新托福口語Task6難點解析及答題技巧

新托?？谡ZTask 6向來是令不善開口的中國學生一籌莫展的攔路虎。獨立任務(wù)可以通過大量練習真題總結(jié)素材和語料，達到有話可說的目的。綜合任務(wù)中的校園場景，使用的是學生相對熟悉的對話形式，可以通過一定技巧來提高回答水平。綜合任務(wù)學術(shù)課程中的Task 4, 提供了一段閱讀文本，起碼可以給聽力欠佳的同學一個提示，知道lecture的部分要講述的是什么概念。而Task 6呢？真的是無法可想，毫無技巧可言嗎？

朗閣海外考試研究中心的專家通過對多年教學經(jīng)驗的總結(jié)以及歷年考場實際演練的體會，發(fā)現(xiàn)Task 6難則難矣，卻并非一座不可攻破的堡壘。下文將就其難點及答題技巧一一做出解析。

難點一：話題陌生

Task 6的話題與Task 4有近似之處，以心理學、社會學、生物學及經(jīng)濟學內(nèi)容為主，但是也會出現(xiàn)藝術(shù)學、歷史學等話題。

參加托?？荚嚨膶W生，以高中生和大學生為主力。對于這些類別的學科，有些比較熟悉，例如經(jīng)濟學中“錢”的概念(TPO 2 what is money?)，但同樣是經(jīng)濟學中的內(nèi)容，廣告商所采取的說服顧客購買的策略(TPO 3 in order to sell more products, advertisers will try to make usbelieve that a product will meet our needs or desires perfectly, even if it isnot true.)這一話題，則顯得相對陌生。而實際上，Task 6中常常會出現(xiàn)廣告營銷策略、市場定位等相關(guān)的話題，如果學生對此有一定了解，必然會幫助學生對聽力內(nèi)容的理解，其他學科的內(nèi)容也是如此。

因而針對這一難點，解決的方法很簡單，拓寬知識面。這聽來很泛泛的話，實施起來可以分為這樣幾個步驟：

第一，TPO 1-34中所有Task 6均要徹底熟悉和練習。

第二，關(guān)注每場考試的考題回顧以及近段時間的考試機經(jīng)，將其中Task 6所考到的內(nèi)容進行梳理。

第三，查閱相關(guān)概念，擴充內(nèi)容，組織語言，進行60秒鐘的計時敘述練習。

以機經(jīng)這一條為例：

【090118CN】farmer選擇desirable feature的品種種植作物。舉了例子說，wheat,原來很多成熟的時候都倒在地上，farmer選擇那些不倒的繼續(xù)種。peach原來的果實很小，farmer選擇果實大的繼續(xù)種。問題：舉例說明什么是選擇性種植。

【補充查閱】：

Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process bywhich humans breed other animals and plants for particular traits. Typically,strains that are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding isnormally done by a professional breeder. Bred animals are known as breeds,while bred plants are known as varieties, cultigens, or cultivars. Theoffspring of two purebreed animals but of different breeds is called acrossbreed, and crossbred plants are called hybrids.

A cultivar is a plant or grouping of plants selected for desirablecharacteristics that can be maintained by propagation.

A cultigen (from the Latin cultus - cultivated, and gens - kind) is a plantthat has been deliberately altered or selected by humans; it is the result ofartificial selection.

Modern wheat varieties have short stems. Short stems are important becausethe application of high levels of chemical fertilizers would otherwise causethe stems to grow too high, resulting in lodging (collapse of the stems). Stemheights are also even, which is important for modern harvesting techniques.

【參考回答】：

In this lecture, the professor tries to use two example explain the notionof selective breeding. This term refers to the process by which humans breedplants for particular traits that are called as desirable features.

One example of this is wheat. In the past, when wheat reached its maturityand was ready to be harvested, some stains would collapse on the ground,resulting in lodging. People deliberately chose those with short stems and notcollapsing as for next breeding to reduce the lodging rate.

