英国哲学家和英语语言大师培根(Francis Bacon) 曾经说过,“Writing makes an exact man.”。谈到雅思写作,想必是很多考生心中的痛,特别是现在随着出国大军的增加,很多院校在语言成绩上都明确提出了写作的分要求。在笔者实际的培训过程中发现越来越多的雅思考生们希望在短时间提高雅思写作成绩。除了基础的词汇使用扩展、范文模仿,思路分析之外。如果对语序、句式、和灵活使用词组的闪光点略加布置,对于学生的考试成绩提高会有一定的帮助。那么笔者就从准确、鲜明、生动三项原则来谈谈雅思写作中选词的重要性。
(1) 择语的准确
准确性,就是要根据使用场合选用确切的语言形式。美国作家马克·吐温说:'The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is as great as that between lighting and the lighting bug.' 看一位烤鸭的以下写作例子:
[误] international cooperation can effectively boost the progress in improving
the environment. For instance, signing international treaties restricts
developed countries to produce carbon footprints due to industrial process,
which contributes significantly to resolving global warming.
牛津英语搭配词典释义boost跟progress可不是固定搭配。可以改为accelerate, facilitate。restrict搭配不当。查一下restrict的用法,一般只能跟sth., 不能加sb. to do sth.的。只有~oneself to (doing) sth. produce和carbon footprint搭配不当。碳足迹不能跟produce搭配的。改为greenhouse gases就可以了
(2)择语的鲜明度
准确性是鲜明度的前提,也是提高鲜明度的基础。然而,鲜明与简练相关。我们说话、写文章都要以“言简意赅”四字为目标。
[误] Environmental problems such as oil spills and dust storms are so
widespread that they can hardly be confined to one single country or region.
Consequently, mutual aid to each other is highly necessary.
牛津高阶英汉词典对mutual的释义是' common to or shared by two or more parties' 那么原句中'each other'则为重复。同义重复是汉语表达方式的一大特征:汉语四字成语,前后两字一般同义;汉语对联,左右两边基本同义。由于汉语讲究对称和平行,因而语义重复难以避免。英语表达习惯则恰恰相反,同义重复是选词造句的大敌。了解这一点,对于提高英语选用词语的能力非常重要。所以烤鸭们在平时写作中应该注意多余的或转弯抹角的词语都不利于明白地表达思想。
(3) 择语的生动感
生动感也可以叫做优美感(gracefulness),它是建筑在准确性和鲜明度的基础上的,否则,单纯追求生动或优雅,就会出现辞藻华丽(flowery)而内容空洞的文风,这是应当避免的。
[误] I think it is true that in almost every country today each household and
family generates a large amount of waste every week.
牛津双解词典的解释为' means to cause it to begin and develop' 改为produce简单明了。
让我们再来分析下几组同义词important, significant , magnificent
具体应用到句子中:
1. The organization is planning an important conference about public fund.
2. It is a significant contribution to the society.
3. We have visited the magnificent Yellow Crane Tower.
这几个词都有“重要,华丽”的意思。可是作为同级比较的形容词,它们之间的关系则是递进式的,其强调的重要或者华丽的程度也在逐渐提升。
所以建议烤鸭在课下的时间建议大家多多的阅读,因为只有大量阅读原汁原味的英文报刊杂志,在写作时选词也会更地道。另一方面,如果因为缺乏阅读量而知识面较窄,请一定要养成查字典的良好习惯,遇到自己把握不准的时候,多动手查查字典,对于已有一定英语基础的同学来说,可以尝试着只看单词的英文解释,这样更有利于对词汇的正确理解与运用。