段落的结尾和重组――自考《英语写作基础》辅导(VI)

1、为你加 油(赵海燕上海外国语大学国际教育学院一.段落的结尾段落的结尾或重申主题,或总结全文要点,或点明结果,或做出推论。写得好,可以成为段落的点睛之笔;而如果写得不好,则会给人虎头蛇尾的感觉,即使段落的开头和展开都很理想,也无济于事。结尾句的重要性可见一斑。对考生来说,熟悉段落的结尾,还有助于在段落的重组练习中分析判断哪个句子应该放在结尾。下面就几种不同的结尾来举例说明。大家不妨复习一下前面学过的内容,边看边找主题句,并注意段落是如何展开的,支持句是从哪些方面来说明主题的。例一:M anual labour i s one of the pr inci pal devel opm ent re

2、sour ces inanyindust rali singcount ry,as the follow ing exam pl es dem onst rat e.T obeginw i th,pl oughingf iel ds,pl anti ngandharvesti ngcr ops,andrai singl ivestockare im port ant todevel opm ent andall r equi re people w how orkw itht hei r hands.S econdly,m ini ngnatural r esources,building r

3、 oads and br idges,and constructi ng dam s for i rri gation and el ectri cal pow er are al so im por tant to devel opm ent and al so requir e peopl e w ho know how t ouse t hei r hands skill ful ly.F i nal ly,the establi shm ent of eff icient transpor tati onandcom m uni cati onsyst em s,essent ial

4、ser vicesi na m odernizingeconom y,rel ies heavily onal abour for ceof expert craf tsm enw hotakepride intheir m anual skill s.C learly,i nagricult ure andinindustry,the progress of a count ry depends on t he busy hands of i ts w orki ng peopl e.上段以主题句开头,一开始点明段落的中心思想:在任何一个正在实现工业化的国家,手工劳动力都是一个非常重要的资源

5、。支持句分别用了to begi n w it h,secondl y,fi nal ly 等表示例证的信号词,思路清楚,条理分明。结尾句以cl ear l y 起句,强调主题句表达的内容:一个国家的工农业发展有赖于劳动人民的勤劳的双手。例二:C ooki ng in a m icr ow ave oven has si m plif ied m y busy li fe.I nstead of havi ng to w ait t he long ten m i nut es for m y m or ni ng cof fee,I can place m y cup in t he m ic

6、row ave oven and have hot coff ee i n seconds.I no longer have t o decide in t he foggy m orni ng w hat ingredi ent s m ust be def rost ed for the eveni ng m eal.I can nowcom e hom e at 5p.m .,decide w hat I feel like eating,andhave it def rost edina m atter of m i nutes.T he shor tenedcooking ti m

7、e m eans I can have f ull course m eal s that once t ook m e hours t o cook.T he m i cr ow ave al so m akes clean-up m uch easier because t he di sh I cook i n is the dish I eat in.I n short ,the m icr ow ave oven saves m e t roubl e in pr epari ng for m y hot coff ee,m y di nner and also m y clean-

8、up.上段开门见山,以主题句点明这一段要讲的主要内容:使用微波炉做饭使“我”忙碌的生活变得简单了。接下来一一阐述微波炉从哪几方面使“我”的生活变得更为简单,而结尾句则对前面阐述的要点加以总结:能快速喝到热咖啡;缩短了做饭的时间;饭后的清洁工作也更为简单方便。例三:It issignifi cant that now adays fiber is consideredtobe anim por tant part of ahealthydiet.Inw hite br ead,for exam ple,t he fiber has beenrem oved.B ut i t is present

9、 i nunrefinedf lour and of courseinvegetables.It isinter estingt onote that incountriesw here thenational diet contains lar ge quant iti es of unr efinedf lour andvegetables,cer tain diseases ar e com par ati vely rar e.H ence t he em phasis placed on the eat ing of w hole w heat br ead and m or e v

10、eget abl es by m oder n experts on"healthyeat ing".上段也在开首句点明了中心内容:现在,纤维是健康饮食很重要的一个部分。接下来指出哪些食物是含有高纤维的,并且常吃这类食物,不容易得某些疾病。结尾说段落的结尾和重组自考英语写作基础辅导(V I 明结果:现代饮食专家很重视全麦面包和蔬菜的摄入。例四:B ut consi der N ew Y ork's advantages.F ir st,t here are i ts peopl e.If yougotoC hina,youw il l seeC hi nese,in

