08Writing Against the Clock.docx

08Writing Against the Clock.docx

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08WritingAgainsttheClock

WritingAgainsttheClock

OverviewObjective

✧Learningtodofastwriting

WritingSkillsinFocus

✧Comprehendthetopic

✧Focustheargument（bydevelopingathesisstatement）

✧Drafttheessayinyourmind

✧Usetopicsentences

Ascollegestudents,youare"seasoned"invariouskindsofexams.Thereisonekindofexam,however,whichmanyofyoumaystillfinddifficult,andthatisansweringessayquestionsinEnglish.BothBand-4andBand-8exams（TEM-4andTEM-8）requirethatyouproduceanessaywithinalimitedperiodoftime.InfinalexamsforcourseslikeAmericanliteratureorWesterncivilization,youmayalsohavetowriteessay-likeanswers.Manystudentsdonotfeelcomfortablewhenwritingagainstaclockthatistickingonthewall—thetimelimitmakesusnervousand,asaresult,maymakeourmindblank.

Wemaynotlikesuchtimedwriting,i.e.,havingtofinishapieceofwritingwithinalimitedperiodoftime,butitisimportantthatwelearntodoitbecauseitisverycommonintheworkplace.Itisabasicskill,requiredwhenyouprepareabusinessmemorandum,afaxmessageorastraightnewsreport.

Timedwriting,infact,maynotbeasdifficultasyouthink.Withafewtipsandalittlepractice,youshouldbeabletosurvivethoseexamswithoutmuchtrouble.Thisunitwillintroducesomestrategiesexperiencedtest-takersemployeventhoughtheymaynothavebeenexplicitlytaughttodoso.ThesearethesamestrategiesweapplywhenwetakeexamsinChinese.Theonlydifficultyisthat,forsomeofus,thesestrategiesarenolongeravailablewhenwetakeexamsinEnglish,becausewemayhavetostrugglewiththelanguage.

Ofcourse,ittakesalotofpracticetobeabletowritereallyfast.ItwassaidthatHemingwaywasamaster:

whenhewaswritingastory,helikedtowriteonabarcounterashighashischestinsteadofsittingatadesk—hewouldwriteaslongashecouldstand.

Thetasksinthisunitwillhelpyoulearnaboutthestepstakenby"seasoned"test-takersduringthetest.

WritingAgainsttheClock

TASKONE

ThefollowingistypicallywhatyoumightfindintheessaysectionoftheBand-8exam:

Somepeoplethinkeducationisjustgoingtoschoolandgettingadegree.Othersthinkitmeansalotmore.Writeacompositionofabout400wordsonthefollowingtopic:

EducationIsaLifelongProcess

Inthefirstpartofyourwriting,youshouldpresentyourthesisstatement,andinthesecondpart,youshouldsupportthethesisstatementwithappropriatedetails.Inthelastpart,youshouldbringwhatyouhavewrittentoanaturalconclusionorasummary.Markswillbeawardedforcontent,organization,grammarandappropriateness.Failuretofollowtheaboveinstructionsmayresultinalossofmarks.

Duringtheexam,youmayfeelnervous,evenbyreadingtheselines.Youdon'thaveto.Takethefollowingsteps:

■StepOne

Remindyourself:

youaretakinganEnglishproficiencytest.Thatistosay,youarenotwritinganessaytoshareyourtrueopiniononeducationasalifelongprocess,buttodemonstrateyourabilitytoproduceasoundEnglishessay.Inotherwords,youdon'thavetobeanexpertineducationaltheories.Whatisimportantisnotyourtruepositiononthisissue,butwhetherornotyoucanchooseonesideofthecontroversyand,inyouressay,defenditwithevidence.Youdon'thavetobearealperson!

Rather,youareACTINGastudent.Thereisnoreasonyoucannotactthatrole,andthereisnoreasonyoucannotdoitwell.

[Criticsofthestandardexamsalwayspointoutthatthisisnotauthenticwritingbecauseauthenticwritingalwaysinvolvesmeaningfulexchangebetweenwriterandreader,whilewritinganessayinBand-8doesnot.Thisisafaircriticism,butgiventhefactthatafterastandardexam,onlyasmallnumberofteacherswillhavetomarktheessayswrittenbyhundredsofthousandsofstudents,itwouldbehardtofindanalternative.]

■StepTwo

Readthetaskcarefully.Thisparticulartopicdoesnotgiveyouanyoptions;youhavetodefendtheviewthateducationisalifelongprocess.Youshouldlookfortheunusualphrase—usuallyatopicwillcontainone.Inthiscase,itis"lifelong."Thisisthekeyword,whichmeansgoingfarbeyondone'scollegeyears.Youshouldsimplyfindsomeevidencetosupportthispointofview.

■StepThree

Onapieceofscratchpaper,quicklyjotdownalistofreasonswhyeducationshouldbelife-long.Forinstance,

DevelopinganArgument

LimitationsoftheknowledgeonecanacquireinuniversityTherapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology

Thefrequentchangeinone'swork

Inashortessay,youdonotneedtodiscussallthereasons.Whatyoudonextistochoosethemajorreasonsforwhichyouhavegoodexamples.Inthiscase,perhapsitisenoughtochoose"limitationsoftheknowledgeonecanacquireinuniversity"and"therapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology."

