这一规律如何应用呢?虽然有时你会被问到一篇文章的主题或为这篇文章选一个合适的标题,但绝大多数的问题都会关注文章中给出的细节信息。你要做的仅是把他提供的信息再重复给他。你不会被要求基于这些信息得出结论。以下面的摘录为例:
“Research in Britain has shown that “green consumers” continue to flourish as a significant group amongst shoppers. This suggests that politicians who claim environmentalism is yesterday’s issue may be seriously misjudging the public mood.” Based upon this passage, you will never be asked a question like:“There has been a continued presence of “green consumers” in the British market because of …”
A. the rise of the Green party.
B. Concern with global warming
C. Fear of Mad Cow Disease
D. Concern with general state of environment
这些答案都没有的文章中出现。所以,雅思考试绝不会问这类问题。相反,他们会问这样的问题:
“Politicians may have “misjudged the public mood” because…”
A. they are pre-occupied with the recession and financial problems.
B. There is more widespread interest in the environmental agenda than they anticipated.
C. Consumer spending has increased significantly as a result of “green” pressure.
D. Shoppers are displeased with government policies on a range of issues.
正如文中所说,政治家们认为消费者不再关心环境问题是他们错误判断了民意。答案显易见。这就是雅思考试的出题方法。正确答案是“B”。
例如,雅思出题者总爱在文章之一的题目中用一个难词。以“biometrics”为例。说英语的人也不大可能知道这个词,因为这个词相对较新且不常用。但出题者并非只给出这个词而不作解释。在文章中就给出了“biometrics”的定义。我们得知它是一种:“little-know but fast-growing technology that involves the use of physical of biological characteristics to identify individuals.” 这样我们就知道了词意。如果我们密切留意并不要忘记黄金法则,我们总是可以找得到这些生词的定义。在这一点上雅思出题者似乎对我们很是关照。
举关于port city的一篇文章为例。同样,大多数说英语的人可能也不能区分a port 和a harbour。 这些词就可能存在问题。那出题者会怎样使其简单化呢?他们会在文章中给出明确的定义。“Harbour is a physical concept, a shelter for ships; port is an economic concept a center of land-sea exchange which requites good access to a hinterland even more than a sea-linked foreland.” 在对它们提问之前,混淆就已经澄清了。出题者不会不对关键的词汇作出解释。不用担心。只需仔细阅读,在文章中找到这些定义,就没有问题啦。
必须承认,有时也会有非常细致的问题问到复杂的词汇。同样,出题者也会手下留情。这类问题最好举例来说明。在以下的片断中我们读到:
“The genetic inheritance a baby receives from its parents at the moment of conception fixes much of its later development, determining characteristics as varied as whether it will have blue eyes or suffer from a life-threatening illness such as cystic fibrosis… In 1986, American researchers identified the genetic defect underlying one type of muscular dystrophy. In 1989, a team of American and Canadian biologists announced that they had found the site of the gene which, when defective, gives rise to cystic fibrosis.”
如果我们被要求完成下面的句子:
“The second success of research into genetic defect was to find the cause of …”
出题者绝不会这样问:“Why is cystic fibrosis a genetic defect?” 这样的问法就会要求我们掌握这个词。相反,雅思考试是要考查我们联系上下文理解事物的能力。一旦我们了解了这一点,看到生词就再也不会紧张了。
此法则还有另一种应用途径。出题者有时可能会在不是考点的地方使用复杂的表述甚至或是口语化的表达。要理解全文知道它们的意思仍然很重要。以下文为例:
“The consumer research manager for Mintel, Angela Hughes, said it (environmental consumerism) has become firmly established as a mainstream market. She explained that as far as the average person is concerned environmentalism has not ‘gone off the boil’. In fact, it has spread across a much wider range of consumer groups, ages and occupations.”
“gone off the boil” 这种表达只用于英国。许多说英语的人也不会了解,应试者可能也是同样。但如前一个例子一样,上下文可能帮助我们了解它的意思。
在密切关注连接词及它前后的词后,我们可以猜测它的意思。词组“in fact”就是好线索。例如在此句中,“in fact” 让我们了解到我们所期待的情况并未发生。相反,出现的是生态消费主义(environmental consumerism—估译)的增长。那么,期待发生的又是什么呢?一定是对生态消费主义兴趣的衰退。不必完全懂得“off the boil” 的含义,我们现在也知道它意味着对环境问题关注的减退。
这一方法不仅可应用于口语化的表达方法。每当我们看到“but”, “however”, “on the other hand”, 及 “instead”,我们就知道前面论述的内容遭到了抵触或否定。当我们看到“as well”, “in addition”, 及 “moreover”时,后面是支持前面的论述。密切留意句中的选词。上下文是关键。应用此法则,文章就会变得清晰起来。
以下面的片断为例:
“The changing awareness has been most marked in English-speaking countries, where the revelation has gradually dawned that by no means everyone in the world knows English well enough to negotiate in it. This is especially a problem when English is not an official language of public administration, as in most parts of the Far East, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Arab world, Latin America and French-speaking Africa.”
极有可能会出现这的问题:“An example of a part of the world where people may have difficulty in negotiation in English is…”读到此问题,我们会立即意识到它在问一个国家名。因为我们已经注意到了可能的热点,找到它就不会存在任何困难。任何一个国家都可以。例如,我们在此空中填“Latin America”,就完成了。利用热点,我们可以在知道问题之前就猜测可能的答案。