王長喜大學(xué)英語考試四級大課堂（第四講）

二、知識因素在語言中的運(yùn)用

　　這里所說的知識包括與聽力材料有關(guān)的背景知識、對話和文章的話題知識、聽力的策略知識以及聽力測試的命題規(guī)律等知識。

1、背景知識

　　對聽力材料的背景知識的了解有助于聽力材料的理解，而缺乏應(yīng)有的背景知識常常是造成理解失敗的原因。聽力對話和聽力短文所涉及的領(lǐng)域廣泛，要求同學(xué)們注意積累有關(guān)文化、歷史、地理、宗教、政治、風(fēng)俗、生活等各方面的知識，正是Rich experiences are the facilitator of listening comprehension.

2、話題知識

無　　論是對話還是短文，都有其所涉及的話題，所要說明的主題，而材料中的一切又都是為了這一主題服務(wù)，表現(xiàn)同一主題，或同一話題又有與其同現(xiàn)的詞匯。同學(xué)們可以通過這些詞匯推測文章的話題，然后通過文章的主題，預(yù)測文章的大體內(nèi)容，從而對短文進(jìn)行整體的理解。同學(xué)們同樣可以通過同現(xiàn)的詞匯推測對話發(fā)生的地點(diǎn)，會話人之間的關(guān)系，各自的身份等。
（1）利用詞匯的同現(xiàn)判斷對話發(fā)生的地點(diǎn)以及會話人之間的關(guān)系和身份、職業(yè)等。如：
① M: The Golden Lion sounds like a nice place to eat.
W: Ok, let's go there. I hear that they have a complete menu
and a warm atmosphere.
Q: Where are the man and the woman going? (1989.1)
A. To the beach. B. To a play.
C. To a movie theater D. To a restaurant.
從menu一詞結(jié)合a nice place to eat，同學(xué)們便可輕松判斷答案D。

② M: How about the food I ordered? I've been waiting for 20
minutes.
W: I'm very sorry, sir. I'll be back with your order in a
minute.
Q: Who is the man most probably speaking to?
A. A shop assistant. B. A telephone operator.
C. A waitress D. A clerk.
從order的使用可以判斷答案為C。

③ M: Why didn't you stop when we first signaled?
W: I'm sorry. Will I have to pay a fine?
Q: What is the probable relationship between the man and the
woman?
A. Policeman and driver. B. Policeman and thief.
C. Teacher and pupil. D. Director and actress.
從signal, stop, pay a fine可以看出，說話者之間的關(guān)系為警察和司機(jī)的關(guān)系。答案為A。

(2) 利用話題和主題知識把握全文：
　　文章的主題一般出現(xiàn)在文章的首句，在聽時一定要注意首句的理解，然后根據(jù)首句推測文章可能會包括的內(nèi)容，在聽的過程注意用來說明主題的信息，進(jìn)行前后的連貫思索，就可以輕松地理解全文。事實上聽力中也有對文章主題的考查。如：
　　There are many reasons why family life in Britain has changed so much in the last 50 years. The liberation of women in the early part of 20th century and social and economic effects of the World War Two had a great impact on the traditional family life. Women became essential to industry and professions. During the war, they had worked in factories and proved their worth. Now with the loss of millions of man their service was indispensable to the nation. More recently great advances in scientific knowledge, and particularly in medicine have had enormous social consequences. Children are better cared for and are far healthier. Infant death rate was low. Above all, parents now can plan the size of their family if they wish to more effective means of birth control. Different attitudes to religion, authority and tradition generally have also contributed to changes in family life. But these developments have effected all aspects of society. It is particularly interesting to know that the concept of the family as a social unit has survived all these changes.

Q: What is the passage mainly about?
A. The liberation movement of British woman.
B. Rapid economic development in Britain.
C. Changing attitudes to family life.
D. Reasons for changes in family life in Britain.
　　通過對短文首句的理解，可以判斷答案是D。

3、策略知識

　　除具備以上知識以外，為了保證聽力的質(zhì)量，同學(xué)們，還必須了解一些策略知識，包括聽力策略和聽力應(yīng)試策略。
1） 聽力策略
　　聽力策略是聽力質(zhì)量的保證。一般情況下，同學(xué)們應(yīng)掌握的聽力策略有：
（1）有目的地去聽：聽要有目的，是要了解大意還是具體的細(xì)節(jié)，什么細(xì)節(jié)，在聽之前應(yīng)該首先確定聽的目的。
（2）聽大意：聽大意的方式與閱讀中的覽讀技巧相同，要求同學(xué)們在聽的時候?qū)⒆⒁饬�集中在話題上，和要表達(dá)的主題上，抓主要的東西，而不是具體的細(xì)節(jié)。
（3）聽具體信息：與"聽大意"不同，該聽力技巧要求同學(xué)們在聽的時候只注意相關(guān)具體細(xì)節(jié)就可，如文中的具體任務(wù)，具體事件，事件發(fā)生的具體地點(diǎn)，時間，原因等。
（4）記筆記：在聽的過程中，同學(xué)們有必要對重要信息做一下記錄，以幫助對聽力材料的記憶，也便于隨后的推理和判斷。
（5）預(yù)測：在聽的過程中對下文進(jìn)行預(yù)測是整體理解的保證，預(yù)測愈是準(zhǔn)確，理解也愈是簡單。