11、 N i ger ia you w ill m eet N igeri ans,and in P eru P eruvians.B ut i f you stand on a cor ner inm idtow n N ewY or k,you w i ll encounter people of all races and creeds fromal l part s of t he globe.P eople contr ibute t hei r t alents and culture toN ewY or k,m aking it a t rul ycosm opol itancit

12、y and anexcit ingplacet olive in.C onsider,too,the beautyof thecity.T he M anhatt anskyli ne,as seenf rom oneof N ew Y ork's m any bri dges,or f romthe B rookl yn si de of the East R iver,is one of the w orl d's m ostaw esom e sights.W henever I see it,I ampr oud of m y being a N ew Y orker.

13、L ast ly,consi der N ewY or k'shear t.It has never rejectedt he poor andt he unf ortunate w hohave com e t oit fr om other sections of the countr y or fr omforeign l ands.I t has spent m ore i n trying to help themin f act,in sodoi ng,i t has nearl y bankruptedi tsel fthan any ot her A m er ican

14、city.上段用了很常见的例证方法,即用了f i rst,lastl y这样明显的信号词。纽约的优势分别是,纽约的人、纽约的美丽以及纽约的善心,很显然,最重要的观点放在了最后。一个城市的心,就像一个人的心一样,是最重要的。例五:A s her w eddingdat e appr oached,I t hink that I w as alm ost as excitedas m y sister.S he cl aim s she di d not sleepat al l the w eekbefore the w edding,andI don't reallythinkI di

15、deither.I know that at least tw oof those night s w e sat up al l night review ingplans,checking t osee that w e haddone ever ything on our"t odo"li st.T w o days before the w eddi ng,m y excit em ent had reached such a peak t hat I didn't even eat.M aybe I have bor row ed l ove fr om

16、m ysi ster andw as li ving oni t,but I just w ent saili ngt hrough the day,ful l of energy and not the least bi t hungry.O n the dayof t he w edding,I w as up at4:30i nt he m or ning,shoutingat ever yone t oget up.I evenbegan t oget dr essed for the w eddingan hour bef ore m y sister did.A nd af ter

17、 I w as dressed in m y bridesm aid's gow n, I coul dn't sit dow n.I just pacedthe floorf or anentire hour.I don't thinkI couldtake havinga sister get m arried veryoften.上段的主题句(第一句告诉我们:姐姐的婚礼临近了,我几乎和她一样兴奋。接下来就说明我的兴奋表现在什么地方:和姐姐一样,我在婚礼前一周几乎没有睡觉;其中至少有两个晚上,我们坐在一起检查计划,看看还有哪些事情有待完成;而婚礼前两天,我兴奋得几乎

18、吃不下东西,而且精力充沛,一点儿也不觉得饥饿,就好像是从姐姐那里借来了爱情的力量、并以此为生似的;最后,到了婚礼当天,我4点半就起床了,并把每个人都叫起来,我早早地穿上了伴娘的服装,比姐姐穿礼服还早了一个小时,而穿了伴娘服之后便无法坐下来,因此整整一个小时,我就只能走过来走过去。如此准备婚礼,哪能不精疲力竭?因此,结尾句得出推论:如果有姐姐经常结婚我可就吃不消了。二.段落的重组段落的重组是段落部分一个非常重要的内容。做这个练习,要会熟练运用我们之前学过的一些技能,如判断主题句,段落如何围绕中心思想加以展开,如何结尾等等。我们还要借助一些语法知识判断两个内容相关的句子哪句在前,哪句在后。例如,如

19、果一个句子用了不定冠词,另一个句子在某名词前用了定冠词,我们就可以判断有不定冠词的句子在前,有定冠词的句子在后。大家可以阅读英语写作教程关于连贯性(coher ence的内容,对做这个练习会有很大的帮助。下面我们来举例说明。例一:1.C oaches andat hletes of ten feel tensi onbefore big gam es because theydo not w ant t ocom m it errors t hatm i ght cause their team s to lose.2.T here are m any sit uat ions w hich

