愛薇塔樂學英文

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　　引言：　　《新託福聽力——道是有變卻無變》中從新託福聽力的出題形式、內容以及出題原則著手分析，著重

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　　引言：

　　《新託福聽力——道是有變卻無變》中從新託福聽力的出題形式、內容以及出題原則著手分析，著重筆墨於新託福聽力的內容及出題原則的無變性。本文將與讀者從新託福聽力的出題形式入手，一同再次剖析這"有變"背後的"無變"。

　　新託福聽力新增題型之"Listen Again"是本次變革中最為顯眼的聽力測試形式。此測試形式之新穎獨特處，乃覽望國內外眾多英語聽力考察形式之未見所聞。

　　顧名思義，所謂"Listen Again"即在新託福聽力考試的某篇文章結束後，其中某一題採取再次複聽，然後根據所聽來做推斷既而回答題目的形式來考察考生。對新託福考試關注者會發現，早在新託福考試剛浮出水面時，世面上眾多分析文章評論說："新託福聽力考試可以聽兩遍了"。我們下這樣的定義不能說不對，但似為偏頗，至少會誤導對新託福聽力不甚瞭解的朋友會真的以為整個新託福聽力考試可以重複放音聽兩遍了。這也怪不得關注新託福考試的先驅者。在未見其真面目時，僅依其官方網上透露的內容去揣摩難免會被ETS誤導，即便是現在ETS在網上公佈的新託福線上測試樣題與9月份真正在北美正式投入使用的新託福考試題也是有差別的。在這裡筆者稍做澄清：(1)新託福考試放音過程是一遍完成；(2)只有"Listen Again"這種新增題型可以再次複聽文章中的某一部分，並根據再次重播的這部分回答特殊的問題。

　　看題：

　　下面我們看一篇新託福聽力樣題(此樣題的考察問題全部為此種新增Listen Again 題型)

　　(narrator) Listen to two student discussing a zoology course

　　(man) Now, we can move on to discuss the next part of the chapter, the part of the chapter, the part on land tortoises

　　(woman) Yes. Land tortoises are tortoises that don't live in the water, although they may live near the water. They only come to the water to drink or bathe.

　　(woman) Oh, look here in the book. Here's a picture of one of the 40 kinds of land tortoises.

　　(man) Land tortoises are the ones that live to such long ages, aren't they?

　　(woman) Yes, my favorite part of the chapter was the part that was about how long land tortoises can really live.

　　(man) How old can they live to be?

　　(woman) It's not really known for sure. There are lots of traditional stories about tortoises that lived for hundreds of years. I do remember hearing, when I was young, about tortoises that were supposed to be one-to two hundred years old.

　　(man) That couldn't be…No way.

　　(woman) Well, there're a lot of stories, but there's no accurate records, so it's impossible to verify whether or not they're true.

　　(man) Well, how old is the oldest tortoise on record, do you know?

　　(woman) In the chapter I just read, it said that the oldest tortoise whose age can be verified to some extent is the one known as Marion's tortoise.

　　(man) I read that Marion's tortoise was 152 years old.

　　(woman) Actually, I think the book said it was at least 152 years old. It was probably older.

　　(man) So, they're not really certain how old Marion's tortoise really was when it died. What is truly known about Marion's tortoise?

　　(woman) It's certain that a French explorer named de Fresne, Marion de Fresne captured an adult tortoise in 1766, and he transported the tortoise to the island of Mauritius in that same year.

　　(man) Well, when did Marion's tortoise die? Are there authentic records?

　　(woman) Historians are satisfied with the authenticity of the records that show that Marion's tortoise died in 1918.

　　(man) How do they know it was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that died there in 1918?

　　(woman) Tortoises don't occur naturally on Mauritius, so Marion's tortoise was the only tortoise on the island of Mauritius.

　　(man) And so this tortoise had been on the island of Mauritius for 152 years when it died.

　　(woman) That's right. Marion's tortoise arrived in Mauritius in 1766 and died in 1918, so that would make it at least 152 years old.

　　(man) But didn't you say that the tortoise that was captured and brought to Mauritius by Marion de Fresne was an adult when it was captured?

　　(woman) Yes. So Marion's tortoise was known to have lived for 152 years on Mauritius. But because it was an adult when it was captured in 1766 and it's unclear how old it was at that time, it could have been considerably older than 152 years when it died, maybe 180 years or more. Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn't inconceivable.

　　(man) So a tortoise living to the age of 200 may be possible, but there're no verified records of such a tortoise.

　　(woman) Exactly!

　　(1)Why does the man say this: Now we can move on to discuss the next part of the chapter, the part on land tortoises

　　(a) To indicate the next topic for discussion

　　(b) To suggest a new location for the discussion

　　(c) To state what has previously been said

　　(d) To clarify why they are having the discussion

　　(2)Listen again——Woman: There are lots of traditional stories about tortoises that lived for hundreds of years. I do remember hearing, when I was young, about tortoises that were supposed to be one-to two-hundred years old.

