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写作是人类有意识地使用语言和文字来记录资讯、表达意向的一种方式，主要用来测试学生综合运用语言的能力。它不仅考核考生对词汇的掌握情况以及对语法的应用，同时还考查学生的表达能力、思维的逻辑性和条理性。
根据《高校英语专业四级考试大纲》（以下简称《大纲》）的规定，写作项目包括两个部分，即Section A:Composition和Section B:Note-Writing,每个部分各含有一项写作任务。
1.作文（Composition）
能根据所给的作文题目、提纲或图表、数据等，写一篇200个单词左右的作文，能做到内容切题、完整，条理清楚，结构严谨，语法正确，语言通顺，表达得体。考试时间35分钟，分值为15分。
2.便条（Note-Writing）
能根据所给提示写一篇50~60个单词的便条、通知、请帖等。能做到格式正确，语言得体。考试时间10分钟，分值为10分。
通过分析考试大纲中的测试要求以及历年的作文考试真题，我们不难看出，专四要求写作的应试作文同平时学习、生活中的应用文、公文、创作写作之间存在着本质的区别。在语言方面，专四写作的语言较正式，要避免口语化和大量的简单句，不要使用例如let’s look at,you know,well,that’s the end,thank you之类的口语表达，要熟练掌握和运用主动性的词汇，而应用文、公文写作中常用的语言则更加规范和固定，它们往往以传达信息为主要目的，另外，创作写作的语言更加正式和书面，具有较强的学术色彩；在文体方面，专四作文部分重点考查的是说明文（exposition）和议论文（argumentation），因此，在语言表达上，应以说明性或议论性的客观表达方式为主，而应用文和公文写作都属于应用文体，创作写作多为文学性作品，它们都因自身的性质、功能与其他写作形式相互区别；在题材方面，专四作文的题目更多针对社会、校园生活中的热点话题，更加贴近当代大学生的日常生活，一般考生都能够做到有话可说，而应用文、公文写作是一种“代言”性的写作形式，其写作过程有着明确的形式和实际的目的，另外，创作写作的内容也有着较强的理论性和学术性成分。从以上的分析可以看出，在专四写作备考的过程中，如何提高语言的实际运用能力正成为高校英语专业基础阶段教学的一个重要课题。
专四考试写作部分的测试形式为主观题，题目通常由“情景提示”、“写作要求”和“评分标准”三部分组成。“情景提示”部分通常引出话题或者给定题目；“写作要求”部分大体规范出作文的总体谋篇布局；“评分标准”部分一般提供评卷教师主要的评分标准，以供考生参考。“写作要求”和“评分标准”部分的内容每年基本相同。
具体的测试形式请见如下测试样题。
SECTION A COMPOSITION [35 MIN]
1.情景提示：
The Student Union of your university is planning to hold an arts festival next semester,and they are inviting students to contribute their ideas and suggestions as to how it should be organized or what should be included.Write on ANSWER SHEET THREE a composition of about 200 words on the following topic:
My Idea of a University Arts Festival
2.写作要求：
You are to write in three parts.
In the first part,state specifically what your idea is.
In the second part,provide one or two reasons to support your idea or describe your idea.
In the last part,bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or a summary.
3.评分标准：
Marks will be awarded for content,organization,grammar and appropriateness.
Failure to follow the instructions may result in a loss of marks.
SECTION B NOTE-WRITING [10 MIN]
1.情景提示：
Write on ANSWER SHEET THREE a note of about 50-60 words based on the following situation:
You have got two tickets to a concert given by a famous pop band/orchestra.Write a note to your friend,Hilda/Mike,describing briefly what it is and inviting her/him to come with you.
2.评分标准：
Marks will be awarded for content,organization,grammar and appropriateness.
