拿下托福寫作，來年Offer不用愁。

怎么寫好托福的獨立寫作？

在開始講“怎么寫好”之前，很有必要定義一下什么是“好”的獨立寫作。

沒有誰比托福的出題機構ETS更有資格告訴大家什么是“好”的標準。

先做一個掃盲

盡管寫作在成績單上顯示的是30分的分數，但是在考官打分的時候其實用的是“原始分”標準。這個“原始分”和最終的“折合分”換算的比例是這樣的：見圖

所以，下面我們都用考官打分時候的原始分進行討論。針對獨立寫作，ETS是這樣描述評分標準的。（見下圖）

來源：http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/toefl_writing_rubrics.pdf

這表格左列的分數是原始分，最低是0分最高是5分。這表格右列是對各個分數段作文標準的描述。

在0分那一行，對應的描述是

“An essay at this levelmerely copies words from the topic, rejects the topic, or is otherwise not connected to the topic, is written in a foreign language, consists of keystroke characters, or is blank.”

很明顯，這意思是：0分的作文僅僅抄了題目中的詞；或者簡單地反駁，比如說我不同意，然后就沒有然后了；或者寫得風馬牛不相及；或者不是用英語寫的；或者一堆按鍵符號，比如#￥%&&*；或者干脆空白，啥都沒寫。

在1分那一行，對應的描述是

這意思是，得1分的文章有這些毛病：就只寫了兩三句只言片語，完全沒有拓展；沒有細節，寫了些不相干的廢話；有嚴重的句法錯誤。總之，不知所云。（這類作文，考官直接看不懂，秒過。）

在2分那一行，對應的描述是

這意思是：得2分的文章有這些毛病：

作文寫得干癟，沒什么拓展；觀點之間沒有銜接，思維亂跳；論述不足，例子不足，沒把話說開；用詞不妥，詞匯形式用錯；多處出現句子結構崩壞。（批到這種卷子，求考官的心理陰影面積有多大。）

在3分那一行，對應的描述是

這意思是，得3分的文章有這些毛病：

雖然作文寫了一些論述和例子，但是寫得太少，而且不到位；總算是論點之間有點銜接了，但是銜接得令人費解；句子和詞語都寫了一些了，但是多處句子寫得蹩腳，詞語用得詭異，無法清晰達意；句法和詞匯單調有限。（這類作文，考官看完會想靜靜）

在4分那一行，對應的描述是

這意思是，得4分的文章有這些特點：

針對題目，不錯的闡述了論點，盡管有些地方闡述得不詳細；總體的拓展得挺好，盡管時而有點啰嗦，或者有點跑偏；用詞用句靈活多樣，盡管有時候犯些無傷大雅的小錯誤；（這時候的考官已經開始享受閱讀這檔考生的文章了）

在5分那一行，對應的描述是

這意思是，得5分的文章有這些特點：

論述清晰到位，文章拓展得有理有據，銜接得行云流水，句法詞匯使用靈活多樣，盡管小錯誤還是有的，但是可以忽略不計。（考官眼前的世界都瞬間美好了。）

讀完這0-5的分數和對應的描述，有沒有發現什么被反復強調了的關鍵呢？

細心的話，不難發現這幾個詞經常被提及：Development（拓展），Details（細節）, Organisation（構架）, Cohesion（連貫）, Sentence structure（句型）, Word choice（用詞）, Variety（多變）。做到這7個詞的作文就是高分文章。

說到這里，有些考生就開始抓狂了，這7個詞說得輕巧，但是臣妾做不到啊。于是，接下來搞定如何做到。

一切不拿具體題目講的方法論都是耍流氓。于是，上考題：

"Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Only people who earn a lot of money are successful. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.”

