Ⅱ.段落的基本特征

1.段落的统一性

段落的统一性是指主题思想贯穿整个段落。段落中的每个细节都应支持主题句。为了支持主题句，要尽可能多地提供细节，但要避免滥用细节。一个段落内的各个句子必须从属于一个中心，任何游离于中心思想之外的句子都是不可取的。如：

Joe and I decided to take the long trip we'd always wanted across the country. We were like young kids buying our camper and stocking it with all the necessities of life. Bella bakes the best rhubarb（大黄）pie. We started out in early spring from Minneapolis and headed west across the northern part of the country. We both enjoyed those people we met at the trailer park.Joe received a watch at his retirement dinner. To our surprise， we found that we liked the warm southern regions very much ， and so we decided to stay here in New Mexico.

本段的主题句是段首句，中心思想是take the long trip across the country。文中出现两个不相关的句子，一个是Bella bakes the best rhubarb pie，这一段是讲的是Joe and I，中间出现一个Bella是不合适的。还有，Joe received a watch at his retirement dinner.这一句更是与主题句不相关。学生在写作时常常会写出不相关语句，因此值得引起我们的注意。再如：

My name is Roseanna， and I like to keep physically fit. I used to weigh two hundred pounds， but I joined the YMCA for an exercise class and diet program. In one year I lost eighty pounds.I feel much better and never want to have that muchweight on my five-feet frame again. I bought two new suitcases last week.Everyday I practice jogging three miles， swimming fifteen laps，lifting twenty-pound weights and playing tennis for one hour.My mother was a premature baby.

本段的中心句是like to deep physically fit，但段中有两个不相关的句子，一个是I bought two new suitcases last week，另一个是My mother was a premature baby.

从上面两个例子可以看出，在写作过程中，如果这种句子多了，会造成偏题或离题，那问题就更严重了，因此，在写作过程中，段落中的每一个句子都要与该段的中心思想保持一致。

2.段落的完整性

段落的完整性指的是段落展开充分。主题句一旦确定，就应该展开论述，细节越充足越好，可以使用给出数字、列举例子、进行描绘等方法来展开段落。一个段落的主题思想靠推展句来实现，如果只有主题句而没有推展句来进一步交代和充实，就不能构成一个完整的段落。同样，虽然有推展句，但主题思想没有得到相对圆满的交代，给读者一种意犹未尽的感觉。这样的段落也不能完成其交际功能。如：

Physical work can be a useful form of therapy for a mind in turmoil. Work concentrates your thoughts on a concrete task.Besides， it is more useful to work—you produce something rather than more anxiety or depression.

本段的主题句是段首句。本段的两个推展句均不能回答主题句中提出的问题。什么是“a mind in turmoil”（心境不平静），physical work又如何能改变这种情况？为什么它能起therapy的作用？读者得不到明确的答案。再如：

It is not always true that a good picture is worth a thousand words. Often writing is much clearer than a picture. It is sometimes difficult to figure out what a picture means， but a careful writer can almost always explain it.

段首句所表达的主题思想是一种看法，必须有具体事例加以验证。上述两个推展句只是在文字上对主题作些解释，整个段落内容空洞，简而不明。如果用一两个具体的例子的话，就可以把主题解释清楚了。如：

It is not always true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes， pictures are pretty useless things. If you can't swim and fall in the river and start gulping water， will you be better off to hold up a picture of yourself drowning， or start screaming “Help”？

再如：

Ever since the advent of a computer， it has played an important role in people's lives. The computer used in the Manhattan Project led to the successful creation of the atomic bomb ①in the 1940s. Computers were also applied to the process control of products and scientific calculation ② from the 1950s to 1970s. Scientists employed a number of computers in the simulation of power plants and weather forecasts ③ at the beginning of the 1980s. ④Nowadays， computers have become a moving office along with the Internet and phones so people can work using them anywhere， anytime.

