Writing Composition (条件英作文)
The writing item gives a topic - school rules, smartphones, volunteering, technology - plus conditions: state your opinion, give one or two reasons or an example, and write at least a stated number of words, often 25 to 40. Every condition is separately marked.
Before you write
- Underline each condition and number them, then tick them off at the end.
- Choose the side you can defend in simple English, not the side you believe most.
- Plan three sentences: opinion → reason(s) → closing.
A frame that always works
I think (that) ... First, ... Second, ... For these reasons, ... Other safe patterns: It is + adjective + for A + to do; A helps me do B; If we ..., we can ...
Worked example
Prompt: "Do you think junior high students should use smartphones at school? Write your opinion and two reasons in 25 words or more." Answer: "I think students should not use smartphones at school. First, they cannot focus on classes. Second, they may use them to bother friends." Count: 25 words. Reasoning: the position is clear in sentence one, the two reasons are signalled by First and Second, and the sentence types stay simple enough to keep grammar correct.
Traps
- Writing 20 words when 25 are required - count, then add one short clause such as "for example".
- Two reasons that are really the same idea in different words.
- No clear position, so the reader cannot answer Yes or No after the first sentence.
- Tense shifts inside one sentence, plus missing capitals and full stops.
- Translating a long Japanese sentence word for word instead of splitting it into two short English ones.