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托福独立写作中如何使用表举例的词汇

2016-07-06谢昕呈

新东方英语 2016年7期
关键词:托福句法举例

谢昕呈

举例在托福独立写作中扮演着非常重要的角色,这在最新版《托福考试官方指南》的满分评分标准中有着明确且充分的体现:“Is well organized and well developed, using clearly appropriate explanations, exemplifications, and/or details.”其中exemplifications正是“举例”或“例证”之意。另外,details也即“细节”,而细节通常体现在具体的例子当中。这一点进一步说明了举例的重要性。举例不仅使文章真实可信、生动有趣,也会使内容更充实饱满。因此,备战托福的考生应当在平时有意识、有针对性地练习举例的思路,并熟练掌握如何用地道、多样的英语表达将这些例子引出来。其中,后者是笔者在本文谈论的重点,即如何利用表举例的词汇引出所要举的例子。笔者根据自己长期的教学实践,为大家总结出五类表举例的词汇,再结合举例的两种方法(描述现象与叙述故事),将这五类表举例的词汇细分为两大类。下面我们来具体分析。

描述现象用到的表举例的词汇

首先,我们来讨论在描述现象时考生可能会用到哪些表举例的词汇。描述现象就是罗列客观存在的事实,写出经常出现在日常生活中人们熟知的普遍现象,适合它的表举例的词汇一般有三组。下面来逐一介绍。

1. such as/like

用such as或like来举例,是广大考生比较熟悉的,但是在使用时需要注意以下三点。

①Such as比like正式,在正式场合考生应尽量使用such as。

②在包含such as与like的句式中,such as与like之前的内容应是笼统的概念,其后所跟的是含细节的具体例子,比如在“Expert guidance such as help with course preparation and methodology for appropriate lesson implementation”(专业指导,比如给予备课经验和恰当的上课方法的帮助)中,expert guidance就是笼统的概念,而“help with … lesson implementation”就是含细节的具体例子。

③Like与such as中的as都是介词,其后应跟名词或动词的-ing形式,例如:Activities such as rock climbing, bungee jumping and parachuting are extreme sports. (像攀岩、蹦极、跳伞这样的活动都是极限运动。)

2. include与“range from … to …”

根据笔者的教学经验,很多考生都没有掌握include与“range from … to …”这两种引入例子的表达,特别是“range from … to …”。使用include与“range from … to …”,考生需要注意以下两点。

①在举例时,include与“range from … to …”可用一般现在时形式,也可用现在分词形式,考生可参考下文例句。

②“range from … to …”囊括的举例范畴可以很广。比如ranging from course preparation to methodology for appropriate lesson implementation (从备课经验到恰当的上课方法),虽然例子中只出现了两种情况,但该用法表明可能还包括如何对付调皮的学生、如何与学生家长配合让学生的学习效率最大化等方面。考生一定要有意识地学习并使用像“range from … to …”这类更加高级的表达方式,而不是停留在自己已经熟知的套路上。

3. for example/for instance

提到表举例的词汇,相信大部分考生都会第一时间想到for example或for instance,甚至有些考生的一篇独立写作中会出现四五个for example,因为在托福独立写作中会有多个地方用到举例。从常理来说,这样会让评分人产生“审美疲劳”,而且也让人觉得考生的英语词汇不够丰富。《托福考试官方指南》要求考生在独立写作中体现syntactic variety (句法多样性)。鉴于此,笔者建议考生在考试中少使用for example或for instance。但如果要用这两种表达的话,需要注意:尽量将for example/for instance写成插入语,这样可以增加句法多样性。For example/for instance一般可插入到一个句子的主语与谓语之间。

为了使考生能更加直观地体会这类表举例的词汇的用法,笔者以TPO 26托福独立写作题目“孩子们选择与父母相同的工作比选择与父母不同的工作要好”为例,为考生举例说明。

例 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

It is better for children to choose jobs that are similar to their parents jobs than to choose jobs that are very different from their parents jobs.

Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

解析:对于这道题目,考生根据自己的想法做选择即可,可以选择agree,也可选择disagree,举例方法大同小异,笔者在此只讨论agree的情况。考生可以假设孩子与父母一样都选择教师这个职业,并提出可以从父母的工作经验中获得“备课经验与恰当的上课方法”。这是一个客观存在的事实,即描述现象。下面我们来看在描述这一现象时如何运用上文提到的举例词汇来举例。

参考例句(such as与like):

①Expert guidance such as help with course preparation and methodology for appropriate lesson implementation may benefit children who are planning to become teachers.

