Friday, August 4, 2017

雅思7分作文的语法是这样的(六)




雅思写作大部分是观点式议论文,问题方式是应该(should)怎么样,是一篇 argumentative essay, 比如大学是否应该免费?政府是否应该建设更多博物馆?老的建筑是否应该拆除等等。

当你有了立场,或者清晰的观点之后,别人自然会问:Why?  Why do you think the higher education should be free? Why some old buildings should be protected?

不管你的观点是什么,你一定得给出理由,有理由才有说服力。

这种论证的思维就必然会用到一种逻辑思维关系:因果关系 cause→effect.  这也是为什么高分作文以及考官作文里有那么多 because 引导的从句。

因果关系的从句就是这么自然而然的写出来了。我们来看几个例子。

·       An emphasis on memorization by repetition may curb the leaning outcome because this approach discourages students from correctly understanding the information, let alone critically thinking of it.  过分强调机械记忆会阻碍学习效果,因为这种方式不鼓励学生正确理解信息,更不要说批判性思维。

·       College students would not be capable of innovation at work because the education system rarely encourages them to think critically and freely. 大学生在工作中不会有创新能力,因为教育体制不鼓励他们思想自由。

·       I missed the opportunity to specialize in science because it was seen as the natural domain and career path for boys when I was a girl. 当我还是小女孩的时候,我错过学习科学的机会,因为当时认为科学是男孩子的职业选择

·       Happiness is very difficult to define because it means so many different things to different people.  媳妇很难下定义是因为对不同人来说他的意义也不同。

甚至可以说because 的从句一定会出现在雅思作文里,因为它是 causeeffect必不可少的一种逻辑关系。

除了because,还经常用到两个介词短语 because of 和 due to 表示因果关系,只不过because后面接从句,介词后面接名词或名词短语。

举两个例子:

The company has to lay off 30 employees because of the increasing rent and labor cost.
公司不得解雇30名员工,因为房租和劳工成本不断上涨。

The increasingly high dropout rate is due to the economic recession and high unemployment rate.  退学率不断上升,是因为经济萧条,失业率上升。

提醒:有同学喜欢用 due to the fact that 这一表达方式,在native speaker 眼中,这实在太罗嗦,用一个 because 就可以搞定,为什么要用5个单词?

要嘛凑字数,要嘛不懂装懂,考官是不会觉得你用这样的短语有多高明。

总之,准确表达是衡量你英文水平的唯一标准,不存在“高级用法” “普通用法” 这样的词汇。

Thursday, August 3, 2017

雅思7分作文的语法是这样的(五)


无论是词汇,还是语法,都是为写作的 ideas服务的,他们的关系应该是:先有ideas, 然后有相应的词汇和语法;

一旦有机械套用的词汇或者语法,作为 native speaker 的雅思考官一定会发现。下面是雅思考官Simon对同学们眼中所谓“高级语法的看法”.

Some IELTS students spend a lot of time preparing "difficult" sentence structures to impress the examiner. One particular issue that people ask me about is the use of 'compound' and 'complex' sentences.

“有些考生花大量时间准备高难度句子结构,希望给考官留下一个深刻印象。其中一个问题是有关“并列句”“复合句”的。

The first thing I would say about compound and complex sentences is that they are not "difficult". Here in the UK, children learn about these sentence structures in primary school.

首先,我想说并列句和复合句并不难,在英国,孩子们在小学就开始学习这样的句子。

 If you use words like and, but, because, although, while, when to connect ideas, you will automatically write a longer sentence that will be either compound or complex.

当你用下面的连接词,如 and, but, because, although, while, when, 来连接你的 ideas时候,你写出来的句子自然就是并列句或复合句。

The second thing I would say is that you should not be worrying about these things when you are writing an IELTS essay. Just focus on answering the question and explaining your ideas well. I'm sure you'll naturally use "connecting" words to join ideas and create some longer sentences, so there's no need to worry about this at all.

其次,我想说在写作时,不应该担心这些语法结构。专注你所要回答的问题和把你的ideas解释清楚。 我坚信你自然会用到这些连接词。”

所以,平时在练习写作的时候,应该花更多的功夫在审题和组织内容上;如果写出来的句子都很短,或者根本没有用上连接词,那说明我们的ideas存在两个问题:

1. 可能我们的ideas碎片化,没有细节,只有概括,导致句子很短;

2. 也有可能我们的ideas之间没有逻辑关系,想到是什么写什么,才导致没有连接词。


这两个问题的本质,都是思维的不完善。就语法来说,我们学习的思维顺序应该是这样的:

首先,我们必须明白我们要想表达什么样的 ideas; 其次,学习这些 ideas有哪些语法手段可以表达出来。

从传统的语法教学来看,完全是本末倒置,学一大堆语法规则,可是老师从来不告诉我们这些语法到底想表达什么思想。

这里,Allen给大家推荐一本从“思维方式”出发写的一本语法书,林语堂的开明英文文法,英语程度比较好的可以阅读英文原版,希望对大家有所帮助。

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

雅思7分作文的语法是这样的(四)

