托福独立口语:如何用细节扩展段落
托福口语独立题考两道:
第一个题我们叫做描述题,要求考生描述其熟悉的一个人,一个地方,一个物体或者一件事情;
第二个题叫二选一题,要求考生从所给的两个选项里面选一个并给出支撑自己选择的理由。
两个独立题都明确表示要学生在段落里面给出足够的细节和例子来充实段子。
但大多数中国考生在回答这两个题的时候都会陷入一个问题,段落过于空泛,段子明显不充实,很多时候都是在重复一个观点一个解释,而没有让这个段落往前发展下去,导致得分偏低。
今天就跟大家说说如何用细节拓展独立口语内容。
比如我们来看一个例题:
Task 1
Talk about a popular gathering place in your town where people like to go. Describe theplace and explain why people enjoy going there. Include specific examples anddetails in your response. 要求描述一个人们爱聚集的一个地方并解释原因。
考生拿到这个题大多会选择一个shopping center,leisure center或者park这种比较适合各个年龄阶层的人去的地方作为topic,下面是某位考生的作答:
In my opinion, people in my town like to go to the central park for two reasons:
To begin with, they can do some exercise there. A lot of people will go to the park todo some sports to keep healthy. Sometimes the whole family will get together inthe park to do exercise.
In addition,people could enjoy the beautiful views in the park and they feel relaxed. Theycan get close to nature and release pressure from work or study.
So that’swhy people in my town will go to the park.
我们来分析这个段子,开门见山给出topic—park, 用两个理由支撑—do exercise and enjoy views,但整个答案欠缺的就是细节充实的问题。比如do exercise后面,考生可以直接列出具体细节:
People like to play Tai Chi or go jogging in the morning,and the whole family may get together to go for a walk after dinner or playbadminton in the park.
直接给出这种细节描述exercise让段子更生动,而不是一直重复people do exercise or do sports.
同样的,第二层关于enjoy beautiful views后面也可以增加一些具体的景物描写,trees, flowers, lake, bridge, fountain等。
下面给出一个对比的范例:
Well, agathering place in my town is the central park.
One reasonis that the park provides people a place to do some exercise. For example, oldpeople would play Tai Chi in the early morning, students may go jogging aroundthe park, and the whole family could go for a stroll after dinner. By doingsome sports, they can keep healthy and energetic.
Plus, peoplehave the chance to get close to nature and escape from the rest of the citylike the concrete buildings, loads of schoolwork and huge pressure from work. Imean, they could feel the fresh air blowing their face, the smell of theflowers in the park.
So that’swhy citizens like to go to the park.
这样整个口语回答会显得更充实,更容易拿到高分。既然充实段落很重要,下面我们来介绍几种常用方法补充细节。
拿自己,身边的人直接举例子
例题:Task 2
Do you agree or disagreewith the following statement?
Students benefit more from classes with a largenumber of students than they do from smaller classes. Use specific examples anddetails to support your opinion.
这个题,其实就是小班好还是大班好的问题。选择没有对错,只要能充分证明自己的选择即可。
学生的回答提纲是: smaller class is better
1)Get more personal attention from professor
2)Concentrate better
对于第一个reason,我们可以直接举一个身边的例子加以说明。
比如:takingmyself as an example, last summer, I took park in a painting training class andthere were only five students in the class, so I got more time to interact withthe teacher about my weakness in painting.
很多学生质疑说这样的例子有说服力吗。但事实上独立题本来就是侧重考生的familiar things,所以推荐用身边的小例子作为支撑。
举反例,正的不行就说反的
同样上面这个例题的第二个理由,是学生常常会用到的一个万能理由,但很多学生都不知道怎么把它加以扩展。
说:Students can concentrate better in smaller class becauseit’s more quiet.
后面的思路就枯竭了,这个时候就可以用举反例的细节扩展方法:however, inbigger classes, there are so many people that they may easily talk, laugh, jokearound or gossip, which makes noise in the class to distract others.
给出具体的数据
这一个方面一般在我们用到时间和钱这两个万能理由的时候会用到。
例:Describe the most efficient type of transportation in your country. Usedetails and examples to explain your response.
Topic: airplane
Reason 1: fast,save time
Reason 2: no traffic congestion
对于第一个reason, 我们可以直接给出数据和对比:
For example,it only takes me 2 hours to fly from one city to another, however, when Ichoose to take train, it may cost me more than 20 hours.充分说明taking airplane is more efficient.
例2:You prefer to watchmovie in the movie theater or at home.
Topic: at home
Reason 1: save money
Reason 2: have more options when choosing movies
对于第一个理由,我们可以用倍数形式来显示在家看电影多省钱:watching movies in the movie theater costs 2 timesmore than watching same movies at home.
