备考雅思作文时被词汇丰富和用词避免重复的要求折磨得死去活来,上了考场开始后悔为什么平时没有好好背单词。其实在作文中提升词汇得分哪有那么难!本文将以should一词为例,给烤鸭们提供几条大作文中实现词汇同义替换的思路。
烤鸭们在练习雅思大作文时肯定都在文中使用过should。一方面,should作为常用情态动词,在文内使用时并不受制于话题;另一方面,雅思大作文题干直接考察到should的频率也很高。下图为大家整理了近三年中国大陆的大作文中,题干中直接出现should的频次:
*本图统计结果截至2019年12月21日
○ 2019年全年48场考试中,大作文题干里出现一次should的题目有10道,出现两次should的题目有1道。当年should被考察的概率为23%。
○ 2018年全年48场考试中,大作文题干出现一次should的有11道,而有2道题中出现了两次should。当年should被考察的概率为27%。
○ 2017年全年48场考试中,有13道大作文题干出现一次should,1道题中出现了两次should。当年should被考察的概率为29%。
从以上统计结果中可以得知,近三年的雅思大作文对于should的考察还是十分重视的,每年都有1/4左右的题干会直接出现should,甚至部分题目中会出现两次should。考生在写作这类大作文时,文中难免会多次使用should,造成用词单一重复。为了解决这一问题,则需要我们对文中高频出现的should进行适度的同义替换。
针对某一单词做同义替换的前提是完全理解了该词在本语境中的准确含义,然后替换成意思相同的其他表达方式。所以要替换should,我们也应先了解大作文中使用到的should具体会有哪几种意思。先通过几道含有should的大作文题目来简要分析一下should可能的含义:
20170107
Art classes like painting and drawing is important to students’ development and it should be compulsory in high school. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
20180113
Some people think employers should not care the way their employees dress, but the quality at work. To what extent you agree or disagree?
20190824
Research can find new medicine and treatment, which are essential to health and disease. Who do you think should fund this research: the private companies, individuals or governments?
以上的每一题中都出现了should,但其实能感受到每个should的含义都不尽相同。如何定义should背后所蕴含的意义?借助词典来查看一下should的释义:
1. simple past tense of shall
2. (used to express condition): Were he to arrive, I should be pleased.
3. must; ought (used to indicate duty, propriety, or expediency): You should not do that.
4. would (used to make a statement less direct or blunt): I should think you would apologize.
(source: Dictionary.com)
对比should的词典释义,不难发现刚才几道大作文题干中should的含义更符合其中的第3条:must; ought (used to indicate duty <义务>, propriety <适当>, or expediency <权宜之计>)。有“义务”也就是负有责任;“适当”表示做某件事是恰当的,符合当前场合的要求或并不会造成不良影响;而“权宜之计”则可理解为这么做是有必要的或并没有别的办法因而不得不如此。
带入到题目中:
20170117中的should其实指“有必要将绘画设为高中必修课”;
20180113的should也较为类似,意为“公司没有必要注重员工的着装而应关注工作质量”;
20190824的should表达的是“谁有责任来资助这个研究”。
归结下来,should的含义大致更贴近以下两类:1)有必要;2)有义务。理解了should的准确含义后,再按其中文查找相应的英文表达,就能完成同义替换了。下面分别给大家提供一些意为“有必要”和“有责任”的词组或短语:
1) 有必要
be necessary
have to
need to
be forced to
be compelled to
2) 有责任
be one’s duty to
have the responsibility to
be responsible for
have an obligation to do
accept liability for sth. / accept the liability to do
积累同义替换词是个令人头疼的大工程。在这里和大家分享一个实用工具Thesaurus.com(该网站也有手机app版)。在其搜索框中输入单词,就能得到该词在不同释义下的同近义词和反义词。刚才针对should两种含义补充的同近义词里就有部分来源于Thesaurus.com。
试着用这些词改写一下刚才的几道大作文题干:
20170107
原:Art classes like painting and drawing is important to students’ development and it should be compulsory in high school. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?(“有必要将绘画设为高中必修课”)
改:Some people hold the opinion that art classes including painting and drawing plays a significant role in students’ development, thus it is necessary to be set as one of the compulsory courses in high school.
20180113
原:Some people think employers should not care the way their employees dress, but the quality at work. To what extent you agree or disagree?(“公司没有必要注重员工的着装而应关注工作质量”)
改:It is argued that recruiters need to place emphasis on the work performance of their staff rather than the way they dress.
20190824
原:Research can find new medicine and treatment, which are essential to health and disease. Who do you think should fund this research: the private companies, individuals or governments?(“谁有责任来资助这个研究”)
改:Currently, there is a heated discussion about the duty of private companies, individuals and governments since people doubt that who is responsible for funding the research into medicine and treatment.
如果能完成以上should的改写,那已经可以做到避免在一篇文章中重复多次使用should并提升词汇丰富度了。但我们这群勤奋上进的烤鸭怎可满足于此呢?这种程度的同义替换太小意思了,能不能加大点难度?当然可以啦!当我们写文章感到缺乏思路且词穷时,惯用的做法是从现成的文章里“抄”。雅思写作自然也可以从雅思阅读中获得不少灵感和启示。阅读中对同义替换的考察程度也是非常深,除了最常规的同近义替换,还有其他难度较大的替换方式,如用反义词的否定做替换。举个例子,原文说这个做法好,题干里可能会替换成这个做法不坏。同样的思路完全可以照搬到写作当中。should的两种含义,“有必要”和“有责任”,也能用这种双重否定的方式来表达。“有必要”就意味着“不可或缺或避免”,而“有责任”则是“不可推卸或否认”。按照这个两个“不可…”的思路,又能得到一波全新的替换词:
1) 有必要 = 不可或缺/避免
be indispensable for (doing) sth.
be inevitable
be unavoidable
2) 有责任 = 不可推卸/否认
sb. cannot evade sth.
sth. cannot be denied
再来两题验证一下这样的替换思路是否有效:
20170715
原:Some people think parents should read or tell stories to children. Others think parents needn’t do that as children can read books or watch TV, discuss the both views and give your own opinion.(“家长有义务给孩子讲故事”)
改:Some people hold the view that parents cannot deny their role as a story-teller.
20180707
原:People have different views on how to reduce traffic congestion. Some think that governments should build more train and subway lines, while others think that building more roads and widening existing roads will reduce traffic congestion. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.(“政府有必要修建更多的铁路和地铁”)
改:A greater number of train and subway lines are indispensable for alleviating the problem of traffic jam, which is true to many people.
此时,我们已能对大作文题干中的should进化花式替换。写作文时再想要用到“应该”一词,就可以参考上文中的方法来实现用词丰富和避免重复啦。
最后再来回顾一遍should一词的替换思路:
1) 先分析句中的should具体指的什么含义(“有必要”或“有责任”)
2) 根据其具体含义找到对应的同义替换
3) 亦可根据具体含义用反义词的否定来完成替换
学会了should的同义替换思路,也希望大家能举一反三,毕竟作文中可能使用相当多类似于should的含义较宽泛的词,如:can(可能理解为“有可能”或“有能力”等);important(可能理解为“重要的”,“有影响力的”,“显著的”,“必不可少的”等)。这类词汇的替换其实都可以通过先分析其在句中的含义再找到替换词的方式实现。