雅思口語第二條評分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是詞匯多樣性(Lexical resource)。所謂詞匯多樣性,就是指同一個(gè)詞重復(fù)次數(shù)不能太多。在考試以外的日常交流中,詞匯只要能夠把我們的意思傳達(dá)到位就可以了,不需要考慮重復(fù)不重復(fù),但在雅思考試中,重復(fù)用詞應(yīng)盡量避免。此外,多樣性并不意味著用一些所謂的大詞、難詞,也不是說要用一些偏詞、怪詞。不管是什么樣的詞,如果重復(fù)使用過多次,在考試中都不大可能獲得太好的分?jǐn)?shù)。
Band
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Lexical resource
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7
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uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices uses paraphrase effectively
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6
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has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies generally paraphrases successfully
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5
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manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success
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我們來看雅思口語官方評分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)中對6分詞匯多樣性的規(guī)定:has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at lengthand make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies;generally paraphrasessuccessfully
由此我們可以看出,要想在詞匯多樣性方面拿到6分,考生首先要具備a wide enough vocabulary。這里,關(guān)鍵的部分是wide, 強(qiáng)調(diào)用詞范圍的廣度,而不是所謂的big或difficult, 也就是說并不需要用太大太難的詞。例如,在表達(dá)“他學(xué)習(xí)很用功”時(shí),很多考生不想說“He studies very hard.”, 覺得這樣太沒水平了。在查過字典后,不少考生可能會(huì)說“He studies very diligently.”?!癲iligently”這個(gè)詞用在這里并沒有什么不好,意義也比較準(zhǔn)確。但是,有些考生會(huì)有一個(gè)習(xí)慣,那就是每次在遇到同樣的表達(dá)時(shí),總會(huì)不斷地重復(fù)使用剛學(xué)會(huì)的詞,如不少考生在遇到要表達(dá)“勤奮”或“用功”時(shí),想到的詞就只有“diligently”, 除此之外再想不到其它更好的詞了。過多重復(fù)使用“diligently”這個(gè)詞,效果和使用“hard”這個(gè)詞沒什么差別,甚至更會(huì)給考官留下詞匯有限這一印象。因此,雅思6分的用詞,更強(qiáng)調(diào)的是同義詞替換。
其次,6分的用詞還強(qiáng)調(diào)“make meaning clear”這一點(diǎn)。換句話說,就是考生在使用一個(gè)詞之前,一定要確保它的意義是準(zhǔn)確無誤的。例如,在表達(dá)“他正在為這次校園活動(dòng)做宣傳”這句話時(shí),很多考生不知道“宣傳”應(yīng)該用哪個(gè)詞來表達(dá),在查了詞典之后,選用了第一個(gè)看到的“propaganda”這個(gè)詞,將這句說成“He is conducting propaganda for this campus activity”。但是,在《麥克米蘭辭典(Macmillan Dictionary)》中,“propaganda”這個(gè)詞表示的是“information, especially false information, that a governmentor organization spreads in order to influence people’s opinions and beliefs”, 即“propaganda”其實(shí)指的是“政治宣傳”,而不能用來表示“校園宣傳”。因此,“propaganda”即便看起來非常高端,但因其表達(dá)意義出錯(cuò),是無法幫助考生拿到高分的。如果考生使用“promote”這個(gè)詞,將表達(dá)改為“He is promoting for this campus activity”, 這樣分?jǐn)?shù)肯定會(huì)比用“propaganda”來得高。
第三,在6分的詞匯多樣性中,“paraphrase”技巧也不能忽視。何謂“paraphrase”?簡單說來,就是“釋義”或“意譯”。具體地說,就是“用詞組或是句子來解釋某個(gè)單詞”。舉一個(gè)例子,在表達(dá)“他學(xué)習(xí)很用功”這句話時(shí),考生們除了說“He studies very hard.”之外,還可以用類似“He studies almost day and night.”或“He spends a lot of time in studying.”等說法來表達(dá)。因此,如果考生在表達(dá)時(shí)遇到不會(huì)說的單詞,要學(xué)會(huì)用“paraphrase”技巧,換一種說法來說,這也是一種同義轉(zhuǎn)換的形式。同時(shí),“paraphrase”也是一種重要的擴(kuò)充技巧。例如,我們在表達(dá)一個(gè)人很樂觀時(shí),可能只會(huì)說“He is an optimistic person.” 但是,如果運(yùn)用“paraphrase”這個(gè)技巧進(jìn)行擴(kuò)充,我們就可以這樣說“He is an optimistic person, that is to say, he is ahappy person and always has a positive attitude towards life.” 也就是說,我們可以在每句話之后,用類似定語從句的結(jié)構(gòu),對前句中某個(gè)特定的詞匯進(jìn)行釋義,更加具體地?cái)U(kuò)充自己的回答。
