在雅思口語的教學過程中我們會發(fā)現(xiàn),對于很多口語題目,尤其是第二部分的題目,并不是所有的學生都會有題目中提到的經歷,即使有相似的親身經歷,也無法答出2分鐘的答案,因為學生的經歷沒有這么的具體詳細,也沒有這么多的情節(jié),比如借東西、壞了的設備、好消息、有償工作、成功的小公司、一堂課、看書學習的地方等等。那么,我們可以靈活地改變一下思路,把新托福口語的部分內容借鑒過來,讓雅思口語的內容瞬間豐富起來。
首先,筆者為大家解釋一下,為什么新托??谡Z的內容可以被雅思口語借鑒,這取決于新托??谡Z的特點。新托??谡Z的內容中,整體來說分為兩部分:校園生活和學術場景。新托福口語的涉及點緊扣大學校園中的學生生活,這一點和雅思口語的題目是非常吻合的,再加上新托福的內容有對話的形式,豐富而細致,因此可以為雅思口語提供很多很好用的思路。此外,新托福的講座部分為學術型的題目提供了比較多的思路和細節(jié),但是雅思口語對學術內容考查的比例不是特別大,因此學術講座的內容使用度較低。下面,我們就來看看以上提出的幾個題目是如何借鑒新托福口語的思路的。
Describe theexperience that you borrowed something from others.
這道題目對于很多雅思考生來說,感覺比較簡單,自己也比較熟悉這個話題,但是就是沒有什么可說的,只說了幾句就沒有思路了。其實,借東西的話題本身沒有太多內容,說清楚借什么、為什么借和感激對方之后,就沒有什么可說了。其實,在新托??谡Z中,有一道第五題的內容十分適合,大家可以在下面的托福口語聽力原文中找到很多啟發(fā)。
(man) Hey, Kerri, what’s the matter?
(woman) Well, you know I’m in the choir, right? And we have a concertin an hour, just an hour from now?
(man) I know, I’m going, really looking forward to hearing you sing.What’s the trouble?
(woman) Well, we’re all supposed to wear white shirts and blackpants at the concert. You know, so we all look the same.
(man) Right?
(woman) Well, I wore my white shirt to dinner and I spilt spaghettisauce all over it.
(man) Oh, no!
(woman) Yeah, there’s a huge red stein on it. I can’t wear it forthe concert now. It’s the only white shirt I have and there’s no time to go tothe store to buy another one.
(man) Wow! What are you gonna do?
(woman) Well, I just called the choir director and he’s obviouslyunhappy about all this. But I told him about another shirt I have, it’s not exactlywhite, not white like the others, sort of off white, sort of cream-colored? Andhe says it’s OK for me to wear it, but…
(man) But it’s not exactly the same color as the others.
(woman) Right. I’ll feel kind of funny. Some people in the audiencewould probably be able to tell.
(man) Hmmm. Don’t any of the other choir members have an extra whiteshirt you could borrow?
(woman) No, I’ve already asked around. But my roommate has one.
(man) Great, use hers.
(woman) Well, the thing is, she’s out of town. I’ve tried callingher but haven’t been able to reach her. She probably wouldn’t mind, but,you know, I’ve never borrowed her stuff before and I really don’t like takingthings without asking.
我們看一下劃線的部分:很多同學在準備雅思考題時,沒有想過這么細致的理由,我們可以在解釋為什么要借東西的時候,說得仔細點,像上文中的內容一樣,“襯衣需要在合唱隊表演時候穿,但是吃飯的時候,襯衣被弄臟了,而且沒有時間再去買一件新的了”,這樣內容就豐富了許多,也就不愁借東西的話題沒有思路了。還有后面的部分,大家可以說借的過程遇到了什么情況,比如上文中說的“聯(lián)系不上同學”,然后后面的內容可以自己發(fā)揮一下,比如“終聯(lián)系上了,借到了襯衣,很感激同學”,這樣內容就很充分了。
再來看一個借東西的例子:
Woman: Hey Steve, did you get that book on the Russian Revolution thatProfessor Harper wants us to read?
Man: No, none of the bookstores in the campus area had it in stock.They’ll get it in about two weeks.
Woman: Hm…so what are you going to do in the meantime? Remember, that we’regoing to be discussing the book starting next Tuesday.
Man: I was thinking of placing a rush order with a bookseller on theinternet, so I’d have the book in about a day or two.
Woman: Yeah, but rush order delivery is expensive. You could easilyspend twice as much money for the book that way.
Man: I know, but what choice do I have?