本段的主题句是：Ever since the advent of a computer， it has played an important role in people's lives.细节是： ①in the 1940s；② from the 1950s to 1970s； ③ at the beginning of the 1980s； ④nowadays.本段按照时间顺序提供细节，举例说明计算机在人类生活的各个时期发挥的重要作用，因此，本段内容充实完整，详略得当。

3.段落的连贯性

段落的连贯性是指组成段落的各个句子之间的衔接具有逻辑性、有序性和流畅性。连贯的段落有助于读者理解作者的思想脉络，让读者感到其中的每个句子都是在其前一句的基础上自然而然发展来的。连贯性是判定段落成功与否的重要标志。连贯性是文章能够传达信息的关键。丧失了连贯性的文章没有组织结构，没有内在逻辑，因而出现“不能传达任何信息”的描述。段落的连贯性是指段落中的句子以清晰、符合逻辑的顺序连接。连贯性能保证各个观点之间以及观点与主题句之间形成联系。连贯性通过一致的时态、统一的逻辑顺序以及连接成分得以保证。在段落中，句子的时态要一致，如果随意变换时态，段落就不可能取得连贯性。对于一般类型文体，时态使用有章可循，如传记通常用过去时，描述类文章通常用现在时。选用哪一种时态取决于作者处理材料的方式。段落内容的展开和组织都需要有逻辑性。组织段落常用的逻辑顺序包括时间顺序、地点顺序、强调顺序、因果顺序、推论法的顺序、和归纳法的顺序等。

1）时间顺序

这种组织和安排的方法常见于对历史事件的叙述，叙事文学以及分步骤的说明文中，它给人自然连贯之感。如：

We had a number of close calls（险事）that day. Whenwe rose， it was obviously late and we had to hurry so as not to miss breakfast；we knew the dining room staff was strict about closing at nine o'clock. Then， when we had been driving in the desert for nearly two hours—it must have been close to noon—the heat nearly hid us in ； the radiator（散热器）boiled over and we had to use most of our drinking water to cool it down. By the time we reached the mountain， it was four o'clock and we were exhausted. Here，judgment ran out of us and we started the tough climbing to the summit， not realizing that darkness came suddenly in the desert.Sure enough，by six we were struggling and Andrew very nearly went down a steep cliff， dragging Mohammed and me along with him. Bynine， when the wind howled across the flat ledge of the summit ， we knew as we shivered together for warmth that it had not been our lucky day.

该段落通过一些表示时间的短语和句子，按照时间先后的顺序安排的整个段落的内容，整段内容脉络清晰，自然流畅。

2）地点顺序

段落以地点的顺序——先左后右，先上后下，先近后远顺序地展开，同样给人以自然连贯之感。如：

From a distance， it looked like a skinny tube， but as we got closer， we could see it flesh out before our eyes. It was tubular，all right， but fatter than we could see from far away.Furthermore， we were also astonished to notice that the building was really in two parts: a pagoda sitting on top of a tubular onestory structure. Standing ten feet away， we could marvel at how much of the pagoda was made up of glass windows. Almost everything under the wonderful Chinese roof was made of glass，unlike the tube that it was sitting on， which only had four.Inside， the tube was gloomy， because of the lack of light. Then a steep， narrow staircase took us up inside the pagoda and the light changed dramatically. All those windows let in a flood of sunshine and we could see out for miles across the flat land.

这段文章中，我们可以看出作者按照地点远近的顺序安排了整段的内容，由远及近，由外到内的描述了该塔的特征及结构，使读者清晰准确地了解了该塔。

3）强调顺序

先写次要的，后写主要的，把重要的放在最后写，是英语作文的一个特征。在安排段落中句子的前后顺序时，也应先次后主，以期达到连贯流畅的目的。如：

When William Holmes McGuffey was appointed president of Ohio University in 1839， hewas sixdays short of his thirtyninth birthday. But already he was far more serious and already he had acquired far more academic honors than most men twice his age. He had been teaching professionally since he was twelve. He had tutored and reared a younger brother. He had taught at Miami University and served as president of Cincinnati College.And he had written the incredibly popular McGuffey Eclectic Readers， which eventually were to become the nation's number 2 best-seller， only after the Bible itself.