　　Man: That couldn't be…No way.

　　How does the seem to feel when he says this: "That's couldn't be… No way"

　　(a) Unhappy

　　(b) Incredulous

　　(c) Incapable

　　(d) Disturbed

　　(3) Listen again——(woman) In the chapter I just read, it said that the oldest tortoise whose age can be verified to some extent is the one known as Marion's tortoise.

　　(man) I read that Marion's tortoise was 152 years old.

　　(woman) Actually, I think the book said it was at least 152 years old.

　　Why does the woman say this:" Actually，I think the book said it was at least 152 years old."

　　(a) To contradict what was in the book

　　(b) To indicate that she is not sure what is correct

　　(c) To restate what the man said

　　(d) To correct an error by the man

　　(4)Listen again——(woman) Historians are satisfied with the authenticity of the records that show that Marion's tortoise died in 1918.

　　(man) How do they know it was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that died there in 1918?

　　What does the man mean when he says this: "How do they know it

　　was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that

　　died there in 1918?"

　　(a) What was said sounds plausible

　　(b) Marion's tortoise was not on the island of Mauritius

　　(c) There may be an alternate explanation

　　(d) There was only one tortoise on the island

　　(5)Listen again——(woman) Yes. So Marion's tortoise was known to have lived for 152 years on Mauritius. But because it was an adult when it was captured in 1766 and it's unclear how old it was at that time, it could have been considerably older than 152 years when it died, maybe 180 years or more. Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn't inconceivable.

　　Which sentence best describes how the woman feels when she says

　　this:"Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn't

　　inconceivable"

　　(a) It is possible for a tortoise to live for 200 years

　　(b) A tortoise could not possibly live to the age of 200

　　(c) No 200-year-old tortoise has ever been found

　　(d) Many types of tortoises live to be very old

　　(注)以上五道題目中帶陰影部分皆是再次重播的內容。

　　(答案)(1)A (2)B (3)D (4)C (5)A

　　解析：

　　新增Listen Again題型屬於測試考生Pragmatic understanding(recognize a Speaker's attitude or degree of certainty; recognize a speaker's function or purpose)即實際理解的能力。此類能力測試在整個新託福聽力測試的比重占25%之多。也就是說，Listen Again題型處理好，新託福聽力的總34道題目你將會解決至少6道題目。

　　那麼到底Listen Again題型讓我們考生實際理解什麼？很簡單，即要求考生去理解你再次聽到的那段話中的：

　　(1)Function(purpose):

　　ask you to understand not just what the speaker said but why the speaker said it. For example, to determine that a speaker said sth in order to apologize, explain, clarify a point, change a topic, indicate a change of opinion, or suggest a new action.(上面樣題第一題即是)

　　(2)Stance (attitude)

　　Ask you how the speaker seems to feel about a particular topic. For example, to determine if the speaker feels Positive or negative, happy or sad, impressed or unimpressed, or enthusiastic or bored about a particular Topic. Also ask about whether a speaker is doubtful or Certain about what he or she is saying.(上面樣題後四道題目即是)

　　簡單的說即對再次重播內容中講話者講此句話的目的或者態度進行推斷。因此，考生解答此種問題時即便在全文放音過程中不知所云，也要在Listen Again時，務必把握Listen Again內容——Listen carefully to what the speaker says in the part of the passage that is repeated and then draw a conclusion。

　　技巧：

　　其實根據上面樣題所示，你也會發現：(1)勿須理解全文，只要理解Listen Again的內容你就可以對題目進行做答。(2)聽再次重播內容時對講話者的語氣、語調應尤為關注。如第2題的那句That's couldn't Be…No way講出來時語氣格外激昂，可見講話者的意圖是針對第一人話語的一種不信，一種否定。(3)以往舊託福的解題技巧仍可應用，如第3題。以往在小對話中有這樣一種叫做Actually的題型，即在答句開頭聽到Actually時，必為否定第一人觀點的。第3題女方選手開頭Actually，那麼看哪個選項是否定男方的，D這個答案To correct the Error by the man即入選。

　　結論：

　　根據以上新增題型的解析，值得我們考生興奮的是：此類題型應屬送分題型，即便全文整體概念、資訊模糊不清，但仍可只依靠再次重播的部分解決此種題型。再深入探求其本質，難道我們還能下新託福聽力取消了原來小對話部分這樣的定義嗎？此種新增題型，不正是以往小對話所測試我們的基本所在嗎(讓我們去做推論)？只不過，現在的新增部分綜合了95年8月前的單句題和95年8後的小對話題而已。現在的"Listen Again"題型——說它是單句題，它比單句題稍微顯長顯複雜；說它是小對話題，它比小對話題測試內容上要稍顯更實際、更結合與學術。這不正是ETS此次託福考試改革關於聽力部分的宗旨(Academic Listening Skills：The Listening section measures test takers' ability to understand spoken English from North America and other English-speaking countries. In academic environments students need to listen to lectures and conversations. )嗎？

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