newspapers, a medium of the past?
it was on the morning of 12th, sep. on hearing that an unbelievable catastrophe had happened in new york, i rushed to a news stand and anxiously asked for a copy of newspaper, only to be told that they had already been sold out. though i knew the details of the disaster on tv later the day, i still bought a pile of newspapers and read them with gusto. at least to traditional readers like me, newspapers still hold an important position in our heart.
some people regard newspapers as a medium of the past and predict that they will be replaced by tv and the internet in the near future. they point out that the two new media have the advantage of promptness and vividness. through live broadcast of news events, tv viewers can feel that they are on the spot, seeing what's actually happening with their own eyes. as far as i'm concerned, however, newspapers may provide the readers with factual reports as well as certain viewpoint. when people argue that with the development of the internet, people now have an easier access to news media through pdas, mobile phones and pcs. wherever one wants to know what's happening in the world, he no longer needs to bother searching for a bookstore.instead, he would surf online and find exactly what he wants on a website.
however, there are more people, me included, firmly hold the opinion that newspapers are still indispensable to our life.first of all, newspapers gain us a deeper insights into the events. a well-written report, reasonable and forceful, probing into the core of the topic, provoke our thoughts on such issues as morality, justice, value and so on. while tv feasts our eyes with flash pictures, newspapers enrich our minds with sparkling wits. secondly, though with great potential, the new media are not as popular as newspapers. a retired worker would rather buy an evening paper on his way home, instead of taking pains to learn how to operate a pc. a senior manager would prefer to skip through a wall street daily rather than waste his precious time in front of a tv on the bus set. last but not the least, people like to read newspapers just out of habit. they prefer the lovely smell of a newly printed newspaper to computer screen which makes their heads spin. they want to see words in black and white, and keep them after reading, if necessary.
considering the fact that radios have not been driven out of the market by tv, and book sales not affected by the invention of e-book, i would draw the conclusion that despite the increasing popularity of new media, newspapers still play an important role in people's life.

简 评
学生常常感到写作最困难的莫过于开头。经常是苦思冥想，抓耳挠腮，却苦无始句。实际上，文章开头并没有固定的格式。只需把主题引出，即把全文的论点引出，任何写法都可以。本文作者以自身的经历开头，亲切平实，形象生动，真实可信，很容易引起读者的共鸣，从而铺陈全文主旨。常用的开篇方式还有很多，如引用名人名言，列举一组令人震惊的数据，定义某个术语，引出辩论的正反观点等等，也可以像本文这样采用一段真人佚事或编纂一个故事。
另外，本篇文章有一定的篇幅，论述详尽，分析比较了报纸与新生媒体形式如电视、网络的各自优势。这是一篇比较类的文章。一般说来，此类文章可采用独立阐述对比事物或交替说明对比事物两种方式。本文采用了后者。作者穿插介绍了电视的形象生动、如临其境，网络的快捷以及传统报纸的休闲和导向性。
(点评教师：赵蓉)