否定词作为一种逻辑概念,在雅思或托福的听力考试中应用得非常广泛。值得注意的是,大多数人的思维定势是趋向于肯定的,我们的大脑可能更倾向于听到肯定的信息。如果题目中出现否定词,就意味着我们需要听懂和我们思维定势相反的意义。因此,弄清各种形式的否定词的意义和掌握否定词的发音是理解听力材料的关键。
今天我们将从否定词的意义和发音两个方面来学习听力中的否定词。
一.否定词的意义
说到否定词,很多同学马上就能联想到no, not, never等词。但是听力考试中的否定概念其实并非局限于此。英语中一些形容词,副词,连词,动词,代词,名词及前后缀也常用于句子中表达否定含义。
而在这些否定词中,对否定对象的否定程度有所不同,有的是完全否定,有的是部分否定。我们不仅要知道这些否定词的意义,还要体会其在运用中的差异,从而准确地理解语义。
以下是留预听说课程中经常出现的否定词,在此根据词性整理出来,大家可以熟悉其意义,做到能够在听力材料中敏感地识别出。
(1)形容词类:
few 很少的;fewer更少的;little很少的;less 更少的 ;impossible不可能的;unfortunate不幸运的;unreliable不值得信赖的;uncomfortable 不舒服的;irresponsible不负责的;irregular无规律的,不正规的;unreasonable 不合理的; powerless无力的;negative消极的...
例(听力文本):
留预三级U7L1:And third, having this fear can have a negative effect on your career if you don’t do anything about it, and even impact other aspects of your life.
留预三级U7L1:The good news is that you’re not powerless.
留预三级U7L2:A phobia is unreasonable and excessive.
(2)副词类:
副词类的否定词除了频率副词外,很多都是在形容词类否定词的基础上转化成的副词。因此大家熟悉形容词类否定词的意义后,就不难掌握副词类否定词的意义。
频率副词:rarely很少地(部分否定);hardly几乎不(大部分否定);seldom很少(部分否定);scarcely几乎不(大部分否定)...
其他副词:unfortunately不幸地;incorrectly不正确地;hopelessly无望地;unbelievably难以置信地;incredibly难以置信地;
例(听力文本):
留预入门级U8:Judy sometimes talks to her teacher on the radio but she hardly ever sees him.
(hardly“几乎不”,大部分否定。)
留预三级U8L1:Less than an hour later, I was hopelessly lost and very thirsty. It
was unbelievably bright and sunny.
留预四级U3L1:And the polygraph will incorrectly say those people are lying.
要注意的是,很多具有否定意义的形容词和副词往往带有否定前缀或后缀,常见的否定前缀有un-;im-;in-;ir-;counter-等;后缀有-less;-lessly等。
此外,大家还要注意当表示否定意义的副词(如hardly, scarcely, rarely, seldom, never等)置于句首时,其后的句子要用部分倒装的形式。如:
He seldom does work at home. / Seldom does he do work at home. 他很少在家工作。
I shall never tell him. / Never shall I tell him. 我永远不会告诉他。
She hardly has time to have a cup of tea with her friends. / Hardly does she have time to have a cup of tea with her friends. 她几乎没时间和她朋友一起喝茶。
(3)代词类:
none没有人(物);nobody没有人;nothing 没有物... 这些词通常表示完全否定,对否定对象全部加以否定。
例(听力文本):
留预三级U1L2:On the whole, everyone is different when talking about emotional nourishment. Basically, none of us is exactly the same.
留预三级U2L1:It has nothing to do with you, but rather it’s all about someone else.
(4)动词类:
fail失败;miss错过;refuse拒绝;decline婉言拒绝;dislike不喜欢;disappear 消失;misunderstand误解;disagree不同意;avoid避免;lack 缺乏;be safe from...保持安全,不受...;
例(听力文本):
留预一级U9L2:Do the friends accept or decline the invitation?
留预三级U5L1:You can’t fail something if that something is not part of your plan.
留预四级U4L2:They want to preserve people’s homes and avoid destruction.
