Writing: Purpose, Audience and Accuracy
IGCSE English Topic 2 7:50 English narration · English + 中文 subtitles burned in
Chapters
Transcript
Two students want the same thing: permission to use the school hall on Saturday.
两位同学想要同一件事：申请周六使用学校礼堂。
Both write to the head teacher.
两人都写给校长。
The first one says: <slow>Hi, can we have the hall on Sat?
第一位写：嗨，周六礼堂能给我们用吗？
Thanks!</slow> The second says: Dear Mrs Chen, I am writing to ask whether we may use the school hall on Saturday.
谢啦！ 第二位写：尊敬的陈校长，我写信是想请问周六我们是否可以使用学校礼堂。
Same request, same information — but only one of them sounds right to the reader.
同样的请求，同样的信息——但只有一封在读者看来是得体的。
Today you learn why, and how to control it.
今天你就来学：为什么会这样，以及怎样掌控它。
This is the foundation lesson for every piece of writing you will do — the email, the letter, the report, the article, the review and the essay all sit on top of it.
这是你今后所有写作任务的基础课——电子邮件、书信、报告、文章、评论和议论文， 全都建立在它之上。
Purpose, audience and register. Then planning, paragraphs and linking. Then the two things that carry your language marks: range and accuracy.
目的、读者与语域；接着是计划、分段与衔接； 最后是决定语言分的两件事：多样性和准确性。
Start with purpose: why are you writing?
先看目的：你为什么写？
In this exam there are three answers.
在这门考试里只有三种答案。
To inform means you give the reader facts they do not have — what happened, when, where.
"告知"是把读者不知道的事实告诉他——发生了什么、什么时候、在哪里。
To argue means you take one side and try to convince the reader.
"论证"是选定一方，努力说服读者。
To discuss means you give both sides fairly, and then say what you think.
"讨论"是公平地给出双方观点，最后再说你自己的看法。
Get this wrong and everything after it is wrong.
这一步弄错，后面全错。
A student who argues when the task said discuss loses marks on every paragraph.
题目要求讨论，学生却在论证，那么每一段都会失分。
Now audience: who will read it?
接下来是读者：谁会读这篇文章？
A friend, a teacher, a magazine, an event organiser.
朋友、老师、杂志，还是活动的组织者。
The audience decides your register — how formal your language is.
读者决定你的语域——也就是语言的正式程度。
To a friend you write: Hey, do you want to come?
写给朋友：嘿，你要来吗？ 会很好玩的。
It'll be fun. To the head teacher you write: I would like to invite you to attend. I hope you will enjoy it.
写给校长：我谨邀请您出席，希望您能享受这次活动。
The message never changed. Only the register did.
信息本身没有变，变的只是语域。
That is the skill the examiner is looking for.
这正是考官要看的能力。
Three things carry the register, and you can control all three.
语域主要由三样东西体现，而这三样你都能控制。
First, the greeting and the ending.
第一，开头的称呼和结尾。
Hi and See you for a friend; Dear Mrs Chen and Yours sincerely for a formal reader.
对朋友用 Hi 和 See you； 对正式读者用 Dear Mrs Chen 和 Yours sincerely。
Second, the short forms.
第二，缩写形式。
I'm, don't and it'll are friendly. I am, do not and it will are formal.
I'm、don't、it'll 显得亲切；I am、do not、it will 显得正式。
Third, the words themselves.
第三，用词本身。
A friend gets a great idea; a head teacher gets an excellent suggestion.
对朋友说 a great idea，对校长说 an excellent suggestion。
Choose one register at the start, and stay in it to the last line.
一开始就选定一种语域，并且一直保持到最后一行。
So before you write a single word, mine the task for three things.
所以在动笔之前，先从题目里挖出三样东西。
Here is a real one.
这是一道真题。
<slow>Who: the head teacher</slow> — so the register is formal.
写给谁：校长——所以语域是正式的。
<slow>Why: to persuade</slow> — so this is an argument, not a description.
为什么写：为了说服——所以这是论证，不是描写。
And what: the task always hides three content points, and the examiner ticks each one.
写什么：题目里总藏着三个内容要点，考官会逐条打钩。
Miss a point and you lose those marks, however beautiful your English.
漏掉一个要点，那些分就没了，英语再漂亮也没用。
Then say your job in one line: a formal letter to the head teacher, arguing for a longer lunch break.
然后用一句话说清你的任务：写一封给校长的正式信，论证午休应该延长。
Now spend one minute — sixty seconds — on a plan.
现在花一分钟——六十秒——做一个计划。
Do not write sentences. Just write three or four ideas, in single words.
不要写句子，只写三四个想法，每个用一两个词。
Then put them in order: which one first, which one last?
然后排序：哪个放前面，哪个放最后？
The strongest idea usually goes last, because the reader remembers the ending.
最有力的想法通常放最后，因为读者记得住结尾。
That one minute of planning is the best-value minute in the whole paper. It stops you forgetting a content point, and it stops you saying the same thing twice.
这一分钟是整张卷子里性价比最高的一分钟： 它让你不会漏掉内容要点，也不会把同一件事说两遍。
Your plan is already your paragraphs. Each idea becomes one paragraph.
你的计划本身就是你的段落：每个想法写成一段。
Look at these two answers.
看这两份答案。
The left one is one solid block of text. The examiner cannot see where an idea starts or ends.
左边是一整块密密麻麻的文字，考官看不出一个想法从哪里开始、到哪里结束。
The right one puts one idea in one paragraph, with a line between them.
右边把一个想法放进一段，段与段之间空一行。
Same words — but now the reader can follow you.
词是一样的，但现在读者跟得上你了。
Before an examiner reads a word, they see the shape of your answer.
