怎樣寫一篇作文？（11）

01-27

我們在寫作文的時候經常要用到很多主題相關表達，比如寫「青少年犯罪」類文章會用到 juvenile delinquency，young offenders, crime deterrence 這些搭配和片語。那麼，平時應該怎樣積累這些主題相關表達呢？

一個方法是閱讀與這些寫作話題相關的文章，從文章裡面學習借鑒表達。推薦BBC新聞：

BBC新聞下面有多個子頻道，比如教育、健康、家庭、環境、文化等，每個頻道裡面都彙集了大量與主題相關的報道，這些報道裡面有很多值得我們學習的地方。舉個例子，下面是一篇關於父母使用手機對家庭關係影響的文章節選：

An overuse of mobile phones by parents disrupts family life, according to a survey of secondary pupils. ...
Among the pupils:
82% felt meal times should be device-free
22% said the use of mobiles stopped their families enjoying each others company
36% had asked their parents to put down their phones ...
Research last year by DAUK and HMC showed almost half of secondary pupils were checking their mobile phones after they had gone to bed, amid warnings that they were arriving at school tired and unable to concentrate.

上面段落中加下劃線的短語 an overuse of mobile phones，disrupt family life，device-free，enjoy each others company，arrive at school tired and unable to concentrate 都是看起來很簡單但又非常實用的寫作表達。長期閱讀這些文章並積累好詞好句會使我們的遣詞造句能力得到很大提升。

今天要分析的作文題目是：

Several languages are in danger of extinction because they are spoken by very small numbers of people. Some people say that governments should spend public money on saving these languages, while others believe that would be a waste of money. Discuss both these views and give your opinion.

這是原始作文版本：

習作/Scottie

As English becomes the world dominant language, minority languages are put in a dangerous place.People who appeal to protect them with tax revenue are opposed by those who regard it as an abuse of public funds.I would argue that the endangered languages should be saved and the government should give financial priority to other important areas, such as education and technology.
The minority languages are a cultural treasure for human beings, which are worth our preservation. Although the languages cannot directly boost economic growth, they are the essence of specific civilization, inheriting different beliefs and values. By contrast, if one day there were on longer other languages except English, the multicultural society would die out as well as the language.As a result, we need to take measures to keep them alive.For instance, the government can establish an institution that recruits interested and capable volunteers to learn and inherit the nearly disappearing languages.Such method does need financial support, but with the help of social funds, it will not take up too much public resources.
On the other hand, the limited revenue of government might be better spend on fields that help improve living standards and make economy productive. The reason why is that many important concerns are under-funded. First, people living under the poverty line still have to struggle for living.It is the government who is responsible for using state pensions to reduce social inequality. Second, education and high technology means the future of a country, so they deserve more financial support.
In conclusion, saving endangered languages need to share revenue moderately ,but a wise government should take advantage of public fund to benefit taxpayers.

這是點評版本：

As English becomes the worlds dominant language, minority languages are put in a dangerous place. People who appeal to protect (support protecting) them with tax revenue are opposed by those who regard it as an abuse of public funds. I would argue that the () endangered languages should be saved and the government should give financial priority to other important areas, such as education and technology.

The () minority languages are a cultural treasure for human beings, which are worth our preservation. Although the languages cannot directly boost economic growth, they are the essence of specific civilization, inheriting different beliefs and values. (they constitute a reservoir of cultural and historical knowledge) By contrast, if one day there were on (no) longer other languages except English, the multicultural society would die out as well as the language. (many cultures would die out with languages) As a result, we need to take measures to keep them alive. For instance, the government can establish an institution that recruits interested and capable (enthusiastic and qualified) volunteers to learn and inherit the nearly () disappearing languages. Such method does need financial support, but with the help of social funds, it will not take up too much public resources.

On the other hand, the limited revenue of the government might be better spend on fields that help improve living standards and make the economy productive. The reason why (behind this) is that many important concerns are under-funded. First, people living under the poverty line still have to struggle for living. It is the government who is responsible for using state pensions to reduce social inequality. Second, education and high technology means the future of a country, so they deserve more financial support.

（這一段離題了，題目是問政府是否應該花錢拯救瀕危語言，而不是問政府怎麼改善民生）

In conclusion, saving endangered languages need to share revenue moderately, (governments should use public money to save endangered languages) but a wise government should take advantage of public funds to benefit taxpayers.

思路分析：

Several languages are in danger of extinction because they are spoken by very small numbers of people. Some people say that governments should spend public money on saving these languages, while others believe that would be a waste of money. Discuss both these views and give your opinion.

小語種消失是目前幾乎所有國家都面臨的一個問題，而對於政府是否應該拯救瀕危語言目前也有不少爭議。支持政府拯救小語種的人認為，語言背後承載的是文化以及身份認同，一旦語言消失，語言背後的文化知識以及身份認同感也會隨著消失。

另一部分人則認為，語言的消亡只是一種自然演化過程。歷史上曾經有無數種語言產生和消亡，這種自然進程是很難干預的。同時，一些少數族裔因為語言問題而無法與主流社會相融合，政府保護小語種的行為可能會加劇這種狀況，不利於社會和諧。

下面給出我寫的一個版本：

習作/魏劍峰

The global advance of English in the past decades has put many minority languages at risk. This has raised concerns over the disappearance of some languages and triggered debates about whether governments should save them.

Some people argue that the government should put money into the protection of endangered languages because these languages possess cultural and social significance. Each language is a unique expression of the human experience of the world, and the disappearance of it will result in the irrecoverable loss of cultural and historical knowledge. One example is the Inuit, the language spoken by people living in the chilly northern areas of the North America. There are many words for snow in Inuit to match the many varieties people encounter, and they enable us to see snow from a different angle, an experience so valuable that no one could contemplate the loss of Inuit with equanimity. Also, as a language dies, its speakers may experience the loss of their language as a loss of their original ethnic and cultural identity. Such scenarios justify government』s efforts to preserve dying tongues.

However, some deem that it is a waste of time and money to protect minority languages from extinction. Throughout human history, languages have been born, evolved and died. This is a natural process of language evolution, and efforts to reverse the trend will prove to be costly and thankless. Another concern is that governments』 effort to save dying languages might encourage some minority groups to hang on to their mother tongues, making it difficult for them to become assimilated into the community. For these reasons, governments should think twice before allocating public funds to keep alive endangered languages.

Overall, minority languages that are in critical danger of extinction are worth saving. At the same time, governments should encourage minority groups to learn languages shared by the wider society, so as to promote social harmony.