從1987年9月開始舉辦四級考試以來，命題指導思想就一直在平穩(wěn)的變化，但萬變不離其宗。下面主要從三個方面介紹一下四級寫作的命題特點，即題材，體裁和命題形式。

1. 題材

四級寫作的話題，具有很強的實用性和時事性，涉及校園生活、現(xiàn)代科技、社會問題以及對他們的簡單理由分析、方案提出。

校園話題：校園浪費、學生會主席競選、名校校園旅游、選擇課程或教師等;

社會問題：當代婦女、淡水資源緊缺、環(huán)境、交通、住房、假冒偽劣商品等;

現(xiàn)代科技：電腦之類的現(xiàn)代科技發(fā)明等。

2. 體裁

從體裁上講，寫作部分考察的形式有議論文、說明文、記敘描述文和書信演講類情景應用文。

1)議論文主要分為提綱式議論文和標題式議論文兩類。

提綱式議論文根據題材可分為正反觀點對比類型和原因現(xiàn)象解釋類型。如2006年12月真題就屬于正反觀點對比類型：

1. 許多人喜歡在除夕夜觀看春節(jié)晚會;

2. 但有些人提出取消春節(jié)晚會;

3. 你的看法。

而2007年12月的真題卻屬于原因現(xiàn)象解釋型的議論文。

1. 各大學開設了各種各樣的選修課

2. 學生因為各種原因選擇了不同的選修課

3. 以你自己為例…

標題式議論文的主要特點是論證說理，通常以某一名言警句或諺語為題目，要求考生們對其客觀真理性加以闡述和論證。如1997年1月真題：

Practice makes perfect

2)說明文主要可以分為闡述主題型、利弊分析型、解決問題型:

闡述主題型的如1991年1月真題：

Bicycles----An Important Means of Transport in China.

1. 為什么自行車在中國這樣普及。

2. 和汽車比較。

3. 自行車在中國的前途。

利弊分析型的如1998年1月真題：

Harmfulness of Fake Commodities.

1. 目前社會上有不少假冒偽劣商品(fake commodities)。為什么會有這種現(xiàn)象?

2. 舉例說明假冒偽劣商品對消費者個人、社會等的危害。

解決問題型的如2001年1月真題：

How to Succeed in a Job Interview?

1. 面試在求職過程中的作用

2. 取得面試成功的因素：儀表、舉止談吐、能力、專業(yè)知識、自信、實事求是. . .

3)應用文寫作主要包括演講詞，導游解說詞、求職求學信、投訴信和公告通知等(2004年6月的導游詞，2005年1月的競選演說詞)。

3. 命題形式

四級作文的命題形式是六種：中英文提綱式、情景式、圖表式、段首句式、關鍵詞式及標題式。在所有這六種形式中，提綱式所占比例最高，在80%以上;其次是情景式，2003年6月開始，情景作文大量出現(xiàn)，命題人設定一個情景，讓學生用所學的英語去處理一件假定的事情。(如2003年6月的車禍見證書，2003年9月的同學生病)，圖表式作文只考過兩次(1991年6月 Changes in People's Diet 和 2002年6月Student Use of Computers)。

考生們應在平素的練習中針對每一種體裁和形式作相應的練習以便熟悉各種命題的寫作套路和方法。下面以2006年6月大學英語四級考試的作文為例，從審題、段落、句式和選詞四個方面探討英語四級作文的寫作方法。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic Students Selecting their Lecturers. You should write at Least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese:

1. 有些大學允許學生自由選擇某些課程的任課教師;

2. 學生選擇教師時所考慮的主要因素;

3. 學生自選任課老師的益處和可能產生的問題。

[范文]

On Students Selecting their Lecturers

With the remarkable reform of higher education, students in some universities are entitled to choose their lecturers for certain designated courses for the flexibility and efficiency of their learning practice. This move has been welcomed by some students and has become the focus of students' and teachers' concern as well.

Obviously, there are some factors that students take into consideration when choosing lecturers. First and foremost, the teacher should have a diverse academic background and excel at what he or she teaches. It is because a learned teacher can give students much knowledge in a specific field, help them widen their horizon and at the same time cultivate their potential. Moreover, quite a few students think it is essential that the teacher is humorous and passionate in teaching. The reason is that students will learn quickly and thoroughly when the class is enjoyable and when they are motivated to learn. In addition, a teacher who gives students high marks in exams and papers is preferred.

Students' free choosing of lecturers may have many advantages, such as encouraging students to take an active part in classes and promoting lecturers to improve their teaching quality. Good as selecting lecturers is, it also gives rise to many problems. For one thing, the management of classes may be in a disorder. Some teachers can be so warmly welcomed that the number of the students in his class may be too large while other courses may have few participants. For another thing, schools might end up with lecturers who teach interesting classes and give high scores without much real content. Therefore further attention should be paid to this phenomenon.

解析：

1) 審題。

2006年6月作文的題材是考查校園話題--學生選擇任課教師及其利弊分析;就體裁來說是經?？嫉降奶峋V式論說文，它要求考生們根據給出的題目(on the topic of students selecting lecturers)和提綱(1. 有些大學允許學生自由選擇某些課程的任課教師;2. 學生選擇教師時所考慮的主要因素;3. 學生自選任課老師的益處和可能產生的問題)，確定文章的中心思想，然后分段展開論述，表達提綱的主旨。

2) 段落安排。

提綱式論說文仍然符合四級寫作的布局要求三段式作文，提綱可以看作是分段點，即：第一段寫第一點，第二段寫第二點，第三段完成第三點。第一段是引言段，引出現(xiàn)在大學中存在的現(xiàn)象——有些大學允許學生自由選擇某些課程任課老師，描述現(xiàn)狀，引出主題。With the remarkable reform of higher education, students in some universities are entitled to choose their lecturers for certain designated courses for the flexibility and efficiency of their learning practice.

第二段是主體段，解釋學生選擇老師時所考慮的主要因素，即他們選擇什么樣的老師和為什么做出這樣的選擇。根據前面提到的段落寫作技巧，第一句話是這一段的主題句，可以對中文提綱進行翻譯，并且稍加改動，如Obviously, there are some factors that students take into consideration when choosing lecturers. 然后列舉出幾個較有代表性的理由，注意一定要在列舉的幾條理由前面加上表示層次關系的連接詞來使文章思路清晰，邏輯層次清楚。如：First and foremost, the teacher should have a diverse academic background and excel at what he or she teaches. It is because…, 接著闡述其它理由，如：Moreover, quite a few students think it is essential that the teacher is humorous and passionate in teaching.

第三段是結尾段，討論"學生選擇老師"這樣一個校園話題的好處以及可能產生的問題。先寫益處，如Students' free choosing of lecturers may have many advantages, such as…, 然后話題轉折提出弊端 Good as selecting lecturers is, it also gives rise to many problems. For one thing …最后一句是結論句Therefore further attention should be paid to this phenomenon

3) 句型變換。

全文長短句交錯，句型富于變化。采用以簡單句為基礎，同時配以復雜句，如定語從句a teacher who gives students high marks…，主語從句 It is essential that… 倒裝句Good as selecting lectures is… 分詞結構 when choosing lecturers…

4) 詞匯運用。

全文用詞準確、規(guī)范，豐富，如"選擇"可以用choose 和 select;使用一些精彩的固定搭配，使文章增色不少，如 end up with, give rise to; 巧用過渡詞，使文章銜接自然、緊湊，如first and foremost, moreover, in addition, as, therefore，for one thing等。