143 How to Improve Your Writing Skills

 

　　By the time you reach this page, you will have studied 142 lessons of this book. You will have learnedmany new words, idioms, sentence structures¹ and quite a bit of grammar. You will have come to a stage whereyou might be asking yourself, "How much have I improved, if at all?"Why not give yourself a simple test? Read a short text. Read it carefully, then try to rewrite what youhave just read, in your own words. After that, compare what you have written to the text. This is calledparaphrasing. In face, it is a good way to improve your writing skills.

spoken English 口语英语     wirtten English 写作英语    writing skills
carperter 木匠     He is skilled² in carpentry.
By the time 到...时候
kick the bucket³ 俏皮话    pass away 过世
I've received a sentence of five years.
He was setenced to five years.
flunk⁴ or fail
How many girlfriends do you have, if at all?
 

1 structures   

n.结构( structure的名词复数 )；[生物学]构造；机构；构造物v.组织( structure的第三人称单数 )；安排；制定

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flexibility of labour was obtained through the breakup of old trade union structures. 打破了旧的工会结构之后，雇用劳工可以灵活处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

3 bucket   

n.水桶，一桶之量，吊桶

参考例句：

• The bottom of the bucket has worn through after all this time.经过这么长时间，这只桶的底部终于磨穿了。
• Can you fill me a bucket of water,please?请给我打一桶水好吗？

4 flunk   

v.(考试)不及格(=fail)

参考例句：

• I will flunk him if my student doesn't learn the material in the course.如果我的学生没有掌握课程的内容，我就会让他不及格。
• If you flunk finals,you don't get the chance to do them again.如果你没通过期末考试，就没有机会再考一次了。