由于四级统考的作文部分只要求写一篇100～120个词的三段式短文，每一段只有大约40个词左右，因此，要达到完整就必须尽可能地简明。例如：
It is not always true that a good picture is worth a thousand words. Often writing is much clearer than a picture. It is sometimes difficult to figure out what a picture means， but a careful writer can almost always explain it。
段首句所表达的主题思想是一种看法，必须有具体事例加以验证。上述两个推展句只是在文字上对主题作些解释，整个段落内容空洞，简而不明。如果用一两个具体的例子的话，就可以把主题解释清楚了。比如下段：
It is not always true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes， pictures are pretty useless things. If you can‘t swim and fall in the river and start gulping water， will you be better off to hold up a picture of yourself drowning， or start screaming "Help"?
3.连贯性(coherence)
连贯性包括意连和形连两个方面，前者指的是内在的逻辑性，后者指的是使用转换词语。当然这两者常常是不可分割的。只有形连而没有意连，句子之间就没有内在的有机的联系;反之，只有意连而没有形连，有时行文就不够流畅。
意连
段落中句子的排列应遵循一定的次序，不能想到什么就写什么。如果在下笔之前没有构思，边写边想，写写停停，那就写不出一气呵成的好文章来。下面介绍几种常见的排列方式。
A。按时间先后排列(chronological arrangement)
We had a number of close calls that day. When we rose， it was obviously late and we had to hurry so as not to miss breakfast; we knew the dining room staff was strict about closing at nine o‘clock. Then， when we had been driving in the desert for nearly two hours - it must have been close to noonthe heat nearly hid us in; the radiator boiled over and we had to use most of our drinking water to cool it down. By the time we reached the mountain， it was four o‘clock and we were exhausted. Here， judgement ran out of us and we started the tough climb to the summit， not realizing that darkness came suddenly in the desert. Sure enough， by six we were struggling and Andrew very nearly went down a steep cliff， dragging Mohammed and me along with him. By nine， when the wind howled across the flat ledge of the summit， we knew as we shivered together for warmth that it had not been our lucky day。
本段从 "rose"(起床)写起，然后是吃早餐("not to miss breakfast"， "closing at nine o‘clock")，然后是 "close to noon"，一直写到这一天结束("By nine")。
