提纲式作文既有论说文，也有议论文。它主要考查的内容为：说明主题，分析原因或解释做法。例如：1995年的试题"希望工程"中提纲的要求是：(1) Present situation. (2) Necessity of the project. (3)My suggestion.它要求考生解释说明"希望工程"，分析开展希望工程的意义和原因，联系考生自己提出一些建议或具体的做法。从提纲的要求上看，提纲式命题作文对联系社会的要求不是很多，写作难度也相对较小。它要求考生在正确理解题意的基础上，根据提纲去选择素材。提纲提供了每段的段落大意，在开展论述时不能偏离提纲或改变内容。提纲一般为三部分，考生应针对提纲采用三段的结构来开展文章。如：
    
    Nowadays，China's economy is fast developing. People's living standard has improved a lot. In some areas，however，there are still many people living below the poverty line. They have difficulties for the very basics like food and clothes，let alone getting good education. What can we do to help these less developed areas in our country? I think we can do the following things.
    
    First of all，the government and our society must pay more attention to these less developed areas. The government should spend more money on the basic construction projects in these areas instead of spending it on cultural and artistic projects in cities.  It should also encourage some private enterprises and companies to donate to these poor areas.
    
    Secondly，transportation is very important in less developed areas. We should help them build more railways and more roads so that the local people can benefit from the convenient transportation. It can also promote their communication with developed areas.
    
    Finally，technology is necessary in developing economy in these areas. Poor farmers should be taught technology and new skills and should have easier access to money in the bank，such as getting loans to start businesses.
    
    All in all，so long as we continue our efforts to help these less developed areas，these areas will shake off poverty sooner or later.
    
    再如：
    
    Directions：
    
    Write an article to an English newspaper discussing laid-off workers and re-employment in China. In your article you should
    
    (1) describe briefly the present situation of unemployment，
    
    (2) analyze the causes of it，
    
    (3) give advice for re-employment.
    
    You should write about 200 words neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2.
    
    范文：
    
    There is an increasing number of workers，not only the middle-aged but also the young who are laid off from their jobs. Some laid-offs thus become poverty-stricken and can hardly support their children to continue their studies. And those employed are also worried a great deal that someday they may lose their jobs. This phenomenon has caught great attention in society. In order to maintain social stability，many re-employment service centers are being set up to give the laid-offs a helping hand.
    
    The increasing number of laid-off workers is caused mainly by the industrial restructuring and economic development across the country. In market economy，the enterprises have to reduce workforce or the redundant. Another reason is that some enterprises claim bankruptcy owing to their poor management and backward product structure，which made millions of workers jobless. Laborers from the countryside are also contributing to the increasing numbers of the laid-offs.
    
    Off-job doesn't mean no job. There are plenty of opportunities for the laid-off workers to be re-employed. Take Shanghai for example，the city is developing into an international economic center，shifting its old labor intensive industries out of the city and replacing them with new enterprises. But there is a fundamental requirement for the laid-offs if they want to be enrolled in these new posts. They must have certain skills. To many laid-off workers，they have to get job training to make themselves qualified and competitive in the human resources market.