同样，在段落中，句子本身的主次顺序也关系到段落的连贯。根据英语作文的要求，主次顺序总是先次要的，后重要的，最要强调的部分放在最后。在句子中，状语、定语、同位语是附加成分，是次要的，主语和谓语是主要的。换言之，在作文中，一是要把强调的成分置于句末，二是让次要成分充当定语或状语。如：

Modernwood burners are about eighty percent efficient，compared with the thirty percent track record of earlier wood burners and the fifteen percent efficiency of the notorious open fireplace.

Today's wood burner is basically a double-walled stove with controllable combustion air inlets let in only the minimum amount of air needed to keep the wood burning efficiently.

这两个句子选自同一段落的开头，第一句违反了第一条原则，第二句违反了第二条原则。如果把第一句的状语置于句首，主句放在后面，句子就会改进为：

Compared with the thirty percent track record of earlier wood burners and the fifteen percent efficiency of the notorious open fireplace， modern wood burners are about eighty percent efficient.

第二句也作相应的处理，让次要成分充当同位语：

Today's wood burner， basically a double-walled stove with controlled combustion air inlets， uses only the minimum of air needed to keep the wood burning efficiently.

由此可见，掌握细节的主次关系和句子本身的结构，是安排好段落中强调顺序的关键。

4）因果顺序

在说明文和议论文中，经常遇到要说明事物发生的原因，以及一定的原因所导致的结果。通常的顺序为：甲导致乙或乙由甲所导致。如：

Most people become less active as they grow older， and，although your bodywill require less food， you will probably continue to eat the same amount as you did when younger. As a result， your body will lose its shape and efficiency. You must determine to eat less and to be more active.

从本段中，我们可以看出由于人们上年纪后活动减少，而进食量不减，所以导致体形变坏，从而得出为了保持良好的体形需少量进食、多锻炼的结论。本段安排的顺序为原因在前，结果在后。再如：

For jogging， there are as many reasons as there are participants. This person runs to lower his blood pressure. That person runs to escape the telephone or a cracky spouse or a filthy household. Another person runs to avoid doing anything else， to dodge a decision about how to lead his life or a realization that his life is leading nowhere. Each of us has his carrot and stick.In my case， the stick is my slackening physical condition， which keeps me from beating opponents at tennis whom I overwhelmed two years ago. My carrot is to win.

这一段则列出人们跑步的各种原因，这是先写结果，后写原因的一种表达方式。

5）推论法的顺序

推论法的顺序即从总的概念到具体情节，常见于记叙文、说明文和论述文中。如：

If a reader is lost， it is generally because the writer has not been careful enough to keep him on the path. This carelessness can take any number of forms. Perhaps a sentence is so excessively cluttered that the reader， hacking his way through the verbiage（冗词赘语）， simply doesn't know what it means. Perhaps a sentence has been so shoddily（劣质地）constructed that the reader could read it in any of several ways. Perhaps the writer has switched tenses， or has switched pronouns in mid-sentence， so the reader loses track of when the action took place or who is talking.Perhaps sentence B is not logical sequel to sentence A—the writer，in whose head the connection is clear， has not bothered to provide the missing link. Perhaps the writer has used an important word incorrectly by not taking the trouble to look it up. He may think that “sanguine”（红润的；乐观的）and “sanguinary（血腥的，残暴的）mean the same thing ， but the difference is a bloody （very） big one. The reader can only infer what the writer is trying to imply.

