期末英文Essay写作常见错误和问题

It's almost time for your final exams! Now's a good time to improve your writing so that you can get a better score.

“万众期待”的末考试时间又要到啦！现在正是提升写作水平顺便用成绩惊艳小伙伴们的绝佳时机。

After grading students' essays in last semester's final exam, I found mistakes that many people made. If you don't want to make the same mistakes, read through these points carefully.

看了很多学生之前期末考试的作文之后，我觉得有必要在新一轮的考试开始之前为大家总结一些过往学生作文中常见的错误和问题。希望大家能帮助大家顺利避坑。

01Double. Check. Your. Writing.

好好检查你的作文

特别是空格

Plan to finish your essay early. Give yourself 2-3 minutes to edit your work. Read your essay once more before submitting. If you don't think you have enough time, pick one paragraph and read through it carefully. Check for spacing mistakes because are very easily noticed.If you need to write 200+ words, writing fewer than 200 means you will lose points.

预留2-3分钟时间好好修改你写好的作文。如果你觉得可能不够时间通读全文，那么就选择一个你觉得最重要的段落，好好阅读修改保证质量。另外一个需要特别注意的是空格问题。看不见摸不着的空格其实远远比你想象的要更加显眼，也更加重要。

Take a look at this example.

我们一起来看一个例子吧！

下面两段文字只有标点符号后边的空格有区别，其余部分完全相同。

例

正确书写空格

Large international companies play an important role in people's lives. Some of them can do things that governments can't. On the one hand, some experts think profits are more important than social responsibility. On the other hand, others believe that…

错误书写空格

Large international companies play an important role in people's lives.Some of them can do things that governments can't.On the one hand,some experts think profits are more important than social responsibility.On the other hand,others believe that…

Repeat this several times, and your final word count might be 190 instead of 215. The graders can see your word count. Some of them might even look at it before they even read your essay. Making careless spacing mistakes means you might lose points – and you can EASILY avoid this. But also keep in mind that the quality of your writing is important as well. Having a high word count does not guarantee a good score.

如果在标点符号后边不写空格，那么字数统计时会把标点前后的单词默认为同一单词。多漏掉几次，你好不容易凑上的215字很容易就变成190字了。阅卷老师每天都要看非常多的作文，他们中的很多人会选择在评判你的作文之前先看字数。这些看似不起眼的空格很有可能会因为影响字数统计而严重影响你的分数。最重要的一点是，空格问题是你能最快速，最彻底改掉的问题。顺便再强调一句，虽然字数不够对作文分数来说是致命的，但是写满字数并不能保证作文能得高分，写作的质量才是分数的保障。

02Don't Write About Both Sides

不要从正反两方面都进行论述

The reason why you want to avoid doing this is because you run the risk of repeating yourself. In an essay, every sentence is important; you don't want to waste space saying the same things again. 

很多同学都喜欢从正反两方面入手论述一个问题。虽然在生活中这样思考是一个好习惯，但是在写作中却是一个致命伤。因为作文的字数有限，你的每一句话都很重要。从正反两方面论述理论上没问题，但是实际操作起来，很多学生都会掉入重复自己的观点的深坑。

03Advantages and Disadvantages

论述利弊类型的作文

Write the side you don't agree with first. You don't have to list the advantages first.

不管是觉得利大于弊还是弊大于利，你都应该把主要想论述的那部分放在后边具体说明。不是一定要按照题目叙述的顺序先写利再写弊。

以下题为例

Prompt: What are the advantages and disadvantages of traveling to remote areas?

Let's say you think people should travel to remote areas.

我们姑且假设你认为人们应该去远方旅行。

那么比较合理的安排应该是：

Body paragraph 1

Some disadvantages of traveling to places like the South Pole include…

Body paragraph 2:

However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. One advantage is…

The second paragraph's points often outweigh the ones in the first paragraph. They are also more likely to stay in the reader's mind.

通常在安排文章时我们会把重心更偏向主体段落中的第二段。同样的，阅卷人也会把阅读评判的重点放在这一段。因此把你的主要论点放在后边反而能给人留下更深刻的印象。

04Explain Your Thoughts

详细解释你的观点

Don't just state your opinions. Explain your reasons in 3-4 sentences. Listing a bunch of points with no support is an easy way to get a low score.

不要只是陈述你的观点，还应该用三四个句子作为论据简单地论述。只一味地罗列观点，而没有事例相佐是写作的大忌。

Pretend your reader is a child and you have to explain everything. Your thoughts may seem obvious to you, but they might not be so clear to others.

虽然你的论点对你来说可能是顺理成章的，但是阅卷人需要的是你更清晰明确的说明和解释。你可以当阅卷人是一个小朋友，耐心为他解释你的所有论点。

How？

Student: “This will reduce the aging of the population”

Like what？

Student: “If we share too much information, maybe someone will do something bad”

Get in the habit of asking yourself “how” and “why” while writing. Answer those questions to make your writing more substantive.

像上边示范的一样，养成常常向自己提问“为什么”和“怎么样”的习惯。在你写下的每一个观点后充分的写明为什么会这样，以及怎么样解决这个问题 ，这样才会让你的文章更加言之有物。