怎样提高英语写作能力：掌握常用句套子

    本刊第一期发表了杨匡汉教授关于“怎么提高英语写作能力：作文并不难”的文章后，许多读者纷纷来信要求杨教授提供更多的句套子，以方便他们学习。为此，我们特请杨教授撰文如下：

    英语有许多固定的句式。对于一些常用句式，写作文的时候，应该做到能够“信手拈来”，而且用得“恰到好处”。达到这个“火候”，您就有了“自由”，可以初步自由地用英语表达自己的思想和观点了。下面介绍60个常用句式和10个短语，供读者练习使用。

1. John is two years older than Helen. Bill is three months older than John.
2. Bill is the oldest among the three children, and Helen is the youngest one.
3. This room is as big as that one. Both of them are of the same size.
4. The production of this year is twice as much as that of 1990.
5. I told professor Wang that I didn’t know how to translate that sentence.
6. He asked me if I wanted a cup of coffee? ( I said I would rather have a cup of tea.)
7. When I was young, I used to work 14 hours a day.
8. When I came in, he was reading a book.
9. There have been a lot of changes here in the last 20 years.
10. There used to be many old houses in this district of the city.
11. I will stay at home if it rains. ( I would stay at home if it should rain this afternoon./ I would have stayed at home if it had rained yesterday.)
12. If I have time, I will go to see him. (If I buy that car, I’ll have to borrow some money. )
13. If I had time, I would go to see him now. (If you were a very rich person, how would you spend all your money?)
14. If I should have time, I would go to see him tomorrow. (If it should rain tomorrow, I would stay at home.)
15. If I had had time, I would have gone to see him yesterday. (If I had known you wanted to go, I would have called you.)
16. Had I had time, I’d have gone to see him yesterday. (Had I known you didn’t have a key, I wouldn’t have locked the door.)
17. It’s difficult (for sb to do sth) ... (for us to do this. /for me to make a decision without knowing all the fact. / for me to answer all your questions right now. /for the students to remember all these new words in such a short time.)
18. It is necessary (for sb to do sth) ... ( for us to know how to use a computer. / for him to come on time. / for our students to learn some history.)
19. How long does it take (for sb to do sth ) ... (for you to do your homework everyday? / for the bus to get to the next stop?/ for a graduate student to get a master degree in this university?)
20. It took me ... (three hours to finish all my homework. / a long time to make up my mind. / half an hour to solve that problem./ three months to write this book.)
21. I’m sure / confident / ... (I’ve made a good decision. / you’ll win. / he can do his job very well.)
22. It’s faster to go ... (by air than by sea./ by plane than by ship / by train / by bus / by car.)
23. I’m interested ... (in learning English. / in buying a new car. /in starting my own business./ to hear your opinion. / to see what will happen next./ to know all the details of this matter.)
24. Which would you rather have /prefer/ -- fish or chicken? ( I’d rather have fish. / I’d prefer fish to chicken.)
25. Which would you rather do -- go dancing or go to a play? / stay at home or go to a party with me? / wash the dishes or sweep the floor?
26. I would rather (do sth. than do sth.) ... (stay at home than go out this evening. / do it myself than to ask him for help.)
27. I’d rather (sb. did sth.) ... (you went now./ you didn’t smoke here.)
28. I’d like to (do sth.) ... ( have a rest for a while. / take a bath right now. / make an appointment to see Dr. Zhang. / change these shoes because they are too small for me.)
29. Would you mind (doing sth.?) ... (opening the window, please?/ calling me back sometime tomorrow? / waiting me here for a while?)
30. I don’t mind ... (that you were late as long as you are here now. / if you don’t come to my class. / whether we see the film or not.)
31. How long has it been since you began to do this project? (It has been three months.)
32. It has been years since ... (I enjoyed so much. / I left my home town. / I became a teacher.)
33. We’ve been friends ever since we met at school.
34. Since you are unable to answer my question, perhaps I should ask someone else.
35. She has been learning English since 1998.
36. We used to (do sth.) ... (have a lot of fun when we were young. / take a walk in the woods in the evening when we lived in the countryside.)
37. There used to be ... (a lot of trees behind our house. / a swimming pool in front of that building. / a supermarket over there.)
38. I need (sth.) ... (some money./ a good sleep./ your advice.)
39. I don’t need (sth.) ... (your money. / your advice./ your approval.)
40. My car needs ... (painting./ cleaning./ fixing./ washing.)
41. You need to (do sth.) ... (work hard if you want to pass the exam.)
42. You don’t need to (do sth.) ... (go abroad. You can learn English well at home.)
43. You needn’t (do sth.) ... ( worry about him. He can take care of himself.)
44. You’d better (do sth.) ... (put on your coat. It is cold outside. / take your umbrella with you. It seems that it’ll rain this afternoon.)
45. As you know ... (there are always two sides to everything./ China is a developing country./ English is widely used all over the world.)
46. I’m afraid ... (I can’t agree with you on this matter./ you are wrong. / I can’t go with you.)
47. It goes without saying that ... (young teachers need to work hard. / science and technology play important role in our society.)
48. In my opinion ... (English is one of the most important subjects in our school programs. / everyone can learn English well by himself.)
49. I don’t want to argue with you. (You have your point of view, and I have mine.)
50. What would you say if ... (I told you I couldn’t agree with you./ you were absolutely wrong.)
51. I’m looking forward to ... (hearing from you as soon as possible./ meeting you again.)
52. Please don’t hesitate (to do sth.) ... (to contact me if you need any more information./ to send me email messages if you have any questions to ask me.)
53. I would appreciate it if you would (do sth.) ... (keep quiet./ turn out the lights./explain this sentence to me.)
54. According to ... (the news report, there was a traffic accident in front of the shopping center this morning. / the statistics published in the newspaper yesterday, the industrial production has increased by 8.3 % compared with that of last year. )
55. I graduated from ... (Beijing University. / Tsinghua University. / Harbin Institute of Technology [HIT]). I majored in ... (Civil Engineering./ Electric Engineering./ Mechanical Engineering./ Communication Engineering./ Management Engineering. / Environmental Engineering./ Chemical Engineering./ English./ Mathematics / Physics.)
56. Is it true that ... (you are writing a new book for the beginners?/ manufacturing of automobiles has become a major industry in your country?)
57. Why don't you (do sth.) ... ( come in and have a cup of tea with us? / put an advertisement in the paper to sell your apartment? / stay with us and watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on TV?)
58. Have you ever thought about becoming ... (an English teacher?/ an engineer?/ a professional musician?)
59. Sorry to (do sth./ have done sth.) ... (trouble you./ have bothered you so much. / have kept you waiting for so long.)
60. I am writing to (do sth.) ... (inform you that my wife and I are pleased to accept your invitation to visit your beautiful country this summer. / apologize for our not being able to accept your kind invitation.)

   Some useful phrases for writing compositions
1. for example
2. firstly,... secondly,... thirdly...
3. In the first place,... then,... finally
4. In my opinion
5. In conclusion
6. As a matter of fact
7. In fact
8. On the contrary
9. On the one hand,... on the other hand
10. According to...