研究生入学考试中,英语新题型对同学们来说,无疑是一大难点。一篇长度在500字左右的文章,5个句子空缺,7个选择项,要求考生从7个顺序错乱的选择项中选出5个合适在文中空白处的句子,每题赋分2分,和阅读理解部分的每小题赋分相当,这在一定程度上也说明了出题者对这种题型的重视。事实上,这种题型看似有一定的难度,只要同学们掌握适当的应试技巧,拿到高分不是没有可能。
这种新题型考查考生在语篇角度上对全文脉络的把握,能有效地测试考生语意连贯性和对行文思路的把握程度,它需要考生对上下文意思准确理解后,从大意的角度进行迅速匹配,看似简单实则不易,因此倍受出题者青睐。从考生角度,我们发现这种题型不是单纯考察一个语言点或某一个语言现象,而是针对英文行文的连贯性对考生进行英语水平测试,要求考生有很好的“语感”,能够“既见树木又见森林”,从考生答题的情况来看,我们发现考生对这种题目的解答极不理想,往往一个选错导致“全军覆没”,很多考生一拿到这样的题目就被文章支离破碎的篇章结构弄得“云里雾里”不知所云,再看看增加的干扰项和顺序错乱的选择项更加心烦意乱,考场上时间紧迫,很多考生“看花了眼”,匆匆“大笔一挥”了事。跨考教育英语教研室杨老师针对这种现象,下文面以一份往年的中国科学院博士研究生入学考试英语试题(保留试题题号,有些词语的中文释义为作者我所加)为例,针对这种类型的题目做了一些剖析,总结了三个实践经验,帮助正在准备硕士研究生英语考试的考生顺利攻克难关。
The Bush crowd bristles(发怒) at the use of the "Q-word" – quagmire(沼泽) - to describe American involvement in Iraq. But with our soldiers fighting and dying with no end in sight, who can deny that Mr. Bush has gotten us into "a situation from which extrication(救出,解脱) is very difficult," which is a standard definition of quagmire?
More than 1,730 American troops have already died in Iraq.__66__.She was one of six service members, including four women, who were killed when a suicide bomber struck their convoy in Falluja last week.
With evidence mounting that U.S. troop strength in Iraq was inadequate, Mr. Bush told reporters at the White House, "There are some who feel that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, Bring 'em on."
__67_ . A New Jersey Democrat, was quoted in The Washington Post as saying: "I am shaking my head in disbelief. When I served in the Army in Europe during World War II, I never heard any military commander - let alone the commander in chief - invite enemies to attack U.S. troops."
__68__."We've learned that Iraqis are courageous and that they need additional skills," said Mr. Bush in his television address. "And that is why a major part of our mission is to train them so they can do the fighting, and then our troops can come home."
Don't hold your breath. __69__.
Whether one agreed with the launch of this war or not - and I did not - the troops doing the fighting deserve to be guided by leaders in Washington who are at least minimally competent at waging war.__70__.
A. It was an immature display of street-corner machismo that appalled(惊骇)people familiar with the agonizing ordeals(严酷的考验) of combat.
B. The American death toll in Iraq at that point was about 200,but it was clear that a vicious opposition was developing.
C.This is another example of the administration's inability to distinguish between a strategy and a wish.
D..Some were little more than children when they signed up(签约雇用) for the armed forces, like Ramona Valdez, who grew up in the Bronx and was just 17 when she joined the Marines.
E.The latest fantasy out of Washington is that American-trained Iraqi forces will ultimately be able to do what the American forces have not: defeat the insurgency and pacify Iraq
F.That has not been the case, which is why we can expect to remain stuck in this tragic quagmire for the foreseeable future.”
上面这段文字摘自网站上一名美国议员针对驻伊美军发表的个人看法, 言辞犀利,直中要害。文章的第一句话点题,后文节节展开,句式和文字都有一定的难度,要做好该题并不容易。
经验一:前瞻后顾仰,寻找“信号词”,回到选择项中筛选。首先我们看第66题,“前瞻后顾仰”,我们要上下文都看看,前文讲“多于1730个美国士兵已在伊拉克身亡”,下文讲“她是6个服务人员之一,这些服务人员包括4名妇女”,这样一来,我们可推测中间的那句话应该是在说驻伊美军中的服务人员的伤亡情况的,再寻找“信号词”,下文“She was one of six service members”,按照英文行文的逻辑和顺序,我们可以推测空缺的那段话应该是讲“She”,即介绍服务人员的状况的,我们回到选择项,迅速扫描,逐一排查,我们发现只有D选项在说明“She”的状况,而且后半句有明显的“she joined the Marines”,两个“She”呈现“首尾呼应”,因此可确立为正确选择项。
