四六级作文点津（9）：前后的特征，主题句的拟定

2019-11-06 12:39:21 76

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段落的特征、主题句的拟定

段落是围绕中心意思组织起来的、前后有联系的一组句子，短可以只有一个句子，长可达一页之多，一般以段首缩进四到六个字母标志出来。本文介绍段落与整篇文章的关系、段落的特征以及主题句的拟定。

1. 段落与整篇文章的关系

就像句子是组成段落的基本单位一样，段落是组成文章的基本单位。一般来说，一个或几个段落组成文章的一个部分（section）, 一个或几个部分继而组成一篇文章。看下面这篇文章：

Help

Going to a new school can be exciting, but for an international student, first day on campus can be confusing. When I first arrived at State University, I was overwhelmed by size of campus and number of people I saw hurrying from building to building. I did not know what to do or where to go. Fortunately, I found three helpful people who saved me from confusion.

The first person who helped me was director of dormitory, Mrs. Stanton. She helped me register at dormitory and took me up to my room. Since my roommate had not yet arrived, Mrs. Stanton showed me all around “dorm” (as I soon learned it was usually called). She showed me where bathroom was, where creation room was, and where cafeteria was. She very carefully explained to me all of dormitory rules and told me she hoped I would enjoy my stay re.

After checking into dorm, I went到自助餐厅，在那里我遇到了一个好人罗伯特·朗（Robert Long）。他看到我独自一人坐下来，问我是否需要任何帮助。他说我看上去有些迷茫。我告诉他我是洪都拉斯的新学生，我没有迷路，只是不知所措。他告诉我，我不要担心。他说，他在州立大学的第一天也感到困惑和不知所措。然后他带我去了行政大楼帮助我找到顾问。在他离开我之前，他给了我他的电话号码，并问我将来是否需要任何帮助，请给他打电话。

在行政大楼，我遇到了我的顾问托雷斯博士，他被证明是非常有帮助的。他非常友好地向我解释了如何注册课程以及在国立大学的期望。托雷斯博士给了我一些有关国际学生协会的信息，并建议我参加其中的一次会议。我很高兴知道在校园的外国学生有一个组织。在托雷博士之后s gave all necessary information about registering for classes and purchasing books, he told me to come and see him at time that I have any questions.

All of se people, Mrs. Stanton, Robert Long, and Dr. Torres, were very kind to me first day. They made me feel at home when I was feeling lost and lonely. I will never forget se people.

这篇文章由五个段落组成，第一段是一个部分，点明了主题：Three helpful people saved me from total confusion；第二、三、四段是一个部分，这三段彼此并列，分别叙述了Mrs. Stanton, Robert Long, 和Dr. Torres三人是如何帮助我的；第五段是一个部分，总结了全文：These three people made me feel at home，并且与文章的第一部分遥相呼应。这五个段落，互相联系，有机地组成了这篇文章。

2 段落的基本特征

一个好的段落具有以下三个特征：一致性、连贯性、阐述完整。一致性要求段落里的句子一定要都指向一个主要内容，换言之，就是每个句子都不能偏离该段落的主题句。连贯性指的是段落里的句子按一定的顺序铺开，比如，时间顺序、空间顺序、重要性递增或递减顺序等。阐述完整指的是段落里的句子充分地解释或论证了该段落主题句的内容。我们来看下面的例子：

(1) Life on this planet began in water, and today, almost wherever water is found, life is also present. （2）There are one-celled organisms that eke out ir entire existence in no morewater than that which can cling to a grain of sand. （3）Some species of algae are found only on melting undersurface of polar ice floes. （4）Certain species of bacteria and certain blue-green algae can tolerate near-boiling water of hot springs. （5）In desert, plants race through an entire life cycle—seed to flower to seed—following a single rainfall. （6）In jungle, water cupped in leaves of a tropical plant forms a microcosm in which a myriad of small organisms are born, spawn, and die. （7）We are interested in wher soil of Mars and dense atmosphere surrounding Venus contain water principally because we want to know wher life is re. （8）On our planet, and probably on ors where life exists, life and water have been companions since life first began.

