托福写作:攻破难题的制胜法宝之拆分法
考场如战场,在托福写作考试的战场上,如何完美解决“奇葩题”,今天小编给大家带来了攻破“奇葩题”的制胜法宝—拆分法 ,希望能够帮助到大家,下面小编就和大家分享,来欣赏一下吧。
托福写作:攻破“奇葩题”的制胜法宝—拆分法
我们先来看以下一个例子,选用的题目为2016年4月23日真题:Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Playing sports teaches people lessons about life.一拿到这道题,许多同学会想当然地把题目看成“playing sports的好处”并用万能理由法给出了三个理由:减少压力(alleviate pressure)、维持健康的身体状况(maintain healthy physical condition)以及拓宽人际圈(extend your scope of relationship)。但是重新看题目,才会发现key words限定于“体育是否可以教会人们生活中的道理”,之前的万能理由也都用不上了。这种情况怎么办呢?其实,在碰到思路有局限的题目时,拆分法是制胜的不二法门,我们可以选择让题目里的key words具体化。比如,这道题当中,出现了一个关键词叫做 “sports”,运用拆分法我们可以先把sports拆成各种运动种类football、long-distance running、badminton,再给出相应的理由——football (realize the importance of cooperating)/ long-distance running(persistence is required in achieving success)/ badminton (find out thesignificance of conducting flexible strategies),最后在根据分论点进行分别的展开和论证,文章就得以成型。
下面我将用四道题由易至难来进一步展示如何使用“拆分法”。
丨选用2016年11月12日真题
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: People can solve important problems in their daily life on their own or with the help from families; the help from the government is not necessary.这道题当中,不论选前者还是后者,都可以用拆分法解题。比如,我们选择的thesis为“政府在帮助人们解决日常生活中重要问题方面起到很大的作用”,就可以运用拆分法把情况具体化。思路可以为:把”problem”进行具体化拆分,思考生活中面临的什么重大问题是需要政府干预和解决的。这时候我们可能就想到医疗方面需要政府provide basic medical insurance,交通方面improve the construction of urban traffic facilities以及面对高犯罪率,需要政府come up with strategies to decrease the criminal rate。
丨选用2015年7月11日真题
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Teachers should be paid at least as much as doctors, lawyers or business leaders are paid. 在这道题中,如果一时想不到合适的思路,可以使用拆分法。题干当中,我们可以选择 “teachers”作为被拆分的主体。按照时间,可以分为小学老师、中学老师以及大学老师。如果中心论点立意为“老师值得高薪”,则三个分论点可以分别为:小学老师play a pivotal role in cultivating children’s initial values of distinguishing right from wrong,中学老师instill vital theoretical knowledge for high school students to establish their knowledge system,大学老师provides professional guidance for college students to find out their career path。最后得出结论,正是因为这三点理由,所以可以得出各个阶段的老师都需要获得高薪。
丨选用2014年11月11日真题
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Advertisements make
products seem better than they are.媒体类题对于同学们来说可能会有些生疏,但实际上运用拆分法,也可以很好的解题。面对这道题目,我们可以很容易地找出关键词为“广告”,根据拆分法,advertisements可以按照广告的类别进行具体化分析,比如分为“广播广告”(radio advertisements)、“电视广告”(TV commercials)、“杂志广告”(magazine advertisements)。接下来,思考的部分是这三类广告分别怎样使得产品比真实情况看起来更好。可能可以给出的理由比如:广播广告通常会使用专家采访来提高产品功效的可信度(enhance the reliability of target products’ efficacy) 、电视广告通过吸引观众的广告语来强化产品的质量 (using appealing slogans to emphasize the quality of products) 、杂志广告里常见的手法是通过处理图片来强化产品效果 (intensify product effect through processing the images) 。
丨选用2015年1月31日真题
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The rules that the whole societies today expect to young people to follow and obey are too strict。这道题很多同学刚拿到的时候都有种无从下手的感觉,但是沉着冷静下来,会发现最优的方法是选择拆分。例如,我们选择的中心论点为:rules并没有过于严格。在整个题干中,我们可以选择拆分 ”the whole societies”,分析在哪些地方,学生遇到的rules是必须的。这时候,我们就会发现,在学校里学生被要求统一穿校服 (in order to reduce comparison among students from different family backgrounds),在家庭当中孩子被要求尊老爱幼 (which is crucial for establishing a harmonious family),在社会当中,法律对年轻人的饮酒年龄有要求 (for the sake of young people’s well-being)。通过拆分,我们很快可以把这道题的思路拓宽。
相信同学们通过今天的独家托福写作周报,可以更加了解如何运用拆分法来解决托福实考中不是很容易解答的题目,做到遇到“奇葩题”也可以稳操胜券!