■StepFour

Now,youshouldwriteout,onyourscratchpaper,onesentencethatsumsuptheideasyouhavedevelopedonStepThree,asin

Istronglyholdthateducationshouldbealifelongprocessbecausewecanonlyacquiredalimitedamountofknowledgeinschoolandcannevermatchtherapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology.

Thissentenceisyourthesisstatement,themostimportantsentenceofyouressay,whichyoushouldplaceinyourintroductoryparagraph.

Thissentenceisimportantbecauseitshapestheorganizationofyourdiscussion.Inthiscase,youwilllikelyhavetwoparagraphsinthebodyoftheessay.Oneofthemdiscusseswhy"wecanonlyacquirealimitedamountofknowledge"duringourcollegeyears.Theotherdiscusseswhyweshouldcontinueourlearninginordertostayabreastof"therapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology."

■StepFive

Thefirstfourstepsshouldbecompletedinlessthantenminutes.Withathesisstatement,youshouldbeabletotakethenextstep:

"draft"youressay.Goovertheessay'sideainyourmind,preferablylinebyline,ifnotwordbyword.Youmaywritedown,onscratchpaper,keywords,phrases,sentencesandevenasketchofmajorpoints;theywillserveasreminders.

Such"mentaldrafting"isimportant:

duringatest,youdonotusuallyhavetimetowriteadraftandthenproduceacleancopy;neithercanyoumakeanymajorchangesonceyouhavecompletedyourpieceontheexamsheet.Themore"drafting"youdobeforeyouwrite,thecleaneryouressaywilllookontheexampaper.

■StepSix

After"mentaldrafting,"youmaygoaheadwithyourwriting.Youressaymaybeginlikethefollowing:

Itistruethatsomepeoplethinkeducationisjustgoingtoschoolandgettingadegree.Thisisatraditionalviewofeducation.Iwouldliketoarguethateducationshouldbealifelongprocessbecausewecanonlyacquirealimitedamountofknowledgeinschoolandcannevermatchtherapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology.

First,weshouldcontinueourlearningbecausewhatwecanpossiblyobtainthrough

WritingAgainsttheClock

formaleducationislimited....

Second,weshouldcontinueourlearningbecausescienceandtechnologydevelopsallthetimeandweshouldalwaysworkhardtostayabreastofsuchdevelopment....

Here,thefirstparagraphistheintroductoryparagraph;itcontainsthethesisstatement.Thesecondparagraph,duetothelimitationofspace,onlygivesyouthefirstsentence.（Sodoesthethirdparagraph.）Thissentence,beginningwith"First"（or"Second"asinthethirdparagraph）,isextremelyimportant.Itisthetopicsentencefortheparagraphbecauseitsumsuptheargumentcontainedintheparagraph.

Withsuchanorganization,everythingelseshouldfallinplace.

■StepSeven

Thisisastepstudentsoftenforgettotakeiftheystillhavetimetotakeit:

proofreadtheessay.Checkverbsfortense,number,andagreement.Checkforthe"flow";thatis,askyourself,basedonnativespeakers'writtenandspokenlanguageyouhaveremembered:

howwouldtheyexpressthisideainthesamesituation?

Domywordssound"natural"tomyearwhenreadaloud?

Checkingforthe"flow"isanimportantskillthatcomesfromyearsofwritingpracticeandfromlargequantitiesofreadingandlistening.

Itisparticularlyimportanttodoublecheckthethesisstatementandtopicsentences.Theyareusuallylongandcomplexsentencesoftenhardtowrite.Besuretheysaywhatyoumeantosay.

Besideseditingthelanguage,youmayalsoaskyourselfthefollowingquestions:

Doesthisessayhavealogicalsequence?

Willafastreaderbeabletofollowthissequence?

[Note:

theteacherwhomarksyouressayisdefinitelyinahurrybecauseshehastomarkseveralhundredsofessaysaday.]

Isthemainideaclearlystated?

Isthethesisstatementintherightplace?

Arethereholesintheargument?

Isthemainideaproperlysupported?

Whatwouldacriticprobablysayuponreadingthisdraft?

Youmaystillbeabletomakesomelast-minutechangestotheproblemsyouhaveidentified.Now,let'slookatataskthatisslightlydifferent.

TASKTWO

ThisisalsoatypicalessayquestionyoumightfindintheBand-8exam:

Wemayacquireknowledgethroughvariouschannels.Somepeopleprefertolearnthroughreadingbooks.Othersliketolearnthroughtakingpartinpractice.Inyouropinion,whichchannelismoreimportant,learningbyreadingorlearningbydoing?

Whichislessimportant?

Writeacompositionofabout400wordsonthefollowingtopic:

TheMostImportantWayofAcquiringKnowledge

Inthefirstpartofyourwritingyoushouldpresentyourthesisstatement,andinthe

DevelopinganArgument

secondpartyoushouldsupportthethesisstatementwithappropriatedetails.Inthelastpartyoushouldbringwhatyouhavewrittentoanaturalconclusionoras