雅思大作文好good idea

 Planning IELTS essays and finding¹ ideas

　　This lesson looks at how planning better can help you write better essays. I focus in particular on “ideas” – something that catches many candidates² out. The two key points are that the ideas you need to write an IELTS essay are fairly simple and it helps to make a difference between ideas, reasons and examples.

　　Problem 1 – not enough ideas 观点不够

　　This is one of most common reasons for candidates to go wrong in the writing paper. They see a question. Try to think of ideas. Come up empty and panic. You will find part of my solution to this below. For now, I will just say that you need very few ideas to write a good essay and those ideas can be simple ideas too. Don’t buy a book on ideas for essays, instead learn this tip:

　　Tip – you need only 2 ideas to write an essay and those ideas are often found in the question

　　Problem 2 – the ideas are confused 观点混淆

　　This is also a very common mistake. There are plenty of ideas to write an essay. The problem is that the reader/examiner does not know what the main ideas are.

　　Tip – make sure you have one main idea per paragraph. This should be clear from the first sentence of the paragraph

　　Problem 3 – too many ideas 观点太多

　　Yes, some people do have too many ideas. This is a trap for candidates aiming for a high score. In particular, if they are used to writing academic essays. IELTS is a 250 word essay marked on language. That means it is probably much shorter than you are used to and there are no marks for quality and quantity of ideas.

　　Tip – select only enough ideas to write a complete essay – that means one per paragraph

　　Finding ideas for essays 怎么确定观点呢？、

　　Step 1 – understand the difference between ideas, reasons and examples 区分观点、原因、例子的区别

　　When I ask my students in a class for “ideas”, they quite often stare at me in silence. When I ask them the question “why” or ask them to give me an example, they (normally³!) have plenty to say. That should tell you there is a difference between ideas, reasons (why) and examples. The good news is ideas are not the problem in IELTS, what you need are reasons and examples. They are normally much easier to find.

　　A paragraph is one idea: supported with reasons and examples. You only need two ideas.

　　Step 2 – learning⁴ where to find ideas for essays?试着从问题里找观点

　　The ideas you need for an essay are nearly always found in the question. They are typically so big that you think they are too easy to be a real idea. That’s the trap. What do I mean? Take this example:

　　Human activities have endangered many animal and plant species⁵. Some people think it is too late to save them, while others think humans should still take some action. Discuss both views and express your own opinions.

　　This is one of the harder questions I have seen recently, but the ideas you need are simple enough.

　　It is too late to save endangered species

　　It is not too late to save species

　　It is that easy. Those two ideas are your two main topic paras. All you need now are some reasons and examples.

　　Step 3 – finding reasons and examples – ask yourself questions 通过问问题来确定原因和例子

　　Here you have different options. One trick is simply ask yourself the questions “why?” or “how?” or “when?” or what?” That is often enough.

　　Step 4 – thinking vocabulary gives you more “ideas” 通过词汇来激发灵感

　　This is something else I use with my students a lot. It might also work for you. The concept⁶ is that once you have words, then “ideas” come naturally from those words. Try thinking of “planning words” and see if it works⁷ for you.

　　Organising and selecting your ideas reasons and examples

　　Key concept – one idea per paragraph supported by reasons and examples 一段一观点

　　Look at these two sample paragraphs from the essay and see how I use simple ideas from the question:

　　Much of the argument against taking any action to save these species is that the process is irreversible. Just to take one example, there are now so few Giant Pandas left in the wild, they will in all probability⁸ become extinct⁹ in the foreseeable future. There are simply too few bamboo forests left in order for them to survive. This is also the case with many other endangered species who have lost, or are losing, their natural habitat.

　　NotesThe first sentence outlines what the paragraph is about. It is the idea from the question: Some people think it is too late to save them. The rest of paragraph is an explanation of that idea

　　Giant Pandas arre threatened and will die out (example)

　　Problem with habitat (extended example)

　　Other species have same pattern (explanation of example)

　　The opposite view is that it is the responsibilty of mankind to act and try and save these species for posterity¹⁰.There is a moral¹¹ aspect to this argument because most of these species are only endangered because of man’s actions and it is our duty to make amends¹². Another consideration is that advances in science, especially in the field of genetics, mean that we may be able to recreate some of their lost habitats. It is no longer the case that the only option is to preserve these species for future generations in zoos and botanical gardens.