The other example is peach. When it comes to choose which bunch of peachescould be used in next breeding process, people select those big ones over smallones and hope to get better yield.

這樣的答案必然跟考場上所聽到的內(nèi)容有所出入，但是大致卻是一致的。并且，通過這個過程練習熟練的口語表達，才是練好托?？谡Z的首要任務(wù)，至于聽力的部分聽懂與否，則是聽力專項練習時應(yīng)該著力之處。

難點二：抓不住重點

Task 6的聽力持續(xù)時間為90-120秒，總長為250-300詞。也就是說，一秒鐘要聽到2-3個詞。有時，還會出現(xiàn)口音不適應(yīng)或是使用俚語不熟悉，愈發(fā)使得聽懂Task 6像是不可能完成的任務(wù)。然而，與任何考試一樣，了解測試意圖，攻克此類學術(shù)課程話題也是有跡可循的。

首先，Task 6文章結(jié)構(gòu)的設(shè)置，永遠是典型的總分結(jié)構(gòu)。

單元型總分結(jié)構(gòu)：即General topic → sub topic (detailed description)。例如TPO 1的Task 6, 講嬰兒的計算能力：

Scientists have learned some interesting things about the intellectualabilities of babies. They say there is evidence that babies as young as fivemonth old can do basic arithmetic: that they can add.（首段頭兩句，非常清楚的表述了General topic是嬰兒有計算能力）……the evidence is indirect because……so they devisedan experiment where……（緊接著引出了sub topic, 做實驗，后面就詳述了這個實驗是什么，以及這個實驗如何說明嬰兒有計算能力）

這類文章的分述細節(jié)通常是一個步驟詳細的實驗。

雙元總分結(jié)構(gòu)：即General topic → sub topic 1 (definition1+example1) → sub topic 2 (definition2+example2)。例如TPO 3的Task 6, 講說服消費者購買某產(chǎn)品的策略：

In advertising, various strategies are used to persuade people to buyproducts……The strategies they use can be subtle, friendly forms of persuasionthat are sometimes hard to recognize.（general topic, 看似友好地說服消費者購買的廣告方式）

In a lot of ads, repetition is a key strategy.（sub topic 1, 重復(fù)）Research shows that repeated exposure to a message even somethingmeaningless or untrue is enough to make people accept it or see it in apositive light.（對“重復(fù)”下定義）You’ve all seen the car commercials on TV……this guyis driving around a he keeps stopping to pick up different people……and eachtime, the narrator says plenty of room for friends, plenty of room for family,plenty of room for everybody. The same message is repeated several times in thecourse of the commercial. Now the car……is not a very big car at all. But youget the sense that it is pretty spacious. ……what usually happens is that whenthe statement plenty of room is repeated often enough, people are actuallyconvinced that it is true.（這個冗長的例子無非就是說，汽車廣告反復(fù)宣稱空間大，而實際上空間則并不大，反復(fù)的次數(shù)多了，受眾就覺得確實空間很大）

Another strategy they use is to get a celebrity to advertise a product, itturns out that we are more likely to accept an advertising claim made bysomebody famous.（sub topic 2, 明星代言）接著的兩句話都是重復(fù)這么做的好處。You might have a car commercial that features a well know race car driver.Now it may not be a very fast car, it could even be an in expensive vehiclewith a low performance rating. But if a popular race car driver is showndriving it and saying I like my car’s fast. Then people will believe the car isimpressive for its speed.（還是汽車廣告，請賽車手給經(jīng)濟車型做廣告，大家會相信這車真的很快）

雙元立體總分結(jié)構(gòu)：即General topic → sub topic 1 (suptopic1A: definition1A+example1A /suptopic1B: definition1B+example1B) → sub topic 2 (definition2+example2)。例如TPO 2的Task 6, 講錢的概念：

So let’s talk about money. What is money? Well, typically, people think ofcoins and paper bills as money. But that is using a somewhat narrow definitionof the term. A broad definition is this: money is anything thatpeople can use to make purchases with. Since many things can be used to makepurchases, money can have many different forms.（開篇明義，說明硬幣和紙鈔是錢的一種，但并不完全如此?？梢杂糜谫徺I的東西都可以稱作錢，因此錢的形式有很多種。）