这段话的主题是：water and its relation to life，其中的任何一个句子都紧扣这个主题，第（1）句开题，句（2）到句（7）例证，中间部分，作者以六个句子例证这一主题所按照的顺序是：从最易见的水中的生命形式到最难见的水中的生命形式，句（8）总结收尾，呼应段首句。本段以八个一致性的句子，按照清晰、连贯的顺序阐述了一个主题，是一个很好的范例。

3 如何达到段落的一致性

上面我们讲到，一致性要求段落里的句子一定要都指向一个主要内容，换言之，就是每个句子都不能偏离该段落的主题句。主题句是保证一个段落前后一致的前提。主题句阐明一个段落的主题，统率段落中每一句，使它们不致偏离主题，从而保证该段的一致。

3.1 主题句的位置及功能

主题句可以放在段落的开始、段落的中间或段落的结尾处。也有这样的段落，里面没有直接给出主题句。

一般来说，主题句位于段首。作者这样做的好处是开门见山，给读者指明下文发展的方向。比如：

Smoking cigarettes is hazardous to your health.Several years ago, a United States government study was released that linked intake of tar and nicotine, found in cigarettes, with development of cancer in laboratory animals. The evidence was so overwhelming that Unites States government required cigarettes manufacturers to put a warning on outside of each package of cigarettes, which says, “Warning: The Surgeon General has determined that cigarettes is hazardous to your health.” Aside from most serious and dreaded disease, cancer, cigarettes smoking also can aggravate or promote or health problems. For example, smoking can increase discomfort for people with asthma and emphysema. It can give one a “smoker’s cough” and contribute to bronchitis. Finally, recent studies have shown that cigarette smokers are more susceptible to common colds and flu. Wher you get an insignificant cold or major killer, cancer, smoking cigarettes is hazardous. Is it worth it?

主题句出现频率比较多的另一个位置是段落的结尾处。这时，主题句多用来总结前面所述的内容；若出现在记叙文中，主题句多用来表述对某件事的评价、思考。看下面的例子：

Every moment of day world bombards human speaker with information and experiences. It clamors for his attention, claws his senses, intrudes into his thoughts. Only a very small portion of this total experience is language—yet speaker must use this small portion to report on all experiences that exist or ever existed in totality of world since time began. Try to think about stars, a grasshopper, love or hate, pain, anything at all—and it must be done in terms of language. There is no or way; thinking is language spoken to oneself. Until language had made sense of experience, that experience is meaningless.

I hadn’t known she could play piano. She wasn’t playing very well, I guess, because she stopped occasionally and had to start over again. She concentrated intensely on music, and ors in room sat absolutely silently. My mor was facing me but didn’t seem to see me. She seemed to be staring beyond me toward something that wasn’t re. All happy excitement died in me at that moment. Looking at my mor, so isolated from us all, I saw her for first time as a person utterly alone.

偶尔，主题句也会出现在段中。这时，主题句一般告诉读者一个问题的两个方面，起到过渡句的作用。该段落的前一部分说明问题的一方面，一步步导向主题句；后一部分从主题句出发，继续阐述问题的另一方面。看下面的例子：

Those in favor of genetic engineering argue that exchange of genes taking place during laboratory experiments is merely an imitation of what is done in nature all time. In or words, genetic engineering is a natural process that is being reproduced by humans. Scientists are confident that strict regulation and principles of agreement between private companies and government agencies will ensure safety and efficiency of any基因工程生物。此外，美国分子生物学家担心，红外研究的其他障碍将导致m落后于欧洲竞争对手，并且美国将失去在技术落后领域的领先地位。 基因工程的困境从根本上说是基于一方面知识的发展和竞争与对安全的需求之间的斗争。 反对在开放环境中使用转基因生物的生态学家认为，如今的遗传工程师是20世纪巫师的学徒，其技术尚不完全清楚。 Ors质疑“扮演上帝”的后果。他们感到人类对生命的了解不足以操纵其形式。也不确定谁将对我们的环境造成任何破坏或不可挽回的损害承担责任。

