考博英语作文的结构一般包含三部分：开头——主体——结尾。开头（Introductory paragraph）提出话题、观点、现象或者问题等；主体（Body paragraphs）围绕开头提出的内容展开论述；结尾（Concludingparagraph）

对文章进行总结。应试作文这三部分缺一不可，不然文章很可能会被认为结构不完整。而作文的开头，往往给出第一印象，开头段落的写得好与坏，很大程度上影响阅卷老师对于整篇文章的判断。建议各位考生重视开头段落的写作。尽量避免生硬的模板。

一般来讲，作文的开头包含两部分的内容：导入陈述，提供有关话题的背景，介绍文章话题，一般由泛泛到具体，自然引出话题。主题陈述，围绕话题，表明作者观点态度，明确文章的中心内容，也可以包含引出下文的作用。主题陈述通常在开头段最后一两句。

以下是一篇关于“出国旅游”的文章开头思路和提纲：

Foreign Travel

开头思路：People are thinking of ways to enjoy their lives after becoming rich. ↓ Some want to buy new houses. Others would like to have their private cars. ↓ I choose to travel. ↓ Foreign travel helps me to learn about cultures of different nations and make friends all over the world. （主题) 主体段落：

段落1中心：Traveling abroad benefits me a lot in enriching knowledge.

段落2中心：I can make friends all over the world in traveling.

结尾要点：

Foreign travel makes me happy because of the benefits in learning something new and making friends in different countries.

以上只是动手写文章之前，对于开头段落的构思，和总体文章思路（提纲），真正写作的时候还得考虑用词和上下文的衔接，例如，以上这篇Foreign Travel具体的开头可以写成：

Owing to the development of national economy, people have become richer. With more money in pockets, they want to enjoy their lives in a modernized way. Some will buy new houses. Others would like to have their private cars. I prefer to travel all over the world. Foreign travel benefits me a lot.

显然可以看出，该开头自然简练，代词的使用使表达连贯，给出话题的背景，逻辑合理，显而易见，读者很容易理解并产生共鸣。此外，最后一句的主题陈述比提纲简单，因为文章主体部分会有相应分论点的中心句：Traveling abroad benefits me a lot in enriching Knowledge. 和 I can make friends all over the world in traveling. 所以，从全文的结构和连贯性考虑，开头段最后一句主题陈述无需赘述。

再来看一个开头段落的例子，主题陈述得比较详细：

A person born in the 21st century has seen a lot of changes take place in almost all areas of human life. Some people are excited by the challenges that these changes offer; others want to return to the simpler, less automated life style of the past. Living in the twentieth centuryoffers certain advantages, such as a higher standard of living, but it also has some disadvantages, such as a polluted environment, the depersonalization of human relationships, and the weakening of spiritual values.(主题句)

这个开头和上一个不一样，主题陈述字数较多，但并不会感觉累赘，因为只有这样才能把主题交代清楚。此外，从主题句的句式和逻辑关系(but连接的两个转折意义的并列句)上可以看出，文章主体部分很有可能是围绕disadvantages展开阐述。因此，主题陈述详略一定要考虑上下文连贯，既要讲清楚也不显啰嗦。

遵循这个思路，可以写出有别于模板的作文开头，避免模板的生硬感。