英语语篇模式举例

1、英语语篇模式举例IPreview-Detail Pattern Model 1The weather in March is unpredictable. One day there was heavy ground fog, and the next day was clear. It rained for a few days and cleared up, and then it rained again. One day the temperature ranged from 45 degrees to 75 degrees, and the next day the temperat

2、ure stayed around 55 degrees all day long. It was difficult to plan activities or know what to wear with such unpredictable weather.Model 2Throughout history, men have tried various ingenious methods for sorting out truth-teller from liars. A medieval “truth by trial” technique called for thrusting

3、a suspects hand into fire; if it was not burned, he was judged innocent. An ancient Chinese test required a suspected wrongdoer to chew rice powder while being questioned. If the powder was dry when he spit it out afterward, the man was condemnedon the theory that the tension of lying had blocked hi

4、s salivary gland, producing a dry mouth.Model 3Smoking is a harmful and unhealthy hobby from which we should keep away. First of all, cigarettes contain nicotinea poisonous substance that has the effect of causing cancer. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of lung cancer victims are smokers.

5、If you refrain from smoking, the threat of such a disease will be greatly diminished. Financially, a heavy smoker spends a lot of money on cigarettes, which becomes a heavy burden to his family. What is more, smoking is one source of environmental pollution. Burning cigarettes and puffs of smoking m

6、ay spoil the fresh air, and disturb others work and study. Finally, if a teenager takes to smoking, how can he keep a sound mind in a sound body?Model 4Going to college can be expensive. Everyone knows that tuition and room and board can cost anywhere from $ 3,000 to $ 10,000 per semester, but there

7、 are other expenses that make going to college even more expensive. For instance, books typically cost between $ 150 and $ 400 each term. Supplies, too, are not cheap, for as any students knows, paper, notebooks, writing utensils and the many other supplies needed usually cost more at the college bo

8、okstore than at a local discount department sore. For instance, a package of notepaper costing $ 1 at a discount store might cost $ 2 at a college bookstore. In addition, there are all kinds of special fees tacked onto the bill at registration time. A student might have to pay a $ 30 insurance fee t

9、o the student government association, and anywhere from $ 20 to $ 100 for parking. If a student decides to add or drop a course after registration, there is yet another fee. The fee never seems to end.Model 5No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. Much as we may pride ourselves on our g

10、ood taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us. In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses. Advertisers discovered years

11、 ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong. These days, advertisers not only offer free samples but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well. They devise hundreds of competitions which will e

12、nable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way. (NEC 3, Unit 26)Model 6It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. In the light of this statement, teachers live by selling knowle

13、dge, philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort. Though it may be possible to measure the value of material goods in terms of money, it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. There are times when we would willingly

14、give everything we possess to save our lives, yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell. (NEC 3, Unit 27)

15、Model 7We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. What invariably happens is that a great number of things choose to go wrong at precisely the same moment It is as if a single unimportant event set up a c

16、hain of reactions. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. The telephone rings and this marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes. While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the table-cloth off the table smashing half your best cr

17、ockery and cutting himself in the process. You hang up hurriedly and attend to baby, crockery, etc. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to reduce you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner. (NEC 3, Unit 33)Model 8Learning a foreign languag

18、e has changed. Not so long ago, students would sit with pens in hand, writing the basic forms of a language, learning structures they would never be able to speak. In that same classroom today, pens and notebooks have been put away. The spoken sounds of foreign tongue fill the room. Today the last s

19、kill learnedwriting a foreign languagecomes as a natural and possible part of the total language-learning process. Yet, just a few years ago, the last skill learned was the first skill mastered todayspeaking a foreign tongue.IIGeneral-Example PatternModel 9Editors of newspapers and magazines often g

20、o to extremes to provide their readers with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African republic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused

21、 to publish it. The article began: 'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president's palace.' The editor at once sent the journalist a telegram instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall. (New Concept English 3, Unit 5)Model 10

22、Cities have been completely destroyed by volcanic eruptions. An example of note is the destruction of Pompeii in Italy by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. On the morning of August 24, A.D. 79, horrific explosions broke the stillness of the day; columns of smoke, gases, and steam rose into the air; and