Woman: Well, since we only have to read a couple of chapters at atime, you’re welcome to share my copy for a few weeks. You know, until you canget yours at the bookstore.
Man: You mean…you would read the chapters assigned, give the book tome, I’d read those chapters, then give the book back to you to read the nextset of chapters, and so on……
對于這個思路,我們也可以借鑒,借書的情況是學生經常會遇到的,但是雅思考生們卻會把為什么借書說得很簡單,比如:忘記帶書,或者自己的書丟了。我們根據上文的提示,可以描述為:這本書是老師要求買的,但是書店買不到,要等兩周以后才能買到,但是老師要求下周就要討論這本書的內容。然后可以講述這個愿意借書給我的同學很熱心,愿意與我分享她的書。在上面的內容中,我們可以得到很多的啟發(fā),校園生活的細節(jié)可能有一些我們沒有經歷過,因此看看新托福口語中的內容,看看別的學生經歷過的內容,我們就能答出更多句子了。
我們來看下面的設備出問題的話題,也可以在新托??谡Z中找到對應的思路。
Describe a problemwith an equipment you had.
(man) Hey, Jennifer. How are things going?
(woman) Well, I’m relieved this is the end of semester. Butthat’s actually part of my problem.
(man) What do you mean?
(woman) Can you believe this? My computer broke yesterday.So it’s at the shop being repaired. It won’t be ready until the end of nextweek which is when all my papers are due.
(man) Why not use the computer lab? They’ve got lots ofmachines there.
(woman) I know. But it gets so noisy there that I can’t keepmy mind on my work. I mean, when I’m at a computer, I’m not just typing.I’m thinking! So I need quiet to concentrate.
(man) Maybe you can try going in the morning or evening. Itmight be less noisy then.
(woman) Maybe. But this time of year, everybody’s working onpapers. It could be crowded even then.
(man) Hmm. What about calling back the computer repair shopto see if they can have your computer ready at the beginning of next weekinstead? That would still give you enough time to finish your papers by the endof the week.
(woman) Oh! I haven’t thought of that! The only problem is theshop is closed today and tomorrow for the long holiday weekend. So it’ll be afew days before I can talk to them.
設備壞了這個思路也是比較難答的,因為同學們要么沒有經歷過設備壞了的情況,要么是感覺設備壞了,去修理這個思路太簡單,沒話說。我們看看上文,可以得到一些啟發(fā):電腦壞了,維修商店下周末才能修理好,但是到時候就來不及使用電腦來寫論文了。之后經歷的困難也可以說:學校的計算機房很吵,而且很擁擠;打電話找維修商店,卻要等兩天才能聯(lián)系上。再后面的經歷就要自己發(fā)揮了,因為新托??谡Z中并未給出之后的結果,這種題型是開放式的結尾,但在雅思中,我們就要把結果順理成章地描述出來了,比如:終借了同學的電腦(可以結合借東西的那個題目),很感激這位同學;或者,維修店提早完成了維修,我能夠使用自己的電腦了。這樣,設備壞的內容就豐富了許多。
對于下面這道題,我們主要可以借鑒前面的部分:電視或新聞上得到的好消息,可以是像下面這位同學一樣,得到了一個獲獎的消息。
Describe apiece of good news on TV or Internet.
(man) Hey, Madison, what’s wrong?
(woman) Oh, I’m just struggling about what to do? I won an awardfrom the Pacific Journalism Institute for an article I submitted, and…
(man) Doesn’t sound like anything’s wrong.
(woman) Well, it’s a huge honor to win and there’s an awardceremony they’ve invited me to attend which I am super excited about. But,and here’s what’s frustrating, I’ve got a philosophy exam that scheduled to endright when the ceremony begins.
(man) Uh oh! You’re saying you’ll just be finishing up taking the examright when the ceremony starts?
(woman) Exactly!
(man) But those ceremonies never start on time, they give longintroductions, you know, after a general speech or something before they everget to handing out awards. I’m sure they won’t be ready to hand out your awardright at the beginning. Just go when you’re done with the test. You won’t missanything important.
(woman) Maybe, but that’s a bit risky. I don’t want to miss beingthere when they announce my name.
(man) Well, have you talked to your professor about this?
(woman) Dr. Forester? No.
(man) Maybe she’ll let you take the test some other time……
我們來看劃線的部分:在網上得到好消息可以是獲獎的內容,還有就是被邀請參加獲獎的頒獎典禮,后面的內容我們可以適當?shù)亟梃b,但是無法完全使用了,可以在自己的答案中設置一些去參加頒獎典禮的困難,時間沖突,但是再后面的內容就要自己發(fā)揮了。
再來看看有償工作這道題目:
Describe apaid job you took.
