等大家考完試，就要開始辛辛苦苦寫essay了。那寫文書有什么禁忌嗎？要怎么才能寫出美國人心目中的好文書呢？威久留學小編今天為大家總結了12條小技巧。(篇幅長，請仔細閱讀哦)

 

 

1.慎用美式英語中一些含有否定意義的詞匯

Be careful of using words that have a negative meaning in American English. The word “propaganda,” for example, means something like “government-controlled brainwashing” in the US. (Your best choice is to use the words “marketing” or“publicity” if you want to indicate that you organized a campaign to raise awareness of a certain problem.)

Likewise, in the US we do not use the words“cripple” and “retarded”; we use “handicapped” (or even better, “disabled”) and“developmentally disabled” or “mentally challenged.” We don’t call old people“old people”—we call them “elders” or “the elderly.” And we prefer “businessperson” or “business professional” to “businessman.”

慎用美式英語中一些含有否定意義的詞匯。例如，“propaganda”這個詞在美國就有點“政府洗腦式”的宣傳的意思了。(如果你想要表達你發起一項運動來提高人們對于某一問題的認識的話，最好選用“marketing”或是“publicity”。)

同樣的，在美國，也不會用“cripple”或者是“retarded”之類的詞，取而代之的是“handicapped”(disabled更好)以及“developmentally disabled”或“mentally disabled”。我們在稱呼老人時也不直接用“old people”，而是用“elders”或是“the elderly”。我們也不經常用“businessman”，而是用“businessperson”或“business professional ”。

2.變換句子的長短

Vary the length of the sentences in your essay. If you have written several long sentences in a row, insert a short sentence to give the reader a break. Variety in your sentences will make your essay easier to read (and thus more memorable).

It also demonstrates that you have a superior command of the English language. And don’t be afraid of including a one-sentence paragraph. Aone-sentence paragraph (especially at the beginning or end of your essay) will be very dramatic and grab the reader’s attention.

變換句子的長短。如果你已經連續用了幾個長句，那么插入一個短句能給讀者一個停頓的時間。句式多樣化能夠使你的短文更容易懂，因而也更容易讓人記住。這樣的句式變換也證明你的英語語言掌握的比較好。同時不要害怕運用一句式段落。一句式段落，(尤其是在短文的開頭結尾)會很出彩，也會吸引讀者的注意力。

3.不要試圖費力地運用一些特別長的句子或者特別大的詞匯

If English is your second language,don’t try to make it hard on yourself by writing really long sentences and using large vocabulary words. (Don’t say “internationalization”; just say“international.”

Why use “metropolis” when you can just use “city”?) Remember that the readers are not hoping to be impressed by your vocabulary—they want tobe impressed by your story.

如果英語是你的第二語言，那么不要試圖費力地運用一些特別長的句子或者特別大的詞匯。(不要用“internationalization”，用“international”就好了。另外，如果你可以用“city”，為什么要用“metropolis”呢?)記住，讀者并不希望被你的詞匯打動，而是被你的故事所打動。

4.對自己研究過的項目進行詳細說明

If you are applying to graduate school, your personal statement will need to include detailed evidence of your research. For example, if you are applying toa graduate program in biology, your PS should include specific descriptions of experiences you have had, such as research projects, internships, work in biological laboratories, and such.

The other key elements for graduate study applications are what you want to study, the field you are interested in, the background you have, why you have chosen this particular program, and your plans after graduation.

如果你正在申請研究生院校，那么你的個人簡歷就需要包括你研究項目的一些詳細的說明。例如，如果你正在申請生物專業的研究生項目，那么你的個人簡歷就需要對你的研究經歷進行詳細的描述，比如你的研究項目，實習經歷，以及在生物實驗這方面的工作等等。研究生學習申請的其他的一些關鍵因素還包括：你想要研究什么，你對哪一個領域感興趣，你的個人背景，選擇這一研究項目的原因以及畢業后的打算。

5.避免運用一些不恰當的理由

Avoid using inappropriate reasons for why a particular college is attractive to you. (I have actually seen essays where the applicant described how much he “loved” the University of Chicago and wanted to date her, and another where the applicant wrote that NYU was attractive because she just loved the color purple on theNYU website.) You must read the website carefully to discover specific programs, activities, curricula, distinguished professors (and the like) that you can point to and say, “THIS is why I want to go to University X.”

在說明某所大學為何對你有吸引力時，避免運用一些不恰當的理由。(曾經看過申請者在短文中描述自己是如何如何熱愛芝加哥大學，并想要和它約會的，而另一個人則在短文中說紐約大學吸引她僅僅是因為她喜歡紐約大學網站上的紫色)。

你必須仔細瀏覽學校官方網站，以便發現一些具體的項目、活動、課程，以及著名的教授，諸如此類的，然后你就可以在短文中指出這就是你想要去XX大學的原因。

6.不要只在短文中陳述學校多么好

Do not tell the school how good it is. “I want to attend the prestigiousUniversity X because it is a top US college with an international reputation,”just sounds insincere.

