英语写作的文章一般包括一个开头段、若干扩展段和一个结尾段。开头段和结尾段一般比扩展段短。各种段落的作用、特点和写作方法如下所示。

1.开头段

开头段一定要语言精练，并且直接切入主题。开头段一般不对主题进行深入的探讨，具体的论证或叙述应该在扩展段进行。一般在开头段写四、五句即可。考生应注意以下若干要点：

1)开头段的作用　概括陈述主题，提出观点或论点，表明写作意图。

2)写开头段时考生应该避免的若干问题　①开头偏离主题太远;　②使用抱歉或埋怨之词句;③内容不具体，言之无物;④使用不言自明的陈述。

3)开头段的表达方法　　
①使用引语(use a quotation) 使用一段名人名言，或人们常用的谚语、习语，以确定文章的写作范围和方向。
例：“Great minds must be ready not only to take the opportunity, but to make them.”Colton, a great writer once remarked. But it still has a profound significance now. To a person, in whose lifetime opportunities are not many, to make opportunities is more essential to his success. 　　
②使用具体详实的数字或数据(use figures or statistics) 引用一些具体详实的数字或数据，然后作出概括性分析，指明问题的症结所在。 　　
例：In the past 5 years there has been a marked decline in the number of young married couples who want to have children, coupled with a growing trend toward delayed childbearing. According to official statistics, in 2003, about 28 percent of married couples with wives under 35 gave no birth to children, compared with the 1993 level of 8 percent. 　　
③提出问题(ask a question) 提出有争议或探讨性的具体问题，然后加以简要回答或展开引导性简短讨论。 　　
例：What do you want from your work? Money? Promotions? Interesting challenges? Continual learning? Work-based friendships? The opportunity to develop your own idea and potentials? Though we are all individuals and so our answers will differ, all agree that work provide more than material things. 　　
④给出背景(offer relevant background) 描述具体事件的时间、地点和发生背景等。 　　
例：Once in a newspaper I read of a crowd of people who remained appallingly indifferent to the plea of a mother. As she failed to offer the required amount of cash as a price to save her drowning son, the woman at last watched her son sink to death. The story is not rare in newspapers and on TV, and the casualness and detachment our people now have developed has aroused nationwide concern. 　　
⑤定义法(give definition) 针对讨论的主题或问题加以定义，然后进行深入探讨。 　　
例：Flexibility is defined as being adaptable to change. In the course of your lifetime, it is essential that you learn to bend and flex around every new circumstance, as rigidity deprives you of the opportunity to see new possibilities. Paradigms change over time, and so must you. Your company may restructure, and you will have to survive. Your spouse may choose to leave the marriage, and you will have to cope. Technology will continue to advance and change, and you must constantly learn and adapt or risk becoming a dinosaur. Flexibility allows you to be ready for whatever curve lies ahead in life instead of getting blindsided by it. 　
⑥主题句法(use of topic sentence) 文章一开始就以主题句点明全文主题，然后围绕主题内容进行发展。
例：Now people become increasingly aware of the importance of acquiring a mastery of a foreign language. To them, the knowledge of a foreign language, say, English, often means a good opportunity for one’s career, even a passport to a prosperous future. Many of them equate success in life with the ability of speaking a foreign language.