Certainly, coins and bills are one form of money.（sub topic1A, 硬幣和紙鈔是錢）People exchange goods and services for coins orpaper bills and they use this money these bills to obtain other goods andservices.（definition1A, 對于硬幣和紙鈔作為錢的定義）For example, you might give a taxi driver five dollars to purchase a ridein his taxi. And he in turn gives the five dollars to a famer to buy somevegetables.（example 1A, 坐出租車付錢，出租車司機買蔬菜付錢）

But as I said, coins and bills are not the only form of money under thisbroad definition. Some societies make use of a barter system.（sub topic1B, 有些社會采用以物易物的機制）Basically, in a barter system, people exchangegoods and services directly for other goods and services.（definition1B, 解釋什么是以物易物）The taxi driver, for example, might give a ride toa farmer in exchange for some vegetables. Since the vegetables are used to payfor a service, by a broad definition the vegetables are used in a barter a as aform of money.（example 1B, 農(nóng)民用蔬菜換取出租車服務(wù)）

Now as I mentioned there is also a second, a narrower definition of money,in the United States, only coins and bills are legal tender, meaning that bylaw, a seller must accept them as payment.（sub topic2, 狹義而言，硬幣和紙鈔是合法的付款方式）The taxi driver must accept coins and bills aspayment for a taxi ride, okay? But in the US, the taxi driver is not requiredto accept vegetables in exchange for a ride.（舉例說明在美國，貨幣才是合法的付款方式，而不是蔬菜）So a narrower definition of money might be whateverlegal tender in a society, whatever has to be accepted as payment.

這也是所有類型中信息量大，為復(fù)雜的結(jié)構(gòu)。

把一段90-120秒的話，縮短到60秒中去，再怎么不善言辭的人也總能找出東西來說。而在解構(gòu)聽力時，不妨就按照上述總分結(jié)構(gòu)來進行。

以TPO 2為例，記筆記時，便可以記下這樣的邏輯結(jié)構(gòu)：

難點三：語言組織

首先是聽力內(nèi)容已經(jīng)大致掌握的情況下，語言的組織應(yīng)遵從以下幾個要求。

第一，語言的使用沒有明顯的語法錯誤。在對Task 6進行轉(zhuǎn)述時，使用一般現(xiàn)在時即可，不需要特地轉(zhuǎn)換成過去時，避免敘述過程中，尤其是對例子的闡述過程中出現(xiàn)的時態(tài)錯亂的情況。

第二，結(jié)構(gòu)的安排應(yīng)當有邏輯性。轉(zhuǎn)述時按照總分的結(jié)構(gòu)來進行，每個分論點也是以總分的形式展開。

第三，Lecture中的要點全部要涉及，如能按照原話復(fù)述，可盡量加入原詞原句。

按照這樣的要求，我們來看一看前文中所說到的TPO 2該如何進行總結(jié)。如前所述，對于這樣一篇總分總結(jié)構(gòu)的文章，其本質(zhì)其實還是總分。如果按照原文架構(gòu)來講，先說coins和paper bills是money的一種，但廣義上的理解是什么。然后再分別講，硬幣和紙鈔作為錢；以物易物機制下的錢；后面又回頭講coins和paper bills的法律意義，顯得有點雜亂。因此，可以在語言上適當梳理，將本文變?yōu)?，廣義而言的貨幣，狹義而言的貨幣。

【TPO 2范例答案】：

In this lecture, the professor talks aboutthe notion of money.

As he first explains, under a broaddefinition, coins and paper bills are not the only form of money because money is anything that people can use to make purchases with. For example,we pay coins and paper bills for a taxi ride. The taxi driver pays vegetablesusing that coins and bills. But in barter system, which refers to a systemwhere people trades goods and services for other goods and services, the sametaxi driver could use the taxi service as a payment for the vegetables he wantsfrom the farmer. And under this circumstance, vegetables are money.

