以下内容是是由。
本次的口语考题突显出的一个非常大的特点,就是话题的方面进一步具体化、并且第一题第二题之间语言考察点的差距变小了。
大家知道,在我们对托福口语部分的传统认识中,Task 1通常是一些更偏向叙述类的话题,注重考察细节描述的能力,而Task 2则更偏向论辩类,或者说理类的话题,注重考察合理论证的能力;而在这次考试中,我们可以明显地看出两道题都更偏向对日常经验或者个人偏好的描述,并且能够用来描述的方面都被限制得很小,很多提前准备的“万能理由”都因为过于假大空没办法和如此具体的实际场景联系起来而没有了用武之地。这是否会成为一种趋势我们还需继续观察,但无疑的是托福口语考试越来越注重临场反应和熟练组织语言的能力已经成为近期考试的共同主题,大家在应考时要注意减少对考前机经预测性和内容模板的依赖,把准备考试的重点真正放到提高语言能力上来。
这次考试的第一题基本上算是一道机经题的变形,题目是
When you’re at work, which of the following factors do you think is most important to you? A) Having a flexible schedule; B) having friendly co-workers; C) having a helpful boss.
之所以说是变形,是因为它比它的原型题限制的方面可能更多了一些,它的原型是100918CN考过的这道What do you think is the most important quality of a working environment: good leaders, good colleagues, or flexible time? 今天的考题把good leaders的特质限制为helpful, 而good colleagues限制为friendly,在一定程度上加强了具体性,也提高了题目的难度,所以如果我们之前见到过这道题,那么最稳妥的答法肯定是以不变应万变,直接选择没有难度调整的flexible schedule一项,这样可以比较从容地整理思路,以组织出更好的答案;选择flexible schedule的原因也是比较显而易见的,我们可以从以下几个方面入手去写,比如提高效率(more efficient),因为一不用考虑其他人的时间安排(others’ schedules or arrangements),二可以按照自己的习惯来利用时间,让自己在更好的状态下工作(make better use of time);还可以考虑同时做多件事情(multi-tasking)的好处,灵活调剂、合理安排时间其实也是对工作有益的。
剩下的两个选项中friendly co-workers也是比较容易的,这点我们其实可以想想集体能为我们做什么事情这一点,很容易就能想到的点包括提供新鲜的视角(fresh perspectives)、分工合作(collaborate/cooperate)以尽快完成工作以及随时获得帮助(get help),注意我们可以把friendly就自己的答案而理解成各种特质,不必拘泥于某一个点。而helpful boss是不太好说的,因为涉及和co-worker的一些功能重叠,所以我们如果选择这个点答题的话需要注意避开这些重叠。比如,helpful boss同样可以提供新鲜的视角或者意见(advice),那么他/她提出的意见可能是更有全局性、策略性(strategic)的意见,这种意见可能会对我们更有助益;他/她也可能对我们提供帮助,但这些帮助可能是晋升(promotion)上的帮助,对我们的职业发展会更为重要。如果能注意到这些点,可能答题效果会有一个比较大的提升。
以下以选择helpful boss这个点为例给出答案:
Q:When you’re at work, which of the following factors do you think is most important to you? A) Having a flexible schedule; B) having friendly co-workers; C) having a helpful boss.
A:In my opinion, I think a helpful boss is more important to me because firstly, in a traditional Chinese point of view, someone with the ability to discover a good horse is so much rarer than a good horse itself, which essentially means, if a man wishes to be successful, he would always need a good leader to discover him and guide him, without a good leader, he may not be able to achieve the goals he’s capable of achieving, so I think having a helpful boss is instrumental to my future career; and also, a helpful boss may provide insights that are more in-depth and strategic, and these insights could help me make better choices at work.
本次的第二题很有意思,题目是Would you prefer an interesting professor with a strict grading policy or a boring professor with a loose grading policy? 这道题虽然没有在近期的考试中出现过,但也大概是同学们在学生生涯中能够遇到的一个非常实际的问题。我们刚才已经分析过,这道题注重个人选择的描述,但这毕竟是一道第二题,所以我们还是应该加一点逻辑推理的东西进去,而且这样也会让题目会更加好答。比如,为什么我们要选interesting but strict呢?因为教授很interesting的话我们可能能够在课堂上学到更多的东西,也更有兴趣学更多的东西,所以我们并不用担心他在打分的时候会strict,因为strict grading policy并不等同于unfair grading policy,我们学得好,得到的分数肯定还是会比较高的;如果我们选择boring and loose,那么我们可以说在目前阶段(in the present),分数(grades)对我们来说更加重要,所以我们在学校学习的首要目标还是要拿到更高的分数(better grades),loose grading policy更有利于实现我们这一点;当然了,boring也是一个相对而言的概念,boring并不等于学不到东西,我们如果用心听、认真理解说不定还是找到学习的乐趣的(find the joy of learning)。
以下以选择interesting but strict为例给出答案:
Q:Would you prefer an interesting professor with a strict grading policy or a boring professor with a loose grading policy?
A:Personally, I would choose to have an interesting professor with a strict grading policy, because firstly, my primary goal in education is to learn more things, and an interesting professor might just help me with that. In this professor’s class, I’ll probably want to be more active and receptive, and also pay more attention to what he or she’s saying. And also, I believe if I’m motivated into learning more, I shouldn’t have to worry too much about a strict grading policy, since although the professor might be strict, he or she would not be unfair, if I can do better than others I can still get better grades, it’s just more of a challenge to actually be better, which is something I’d gladly accept.
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