写作思维

中文书面表达方式和英文书面表达方式存在很大的差异。英文写作能力提高的捷径就是首先对比中英文表达方式的差异，然后学会把中文表达方式转换为英文表达方式。譬如
　　一、主语的几种表达格式。
　　1.他们能够保存自己历史的唯一途径就是，由讲述人一代接一代地将史实描述为传奇故事口传下来。
　　The only way that they can preserve their history is to recount it as sagas--legends handed down from one generation of story-tellers to another.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“他们能够保存自己历史的唯一途径”;英文表达“唯一途径that他们能够保存自己的历史”，完全转换“The only way that they can preserve their history”。
　　2.弗吉尼亚.伍尔夫(Virginia Woolf)关于她写作《黛洛维夫人》(Mrs. Dalloway)意图的具有争议的陈述通常被评论家们所忽略了，因为它突出反映了她诸多文学兴趣中某一方面，而这一方面则与人们对“诗”小说家(poetic novelist)所形成的传统见解大相径庭。所谓的“诗”小说家，所关注的是审视想入非非和白日梦幻的诸般状态，并致力于追寻个体意识的通幽曲径。
　　Virginia Woolf’s provocative statement about her intentions in writing Mrs. Dalloway has regularly been ignored by the critics，since it highlights an aspect of her literary interests very different from the traditional picture of the "poetic" novelist concerned with examining states of reverie and vision and with following the intricate pathways of individual consciousness.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“弗吉尼亚.伍尔夫(Virginia Woolf)关于她写作《黛洛维夫人》(Mrs. Dalloway)意图的具有争议的陈述”;英文表达“弗吉尼亚.伍尔夫的具有争议的陈述关于她的目的在写作《黛洛维夫人》”，完全转换“Virginia Woolf’s provocative statement about her intentions in writing Mrs. Dalloway”。
　　3.据估计，在英国蜘蛛一年里所消灭昆虫的重量将会超过这个国家人口的总重量。
　　It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year would be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“据估计，在英国蜘蛛一年里所消灭昆虫的重量将会超过这个国家人口的总重量。”;英文表达“它已经被估计that the重量of所有昆虫毁灭的被蜘蛛在英国在一年里将是更大比the总重量of所有人类在这个国家”，完全转换“It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year would be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.”。
　　4.企图消除自己和读者之间距离或企图用不了解自己的人的角度来研究自己塑造的形象，很可能会是作家自己毁灭，因为他已经开始为取悦他人而写作了。
　　This temptation to cover the distance between himself and the reader, to study his image in the sight of those who do not know him, can be his undoing: he has begun to write to please.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“企图消除自己和读者之间距离或企图用不了解自己的人的角度来研究自己塑造的形象”;英文表达“这种企图去消失距离之间自己和读者，去研究他自己塑造的形象以这种角度of those who不了解他自己”，完全转换“This temptation to cover the distance between himself and the reader, to study his image in the sight of those who do not know him,”。
　　二、谓语的几种表达方式。
　　1.此外，蜘蛛不象一些其他食虫动物，它们绝不会对我们或我们的财物造成丝毫的危害。
　　Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the least harm to us or our belongings.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“蜘蛛不象一些其他食虫动物，它们绝不会对我们或我们的财物造成丝毫的危害。”;英文表达“不象一些of the其他食虫动物，蜘蛛绝对不做最小的伤害对我们或我们的财物”，完全转换“unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the least harm to us or our belongings.”。
　　2.美国的经济体制是围绕着一个以私有企业为主和以市场为导向的经济进行组织的，在这种经济中，消费者很大程度上通过在市场上花钱购买那些他们最想要的商品和服务来决定什么应该被制造。
　　The 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.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“美国的经济体制是围绕着一个以私有企业为主和以市场为导向的经济进行组织的，”;英文表达“美国的经济体制被组织围绕一个主要地私营的企业，市场为导向的经济”，完全转换“The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy”。
　　3.然而，在起初完全不是这么一会事。
　　In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“然而，在起初完全不是这么一会事。”;英文表达“在起初，然而，this was不是这事完全”，完全转换“In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all.”。
　　4.他宣称他反对把这种非同寻常的畜牧繁殖技术用于克隆人类，并下令联邦政府基金不准被用于做此类试验--尽管还没有人建议这么做--，而且他还邀请了一个由普林斯顿大学校长哈罗得.夏皮罗所主持的独立专家小组在90天内向白宫汇报关于制定有关克隆人的国家政策的建议。
　　Declaring that he was opposed to using this unusual animal husbandry technique to clone humans, he ordered that federal funds not be used for such an experiment-although no one had proposed to do so--and asked an independent panel of experts chaired by Princeton President Harold Shapiro to report back to the White House in 90 days with recommendations for a national policy on
　　human cloning.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“他宣称……，并下令……，而且他还邀请……”;英文表达“宣称that……，他下令that……and邀请……”，完全转换“Declaring that …… , he ordered that …… and asked ……”。
　　三、宾语的几种表达方式。
　　1.我们从书籍中可读到，5000年前的近东地区的人们最早学会了写字。
　　We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where people first learned to write.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“我们从书籍中可读到，5000年前的近东地区的人们最早学会了写字。”;英文表达“我们能够读到things that happened5000年前在近东，where人们最早”，完全转换“We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where people first learned to write.”。
　　2.现在每个人都拥有比任何时代人都要多的可利用信息，而找到与他/她的特定问题相关的那一点信息的工作不仅复杂、耗时，有时甚至比登山还难。
　　The individual now has more information available than any generation, and the task of finding that one piece of information relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated, time--consuming, and sometimes even overwhelming.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“现在每个人都拥有比任何时代人都要多的可利用信息”;英文表达“个体现在有更多信息可利用的比任何一代人”，完全转换“The individual now has more information available than any generation”。
　　3.现代的登山运动员们试图通过一条会给他们带来运动乐趣的路线去攀登山峰，并且这条路线愈艰险愈带劲儿。
　　Modern alpinists try to climb mountains by a route which will give them good sport, and the more difficult it is, the more highly it is regarded.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“现代的登山运动员们试图通过一条会给他们带来运动乐趣的路线去攀登山峰，并且这条路线愈艰险愈带劲儿。”;英文表达“现代的登山运动员试图去登山通过一条路线which将给他们好的运动，并且the更多的困难的it是，the更多的兴奋地it被认为”，完全转换“Modern alpinists try to climb mountains by a route which will give them good sport, and the more difficult it is, the more highly it is regarded.”。
　　4.酸是一种化合物，它在溶于水时具有强烈的气味，它对金属具有腐蚀的作用，并且它具有把某些蓝色植物染料变红的能力。
　　Acids are chemical compounds that, in water solution, have a sharp taste, a corrosive action on metals, and the ability to turn certain blue vegetable dyes red.
　　写作法则提炼：中文表达“酸是一种化合物，它在溶于水时具有一种强烈的气味，它对金属具有一种腐蚀的作用，并且它具有把某些蓝色植物染料变红的能力。”;英文表达“酸是化合物that，进入水溶解作用，具有一种强烈的味道，一种腐蚀的作用对于金属，并且这种能力去转变某些蓝色植物染料红色的”，完全转换“cids are chemical compounds that, in water solution, have a sharp taste, a corrosive action on metals, and the ability to turn certain blue vegetable dyes red.”。