考官还没读第一个词，就先看到你答案的形状。
Make the shape say: this student planned.
要让这个形状说出一句话：这位学生做过计划。
Inside and between the paragraphs, use linking words.
在段落内部和段落之间，要使用衔接词。
They tell the reader what you are doing next.
它们告诉读者你接下来要做什么。
In addition adds another idea of the same kind.
In addition 再加一个同类的想法。
However turns the reader towards the other side.
However 把读者引向相反的一面。
As a result shows that one thing caused another.
As a result 表示一件事导致了另一件事。
Aim for about one linking word per paragraph.
每段大约用一个衔接词就够了。
Two or three well-placed ones read like a confident writer; one in every sentence reads like a list.
两三个用得恰到好处，读起来像一位自信的作者； 每句话都塞一个，读起来就只是在罗列。
Your language mark has two halves.
语言分由两半组成。
The first is range — how much English you can show.
第一半是多样性——你能展示多少英语。
Read this: We went to the park.
读这段：我们去了公园。
We played football.
我们踢了足球。
We ate lunch.
我们吃了午饭。
Every sentence is built the same way, and it sounds like a young child.
每个句子的结构都一样，听起来像小孩说话。
Now mix the lengths and the shapes: After we arrived at the park, we played football, and later we ate lunch under the trees.
现在把长短和结构混合起来：到了公园之后，我们踢了足球，后来在树下吃了午饭。
Use more than one tense too — show a range of tenses.
时态也要不止一种。
If you can add a sentence with would or had, the examiner sees range at once.
如果你能加入一句带 would 或 had 的句子，考官立刻就看见了多样性。
Vocabulary works the same way.
词汇也是一样。
Here a student uses the same easy word four times: the food was good, the weather was good, the day was good.
这里有位学生把同一个简单的词用了四次： 食物很好、天气很好、这一天很好。
Swap in a stronger word each time — delicious, sunny, unforgettable — and the writing lifts immediately.
每次换上一个更有力的词——美味的、阳光明媚的、难忘的——文章立刻就提升了。
Keep two or three good synonyms ready for words you always repeat: good, nice, big, said.
为那些你老是重复的词准备两三个好的同义词：good、nice、big、said。
One warning. A word you are not sure of can go badly wrong.
提醒一句：你没把握的词可能会出大错。
A simple word used correctly always beats an impressive word used wrongly.
用对的简单词，永远胜过用错的高级词。
One more part of vocabulary, and it wins easy marks: words that belong together.
词汇还有一部分，也能轻松拿分：那些天生搭配在一起的词。
English pairs some words happily and refuses others, and the examiner notices at once.
英语让某些词愉快地配对，也拒绝另一些，考官一眼就能看出来。
You do not do a decision — you make a decision.
不能说 do a decision，要说 make a decision。
Rain is never strong; it is heavy.
雨从来不是 strong，而是 heavy。
You do not say a joke; you tell one.
笑话不是 say，而是 tell。
There is no rule behind this, so learn them in pairs, as one single item, the way you learnt the word itself.
这背后没有规则，所以要成对地记， 把它们当成一个整体，就像当初记单词一样。
The same is true of set phrases. Keep three ready for any formal letter: I am writing to ask; I would be grateful if; and I look forward to hearing from you.
固定表达也一样： 为任何正式信件准备好三句——I am writing to ask；I would be grateful if； 以及 I look forward to hearing from you。
Learn them once, and use them all year.
学一次，用一整年。
The second half of the mark is accuracy: your grammar, your spelling and your punctuation.
分数的另一半是准确性。
Here is a real student paragraph, and here is what an examiner circles.
这是一段真实的学生作文，这是考官会圈出来的地方。
The verb does not agree with its subject: my friend like it, instead of my friend likes it.
主谓不一致：my friend like it，应该是 my friend likes it。
The tense slips halfway through: we go there yesterday.
时态中途改变：we go there yesterday。
Then a missing article — I went to shop, instead of to the shop.
缺冠词：I went to shop，应该是 to the shop。
And a capital letter for a day or a month: monday, with a small m.
星期或月份没有大写：monday 的 m 写成了小写。
Four small errors, four easy marks, and every one of them is findable in two minutes.
语法、拼写和标点，四个小错误，四分很容易拿到，而且每一个都能在两分钟里找出来。
So save the last two minutes and check, in this order.
所以要留出最后两分钟，按这个顺序检查。
First, every content point from the task — are they all there?
第一，题目里的每一个内容要点——都写到了吗？
That is the most expensive thing to miss.
漏掉它们代价最大。
Second, run through the verbs.
第二，把动词过一遍：主谓一致吗？
Does each one agree with its subject, and is it in the right tense?
时态对吗？
Third, the small words: a, an, the, and the capital letters.
第三，那些小词：a、an、the，还有大写字母。
Do not read for beauty.
不要为了欣赏而读。
You are hunting for the four or five mistakes you always make — and by now you know what they are.
你是在搜捕自己老犯的那四五个错误—— 到现在，你已经知道它们是什么了。
Three last habits.
最后三个习惯。
First, one register, all the way through — students lose marks by starting formal and then drifting into Hi and thanks by the third paragraph.
第一，从头到尾只用一种语域—— 很多同学开头很正式，写到第三段就冒出 Hi 和 thanks，白白丢分。
Second, learn what your own handwriting looks like at a hundred and fifty words, so you never stop to count in the exam.
第二，记住自己写一百五十个词大概是多少行，这样在考场上你就永远不用停下来数词数。
Third, remember that a short correct sentence beats a long broken one, every single time.
第三，记住：短而正确的句子，永远胜过长而残破的句子。
Plan for one minute, write for most of the time, and always keep two minutes to check.
用一分钟做计划，把大部分时间用来写，并且永远留出两分钟检查。