Writing a Report
IGCSE English Topic 5 7:50 English narration · English + 中文 subtitles burned in
Chapters
Transcript
A club leader has to decide whether to run the school trip again next year.
社团负责人要决定明年是否再办这次学校旅行。
Two students send her an account of it.
两位同学各写了一份说明给她。
The first says: <slow>The trip was amazing!
第一位写：这次旅行太棒了！
We had so much fun and everyone loved it.
我们玩得特别开心，大家都很喜欢。
You should definitely do it again!</slow> The second says: Thirty-two students went.
你一定要再办一次！ 第二位写：共有三十二名学生参加。
The coach arrived forty minutes late, so we missed the first tour.
大巴迟到了四十分钟，所以我们错过了第一场讲解。
Twenty-eight students said they would go again.
三十二人中有二十八人表示还想再去。
Only one of those is a report — and only one of them lets her decide anything at all.
这两份里只有一份是报告——也只有一份能让她真正做出决定。
A report.
报告。
You write it for someone in charge — a head teacher, a manager, a club leader — about an event, an experience or a situation.
你是写给负责人的——校长、经理，或者社团负责人—— 内容是一件事、一次经历，或者一种情况。
It is the most factual task on the paper, and once you know its shape it is also one of the most predictable marks you can earn.
它是整张卷子上最讲事实的一道题；而一旦你掌握了它的结构， 它也是最容易稳拿的分数之一。
We will cover who reads it, the four headings that hold it together, the one rule that separates a report from a story, and the phrases that make it sound professional.
我们会讲：谁在读它、 撑起它的四个小标题、把报告和故事区分开的那条规则， 以及让它听起来专业的常用表达。
Start with the reader, because a report has a very particular one.
先看读者，因为报告的读者很特别。
Your reader is not there to enjoy your writing.
你的读者不是来欣赏你的文笔的。
They have a decision to make, and they will act on what you send them.
他有一个决定要做，而且他会照你写的去行动。
Should the trip run again?
这次旅行明年还办吗？
Should the library open later?
图书馆要不要延长开放？
Should we buy the new equipment?
我们该不该买新设备？
So everything you write must help them decide.
所以你写的每一句都必须帮助他做决定。
A sentence that does not help the decision costs you words and gains you nothing.
不能帮助决定的句子，既费你的字数，又拿不到分。
Ask of every line you write: could my reader actually act on this? If the honest answer is no, that line does not belong in a report.
写每一行时都问自己：我的读者能照这句话去行动吗？
Second, a report is not a letter, and students lose very easy marks here.
第二，报告不是书信，同学们在这里丢的分特别冤。
It never begins with Dear anyone, and it never ends with Yours sincerely.
它绝不用 Dear 开头，也绝不用 Yours sincerely 结尾。
It begins with a title that says what it is about: Report on the Year Ten Science Trip.
它以一个说明主题的标题开头：《关于十年级科学考察的报告》。
Some tasks give you To, From and Subject lines instead — if the task shows you a format, copy that format exactly.
有些题目会给你 To、From、Subject 三行——题目给了格式，就照抄那个格式。
And it ends with your recommendation, not with a sign-off.
结尾是你的建议，不是落款。
Title at the top, recommendation at the bottom, and nothing letter-shaped in between.
标题在最上面，建议在最下面，中间不能有任何像书信的东西。
Now the shape — and this is what makes a report look like a report on the page.
接下来是结构——正是它让报告在纸面上一看就像报告。
Break it into short headed sections.
把内容分成几个带小标题的短小段落。
Four headings will handle almost any task the exam sets: Introduction, Good points, Problems, Recommendation.
四个标题几乎能应付考试给的任何题目：引言、优点、问题、建议。
Write each one on its own line, and keep each section to two or three sentences.
每个标题单独占一行，每一节写两三句话就够。
The headings do two jobs at once. They let a busy reader find what they need in seconds — and they force you to keep each kind of information in its own place.
小标题同时做两件事：让忙碌的读者几秒钟就找到需要的内容， 同时也逼着你把每一类信息放在它该在的位置。
Inside that shape sits one rule, and it is the rule that turns a story into a report.
在这个结构里有一条规则，正是它把故事变成报告。
The middle sections carry facts only: what happened, how many, how long, what people said.
中间几节只写事实：发生了什么、多少人、多长时间、大家说了什么。
Your opinion stays out of them completely.
你的看法完全不出现在这里。
The last section carries your opinion — and only there.
最后一节才写你的看法——而且只在那里。
That is where you say what should change.
那是你说明什么该改变的地方。
Facts in the middle, opinion at the end.
事实在中间，看法在结尾。
If an examiner can point at a sentence in your Problems section and say "that is just your view", you have blurred the very line this task exists to test.
如果考官能指着你"问题"一节里的某句话说"这只是你的看法"， 那你就把这道题真正要考的那条界线弄模糊了。
So you need to tell the two apart quickly.
所以你要能迅速分辨这两者。
Try these four.
试试下面四句。
The coach arrived forty minutes late.
大巴迟到了四十分钟。
That is a fact — someone else could check it.
这是事实——别人可以去核实。
The coach company was hopeless.
那家大巴公司太差劲了。
That is an opinion; it is a judgement, and it belongs at the end, if anywhere.
这是看法，是一种评价，只能放在结尾，甚至根本不该出现。
Twenty-eight of thirty-two students said they would go again — fact.
三十二人中有二十八人表示还想再去——事实。
Everyone had an amazing time — opinion, and a vague one.