自2009年英语专业四级考试改为网上阅卷后，作文部分由总体评分方法改为了分项式评分法。阅卷人员从内容、结构、语法、表达四个方面对作文分别进行打分，这也反映了《高校英语专业四级考试大纲》对于写作部分的具体要求。
1.内容（Content）
要求内容切题、完整。
写作时，文章的主题一定要明确，内容切题、完整，具体包括以下三个方面要求：
一是观点要明确，符合题目要求和主题，例如在支持或反对某种看法时，一定要清楚地表达自己的立场观点，不要模棱两可，左右不定，例如：
（a）Many people have different opinions on whether people under twenty-one should be permitted to drink alcohol,and I agree with some of them.
（b）The question of whether we need a national law governing the minimum age to drink alcohol is a controversial issue in many states.
（c）I want to give my opinion on the national law that sets twenty-one as the legal age to drink alcohol and the reasons I feel this way.
（d）To reduce the number of highway fatalities,our country needs to enforce the national law that designates twenty-one as the legal minimum age to purchase and consume alcohol.
（e）The legal minimum age for purchasing alcohol should be eighteen rather than twenty-one.
其中，（a）（b）（c）这三句话只是对文章主题的陈述，作者没有明确地表明自己的立场观点。而（d）（e）这两句话，作者鲜明地表达了自己的态度，并且引出了下文对这一观点的具体论述。
二是主题句的位置要明确，一般位于开头段的末尾，或开篇直接提出自己的观点，做到切合题意，简洁明了。
例如：American English and British English differ from each other.Firstly,there are differences between the two in the phonetic values of certain vowels.Moreover,vocabulary differs between American and British English as a result of certain cultural differences and the parallel development of certain inventions.In addition,the most subtle difference of all is the syntactic ones.
以上这段话主要谈论了“英国英语和美国英语存在着差别”的问题，作者针对这个问题，就英国英语和美国英语在语音、词汇、句法三个方面进行了比较。本段的主题句“American English and British English differ from each other.”简洁明了，概括性强，读者通过阅读这句话，就可以了解整段的主要内容，也会更加轻松地抓住本段的重点。
三是全文内容统一，符合题目要求，无不相关的内容。例如：
Traffic is an essential element in daily life for people in big cities.Each day,by various means of transportation,heavy loads of goods and a great number of passengers are conveyed to and from every corner of the city.Some passengers carry breakfast with them to eat during the trip and some leave home so late that it is not possible for them to reach the office on time.Therefore,they look very awkward and embarrassed when they arrive.
以上这段文字中，黑体部分显然与“Traffic is an essential element in daily life for people in big cities”这个主题句无关，未能体现全文的主题思想，因此可以删去。
2.结构（Organization）
要求结构严谨、条理清楚。
结构严谨要求文章能够做到条理清楚、语义连贯。一般而言，专四作文总体上分为三段，三段之间的相互关系可以概括为以下三句话，即Tell you what I will tell you in the first paragraph.Tell you in the second paragraph.Tell you what I have told you in the third paragraph.因此，考生在构思时，最好能简单地列出提纲，明确每部分的具体内容，分析出各个部分之间的逻辑关系，以确保文章条理的清晰。
另外，值得一提的是，善于使用衔接语可以增强文章的逻辑性，例如：
（a）Lasers have found widespread application in medicine.Lasers play an important role in the treatment of eye disease and the prevention of blindness.The eye is ideally suited for laser surgery.Most of the eye tissue is transparent.The frequency and focus of the laser beam can be adjusted accordingly so that the beam“cuts”inside the eye with minimal damage to the surrounding tissues.Lasers are effective in treating some causes of blindness.The interaction between laser light and eye tissue is not fully understood.
（b）Lasers have found widespread application in medicine.For example,they play an important role in the treatment of eye disease and the prevention of blindness.The eye is ideally suited for laser surgery because most of the eye tissue is transparent.Because of this transparency,the frequency and focus of the laser beam can be adjusted according so that the beam“cuts”inside the eye with minimal damage to the surrounding tissue.Lasers are also more effective than other methods in treating some causes of blindness.However,the interaction between laser light and eye tissue is not fully understood.
