英文段落组织方式

段落是扩展中心思想的一组意义密切相关的句子, 它是介于句子和篇章之间的一个写作单位, 是连句成篇的一个必经阶段。 一、段落的结构

一个段落一般由三部分组成: 主题句(Topic Sentence), 扩展句(Development Sentence)和结论句(Concluding Sentence)。 例如：

（主题句）Reasons for the growing popularity of fast-food chains appear obvious enough. （扩展句）For one thing, the food is generally cheap. A hamburger at McDonald's, for example, costs about one-half as much as a similar meal at a regular 'sit down' restaurant. （扩展句）Another advantage of the chains is their convenience. For busy working couples who don't want to spend the time or effort cooking, fast-food restaurants offer an attractive alternative. （结论句）And, judging by the fact that customers return in

increasing numbers, many Americans like the taste of the food.

从上面的例子来看，快餐连锁店日益普遍的原因非常明显，这是段落的主题句。原因主要反映在快餐的廉价、方便两个方面，这是段落的两个扩展句。结论句起到与主题句相呼应，小结全段文字的作用。

(1) 主题句。主题句是英文段落的典型特点, 顾名思义, 主题句就是提出段落主题的句子。它是一个段落的中心，要求全段其他所有的文字都围绕它展开。它指出了这段内容的主导思想。主题句既可以用在段落的开始或中间, 也可以用在段落的末尾, 但是对于考试来说, 我们应该尽量把主题句放置于一个段落的开始, 这既有助于组织材料, 也可以使文章结构清楚。主题句是一篇文章的灵魂, 文章的所有材料和论述都是围绕主题句展开的, 因此, 写好段落的主题句是写好作文的关键, 一个好的主题句首先应该紧扣文章的中心思想, 把该段落的内容限定在文章的中心内容之内。例如:

Physical Exercise

More and more people today are realizing the importance of regular physical exercises. In the past, most people

were involved in manual labor out in the fresh air of the fields. Nowadays a lot of people work in offices, spending most of their time indoors. In the evenings they usually sit watching TV or reading newspapers. Their daily lives don't provide them with the exercises needed to keep them healthy. Therefore, they must devote part of their time to doing regular physical exercise.

There are many different forms of physical exercises suiting different tastes. Some people enjoy competitive sports and find others to share their interest. For example, they play table tennis or football together. Others prefer to exercise alone. They do some running or practice qigong in parks in the morning. Clearly, different people are fond of different forms of physical exercise to improve their health.

As for me, I like running in the morning. And I have benefited a lot from it. It does a lot of good to my health. So I will persist in doing it in the future.

上文的标题“Physical Exercise”是一个比较大的题目, 一篇100多字的短文根本不可能容纳它的全部内容, 但是, 聪明的作者通过各个段落的主题句把内容限定在一定的范围之内, 各段的主题句都是该段落的第一句。我们不难看出, 上文中三个段落的主题句都紧扣文章的标题, 并很好地限定了段落的内容。

其次, 好的段落主题句必须完整，即能表达一个完整的思想, 该段落将围绕这一主题句逐步展开, 或定义, 或论述, 或分类, 或解释, 或举例说明。因此, 段落主题句中必须包含段落的主旨, 必须包含一个等待发展的思想。例如在上面我们所例举的“Physical Exercise” 一文中的第二段的主题句为“There are many different forms of exercises suiting different tastes”, 其主导思想为“different forms of physical exercise”, 下面该段的内容也是围绕这一主导思想而展开的。

另外, 一个好的段落主题句应该具有一定的限定性, 它应该限定该段落的内容不至于偏离全文的中心内容, 而且, 一个段落的容量是很有限的, 如果主题句限定的范围太宽, 主题句的内容就无法在该段落内得以阐述清楚。 例如以Cheating on the Campus为题的作文为例, 用Cheating is popular, 或者Cheating is bad或者Cheating is

understandable就过于笼统了, Cheating指的是什么? 即便是在大学校园里, cheating可以表现在考试, 爱情, 图书馆等各个方面, 不确定具体的范围, 主题句就形同虚设, 等于还是停留在题目上。因此, 一个好的主题句, 不仅要表达作者的态度, 还需要根据内容和字数方面的要求, 对题目的范围进行控制和确定, 例如:

例1. Whatever pressures, academic or professional, experienced by students, cheating on the exam is not allowed.

