Soccer is a difficult sport.(1)A player must be able to run steadily without rest.(2)Sometimes a player must hit the ball with his or her head.(3) Players must be willing to bang into and be banged into by others.(4) They must put up with aching feet and sore muscles.
上面的这则短文中,主题句(main idea sentence)也就是文章的中心是第一句,(1)(2)
(3)(4)句是用来说明主题句的。
而在汉语中,我们习惯于先分后总,先说原因后说结果,即所谓的“前因后果”,如果要表达相同的意思,我们通常这样说:
足球运动员必须能不停地奔跑,有时得用头顶球,撞别人或被别人撞,必须忍受双脚和肌肉的疼痛,所以说,足球运动是一项难度大的运动。
再比如写下面一则便条,因你母亲突然生病,周末你不能和汤姆去跳舞了,你找了舞跳得很好的时黛来代替你,并表示抱歉。
此英语便条为:
July 6,2002
Dear Tom,
I am sorry to inform you
that I won't be able to go to dance with you this weekend. My mother is suddenly takenill.In order not to disappoint you,I have asked Shi Dai to take my
place.She is a
better dancer,I think.My regrets.
Joe
从便条中可以看出,英语表达先“果”-I won't be able to go to dance with you this weekend后“因”-my mother is suddenly taken ill,即所谓的“先果后因”。
一般来说,在单个句子中,英语句子也是先中心,也就是将主要思想、结果放在句首,放在主句里表达;而汉语正相反,一般为后中心,主要的观点、信息往往放在句末。如:
He had to stay at hom e
yesterday because he was ill.因为他病了,昨天他不得不呆在家里。
Tragedies can be written in
literature since there is tragedy in life.生活中既然有悲剧,文学作品就可以写悲剧。
所以说,大学生用英文写作时,就要按照英美人的思维模式进行思考,也就是说要学会用英语进行思维,避免写出中国式的英语。