大家都玩得特别开心——看法，而且很含糊。
The test is simple. Could another person check it and get the same answer?
判断标准很简单：换一个人去核实，会得到同样的答案吗？
If yes, it is a fact.
会，就是事实。
Which brings us to the single easiest way to make a report stronger: numbers.
这就引出让报告变强最简单的一招：数字。
Many students were unhappy tells the reader almost nothing.
"很多同学不满意"几乎什么信息也没给读者。
Twenty-eight of the thirty-two students were unhappy tells them everything they need.
"三十二人中有二十八人不满意"就把他需要的都说清楚了。
The library is often full becomes every table is full by four o'clock.
"图书馆经常满座"改成"每天四点以前每张桌子都坐满了"。
You do not need real data.
你不需要真实数据。
The exam accepts numbers you invent, as long as they are sensible.
只要合乎情理，考试接受你自己编的数字。
But a number turns a vague sentence into a fact — and facts are exactly what this task is marked on.
但数字能把含糊的句子变成事实——而事实正是这道题的给分点。
The tone of a report is calm — deliberately, almost flatly calm.
报告的语气是平静的——而且是刻意的、近乎平淡的平静。
Out go the strong words: amazing, terrible, awful, brilliant.
强烈的词要去掉：amazing、terrible、awful、brilliant。
Out go exclamation marks and jokes.
感叹号和玩笑也要去掉。
In come the neutral ones: the main problem is, many students felt that, at present, however.
换上中性的说法：the main problem is、many students felt that、at present、however。
It can feel dull to write, and that is exactly right.
写起来可能会觉得没意思，而这恰恰是对的。
A report should sound like somebody being useful, not somebody being entertaining — and the mark scheme is looking for the first one.
报告听上去应该像一个在帮忙的人，而不是一个在逗趣的人—— 评分标准要的是前者。
Keep a small bank of report phrases ready, one set for each job.
准备一小套报告常用表达，每项任务各一组。
To introduce: The aim of this report is to… or This report looks at… To give facts: At present… The main problem is… Many students felt that… And to recommend: I recommend that… It would help if… The best solution is to… Nine phrases in total. Learn them once, and you will never again lose exam time hunting for a way to begin a section.
引出话题：The aim of this report is to…… 或 This report looks at…… 陈述事实：At present…… The main problem is…… Many students felt that…… 提出建议：I recommend that…… It would help if…… The best solution is to…… 一共九句。
Notice how calm and impersonal they all are — that is the register a report lives in.
学一次，以后在考场上就再也不用为"这一节该怎么开头"浪费时间。
Then the ending, which carries far more marks than its length suggests.
接着是结尾，它承载的分数远比它的长度多。
A weak ending repeats: In conclusion, the trip had some good points and some problems.
差的结尾只是重复：总之，这次旅行有优点也有问题。
The reader learns nothing they did not already know.
读者一点新东西也没得到。
A strong ending names an action and a reason: I recommend that the coach is booked for eight o'clock, so that no tour time is lost.
好的结尾说明一个行动和一个理由： 我建议把大巴改订到八点，这样就不会占用讲解时间。
One or two recommendations is right, each tied to a problem you actually raised.
写一到两条建议就够，每一条都要对应你前面真的提过的问题。
Never recommend something you never mentioned.
绝不要为一个你从没提过的事情提建议。
Here is a model, and the split is visible at a single glance.
这是一篇范文，事实与看法的分界一眼就能看出来。
Introduction: This report looks at the school library and suggests ways to improve it.
引言：本报告考察学校图书馆，并提出改进建议。
One line, and the reader knows the topic and the purpose.
一句话，读者就知道了主题和目的。
Good points: it is quiet, it has a wide range of science books, and it opens every day after school.
优点：环境安静，科学类藏书种类丰富，每天放学后都开放。
Facts.
都是事实。
Problems: there are only two computers, and every table is full by four o'clock.
问题：只有两台电脑，每天四点以前每张桌子都坐满了。
Facts, with numbers.
事实，而且带数字。
Recommendation: the school should add five computers and open a second study room in the evening.
建议：学校应增加五台电脑，并在晚间开放第二间自习室。
Only here does an opinion appear.
只有在这里，看法才出现。
Two minutes, four checks.
两分钟，四项检查。
One: is there a title, and is there no Dear anywhere on the page?
第一：有标题吗？ 整页纸上有没有出现 Dear？
Two: does every section have a heading?
第二：每一节都有小标题吗？
Three: read your middle sections and hunt for opinion words — amazing, terrible, best, worst.
第三：读一遍中间几节，搜寻带看法的词——amazing、terrible、best、worst。
Every one you find belongs at the end, or nowhere.
找到的每一个，要么挪到结尾，要么删掉。
Four: does your last section name an action?
第四：最后一节说明了一个行动吗？
Then your usual grammar errors, as always.
然后照例检查你常犯的语法错误。
Three habits to carry in.
带三个习惯进考场。
First, write your four headings before you write a single sentence; after that the report almost fills itself in.
第一，在写第一句话之前，先把四个小标题写好； 之后报告几乎会自己填满。
Second, put a number in every section — it is the fastest way there is to sound factual.
第二，每一节都放一个数字——这是让文章显得客观最快的办法。
Third, keep every opinion for the last heading, and make it an action.
第三，把所有看法都留到最后一个标题下，并且写成一个行动。
Do those three, and the report becomes the most mechanical task on the paper — in the very best possible way, because a mechanical task is one you can practise until it is automatic.
做到这三点，报告就会成为整张卷子上最"机械"的一道题——而这正是好事。