23、a rain of ash and glowing debris fell on Pompeii. Within several hours of the first volcanic rumblings, Pompeii was inundated under twenty feet of volcanic ash; roofs collapsed; people were suffocated by poisonous gases. Model 11People are not so honest as they once were. The temptation to steal is

24、greater than ever beforeespecially in large shops. A detective recently watched a well-dressed woman who always went into a large store on Monday mornings. One Monday, there were fewer people in the shop than usual when the woman came in, so it was easier for the detective to watch her. The woman fi

25、rst bought a few small articles. After a little time, she chose one of the most expensive dresses in the shop and handed it to an assistant who wrapped it up for her as quickly as possible. Then the woman simply took the parcel and walked out of the shop without paying. When she was arrested, the de

26、tective found out that the shop-assistant was her daughter. The girl gave her mother a free dress once a week! (New Concept English 2, Unit 32)Model 12Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers. This can

27、 give rise to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation.When he got married, Alf was too embarrassed to say anything to his wife about his job. He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he left home dr

28、essed in a smart black suit. He then changed into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman. Before returning home at night, he took a shower and changed back into his suit. Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret. Alf's wife has never discovered that sh

29、e married a dustman and she never will, for Alf has just found another job. He will soon be working in an office as a junior clerk. He will be earning only half as much as he used to, but he feels that his rise in status is well worth the loss of money. From now on, he will wear a suit all day and o

30、thers will call him 'Mr Bloggs', not 'Alf'. (NEC 3, Unit 4)Model 13Most of us have formed an unrealistic picture of life on a desert island. We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise where the sun always shines. Life there is simple and good. Ripe fruit falls from

31、 the trees and you never have to work. The other side of the picture is quite the opposite. Life on a desert island is wretched. You either starve to death or live like Robinson Crusoe, waiting for a boat which never comes. Perhaps there is an element of truth in both these pictures, but few of us h

32、ave had the opportunity to find out.Two men who recently spent five days on a coral island wished they had stayed there longer. They were taking a badly damaged boat from the Virgin Islands to Miami to have it repaired. During the journey, their boat began to sink. They quickly loaded a small rubber

33、 dinghy with food, matches, and tins of beer and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island. There were hardly any trees on the island and there was no water, but this did not prove to be a problem. The men collected rainwater in the rubber dinghy. As they h

34、ad brought a spear gun with them, they had plenty to eat. They caught lobster and fish every day, and, as one of them put it 'ate like kings'. When a passing tanker rescued them five days later, both men were genuinely sorry that they had to leave. (NEC 3, Unit 12)Model 14True eccentrics nev

35、er deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves. They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.Up to the time of his deat

36、h, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town. He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman, but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life. He was known to us all as Dickie and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.Dickie disliked sno

37、bs intensely. Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot. Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella. One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower. He wanted to buy a &300 fur co

38、at for his wife, but he was in such a bedraggled condition that an assistant refused to serve him. Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag. As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter. The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie Paid no attention to hi

39、m and requested to see the manager. Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and 'reprimanded the assistant severely. When Dickie was given the fur coat, he presented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained &300 in pennies. He insisted on the assistant's c

40、ounting the money before he left72,000 pennies in all! On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings. This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press, for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous arti

41、sts, they had in fact been painted by Dickie. It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about. (NEC 3, Unit 31)Model 15Children often have far more sense than their elders. This simple truth was demonstrated rather drama

42、tically during a civil defense exercise in a small town in Canada. Most of the inhabitants were asked to take part in the exercise during which they had to pretend that their city had been bombed. Air-raid warnings were sounded and thousands of people went into special air-raid shelters. Doctors and

43、 nurses remained above ground while police patrolled the streets in case anyone tried to leave the shelters too soon. The police did not have much to do because the citizens took the exercise seriously. They stayed underground for twenty minutes and waited for the siren to sound again. On leaving th

44、e air-raid shelters, they saw that doctors and nurses were busy. A great many people had volunteered to act as casualties. Theatrical make-up and artificial blood had been used to make the injuries look realistic. A lot of people were lying 'dead' in the streets. The living helped to carry t

