开放作文(15分)是北京高考英语的一个亮点题型，旨在考查考生用英语思考和表达的能力。近几年北京卷的开放作文基本都是给出单幅漫画式图片，要求考生“描述图画内容并表达对这幅画的理解”，主要选取贴近考生生活或与考生成长密切相关的话题，如家庭教育、成功失败、优点缺点、人与环境的关系等。写好这类作文的关键在于立意正确和逻辑合理——这也正好符合高考书面表达对考生“逻辑性强”的最新要求。但从近几年高考情况来看，考生实际得分并不理想，该题全北京市平均分低至四分左右，是北京考生高考英语的一大难题所在。对此，笔者有一个好方法与广大考生分享——“起承转合”法。
方法概述
“起承转合”本是汉语诗文写作结构章法方面的术语。“起”即起因，是开头；“承”即承接上文加以申述；“转”即转折，从正、反面加以论述；“合”即结束，是结尾。这四者互相依存、互为作用，有着严密的逻辑性，体现着很强的辩证关系。具体到高考英语北京卷的开放作文，“起”就是通过大体描述图中人物/事物及其关系，开好头，为全文主题作好铺垫，埋下伏笔，一般称之为描图。“承”就是在此基础上继续挖掘图画想要表达的深层含义，确立主题，也叫解图。“转”是转而联系生活中的类似现象，结合实际，深化主题，又称议图。“合”就是结合图画再次突出主题，给出最后结论，也可称为“圆”图。
实战演练
一起来看两道高考英语北京卷的真题。
真题1：
2010年普通高等学校招生全国统一考试(北京卷)
第二节 开放作文(15分)
请根据下面提示，写一篇短文。词数不少于50。
In your spoken English class, your teacher shows you the following picture. You are asked to describe the picture and explain how you understand it.
【解题支招】
起：In the picture, a big tree grows between two closely-located buildings. (直接描述图中内容，为确定主题作铺垫。必须至少提到树和楼这两个要素)
承：Unlike most trees, this one bends in the middle, struggling all the way up to get more sunshine. (描述图中细节，挖掘图画内涵，讲清树和楼的关系，确立主题)
转：The picture reminds me of those who succeed in unfavorable conditions. Faced with difficulties, they never give up but try their best to find a way out. (联系实际，讲现实生活中类似图中树与楼关系的成长与困难环境，深化主题)
合：Life can be hard. But if we have courage and determination, we will finally get the "sunshine" we want as the tree in the picture does. (紧扣主题，得出结论，巧妙“圆”图)
真题2：
2007年普通高等学校招生全国统一考试(北京卷)
第二节 开放作文(15分)
请根据下面提示，写一篇短文。词数不少于50。
In your English class, you are asked to describe the following picture and explain to your classmates how you understand it.
【解题支招】
起：In this picture, a mother bird sits on her nest in a big tree, watching her babies fly away. (描述图中的大鸟与小鸟。本部分也可以用这样的句子开头：As can be seen in the picture, ...)
承：I think the mother bird must be very proud of her children, who are able to find their own food now. But she may also feel a sense of loss since they no longer need her day-to-day care as they used to. (解读大鸟与小鸟的关系。这里还可以用下面的句子引领：I think the picture is trying to convey a message that ...)
转：This picture shows very well the mixed feelings of parents when watching their children grow up. For my parents, things will be much easier. We will set up a family blog to post our photos, journals, and even audio. (联系实际的社会生活，引申到父母与孩子的关系。这里可以用的句子还有：This picture leaves me in deep thought./This phenomena is not unusual in our daily life.)
合：Once I leave for college, we can conveniently share our experiences and support each other no matter wherever we are. My parents' "nest" will never be empty. (呼应图画，升华主题。这里需要特别指出，最后一句巧妙地在nest上用一个引号呼应所描图画，实在是点睛之笔，很值得大家学习。)
通过以上两篇例文我们可以看出，只要运用好“起承转合”，就不难摆脱对开放作文“无话可说”或“言之无序”的困境，圆满完成写作任务。这样一来，得个满意的分数也就是自然而然的事了。为方便记忆和应用，同学们可参考如下口诀：
开放作文，其实好写；立意高远，起承转合。
首先描图，生动简洁；思考内涵，深入挖掘。
转入实际，联系生活；善用引号，自圆其说。
祝大家高考英语开放作文写作顺利！