如何写出英语作文得分的“亮点”

以往,英語作文的評分標準主要著重於內容要點與語言的正確性。然而,自2001年起實施的大學入學考試評分準則,更加強調內容完整性、語言的多樣性、連貫性與適切性,鼓勵學生嘗試更多元且複雜的語言表達方式。因此,若要寫出一篇水準較高的英語作文,除了掌握要點與語言準確度外,還需在語用、語法結構,以及表達的多樣性與靈活性上有所展現。句子單調、缺乏生動感的文章,即使沒有任何錯誤,也難以獲得高分;反之,「若出現些許錯誤,但原因是嘗試使用較複雜結構或較高級詞彙所致」,評分仍可歸於高分段(21–25分)。
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那麼,英語作文究竟如何能夠取得高分呢?以下幾種提升句子複雜性的方法,正是創造得分「亮點」的常見技巧。
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1. 改變句子的開頭方式,避免千篇一律地以主語起始,接著才是謂語、賓語,最後加上狀語。可以嘗試將狀語置於句首,或使用分詞構句等手法。請比較以下例句:
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(原文)My brother and I went to the cinema by bicycle the other day.
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(修正)The other day my brother and I went to the cinema by bicycle.
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(原文)The young man couldn’t help crying when he heard the bad news.
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(修正)Hearing the bad news, the young man couldn’t help crying.
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2. 在整篇文章中,應避免只使用一兩種句式,靈活運用強調句、主從複合句、分詞片語、倒裝句、省略句等,能讓文章更顯豐富。例如:
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(1)強調句
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(原文)The dog has saved my little sister bravely.
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(修正)It is the dog that has saved my little sister bravely.
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(2)主從複合句
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(原文)We had to stand there to catch the offender.
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(修正)What we had to do was to stand there, trying to catch the offender.
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(3)分詞片語、由 with 或 without 引導的片語
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(原文)The driver escaped and didn’t stop, he left the old man lying on the road.
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(修正)The driver escaped without stopping, leaving the old man lying on the road.
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(4)倒裝句
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(原文)I went to bed at 11:30.
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(修正)Not until 11:30 did I go to bed.
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(5)省略句
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(原文)While you are crossing the street, you should be careful.
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(修正)While crossing the street, you should be careful.
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3. 透過分句與合句的技巧,增強句子的連貫性與表現力。例如:
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(原文)He stopped us an hour ago. He made us catch the next offender.
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(修正)He stopped us half an hour ago and made us catch the next offender.
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(原文)We had a short rest. Then we began to play happily. We sang and danced.
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(修正)After a short rest, we had great fun singing and dancing.
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4. 注意連接詞與承轉句的運用。
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以2001年會考作文為例,在信件開頭可加入「You want to know something about what is going on in schools in China?」這樣的句子,起到承上啟下的作用,使文章過渡更自然;又如,以「What was worse?」引述減負前每晚仍需寫作業、就寢時間拖至11:30等要點。再如,透過「Now I have more free time…」帶出減負後的改變。此外,在信件結尾處,可使用「How about you? I’m looking forward to hearing from you.」來自然收尾。
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5. 善用轉折語詞。
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即使每個句子都寫得正確,也未必能成為一篇好文章,因為文章必須講求行文連貫。那麼,如何使文章流暢銜接呢?這就需依賴適切的轉折語詞。轉折語詞如同機械組裝時的潤滑劑,能讓文意順暢接合。常用的轉折語詞主要分為以下幾類:
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並列遞進:and, also, as well as, besides, what’s more, furthermore, moreover, etc.
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轉折對比:but, yet, however, although, nevertheless, in spite of, after all, etc.
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因果關係:because, as, for, since, for this reason, because of, so, therefore, thus, as a result, etc.
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比較選擇:or, otherwise, like, unlike, on the contrary, while, on the other hand, instead of, etc.
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總結歸納:in all, in brief, on the whole, in short, in general, in one word, etc.
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總而言之,若要提升文章的層次與可讀性,考生應適時加入較高級的詞彙與複雜結構,並巧妙運用連接詞與複合句。唯有如此,才能在考試中取得理想的成績。