这一段中作者先指出如果读者无法理解文章，这基本上是由于作者的不认真，不仔细而导致的；然后，通过一个句子，总的指出作者的不认真可能表现多种形式；最后，用五个“perhaps”阐明五种可能存在的具体原因，先指出总的概念，再描述具体的细节，先总后分，该段就是按照推论法的顺序安排内容，前后衔接紧密，内容连贯通畅。

6）归纳法的顺序

归纳法的顺序是指从具体细节到总的概念或结论，主要用于说明文或议论文。如：

I do not understand why people confuse my Siamese cat （暹罗猫）， Prissy， with the one I had several years ago， Henry. The two cats are only alike in breed. Prissy， a quiet， feminine feline（猫科的）， loves me dearly but not possessively. She likes to keep her distance from people， exert her independence and is never so rude as to beg， lick， or sniff unceremoniously（随便的）. Her usual posture is sitting upright， eyes closed， perfectly still.Prissy is a very proper cat. Henry， on the other hand， loved me dearly but possessively. He was my shadow from morning till night. He expected me to constantly entertain him. Henry never cared who saw him do anything， whether it was decorous（proper） ornot， and he usually offended my friends insome way. The cat made himself quite comfortable， on the top of the television ， across stranger's feet or laps， in beds， drawers， sacks，closets， or nooks. The difference between them is imperceptible to strangers.

作者在该段中，先分别阐述两只猫的特点，让读者通过对比发现两只猫的异同，最后用一个句子总结指出陌生人是很难察觉这两只猫的区别，即先从具体细节出发，再到总的概念或结论，因此，该段就是按照典型的归纳法的顺序安排内容的段落。

除了以上一些组织段落的逻辑顺序外，为了使段落更具连贯性，我们还可以借助一些段落中的连接成分。段落中的连接成分是指段落中使用的过渡词（Transitional Words），过渡词是用以连接词与句子、句子与句子、段落与段落之间的关系词。恰当地运用过渡词，可使句子间的意义更清楚，段落间的过渡更连贯。文章结构更严谨更有层次，使全篇文章成为有机统一的整体。过渡词是一种关系指引词，它是连接句与句，段与段之间的纽带，过渡词一般为副词或起副词作用的短语，另外，代词、连词、上下文的同义词也可以起到过渡的作用。在传统的汉语写作中，人们讲究文章的起、承、转、合，那么，英语写作也应该如此，而过渡词的作用正在于使文章更好地做到这一点。如：

Walter's goal in life was to become a successful surgeon.First， though， he had to get through high school ， so he concentrated all his efforts on his studies—in particular，biology， chemistry， and math. Because he worked constantly on these subjects， Walter became proficient in them ；however， Walter forgot that he needed to master other subjects besides those he had chosen. Asa result， during his junior year of high school， Walter failed both English and Latin. Consequently， he had to repeat these subjects and he was almost unable to graduate on schedule.Finally， on June 6， Walter achieved the first step toward realizing his goal.

在本段文字中，作者使用了一些具有过渡意义的词或词组：first， though， so， in particular， and， because， however， besides， as a result， both... and， consequently， and， finally以及其他一些连接手段：he， his， these， them， those。

试比较以下两段短文，看看哪一段更具连贯性

（1）Speaking and writing are different in many ways. Speech depends on sounds. Writing uses written symbols. Speech developed about 500000 years ago. Written language is a recent development. It was invented only about six thousand years ago.Speech is usually informal. The word choice of writing is often relatively formal. Pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from. Pronunciation and accent are ignored in writing. A standard diction and spelling system prevails in the written language of most countries. Speech relies on gesture，loudness， and rise and fall of the voice. Writing lacks gesture，loudness and the rise and fall of the voice. Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences.

（2） Speaking and writing are different in many ways.Speech depends on sounds； writing， on the other hand， uses written symbols. Speech was developed about 500000 years ago，but written language is a recent development ， invented only about six thousand years ago. Speech is usually informal， while the word choice of writing， by contrast， is often relatively formal.Although pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from， they are ignored in writing because a standard diction and spelling system prevails in most countries. Speech relies on gesture， loudness， and the rise and fall of the voice， but writing lacks these features. Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences.

显然，由于使用了一些现形的过渡和短语，第二段相对第一段而言，更具连贯性，句与句之间意思更清楚，文章结构更严谨更有层次。