20、cause pr essure and tensi on to bui ldupi nsi de of us.3.W e suff er fr omf ear of m aki ng an em bar rassing m istake duri ng t he per for m ance.4.Per or m i ng in ront o an audience com m onl produces pr essure.f f f y5.M any of us al so exper ience t ensi on w hen w e ar e am ong newpeople.6.I f

21、 eel tensi onr ight now as I w rite this paragraphbecause I w ant i t tobe thebest paragr aphI've w rit tenthissem ester.7.I nsuchsituati ons,w e becom e qui et out of fear t hat other peopl e w ill label us as"loudm ouths".8.N o m at ter how hard w e tr yto avoid pr essur e andt ensio

22、n,t her e w ill inevi tably be tim es w henbreathi ngbecom es hardandf ear gets a gr ipon us that is diffi cult tol oosen.571这个段落有8个句子,其中有三个句子的顺序已经给出。先把这8个句子通读一遍,然后重点读这三个句子,不难发现,这三个句子都是支持句。我们再仔细阅读其他5个句子,然后设法判断主题句。之前我们做过这样的练习,即在一些句子中寻找最适合做主题句的句子,现在正是这个技能的用武之地。通过阅读剩下的5个句子,不难发现第二句正是概括全文中心思想的主题句:让我们感受到压

23、力和紧张的情况有许多。我们知道,主题句的位置一般在段首,但也有在段中和段尾的情况。那么,这个主题句应该放在哪里呢?其实,该句以t her e ar e开头,一定是放在段首的。接下来,我们可以预测,即将告诉我们的应该是哪些情况下我们会有压力、感到紧张。这些情况是按什么顺序一一罗列的呢?这时,我们只剩下四个句子了,即3、4、6、8。我们先看看哪些句子是有语义关联的。第3句有per f or m ance,第4句有per f or m i ng,可以判断这两句应该放在一起。哪句在前呢?第3句的per f or m ance之前有定冠词t he,据此判断第4句在前,第3句在后。剩下第6句和第8句。第6

24、句讲作者自己写下这段文字时也感到紧张,因为作者希望这是我这个学期写得最好的。第8句的意思是,不管我们如何想方设法避免紧张和压力,其实是不可避免的。这是作者根据前面的例子得出的结论,符合结尾句的特点,因此第8句应该放在最后。因此,排序如下:24357168例二:2.S unday w as a busy day.3.In the afternoon,I w ent to the ci ty librar y and checked out a coupl e of books onbusi ness m anagem ent.4.Then I hurri ed tocatch the bus t

25、o the other side of the city to tut or m ynew st udent.5.Then I vi si ted m y grandm ot her,st ayed t here f or dinner and w at ched t he new s on T V.6.W e enjoyed t he color ful and excit ing f est ival so m uch that w e m issed the last bus and w hen w e fi nal lyretur ned hom e byt axi,i t w as

26、already past m idnight.7.T hat t ook m e t he w hol e m or ni ng.8.A f ter t hat,I rode onthe bus w ith m yfam ilyf or a speci al lanter nfest ival inthe seaside park.9.I w as exhaustedaf ter t w ent yhours of acti vity.735上段以时间为顺序加以展开,和例一相比,句子较短,更容易把握其脉络。同样,我们先通读一遍这九个句子,大致了解这段的内容:星期天一天的行程。再看给出的3个句子

27、。第7句提示我们,在此句之前应该是早上做的事情。第3句和第5句则是叙述下午所做的事。因此可以断定,一天的行程完全是按照时间顺序展开的,没有倒叙。仔细读读其他6句,很容易判断第2句是主题句:星期天是个忙碌的一天。接下来的事情应该从起床开始,所以是第1句。接下来还有四句,第4句讲我匆忙赶车去城市的另一端去给我的新学生做家教,没有时间提示,我们可以先放一边;第8句中有个a speci al l ant er n f esti val,第6句中有个t he col or ful and exci ti ng f est ival,可以断定这两句都是讲晚上的事情,放在第5句之后,而且是有不定冠词a 的第