例2. Academic and professional pressures make it understandable that cheating on the exam is widespread on the campus today.

例3. Cheating on the exam is popular on the campus today because of academic and professional pressures. 当然, 主题句也不能太具体, 如果主题句太具体, 作者就无法在文字上加以展开。例如:

American food is tasteless and greasy because Americans use too many canned, frozen, and prepackaged foods and because everything is fried in oil or butter.

上述句子作主题句显然不合适, 因为它讲述得太具体了, 最好应改为:

American food is tasteless and greasy.

另外, 我们在设计主题句时还应该注意不要把太多不相关的观点包括在一个主题句中, 否则, 整个段落就会缺乏统一性。例如:

Shanghai is famous for its temperate climate, its large population, and its rapid industrial development. 上句包括了三个方面的内容, 难以在一个段落中同时讲述, 因此, 最好只是取其中之一, 三个观点放在三个段落中论述。

(2) 发展句。段落主题句给出段落的主题思想, 发展句则用来发展、证明或支持这一主题思想。发展句必须切题, 明确, 层次分明, 例如:

(1) Women are generally believed to be less intelligent than men. (2) For thousands of years they have been thought to be inferior to men. (3) Those who believe in this idea argue that few women have made remarkable

achievements in the history. (4) Even now, there are still far less women professors, women scientists and women doctors. (5) All these factors show that women can't compete with men.

上面一段共有五个句子, 其中句(1)是该短的主题句, 句(2), (3), (4) 为发展句, 它们从各自不同的角度对段落主题句的主题思想进行说明。

发展句是对主题句进一步的引申与发展，然而引申与发展的方法是多种多样的，下面我们讲一种最为实用的方法，即设问→解答法 (Why→Because), 按照这种方法就是要在句子展开之前先加以设问，也就是提出一个问题，然后再针对这一问题进行解答，例如：

主题句：To most visitors, New York is both a fascinating and a frightening city.

设 问： Why do we say New York is both a fascinating and a frightening city?

解 答： Because: It is a city of great wealth and of great poverty. There are many rich people, but there are many poor people too. There are many luxury apartment buildings and there are slum tenements.

Because: There is a great deal of beauty and a great deal of ugliness. The parks and the shops are beautiful, but the dirty streets and subways are ugly.

Because: Most things are expensive, but some things are free. The cost of entertainment is generally high, but there are usually many free lectures, concerts, and art exhibits.

Because: There are people who work all day and people who work all night.

上述设问→解答法为我们提供一种考虑问题的方法，我们把上面的思考的结果加以整理，就得到了下面一个段落： To most visitors, New York is both a fascinating and a frightening city. It is a city of great wealth and of great poverty. There are many rich people, but there are many poor people too. There are many luxury apartment buildings and there are slum tenements. There is a great deal of beauty and a great deal of ugliness. The parks and the shops are beautiful, but the dirty streets and subways are ugly. There is a great deal of beauty and a great deal of ugliness. The parks and the shops are beautiful, but the dirty streets and subways

are ugly. There are people who work all day and people who work all night.

