一篇文章通常可分为三个部分，即开头、正文和结尾。这三个部分安排是否得体，直接影响到文章的质量。
文章的开头一般来说应尽量做到开门见山，用简单明白的叙述引出文章的话题，使读者了解文章要谈论什么，一下于引起读者的兴趣。
作文常见的开头形式大致有以下几种：
1.开门见山，揭示主题
文章一开头，，就交待清楚文章的主题是什么。如How I Spent My Vacation的开头可以写成：
I Spent my last vacation happily.
Honesty的开头可以写成：
Honesty is one of the best virtues.An honest man is always trusted and respected.On the contrary, one who tells lies is regarded as a liar，and is looked upon by honest people.
2.交代人物、事情、时间或环境开头
在文章的开头，先把人物、事件和环境交待清楚。例如A Trip to Jinshan 的开头可以写成：
The day before yesterday my class went on a bus trip to Jinshan. The bus ride there took three hours. The long trip made us very tired, but the sight of the beautiful sea refreshed us.
3. 回忆性的开头
用回忆的方法来开头。例如A Trip to the Taishan Mountain的开头是：
I remember my first trip to the Taishan Mountain as if it were yesterday.
4.概括性的开头
即对要在文章中叙述的人或事先作一个概括性的介绍。如The Happiness of Reading Books的开头：
people often say that gold and silver are the most valuable things in the world. But I say that to read books is more valuable than anything else, because books give us knowledge and knowledge gives us power.
5.介绍环境式的开头
即开头利用自然景物或自然环境引出要介绍的事物。如An Accident的开头可以写成:
It was a rainy and windy morning. The sky was gloomy, the temperature was low, and the street was nearly empty. I was on my way back to school. Suddenly, a speeding car came round the corner.
6.交待写作目的的开头
在文章的一开头就交待写作目的，如通过文章要表扬谁，批评谁，或说明一个什么问题等。如 pollution Control 的开头：
In this article I shall draw your attention to the subject of pollution control.
下面是两篇例文，供大家可以参考：
关键字：毒鸡蛋
The Chinese news agency Xinhua says the peoples Daily newspaper have both carried reports suggesting that the addition of industrial chemical melamine to animal feed in China is an open secret. Quentin Sommerville reports from Beijing.
Animal feed in China is routinely contaminated with industrial chemical melamine, according to the countrys state media. Chemical firms have been repackaging scrapped melamine as protein powder and selling at home. When added to the feed, it gives the illusion of boosting nutritional levels. Chinas melamine scandal began in the dairy industry, 4 babies died and 20 thousand children were hospitalised after the chemical was added to milk. This week, the authorities in Hong Kong discovered melamine in 4 brands of Chinese produced eggs. Its believed they have got there because of contaminated animal feed.
关键字：感恩节
Live with thankfulness
Do you know Thanksgiving Day? Do you know why human thank God?
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, a different date every year. The president must proclaim that date as the official celebration.
Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even if they live far away, family members gather for a reunion at the house of an older relative. All give thanks together for the good things that they have.
In this spirit of sharing, civic groups and charitable organizations offer a traditional meal to those in need, particularly the homeless. On most tables throughout the United States, foods eaten at the first thanksgiving have become traditional.
What should we thank?
The thankful great universe provides the environment of existence for us and give us sunlight, air, water and everything in keeping with we existence of space, bring storm to let us accept to toughen for us, bring to us mysterious let us look for.
The thankful parents give us the life, make us feel the merriment of the human life, feel the genuine feeling of the human life, feel the comity of the human life, feel happiness of the human life, also feel hardships and pain and sufferings of the human life!
The thankful teacher works with diligence and without fatigue everyday of teach, give us knowledge ability, put on the wing which flies toward the ideal for us.
The thankful classmate and friend grows up road of, let I no longer standing alone in the itinerary of life; The with gratitude is frustrated and let us become in a time the failure stronger.