談論嚴肅話題（Talking about Something Seriously）
美文欣賞
The Creative Way
Because of the rule which requires us to use standard envelopes, there is a problem about to do with the used ones. After thinking for a long time, I have a few suggestions for dealing with old envelopes.
First of all, use them as memos(備忘錄). Sometimes we have to ask somebody to take a message for us. We could write the name and address on the envelope as a reminder.
Secondly, we can use them as “little boxes”. That is, we could use them to hold little things, such as tickets and receipts. In this way, they would be organizers for little things, which are easy to misplace.
Thirdly, use them as special photo albums. According to some friends, photos placed in plastic photo albums easily become damp. If we put the photos in envelopes, we could avoid the problem.
The fourth use of the old envelopes is to use them for preparing rough drafts. If we cut them open and spread them out, they provide a large writing surface.
Of course there are many other ways to use them. In a word, all of the above are only my suggestions. So long as we use our heads, we can be creative and find many ways to deal with our old things.
看了題目，到幾乎讀完全文，作者似乎再也未提及old envelopes與 creative有什么關系，但讀到最后一句，我們才會頓悟：原來要具有創造性（to be creative）其實就這么簡單--So long as we use our heads! 這正是作者的高明之處：于簡單之中顯真理！
本文開題簡樸、稱述條理清楚、結論水到渠成，文筆簡單易懂。學習時還應注意到其句子的多樣化（劃線部分）。
推薦背誦文段
常用表達法
1.五個基本環節
Starting
Giving ideas
Developing
Arguing
Coming to a conclusion
1）起筆（Starting）
（1）稱述事實式
The fact that blind people can see things using other parts of their bodies apart from their eyes may help us to understand our feeling about colour. (Color and Feelings)
（2）設問式
Right is right. Right? But is left wrong? (Is Left Wrong?)
2）提出觀點（Giving ideas）
（1）借助常識：
It is known to all that smoking is harmful to our health. (The Ways of Being Healthy)
（2）直抒己見：
I think it is useful to build a new dam across the river. (Making Full Use of Our Water)
We also believe that doing exercises every day will do us a lot of good. ((The Ways of Being Healthy)
（3）巧用成語：
“Where there is a will, there is a way.” It is the same in learning English. (How to Learn English Well)
“Like father, like son.” So what you do today will be done again tomorrow by your children. (A Letter to Parents)
3）強化論點（Developing）
（1）First…,Second…,Third…Finally…（2）Firstly…,Secondly…,Thirdly…Finally…（3）First of all…,Then…,Next…,At last…（4）Furthermore…;Besides…;Moreover…（5）What’s more,…;At the same time,…; What is worse,…
4）提出反駁（Arguing）
（1）but, yet, still; however; although…
（2） on the other hand…;on the contrary…;
in spite of…;even though…;At the same time…
（3） 60 percent of the students think…and about 10 percent, giving no idea, while the rest of the students are strongly against the suggestion.
Supporters are cheering the new plan but I personally don’t like the idea of an award.
5）得出結論（Coming to a conclusion）
（1）Finally…;Therefore…
（2）In a word…;In short…;In the end…;
In other words…;As a result…;In all…
（3）Generally speaking…
（4）As I have shown…;As has been stated…;
As we (you) all know…
寫作練習
①學校附近擬興建一座化工廠（a chemical works）。請你以該校學生的名義寫一篇短文，陳述反對興建此化工廠的理由。短文內容要點如下：1.不僅你本人，大部分同學都反對；
2.盡管該廠可以為本市賺不少錢，但危害大于好處；
3.防范措施不充分，會嚴重污染飲用水；
4.造成空氣污染；
5.侵占學生們游戲、玩耍的場所。
注意：還可以補充若干理由。不要僅僅翻譯各點。（120詞左右）②請依據以下內容要點寫一篇短文。題目自擬，不要逐句翻譯。（120詞左右）有人說：時間就是金錢。但我認為，時間對我們來說更為珍貴，因為失去的時間不會再來。
時間流失很快。有些同學說他們沒有足夠的時間來預習功課。他們在看電視、玩耍或其他事情上花費了過多的時間。
今天，生活在新世紀的青年人應該懂得：時間就是生命。我們應該抓緊時間學習，將來好為社會服務。請記住：時間比金錢更寶貴。
習作點評
① (A) It is reported that a new chemical works will be built here. Certainly, it is a good idea for developing economy. But on other hand, it is also a big problem.
Firstly, many people don’t agree to build this works. The smoke and the soot will bring lots of illness, it is dangerous for every one.
Secondly, it will pollute the water so that the fish will die, even bad for our health.
Thirdly, many experts said it will use a lot of place and the noise will affect us.
The surrounding is the most important thing. We should protect it and return the real face to the nature.
(B) A lot of the students of our school are against the chemical works would be build near our school, certainly, including me.
Although, the chemical works will make a lot of money for our city, we think it must have more harm than good. First of all, it would pollute the drinking water. At the same time, the air over the chemical works must be polluted too. Maybe, the fresh air will disappear in our city. Second, the works will occupy the places which were for the students playing and sporting.
Because of the above reasons, we hope that the chemical works won’t build near our school. A.B兩篇均為就同一材料討論的較為簡單的議論文，但在表述方式上各有千秋：
A篇開頭好，既道出了消息來源，又稱述了各自利弊，提出了反對的觀點，為下文的進一步論證確立了論點；
在陳述己方論據時條理分明。
B篇開門見山，提出了己方觀點；結尾歸納收筆干凈力落，旗幟鮮明。
在陳述己方論據時應用了First of all, At the same time, Maybe等表達法又使語言顯得較為豐富。
當然文中也有一些不當之處，請您試著修改劃線部分。
② Time Is More Valuable
There is a saying: Time Is Money. It is to say time is valuable. However, in my opinion, time is much more valuable than money for us. If you lost（應為lose） money, you can earn some through making efforts. But if what you have lost is time, you can never have the missed time again.
Time flies with the wind. Some students say they have not enough time to study. It is because too much time has been spent on playing games, watching TV or doing other things.
Now, as teenagers living in the new century, we should learn that time is life. We should do right things at the right time. So students, the hope of the new century, should make the best use of our time to learn new things. Then we can make the society more wonderful when we grow up.
At last, do remember that time is even more valuable than money.
本篇為一高一學生習作。全文立意較高，表述清晰，論點明確，論據充分。所用句型結構較多且準確，啟承轉合自然貼切，語言流暢，堪稱佳作！
文中精彩之筆比比皆是：
1.But if what you have lost is time, you can never have the missed (應為missing) time again.
2.It is because too much time has been spent on playing games, watching TV or doing other things.
3. So students, the hope of the new century, should make the best use of our time to learn new things.
參考范文
① Most students of our school, including me, are against the con -struction of a chemical works near our school.
Although the works will make a lot of money for our city, we do think it will do us more harm than good. The drinking water will be badly polluted. Of course, they have promised to do something to prevent the water from being polluted, however, it is far from enough. On the other hand, the air over the city will be polluted too. We will never be able to breathe fresh air. How can we live here any longer?
Last but not the least, the site of the chemical works has been the only place where we students play games and have sports after school. Where would we go if it were occupied?
② Is Time Money?
People always say that time is money. But I think time is more valuable than money, because time lost never comes back again.
Time passes very quickly. Some students say that they do not have enough time to prepare their lessons. Meanwhile, they spend too much of their time in watching TV, playing games and doing other things.
Today the young people, who are living in the early twenty-first century, should know that time is life. We should spend more time learning what is being taught in school so that we’ll serve our society well in the future.
Do remember: Time is more valuable than money.