(3) 结论句。结论句位于全段的末尾, 是对全段的内容进行总结、归纳或提出结论性观点的句子。结论句不仅仅是重复主题句提出的段落主题, 更为重要的是,它可以进一步强调段落的中心思想, 以引起读者的重视和注意。在撰写结论句时我们应该注意, 结论句的结构形式没有必要与主题句保持一致, 但结论句所表达的内容必须要和主题句的内容保持一致, 不能相互矛盾。当然, 并非每个段落都需要结论句, 对于一些描述性段落也可以不使用结论句。例如, 在下面这一段中, 由于该段的内容具有很强的描述性, 作者就没有使用结论句:

In fact, there are lots of better things to do in our leisure time. Going to concerts or theater is pleasant experience. Visiting parks or art exhibition brings us great joy. And there are more entertainment in interesting books or pleasant music than in everyday TV programs.

下面我们再通过两个文章的三个段落从整体上说明段落的组成:

例1. Wherever one lives, in the city or the country, there are some good reasons for owing a car. (主题句) First, cars provide the most convenient form of transportation. (发展句) Second, a car is a comfortable way to travel, especially in winter time. (发展句) Finally, a driver is usually safe in his car when he is out at night. (发展句) Therefore, many people favour owing a car. (结论句)

例2. Computer is a wonder of this era. (主题句) Because of it our work and life have changed dramatically. (发展句) At the moment it plays an extremely important role in our life. (发展句) Computers are able to do a great variety of jobs. (发展句) They are widely used in offices, laboratories, banks, airports, etc. (发展句) Businessmen use them to make more money; policemen use them to find criminals; scientists use them to make new discoveries. ( 发展句 ) Many modern families are equipped with it. (发展句) It has become so important

in our life that we can't imagine what life would be like without it. ( 结论句)

例3. In the future, the computer will be more powerful. (主题句) Students may receive their education through it. (发展句) There will be more intelligent robots to relieve us from arduous work and even to look after children or nurse the sick. (发展句) In a word, we can expect to see the development of the computer for more purposes in the future. (结论句)

一般四级考试中, 考生应在30-40分钟之内写出一篇150-200词的短文, 如果短文由3～4段组成, 那么每个段落也只有40～50词左右, 所以一般来说, 一个段落只要有4～5句也就足够了, 考生如果按照主题句, 发展句和结论句的结构安排, 只要有一个主题句, 2～3个发展句, 再加上一个结论句也就没有什么问题了, 因此, 作文由此看来也并不难写。

二、段落的过渡

作文必须表达清楚, 语义连贯, 要做到这一点, 必须学会过渡词的使用。过渡词(Transitional Words)是一种关系指引词, 它是连接句与句, 段与段之间的纽带, 过渡词一般为副词或起副词作用的短语, 另外, 代词、 连词、上下文的同义词也可以起到过渡的作用。 在传统的汉语写作中, 人们讲究文章的起、承、 转、 合, 我们认为英语写作也应该如此, 而过渡词的作用正在于使文章更好地做到这一点。例如:

例1. Smoking results in a series of negative effects. To begin with, it has been proved that poisonous nicotine contained in cigarettes can reduce your fitness. And what is worse, it can even cause lung cancer if you smoke constantly. That is why such warning as “smoking is harmful to our health” must be printed on the cover of the cigarette case in western countries. Furthermore, passive smoking occurs in your family members and other people as a result of your smoking at home or in public places. Consequently, their health will be unfavourably influenced. In addition, smoking adds to your financial difficulty if you happen to be short of money. Even if you are rich, you are encouraged to spend your money on valuable books, nutritious food,

high-quality TV sets, etc., not on meaningless smoking. Therefore, giving up smoking is a good way to make you and your family happy.

