我們知道，大學(xué)英語(yǔ)四六級(jí)考試大綱規(guī)定：四六級(jí)考試命題的語(yǔ)料均選自英文原版材料，包括日常生活中的對(duì)話、講座、廣播電視節(jié)目、報(bào)刊、雜志、書(shū)籍、學(xué)術(shù)期刊等。但是對(duì)于地道的英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)料，我們也無(wú)須懼怕。大家看看大綱中對(duì)四六級(jí)命題材料的規(guī)定就明白了。

四六級(jí)命題語(yǔ)料的選材原則是：

1）? 題材廣泛，包括人文科學(xué)、社會(huì)科學(xué)、自然科學(xué)等領(lǐng)域，但所涉及的背景知識(shí)應(yīng)為學(xué)生所了解或已在文章中提供；

2）? 體裁多樣，包括敘述文、說(shuō)明文、議論文等；（三種文體，也是大家平時(shí)閱讀和寫(xiě)作最經(jīng)常練習(xí)的）

3）? 仔細(xì)閱讀篇章難度適中，快速閱讀、聽(tīng)力、改錯(cuò)和完型填空的篇章難度略低；

4）? 詞匯范圍不超出《教學(xué)要求》中較高要求的詞匯，超出該范圍的關(guān)鍵詞匯，影響理解時(shí)，則以漢語(yǔ)或英語(yǔ)釋義。

看了這幾條四六級(jí)考試的命題原則后，相信大家都稍稍松了一口氣。

既然四六級(jí)考試命題的語(yǔ)料均選自英文原版材料，那我們有必要了解一下英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)料的特點(diǎn)。（主要從不同于漢語(yǔ)的方面來(lái)給大家介紹）

英語(yǔ)是非常注重邏輯明確的語(yǔ)言。英語(yǔ)注重文章的實(shí)質(zhì)內(nèi)容，講究層層推導(dǎo)、表達(dá)透徹，主題和主題句處于文章非常顯要的位置。如每一段的開(kāi)頭或者結(jié)尾，在主題句之后，總有具體和細(xì)致的舉例、說(shuō)明和闡釋來(lái)進(jìn)一步深化主題，豐富內(nèi)容。

我們先來(lái)看一下受漢語(yǔ)思維和表達(dá)影響很深的一篇作文：

From the picture, we can see that a beautiful American girl is in traditional Chinese costume and is smiling, as if she was asking us, “Am I like a Chinese” and speaking, “ I wish Chinese people happy like me.” It shows that with the faster pace of globalization, cultural differences are shrinking.

Over the ages, our Chinese people have been looked down upon by foreigners. But now, they are interested in our culture, wearing our clothes. What a change! It shows that we are getting stronger and more influential. It shows that Chinese people really stand up. In this respect, what reasons do we have to look down upon ourselves, our glorious culture and long traditional?

With the reform, China now is becoming a great country. She is going international. Her culture, both traditional and modern, will exercise an impact on the world. Let us work hard and make that possible in the nearest future.

上面的文章雖然分為三段式，但每一個(gè)段落差不多都是情緒激昂的口號(hào)，沒(méi)有實(shí)質(zhì)性的內(nèi)容，更無(wú)嚴(yán)密的說(shuō)理和論述。這樣的短文，雖然語(yǔ)法上并不重大差錯(cuò)，但因?yàn)閮?nèi)容空洞、缺乏邏輯而不能得到一個(gè)好的分?jǐn)?shù)。

我們?cè)賮?lái)看一下，同樣的題目，比較符合英文思維方式和表達(dá)方式的作文是怎樣的:

⑴The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise，market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most. ⑵Private businessmen, striving to make profits, produce these goods and services in competition with other businessmen; and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. ⑶Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it.

⑴An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. ⑵In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fall in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by seller-producers. ⑶If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. ⑷If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. ⑸Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system.

⑴The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individuals are allowed to own productive resources(private property), and they are permitted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. ⑵In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain right, including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.

這篇文章的第一句就開(kāi)門(mén)見(jiàn)山，明確了主題，提出美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)制度的特點(diǎn)是通過(guò)私有企業(yè)和市場(chǎng)導(dǎo)向調(diào)節(jié)作用。圍繞這一主題，文章的三個(gè)段落層層展開(kāi)，環(huán)環(huán)相扣，每一段落各有側(cè)重。

第一段是講私有企業(yè)受盈利動(dòng)機(jī)驅(qū)使進(jìn)行生產(chǎn)和服務(wù)，這一動(dòng)機(jī)決定企業(yè)的生產(chǎn)和服務(wù)方式，但更重要的是，這一動(dòng)機(jī)取決于消費(fèi)者的需求和愿望，即市場(chǎng)導(dǎo)向。這一段的最末一句是該段的段落主題句，實(shí)際上也是全文中心思想的另一種表述方式。

第二段開(kāi)頭一句是該段的段落主題句，說(shuō)明市場(chǎng)導(dǎo)向型經(jīng)濟(jì)的重要特點(diǎn)之一是它有一個(gè)價(jià)格機(jī)制，價(jià)格的上漲和下跌反映并調(diào)節(jié)消費(fèi)需求。圍繞這個(gè)主題句，第（2）、（3）、（4）句進(jìn)一步闡述產(chǎn)品供需與價(jià)格浮動(dòng)和消費(fèi)需求的關(guān)系。

第三段的主題句也是該段的第一句，說(shuō)明私有制企業(yè)的重要特色。該段的第二句是對(duì)主題句的進(jìn)一步闡釋。