Hello
Welcome to the section of writing
We have talked about variety
in diction in unit 2 In My Day
Well
variety in diction is important
variety in terms of sentence writing
is just as important
Here I would like to draw your
attention to sentence variety
We will talk about two ways
to do that
The first is
1.variety in sentence opening
句子开头多样化
Many students start their
sentences with the subject
When they talk about themselves
their writing may go like this
I am a college student
I like my college life
I have made friends with
a lot of people. Etc
It’s not wrong to start your
sentence with the subject
but if you start too many
of your sentences in that way
your writing may sound less
interesting and even very dull
Therefore
besides opening your sentence
with the subject
you’d better pay attention
to other means to achieve variety
What else can open a sentence
Let’s think about that
When one is exposed
to noise pollution
he tends to be upset
the opener is An adverbial clause
状语从句开头
In despair
he took his own life
A prepositional phrase as the opener
介词短语开头
Talking with your good friends
you would feel much better
A present participle
现在分词开头
Burdened with too much work
I get bored with it
a past participle
过去分词开头
Confident and intelligent
he won the speech contest
An adjective phrase
形容词短语开头
To save money
he took a bus instead of a taxi
An infinitive不定式开头
The capital of China Beijing
was shrouded in haze
The appositive同位语开头
What bears on my interests
I studies in school and out
Some of our advice
they did not listen to
宾语前置于句首
the object宾语前置于句首
With his teacher and friends
to help him
he is sure to win the contest
An absolute construction
独立结构开头
Now
we find that there are so many
other ways to open
a sentence than the subject.
variety in sentence length句子的长度变化
well
variety in sentence opening is one way
to help improve your writing
we move on with sentence variety
in terms of sentence length
In English writing
sentence length calls for
your attention as well
Short sentences are emphatic
while long sentences are capable
of expressing complex ideas
with precision
because it may contain many modifiers.
Short sentences are suitable
for the presentation of
important facts and ideas
and long sentences for
the explanation of
views and theories
or the description of
things with many details
Our text offers good examples
of short and long sentences. Eg.
It’s no myth
It’s a scary prospect
The first is economic instability
These short sentences are
very forceful and emphatic
Then let’s look at
this long sentence
actually it makes the first paragraph
The long sentence offers an
exact description of globalization’s
dual character and its definition
At the edge of a new century
globalization is a double-edged sword
a powerful vehicle that raises economic
growth spreads new technology
and raises living standards in rich
and poor countries alike
but also an immensely controversial
process that assaults
national sovereignty
erodes local culture and tradition
and threatens economic
and social instability.
You see different sentence
length serve different purposes.
Now Let’s look at this
If enough attention is paid to
variety in sentence length
your writing will sound
more pleasant and rhythmic
and therefore more interesting.
Noise pollution is everywhere
It is very terrible
It is harmful to our health
We should reduce noise pollution.
What do you think of
the group of sentences
They are obviously monotonous
很单调
because all of them are
short sentences
Besides
the interrelation between sentences
is not brought out
And
the four short sentences
sound a bit choppy
not pleasant at all
也就是说
有支离破碎感
不连贯
If they are rewritten into the following
We should reduce noise pollution
as terrible noise pollution is
everywhere and really
harmful to our health.
the new version of a long sentence
is more expressive because
the logic of cause and
effect is presented clearly
So learn to combine short sentences
to make your writing logically
clearer and more informative
But
I have one more thing to clarify
That is
never try everything to achieve
variety just for
the sake of variety
也就是说
不能仅仅为了变化而变化
还要适合句子意思
Your sentence is supposed to be of
the right length suitable for
the idea it conveys
because sentences of different lengths
serve different purposes as
we have just mentioned
You can imagine a big group
of long sentences will sound
endless and very tiring
therefore turn readers off
Before the end of this section
please finish the following assignment
it will be helpful to your writing
bye for now