關於托福考試，專家發現很多在中國人眼中寫作水平良好、用詞也相對比較準確的同學，在國際性托福考試寫作部分中成績卻並不如人意。究其原因，一是表達不符合英語思維;二是對西方文化知之甚少，導致無話可說。
那麼，在託福寫作中取得高分的奧妙是什麼呢?大家可以想想看，如果我們作為考官，看見兩份由國外的考生所完成的中文寫作，一份語言平平，通篇沒有亮點之處。而另一篇則是妙語連珠，恰當地使用了幾句成語，我們會認為哪一位考生的中文能力更有說服力呢?答案是不言而喻的。
被中國人稱為“西方成語”的“英語習語”向來被看作是西方文化的代表之一。它以其精練、短小、幽默、風趣且富於哲理性的特徵而廣泛地被英、美國家的人們所接受並被廣泛應用於人們的日常生活交際、報刊、雜誌以及電視廣播媒體之中。作為傳承、記載文化與語言的基本工具之一，它在英、美國家人們的日常生活中起著舉足輕重的作用。在英語行文中適當地使用習語不但可以避免千篇一律的表達，而且可以成為考官加分的重要因素。
那麼，作為中國學生，怎樣通過學習習語來提高自己的英語寫作呢?
要多看原版英語報刊文章。比如在英國著名媒體Guardian中曾經發表過一篇文章US envoy to Iraq: 'We have opened the Pandora's box' 中的第一句話〝The US ambassador to Baghdad conceded yesterday that the Iraq invasion had opened a Pandora's box' of sectarian conflicts which could lead to a regional war.〞很多同學可能看過後不知道這句話究竟是什麼意思。是美國大使承認侵略伊拉克的行為打開了一個什麼樣的盒子嗎?顯然是不對的.。其實，Pandora's box'這個短語是一個英語傳統習語，Pandora 原是希臘神話傳說中從天宮下凡的人類第一個女性，Pandora’s box 之意表面上看來是貴重之物，而骨子裡卻是禍害，其含義為“萬惡之源”、“造成極大混亂”。所以這句話的意思可以理解為：駐紮巴格達的美國大使昨日承認由美國發動的伊拉克戰爭造成了當地的宗教鬥爭。如果每天可以閱讀一兩篇原版的英語報刊文章，遇到類似於這樣不會的習語查查字典，再整理到自己的筆記本里，這樣的效果是非常好的。如果寫作文的時候能加上這樣一句，可以給文章增色不少。
拓展閱讀：託福鑑賞範文：alone or a group
Some students prefer to study alone. Others prefer to study with a group of students. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
Study habits are a very individual thing. Some people like to study alone, while others like to study with a group. Personally, I would rather study alone, but I can see advantages to both ways.
It can be very helpful to study with other students. For one thing, you can exchange information about the topic. Not everyone is going to hear everything the teacher says in class. Comparing notes is a good way to be sure you get what you missed. You can also discuss various aspects of the topic. Other students can bring a different perspective to the discussion. They can point out things you may not have thought of, and help you make your arguments clearer.
Studying with other students can also help keep you focused on studying. If you’re in a study group, you have to be at a particular place to study at a particular time. This is good discipline. The group reviews all the material available and then begins studying. There’s not a lot of wasted time, if things work the way they should.
Of course, it doesn’t help if you’re in a study group that doesn’t take studying seriously. Then you’d be much better of studying by yourself. If you’re trying to study with friends and all they want to do is talk about other things, you’d get more done going somewhere to study by yourself. Being with people who don’t want to study can mean you’ll be constantly distracted. There’ll be a lot of interruptions, and you won’t gain much hearing their points of view on a study subject.
Finally, whether you study alone or in a group depend a lot on your own study habits and on your personality. If you need absolute quiet to study, then you’re better off alone. If you’re a very social person, then you’re better off studying alone, too: you’ll be too tempted to socialize instead of studying. This is the reason I prefer studying alone. When I’m with other people, I want to play, I don’t want to work.
