在美国大学申请文书写作中，一篇文书包含多个事件或内容是常见的情况。对于这类的文书，既要有精准的用词，多变的句式，还要有句间及段落间的自然过渡和顺畅衔接，也就是所谓的承上启下(transitioning)。

文：冯典老师

很多申请者在写文书时往往专注于一个个的事例，而忽视了若干事例之间的衔接，造成文章段落之间过渡不自然，甚至没有过渡，从一件事突然跳到另一件事。还有一些申请者想在文章中使用倒叙，插叙等写作技巧，但是没有处理好不同内容之间的衔接，使文章在叙事方面显得杂乱无章。和承上启下相似的另一个文体技巧是首尾呼应(echoing)。首尾呼应是指文章开头和结尾的内容遥相呼应，通常可以起到升华主题的效果。

要做好承上启下，常见的方法有：

①添加小标题；

②使用关联词或过渡词(如next，also, almost at the same time，in the meantime, meanwhile，that is，what’s more，despite, instead, and more thanthat，but above all)；

③使用过渡句或过渡段。

下面我们通过一个案例来谈谈在文书写作中如何运用承上启下和首尾呼应。

【案例分析】

A同学申请美国转学，是国内大三学生，城市规划专业，申请的专业也是城市规划。以下是他的个人陈述范文。

An ancient Chinese versegoes: “From the side, a wholer ange; from the end, a single peak;/ Far, near, high, low—no parts alike./Why can’t I tell the trues hape of Lushan?/Because I myself am in the mountain.” (Lushan is the name of ascenic mountain in China, which has lent inspiration generation after generation to artists and poets.) So simple and yet so profound, the poem captures the real motivation behind my application for the program of Urban Planning: to escape the tunnel vision from within Lushan and to gain some fresh and new perspectives on a whole range of issues that interest me as an aspiring urban planner—issues such as what othercountries’perspectives are on China’s rapid urbanization and environmental deterioration, what lessons western nations have learned in their owndevelopmental processes, to what extent western philosophies and approaches areapplicable to China, to what extent the Chinese should preserve their own cultural, historical, socio-economic, and geopolitical sensitivities, and how nations can develop in ways that make sense both environmentally and humanistically. I know I have my own bias and my own opinions, but I am acutely aware that a true intellectual, no matter what the subject matter, is one who,instead of rejecting differing points of view, readily embraces them as valid and enriching.

评析：开篇引入唐诗《题西林壁》起到两个作用：①提示读者“我”想表达的主题和全文内容都会围绕“庐山”展开;②我想出国深造的动机是走出“庐山”，突破隧道视觉,井蛙之见，获得全新的有关城市规划的知识,理论,见解和实践经验。这段开头具有浓郁的中国风，在普遍公式化的留学文书中就显得很独特。

A recent American sports commentary is a case in point. It spoke highly of the athletic skills of the Chinese basketball team playing at the Olympics. In fact it went so far as to put the Chinese on an equal par with the American NBA players. However, said the commentary, the reason why the Chinese could not put up a decent fight witht he Europeans or North American teams was not due to the lack of assiduous training,but was due to the fact that they had too much of it. Rigid and monotonous training seven days a week and eight hours a day had taken its toll. The team was physically and mentally punished to the point of a collective break down. It took someone outside of “Lushan” to see what had caused the lack-luster performance—the Chinese team had simply not rested enough to play!

评析：这一段通过美国体育专栏对中国篮球队的看法说明要看清“庐山真面目”完全有必要听取，吸收和借鉴局外人的看法和经验。

Speaking of assiduous training, I have had my share. While at the Department of City and Resources of Guangzhou University of Science and Technology, a top university in South China, I read history and anthropology, crisscrossed China including the western most interior during my numerous field trips, improved my skills in drawing and planning, and under the guidance of my professor, completed a design project for the city of Qingyuan of Guangdong Province. I also read architectural and urban planning journals and research papers from English-speaking countries to keep myself abreast with up-to-date information.

This summer, I was offered an intern’s position in the neighboring city of Shenzhen with an environmental protection company. Shenzhen, being the most progressive and the fastest growing metropolis in China, has been experiencing tremendous challenges on the city planning front. During the internship period, I obtained hands-on opportunities to work with internal and external customers in the designing and development phases of one of the city’s upscale residential districts. My specific contribution was to address sewage treatment, underground installation and hazardous material disposal. Even as my confidence level is on the rise, I am conscious of the fact that further training and professional qualifications are called for if I ever want to speak on important planning issues like anauthority.

评析：第三段首句中speaking of是典型的过渡语。既承接上文提到的中国篮球队的刻苦训练，又开启下文，叙述“我”在城市规划方面所受到的训练，即课堂上的学习和实习工作经验，从而说明“我”有一定的基础和实力攻读此这一专业，同时“我”也意识到自己的本领和资历有限，需要进一步深造。

I was born in Dingnan, a small city of Jiangxi Province, not too far away from Lushan. Since then my family has relocated several times to half a dozen cities because of my father’s job assignments. The towns and cities that we have called home are rather small, inconspicuous and certainly not as prosperous as the larger cities.However, as a child, I enjoyed being in those cities because they all seemed to have the type of natural, unspoiled qualities that stood in sharp contrast to the likes of Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and Nanchang, cities I have stayed for an extended period of time where pollution, automobile exhaust fumes, noise,and badly conceived notions of city planning are figuring predominantly in the landscape, replacing the beauty and character these ancient cities have always been known for. It worries me to see that people in these cities are hustling and bustling in their relentless pursuit of material wealth, while not being terribly bothered by the onslaught of the forces that are eating away at the quality of life. It is perhaps because they too are living in “Lushan” that their view of the larger picture is being blocked.

评析：再次回到“庐山”这一主题，谈到“我”的出生地和少年时代生活过的小城镇与长大后去的大城市有许多不同，其中最大的差别就是糟糕的城市规划使大城市失去了自然风貌和本真。生活在这些大城市中的人犹如生活在庐山里，全然不知高质量的生活应是什么样的。

It is a sense of urgency and a mission that prompts me to pursue better education, where I hope I can acquire and sharpen the tools necessary to “finish the job.” It all begins with gettingout of “Lushan.”

评析：二战早期，丘吉尔为争取到美国的军事援助，在一次演讲中说到：“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”文章结尾引用了这句话后半部分的内容，并在最后再次提到“庐山”，与开头遥相呼应，表达出“我”要走出“庐山”的迫切愿望，深化了赴美留学的动机。

以上就是如何写好文书过渡部分的些许经验之谈，希望对大家文书写作起承转合方面有所帮助。

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