英语写作的主题句和段落

Topic sentence and paragraphs /p44
段落的结构
“人之立言，因字而成句，积句而成章，积章而成 篇。” ──刘勰 《文心雕龙· 章句》 一篇文章只有漂亮生动的句子还是不够的，我们还 必须注意把文意所衔领的句子按照一定的规律组织 起来，成为一个或者数个段落，从而使要表达的各 层意思都清晰分明。只有这样构成的文章，才会给 人浑然一体但又清晰有致的美感。
Californians and New Englanders are both American. They speak the same language and abide by the same federal laws. But they are very different in their ways of life. Mobility --- both physical and psychological--has made a great impression on the culture of Californians; lack of mobility is the mark of the customs and morality of New Englanders.
Even when we are very careful in the things we do each day, the risk of loss and injury is always with us. Starting the day with a shower, we risk slipping and falling through the glass door. Riding to work, we risk collision. While we are away from our homes, the risk of fire and burglary is greater. Going to school, our children risk being injured. We also loss through unintentional actions of our own that might injure others. Such events may occur regardless of how careful we may try to be, and they can cost us a lot of money. Rather than taking the chance of being wiped out financially, we transfer some or our risks to others, we buy insurance.



一、主题句 “揭全文之指，或在篇首，或在篇中，或在篇末。在篇首，则后必顾之；在篇 末，则前必注之；在篇中，则前注之，后顾之。”这是刘熙载在《艺概》中讲 的话，虽然说的是汉语整篇文章的写作，但同样适用于英文段落。在比较正规 的英文写作(formal writing)中，往往就有这样的“揭全段之旨”的句子，它 就是主题句(topic sentence)。简单一点说，主题句就是对全段主题的概括 性陈述。段落中其他的句子都是对它的扩展、支持或证明。 主题句起着统摄全段的作用。在写作者一方，下笔可以力顾着眼点，做到内容 醒目突出而且不跑题。而在读者一方，则可以通过主题句迅速地明确作者的主 题，读起文章来比较快捷。 需要指出的是，英语文章对全文的主旨句和段落主题句的要求是非汉语文章所 及的。受两种文化的影响，汉语文章在结构方面往往比英语文章更加随意，作 者既可以开门见山立显要旨，也可曲径通幽委婉道来，甚至可以指桑骂槐旁敲 侧击。对于主题的揭示很多情况下都采取“春秋笔法”，隐而不说。英语的文 章段落则要明白得多，往往需要规矩完整的主旨句和主题句。这一点需要每一 个英语作文学习者寄予相当的注意。为加强这方面的意识，我们下面看毛荣贵 和Dorine S. Houston合编的《中国大学生作文评改》中的两个例子：
Eating lunch is one of my favorite pastimes. Because lunch comes in the middle of the day, it gives me a welcome break from studying. At school, lunch means thirty minutes out of class and a chance to rest after the morning’s work. While eating, I can plan what I’m going to do in the afternoon. And besides offering a pleasant break in the day, lunch is always a good meal.
A little girl taught me, and a busful of people, an important lesson about the importance of thinking more of other people than of ourselves. One day I took a very crowded bus to school…
Jane and Karen have many things in common. To begin with, both girls have the same background. Jane was born and raised in the West, and so was Karen. Next, both girls are interested in the same kinds of subjects in school. Jane likes French, history, and English. In the same way, Karen likes Spanish, history and English. Furthermore, both girls want to be teachers. Jane plans to become an elementary school teacher. But Karen wants to be a high school teacher. As you can see, the two girls are almost like twins.
主题句的位置 一般说来，主题句既可以是在段落的开始，也可以处于段落的 中间或者末尾。 1）主题句在段首 主题句放在句首是英语段落写作中最常见的一种方法。《中国 大学生作文评改》的中国作者毛荣贵说：“笔者曾就美版的 Reader’s Digest和Time两本期刊的100篇短文做过调查，发 现其中仅有两篇其topic sentence较为模糊，而有68篇的 topic sentence均被置于文/段首，其余30篇已经将段落的 topic sentence升格为小标题。”根据这种情况，我们建议所 有的英语作文初学者将段落的主题句放置于段首。下面是几个 相应的例子：
In this world, we should think more of other people than of ourselves. By so doing, our world will be full of happiness. This, of course, is my personal view. But it is a lesson I have drawn from one of my own experience. So now, I would like to share that experience with you, my dear reader. 这是一名中国大学生的作文Applause on the Bus中的开头。 在本书的中国编者看来，这样的开头自然而且不俗，符合汉语 写作的习惯。然而美国编者认为：This is essentially a solid essay. The writer uses an anecdote to make a point… Now we just need to give it a good, strong topic sentence using the writer’s own ideas to form it. 她给 这个开头段拟 officers of most doctors today are overloaded with people who are convinced that something dreadful is about to happen to them. At the first sign of pain they run to a doctor, failing to realize that pain is rarely an indication or poor health. We are becoming a nation of pill-grabbers and hypochondriacs who regard the slightest ache as a searing ordeal. Instead of attacking the most common causes of pain such as tension, worry, boredom, frustration, insufficient sleep, overeating, poor diets, smoking, or excessive drinking, too many people reach almost instinctively for the painkillers --aspirins, barbiturates, codeine, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and dozens of other desensitizing drugs.