很多學生在練習英文作文時，認爲長句、難句或複雜句能夠提升文章的語言質量，展示自己深厚的語言功底，並因此獲得更高的分數。他們在備考複習時也花了很多精力在長句的練習上，考試時也會盡量使用長句。這種想法確實有一定的道理，因爲很多考試如新託福的寫作科目評分標準中確實有從語法或用詞的多樣性等角度考察語言質量的評分項目，考生如果能夠熟練地運用各種句式寫出精彩的長句，確實能給文章增色不少。
然而，考試大雅思專家認爲：一味地追求句子的長度有時反而會犧牲句子的可讀性，特別是對一些基礎一般的學生來說，有時生硬地追求長句反而破壞了句子的句法準確性。下面我們就來看一些例子，體會一些寫得並不成功的長句和如何修改的建議：
建議一： 避免空洞的單詞和詞組
1. 一些空洞的單詞或詞組根本不能爲句子帶來任何相關的或重要的信息，完全可以被刪掉。比如下面的句子：
When all things are considered , young adults of today live more satisfying lives than those of their parents, in my opinion.
這句話當中的“ when all things are considered ”和“ in my opinion “都顯得多餘。完全可以去掉。改爲：
Young adults of today live more satisfying lives than their parents.
2. 有些空洞和繁瑣的表達方式可以進行替換，例如：
Due to the fact that our grandparents were under an obligation to help their parents, they did not have the options that young people have at this point in time.
“ due to the fact that ”就是一個很典型的繁瑣的表達方式的例子，可以替換，簡化爲下面的表達方式：
Because our grandparents were obligated to help their parents, they did not have the options that young people have now.
建議二： 避免重複
1.儘量避免重複使用同樣的詞彙。或者有的時候雖然詞彙沒有重複，但意思卻有重複。這時候可以做一些簡化的工作。例如下面這個例子：:
The farm my grandfather grew up on was large in size。
large 對一個farm來說就是size方面的large，所以in size可以去掉，改爲：
The farm my grandfather grew up on was large。
更簡潔的表達方式爲：
My grandfather grew up on a large farm。
2.有時一個詞組可以用一個更簡單的單詞來替換，例如：
My grandfather has said over and over again that he had to work on his parents' farm。這裏的over and over again就可以改爲repeatedly，顯得更爲簡潔：
My grandfather has said repeatedly that he had to work on his parents' farm。
建議三：選擇最恰當的語法結構
選擇合適的語法結構可以使句子意思的.表達更爲精確和簡練。雖然語法的多樣性也很重要，但選擇最恰當的語法結構仍然是更爲重要的考慮因素。以下原則是在考慮選擇何種語法結構時可以參考的原則：
1.一個句子的主語和謂語動詞應該能夠反映句子中的最重要的意思。例如：.
The situation that resulted in my grandfather's not being able to study engineering was thathis father needed help on the farm。
從意思上來分析，上面這句話需要表達的重要的概念是“grandfather's not being able to study”，而在表達這個概念時，原句用的主語是situation，謂語動詞是was，不能強調需要表達的重點概念，可以改爲下面這句話：
My grandfather couldn't study engineering because his father needed help on the farm。
2.避免頻繁使用“there be”結構，例如下面的句子：
There were 25 cows on the farm that my grandfather had to milk every day. It was hard workfor my grandfather。
可以改爲：
My grandfather worked hard. He had to milk 25 cows on the farm every day。
更簡潔的句式爲：
My grandfather worked hard milking 25 cows daily。
3.把從句改爲短語或單詞。例如：
Dairy cows were raised on the farm, which was located100 kilometers from the nearestuniversity and was in an area that was remote。
簡介的表達方式爲：
The dairy farm was located in a remote area, 100 kilometers to the nearest university。
4.僅在需要強調賓語而不是主語的時候，才使用被動語態。例如：In the fall, not only did the cows have to be milked, but also the hay was mowed and stacked
by my grandfather's family。
本句不夠簡潔的原因是本句的重心應該是“忙碌的家庭-my grandfather's family”，而使用了被動語態後，彷彿重心變成了cows和hay。下面的表達方式是主動語態，相對來說更簡潔一些：
In the fall, my grandfather's family not only milked the cow but also mowed and stacked thehay。
5.用更爲精確的一個動詞來代替動詞短語，例如下面這句話：
My grandfather didn't have time to stand around doing nothing with his school friends。Stand around doing nothing其實可以用一個動詞來表達，即loiter：
My grandfather didn't have time to loiter with his school friends。
6.有時兩句話的信息經過組合完全可以用一句話來簡練地表達，例如：
Profits from the farm were not large. Sometimes they were too small to meet the expenses ofrunning a farm. They were not sufficient to pay for a university degree。
兩句話的信息可以合併爲下面這句更爲簡潔的句子：
Profits from the farm were sometimes too small to meet operational expenses, let alone payfor a university degree。