解答这类型的题目,寻找“信号词”是关键,很多题目找到了对应的“信号词”就如同找到了答案,而文章中的“信号词”往往是高频词,即在上下文中这个词语出现的频率较高,这些高频词词性一般是名词,代词等,例如上文中的代词“She”,在上下文中出现的频率较高。但要注意英文的特点就是避免重复而一些高频词语往往由同义取代,例如:前文出现idea,后文紧接着就是“this opinion”,我们要明白这说的是一个意思,这要求考生有一定的文字积累功底。虽然高频词就是信号词,但是我们不能一看到高频词就选择,例1(2006年3月份的中国科学院博士研究生入学考试英语试题,下同):Francois Jacob wrote that “an age or culture is characterized less by the extent of its knowledge than by the nature of the question it puts forward”. This statement reveals that the nature of an epoch or civilization is decided by the things that are thought about rather than the things that are already known..划线的部分曾经作为选择项出现在考题中(下同),其实我们可以视statement为信号词,虽然在上文没有出现,但是statement指代前文Francois Jacob说的话。例2:The Virginia Slim Opinion Poll has chronicled that change in nation surveys conducted six times since 1970. Together, these surveys provide a comprehensive picture of women’s changing status, and of their views of the future.,其实划线部分也没有“信号词”,我们不能看见其他选择项中有“Poll”(原题A项有Poll)就以为是“信号词”而“眉毛头发胡子一把抓”,这关键要看后面表达的意思是否和前文一致,我们发现survey和statement相似充当信号词角色,指代上文的Slim Opinion Poll。这说明我们不能单纯注重信号词,还有联系意思整体看,另外我们要有“某某一句话就是statement”,“一个Poll 就可得出survey”的常识和推理能力。
经验二:浓缩句意,意义匹配,整体把握。第67题,这一题较上题偏难,同理,我们看下文,下文大意是说新泽西的一个参加过“二战”的民主党人对美国军方邀请敌人攻击自己的部队产生怀疑,这要求我们有高度的概括能力和语篇驾驭能力,要能在极短的时间内反应出这句话意思才能在考场上赢得时间,然后和后文联系,这题的“信号词”可能比较难找,如果你不认识“disbelief”就更难了,但是大意说的是怀疑,即“disbelief”,一种虚假的行为给人造成的怀疑,所以应该推测上文讲的就是虚假,迅速回到选择项中定位,我们看见只有A在说虚假是意思,里面有“immature display”,而且要注意A项的后半部分说的意思,它说的是“ordeals”,这个意思和下文的“美国军方邀请敌人攻击自己的部队”说的一致,在意义上相匹配,所以我们确定正确选择是A。英语的句型复杂,有强调句,从句等,其实这些句型中就包含了很多“障眼”的信息,给我们的理解造成一定的困难,所以这个时候我们就要浓缩句意,句子越精简越好,选择项也是这样。例如第67题,下文迅速精简为disbelief,invite enemies to attack U.S. troops,选择项精简为display,ordeals of combat,然后进行意义匹配,发现上下文很吻合,这要求我们有很好的语感的篇章把握能力。
同理,我们来做第68题,下文可以精简为train Iraqis fighting, our troops can come home.,逐一排查选择项,我们发现E项可以浓缩为Iraqi forces defeat the insurgency and pacify Iraq,这在意义上是顺延的,很通顺流畅。解答这些题目的关键是浓缩,这要求我们对句子结构有深刻的理解,对大意有明确的认识。
经验三:以段落为单位梳理文章脉络,留意文章的起承转合。第69题几乎是所有题目中最难的一道题,上下文所给出的信息较少,找不到明显的信号词语,并且句意跨度较大,我们发现用经验一和经验二在此处都好象行不通,那么到底是什么在作怪呢?这道题目需要我们在篇章的层次上进行通盘考虑,而仅仅靠“信号词“以及浓缩句意好象不能奏效的。我们回到本文的第一句话,该句点题说明美国人在伊拉克陷入泥淖,紧接着在第2段举出一个17岁的海军陆战队女兵惨死的例子祥述这种“泥淖”,接着的3段讲述民众对布什政府的伊拉克军事行动提出质疑,第5段讲述布什政府针对民众的质疑进行的辩解,有了这些铺垫,那么回到我们的问题上来,到底这段该讲述什么内容呢?我们看到这里有关键的一句话:Don't hold your breath——别屏住呼吸,明白人一看就知道这句话一定是承接上面的意思来的,第69题一定和上面的内容有关,意思应该一致的。有了前面段落大意的铺垫,以及前面Don't hold your breath的提醒,我们应该不难判断该题目的正确选项是C,C项目的意思是说:这不过是不能区分策略和愿望的无效管理的一个例子罢了。你看这句话和第5段的意思非常贴切,第5段的大意是说布什认为如果训练伊拉克人来打仗的话美国人就可以回家了,而这种做法是受作者抨击的,他认为这是致使美国人陷入伊拉克战争泥淖的一个无效管理而已,这是作者的一个论据。
第70题,同样,这个题目除了要以段落为单位进行宏观把握外,还要从微观的用词上着手,我们知道全文第一句话就讲美国人陷入伊拉克战争的泥淖,我们知道英文一般是逻辑严密的,大到一篇文章,开头一般就是一些提纲挈领的话,然后开始逐段逐段论述,很有条理,到文章的结尾部分就是总结的话,画龙点睛,首尾呼应,一气呵成。小到一个段落,第一句话几乎就是整段的中心论点,接着的几句开始展开,最后一句话总结呈辞。因此,当我们了解了英文的这些行文特点后解答第70题,首先从微观的用词上着手,浓缩上文的句意:fighting deserve to be guided by leaders,回到选择项,我们发现F项最合适此处。让我们再细细连读起来,结尾的那句话和全文的第一句话都在说quagmire,首尾呼应。因此,我们要留意英文行文的起承转合。
最后,凭借跨考杨老师多年的教学经验,有提几个小建议,给考生权当参考。
1.考试开始就做“7选5”句子选择题,因为考生在考试刚开始,时间相对充裕,头脑相对清晰,能够在短时间内理清文章脉络,事半功倍。
2.“7选5”句子选择题正确选择项排列有一条不成文规律:选择项呈“锯齿”顺序排列,按照人们习惯,看了A就接着看B,接着看C,依此到F,而上面的正确答案是DAECF,看了D之后不看E却看A,看E,,看了E之后不看 F而看C。这可能是出题者为了干扰我们常规思维而设置的障碍,因此如果考试时间允许,我们可以拿这个来初步检验我们最后的答案是否“正确”。