新东方肖宇：突破雅思写作5.5分魔咒
在新东方教学三年多，一直教授雅思托福赛达等各种出国考试的写作，也多次亲自参加各种考试来积累考试经验，针对这三种写作，广大同学们公认雅思写作最难得分或者提分。我见过很多英语很棒的同学，考了N次雅思，听力和阅读达到8分，但写作一直都悲催的5.5或者甚至5分，由于本科和研究生院都要求雅思成绩单项不低于6，很多人都因写作分数不够而不得不放弃出国的梦想。笔者几年来不断参加考试实战，总结了一些教学和考试经验，跟大家分享一些雅思写作备考方法，希望帮助烤鸭们走出5.5分魔咒，获得高分。
1. 关于模板：
很多同学问我，雅思写作能否用模板得高分。学员们的成绩说明，模板可保证5或5.5分甚至偶尔6分，但绝对会制约你得6.5分以上的高分。什么是模板？大家对下面这种中国人惯用的开头段方式不会陌生吧： With the development of technology， …plays an important role in our life and arouses heated debate. Some people think…， others think…， I think…。这就是最恶俗的制约我们得6分以上分数的开头段模板。我们对比一下考官在剑8里写的满分开头段：
题目：1：
Some people think that parents should teach children how to be good members of society. Others， however， believe that school is the place to learn this. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
考官范文开头段
A child‘s education has never been about learning information and basic skills only. It has always included teaching the next generation how to be good members of society. Therefore， this cannot be the responsibility of the parents only.
显然，考官没使用以上我提到的世间最恶俗的写法。
我们再来看一篇考官在剑5里面写的满分作文的开头段。
题目2：
Some people prefer to spend their lives doing the same things and avoiding change. Others， however， think that change is always a good thing. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
考官范文开头段
Over the last half century the pace of change in the life of human beings has increased beyond our wildest expectations. This has been driven by technological and scientific breakthroughs that are changing the whole way we view the world on an almost daily basis. This means that change is not always a personal option， but an inescapable fact of life， and we need to constantly adapt to keep pace with it.
纵观剑3-8上考官给出的满分范文，考官开头段的风格永远都是针对题目中一两个关键词进行背景拓展，甚至加上自己的一些和题目相关的一些发挥，简练（一般3句左右）而直逼核心内容，不会说一大堆没有营养的空话套话。我对于模板的态度一直很鲜明：一切以实战需要为准，不说空话。每个考生的英语功底都是不同的，英语基础好，有实力原创的同学考前不需要准备固定的套路，而应该把时间用在研究真题和范文上；而对于确实没有能力原创太多的同学来说（有些死孩纸完全靠自己实力写出来的文章真的是令人心碎惆怅），如果不事先准备好逻辑框架，在考试中真就有可能写不出来，字数不够或者逻辑颠三倒四。所以模板因人而异，少用精用而不滥用。