要写好结尾段,首先我们要明白结尾段在全文起到的作用是什么。一般说来,结尾段是用来重申立场的(restatement of thesis),这里值得注意的是,结尾不要再出现新的论点了,哪怕它非常具有说服力,这时也必须忍痛割爱,否则就会因缺乏论证以及缺乏前后呼应而失分。
结束全文的五种方式:
A、领导式 Bossy Style
领导就是领导,一拿起话筒就特有“范儿”。托福作文的领导式结尾一般都是回顾主体段的观点.偶尔高兴了还会再小展望一下未来。
比如Kaplan中这个关于“班级规模到底应该多大合适”的结尾段就是纯粹的领导式(但是请注意它没有照搬上文的词句,而是paraphrase和summary,这一点请要当“领导”的朋友们切记):
Reducing class size is not just a matter of relieving(减轻)pressure. It will enhance what a student learns and even the person they learn it from can learn from this process. (The End)
很大牌吧?两句话就结束全文,根本不给你反驳的机会。
再看这个处级干部:
In conclusion, university education should not be made free. I believe in that because the colleges need the money to make them better. If the universities are free, taxes will be raised and people will have to pay for things they might not use.
此外,领导式结尾中还有一种极度嚣张的形式,已经接近给读者最后通牒,所以这样的结尾也可以称为“大爷式”。
比如Princeton Review中的这个结尾段,就是典型的mogul style:
In conclusion, I have shown that it's better for teachers to encourage their students to question things. Without curiosity there can be no education.
领导式结尾非常适合作“一边倒”作文的结尾段,不过要注意这种写法除了转述上文外,最好能再深入写一点相关的引申,这样显得结尾更充实。
B、家长式 Tender-loving-care Style
家长式结尾也同样带有较强的概括性,但语气比领导式湿馨很多.有坚实的群众基础,让考官接受起来不会有屈辱感。
比如下面这个Education类结尾:
For those reasons, we can safely conclude that classmates are too important a factor to ignore and they have more important influence than teachers on students' success at school.
是不是?完全以理服人。
句句都是暖人心的话。由于家长式结尾特有的温情一面,它既适合一边倒的结束语,也适合作折中式的结尾。不过需要注意:家长也毕竟还是有决策权的,不能完全让孩子(你的读者)去自己选择.所以家长式结尾还是要有明显倾向性的.只不过是用比较容易接受的方式说出来而已了。
C、愤青式 The beat generation style
看名宇就很好理解,对话题冷眼看待.有一种自命清高的书生气。但如果确实语言功底不错,而且确信能把自己不同流合污的价值取向表达清晰,用这种结尾倒真是相当不俗的。多给大家看个例子:
Needless to say, both sources are important to us. But in my opinion, knowledge from experience is even more important because without experience, it's almost impossible to understand knowledge from books'or to understand how to apply this knowledge in real life.
这种结尾通常是先用Apparently, ../Clearly, .../Needless to say,…/It goes without saying that...等表达在结尾段首对辩论话题表示不屑,然后再用However,…/But.../Yet.../Nevertheless, ... / Still,…这类词汇引出一两句表明自己态度的结束语。
与家长式的“可正可反.不同,愤青式特别适合一边倒的高分作文结尾段。但注意写好它的关键并不是激动地发泄对社会的不满.而是有论证依据的、建立在充分说理基础上的表达改变现状的合理愿望。
D、小秘式 Gold-Digger Style
这种结尾的特色就是.顺着说“,比较适合已经放弃了努力去改变社会的幻想、等着社会来改变自己的考生。
比如下面这个高分范文结尾段:
I would like to say that I personally agree with the statement that music tells us something about a culture, and with my example I wanted to illustrate how much of the culture of a country it is
possible to learn about just listening to its music.
再比如这个关子“教育重要还是让小朋友多玩儿重要“的结尾:
I agree that formal education at an early age offers children benefits at all levels and therefore is more important than letting them play. After all, kids can always play after school but learning
at school stimulates(激发)their brain growth and puts them in competitive social settings, which is indeed irreplaceable experience for such a critical stage of life.
(irreplaceable这个词用得很妙——不可替代的.嘴这么甜的小秘一定人见人爱吧?)
上面讲的四类结尾是托福作文考试中最常用的四种结尾手法。但请注意:如果你的作文主体用的是“折中式”写法.那么在结尾通常还是要重点倾向于其中的某一方,而不是双方各同意50%,否则你的结尾将转化成下面这种类型:
E 、和稀泥式 Goodie-Goodie Style
这种文章在结尾还是不表明任何一种态度倾向,完全是“大团圆”。请看下面关于“远程教育好还是到教室上课好”的结尾段实例:
下面ETS 0.G.中的满分范文结尾段更是“和”中高手:
The time to live Independently depends on the person himself. He must decide whether they're ready to leave their parents to have an independent life or not. The decision will vary from one
person to another. A person should judge that he's capable of fulfilling his needs without being dependent on his parents; this indicates that he's ready for his independent life. Otherwise he
might need to stay longer with his parents.
先用3句绕口令似的句子,最后提出到底应该何时开始独立取决于孩子自身的判断能力。depends on往往是“和稀泥’式的标志词。