托福写作满分:留学生核心能力建设第一步
写作能力是语言运用的精髓与核心,对于在外国留学的中国学生,尤其是有志于进入文商科领域的学生来说,“写”是一条生命线,直接关乎课业和工作的成败。以写作形式提交的测试或者论文占据了GPA的极大比重,这事实上对于母语非英文的亚洲学生来说是利好的,如果没有以书面形式呈现的作业,一般来说稍显内向的学生很难在激烈的英语课堂辩论中占据任何优势。从更深层次上来说,“写”代表了个人内心声音的倾诉,展现了理解知识的深度和思考的结晶,镌刻了一个人的思想由青涩到成熟的印记。而到了工作阶段,对于任何与文商科有关的职业,例如律师,会计师,分析师,翻译,记者等等来说,写作都是最基本与核心的质素,无论是撰写报告,公文,信函……写作的重要性常常为学生们所忽视,因此到了大学和工作之后往往要加倍偿还。
以托福写作为例,大部分的初高中生所展现出来的英文写作问题主要集中在以下几点:
01 逻辑匮乏
连贯地把一个观点言之成理地表达出来,是完成任何写作任务的第一要务,在英文写作中尤其要注意两点,第一,不要被辞藻的华美和句式的复杂绕进去了,英文应该以几个关键词为骨架,再以此为基础进行增删修饰,所以不要文过饰非,表达片段化;第二,对于低龄学员来说,尤其要注意平行论点之间是否有重叠,交叉的地方,同时,要注意事实,结果和基准之间是否处在一条直线上,是否在逻辑上具有一致性。
02 论据意识不强
托福写作评分标准当中对于“事实和论据”有着明确的要求,“口水话”是任何应试型写作的大忌。论据的积累事实上也应该成为写作教学的重要一环,其中理论型的论据需要教师的讲解和提炼,也需要学生“思接千载,视通万里”,不局限于单一科目,把多门学科当中的原理和事实融入进论点的阐发过程,比如心理学中的“延迟满足”效应,经济学里“马太效应”等等,都应该是写作可以信手拈来的材料,但是这一块是传统的写作教学比较忽视的;而事实论据也是大有文章可做的,最可靠的是数字,对数字的敏感度的培养应该从小开始,不能成为短板;其次是概括性的事实,大部分的低龄学员在抽象概括能力上需要严格的训练,在初期需要思维模型的打造,比如判定一种行为的利弊,可以借用“个人-社区-社会”的经典分层,或者在工作类的话题上,对不同类型的职业进行单独分析……;最后要强调的是具体事例,此处必须明确的一点是具体事例写作绝对不等同把个人经历做成流水账,而是要加以概括,把枝枝叶叶的部分砍掉,把意识流一般的叙事套进一个整饬的模具当中,这个模具就是段落的大意和行文的逻辑。
03 遣词造句不地道
托福的阅卷人不知道看过多少篇以 “with the development of society”(随着社会的发展)开头的作文,这种毫无个人创建的模板化也只能保证一个更加平庸的分数。其次,玩弄大词,不用小词,不区分书面语和口语,都是由于平时不阅读,不积累,所造成的坏账和恶果。8岁时就出版个人专著《飞扬的手指》,12岁就走上TED演讲台的美国华裔神童邹奇奇(Adora Svitak)从三岁就开始博览群书,去听一听她的那篇名为《成年人能从孩子身上学到什么》的演讲,我们或许可以知道,任何神童和奇迹的产生,都是“积跬步”和“积小流”的结果。
04 冗余现象严重
如果我们试着把一段中文翻译成英文,再把这段译文和典范的英文进行对比,就可以发现大多数人的翻译都要比典范英文长一截。这恰恰是写作刚刚入门,又无法达到精通程度的学生最容易遇到的问题。英文写作的原则应该是“less is more”,写得精炼远远好于长篇大论,如若英文写作要从中低端迈入高端,这背后需要调动介词,比如“otherwise”这种介词,80%的学生都不会用,或者害怕用;此外,把从句以合成词的方式的呈现出来,用上data-driven这样的结构,此处不一一赘述。
综上所述,英文写作首先是一种审美教育。审美是任何有效语言学习的最佳入门途径,语文课上,不少人因为《春江花月夜》“江畔何人初见月,江月何年初照人”这样让人震撼的名句而爱上了这门学科,而英文的审美力量常常为模式化的教学所忽视。读原著,是长期构建英文写作能力的核心所在,例如我们如果有幸读一读爱德华·吉本的《罗马帝国衰亡史》,会看到,罗马帝国“囊括世上最美之疆域”,在其“古老声威与严整军容”的震慑下,敌军不敢来犯,市民“尽享富庶生活,甚而奢华挥霍”。(The Empire “comprehended the fairest part of the earth”. Rome’s enemies were kept at bay by “ancient renown and disciplined valour”. Citizens “enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury”.)用词之准确精妙,如果不经过长期的培养和学习,是无论如何也现想不来的。
其次,英文写作也是一种思维训练。随着学力的增长,不同等级的标准化考试对于逻辑的要求也会越来越高。从托福的角度来说,可能观点行文言之成理即可,而到了SAT阶段,则把明确地提炼出作者态度,谋篇布局,并对其高明之处进行剖析的能力列入了考察范围,光靠死记硬背,显然是难以应付这一阶段考试的。而到了申请研究生的时候,GRE,GMAT和LSAT的作文考试,逻辑就成了重中之重,简单来说,在分析题干的时候,对论断的合理性和不合理性都应该有所论述,并且要分析出在何种情况下和何种程度中该观点为合理或者不合理,没有训练过的学员,一定是在考场上最手足无措的那一群人。
最后,英文写作也是一种品质训练。写作能力不是天生的,一定是养成的,任何资质的孩子通过适当的培训和培养,都有可能成为一个合格的写作者。但是,知易行难,不喜欢动笔写是大多数人的通病,写作也是思路整理和思维锻炼的过程,更是考验人的毅力和定力的时刻。在适当的时候,将写作养成习惯需要借助外力,需要定期的督促和修改。注意到写作能力的重要性,亡羊补牢,为时未晚,否则咱们的孩子到了国外之后,在语言上如何和外国的同龄人抗衡呢?
托福写作的10个核心准则
Elementary principles of composition
1. Make the paragraph the unit of composition: one paragraph to each topic
不同的段落构成文章,每个段落仅传递一个观点
2. As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with the beginning
规则:每个段落均以主题句开头,并且首尾呼应。
A. the topic sentence comes at or near the beginning;
主题句前置
B. the succeeding sentences explain or establish or develop the statement made in the topic sentence;
