(楊老師教學筆記13）英語作文“三杯茶”

 

BC英語10年級省考的作文，強調了“originality, creativity and individuality”。我戲稱這3個以“ty”（諧音tea）為英語作文的“三杯茶”。

 

第一杯茶——originality（原創性）：

 

考試作文的大忌就是剽竊抄襲。學生平時可以盡可能多地接觸優秀範文，可以刻意模仿優秀範文的思路，風格，修辭技巧，但必須將這些優秀的因素消化成自己的東西，而不是機械地依樣畫葫蘆甚至大段大段地照抄。

 

第二杯茶——creativity（創造性）：

 

作文的創作性，可以體現在文章結構的構思上（比如是論說文還是記敘文，用哪種開篇哪種結尾）；筆調風格上（比如是抒情，幽默，還是思辨）；遣詞造句上（比如用何種修辭手段，用難度稍高一點的詞匯）。

 

第三杯茶——individuality（個性）：

 

學生要慢慢地形成自己獨特鮮明的個性和風格。讀者能夠從作文中感受到作者的秉性，情緒，修養，思想的深度，知識麵的廣度，還能夠從行文風格上和遣詞造句上有一種似曾相似的感覺，很容易把它與芸芸眾生的作文一下子就區別開來。

 

原創性，創造性和個性，其實離不開對優秀範文長期不斷的學習，模仿，以至消化成自己的東西。

 

下麵是一篇風格獨特的中學生作文，該作者當年就憑這篇牛文，被紐約大學錄取。從中，大家可以斟酌品味到上麵提到的英語作文“三杯茶”：

 

QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR

ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A

PERSON?

 

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I

have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making

them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic

slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time

efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

 

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot

bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook

Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a

veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

 

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly

defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious

army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the

subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large

suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On

Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of

charge.

 

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie.

Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear.

I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I

have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last

summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force

demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me

fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

 

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy.

I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day

and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I

know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have

performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week;

when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I

successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a

small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

 

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On

weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami.

Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down.

I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a

toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San

Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the

Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and

I have spoken with Elvis.

 

But I have not yet gone to college.

 

該文作者那種天馬行空匪夷所思的想象力，張揚恣肆的誇張手段，排山倒海的排比句式咄咄逼人撲麵而來，讓讀者有點招架不住。作者活潑好動敢作敢為的性格躍然紙上，自己的興趣才能一目了然。任何學校的考官都會喜歡這樣的學生。

 

這就是英語作文“三杯茶”的醇厚與甘甜。