例3:这座建筑很高。
The building is verytall.
扩展细节:
The building is as tallas 468 meters, ranking first in Asia and third in the world. There are 68spheres in the building and the three biggest ones are observatories, wheretourists can have a birds-eye view of the whole city. It has been the landmarkof the city since it was completed.
四、抽象的名词给出小的并列例子加以具体化
Example 1.那里有很多食物。
There is a lot of traditional Chinese food.
There is a lot of traditional Chinese foodlike Fried rice with egg, Gong pao Chicken, Ma Po Tofu, Dumplings, Pecking Duckand so on.
Example 2. 那里风景优美。
It has beautiful scenery there.
It has beautiful scenery there. I can smellthe grass and flowers,hear the cries of the birds, and feel the bracing breeze on my face.
Example 3我可以了解一些外国的好玩的事情
I would be able to know about interestingstuff in the foreign countries.
I would be able to know about interestingstuff including their customs, cultures, and histories.
下面我们再结合一些学生的回答,综合运用以上几个方法示范,怎么用细节扩展口语段落。
例1. describe a person you admire the most. Give specific details andexamples.
学生回答:Well, the personI admire the most is my English teacher Lee, who was teaching me at junior highschool. Here is some reasons I’d like to share with you.
Forstarters, my English teacher Lee is really responsible, he paid a lot ofattention on our school work and paper and help us improve.
Plus, hehas a sense of humor. He always tell us some stories to make us laugh, so wefeel relaxed in his class. All the students like his class.
So, thatis why I admire my English teacher most! Thank you.
分析:对于人物的描述,核心在人物的性格(quality,characteristics, features)的一个描写,该生描述老师responsible 和 humorous,但是都不充分,我们需要给出具体的表现和例子。
Responsible—forexample, he would use his spare time to give us lots of detailed comments onour paper in order to make us improve.
Humorous—hemay tell us some funny jokes or stories or even imitate the behaviors of Mr.Bean in the class, thus, we all feel relaxing in the class and can study muchbetter.
例2.Is it beneficial for studentsto have computers? Use details and examples in your response.
学生回答:
As far as I am concerned,I think it is good for students to have computers.
The mostimportant reason is that they can improve their study efficiency. They can usecomputer to search for some useful information to study better.
Anotherreason is that they can entertain themselves by using computer. Students havehuge pressure in study, when they go back home, they could use the computer torelease pressure.
分析:对于提高学习效率和娱乐放松,是我们常用的两个理由,但是我们可以用细节把这些理由说得更清楚。
Search forsome useful information using the computer à Forexample, when they write the paper or do research, they can find some materialsor resources online like the data, the examples, the statistical tests and soon.
Entertainthemselves and release pressure à for instance,they could watch some movies, listen to music or play games to escape from theloads of problems in study.
例3.Describe a subject which isdifficult but also important. Use details and examples in your response.
学生回答:well, the subjectwhich is difficult but important is Mathematics.
To beginwith, it is difficult. I am poor in math; I think I have to spend a lot of timedoing the math problems.
However,math is also very important. If I can’t study math well, I will also fail insome other science class like the physics.
分析:这个回答过于简略,没有结合这个学科谈具体的细节。比如在强调数学很难,可以给出很多细节原因:it needs strong logical ability, I have to recite lots of formulasand theories; it’s too abstract, hard to understand.
例4. Describe an interesting bookyou have ever read. Give specific reasons and details in your response.
学生回答:In my opinion,one interesting I have read is a cooking book, which is sent from my friendjerry before I went abroad to study.
To beginwith, I can learn how to cook using this book. It teaches me to do sometraditional Chinese food and also even some simple foreign food. If I can cookfood, I can take care of myself and even invite some classmates and friends toenjoy food cooked by me.
Inaddition, I could also learn some culture from other countries by knowing theirfood.
分析:对于这本书的描写还是不够,重点放在功能上,但是也不能忽略对于这个物体本身的描述。
比如在描写这本书能teach mecook.最好可以讲讲里面的内容和特色: it shows me the specific steps while cooking the food, even adds alot of vivid pictures, which makes it easier to follow while doing it bymyself.
此外第二点也是一样,只是提到learn some foreign culture about the food.
干脆后面再给一个例子,forinstance, When I make the sushi, a type of Japanese food, I learn that peoplein Japan like to eat some raw food, which is considered to be more nutritious.
以上这些方法,童鞋们都可以牢记在心,然后用近几年的口语独立1,2题,加以练习。让自己的口语回答更加充实,得高分。
(编辑:马菲)