. investment in R&D as a share of total GDP has remained relatively constant since the mid-1980s at 2.7%, the federal share of R&D has been consistently declining—even as Asian nations like Japan and South Korea have rapidly increased that ratio. At the same time, American students seem to be losing interest in science. Only about one-third of U.S. bachelor’s degrees are in science or engineering now, compared with 63% in Japan and 53% in China.

　　③It’s ironic that nowhere is America’s position in science and technology more threatened than in the industry that Edison essentially invented: energy. Clean power could be to the 21st century what aeronautics and the computer were to the 20th, but the U.S. is already falling behind. Meanwhile, Congress remains largely paralyzed. Though in May the House of Representatives was finally able to pass the $86 billion America Competes Reauthorization Act, which would double the budgets of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Energy Department’s Office of Science, the bill’s fate is cloudy in the deadlocked Senate. “At this rate…we’ll be buying most of our wind generators and photovoltaic panels from other countries,” former NSF head Arden L. Bement said at a congressional hearing recently. “That’s what keeps me awake something at night.”

　�、躍ome erosion of the U.S.’s scientific dominance is inevitable in a globalized world and might not even be a bad thing. Tomorrow’s innovators could arise in Shanghai or Seoul or Bangalore. And Edison would counsel against panic—as he put it once, “Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation.” But the U.S. will inevitably decline unless we invest in the education and research necessary to maintain the American edge. The next generation of Edisons could be waiting. But unless we move quickly, they won’t have the tools they need to thrive.

　　這篇文章選自2010年7月5日Time(美國(guó)時(shí)代周刊)，原汁原味，同時(shí)更是考研英語(yǔ)篇章語(yǔ)料出題來(lái)源之一。這樣選材的文章，都是考生平時(shí)吸收語(yǔ)言材料的理想選擇。

　　比如，句式方面我們可以學(xué)習(xí)到：

　　It’s ironic that…具有諷刺意義的事情是…… 這個(gè)句式用在寫作中可以表達(dá)出另一種相反的例證，是很好的提出相反意義論據(jù)的句型。

　　Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation.(不論美國(guó)遇到什么挫折困難，克服之后他都會(huì)成為一個(gè)更加堅(jiān)強(qiáng)和繁榮的國(guó)度。)這個(gè)句型多么簡(jiǎn)潔好用!可用在表達(dá)“無(wú)論……,結(jié)果都會(huì)是更……。”意義的時(shí)侯。我們?cè)趯懣佳凶魑牡臅r(shí)候，常要用到這樣積極表達(dá)正面意義的句型。

　　還有比較后兩句話中都出現(xiàn)了“unless”這個(gè)連接詞。在考研英語(yǔ)作文部分，如果你能正確和恰當(dāng)?shù)氖褂眠@個(gè)連接詞，來(lái)構(gòu)成一個(gè)復(fù)合句。你的作文結(jié)構(gòu)將顯得很“高級(jí)”和英語(yǔ)邏輯感很地道。But the U.S. will inevitably decline unless we invest in the education and research necessary to maintain the American edge. . But unless we move quickly, they won’t have the tools they need to thrive.

　　除此之外，文章中其他黑體字部分都是很好很地道的詞組和搭配等，不僅值得記憶，考生更應(yīng)當(dāng)通過(guò)造句等方式學(xué)著使用。

　　為了學(xué)習(xí)寫作而進(jìn)行的閱讀，在選材是要遵循兩個(gè)原則： 其一，語(yǔ)言是比較簡(jiǎn)練的，易于模仿和記憶。其二，內(nèi)容與人們的日常工作、學(xué)習(xí)、生活有較密切的聯(lián)系，這樣易于把相關(guān)的表達(dá)方式應(yīng)用到考試的寫作當(dāng)中去。

　　學(xué)習(xí)好的句子僅靠閱讀是不夠的，學(xué)習(xí)者還應(yīng)養(yǎng)成摘錄的習(xí)慣，把好的句型摘錄在筆記上更易于記憶和內(nèi)化。