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新浪首页 > 新浪教育 > 英语辅导报社专栏 > CET-4阅读的主要矛盾---词汇还是技巧

CET-4阅读的主要矛盾---词汇还是技巧
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/03/31 12:21  英语辅导报

  如何在CET-4阅读理解部分取得高分,这往往是考生最关心的问题。于是大量关于阅读技巧的文章、书籍应运而生。有的整整一本书都在探讨这一部分的应试策略,阅读技巧似乎越来越博大精深,甚至比学习英语本身更难以掌握,更有学问。

  广大考生,尤其是基础不扎实的,对此类论述给予无限热情,结果如何呢?且不提如此复杂的理论把握起来有多难,掌握阅读技巧的一定远远超过拿到证书的。看来,单凭技巧不总是靠得住。那么,如何看待阅读技巧呢?阅读理解的关键是什么呢?

  全面否定阅读技巧自然不对。阅读技巧能够将英语知识与考试技能结合起来。但是夸大阅读技巧是非常荒谬的。比如说,如果考生对一篇文章中的词汇能够理解70%,就可以根据相关技巧,猜测未知信息,减小30%生词的干扰,排除不相关的信息,顺利答对大部分甚至全部问题。假定已知与未知的词汇比例颠倒,生词达70%,四处都是"拦路虎",甚至一个问题里都有若干生词,连问的什么都不清楚,技巧又有什么意义呢?

  假如把阅读部分的文章(含问题、备选答案)全部翻译成汉语,大学生一定能迅速选对答案。可见阅读技巧充其量起三成的作用,真正说明问题的还是基础,主要指词汇。

  CET-4阅读的问题往往需要考生对某一单词或句子的解释,考查对这一单词或句子的理解。所以CET-4阅读无非是词汇游戏而已。而阅读技巧可以准确定位每道题具体在考查哪个单词、哪个句子。

  下面以一篇文章为例加以说明。

  They are among 250,000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that accounts for 40 percent of the nation's unemployed. A storm of anger boiled up at the government sponsored youth centers, even among those who are continuing their studies.

  "We study for jobs that don't exist," Nicollete Steggerda, 23, said.

  After three decades of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has exceeded 11 percent, affecting a total 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.

  The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title a rock song "No Future" can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.

  Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nuclear war have clouded European youths' confidence in the future.

  One form of protest tends to put the responsibility for a country's economic troubles on the large numbers of "guest workers" from Third World Nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.

  Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to resemble Americans more than they do their parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, even the right, to a standard of living that they see around them.

  "And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare," said Isabella Gault, "There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it."

  1. What Nicollete Steggerda said means that __________ .

   A) school education is not sufficient

    B) what the students learn is more than necessary

   C) the students cannot get work after graduation

  D) the students' aim in study is not clear

  2. The word "prosperity" ( Paragraph 6 ) most probably means__________ .

  A) economic achievement

  B) advance in politics

  C) economic troubles

  D) political crisis

  3. Which of the following is false about the "guest workers"?

  A) They are believed to contribute to the joblessness today in Western Europe.

  B) They are from developing countries.

  C) Historically local people disliked them.

  D) They are not Western Europeans.

  4. British youths__________ .

  A) are trying to find work on the Continent

  B) are sympathetic with the unemployment on the Continent

  C) have been the first to show their disappointment over joblessness

  D) show their concern for unemployment in France and Belgium

  5. It seems that young Europeans__________ .

  A) look upon life as their elders do

  B) are more like Americans than their elders in their way of thinking

  C) look more like Americans than their elders do

  D) expect more from Americans than from their elders

  第一题中的答案"The students cannot get work after graduation."是对原文"We study for jobs that don't exist."的解释。

  第二题直接考查词汇。"prosperity"是个大纲内单词。意思是:(the state of having) good fortune and success, esp. in money matters只有A)符合题意。

  第三题需要理解四个句子:

  原文中的"... put the responsibility for a country's economic troubles on..."=A)"They are believed to contribute to the joblessness..."

  原文中的"from Third World Nations"=B) "from developing countries"。

  原文中的"people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity"≠C)" Historically local people disliked them"。

  原文中的"from Third World Nations"=D) "They are not Western Europeans"。

  解答第四题的关键是理解文章"The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent."中的"spread"。"spread"的意思是"to distribute widely",可见英国年轻人"春江水暖鸭先知",然后才广为扩散。

  最后一题只需知道"resemble"意思是"to exhibit similarity or likeness to",即"look like"。

  通过以上分析可以得出一个结论:阅读理解在很大程度上就是考查词汇,检验词汇量。这个结论对我们平时英语学习有两点启示:

  一、以词汇为核心

  其他内容则是围绕着这个中心,为这个中心服务的。认识到这一点,英语学习就变得轻松些了,学习可以有所侧重。目前非英语专业大学生每学期英语课时为80左右。这么有限的时间内一般要学完一册教材的10单元以上的内容,很多学生疲于应付单词、课文、课后练习等,有的忙得焦头烂额,顾此失彼。其实教材是用来帮助消化、吸收每课词汇的,告诉读者这些单词是如何使用的,是如何串联成一个有机的整体。课后练习则是帮助学习者进一步巩固词汇、加深印象的。如果学有余力,自然博闻强识,多多益善。否则,抓住词汇则是最好的选择。至于课文,弄懂最难的、吸收一些最典型的句子即可。

  教育家叶圣陶先生曾指出:"语文教材无非是个例子。"这句话对外语学习同样具有指导意义。因此,要创造性地使用教材,不能成为教材的奴隶,而应做教材的主人。既遵循教材,又不囿于教材;既凭借教材,又跳出教材,既重视"例子",又要超越"例子"。

  重视"例子",就是尊重"例子"的经典性。无论知识传授还是能力训练,无论情感熏陶还是人格塑造,无论是审美教育还是人文关怀,都通过一个个"例子"得以实现。

  超越"例子",就是不把学"例子"当作语言学习的终极目的,而将其看成"桥梁",通过这个"桥梁"到达更广阔的人文空间。

  二、高质量地掌握词汇

  学习单词不能仅仅满足于英汉对应,如:familiar,熟悉。还应该掌握相关的搭配,知道如何使用。如:I am familiar with Beijing. \ Beijing is familiar to me.这样才能有效避免语言输出中的堆砌词汇。

  还应该融会贯通,了解相关表达法,如:be familiar with ..., know ... well,这样才能快速准确回答阅读中的题目。此外,还应该运用星火式地联想记忆方法,扩展词汇,如:familiarize,familiarization等。

  可见,教材中的课文、练习可以酌情适当放弃,但是真正掌握单词并不轻松,需要全方位、立体化的记忆。

  总之,CET-4阅读的主要矛盾是词汇,而不是技巧。攻克阅读大关的战法是以扎实全面的词汇基本功为主,辅之以必要的阅读方法。过多的阅读理论容易使读者误入歧途,忽视语言基本功。另一方面,技巧的作用不能低估。技巧能够帮助我们最大限度地运用基本功,发挥水平。阅读技巧能起到催化剂的作用,正如荀子《劝学》中所阐述的:"登高而招,臂非加长也,而见者远。顺风而呼,声非加疾也,而闻者彰。"所以阅读理解中,考生也要"善假于物",成为CET-4的"君子"!

  (文/王坤;英语通大学英语四级考试版2004年第1期;版权归英语辅导报社所有,独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育,未经许可,不得以任何形式进行转载。)




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