3） 写开头
常言道：万事开头难。写好文章的开头是短文写作的第一步。为了帮助大家能够有一个好的开头，在这里，我们向大家介绍三种最常用开头万能公式：
（1） 开头万能公式一：名人名言
世上有很多的名人名言，我们都可以把他们巧妙的运用到自己的写作中。但是有人会问：“我只记得一个大概的意思，而没有记住名言本身，那该怎么办？”对此，我们的建议就是：自己根据意思来编。其实，我们看到的很多东西，包括我们欣赏的文章都是编造出来的，所以大家尽管编，只不过一定要说得很有道理呦。对此，我们可以用到两种类型的经典句型：
A proberb says, “ ...” （适用于已记住的名言）
It goes without saying that….
或As everyone knows, No one can deny that… （适用于自编的名言）
（2） 开头万能公式二：数字统计
数字统计是最能够增强文章说服力的，所以我们在自己的写作中就应该用一些实际的数据来加以说明。当然，在原则上我们不应该使用虚假数字，可是在考试的时候没有更好的办法时，也只能自己编一些数据来应付，我们只要有东西写就万事大吉了。所以不妨试用下面的句型：
According to a recent survey, about 78.9% of …
A recent statistics shows that more than 85% young people…
这些数字看起来还蛮悬乎的，其实都是作者自己编造出来以假乱真的。
（3） 开头万能公式三：主题句或主题段
主题句是一个自然段中起核心作用的句子，它告诉读者本段的主要内容。我们在写作主题句时，应该选用那些简洁具体的词语，避免笼统化。
主题句通常位于段首。当主题句位于段首时，它可以让读者预感到下面还会读到什么内容。如：
Working in the neighborhood grocery store as a checker was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had. In the first place, I had to wear an ugly, scratchy uniform cut at least three inches too short. My schedule of working hours was another inconvenience because my hours changed each week, thus it was impossible to make plans in advance, and getting a day off was out of the question. In addition, the lack of working space bothered me. Except for a half-hour lunch break, I was restricted to three feet of room behind the counter and consequently felt as if I were no more than a cog in the cash register.
当然，主题句也可以放在段尾或段中，大家可以根据具体写作时行文的需要和自己的行文习惯进行适当安排。当主题句位于段尾时，它起到总结全段的作用。如：
Americans relaxing at home may put on kimonos, which is a Japanese word. Americans who live in a warm climate may take an afternoon siesta on an outdoor patio without even realizing that these are Spanish words. In their gardens, they may enjoy the fragrance of jasmine flowers, a word that came into English from Persian. They may even relax on a chalse longue while sipping a drink with vodka, words of French and Russian origin, respectively. So we can see there are many foreign words and phrases in American everyday language.
当然，当主题句位于段中时，它又起到了承上启下的过渡作用。如：
In September, Jack fell off the uneven bars and got a concussion. A month later he sprained his ankle, after a bad landing off the balance beam. Jack really shouldn’t have taken the gymnastics course. In January this year, he broke his thumb when he caught it on the bar of the pommel horse. He also broke the support beam in the basement of his parents’ home, showing them his skills when he was home for the December holidays. The result of his bad luck was that he failed to graduate in May.
为了让读者明白我们将要说些什么事或表达什么样的观点，我们就要借助主题段将文章主题介绍给读者。主题段一般不需要很长，只要能将我们的主要意图说清楚就行了。有时候，一个短小的主题段只有一个句子，此时，这个主题段也就是一个主题句。如：一篇标题为The Process of Sorting Letters的主题段（主题句）为：
Sorting letters is not a complicated process although there are eight steps of doing the job.
再如：一篇题为School Leaving Age的主题段可为：
Recently the school leaving age is raised to 13 years. Is it really the right way to benefit out society? I think all young people should at least stay at school until they are 18 years old, not 13.
资料来源：李华田主编《四级写作》，新大学英语四、六级考点透视丛书/李华田主编，武汉大学出版社，2006