　　Notes

　　You should see that this paragraph follows almost the same model. There is one clear and simple idea in the first sentence. It relates back to the question words: while others think humans should still take some action. The rest of the paragraph explains that idea:

　　moral duty because it is our fault (reason why)

　　science can now help through genetics (second reason why)

　　zoos are not the only solution (extended second reason why)

　　Key concept – you don’t need to include all your reasons and examples

　　My “notes” for this essay included all this. They are my notes, so you don’t need to understand them all. What I want you to see is that I have not included everything. In an academic essay I might have. Here I have selected the ideas that were easiest to write about.

　　zoos (example)

　　breed¹³ in captivity¹⁴ (example extended)

　　preservation¹⁵ (how)

　　giant pandas (example)

　　medical benefits (why)

　　loss of habitat (why)

　　river dolphins (example)

　　biodiversity (reason)

　　logging¹⁶ and rainforests (example)

　　dams (example)

　　progress of man (why)

　　deforestation (how)

　　bamboo forest (where)

　　science (why)

　　cloning (example)

　　genetics (example)

　　moral responsibility (why)

　　Key concept – balance your paragraphs

　　There are a number of different possible essay structures. My default¹⁷ (normal) structure is to have 2 paragraphs that balance each other – it is surprising how often this structure works. It is good for the coherence¹⁸ of the essay, it also makes it easier to write – especially if you are short of “ideas”. You use the second content paragraph can reflect the ideas in the first paragraph, but from the opposite point of view.

1 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

2 candidates   

n.报考者( candidate的名词复数 )；申请求职者；攻读学位者；最后命运或结局如何已显然可见者

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• one of the leading candidates for the presidency 总统职位的主要候选人之一

3 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

4 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

5 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

6 concept   

n.概念，观念，思想

参考例句：

• A small baby has no concept of right and wrong.婴儿没有是非概念。
• He was asked to define his concept of cool.他被要求说明自己关于“酷”的定义。

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

8 probability   

n.可能性，可能发生的事，概率

参考例句：

• The probability that it will rain today is high.今天下雨的可能性很大。
• He must calculate the probability of failure.他必须计算一下失败的概率。

9 extinct   

adj.灭绝的，不再活跃的，熄灭了的，已废弃的

参考例句：

• All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。

10 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

11 moral   

adj.道德(上)的，有道德的；n.品行，寓意，道德

参考例句：

• Moral beauty ought to be ranked above all other beauty.品德之美应列于其他美之上。
• He deceived us into believing that he could give us moral support.他骗得我们相信他能给我们道义上的支持。

12 amends   

n. 赔偿

参考例句：

• He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花，为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。
• This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。

13 breed   

n.品种，种类；vi.繁殖，产仔；vt.养殖，产生

参考例句：

• The parents are trying to breed their son a musician.这对父母尽力要把儿子培养成为音乐家。
• This breed of horses is both tall and heavily grown.这种马既高且大。

14 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

15 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

16 logging   

n.伐木搬运业；记录，存入；航行日志v.砍伐树木(log的现在分词)

参考例句：

• All these measures were calculated to prevent water-logging by rainstorm or mountain torrents. 这些措施都是为了预防暴雨或山洪造成的涝灾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。 来自辞典例句

17 default   

n./v.拖欠，违约，欠缺，默认，缺省

参考例句：

• He lost the world title by default.他由于弃权而失去了世界冠军的称号。
• In default of experts' help,we shall have to rely on our own efforts.没有专家的帮助，我们将只得依靠自己的力量。

18 coherence   

n.紧凑；连贯；一致性

参考例句：

• There was no coherence between the first and the second half of the film.这部电影的前半部和后半部没有连贯性。
• Environmental education is intended to give these topics more coherence.环境教育的目的是使这些课题更加息息相关。