在雅思7分的写作里,还经常出现一种结构:V-ing 动名词短语。

通常来说,一个句子主语或者宾语可以是名词、代词。有时候,主语或宾语是为了表示一个动作,就需要在动词后面加-ing, 把动词名词化。


一旦动词短语变成名词,那么主语或者宾语就可以变得丰富多彩。

动名词 V-ing做主语:


  1. Studying abroad could enrich students' life experience and enable them to become independent.
      “出国学习”是一个动作,主语不能写成study abroad, 而要把study名词化变成 studying.

  2. Spending long time watching TV is very harmful to children's eyesight.
  “花时间看电视” 是一个动作,spend long time 做主语需要将spend 名词化变成 spending.
     spend time (in) doing sth 是固定搭配,因此 watch 也要相映变成 watching.

 3. Smoking cigarettes in public places is illegal behavior in some countries.
  “在公共场合抽烟” 是一个动词短语,smoke cigarettes 做主语需要把smoke变成smoking.

 4. Purchasing the latest fashion clothing will cost people a lot of money, especially the young people.
   "购买最新潮的时尚衣服" 是一个动词短语, purchase动词要变成名词purchasing.

5. Leading a rich and peaceful life is a major factor of being happiness.
   "过上富裕祥和的生活" 是动词短语,过上什么生活是短语 lead a ……life. lead 动词做主语变成动名词 leading.

动名词还可以做宾语。当宾语里含有动词性质的短语时,将动词短语变成名词性质的短语。通常是一些固定的动词或者动词搭配。


1. Children could avoid being bullied if they study at home with their parents.
    避免的内容是“被欺负”, be bully, 做avoid 宾语变成动名词 being bullied. 

2. Making class more engaging can prevent students from cutting class.
   这里是介词 from 的宾语,阻止学生“逃课”,cut class 变成动名词 cutting class. 当然
  也可以直接理解成 prevent sb from doing sth 这个固定搭配。

3. The government looks forward to exchanging opinions with its people.  
   期待“交换意见”, exchange opinions 作介词 to 宾语,变成动名词 exchanging.

最后,动名词还经常作表语,放在be 动词后面。

1. The main task of the government is serving the people and protecting the public interest.

“服务人民” “保护公共利益” 均是动词短语,be动词 is 后面,变成动名词 -ing形式。

2. The most urgent mission is reducing the air pollution and purifying the drinking water.
“减少空气污染“”净化饮用水“ 动词短语,reduce 和 purify 变成动名词作表语。

3. The challenge for women in work place is dealing with gender discrimination and fighting for their deserved rights.
”应对歧视“争取权利” 动词短语,作表语放在 is后面,deal with 和 fight for 变动名词.

4. One easy way of communication is talking face to face by face time.
   "面对面交谈" talk face to face 作表语,talk变talking.


动名词的用法比较简单,但比较容易出错。中文句子中动词较多,而英文中一个句子只能在谓语中出现动词,其他成分如主语、宾语、表语等,则不能出现动词,需要动词名词化,也就是动名词。





Tuesday, August 1, 2017

雅思7分作文的语法是这样的(三)


今天给大家展示一种最常见的7分语法结构—平行结构(parallelism)。

平行结构有多种形式,这里给大家介绍三种简单的方式。

第一种:平行主语(主语中含有2个名词或者短语)

  • Traffic and pollution from vehiclehave become huge problems. (2个并列名词)
  • The convenience, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of distance learning are apparent(3个并列名词)
  •  Long-term traffic and pollution reductions would depend on educating the publicto use public transit more(2个并列名词短语)
  • Efficient sky trains and underground train systems plays a key role in reducing traffic jam. (2个并列名词短语)

第二种:平行宾语(宾语中含有2个名词短语或者形容词)

  • Sitting in front of a screen for too long can be damaging to both the eyes and physical posture of a young child.  (两个名词短语)
  • Some electronic games tend to be very intense and rather violent. (两个形容词)
  • Distance learning students can save on transport costs and commuting time.  (两个名词短语)


第三种:平行谓语(谓语中含有2个动词或者动词短语)

  • Some high buildings not only function as a commercial organizations but serve as tourist attractions for people around the world. (两个动词短语)
  • History can provide a mirror of the past and thus help people make wise decisions about future. (两个动词)
  • Single-sex schools would reduce distractions and encourage students to concentrate ontheir studies. (两个动词短语)
  • The government should respect the will of the majority and change these laws and rules. (两个动词短语)

以上句子结构都属于简单句,但简单句不代表句子就很短,通过补充说明主语、宾语和谓语部分,也可以写出长的句子。