根据在文章中的作用, 过渡词大致可以分为以下四类: (1) 表达“启”的常用词语: 用于引导主题句, 或用于主题句的后面, 引导第一个发展句。

first(ly), at first, first of all, in the beginning, in the first place, at present, to begin with, currently, to start with, lately, for one thing, now, recently, on the one hand, in general, generally speaking, at present, in recent years, comparatively ( speaking) , nowadays, in general, in a sense, in a way, in my opinion, obviously, undoubtedly, 等。

(2) 表达“承”的过渡词语: 用于承接主题句或第一个(或前一个)发展句。

second(ly), third(ly), also/too, besides, in addition, furthermore, moreover, what is more, for another, for example, for instance, as an example, as another example, namely, then, in other words, in particular, in the same way, after that, afterwards, after a few days, after a while, from now on, later, just as,

similarly, meanwhile, at the same time, by this time, soon, consequently, of course, for this purpose, equally important, what is more, what is worse, certainly, surely, obviously, especially, in particular, indeed, still, in fact, in plain terms, in practice, for the most part, no doubt等。

(3) 表达“转”的过渡词语: 用来表示不同或相反的情况。 after all, but, yet, however, nevertheless,

nonetheless, conversely, though, although, despite, in spite of, on the contrary, in contrast, unlike, whereas, on the other hand, all the same(但是), unfortunately, still, in fact, as a matter of fact, in any case, at any rate(无论如何) , otherwise, or else, instead等。 (4) 表达“合”的过渡词语: 用于总结段落中上文的内容, 引导一个发展句或结论句, 也可以用于文章的最后一段。 finally, hence, in brief, in conclusion, in short, in summary, therefore, thus, to sum up, to conclude, to summarize, briefly, above all, as a consequence, as a result, for this reason, as has been noted , as I have said, at last, at length, by and large, consequently,

eventually, accordingly, so, after all, in general, in a word, on the whole等。

(5) “启, 承, 转, 合”表达实例 (注: 本部分主要参考了李俊峰编著《大学英语写作讲座和练习》(中国和平出版社 1994一书)

例1. (启) In general/Generally speaking/On the whole, studying too hard my be harmful to students. (启)Lately/Currently/At present /Now/Recently, many teachers expect their pupils to do more work than they can handle. (承)

Moreover/Also/Furthermore/Meanwhile/What is more, parents do not realize that pressing their children to study harder than called for can injure their health. ( 承 ) Certainly/In fact/Obviously/Of course, most parents know that growing boys and girls need relaxations as well as exercise. (转)

Nevertheless/However/On the other hand/Unfortunately, many students have no choice but to burn the candle at both ends in order to get good grades and please their parents. But a physically weak or socially deprived child may not be able to keep up with such a hurried

pace. (合) As a result/Consequently

/Thus/Therefore/Hence/In brief/In conclusion, some students may very

possibly fail in school because of this pressure to study in excess of what is required.

例2. Chinese differs from English in several ways. (启 ) In the first place/To begin with/First of all/To start with/First(ly), their word orders are different. (承) For instance/for example/As an example, in English, a common greeting is “How are you?”. (转)

Yet/But/However/Nevertheless, in Chinese, “You are how?” is correct. (承) Second(ly)

/Also/Besides/Next/What is more/Furthermore/Moreover, in Chinese, our verbs do not have the past tense; Instead, we know the time from the adverb. In English, (转)however/on the other hand/nevertheless/yet, time is indicated by the tense. (承) In addition to/Besides/Apart from these problems, Chinese have many small differences. (承) For instance/ For example/As an example, Chinese does not distinguish between “he” and “she”, nor is there a difference between “a” and “an” as there is in English. (合)

Undoubtedly/Certainly/Indeed/Obviously/Thus/In short/In brief, it is these differences that make English difficult for the Chinese students to learn. 三、段落的发展方法

段落的发展(Paragraph Development)是根据主题句所提供的中心思想来阐明问题的某一方面。一个好的段落应该主题单一, 内容完整, 意思连贯, 长度适中。段落扩展的方法很多, 比较常用的有: 列举法, 举例法, 描写与叙述法, 因果法, 比较和对比法, 归类法和定义法七种。下面我们分别加以论述。

(1) 列举法(Listing)。列举法是一种最为常见的段落发展方法, 用这种方法发展段落, 首先要写出主题句, 然后列举一系列的论据对主题句所陈述的主题内容进行陈述和解释, 列举的顺序可以按照各点内容的相对重要性, 时间的先后或地理位置的远近等关系来进行。例如:

例1. Advertisement can be beneficial to people. First, it is informative and can help people buy and sell goods. Second, it can widen people's knowledge, and make people more experienced. Finally, people can enjoy

themselves in watching those funny and interesting advertisement programs.