段落围绕主题句展开,后面的句子对主题句进行展开解释
C. the final sentence either emphasizes the thought of the topic sentence or states some important consequence.
末尾句或者对主题句进行强调,或者阐述主题句带来的结果。
3. Use the active voice
主动句永远比被动句直接有力
Eg: There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground
= Dead leaves covered the ground. (清晰生动)
Eg: The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired.
= Failing health compelled him to leave college. (简洁有力)
Eg: It was not long before he was very sorry that he had said what he had.
= He soon repented his words. (简洁有力)
4. Put statements in positive form
以肯定的形式表达否定的意思, 避免使用平淡、毫无色彩,犹豫不决和含糊其辞的语言。
Eg:He was not very often on time.
= He usually came late.
Eg: He did not think that studying Latin was much use.
= He thought the study of Latin useless.
Eg: The taming of the Shrew is rather weak in spots. Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a very admirable character, nor does Bianca remain long in memory as an important character in Shakespeare’s works.
= The women in The Taming of the Shrew are unattractive. Katharine is disagreeable, Bianca insignificant.
5. Omit needless words
删除冗词
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.
有力的写作一定简洁。
Owing to the fact that
=Since (because)
In spite of the fact that
=Though (although)
Call your attention to the fact that
=Remind you (notify you)
The fact that he had not succeeded
=His failure
6. Avoid a succession of loose sentences
别写流水账,找找语言的逻辑关系,通过who, which, when, where, and while 这些词把句子串起来。
7. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form
Parallel structure 平行结构讲究对称美:内容对等,结构一致。
Eg: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed.
Parallel structure: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method.
8. Keep related words together
词的位置决定词的关系,所以遵循‘物以类聚’,意思关联紧密的词放在一块。
A: 主谓之间不分割,补充信息需前置
Eg: Wordsworth, in the fifth book of The Excursion, gives a minute description of this church.
Eg: In the fifth book of the Excursion, Wordsworth gives a minute description of this church. (状语前置,主谓毗邻)
B:关系代词紧随先行词出现
Eg: There was a look in his eye that boded mischief.
Eg: In his eye was a look that boded mischief. (名词look先行,关系词that紧随)
9. In summaries, keep to one tense
总结通常使用现在时态,如果使用过去时,请保持时态一致。
10. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end
欲擒故纵的圆周句(periodic sentence)中,强调信息后置。
Eg: Four centuries ago, Christopher Columbus, one of the Italian mariners whom the decline of their own republics had put at the service of the world and of adventure, seeking for Spain a westward passage to the Indies as setoff against the achievements of Portuguese discoverers, lighted on America.
Eg: With these hopes and in this belief I would urge you, laying aside all hindrance, thrusting away all private aims, to devote yourselves unswervingly and unflinchingly to the vigorous and successful prosecution of this war.