列位看官，赤日炎炎，书屋凉风吹拂！正在修订10年之前出版的《英语写作纵横谈》一书。忽逢以下一个段落 -- 以下列范文说明议论文的写法。感慨万端，昨日给友人发送了一封邮件，其中不乏内容谈“钱奴”。内容如次：

    世上多少人做钱奴！我的驴友中也有。此次胶东之旅，他们一路表演不歇 -- 带了小外甥外出，到了花果山，因为要130元（自费），而老夫老妻居然口角不断，甚至半夜还要吵架，扰四邻，害得导游敲门去做工作。夫妻两人在上海有房产四处，就是为了小钱，弄得全家不快，扫兴而归！我的一个朋友观察仔细，他说，你看，凡是要参加自费项目，他们家就要拌嘴！果然。记得去年金秋，和我女儿去日本，也有两对夫妻，一路拌嘴，就是为了点小钱。既然如此，何必外出？

    下面这篇英语短文的精华 -- It is important to remember, however, that money is only a means to an end, not the end itself. （汉译：然而，很有必要记住：钱仅仅是达到你的目的的一个手段而已，而非目的本身！）

    现在将英语写作教程中的一小节，上博如下，以飨看官！希望喜欢哦。
 (1) How Important Is Money

  No one would argue, I think, that money is unimportant. There are certain things that human beings need -- food, shelter, perhaps medical care—and those things cost money. But if one has enough money to live on, to pay for the basic essentials of life, is it important to have a lot more money than that? Will your life improve in proportion to the amount of money that you have?

    Well, there is no denying that money can buy a lot. Maybe you do not need much money to pay for simple shelter, but how about you want a nice, big apartment in a nice neighborhood, or if you want to buy a house? That fact is that people do get on each other's nerves if they are crowded together in a small space, and that a married couple or members of a family are likely to get along better if they are not constantly tripping over each other and asking each other not to be so noisy—if each can find a little privacy from time to time. A big apartment or a house will allow them this privacy.

    It is nice to get a little pleasure out of life, a little fun from time to time. Unfortunately, many of the fun things that you can do today cost money. New York City, for example, is one of the entertainment capitals of the world. On any night, outstanding performers appear in its clubs and on its concert stages. It is also a centre of theater. Furthermore, you can dine on foods from every corner of the world in its countless restaurants. So how can it be that some people in New York do not have fun? Simple. They do not have the money to take advantage of all these attractions.

    So, is money the road to success? Not really. Large numbers of people work every day, work overtime, work weekends, and make a lot of money. Are they happy? No. They have no time to form or to maintain friendship. Enjoying means taking things in, taking the time to see, to hear… Too, many people do not take the time to do this.

    Surely everyone has thought at times, “If I only had a lot of money, I could be the happiest person in the world. “ It is important to remember, however, that money is only a means to an end, not the end itself. ”

    文章分五个自然段。就How Important Is Money? 这一问题展开段落, 发表观点。其核心观点出现于篇末 -- money is only a means to and end, not the end itself. 观点正确辩证, 表达精当老练。

    首段末尾的两个问号实际重复了题目的涵义－－How Important Is Money? 同时首段第一句已用双重否定暗示了作者的一个基本观点(money is important), 并附以实例(food, shelter, and medical care)

    第二、三段观点趋同：money can buy a lot. 但是其论证的方法各异：前者以simple shelter → big apartment → a house 线索从正面说明money can buy a lot; 而后者则抓牢New York City形形色色的entertainment, 从反面说明无钱则不能take advantage of all these attractions。

    第四段因势利导提出问题：So, is money the road to happiness? 从而十分自然妥帖地转入问题的另一面。作者对此问题的解答十分巧妙机智, 不是正面铺开侈谈, 而是抓住一点(time)集中谈 -- Too, many people do not take the time to do this. 读者的联想是：享受, 光有钱不行, 尚需有时间。除了时间之外, 当然还有许多不可或缺的条件 -- 诸如：健康、兴致… …

   值得注意的是, 文章末段先以虚拟句(If I only had a lot of money, I could be the happiest person in the world. )起始, 将第二、三段较为含蓄的观点加以突现, 紧接着又以however 一词转折, 对此观点加以修正, 提出作者本人鲜明而又正确的观点。

    文章写得峰廻路转, 令人喜读。