英語寫作的文章一般包括一個開頭段、若干擴(kuò)展段和一個結(jié)尾段。開頭段和結(jié)尾段一般比擴(kuò)展段短。各種段落的作用、特點(diǎn)和寫作方法如下所示。

　　開頭段一定要語言精練，并且直接切入主題。開頭段一般不對主題進(jìn)行深入的探討，具體的論證或敘述應(yīng)該在擴(kuò)展段進(jìn)行。一般在開頭段寫四、五句即可�？忌鷳�(yīng)注意以下若干要點(diǎn)：

　　1)開頭段的作用：概括陳述主題，提出觀點(diǎn)或論點(diǎn)，表明寫作意圖。

　　2)寫開頭段時考生應(yīng)該避免的若干問題

　�、匍_頭偏離主題太遠(yuǎn);

　　②使用抱歉或埋怨之詞句;

　�、蹆�(nèi)容不具體，言之無物;

　　④使用不言自明的陳述。

　　3)開頭段的表達(dá)方法

　�、偈褂靡�語(use a quotation) 使用一段名人名言，或人們常用的諺語、習(xí)語，以確定文章的寫作范圍和方向。

　　例：“Great minds must be ready not only to take the opportunity, but to make them.”Colton, a great writer once remarked. But it still has a profound significance now. To a person, in whose lifetime opportunities are not many, to make opportunities is more essential to his success.

　　②使用具體詳實(shí)的數(shù)字或數(shù)據(jù)(use figures or statistics) 引用一些具體詳實(shí)的數(shù)字或數(shù)據(jù)，然后作出概括*分析，指明問題的癥結(jié)所在。

　　例：In the past 5 years there has been a marked decline in the number of young married couples who want to have children, coupled with a growing trend toward delayed childbearing. According to official statistics, in 2003, about 28 percent of married couples with wives under 35 gave no birth to children, compared with the 1993 level of 8 percent.

　�、厶岢鰡栴}(ask a question) 提出有爭議或探討*的具體問題，然后加以簡要回答或展開引導(dǎo)*簡短討論。

　　例：What do you want from your work? Money? Promotions? Interesting challenges? Continual learning? Work-based friendships? The opportunity to develop your own idea and potentials? Though we are all individuals and so our answers will differ, all agree that work provide more than material things.

　　④給出背景(offer relevant background) 描述具體事件的時間、地點(diǎn)和發(fā)生背景等。

　　例：Once in a newspaper I read of a crowd of people who remained appallingly indifferent to the plea of a mother. As she failed to offer the required amount of cash as a price to save her drowning son, the woman at last watched her son sink to death. The story is not rare in newspapers and on TV, and the casualness and detachment our people now have developed has aroused nationwide concern.

　�、荻�義法(give definition) 針對討論的主題或問題加以定義，然后進(jìn)行深入探討。

　　例：Flexibility is defined as being adaptable to change. In the course of your lifetime, it is essential that you learn to bend and flex around every new circumstance, as rigidity deprives you of the opportunity to see new possibilities. Paradigms change over time, and so must you. Your company may restructure, and you will have to survive. Your spouse may choose to leave the marriage, and you will have to cope. Technology will continue to advance and change, and you must constantly learn and adapt or risk becoming a dinosaur. Flexibility allows you to be ready for whatever curve lies ahead in life instead of getting blindsided by it.

　�、拗黝}句法(use of topic sentence) 文章一開始就以主題句點(diǎn)明全文主題，然后圍繞主題內(nèi)容進(jìn)行發(fā)展。

　　例：　Now people become increasingly aware of the importance of acquiring a mastery of a foreign language. To them, the knowledge of a foreign language, say, English, often means a good opportunity for one’s career, even a passport to a prosperous future. Many of them equate success in life with the ability of speaking a foreign language.