例2. There are mainly two opinions on the relationship between man and machines. Some people believe that it will be possible for automatic machines, especially electronic computers, to replace man completely in the future. Others, however, argue that man is the decisive factor in production and the potential of man's intelligence is practically unlimited.

列举常用的表达方法有: first, second, in the first place, first of all, to begin with, in the second place, next, also, besides, furthermore, moreover, in addition, what is more, beyond that, for one thing, for another, finally.

(2) 举例法(Exemplification)。为了阐明或支持一个观点, 举例说明是一个常用而且有力的工具。在采用举例法发展段落时, 作者往往在主题句中开门见山地摆出自己的观点, 然后举出具体的事例来对其进行说明。所举的例子一般可按照时间顺序或重要性等来进行安排。关键在于各个实例都要于主题密切相关, 具有典型性和说服力, 或者能够不断地深入说明, 或反映主题各个侧面。 例如:

例1. Pollution is becoming more and more seriously all over the world. For example, the poisonous gas sent off by factories and automobiles has made the air unhealthy for people to breathe. For another example, waste water keeps pouring into rivers and lakes; as a result, many water lives are dying out. Furthermore, everywhere we go today, we can find rubbish carelessly disposed. Pollution is, in fact, threatening our existence. 例2. In the past, a good student refers to one who was only good at studies. For example, in the school, what the school master cared about was how well the student did in his school subjects. It did not matter whether a student had good health or not as long as he got the top marks. At home, for another example, before leaving for school, the parents would again and again tell their children to study hard and try to get good grades. As a result, many students showed little interest in anything else.

举例法常用的表达方法有: for example, for instance, as an example, as a case in point, as an illustration, such as, namely, that is, like, say.

(3) 描写与叙述法(Description and Narration)。 段落还可以用描述与叙述的方法来发展。描写是指作者对某人、某物或事件的感觉和印象, 而叙述则指作者对某个故事和事件的讲述。描述和叙述一般按照时间和空间的次序, 而这种次序关系在很大程度上体现在它们所特有的过渡连接词上。用这种方法发展段落, 作者能够清楚而连贯地交代事物的本末, 从而使读者可以清晰完整地理解文章的含义。 When I First Came to the Campus

I still remember the day when I first came to the campus. I was then 17, longing for the new life as a university student.

That morning when the bus carried me to the gate of the university, I felt my heart beating excitedly and almost out of mouth. After the registration, we were led by an instructor to the dorm where, for the first time, we were going to live without parents but roommates. I was so clumsy that I didn't know how to make the bed and fix the net. In the afternoon, I took a walk around the campus together with my roommates. As we were talking and laughing, a voice of a senior student came into our ears, look at these freshmen ?It

was our middle-school-students' looking that gave us away.

In the evening, we sat together, talking about the past and the future. We were so excited that no one wanted to sleep.

(4) 因果法(Cause and Effect)。在人类的思维活动中, 人们常常会根据事物的原因推断其结果, 或者根据某一结果分析其原因。写作中的因果法正是这种思维方式在写作过程中的具体体现。所谓因果法, 就是通过分析事物发生的原因,自然地说明由此而产生的各种结果, 或者通过分析某一结果, 推断导致这一结果的原因。例如:

Nowadays there is often a misunderstanding between parent and child. The most obvious reason for this lack of communication is that they grew up at different times and therefore have different likes and dislikes for the things around them. Also the parent is often too busy to listen patiently to the explanation of the child when there is a misunderstanding. Both of them take it for granted that there is a generation gap.