【雅思口語】形而下—最神通廣大的法寶之三：日常活動
在最近一次的中國雅思年會上，專家們提出“雅思生活化”的全新備考理念。其核心思想是避開高談闊論，從細節處入手，以貼近生活實際的方式應對雅思口語和寫作。中國文學的特點是追求“用詞難度，思維深度”。作爲外語學習者，我們很多考生對於英文文法的掌握以及語言的感受能力都還只能算是停留在“OK”的階段，試圖照搬中國式思維的結果可想而知。不但違背了英文“重理重實際”的原則，也在自己“拙劣”的中譯英過程中丟掉了語言的美感，導致中式英語笑料百出。
道理可能很多人都明白，關鍵是怎麼做。在雅思口語考試中，怎樣才能貼近生活，不僅保證自己在語言應用上游刃有餘，也能在說理方面以事實和細節打動人。本文中，口語組的專家就將從“日常生活”這一角度出發，節選雅思口語每部分普遍被認爲較難的一個問題爲例，探索合理的應對方法。
Part 1典型案例：
【真題實例】:
Q: What kind of flowers has special meanings in China?
【模擬考場】:
A1: y, which means “rich”. means “love”.
A2: Well, I am afraid I really don’t know much about flowers, but everyone knows that roses mean” love”. And that is also the case in China. As to other flowers, I bet my father has a better understanding of their different meanings. Actually, he is planning to grow some in the garden of our new house.
【專家點評】
Answer 1是多數考生碰到類似這種不太有話說的問題時的回答，明顯在內容和篇幅上都過於簡短。相比較而言，之所以Answer 2要更具體，內容會更豐富，就是本着從日常生活入手的原則。實事求是講到“自己不太懂花”，而“老爸對花比較感興趣”。分析認爲，我們很多考生有一種誤解，覺得不該在考試時說“不知道”，於是頂着頭皮死撐，結結巴巴說不好。其實say no的方式有很多，像這裏A2開場用的I am afraid I really don’t know much about…這一句就是很好的一種表達“不知道”的方法。
Part 2典型案例：
【真題實例】:
Q:
【模擬考場】:
A1: I’d like to talk about Yaoming who is from shanghai. He is a famous basketball player. He is now in NBA. He is special because he is very tall. He is also a kind man who takes part in charity.
A2: Well, I have to say that sports is really not my cup of tea. Actually, P.E lessons have always been a nightmare to me all through my school life. That may explain why I am not a fan of any sports star. But um, I think I can tell something about Yaoming, who is a basketball player from shanghai. I bet you’ve heard of him, since he is now a NBA star. You can see him on TV commercial, billboards, posters, etc. All of these prove how famous he is. He is a very tall man. I can hardly imagine how it would be if I were standing beside him. A striking contrast! Apart from that, Yao is the kind of sports star who would like to help others. I once read an article saying that Yao is one of the richest men in China and he devotes much to charity.
【專家點評】:
這一組A1和A2的對比再次突顯了生活細節給口語內容帶來的絕妙變化。A2中的“不喜歡體育，體育課在學生時代一直是噩夢”，“電視廣告，路邊海報到處可見姚明蹤影”，“曾經讀到的一篇文章講…”這些都是日常生活中的細節。這些話本身在語言上一點都不難，卻能起到很好的作用，有真實感。包括最後一句“很難想象自己與姚明站一起將會是身高上的多大懸殊”也是用較爲生活化的語言讓聽者對於“高”這一特點有更直觀的認識。
Part 3典型案例：
【真題實例】:
Q: what do you think will the buildings be like in the future?
【模擬考場】:
A1: …（無語）maybe in the future there will be more buildings because the population is growing. And the buildings may be even higher because of the limited land resource.
A2: Well, the question actually reminds me of a piece of news I read on line the other day. You know, as two major earthquakes took place in China within two years, and many other natural disasters happened across the globe, architects are busy constructing buildings that can sustain heavy stress. In particular, they aim to construct the kind of building that can sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake.
【專家點評】
對於part 3的話題，十分建議考生添加細節，否則很多問題都會覺得難以拓展開。以該題爲例，A2提出將來的房屋“會抗壓性更強，用以抵禦各種自然災害”不僅內容豐富還很有新意和內涵。這就要求考生平時要多積累，勤思考，看到一些與雅思口語話題相關的新聞故事多留個心眼，不妨記下以備不時之需。
總之，雅思考試是源於生活的，是與我們周圍發生的事緊密相關的。鑑於這一點，我們在考試中不應該脫離現實高談闊論，而應從日常生活實際出發，把考官當作朋友，真切的去與他們進行交流。