45、he dead and wounded to special stations. A child of six was brought in by two adults. The child was supposed to be dead. With theatrical makeup on his face, he looked as if he had died of shock. Some people were so moved by the sight that they began to cry. However, the child suddenly sat up and a d

46、octor asked him to comment on his death. The child looked around for a moment and said, 'I think they're all crazy!'Model 16Going through the Customs is a tiresome business. The strangest thing about it is that really honest people are often made to feel guilty. The hardened professional

47、 smuggler, on the other hand, is never troubled by such feelings, even if he has five hundred gold watches hidden in his suitcase. When I returned from abroad recently, a particularly officious young Customs officer clearly regarded me as a smuggler. 'Have you anything to declare?' he asked,

48、 looking me in the eye. 'No,' I answered confidently. 'Would you mind unlocking this suitcase please?' 'Not at all,' I answered. The officer went through the case with great care. All the things I had packed so carefully were soon in a dreadful mess. I felt sure I would never

49、 be able to close the case again. Suddenly, I saw the officer's face light up. He had spotted a tiny bottle at the bottom of my case and he pounced on it with delight. 'Perfume, eh?' he asked sarcastically. 'You should have declared that.' Perfume is not exempt from import duty.&

50、#39; 'But it isn't perfume,' I said.' It's hair-oil.' Then I added with a smile,' It's a strange mixture I make myself.' As I expected, he did not believe me. 'Try it!' I said encouragingly. The officer unscrewed the cap and put the bottle to his nostrils.

51、 He was greeted by an unpleasant smell which convinced him that I was telling the truth. A few minutes later, I was able to hurry away with precious chalk-marks on my baggage.III. Matching PatternModel 17Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and industrialist, was a man of many contrasts. He was the so

52、n of a bankrupt, but became a millionaire; a scientist with a love of literature, an industrialist who managed to remain an idealist; he made a fortune but lived a simple life, and although cheerful in company he was often sad in private. A lover of mankind, he never had a wife or family to love him

53、; a patriotic son of his native land, he died alone on foreign soil. He invented a new explosivedynamite, to improve the peacetime industries of mining and road building, but saw it used as a weapon of war to kill and injure his fellow men. During his useful life he often felt he was useless: “Alfre

54、d Nobel,” he once write of himself, “ought to have been put to death by a kind doctor as soon as, with a cry, he entered life.” World-famous for his works he was never personally well known, for throughout his life he avoided publicity. “I do not see,” he said, “that I have deserved any fame and I h

55、ave no taste for it.” But since his death, his name has brought fame and glory to others.Model 18Property as defined legally is either real or personal. Real property may be transferred from owner to owner by a formal instrument that is recorded in a public office. Personal property does not have to

56、 have its transfer documented publicly. Real property includes land, buildings on the land, mineral deposits, bodies of water, anything attached to the land, and the air above the land. By contrast, personal property includes such items as ones furniture, money, clothing, automobiles, and books.Mode

57、l 19The appearance of the Egyptian sphinx and the Greek sphinx is not the same. Egyptian sculptors usually formed their creatures with the head of a man and the body, legs and feet of a lion. They often made the face resemble the pharaoh who commissioned the sculpture. The Greek artists designed the

58、 sphinx with the head of a woman, the body of a lion, the tail of a serpent, and the wings of a bird. Also in direct contrast was the function of the sphinx in the two cultures. The Egyptians believed the sphinx represented the god Horus, the guardian of temples and tombs. But for the Greeks, the sp

59、hinx was a monster. According to their myths, she was perched on a high rock just outside the city of Thebes. There she stopped travelers to ask them a riddle and ate them when they could not answer it. Obviously, the Egyptians and Greeks did not use the term sphinx to refer the same creature.Model

60、20There are both similarities and differences between the tourist-attracting countries Italy and Greece. First, both the Italians and Greeks are friendly, gregarious people. Second, the antiquities of both countries are fascinating; Romes Colosseum and Athens Parthenon are two of the worlds great sights. Third