留预四级U4L1:If our ancestors built a large fire at night, they were warmer, and safer from animals as they slept.
(5)介词类:
without 没有;beyond超过...
例(听力文本):
留预二级U8L2:And they can live without water for almost ten years.
留预四级U1L2:Thus, we have to move beyond the basic information on our photo IDs and use other means to identify ourselves.
(6)连词类:
neither..也不
neither常和nor 连用,表示“既不...也不...”如She spoke neither English nor German. 她既不讲英语,也不讲德语。或者用于否定句后,强调要引出另一否定句。如课文听力:
留预一级U8:Haley doesn’t go out much, and neither do her sisters.
留预一级U8:I’m not a fan of reality shows, and neither are my friends.
二.否定词的发音
在听力中,我们经常会遇到be动词,情态动词和助动词。听辨出这些词是肯定还是否定的形式,对于理解听力句子非常重要。以下几组词大家可以读一下,感受一下发音的区别:can/ can’t;is/ isn’t;are/ aren’t;was/ wasn’t;were/ weren’t;could/ couldn’t;should/ shouldn’t;does/ doesn’t;did/ didn’t;has/ hasn’t;have/haven’t等。
一般情况下,在听力中,否定词会有重音,即发音的音调更高和发声时间更长。如can 轻读成 /kən/,而can’t 一般重读成 /kɑːnt/(英)或 /kænt/(美),要注意美式发音的can和can’t区别不是很明显,有时候can’t的/t/会略读,听起来和can的发音区别不大,那就要通过“重音”来区分了,can是轻音,而can’t是重音。大家可以试着练习一下can remember/ can go 和can’t remember/ can’t go。
此外,这些否定词can’t;isn’t;aren’t;wasn’t;weren’t;couldn’t;shouldn’t;doesn’t;didn’t;hasn’t;haven’t的词尾/t/的发音,在后面接到辅音开头的词时,会省略掉/t/的发音,如doesn’t go,go是辅音/g/ 开头的词,于是/t/音会省略掉。
大家可以完成下面的习题,感受一下肯定词发音和否定词发音的区别,另外在听听力时,也要注意句子的语境。
练习题:听音频,选出正确的答案。
1. They are/ aren’t listening to the speaker.
2. She is/ isn’t sitting at her desk.
3. One day I was/ wasn’t permitted to drive on the street, but the day I got my driver’s licence, I could.
4. Slow-to-warm-up children are/aren’t super friendly at first.
5. Whole grains are/ aren’t just good for mental nourishment, according to statistics, they’re also good for the heart.
6. There is/isn’t any space for our in-laws or extended family members.
7. It could also be something very simple, such as providing transportation for people who can/ can’t drive.
8. I can/ can’t see how. It does/ doesn’t make sense.
9. We know these are/aren’t 100% reliable as ways to establish our identity.
10. If workers don’t consult with each other, then there probably are/ aren’t as many news ideas or sales or results.
11. They had foreign accents and they were/ weren’t well educated.
练习中大部分的题目都可以根据“否定词有重音”来选出正确答案,但是当否定词重音不是很明显时,我们可以结合“语境”和“转折连词”来判断。如7. It could also be something very simple, such as providing transportation for people who can/ can’t drive. 句中说到“提供交通providing transportation”,那肯定是为“不能开车的人people who can’t drive”提供交通,于是答案就显而易见了。
再如3. One day I was/ wasn’t permitted to drive on the street, but the day I got my driver’s licence, I could. 后面这句“但是,这一天我拿到了我的驾照,我可以(开车)了”,由后面这句的转折连词“but”可以推断前面那句应该是相反的意义,是“没有拿到驾照的”。答案应该是“wasn’t”。如果大家在之后的听力中能够结合句子的上下文语境及相关的连词来听辨“否定词”,那么准确率就会大大提升。
通过今天对否定词的意义和发音的学习,希望大家能够熟悉各种词性的否定词,了解否定词的发音规律并多在听力或口语中去练习,从而提高对否定词的听辨能力,准确地理解话语意义。
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