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金钥匙1 长短句需服务于写作目的和内容
英语写作，尤其是读后续写，并不是句子越长越好。过多地使用长句或过多地使用短句都不合适。长句和短句的表达效果不同，因而具有不同的文体效果。长句和短句各有服务目的，它们的运用取决于写作目的和内容。
先请欣赏原文的一则对话。
“You’re not going,” Joanna would say.
“I’m going,” Bill would shoot back.
Joanna would try to bargain. “You’re not taking your gun. Stay on a trail.”
“I’m hunting.”
“Take a friend.”
“They’re all dead.”
两人对话一来二去，都希望争取对方同意，且都不肯让步，用语简单，看似随便自然，却言简意赅、态度坚决，体现一种力度感。两个人对打猎的截然不同的态度表露无遗。
再例如：“Salant came across a familiar-looking green bush studded with pink berries and thought she remembered Aric identifying the plant as salmonberry.”（Salant偶然发现了一棵看上去很熟悉的绿色灌木，上面长满了粉红色的浆果，她回想起Aric认出这种植物是美莓。）这里运用了并列句，因为Salant一看到粉红色的浆果就想到了这是美莓，所以为了思维的连贯，此处使用and把两个句子串联成一个长句。
而下面却分别用三个短句，来表示Salant吃美莓的三个步骤。因为不确定自己是否辨别正确，所以Salant咬了一小口之后吐出来：“Salant nibbled at one of the fruits and spit it out.”接着她等了一小会儿再试吃另一口：“Waited a while, then sampled another.”最后确认美莓没毒之后，她就开始狼吐虎咽了：“Satisfied that the berries weren’t toxic, she gorged on them.”可见短句易于组织和表达，利于体现文章的层次感。
熟练的写作者会长短句结合着使用，以使句式富于变化、形式灵活、错落有致，文章具有节奏感、形象感。一篇文章如果都是长句，不但显得冗长，而且读者读起来很费力。当然，文章如果整篇都是短句，则显得单调乏味，而且容易造成零散的感觉，甚至导致句意不连贯，不适合高考这种选拔性考试。
金钥匙2 了解长短句的特征
长句是指用词较多、结构较复杂的句子。长句表意严密、内容丰富、精确细致，多用于表达较为复杂的思想内容。它的句式特点一般有：1）修饰语（如定语、状语）较多；2）并列成分多；3）某一成分的结构比较复杂。
例如：“She moved methodically, plotting every step, crossing and recrossing the stream to avoid obstacles, and balancing on fallen logs or clinging to tree roots.”（她有条不紊地走着，每一步都计划好，穿过小溪，重新穿过小溪，避开障碍物，靠倒在地上的树木来保持平衡或是紧紧抓住树根。）这句话以动作描写见长，描绘了Salant带伤前行的情景。主要动作是moved，其余的plotting、crossing、recrossing、balancing和clinging都是并列的动作，作伴随状语。一系列的动作通过一句话完整地表达出来，一气呵成。如果使用短句有支离破碎之感。
短句是指结构简单、词语较少的句子。它的特点是短小精悍、表意灵活、节奏分明、生动明快、简洁活泼。短句能简明扼要地叙述事实，简洁生动地表现人物，反映事物的迅速变化，表现作者激越的情绪或果断肯定的语气。
金钥匙3 短句放在段首或者段末揭示主题
短句放在段首或段末可以起概括、引出话题或揭示主题的作用。
例如：“It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces.”。首句概括“船上很冷”。接下来具体写怎么冷：“冰冷的浪花和雨水顺着他们的脖子悄悄流下”和“寒风拂过他们的脸”。这种先短后长的句群形式，让描写细致入微、惟妙惟肖。
再例如：“It was shaping up to be the perfect weekend. Last July, Pamela Salant, a 28-year-old preschool teacher, and her boyfriend, Aric Essig, 31, who works for a sailboat company, had driven two hours east from Portland, Oregon, to camp overnight in the Mount Hood National Forest. They planned to hike a mile and a half through the forest to Bear Lake, spend the night, and walk back out on Sunday to attend a birthday party for two of her students. It was sunny, clear, and fine.”。
第一句为短句，总起全文，概括整个故事，为故事奠定基调：本来是一个完美的周末（It was shaping up to be the perfect weekend.）。言下之意是意外发生了，与该段最后一句相呼应，引出下文的故事。
第二句为长句，主语是Pamela Salant and her boyfriend，中间用状语、定语和同位语修饰，符合长句的第三个特点。整个句子状语较多，符合第一个特点。该句主要有以下成分构成：last July (时间状语)、Pamela Salant (主语)、a 28-year-old preschool teacher (同位语)、and her boyfriend (并列主语)、Aric Essig (同位语)、31 (定语)、who works for a sailboat company (定语从句)、had driven (谓语) two hours (宾语) east from Portland, Oregon (地点状语)、to camp overnight (目的状语) in the Mount Hood National Forest (地点状语)。
第三句也是长句，出现了三个并列动作，符合长句的第二个特点：“They planned to hike (第一个动作) a mile and a half through the forest to Bear Lake, spend (第二个动作) the night, and walk (第三个动作) back out on Sunday to attend a birthday party for two of her students.”
最后一句“It was sunny, clear, and fine.”是短句，对意外发生之前的事情进行总结，照应第一句话。同时起到引出下面故事的作用。
如此可见，长短句结合使文章显得错落有致，给人的感觉干净利索，也通俗易懂，更有利于表达作者的中心思想。所以，我们一定要把长句、短句的优势和特点在英文写作过程中充分体现出来。
练一练：改写句子。
把下面的长句拆分为几个较短的句子，把短句合并为长句，不得改变原意，可以添加或删减必要的词汇，并说出理由。
1. She drank and washed out her injury and she thought the water was magical because it was pure and beautiful.
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2. “OK,” she said. She panted. She dragged herself out of the frigid water. “What’s the next step that I should do?”
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3. She scanned the horizon and she found that there were trees everywhere but nothing else.
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4. She landed on her right leg. She pitched over onto her side. She popped out of the water seconds later.
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5. “Aric! Where are you?” she called. “Aric, can you help me?”
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6. Deer season had begun. But it was colder than usual. He was sitting among the mounted bucks inside his rancher in Winchester, Virginia. He watched winter through the windows.
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7. He remembered one of his granddaughters had mentioned that. She had mentioned seeing a waterfall. She was rock-climbing in the area. He called her for advice.
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8. The inside was horrible. It smelled strongly of seaweed. The wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls. The fireplace was damp and empty.
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