托福听力教学中,经常遇到此类型的学生:无paraphrase 意识,过分专注于捕捉细节,抓不到音频逻辑思路,听到啥就记啥,做起笔记来很累。但是此类型学生在听力过程中可以跟上音频,能够听懂文章大意,能够熟练记笔记(不用想听到的信息到底用简写还是用符号,可以听完后马上转换成笔记信息),托福听力分数进入瓶颈期,分数一直在20-22 徘徊。经过教学总结得出,有这种情况的学生大部分都没有paraphrase 意识,对于入耳的信息没有进行有效的筛选分析,甚至不去理解,听到什么就马上记下什么,眉毛胡子一把抓,结果记下的信息也不能串联起来,因为没有理解。
托福听力以理解为基础,在此前提下,再对所听信息进行有效筛选,有主次的记笔记帮助自己理顺思路。托福听力中,除总- 分的语言结构外,的特点就是paraphrase 现象(这也是其他三个单项的考查本质重点所在)。托福听力中,paraphrase 现象从词性、词义和语义三个方面体现。词性的paraphrase 是最基础也是最简单的,比如TPO12 - conversation 1 里讲改论文的文章前后用到了动词revise 及名词revision;词义的paraphrase 是托福听里最常见的paraphrase 现象,即以不同的近义词的形式出现表达同样的意思,通常情况下,一个是经常见到的单词,另外一个有可能学生不太常见,在听到这种表达时,要有paraphrase意识,不要被不常见的单词给干扰了。
比如:TPO14-lecture 4 里面讲考古学的文章里出现chamber or room,room 是常见单词,chamber 很多学生没怎么听过,但是两个单词间用了or,所以我们应该能马上反应两个单词意思相同。语义的paraphrase 是听力中最难的现象,因为这往往是整句话的paraphrase,音频里有时出现5 或6 句不一样的句子表达,但是却是同一个意思,学生在听不同句子的时候,通常比较紧张,往往不理解意思就马上记笔记,如果要是有paraphrase 的意识在,就会从本质上去理解。而语义的paraphrase 往往是以词义的paraphrase 为基础,下面来看一个语义上paraphrase 的例子:The key to the Pacific islanders' success was probably their location near the equator. What that meant was that the sky could be partitioned, divided up, much more symmetrically than it could farther away from the equator. Unlike the Vikings, early observers of the stars in Polynesia or really anywhere along the equator would feel that at the very center of things, with the skies to the north and the skies to the south behaving identically. They could see stars going straight up in the east and straight down in the west. So it was easier to discern the order in the sky than farther north or farther south, where everything would seem more chaotic.(TPO14-lec.3).
以上音频截断中,句是本意群点的主旨句,后面虽有4 个长句子,但是都在表述一个意思:赤道附近的天是对称的。次解释是 What that meant was that the sky could be partitioned, divided up, much more symmetrically than it could farther away from the equator. 此句里面首先出“partition”、 “divide up”,词义的paraphrase 来解释分割,而这一句中的“symmetrically”是此句的重点词汇;第二次解释是Unlike the Vikings, early observers of the stars in Polynesia or really anywhere along the equator would feel that at the very center of things. 第二句的前半句,center 是重点词汇;第三次解释是with the skies to the north and the skies to the south behaving identically. 第二句的后半句,“identically”是重点词汇;第四次解释是They could see stars going straight up in the east and straight down in the west. 句中的“straight”是重点词汇;第五次解释是 So it was easier to discern the order in the sky than farther north or farther south. 句中的“easier to discern the order”是重点表达;第六次解释是where everything would seem more chaotic. 句中的“chaotic”是重点词汇。我们再回看本段的所有解释,不难发现这4 个长句里面有六次解释让听者明白是什么意思,而这六次解释都是重点词汇的paraphrase 为基础。如果学生在听的时候有paraphrase 的意识在,那么在听力过程中就不会慌张,有效记下各次解释中重点信息帮自己理顺。
综上,同学们在日常练习中,注意结合题目分析音频中的paraphrase 现象,脑袋里面形成paraphrase 的意识,这样在听力的时候就不会手忙脚乱,做到理智处理自己所听到的信息。