如何写好英语作文的正文

湖北 陈裕明

正文是文章的主体部分，它是由若干个段落组成的。文章的正文应以文章的开头为线索，具体地叙述、说明或论证文章的主题。

现根据作文题型，就作文中的正文写作进行举例说明：

(一)要点类作文

要点类作文的体裁包括记叙文、说明文、议论文、应用文等。基本要求是从一个话题出发，按照题纲要求进行写作，同时提出作者自己的观点，有一定的字数要求。

1.开门见山，进行正文的写作。

这类作文就是根据提示内容进行写作。提示内容较多时，基本不用拓展。例如：

上周六上午，你和父母一起骑自行车去了一家草莓采摘观光园（提示1）。首先听主人讲述了自己的故事：16岁时，车祸夺去了她的双腿，在政府和家人的帮助下创建草莓采摘观光园，每年收入近百万元，并吸引了大量游客（提示2）。然后和园主合影，并在园内餐馆就餐（提示3）。

(提示1)Last Saturday morning, I rode to a Strawberry Picking and Sightseeing Garden with my parents, because it was not far from my home.(提示2)We listened to the story of the owner of the Strawberry Picking and Sightseeing Garden. At the age of 16, she lost both of her legs because of a car accident. With the help of the government and her family,she set up the Strawberry Picking and Sightseeing Garden. The annual income was close to one million yuan and it attracted a large number of tourists. (提示3)We also took photos with the owner and had lunch at the Strawberry Picking and Sightseeing Garden.

It was a great weekend and I had a wonderful time.

本文的正文部分是Last Saturday...and Sightseeing Garden.。作者依次完成了提示内容（即材料）的写作，因为字数的限制，拓展部分只有“because it was not far from my home”及短文最后一句“It was a great weekend and I had a wonderful time.”。

2.结合所给句子，进行正文的衔接和扩写。

结合所给出的句子和要点内容进行正文内容的扩写时，要注意关联词语的正确运用。例如：

请根据下列表格内容写一篇题为“How can we make ourselves safe? ”的英语短文。

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How can we make ourselves safe?

As teenagers, to learn how to make ourselves safe is especially important. Here are some of my suggestions.

First, (要点2)we are supposed to be careful when making friends online, which may cause unnecessary trouble.(要点4)Second, remember never to go swimming on our own in the river or lake because doing that will probably put ourselves into dangerous situations.(要点1)Besides, in order to eat healthily and safely, we'd better eat less junk food and not eat food that goes bad, for they will do harm to our health.(要点3)At last, when traveling outside, take care of our personal things and call the police for help in time if we are in danger.

In short, safety must come first!

虽然本文的行文方式使得提示内容顺序发生改变，但符合提示要求。要点2用句型be supposed to do sth.来强调“交友安全”，用which may cause unnecessary trouble来理解“不和陌生人交谈”；要点4使用祈使句remember never to...来强调“游泳安全”；要点1用besides来衔接上文，引入“饮食安全”；要点3的at last表示完成了提示的最后一点“旅行安全”，用when traveling outside点题，完成提示内容的表达。

(二)提问式提示作文

此类作文的提问形式有中文提问和英文提问。正文写作时必须结合提问内容来完成。例如：

请以“A precious present”为题，写一篇短文。内容包括：

1.这件礼物是什么？

2.你为什么觉得它珍贵？

3.它背后有什么故事？

A precious present

(问题1)The title A precious present reminds me of quite a few gifts I've got. Yet, the first comes to my mind is the book, the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

(问题3)On my tenth birthday, my father gave it to me as a gift. Because I didn't like reading, I put it on the bookshelf. One boring day, I picked it up and looked through it. Unexpectedly, the story interested me greatly. I found pleasure in reading books. From then on, I became fascinated in reading.

(问题2)Though the book is not valuable, it's precious. I'll regard it as a treasure forever.

此类作文，一般是按照提问的顺序进行正文写作的，但本文属例外。第一段说明礼物是什么；第二段讲述该礼物背后的故事；第二段最后一句话和第三段说明礼物珍贵的原因。

（三）表格作文

表格中的内容有一定的情节，细节则需要根据提示内容或参考词汇进行思考、分析，从而理顺思路，完成一定的故事情节，然后将一篇限定词数的正文内容补充完整。例如：

目前，许多中学生利用周末和节假日上课外补习班，对此人们有不同的看法。请根据下表内容写一篇英语短文。

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Nowadays, many middle school students are taking all kinds of after-school classes at weekends or on holidays.There are two different opinions about it.

Some people think that (赞成观点1) taking afterschool classes can help students learn better and get into a better high school. What's more,(赞成观点2)students can avoid spending too much time watching TV or playing computer games.

However,(反对观点1) others think students need time to rest and relax. (反对观点2)After-school classes can cause a lot of stress for students, and it is not good for their development.

(自己的观点1) In my opinion, if necessary, we can take after-school classes, but it can't take up too much time.(自己的观点2) We should first rest well at weekends and on holidays.

正文部分分成三段：一段陈述赞成的理由，两个理由用what's more来衔接，突出重点；一段陈述反对的理由，由however引出反对的理由，形成对比；最后一段表明自己的观点，突出使用in my opinion来强调自己的看法。

总之，正文部分是写作的重头戏。写作时，在确定了开头和结尾部分之后，要认真思考、仔细构思正文的结构和顺序、人称和时态，注意词汇和句型的选择。同时还要注意正文内容的完整性、衔接性和连贯性，务必使其中心内容突出，主题鲜明，要点全面，表达通畅。

【习作点评】

这是一篇主题为“感恩他人”的学生习作。文章首先写了我们为什么要对父母、老师、朋友甚至陌生人心存感激，然后具体介绍了我们应该怎样做才能将感激之情落实在具体的行动上。文章充满了正能量，给人以人生的教诲与启迪。

全文结构完整，层次清楚，段落划分恰当。尤其是第一、二段的首句和末尾句的相呼应，使得文章结构非常严谨。文中复杂结构和高级词汇的大胆、准确运用，可以看出该学生课余时间一定善于阅读和积累，英语水平相当不错。尤其是结尾两段清一色的祈使句的使用，让文章充满了强烈的感情色彩，震撼人心。谚语、俗话及一些高级句式的运用，提升了文章的档次。

尽管此文句式变化不少，但是略感文章中should一词运用过频，如果能用其他的句型来替换一下，或许给人的感觉会更为舒服、自然。