2017年12月英语四级考试听力长对话应试策略
对于四级听力长对话,考生应始终牢记:不要奢望将其内容一字不落地完全听懂并且记住。因为即使在日常生活中用母语对话,这也几乎是不可能的,同时也是不必要的。在日常生活中,我们只要掌握自己关心的信息,而在听力考试中,我们则要抓住关键的命题点。
以下分听前预测和听时抓“点”两个步骤详解听力长对话的应试策略。
一、听前预测
听前预测对于听力长对话非常重要。放音间隔的时间应尽可能留作预测之用。若想有效使用这短短几十秒的放音间隔时间,需把握以下两个原则:
1. 先纵后横
所谓“先纵”,就是首先通读每篇后的3-4个小题,找出关键词,前后联系,预测全篇大致主题。
所谓“后横”,就是在仍有时间的情况下,通看各题选项,看看是否存在生词,总结长句的核心意思,以此预测考点和可能的答案。
两步预测都要注意随时做出标注,划出关键词或简写长句的大意,因为单凭记忆在"高压"的听力考试中是万万靠不住的。
以2007年12月Conversation Two为例:
23. A) She is thirsty for promotion.
B) She wants a much higher salary.
C) She is tired of her present work.
D) She wants to save travel expenses.
首先通过promotion, salary和work可得出本对话的大致主题是有关职业,再联系两次出现的wants,想到或许与求职有关,并顺理成章地想到可能会谈到离职的原因、新职位的性质以及薪酬等等。这就是上面所说的"先纵"。
此后我们可对选项中较长的词语做标注,如下划线所示。通过听录音我们发现本题答案的对应信息在原文中是"I'm fed up with my job.", 正是"tired of"的同义置换。这就是上面所说的"后横"。
可见,事先标注关键信息,可让我们在听时将注意力集中到更小的"点",起到事半功倍的效果。
2. 分清主次
与生活中的情形相似,双方对话的时候常有主次之分,如:一方询问,另一方作答时,关键信息多出现在作答一方,考点自然也就多出于此。分清对话双方的主次对于我们预测考点出现的位置很重要,方法也简单易行。
以2006年12月Conversation Two为例:
22. A) It was about a little animal.
B) It took her six years to write.
C) It was adapted from a fairy tale.
D) It was about a little girl and her pet.
23. A) She knows how to write best-selling novels.
B) She can earn a lot of money by writing for adults.
C) She is able to win enough support from publishers.
D) She can make a living by doing what she likes.
24. A) The characters. B) The readers.C) Her ideas. D) Her life experiences.
25. A) She doesn't really know where they originated.
B) She mainly drew on stories of ancient saints.
C) They popped out of her child-hood dreams.
D) They grew out of her long hours of thinking.
通看下划线部分不难发现,几乎所有的选项都与女性会话者有关,可料想此对话中男性会话者多提出问题,女性多做答复,听时当然主要听女性会话者所说的内容。
二、听时抓“点”
有了充分的听前预测,听时的主要任务就是抓住考点,且掌握如下两个原则:
1. 考点均匀分布,易出现在话轮转换处
首先,长对话后设的3-4个小题一般均匀地分布在对话的每个回合,极少出现某一个回合包含两个考点的情况。这样,我们在一个对话回合中找到一个考点后,剩余的部分就可不做详听,让紧张的神经稍做放松,有利于将精力集中于下面的考点。
其次,考点的位置多是话轮转换的时候。具体的说,就是对话一方某段发言的开头和结尾部分,这也完全符合西方人的思维习惯,即在发言伊始多是开门见山,而在发言结尾处又总括强调。
仍以2006年12月Conversation Two为例:
M: Hi, Miss Rowling, how old were you when you started to write? And what was your first book?
W: I wrote my first story when I was about six. It was about a small animal, a rabbit, I mean, and I've been writing ever since. (22题考点)
M: Why did you choose to be an author?
W: If someone asked me how to achieve happiness, step one would be finding out what you love doing most and step two would be finding someone to pay you to do this. I consider myself very lucky indeed to be able to support myself by writing. (23题考点)
M: Do you have any plans to write books for adults?
W: My first two novels were for adults. I suppose I might write another one, but I never really imagine a target audience when I'm writing. The ideas come first, so it really depends on the ideas that grasp me next. (24题考点)
M: Where did the ideas for the Harry Potter books come from?
W: I've no idea where the ideas came from. And I hope I'll never find out. (25题考点) It would spoil my excitement if it turned out I just have a funny wrinkle on the surface of my brain, which makes me think about the invisible train platform.
2. 重复率较高的词或短语多成为考点
对话的主要内容理所当然会得到说话人的强调,而一个非常重要且明显的强调方式就是重复,故重复的词语往往能够揭示对话的主题。
如问:What is the news coverage mainly about?
而原文中多次出现rebel forces, conflict, war等与"叛乱"相关的词语,也可判断本题答案为A) The latest developments of an armed rebellion in Karnak.