英语四级考试写作指导(3)

　　历年四级考试中的How I Overcome Difficulties in Learning English、My Ideal Job以及图表作文的第一段都属于说明文的范畴，如，2002年6月的根据坐标图写题为Students Use of Computers的作文。

　　说明文必须按一定的顺序进行说明：时间顺序、空间顺序、逻辑顺序或认识顺序，选择具体的特点和细节来说明。

　　所以，说明文的思路要围绕说明顺序、事物的特点和细节展开。例如：

　　范文点评

　　A Famous Clock

　　When you visit London， one of the first things you will see is Big Ben， the famous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C. If the Houses of Parliament had not been burned down in 1834， the great clock would never have been erected. Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making of the clock when the new Houses of Parliament were being built. It is not only of immense size， but is extremely accurate as well. Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day. On the B.B.C. you can hear the clock when it is actually striking because microphones are connected to the clock tower. Big Ben has rarely gone wrong. Once， however， it failed to give the correct time. A painter who had been working on the tower hung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down!

　　【点评】这是《新概念英语》中的一篇经典说明文，介绍了世界著名的大本钟。文章开篇指明该钟位于英国伦敦，且全世界的人们通过BBC就能够听到钟声。接下来讲述了大本钟的由来，特点不仅外型巨大，而且走时准确，在结尾处讲了大本钟的一个幽默的小插曲油漆工把油漆桶挂在指针上，把钟弄慢了。细读这篇文章，我们不难发现，区区159个单词就把大本钟的光辉形象牢牢地刻在读者的脑海里，为什么?本文基于事实，分析了主题的来龙去脉，语言简洁又不失生动贴切，作者态度客观又充满幽默，使读者既明白了事理，又对事物有较完整明晰的了解认识，此乃说明文之真谛也。