②Children are able to acquire expert guidance from their parents, like course preparation and methodology for appropriate lesson implementation.

参考例句(include与“range from … to …”):

①The expert guidance that children will receive from their parents includes course preparations and methodology for appropriate lesson implementation.

②Children will acquire from their parents expert guidance, including course preparation and methodology for appropriate lesson implementation.

③Expert guidance which children will receive from their parents ranges from course preparation to methodology for appropriate lesson implementation.

④Children will acquire from their parents expert guidance, ranging from course preparation to methodology for appropriate lesson implementation.

参考例句(for example与for instance):

①Take, for example, expert guidance from their parents. Through discussions with their parents about problems and confusion concerning teaching, children are able to obtain help with course preparation and methodology for appropriate lesson implementation.

②Parents who are teachers, for instance, can give their children expert guidance on how to prepare courses and how to give lessons according to appropriate teaching methodology.

叙述故事用到的表举例的词汇

叙述故事就是描述真实发生的事件,这些事件可以是发生在其他人身上的,也可以是发生在自己身上的。叙述故事时用到的表举例的词汇有很多,在此仅讨论相对“高端”的illustrate/exemplify和deserve a special mention。

1. illustrate/exemplify

根据笔者的教学经验,illustrate与exemplify这两个词是大多数考生不太熟悉的,如果能将它们用好,必定会使文章增色不少。这两个词通常用来引出一个真实发生的事件,使用时需要注意以下三点。

①Illustrate与exemplify是同义词,都是及物动词,其宾语都是表观点的词,比如point等。

②为了体现句法多样性,在常用的“illustrate/exemplify this point with the case of … ” 表达中,可用by来替换with,可用the example of与the story about等表达来替换the case of,但要注意它们所用介词的不同。

③Exemplify可能会被考生拼错,写成examplify。它与example不同,是以exe-开头的,而不是exa-。偶尔的拼写错误无伤大雅,但是较多的拼写错误很有可能导致失分。

2. deserve a special mention

Deserve a special mention这个表达通常也用来引出一个真实发生的事件,使用时需要注意以下三点。

①在deserve a special mention中,冠词a可以省略,写成deserve special mention。

②为了体现句法多样性,在句型“When it comes to … , … deserve(s) a special mention”中,“when it comes to …”可用“speaking of …”来替换。另外在该句式中,考生要注意根据主句主语的单复数形式变换deserve的形式。

③还可以用“The case of …/The example of …/The story about … deserves a special mention”这个句式引出例子。需要提醒考生注意的是由于该句式中的主语是第三人称单数,因此deserve要相应变成第三人称单数形式。

为了使考生能更加直观地体会这类表举例的词汇的用法,现以TPO16的托福独立写作题目“最佳的旅行方式是跟随有导游的旅游团”为例,为考生举例说明。

例 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

The best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide.

Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

解析:对于这道题目,考生可以选择disagree,也可选择agree,举例方法大同小异,笔者在此只讨论disagree的情况。关于为何不同意,考生可以给出类似“导游会把游客带到商品价格极高的纪念品店”这样的理由,例子可举自己的亲身经历或亲友的经历,这些例证通常都是真实发生的事件,属于叙述故事。下面来看例句。

参考例句(illustrate/exemplify):Tourists are likely to be taken by tour guides to stores where souvenirs are extremely expensive. I will illustrate/exemplify this point with the case of my cousin Joseph, who went on a guided tour to France with a group of approximately 20 people last year. When they had finished visiting the Eiffel Tower, the tour guide took them to a nearby souvenir store. Joseph bought a miniature Eiffel Tower there for 100 dollars, which was far too expensive.

当然,关键词illustrate/exemplify所在的句子也可以选择被动语态,写成:This point can be illustrated/exemplified with the case of my cousin Joseph.

参考例句(deserve a special mention):When it comes to being taken by tour guides to stores where souvenirs are extremely expensive, my cousin Joseph deserves a special mention. Last year he went on a guided tour to France with a group of approximately 20 people. When they had finished visiting the Eiffel Tower, the tour guide took them to a souvenir store nearby. Joseph bought a miniature Eiffel Tower there for 100 dollars, which was far too expensive.

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