例证说明:永恒的美-EternalBeauty
永恒的美
【内容提示】
美，人人都爱。当我们来到一个名胜景点，看到蔚蓝色的天空、葱绿的青山、清凌凌的水时，我们说这是一种美；我们读到一首新颖的诗歌，一篇优美的散文或奇妙的文章时，也会赞叹这是一种美。美，处处皆是，但是，我们最崇敬的是心灵美和人品的美。请你写一篇文章，用一个具体事例说明这种美。
【作文示范】
Eternal Beauty
When you get to a scenic spot and see the blue sky, the green mountain and clear water, maybe you will say this is beauty. When you read a fresh poem, graceful prose① or a wonderful article, perhaps you will sag that is beauty…. Beauty exists everywhere and everyone likes beauty. This story is about beauty of another kind----that of an ordinary woman, Yao Xinxin.
Once, my grandmother was on a bus. Suddenly she felt sick and wanted to throw up②, but she was afraid to make the bus dirty. The moment Ms Yao saw this, she handed her own clean mug③ to my grandma and said,“Don＇t worry, granny. You can use this mug. ”Grandma was very grateful, but she was so weak that she suddenly fell down in a faint④.Without delay Ms Yao asked the driver to drive the bus over to a hospital nearby. After an examination, the doctor told Ms Yao that my grandma must stay in hospital for a day or two. Ms Yao paid the fee⑤ for my grandma and sat by the bed for a day.
In the meantime⑥, my family were searching everywhere for Grandma. How we wished we could see dear Grandma again. Just when we were much worried, the next day Grandma appeared before us supported by a stranger. As you can guess, it was Ms Yao. We were wondering about this when Grandma said,“Without the kind conductor, I might not have been able to see you any more.” We thanked Ms Yao again and again, tears in our eyes.
（选自1987年9月15日《上海学生英文报》）
【词语解释】
①graceful[＇greisful] prose[pr+uz] 优美的散文
②throw up 呕吐
③mug[m)g] n．大杯
④faint[feint] n．昏厥 fall(down) in a faint昏倒
⑤fee[fi:] n．费
⑥meantime[＇mi:ntaim] n．其间
【写法指要】
本文引言段使用的是隐含篇题（implied thesis），即作者没有把篇题说出来，而是让读者自己通过阅读全文去归纳：这是一种心灵的美和人品的美。这一点我们可以通过作者使用的例证（illustration），即感人肺腑的真实故事体会出来。此外，作者在叙述文中的人物时也是用的含蓄手法：开始我们只知道好心人名叫Yao Yinxin，并不知道她是干什么的，直到最后才通过 Grandma 的话道出来，这就造成了一种人物身分的悬念，发人深省。