Then the professor goes on to demonstratea narrower definition of money. That is coins and paper bills are theonly acceptable payment by law. For example, the taxi driver in previousscenario could only accept coins and bills as the legal payment, not thevegetables offered by the farmer.

其中，劃橫線的部分是聽力當中真實出現(xiàn)的詞句。

其次，在遇到聽力中的信息無法理解的情況時，如何巧用語言將時間填滿。

第一，出現(xiàn)不熟悉概念時，先用A和B代替，鎮(zhèn)定地聽完之后，再與題目對照，看看是否有相對應(yīng)的詞。

第二，將聽到的要點盡可能詳盡地復(fù)述出來。

第三，使用一些填充性語言。

以TPO 14為例，同時回顧一下前面所說到的所有技巧。

【聽力原文】：

A lot of plant and animals live near thesurface of the ocean, and that means there is a lot of food near the surface,because there are a lot of plants and animals to eat. But if you go down to the deepest parts of the ocean, it’s dark andcold. And there is not a lot living down there. So, food is very scarce. So organisms that live down at these greatdepths have developed special adaptations to help them survive in thisenvironment where food is so hard to find. (General topic)

For example, many deep sea organisms have body features that enable them to eat preythat are larger than themselves. (Sub topic 1) A good example, um…… there is a species of eel that hasan enormous mouth and a large stomach that’s capable of expanding. And theseunusual features allow this eel to eat prey larger than itself. That’s a bigadvantage because eel eats something big. That’s a lot of food, a lot ofnutrition. So the eel can go for quite a while before it has to find foodagain.

Another helpful adaptation in some deep sea organisms isthe ability to generate light. And some organisms use that light to help themcapture food. (Sub topic 2) For example, there is a kind of fish, called the anglerfish. And on its head, this fish has a little structure that produces lightthat glows in the dark. This little structure, this little light is positionedclose to the fish’s mouth. Other fish are attracted to this light, they thinkit’s something small they can eat. So they swim straight toward it and thatbrings them close enough for the angler fish to capture them and eat them.

在第一遍聽的時候，第一個例子中所說的eel（鰻魚）這種動物，以及第二個例子中所說的angler fish（琵琶魚）可能完全不明白，但這不影響我們按照前述的方法尋找結(jié)構(gòu)抓關(guān)鍵詞。

假設(shè)這些詞就是一個學生聽懂的全部，如何才能夠講出一個在60秒內(nèi)但又不離譜的答案呢？

This lecture talks about how animals inthe deep sea adapt to find food.

這是大多數(shù)學生會說的句子，從語法上講并無不妥，只是內(nèi)容略顯干癟。因此開頭可以這么說：In this biologylecture, the professor tries to explain how animals live in the deep ocean adaptto find food, because it’s very hard for them to do so. 并沒有額外增加什么信息，卻將這個簡單的句子擴充了許多。

接下來的這個句子也是起到擴充內(nèi)容的作用，There twoadaptation methods. To illustrate his points further, he gives two examples.

One method is some deep sea animals caneat things larger than themselves. For example, there is a kind of animal, 可是這種動物叫什么，沒有背過eel這個單詞怎么辦？可以直接這么說，I don’t recall thename but says the professor, this animal has a large mouthand a large stomach, so it can eat things larger than itself, something reallybig. So it can go for a while without eating again.

另一個例子也是如此。Another method isto create light to attract other fishes. For example, there is one fish, Ithink it’s called angler（盡量模仿發(fā)音） fish or some kind, it has a specialstructure on its head to make light. It helps this kind of fish to attractother fishes so it can eat them.

這樣的一段話稱不上完美，用詞也非常簡單，但是卻足以幫助學生彌補聽力導致的信息采集不全。當然，朗閣海外考試研究中心的專家衷心希望考生們能夠勤練聽寫，多背單詞，提高聽力的水平。但是在考題實在出其不意，話題十分陌生的情況下，采用這樣的方法也未嘗不可。