在以上的两段文字中，（a）段堆积了很多独立的句子，相互间缺乏逻辑照应关系，使得整体上显得支离破碎，没有条理；（b）段通过使用衔接语（黑体部分的文字）使得整段内容条理分明、流畅和谐。
文章结构富有逻辑性，会很容易地使读者理解作者所要表达的思想内容。这种逻辑性可以通过多种方式来体现，例如，从一般到具体、从“全景”到细节、从问题的定义到分析，再到提出解决方案等。
3.语法（Grammar）
要求语法正确。
语法正确是熟练运用英语进行语言表达的最基本要求，也是最能体现语言功底的方面，它要求文章的语句应合乎英语的语法规则和表达习惯。一般而言，考生在写作过程中常出现的语法小错误包括：修饰语位置不当（misplaced modifiers）、悬垂修饰语（dangling modifiers）、主谓不一致（agreement errors）、连写句（run-ons）、片段句（sentence fragments）、句意混乱（awkward or confusing sentences）等。
例如，If I became famous,I needn’t to worry about my life problems,I may have a lot of money,so I can buy a car and give my father and my mother,I also can do what I like,I may run a little company,and come up with some money to help the left-behind children in rural areas,and establishment of some Hope Primary Schools.
在以上这句话中，最明显的错误就是考生使用了连写句，这类句子常常会省去在几个主句之间的连接词或往往错用了标点。它使得作者在表达上逻辑混乱，内容表述与作者的本意出现偏差，应该改为：
If I become famous（可能实现的条件句不用虚拟语气），I needn’t to worry（改为don’t need to worry，前者是情态动词，后者是实意动词）about my life problems.I may have a lot of money,so I can buy a car and give it to my father and mother.I can also do what I like:I may run a small company,（有生命的用little,无生命的用small）and set aside some money to help the children left-behind in rural areas,and to establish some Hope Primary Schools.
由此可见，一篇充斥着语法错误的习作是让人难以卒读的，它会直接影响考生正确地表达自己的思想，给评卷老师留下不好的印象，也不可能获得高分。
4.表达（Appropriateness）
要求语言通顺，表达得体。
无论是便条写作还是短文写作，都要求考生综合运用所学的英语语言知识，就所给的主题写出内容切题、表达清楚、行文通顺流畅的文字。因此，在行文中，考生要尽可能地避免不必要的修饰词（unnecessary modifiers）、赘词重复（redundant twins）、语体混乱（mixed stylistics）等不得体的语言表达。
例如：
What is life?If you ask me,I would say that people vary in their ideas about it.As far as I am concerned,I believe some regard much of life as a race for success and everyone enjoys an equal chance to take part in the race and win.Nevertheless,there are only some who can become winners and many become losers.This is because of the fact that the former like to compete and the latter do not.I think people generally share the philosophy“winning is the only thing”as they firmly believe that on the on hand,it can help them make great contributions to society and on the other hand,it is better to aim high than to aim low.
在这段话中，类似“if you ask me,I would say,as far as I am concerned,I believe,I think”等语言都属于口语体的表达方式，把它们用在论说性的议论文、说明文中是不合适的。“this is...,the fact that...,as firmly,on the one hand,on the other hand...”则是累赘多余的表达。实际上，为了增强表达的效果，在遣词造句方面，本段话可以更加简洁准确，例如：
What is life?Some say much of it as a race for success and everyone has an equal chance to enter the race and win.And yet,only some have become winners and many have become losers because the former like to compete and the latter do not.People generally share the philosophy“winning is the only thing”because they believe it can help them get ahead,and that it is better to aim high than to aim low.
修改后的这段话，既没有堆砌华丽的辞藻，也没有罗列复杂的句型，更没有口语体和书面语体的混杂使用。但总体上看来，整段话用词准确，表达得体，简明扼要，行文流畅。由此可见，能否完成一篇优秀的英语作文，很大程度上取决于作者是否拥有用正确、通俗的语言表达具有意义的概念或观点的能力。