写作提升小技巧

Tips for Better Writing

慢速 | 四级（高考）标准 | 493词 | 3min57s

刘立军供稿

Part I. QUESTIONS

Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Q1. What does Jennifer Ahern-Dodson inquire about when starting a conversation about writing?

A. The preferred writing styles of her students.

B. Their previous encounters with writing, whether negative or positive.

C. The most common mistakes made in academic writing.

D. The students’ and professors’ favorite types of essays to write.

Q2. What does the report suggest is a primary concern for students when writing papers?

A. The ability to express their personal opinions.

B. The complexity of the research topic.

C. The exact length and format requirements of the paper.

D. The quality of their grammar and punctuation.

Q3. What can be inferred about the impact of anxiety on writing from the report?

A. It is beneficial for writers to feel anxious about their work.

B. Anxiety can significantly hinder the writing process.

C. Anxiety is only a problem for writers who are not native speakers.

D. Anxiety is irrelevant to the quality of writing.

Q4. What advice does Jennifer Ahern-Dodson give to help writers shift their focus from the final product?

A. To contemplate the consequences of not doing well.

B. To consider the personal significance of the subject matter.

C. To worry about the length and format of the paper.

D. To focus on the audience and what they want to convey.

Q5. What is the main purpose of the Education Report segment according to the text?

A. To provide tips for better writing.

B. To discuss the challenges of writing in a second language.

C. To promote the work of Jennifer Ahern-Dodson.

D. To announce upcoming events at Duke University.

Part II. TRANSCRIPT

Tips for Better Writing

Today we continue our series of expert suggestions for academic writing. Our guest is Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, assistant professor of the Practice in Writing Studies at Duke University in North Carolina.

Ms. Ahern-Dodson starts a conversation with both students and professors planning to write a paper or essay. (Q1) She asks about their earlier writing experiences. Were they negative or positive?

She advises that you are not alone if you have had problems with your writing. She says everyone struggles with writing.

“Writing is hard. All writers struggle at some point. And even if writing has come easily for you, at some point in your work as a student, that eventually you’re going to hit a roadblock. And so part of what I like to get folks thinking about is — besides writing’s hard for everybody — is to really take a moment to think about their past writing experiences. And when the writing is going well, what was happening? When the writing wasn’t going well, what was happening?”

She says most people’s negative writing experiences happened because a very special formula is required for a paper including an exact length.

“(Q2) And so they primarily focus on, and worry about, what the final product has to look like, like how many pages for a research essay? Or if it is in the second or third language, you know, punctuation and grammar, like whether it gets communicated in the right language.”

punctuation n. 标点符号

“And so focusing on the end makes it really hard to get started.”

Another problem can arise when the need to do well on a paper is extremely important.

“...like a timed essay exam, or a college application essay, or a research paper that is at the end of the semester, and it’s tied to the entire grade for the class. (Q3) So worrying about what will happen if they don’t do well — get bad grades, don’t get into college — creates, of course, significant anxiety. And that can make it harder to get the writing done.”

Then she and the people she’s helping move to more positive projects. She says usually when writing comes easily, the writers feel they have something important to say.

The teacher advises asking yourself questions. What personal understanding of the subject can you bring to your paper? Why is this subject important? For whom is it meaningful? Who will be reading it?

“(Q4) Think about who your audience is, and what it is that you really want to say to them. And what that can do is help you switch from the final product and what it can look like (to) really more on what you have to offer, your particular perspective.”

She says that is an important change for all writers.

Part III. KEY

Q1. B.【解析】细节题。根据“She asks about their earlier writing experiences. Were they negative or positive?”，可知Dodson她关注的是他们之前写作的经历，是消极的还是积极的。因此答案是B。

Q2. C.【解析】细节题。根据“And so they primarily focus on, and worry about, what the final product has to look like, like how many pages for a research essay?”，可知学生们主要关注并担心最终产品的样子，比如研究论文需要多少页？这表明学生在写作时最关心的是论文的确切长度和格式要求。因此答案是C。

Q3. B.【解析】推理题。根据“So worrying about what will happen if they don’t do well ... creates, of course, significant anxiety. And that can make it harder to get the writing done.”，可知担心表现不佳会产生焦虑，而这种焦虑会使写作变得更加困难。因此答案是B。

Q4. D.【解析】细节题。根据“Think about who your audience is, and what it is that you really want to say to them.”，可知Dodson建议作家思考他们的读者是谁，以及他们真正想要传达的信息，以帮助他们从过分关注最终产品，转向更关注自己想要提供的内容上。因此答案是D。

Q5. A.【解析】主旨题。整个文本的主旨在于提供写作建议，这可以从标题“Tips for Better Writing”和整个报道的内容中得出。因此答案是A。

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