托福写作：“定义法”三步快速解决写作开头难
很多同学，特别是刚刚接触托福的同学，对独立写作开头部分写法感到很头疼。在平时上课过程中，也会经常听到学生抱怨说根本没有思路，无从下笔。以至于以I agree或I disagree…一句话引出自己立场来搞定开头的同学不在少数。有的同学甚至会受之前汉语写作的影响，比如“好的开头，会影响整篇文章”，于是不敢动笔写开头。其实这一点大可不必多虑，毕竟托福写作风格以议论文为主，也就是说在文章中我们要做到清晰无误的表达自己的想法，特别是首段的主要任务，要明确地表达自己的立场，最好的方式建议：背景铺垫+个人立场。
对于开头部分的构思，很多同学首先会想到模版。模版会提供现成的思路甚至套句，我们直接将自己的观点带入即可。比如：
模版开头一
when it comes to the topic that…, opinions of the public are of great variety. Admittedly, some people would claim that….. However, I still insist that… My reasons will be listed as follows.
又比如在涉及到A和B两个对象的影响类的题目里，常见模版开头二：
Nowadays, the influence of A on B is a matter for debate for a long time. some people claim that… However, I disagree with them. In my viewpoint, … and the following is my reasons.
模版可以用，但是不建议同学们拿到题目就直接带入模版，一来语言会显得呆板，二来托福官方对模版的态度为“不扣分，不加分”，因此模版对于想要高分的同学学来说并没有太大优势。所以还是希望同学们看到话题之后可以进行一定独立思考。今天我们一起看下常见的开头破冰法之一：定义法引入。
所谓“定义法”，就是下定义，对题目中的某些名词或概念进行解释，比如题目所涉及的success, responsibility, independence,social skills，part-time jobs等，我们可以直接解释这些概念是什么，或者大家对这些事物的看法等，还有可能涉及到重要性或者其影响等词，比如importance, benefits, advantageous,exert positive/negative influence on，一般一句话带过即可。下面我们结合具体题目带入“定义法引入”的具体应用。
例如：
D/A: One ofthe best ways that parents can help their teenager children prepare for adult life is to encourage them to take a part-time job.
在这个题目中，所涉及到的名词有parents, teenager children, adult life, 和a part-time job四个名词及词组，也就是说这个题目我们可以从四个角度进行开头段的构思。但我们应该优先从最好把握的入手。不难发现，a part-time job属于话题的关键词眼，所以[第一步]我们可以直接针对a part-timejob进行解释，比如Part-time jobs, which act as a warm-up for the future career, can provide children with a general image of the society. 或者Part-time jobs is of great importance in helping children better understand the society they are live in.定义法解释过之后，[第二步]我们要引出题目中的其它对象，最后第三步引出自己立场。比如上边紧接着a part-time job 这一句可以For most parents, it is really an ideal choice to help their children prepare for adult life.[第三步]在点明观点时，我们可以紧接着提出，Thus I agree with the opinion in the statement.甚至最后可以加一句，比如：my reasons will be detailed as follows. 或者my reasons are as follows.
这时我们的开头段已经基本搞定：
Part-time jobs, which act as a warm-up for the future career, can provide children with ageneral image of the society.For most parents, it is really an ideal choice to help their children prepare for adult life.Thus I agree with the opinion in the statement. My reasons will be detailed as follows.
这个题目还涉及到其它三个对象，也就是说，我们还可以根据上边定义法的思路以其它三种方式引出该话题，见下文供大家参考:
Parents:
Parents, as the most essential guide in our life, love us so much that they always want a fast and steady development of us. Thus, many parents suggest their children to work on a part-time job, which acts as a warm-up for their future career. From where I stand, I agree with the suggestion to take on a part-time job during teenage period. My reasons are listed as follows.
Teenage children:
Teenage is the most crucial period in one’s life, for it is a fast developing stage both in physical and mental aspects. That is why parents are urged to figure out the most efficient way for their children to keep up with the quick development. Working on a part-time job is considered one of the best solutions for many parents. From where I stand, I agree with the suggestion to take on apart-time job during teenage period. My reasons are listed as follows.
Adult life:
Many teenagers are looking forward to the adult life while the other are reluctant to grow up. However, growing up is an inevitable process/stage in one’s life. Part-time job, which acts as a warm-up for the future career, gives children a general image of the society.From where I stand, I agree with the suggestion to take on a part-time job during teenage period. My reasons are listed as follows.
我们还可以以同样的方法带入其它题目，比如D/A: People should have hobbies and do physical activities that are very different from work.
这个题目所涉及名词有work和hobbies and physical activities，我们就以work为切入点，进行定义，然后引出开头段。比如：
For most people, work takes a massive part of our whole lives. We go to school to prepare for a career, work through our best years, and eventually, after retirement, live off of pension generated from the job. However, other than the monetary part, our hobbies and physical activities might benefit us more if they were different from our jobs.
这个开头写法相对比较灵活，并没有受原题目的限制，巧妙的引出了自己立场。值得大家参考。
丨Tips：
1. 在对题目中所涉及的名词对象下定义时，建议大家从具体名词入手，尽量避开抽象名词，以降低自己构思难度。
2. 一般情况下，开头部分篇幅长度为40-60字即可。我们的写作还是要以理由段的论述为主，所以建议同学们不要浪费太多时间在开头部分。
（实习编辑：莫颖）