接下來,我們來對比一下詞匯多樣性5分的評分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。在這一分?jǐn)?shù)段中,考生必須做到manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topicsbut uses vocabulary with limited flexibility, 同時(shí)還要attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success。由“l(fā)imited flexibility”這一點(diǎn)我們可以看出,6分詞匯和5分的大區(qū)別,不在于6分詞匯有多大多難,而在于“a wide enough vocabulary”, 也就是說,6分詞匯和5分詞匯大的區(qū)別就是“同義詞轉(zhuǎn)換”。而作為一項(xiàng)重要的技巧,“paraphrase”也在5分的詞匯多樣性中被要求使用。
那么詞匯多樣性要從6分提高到7分,又要注意哪些方面呢?從評分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)中可以看出,7分的詞匯同樣強(qiáng)調(diào)的是vocabularyresource和paraphrase, 即同義轉(zhuǎn)換和釋義技巧。與此同時(shí),7分詞匯和6分詞匯的區(qū)別還在于,7分強(qiáng)調(diào)使用lesscommon and idiomatic vocabulary, 并注意collocation。那么,什么是lesscommon vocabulary呢?當(dāng)我們談到“粉絲”的時(shí)候,很多考生腦中的第一個(gè)反映就是“fans”。但是,如果考生能推陳出新,說出類似“groupie”之類的詞,這就屬于使用lesscommon vocabulary了。但是,更重要的是,考生們要學(xué)會(huì)使用idiomaticvocabulary, 即“習(xí)慣用語”。例如前面提到的“他學(xué)習(xí)很用功”,考生如果能使用“hit the book”這一“習(xí)慣用語”表達(dá)“學(xué)習(xí)用功”,效果要比使用同義轉(zhuǎn)換和釋義技巧來得好。后,在使用詞組時(shí),還要注意不能在“collocation”上出錯(cuò),即不能有太多詞組搭配的錯(cuò)誤。例如,不能把“beproficient in”說成“be proficient at”。因此,7分詞匯也不強(qiáng)調(diào)使用難詞大詞,而是習(xí)慣用語的運(yùn)用和詞組搭配的準(zhǔn)確。
后,我們來看一些例子,體會(huì)詞匯多樣性在不同分?jǐn)?shù)段的變化。
Question: What kindof music is popular now in China?
詞匯多樣性5分回答:
Different people have different tastes. In China, some people like classical music,they can get inner peace from it. For example, my grandfather likes to listento Mozart every day, he has a lot of classical music CDs. But others may like rock music, because they think it helps them to release pressure. Take my brotheras an example. He likes to listens to famous rock music bands, such as BonJovi and Coldplay.
詞匯多樣性6分回答:
Different people have different tastes. In China, some people is interested in classicalmusic, they can get inner peace from it. For example, my grandfather enjoys to listen to Mozart every day, he has a lot of classical music CDs. But others may be crazy about rock music, because they think it helps them to release pressure.Take my brother as an example. He is fond of listening to some famous rockmusic bands, such as Bon Jovi and Coldplay.
詞匯多樣性7分回答:
Tastes differ. In China, classical musicis the cup of tea for some people, they can get inner peace from it. Forexample, my grandfather enjoys to listen to Mozart every day, he has a lotof classical music CDs. But others may be groupies for rock music, becausethey think it helps them to release pressure. Take my brother as an example. He is fond of listening to some famous rock music bands, such as Bon Jovi andColdplay.