有时候，尤其是在叙述或描写的历史中，作者会省略掉主题句。叙述的时候，如果用主题句，会影响幽微的效果（读者看叙述的发生，更容易自己发现作者要传达的内涵）；描写的本身把内容已经描述得很具体，再用主题句，会引起罗嗦。看下面的两个例子：

有一天，当我在玩我的新洋娃娃时，沙利文小姐也把我的大布洋娃娃也放到我的大腿上，拼写为“ d-o-l-l”，并试图让我明白“ d-o-l-l”适用于这两种玩具。在一天的早些时候，我们对“ m-u-g”和“ w-a-t-e-r”这两个单词感到困惑。沙利文小姐曾想让我印象深刻的是，“ m-u-g”是杯子，而“ w-a-t-e-r”是水，但是我坚持要混淆两个。绝望的是她放下了时间，只是为了尽快重修。我对她的一再尝试不耐烦，并抓住了一个新娃娃，将它摔在了地上。当我感到脚下破碎的玩偶碎片时，我感到非常高兴。尼尔的悲伤或遗憾都跟随着我的热情爆发。我没有爱过洋娃娃。在我所生活的黑暗世界中，仍然没有强烈的感情或温柔。我感到老师把碎片扫向炉膛的一侧。我感到不满意的原因已经消除，我对此感到满意。她给我带来了我的帽子，我知道我要温暖了sunshine. This thought, if a wordless sensation may be called a thought, made me hop and skip with pleasure.

这一段选自Helen Keller 的My Life Story。要是她写了该段的主题句，可能会是：The events eventually leading up to my discovery of language showed how thoroughly difficult and insensitive a child I was.

另外，作者写信息性或劝说性段落时，为了增加读者阅读的空间，也可能省掉主题句。比如：

Etiquette books used to teach that if a woman had Mrs. in front of her name n husband’s name should follow because Mrs. is an abbreviated form of Mistress and a woman couldn’t be a mistress of herself. As with many arguments about “correct” language usage, this isn’t very logical because Miss is also an abbreviation of Mistress. Feminists hoped to simplify matters by introducing Ms. as an alternative to both Mrs. and Miss, but what happened is that Ms. largely replaced Miss to become a catch-all business title for women. Many married women still prefer title Mrs., and some resent being addressed with term Ms. As one frustrated newspaper reporter complained, “Before I can write about a woman, I have to know not only her marital status but also her political philosophy.” The result of such complications may contribute to demise of titles which are already being ignored by many computer programmers who find it more efficient to simply use names; for example in a business letter: “Dear Joan Garcia,” instead of “Dear Mrs. Joan Garcia,” “Dear Ms. Garcia,” or “Dear Miss Louis Garcia,”

尽管这段话的主题句没有明确给出，但是，读过这段话，我们可以概括出其主题句：There has been a great deal of confusion about politically correct title or address for women.

不管主题句放在哪个位置，写作段落的时候，头脑里要一直想着主题句，确保每一个支持句都指向主题句，以免使用了偏离主题句的材料，影响段落的一致性。

3.2 如何拟定适当的主题句

拟定合适的主题句，首先，要确定该段的主题，主题限定你这段要写哪方面的东西。主题句从主题发展而来，通常会告诉读者你要以何种方式铺开这一主题。同一个主题可以拟出几个不同的主题句。比如：

TOPIC: country life

TOPIC SENTENCE:

（1）It is more healthy for people to live in country than in city.

（2）It is more economical to live in country.

（3） Itis more enjoyable for children to live in country.

主题是：country life，但是除了上面三个主题句，你还可以列出更多，每个主题句都可以发展成一个段落，以阐述country life的一个方面。

好的主题句既不能太过宽泛，也不能太过狭窄。宽泛的主题句，不易操作，一个段落很难阐述透彻；狭窄的主题句，发挥的空间小，无法铺展成一个段落。试比较下面两组主题句：

TOPIC: go to college

TOO GENERAL : I want to go to college.

TOO NARROW: I want to get a college degree.

PROPER: There are several reasons why I go to college.

TOPIC: doing exercises

TOO GENERAL : One can keep fit by doing exercises.

TOO NARROW: Jogging requires getting up early.

PROPER: Jogging rewards one with stronger muscles and a stronger mind.