Starting this year, the university dining hall will be transformed intoThe Campus Dining Club for one week at the end of each semester. During thelast week of each semester, the dining hall will feature special meals preparedby the university’s culinary arts students. The school feels that this willgive students who are studying cooking and food preparation valuable experiencethat will help them later, when they pursue careers. The university hasannounced that it will charge a small additional fee for these dinners in orderto pay for the special gourmet food ingredients that will be required.
(woman) Did you see that article?
(man) Yeah, and it sounds like a great idea. It’s really good forstudents in that program.
(woman) Don’t they cook in class anyway?
(man) Well, yeah, they do. But, my cousin was in the program a fewyears ago, and she said that it’s very different to cook for a lot of people inthat kind of atmosphere than to cook for classmates.
(woman) Why is that?
(man) Well, in class you can take your time, but, cooking for morepeople, there’s more pressure, I mean, you’re in a rush, people are waitingand it might be easy to make a mistake with all that stress.
(woman) Then I’ll think you are a bad chef, right?......
我們可以把這道題目的思路設置為:我曾經學過一些烹飪的技術,下個學期開始,學校食堂可以讓學過烹飪的學生在食堂做飯,并且付給學生工資報酬,這項工作不僅可以讓我掙到錢,更可以積累一些經驗,讓我體會到在實際操作中像真正的廚師一樣,壓力比較大,積累經驗,以后可以找到更好的工作。如果大家擔心具體做飯的內容不會描述的話,我們可以看下面一個思路,這個更適合學生們來回答。
The business studies department at StateUniversity will now require all students enrolled in its program to completeone semester of work experience in a local corporation or small business. It isfelt that students will benefit from this work experience by developingleadership and organizational skills that would not normally be learned in aclassroom or campus setting. Furthermore, the relationships that students establish with thecompany that they work for may help them to secure permanent employment withthat company once they have completed the program and graduated.
這是新托??谡Z第三題的reading部分,我們可以使用劃線的部分,參加的是學校要求的項目,學生可以有償實習,學習一些經驗,比如領導力、組織能力、溝通能力等等,在對應的聽力部分還講了學生在公司辦公室做了一些工作(typing, photocopying, filing), 還可以講講這份工作的好處,自己的感想等內容。
下面還有一個圖書館的例子,在對話中,有提到圖書館中的設施,而且比較具體,因此我們可以借鑒使用:
Describe aplace for study or read.
Man: They’re making a mistake.
Woman: What do you mean?
Man: Look, they’re trying to do away with distractions so that wecan study better. But with this change, we won’t have anywhere in thelibrary to get together to work on group projects.
Woman: True. Group project work is common these days.
Man: So, instead of buying these new units, they should use themoney to build meeting rooms, and that would reduce any noise in the mainlibrary areas.
Woman: Yeah, that’s what we could really use. There’s just not as muchneed to work in isolation.
Man: Exactly. And the other thing is, what’s this about overcrowding?Well, sure we have more students enrolled in the university this year, but dowe really have a problem with overcrowding?
Woman: I don’t think so. I always get a whole table to myself.
Man: Right. I see empty tables there all the time. It’ll just be awaste of money to replace what we have. Since what we have now is sufficientfor the amount of students that use the library.
在這個例子中,我們可以看到,圖書館中的設施有cubicle(在口語的閱讀部分有提到),還有multipersonal desks, 還有meeting room, 重點是meeting rooms可以被用來做小組討論,而cubicle可以隔離開學生們,減少噪音,便于學生自己做作業(yè)。這些內容都是我們可以在雅思口語中使用的。此外,新托福中有很多關于圖書館的介紹,比如圖書館的書籍在什么位置,圖書管理員的工作具體內容,學生可以在圖書館實習,借閱規(guī)定和罰款制度等等,這些都是可以在雅思口語中使用的。
在以上的各個例子中,我們可以看出,雅思口語和新托??谡Z有很多相通的部分,如果能相互借鑒,相互套用,備考就變得容易了許多。在平時的練習中,很多題目是雅思考生不太熟悉,或者自身沒有親身經歷過的,因此要借鑒、發(fā)揮很多內容。對于雅思口語Part2, 我們要準備充足的思路,充足的句子,才能回答完整的兩分鐘,若是一些題目看起來比較熟悉,卻沒有像新托??谡Z中講述的細節(jié)那樣,就缺乏了很多具體描述的突破口,答題也會受到很多的限制。