大学英语三级写作专题(3) －常用的开头段的表达方法

使用引语（use a quotation）

使用一段名人名言，或人们常用的谚语、习语，以确定文章的写作范围和方向。如：

“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.

分析：开头引用Colton的名言说明“创造机会”对于成功的重要性，点明主题。

引用具体或粗略的数据 （use figures or statistics）

提出问题（ask a question）

提出有争议或探讨性的具体问题，然后加以简要回答或展开引导性简短讨论。如：

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.

分析：文章开头提出“你想从工作中得到什么”这一问题，然后自问自答，指出工作除了物质利益，还可以给我们带来很多其它收获这一结论。

给出具体实例或报道（offer relevant examples or reports）

给出具体生活实例或新闻报道。如：

As regards the stress for college students, there has been a heated discussion among the public in the society. It was reported that a student killed four of his classmates just because of a trivial matter. It can be easily seen that pressure has become a serious issue we cannot neglect.

分析：文章通过引用新闻报道的一个实例，说明了大学生心理问题的严重性。

定义法（give definition）

针对讨论的主题或问题加以定义，然后进行深入探讨。如：

As we all know, practice makes perfect. This is an accumulated experience we inherit from our forefathers, and now it is still widely applied to our daily life. It means that the more we practice, the more likely we are going to do things perfectly.

分析：文章用It means that这一句型，说明了practice makes perfect的含义。

主题句法（use of topic sentence）

文章一开始就以主题句点明全文主题，然后围绕主题内容进行发展。如：

Nowadays one of the serious problems China is faced with is the increasing illiteracy among the adolescents. According to a recent survey by Dr. Li, dean of Educational Department of Beijing Normal University, about 18% of the children between 8 and 15 years old have dropped out of school across the country.

分析：文章开头即提出中国的文盲现象日益严重这一问题，然后再用实例数据加以佐证。