題目問，是否同意這個觀點：“教師和學生處得好 比教師教純知識 更重要。”

當一道作文題赤果果站在你面前的時候，是不是瞬間變身天秤座了？覺得Agree也有道理，Disagree也有道理，但是無論選哪邊都不好辦。而且，正在選擇綜合癥的你，這時候已經把剛才的那7個詞忘干凈了，真的一點殘留都沒有。

溫馨提示，那7個詞是Development, Details, Organisation, Cohesion, Sentence structure, Word choice, Variety.

從Development開始，在這里并非發展的意思，而是拓展，讓你的思路展開。也就是說，假如我們選擇了立場，Disagree, 咱不覺得有錢就是成功，那么必須說說除了錢以外還有什么是成功的衡量標準。這時候就需要開腦洞地思考。其實不難想出來，還有名譽，知識，甚至，愛，或者 大家的尊重。是不是瞬間覺得更有話說了？從中挑選兩三個吧，每個都是一個觀點，都能寫成一段。

這里有一個黃金原則，給觀點，必給解釋；給解釋，必給例子。觀點+解釋+例子是優秀論述的典型結構。

這就是Detail發揮作用的地方。比如，寫“尊重”的那一段：I believe that being respected by coworkers indicates success. （觀點）+Without that respect, money means little.

（解釋）+For example,I once did some work for a top attorney in a law firm. He made a very good salary, but he wasn’t a nice man. No one ever did work for him willingly. He ordered everyone around, and we didn’t respect him. In contrast, however, I had a wonderful band director in high school. He had to take extra jobs just to make enough money to support his family. However, his students had great respect for him and always listened to what he said. As a result, we were a very good band.

（例子） +As a result,we were a very good band. In my opinion, my band director was more successful than the attorney was.（最好像這樣說完例子再溫馨提示一下剛才自己的觀點）。

于是我們挑3個分觀點，名譽，尊重，和知識，足夠寫成一篇三百多字的文章。順便這也自然地構成了Organisation，每個觀點寫一段，再加首尾段就剛好是5個段落，一篇好文。

比如：
Many people believe that a large income equals success.（說趨勢） I believe, however, that success is more than how much money you make.（大白話說清楚我的觀點） Some of those measures of success include fame, respect, and knowledge.（拓展解釋）

Most people assume that famous people are rich people, but that isn’t always true.（分觀點一）For example,some day I would like to be a famous researcher. Few scientists are rich by today’s standards.（例子細節） Still I will feel myself to be successful if I am well-known.（解釋個人情感）Additionally,there are many famous humanitarians who are not rich. Mother Theresa was one.Certainly, no one would say she was not successful.（例子細節）

I also believe that being respected by coworkers indicates success（分觀點二）. Without that respect, money means little. （解釋）For example,I once did some work for a top attorney in a law firm. He made a very good salary, but he wasn’t a nice man. No one ever did work for him willingly. He ordered everyone around, and we didn’t respect him.（例子細節） In contrast, however, I had a wonderful band director in high school. He had to take extra jobs just to make enough money to support his family. However, his students had great respect for him and always listened to what he said. As a result, we were a very good band.（還是例子細節） In my opinion, my band director was more successful than the attorney was.（重申強調觀點）

Finally, I think one of the most important indicators of success is knowledge. （分觀點三）Wealthy people don’t know all the answers.（解釋）For example,in the movie Good Will Hunting, the only person who could solve some complex problems was the janitor. He knew a lot, and decided what he wanted to do with that knowledge rather than just think about money. （例子細節）In my opinion, he was extremely successful.（重申強調觀點）

When we think of history, there are few people that we remember simply because they were rich.（重申強調觀點） Overall, we remember people who did something with their lives - they were influential in politics, or contributed to science or art or religion.（總結）If history is the ultimate judge of success, then money surely isn’t everything.（升華）

這一番分析其實已經講了那7個詞中的4個（Development，Details, Organisation, Cohesion），這4個詞的基礎是母語的組織能力，也就是中學語文作文的思維能力。若要說區別，那就是西方的語文表達更傾向于直白和具象。

（* 部分內容整理自網絡）