不要只在短文中陳述學校多么好。“我想要申請著名的XX大學，因為它是美國一所頂尖的大學，在國際上都享有盛譽。”這樣說的話會顯得不真誠。

7.吸引讀者的眼球

Catch the reader’s attention in the first sentence of your essay by writing something dramatic or humorous. In one excellent essay I read, the applicant (hoping to major in entomology), wrote this: “Ahhhh! There are bugs in the shampoo!'Doesn't that make you want to read more? (He then went on to describe how his mother had found one of his “science experiments” involving insects, and how experiences like this made him want to study entomology.)

在短文的開頭寫一些富有戲劇性的或者是幽默的東西，以吸引讀者的眼球。曾有一篇優秀的短文，申請人想要修昆蟲學專業，開頭他是這樣寫的：“啊，洗發露里竟然有蟲子！讀完，難道你不會想要繼續讀下去嗎?(接下來他又描述了他的母親如何發現了他的一次昆蟲“科學實驗”，以及這些經歷是怎樣使他最終想要研究昆蟲學的。)

8.首尾呼應

If you start with a story, you can end with some reference to the same story. (Our entomology student, for example, could then mention his mother’s shock again in his last paragraph.)

如果你是以一個故事開頭的，那么你可以在結尾的時候再提一下這個故事，所謂“點題”(例如，這位昆蟲學的學生在最后一段再次提到他的母親對他這些行為有多震驚。)

9.恰當的引用能夠大大增強文章的可信度。

Well-chosen quotations can add powerful credibility to your essay. All you need to do is decide what the key concept of your essay is (such as strength, honor, or patience)and then use the internet to find quotations that use any of these keywords.The best quotations come from persons who are well-known to both Chinese andAmerican readers, and they must be admirable persons. (Past American andChinese presidents are good examples.) The quote should be short, about one powerful sentence in length. Including a striking quotation in your essay is particularly persuasive if you are applying to a humanities program or want to be an English major, as it demonstrates the breadth of your reading.

恰當的引用能夠大大增強文章的可信度。而你需要做的就是選定你的文章所要表達的關鍵點，(比如說個人特長，獲得的榮譽，或者是參加的實踐活動等等)，然后再根據這些關鍵詞在網上搜索有關這方面的引文。

最好的引文是出自那些在中國和美國讀者中都比較有名并且令人敬佩的人。(前任美國總統，中國主席這些都是比較好的例子。)引文最好簡短有力，大概一句那么長。如果你想要申請人文學科項目或者是想要學英語專業，那么這樣漂亮的引文會使文章非常有說服力的，因為這樣的引用可以證明你閱讀廣泛。

10.突出自己的個性

Your purpose in writing your essay is to come across as a unique individual, one who stands out from all the other applicants and one whose writing style is lively, fresh, and different. For undergraduate essays, the personal details of your life and the struggles you have had to overcome will make good stories. Good stories are memorable. You don’t have to be a perfect person; indeed, it may be that any “flaws” you have will convince the reader that you are a muti-faceted person who learns from your mistakes. These flaws don’t have to be terrible:You can describe the time that you made complete a fool of yourself before your friends. (Americans call this the “My most embarrassing moment” essay.) Then tell the reader what you learned from this experience.

你的寫作目的是為了突出你是一個獨特的個體，一個在眾多申請者中脫穎而出的人，而你的寫作風格也應是生動活潑，新穎清新，與眾不同的。對于本科生的文書寫作來說，你的個人的生活經歷以及奮斗歷程都會成為比較好的故事素材。好的故事一定是令人印象深刻的。當然你不必是一個非常完美的人，相反恰恰是這些缺點會使讀者相信你是多面的，你是能夠從錯誤中吸取教訓的。這些缺點不必是一些特別嚴重的：你可以描述你在朋友面前出糗的一次經歷(美國稱這類的文章為“我最尷尬時刻”類文章)。然后再告訴讀者你從這次經歷中學到了什么。

11.盡可能使你的文章具體一些

Always try to make your writing as “concrete” as possible, meaning that you provide specific examples (or stories) to support your main points. Instead of just writing, for example, “I spent two months doing chemistry research,” describe the nature of that research, what process you used, and what it taught you. Depth is more important than breadth.

The reader will be more impressed by specific details about ONE of your experiences then a list of twenty experiences. (Save the list of experiences for your resume.)

盡可能使你的文章具體一些，這就意味著你要提供一些具體的事例或故事來支撐你的主要觀點。例如，不要只是寫“我做過兩個月的化學研究”，而是應該詳細地描述一下這次研究的性質，采用的方法，以及你收獲了什么。文章的深度比廣度更重要。比起羅列一堆你的個人經歷，你的某一次經歷中的一些細節更能打動讀者(你可以把這些經歷用在簡歷上)。

12.陳述你的宗教信仰也是完全可以的

It is perfectly all right to describe your particular religion in an undergraduate essay. Readers in the US come from many different religious backgrounds and the admission officers will most likely be broad-minded and tolerant. The main thing is not to try and “convert” the reader—you simply want to show how being a Buddhist (or a Catholic, or a Christian, or whatever) has had a profound impact on your life.

本科文書中陳述你的宗教信仰也是完全可以的。美國讀者大都來自不同的宗教背景并且學校招生人員也都是心胸比較寬廣的人。但不必試圖改變讀者的宗教信仰，你只需說明作為一名佛教徒(或者是天主教徒、基督徒等等)給你帶來了怎樣重大的影響。