观真题在范围之内救考生于题海之中
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雅思口语话题内容之丰富、题目数量之多一直是让众多烤鸭们困扰的两大因素。不光如此,在口语第一部分Part 1—personal information and experience里面,有五大最让考生头疼的抽象考题折磨着烤鸭们的心灵。这里,朗阁海外考试研究中心的老师就针对这五大考题给出详细的答题策略。
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1.What toys did you play with when you were a child? What did you learn from playing with these toys?
看到第一问,同学们会觉得很容易,可是第二问着实让同学们感到迷茫和不可思议。直白地说,我们大部分的人在小时候玩玩具的时候都没考虑过自己学到了什么,所以大部分的考生不知道该从何下手。其实回想起来,玩具在我们儿时的很大一个作用就是陪伴和分享。通过玩具我们打发了大部分的时间以及体会到与同伴分享玩具的乐趣。所以你可以说,Well, toys were of great help when I was alone. I mean, they were the only thing that accompanied me when my mom and dad were busy with their staff. What’s more, you know it’s fun to share toys with our little buddies, through which we developed deep friendship.除此之外,一些特定的玩具,比如tangram(七巧板)、Rubic Cube等需要动手能力的智力玩具你可以说I’ve got my logic and patience practised and more importantly, I got to know the importance of planning in advance in order to achieve your goal. 当然,像Barbie Dolls等娃娃类的玩具你可以说学会了how to dress up and take care of others. 这样一来,先从抽象的层面分析玩具带给你的好处再详细解释某些特定玩具使你学到的东西就很完整了。
2.Is it easy to be with concentration?
其实本题就是简单地问你集中注意力容易么,但是很多同学在不假思索地脱口而出不简单之后就没了下文。此题常犯的一个错误就是同学在回答完不容易之后草草地给出一个不容易集中注意力的例子,但其实本题的目的是要求你回答为什么容易或不容易。回答本题的思路有两个。一是客观的分情况讨论:有的人觉得简单有人觉得难,在阐述完之后加上生活中的例子稍加解释为什么简单为什么难就可以;或者是分情境,在某种情况下简单在某种前提下难,比如你对某件事非常感兴趣,那就很容易集中精力去做,只要能举出实例就可以。另外一种思路是直接说出个人感受,如Personally, I feel hard to concentrate on the thing I deal with in most situations. I think that’s because there are too many distractions around me, like noises, people passing by and the game sound played when I’m trying to focus on my assignment for example.这样一来,分情况讨论或依据个人经验进行解释说明之后就把问题阐述得非常完整了。
3.Do you think children today should practise their handwriting? How can children improve handwriting?
这个问题的回答要与当前社会的发展相联系,考生在回答问题前应该思考一下当代社会科技的发展使得手写不再像以前那么占据绝对统治地位。尤其在西方社会,从小学开始学生就需要携带笔记本电脑上课,电脑在西方教育中的普及程度是令人叹为观止的,所以引申出一个值得全社会探讨的一个问题就是手写还重不重要。其实,手写的重要性也就是儿童应不应该练习手写的原因。原因有很多,包括handwriting is believed to be the symbol of a person as it’s unique and hard to imitate; a person’s handwriting can leave an impression on others; still necessary in some situations like signing up a contract or a cheque. 所以,为了提高孩子的手写,可以让孩子to attend training classes, like Chinese Calligraphy class which is commonly chosen by Chinese parents.
4.How do you organise/manage your time?
本题很抽象,询问你是如何规划管理你的时间。大部分同学都反映说从来没有刻意思考过如何管理自己的时间,换句话说,就是一天天这样顺其自然。但是其实换一种角度思考这个问题的话就很好回答了。问题问如何管理时间实际上就是让你说你每天做什么的依据是什么。那么依据是什么呢?就是你的课业安排。大部分考生都是高中生或大学生,而学生的时间大部分是是根据学校的课业安排来安排的。也就是说,有课去上课,没课的时候安排娱乐活动,快交作业的时候写作业,快考试的时候复习考试。所以,你就可以说:Well, you know I’m a high school (university) student, which means that my schedule is mainly based on my study schedule set by school (university). I’m quite a determined person, so once I set my goal I’m definitely firm on it till it’s done. But on the other hand, I don't want my life to be quite hard so sometimes I just relax and don't even think about anything, just let it go, you know.
5.Do boats have any significant meaning in Chinese history?
本题问到船在中国历史上的意义,难倒了很多同学。其实,回想一下,有句古语“水能载舟、亦能覆舟”说的就是古代百姓与君王的关系。把君王比作舟是为了突出君王地位的不易以及百姓的重要性。所以,boats symbolise kings in ancient China, in contrast to water which represents king’s people who have the power not only to float a boat (king), but to overturn it. 当然,船作为一个交通工具在古代跨文化交流中起到了至关重要的作用,比如郑和下西洋率领的船队创下的历史是影响极为深远的。Boats are one of the most important transports in ancient China, which play the most significant role in cross-cultural communication.
以上朗阁海外考试研究中心的专家总结了五个非常抽象、高难的Part 1题目,其实只要换个切入点或角度考虑题目就简单多了。遇到抽象类的题目不要慌,也不要太快下结论草草回答。联系社会现状、社会热点以及个人经验就可以轻松地搞定答案了。