常用套语
套语指流行的公式化语言，在写作中适当使用颇有必要。如在商业信函结尾，期望对方早日回复的表达方式就要遵循套语的基本模式，使表达规范得体。下面试举几个例子：
Kindly favor us with an early reply. 请早日赐复。
Your prompt reply will be highly appreciated. 如能及时回复，将不胜感谢。
We look forward to hearing from you soon. 早日回复。
We are expecting your prompt reply. 急盼回复。
Please have the kindness to answer this letter quickly. 请早日回信。
Kindly let us have your reply at your earliest convenience. 请在您方便时尽早赐函。
We would appreciate it if you could respond right away. 如能即刻回复，将不胜感谢。
当前流行应试写作模板，即套语的使用贯穿文章始终，为考生提供万能公式型的文章主架，每句表达皆由固定套语框定，考生只要背下套用句型、过渡词语，在考试中根据特定考题填充具体内容。这种应试策略使写出的文章矫揉造作，生硬刻板，虽可以让考生及格过关，但绝对得不到高分。套语的过多使用不妨可以比作大海中的救生圈，有了它，仅仅可以让不擅游泳者保全性命，却无法自在畅游，一展泳姿。一般而言，套语较为空洞，如使用过多，文章容易流于空泛，言之无物。写作宜虚实结合，形式与内容相统一。下例是一篇比较在家学习与入校读书谁优谁劣的范文，文中巧妙地使用了一些固定句式和过渡词语，不仅增强了表达效果，而且实现了形式与内容的统一。
There are two major arguments that can be made for studying at home. First, as advances in the electronic media have brought the whole world of scholarship into the home via the Internet and educational courses on TV, the classroom is no longer the only place for acquiring knowledge. Second, it is widely held that a person studies better in the familiar surroundings of his own home and when he can arrange his own study time.
But we must not lose sight of the fact that there are advantages to studying in the classroom, too. Being surrounded by people of roughly the same abilities and interests can be a great stimulus to acquiring knowledge, whereas studying in solitude at home is boring for many people. More importantly, there can be no substitute for a good teacher, who must not only be able to impart facts and theories, but also to appraise and encourage his students.
Given the choice between these two methods of learning, I prefer the classroom. This is because I am the sort of person who finds it difficult to concentrate on study in the midst of household chores, and disturbances from visitors and telephone calls. The classroom environment, I feel, is the only one in which most people feel comfortable applying all their energies to the all-important task of acquiring knowledge.
关于在家学习，我们可以提出两个主要论点。第一，由于电子媒体方面取得的进步把整个世界的知识通过互联网和电视上的教育课程带入了家庭，教室不再是惟一获取知识的场所。第二，人们普遍认为，在自己家里这样熟悉的环境中，并且能自己安排学习时间，一个人能学得更好。
但是，我们不能忽视在教室里学习也有好处这一事实。周围都是能力相近和兴趣相投的人可能会对获取知识形成巨大的刺激，而对很多人来说孤独一人在家学习会有些枯燥乏味。更重要的是，没有什么可以替代一个好老师，他不仅能够传道授业，而且能够评估并鼓励学生。
如果在两种学习方法中选择，我更喜欢在教室里学习，因为我是那种很难在家务琐事、客人、电话的打扰下集中注意力学习的人。我认为大多数人只有在教室里才能把全部精力放在获取知识这件十分重要的工作上。
精彩句子
精彩句子指文章中句式优美、蕴含哲理的句子。精彩句子的背诵有助于写作时的引用和模仿。如在阅读美国前总统约翰?肯尼迪(John F. Kennedy)的就职演说(Inaugural Address)时，可以记住诸如“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. ”（不要问国家能为你做什么，而要问你能为国家做什么。）这样的传世佳句，当你写关于爱国(patriotism)主题的作文时，则可以适时引用。现仍以上面谈“爱心”的文章为例，其中值得背诵的句子为数不少。摘录如下：
①Love is emotional strength, which can support us no matter how dark the world around us becomes.
爱心是情感的力量，不论我们周围的世界多么黑暗，爱心都能支撑我们。
②People all over the country do not hesitate to donate whatever they can ― be it money or goods ― to help their needy fellow citizens.
全国人民毫不犹豫地倾囊相助――不管是钱还是物――帮助那些有需要的同胞。
③The best way to show love is to help people who are more unfortunate than we are.
表达爱心的最好方式是帮助比我们更加不幸的人。
④The darker the shadows of sorrow become, the more brightly the lamp of love shines.
悲伤的阴影越黑暗，爱心之灯的光芒就越闪亮。