28、8句在前,有定冠词t he 的第6句在后。而第9句则讲这一天的感受:累,是个典型的结尾句,放在段落最后。随即也可断定第4句做家教是上午的事情,放在第1句之后。因此,排序如下:例三:1.F or these r easons,W i lm a usuall ypr efers buses insteadof pl anes unless she has t ogetsom ew here i n a hurr y.2.For exam pl e,she enj oys drivingt hroughthe big citi es of P hil adelphi a,P i ttsbur gh,

29、andF ortW ayne.3.W i lm a li kes traveli ngbybus better thant ravelingbyairpl ane,andther e are several reasons forher prefer ence.4.F irst itcostsless.5.S econd,tr aveling by bus gives her a closer l ook at t he cit ies and countr yside t han she could get from a plane.6.T hi rd,W i lm a fi nds tha

30、t the passengers on the bus are oft en closer to her ow n age.7.F our th,r idi ng a bus all ow s W ilm a to explore any stop along the w ay.8.She can ride by bus fr omN ewY or k to C hicago f or $20,but the air f ar e bet w een the tw o citi es i s $78.9.So,theyare easyto tal kw it hont he sharedtra

31、vel adventure.10.I ncont rast,m any ai rli ne passengers ar e busi nessm en w ho keep busy w it ht heir w or kw hil e f lying.11.F or instance,once she got off t he bus at a sm al l tow nin Indiana and spent t he night w it ha girl fri end.12.Then,the next day she took another bus to C hicago.上段相对较长

32、。先读一遍这12个句子,能从中找出主题句吗?对了,就是第3句:威尔玛喜欢坐汽车旅行胜过坐飞机旅行,原因有几点。我们前面讲到过,用了t her e be 句型的主题句,通常放在句首。第4、5、6、7句分别以f i r st ,second,t hi r d,f our t h 开始表示原因,看似连在一起,实则不然,往往是个陷阱。其实,其中的两句顺序已经给出,5与6之间插进了第2句,这就告诉我们,不能盲目地把这几句直连放在一起,因为在每一点原因后面,往往会有进一步的解释。跟在主题句后面的毫无疑问是第一点原因(第4句,便宜。接下来通过具体的数字来说明这一点(第8句:从纽约到芝加哥坐汽车要20美元,坐

33、飞机要78美元。这样,我们就来看看第6句之后是哪一句。第6句是第三点原因:汽车上的乘客多为同龄人,我们看到第9句中的代词t hey 应该指代第6句中的passenger s,因此放在第6句之后,第10句语义相关,比较了飞机上的乘客的不同。接下来是第四点原因,坐汽车更自由,可以沿路到站就停,第11、12句举例说明她的经历,她曾经在印第安纳州的一个小镇下车,与一女伴过了一晚上,然后第二天又搭乘另一辆车前往芝加哥。第1句就是结尾句,与首句相呼应:由于上述原因,除非赶时间,威尔玛通常选择坐汽车。因此排序如下:练习请重组下列段落:I .1.For exam ple,evenbefor e the inv

34、enti onof the t elescope,astronom ers noti cedt hat bright st ars suddenly appear int he sky,andthenlater disappear.214735869526526348*2.The oldbeli ef t hat the uni ver se never changes is qui te w rong.3.In fact w e nowknowthat they are reall yold st ars w hich are slow ly dying.4.Arecent case of

35、nova occur red in 1918,and one of the f ewpeopl e w ho sawt hi s w as t he A m eri can ast ronom er Edw ar d B ar nard.5.T hese st ars w ere cal led 'novae'because they w er e t hought to be new .6.S uddenly he not iceda star that he hadnever seenbefore,andexclaim ed,"T hat star shouldn

36、ot be there!"7.H e w as in fact w atching the expl osi on of a nova.8.H e w as dri ving al ong in a car,occasi onal ly lookingup intot he sky.I I .1.T he house ow ner,for exam ple,know s that his propert ycan be dam aged by fi re;the ship ow ner know s t hat h is vessel m aybe lo st at sea ;the brea dw inner k now s that he m aydie at ane arlyageandleavehis fam ilythe poo rer.2.N early everyone is exposedt or