GRE写作：万事“开头”难

　　俗话说，好的开始是成功的一半。写作文更是如此。一个文章的开始是用来开宗明义，并称述观点，给全文定下一个基调，也引领读者进入这个话题。开头的重要性相信任何一个人都能说得比我好，这里只想跟大家分享一下Mike写Issue开头的一些心得。

　　写开头需要做到三个事情，第一件是介绍一下Issue问题的背景，为什么会有这样的问题？在什么情况下出现了这样的问题？为什么这样的问题重要？当然这些问号并不需要全部解答，这只是一种把读者的思维和引领到你要讨论的issue上面的一个方法。这里提供两个具体的策略：a. 用名人名言开头。b. 描述issue所出现的时代背景。

　　策略a. 例如这个题目

　　So much is new and complex today that looking backfor an understanding of the past provides little guidance for living in thepresent.

　　开头前两句话可以这样写

　　The English Philosopher Francis Bacon once statedHistories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; naturalphilosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. Accordingto Bacon, history comes before all the other knowledge and provides us with abundantwisdom.

　　然后可以转折说，但是在现代社会，人们有了一个新的观点。

　　策略b. 例如这个题目

　　Thereare two types of laws: just and unjust. Every individual in a society has aresponsibility to obey just laws and, even more importantly, to disobey andresist unjust laws.

　　开头前两句话可以这样写

　　Intodays society, the legal system is playing an essential and ultimatelypowerful role in regulating daily activities, maintaining the functions of economyand protecting individuals rights.

　　然后可以进一步描述有人认为法律分为两种。

　　开头的第二件事需要restate the issue. 用不同于题目的语言描述问题, 这样的描述体现了你对于问题的理解，也决定了你后文对这个问题的阐述方式。

　　例如这个题目

　　Scientists and other researchers should focus theirresearch on areas that are likely to benefit the greatest number of people.

　　Restate可以是

　　Scientists and scholars should devote their energy onresearch projects which target at benefiting as many people as possible.

　　或者更加详细的分析，例如这个题目

　　How children are socialized todaydetermines the destiny of society. Unfortunately, we have not yet learned howto raise children who can help bring about a better society.

　　可以写

　　The speakers statement is actually a dualclaim. First, the future of our society is determined by how todays childrenare socialized. Second, our educational system fails to shape our children intosomeone who can improve various aspects of the society.

　　第三件事情是陈述自己的观点。这里需要涵盖下文所出现的所有论点。如果某个论点没有被包含在内，那么会给读者surprise，这在学术写作里面是很不好的。当然将全文的观点浓缩在1-2句话里是非常困难的。

　　例如这个题目

　　Educations should find out what students want included in thecurriculum and then offer it to them.

　　观点可以用两句话说明

　　Although personal interests can serve as motivationfor students to learn better （观点1）, its unreasonable for educators to incorporate all the different interestsin any curriculum（观点2）. Moreover, educations should shape the interests of students and helpthem acquire useful techniques and knowledge （观点3）.

　　或者这个题目

　　It is the artist, not the critic, whogives society something of lasting value.

　　观点可以用一句话说明

　　Although I admit that the virtue of the artlies in the work itself , we should not overlook critics role in discovering, evaluating,and disseminating the work of artists （观点2）and how theyhelp popularize the arts value in the society （观点3）.

　　最后还有几点注意事项

　　1. 开头的长度：也许你觉得有很多话可以说，也许你想把开头写得引人入胜，但开头的长度是需要控制的。如果有3个观点段，那么开头大致不应该超过全文的1/5。因为如果你的开头过长，那么会显得头重脚轻，或者显得文中的论述不够充分。

　　2.写开头的训练：写开头是需要训练的，也很容易训练。拿到一个题目，很快的问自己，这个题目关键在哪里，为什么会有这样的问题，我的观点是什么。然后按照前文说的顺序写下来就好了。熟练了以后，可以在5分钟内把开头写好，那么后文时间也能更加宽裕。