想寫這篇文章，是因為在評改作文的時候，筆者總是看到一些考生在文章的開頭使用“It goes without saying that …”或“There’s no denying the fact that …”等套話。還有一些考生使用更長、更復(fù)雜的套話，比如，仿照《獨立宣言》的首句，寫成：“We hold these truth to be self-evident that …”或者仿照簡·奧斯丁在小說《傲慢與偏見》中的寫法，寫成：“It is a truth universally acknowledged that …”筆者經(jīng)常想，這種只占字數(shù)、不表達思想的句子在作文中出現(xiàn)，考官會怎么看？他們會覺得考生的寫作水平高嗎？考生當然也很無奈：要完成一篇250~300個詞的英文文章，如果不寫這些套話，要寫夠字數(shù)，還不能寫得太簡單，那都寫什么呀？
這種方法主要用于替換引言套句。具體的辦法是將主題句前面的“It goes without saying that …”“There’s no denying the fact that…”等引言套句換成一個副詞，直接引出主題句。比如，考生寫一篇關(guān)于“互聯(lián)網(wǎng)”的文章，一般都會習慣性地用引言套句引出主題句，寫成：“It goes without saying that the Internet has offered people a way to communicate.”（句子1）還有些擔心字數(shù)不夠的考生甚至把上述句子擴充為：“I’m quite certain that a growing of number of people, youngsters in particular, would agree that the Internet has offered people a way to communicate.”坦率地講，在最初用英文寫作時，筆者也經(jīng)常用這樣的句子，而且每次用心中都會感到一種巨大的“成就感”。但你對英文寫作熟悉了之后，就會慢慢發(fā)現(xiàn)，上述句子中的“I’m quite certain that a growing number of people, youngsters in particular, would agree that”（句子2）除了占用了你策劃主題句的時間，實在沒有什么實用價值。
相反，如果寫作時不寫這樣的套句，而直接用副詞引出主題句，則不光觀點鮮明、結(jié)構(gòu)簡練，還能讓考官一眼看到主題。以上句為例，我們不如干脆寫成：“Undeniably, the Internet has offered people a way to communicate.”（句子3）這豈不更為簡練？所以，考生與其花時間去背誦和主題無關(guān)的引言，還不如把精力放在主題句本身的錘煉上，完善結(jié)構(gòu)，增加修辭，把主題句寫精致。比如上面的句子，我們可以進一步改寫成：“Undeniably, the Internet has revolutionized the ways people communicate.”（句子4）大家可以對比一下句子2和句子4，顯然句子4的結(jié)構(gòu)和修辭更有英語的韻味。
類似的替換寫法很多，以下是一些常用的替換寫法，大家可以參考：
1. “It is an indisputable fact that …”換成“Undeniably, …”
2. “We hold it truth to be self-evident that …”換成“Evidently, …”
3. “There’s no denying the fact that …”換成“Undeniably, …”
4. “It is a well-known fact that …”換成“Not surprisingly, …”
5. “Even more worrying is the fact that …”換成“Even more disturbingly, …”
6. “It is obviously that …”換成“Obviously, …”
7. “It is vitally important tha”t換成“More importantly, …”
方法二：巧用結(jié)構(gòu)，替換空話
諸如“with the development of our society”這樣的句子可能是中國考生最愛寫的一類套話了。考生通常會把這類套話安排在主題句的前面，美其名曰“先交代時代背景，再引出主題句”。這類套話還會衍生出無數(shù)“變種”，比較夸張的寫法是：“Along with the dramatic economic growth and groundbreaking social and psychological displacement, there’s an urgent demand that our country have more newspapers and magazines.”看過上千篇“范文”的考官一眼就能看出“Along with the dramatic economic growth and groundbreaking social and psychological displacement, there’s an urgent demand that”是“湊字”的空話。
1. 用“主—系—表”結(jié)構(gòu)表達�！爸鳌怠怼苯Y(jié)構(gòu)是英語寫作中最為基礎(chǔ)的結(jié)構(gòu)，它的基本結(jié)構(gòu)是“名詞+be （變形）+形容詞”。在用該結(jié)構(gòu)替換上文所述空洞無物的套話時，可以使用“not only +形容詞, but also +形容詞”結(jié)構(gòu)，比如寫成：“… is not only necessary, but also indispensable”，然后后面再補充一句：“and that’s why we are supposed to emphasize its central position in our society.”這樣就能成功將“隨著社會的發(fā)展”這一空話替換下來。
2. 用“主—謂—賓”結(jié)構(gòu)表達。上文中的句子還可以這樣表達：“… plays a significant part in our society, so it is essential that its position be emphasized.”細心的考生可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，雖然是表達同一個意思，但“主—系—表”結(jié)構(gòu)和“主—謂—賓”結(jié)構(gòu)采用了不同的句子形式，這兩種表達方式都直接、有效。
3. 用否定句和被動語態(tài)表達。否定句和被動語態(tài)結(jié)合起來使用能使表達更加多樣，也更具客觀性，如：“The central position of … cannot be ignored. So we are expected to underscore its importance in our society.”
4. 用until正話反說或反話正說�？梢杂谩啊� has been overlooked until recently. But …”這一句型來為“……很重要，我們要重視”這個意思做鋪墊，從而使句意表達更加生動，比如：“The importance of … has been in large measure overlooked until recently. But nowadays, it is not only necessary, but also indispensable in our society. ”
5. 將“重視”和“重要”的順序顛倒，先寫“重視”，再寫“重要”。比如：“We are supposed to emphasize its central position in our society, because it is not only necessary, but also indispensable.”
… they have nine lives. Apparently, there’s a great deal of truth in this idea. A cat’s ability to survive falls is based on fact. Recently, the New York Animal Center made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months. All these experience have one thing in common: they have fallen off high buildings, yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries.
劃線部分的句子將研究機構(gòu)名稱、實驗數(shù)字、實驗期限三個要素串接在一起，插接在主題句“they have nine lives”和延伸句“they have fallen off high buildings, yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries”之間，形成了一個有效的鋪墊。這種寫法雖然有點“耗字數(shù)”，但是對于寫作時無話可說的考生來說，也不失為一個好的選擇。
1. As can be seen in a recent survey by the China Daily, at least three out of every five interviewees believed that +延伸句
2. Recently the Beijing Youth made a study of 1,132 citizens for a period of two months. Despite their genders, occupations, religious background, social status and income levels, there is one thing in common: +延伸句
3. CCTV interviewed five people from five cities—they are from Harbin, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenzhen respectively. The survey showed that +延伸句, in spite of their birthplace, educational background and socio-economical status.
