Assignment作为普通作业，也就是我们常说的老师布置的写作或者是课外作业的统称。Assignment对于很多刚到国外留学的中国同学来说，想自己单独完成一篇Assignment还是存在一定的难度的，Assignment对格式的要求，比如写作格式，写作结构，字体字号要求，相对来说是比较严谨的。对于刚开始写Assignment的同学来说，建议可以通过模仿的方式来摸索Assignment写作的套路。比如在图书馆下载一些已发表的高品质Assignment进行仔细阅读和观察，模仿这篇Assignment的结构，内容安排以及它的格式，总结文章的总体架构，文字语言以及逻辑结构，从而提升自己的写作能力。下面我将从从句子和段落两个层次进行教大家如何进行模仿训练。
首先是对句子的模仿。句子是组成一篇Assignment的基本单位，所以如果能先写好句子，那么一篇优质高分的Assignment也就不是什么难事了。通过大量模仿优质Assignment的句式和句子结构，我们能够将其内化，并在写作时做到融会贯通。句型模仿训练的前提是寻找优秀的材料，并提取出相应的句型进行大量的训练。通过大量的模仿将这些优秀的句型变成我们自己在写Assignment的时候表达的一部分。
目前对于句子模仿从易到难主要有两个方式：替换单词和提取句型
1、替换单词
把句子进行单词替换是最基本的方法，这在Assignment写作中降低抄袭率也是常用的方法。
举例，看下面句子：Globalisation and new technology—the telephone,the steamship,the train—had knitted the world together.
我们可以将上面的句子相应改一下：The world is changing at a rapid pace.Globalisation and new technology—the internet,the airplane,the high-speed train—have knitted the world together.
再比如：As is so often pointed out,knowledge is a two-edged weapon which can be used equally for good or evil.
我们可以将其中的knowledge替换为那些具有两面性的事物，比如nuclear technology/gene engineering/international trade等：As is so often pointed out,nuclear technology/gene engineering/international trade is a two-edged weapon which can be used equally for good or evil.
替换单词
2、提取句式
提取句式是在单词替换的基础上发展而来，它的难度更高，但训练效果也会更好。在做此类练习时，我们要先对一个句子进行分析，从中提取出一个“通用模板”，然后根据这个模板进行造句练习。举个例子，有这样一个句子：It is a disturbing omen for the Chinese economy.For all the talk of reform,many government officials still want to paper over bad loans.With credit going to keep moribund companies alive,China’s debt levels have soared even as growth has slowed.
我们可以提取出这样的句型：For all the talk of...still...，然后再把这个句型用到自己的Assignment写作当中去
比如可以说：For all the talk of equal rights for women,gender discrimination is still rife in the workplace.
又比如这个句子：China’s advance is all the more potent in the context of a series of disappointments for democrats since 2000.The first great setback was in Russia.After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the democratisation of the old Soviet Union seemed inevitable.
提取出来的句型是...is all the more potent in the context of...
我们可以写：
a)The appeal of online education is all the more potent in the context of soaring university tuition fees.
b)Regulating social media is all the more tricky in the context of widespread use of smartphones by which everyone is able to voice their opinions.
还有这个例子：So it came as a shock last month when a bill sprinted through the lower house of Congress,on the first day of a new session,that sets out to change the terms of their 30-year concessions after only 17 years.
我们可以提取出来的句型是It came as a shock...when...
比如可以说：It came as a shock last week when an explosion shaked New York City and injured 29 people.
对于下面这个句子：To say that the“age of the grand hotel ran from 1860 to 1960”is to make it seem that Paris’s Grand had no antecedents.
我们可以提取出To say that...is to make it seem that...这个类比句型，模仿写出：To say that universities should merely provide students with employment skills is to make it seem that theoretical knowledge is of secondary importance.
平时在阅读中要有意识地积累这类经典句式，并通过模仿造句地方式将它们内化，这样写出来的句子才会更加规范地道。
其次是对对段落的模仿。通过对文章经典段落的模仿，我们能够学习并熟悉段落的基本构架，段落展开方式，以及段落内部句子之间的承接等，在写作时能够更有效地组织自己的思想，写出层次鲜明、逻辑严谨的段落和文章。
举个例子，一篇题为The curious case of the fall in crime的文章中，对当今西方社会犯罪率下降的原因有这样一个论述：There is no single cause of the decline;rather,several have coincided.Western societies are growing older,and most crimes are committed by young men.Policing has improved greatly in recent decades,especially in big cities such as New York and London,with forces using computers to analyse the incidence of crime;in some parts of Manhattan this helped to reduce the robbery rate by over 95%.The epidemics of crack cocaine and heroin appear to have burnt out.
这个段落的逻辑非常清晰。开头第一句为主题句，后面三个句子进行展开：
1.Western societies are growing older,and most crimes are committed by young men.
2.Policing has improved greatly in recent decades.
3.The epidemics of crack cocaine and heroin appear to have burnt out.
我们可以对上面的段落框架进行模仿：There is no single cause of childhood obesity;rather,several have coincided.Many children have been surrounded by fast food outlets selling unhealthy foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs,which contain a lot of calories,sugar and salt.Moreover,their parents are too busy climbing up the career ladder to keep an eye on their eating habits.Lack of exercise also does its bit.Most children spend too much time sitting in their room watching TV or playing computer games,and too little doing outdoor activities.