2）應(yīng)試策略
　　所謂應(yīng)試策略指應(yīng)付考試的有效手段，一般包括
（1）預(yù)讀選項
　　預(yù)讀選項指在聽之前先將試題的四個選項瀏覽一遍。這是做好聽力必備的技巧。通過分析四個選項可以對所提問的問題有個大體的了解，使聽更富于目的性，帶著問題去聽，有助于提高注意力，將注意力集中于對話中的某一點(diǎn)信息，減少聽的負(fù)擔(dān)，解題也更加準(zhǔn)確，快捷。如：
① A. Once a week B. Twice a week.
C. Three times a week D. Four times a week. （1994.1）
　　四個選項都是表示頻度，顯然對話內(nèi)容與做什么事，每周幾次有關(guān)，帶著這個問題去聽，就不難找到問題的答案。請看原文：
M: Your son seems to have made much progress in playing the piano.Does he attend any piano classes?
W: Yes, he takes lessons twice a week, but from next week on, he will go to the class on Saturday evenings, too.
Q: How often will the woman's son have piano lessons from next
week on?
　　對話中提到一周上幾次鋼琴課，但以前是一周兩次，從下星期周六加一次，也就是三次。由于不知道問的是以前一周幾次，還是以后一周幾次，在聽的時候，有必要記清楚。當(dāng)聽到問題后，便可立即決定答案是C。

② A. To the beach B. To the play C. To a movie theater. D. To a restaurant. (1989.1)
　　四個選項明確表示要去的地方，顯然問題問的應(yīng)該要到什么地方去，這樣，在聽的時候，我們就可以把注意力集中在地點(diǎn)名詞上，或用來說明地點(diǎn)的名詞上。請看原文：
M: The Golden Lion sounds like a nice place to eat.
W: Ok, let's go there. I hear that they have a complete menu and
a warm atmosphere.
Q: Where are the man and woman going?
　　從對話中的a nice place to eat 和menu可以判斷，他們是要去飯店，答案不言自明。

③ A. Go out to work. B. Listen carefully to John.
C. Be calm and patient. D. Do the easiest thing. (1995.1)
　　四個選項都是祈使句，說明問題問的是會話這一方建議另一方做什么，這樣考生就可以將注意力集中于表示建議的語句上。請看原文：
W: I'm really angry at John. He never listens to me.
M: Take it easy, Allen. Things will work out.
Q: What does the man advise Allen to do?
　　從take it easy可以判斷答案是C。
　　下面請大家先預(yù)讀幾個問題的選項，推測文章的大概內(nèi)容。

④ A. She sat back and relaxed.
B. She decided to retire.
C. She entered university.
D. She worked out a new English program.

⑤ A. 8 years B. 20 years C. 16 years D. 30 years

⑥ A. Bring a great deal of useful experience to the university.
B. Improve human relationship in the university.
C. Bring a fear of aging among young students on the campus.
D. Improve the reputation of the university.

⑦ A. She is learning English and Drama.
B. She is learning how to make sound judgements.
C. She is learning how to teach minority students.
D. She is learning to perceive, not to judge.

　　綜合四道題的選項，我們猜出"她"可能是工作了多少年要退休了，后來又學(xué)習(xí)其它什么之類內(nèi)容。然后帶著這些問題去聽，看是否是到了退休的年齡，工作了到底多長時間，是否真的退休了，之后又是做了什么，開始學(xué)習(xí)什么。有了聽的目標(biāo)，在聽的過程中就可以將注意力集中在自己想了解的內(nèi)容上，忽略不相關(guān)的信息，采用跳聽的方式。請看原文：

　　After retiring from 30 years of teaching, Ethbell Pepper could easily have decided to sit back and relax and enjoy a peaceful retirement. But that kind of life is not for Ethbell Pepper. "I just wanted to do some thing different. If you are going to participate in life, do it. Don't just sit down and look out the window." She says. At 68, she decided to become one of the pioneer participation in a program at the university of California. The program offers campus housing and classes to people over sixty. She enrolled in a class called Human Relationships and Diverse Society. " I taught minority students in my English and drama classes in high school for 20 year. But in this course, I found out a lot about other cultures I didn't know then. One of the more important lessons that I'm learning is to perceive, not to judge." Older adults can add to the educational resources of university by bringing with them a lot of valuable experiences. Their presence on campus helps break some long beliefs of aging. Young students may have fears of growing older. But that kind of fear can be reduced as they see the older people can be active, healthy, and continue to contribute to society. The younger students can begin to see aging as a natural part of living. （1999.1）

　　即使不聽問題，同學(xué)們也能大體判斷出各題的答案了。我們來看以下問題：
④ What did Ethbell do when she was 68?
⑤ How long did Ethbell teach minority students?
⑥ How do elderly people do to the university?
⑦ What's the most important lesson Ethbell is learning?
　　文中提到了兩個時間，一個是教學(xué)30年， 一個是教少數(shù)民族學(xué)生20年，只要聽時注意兩個時間的區(qū)別，就可以判斷⑤題答案為B。聽到問題后，知道④題問的是Ethbell 68歲時，實際上也就是退休后，干什么了，答案同樣很清楚應(yīng)該是C。聽的過程中同學(xué)們應(yīng)該已經(jīng)判斷出有些選項與文章內(nèi)容不符，聽到問題后，便可以很輕松地確定⑥題答案為A，⑦題答案為D。

(2)記筆記

　　記筆記是一項比較重要的聽力技巧，尤其是在聽短文時，實際上聽力中也有對記筆記的專項考題，如聽寫填空。因為各題的四個選項都有可能在對話中或文章中出現(xiàn)，記筆記有助于分清具體的細(xì)節(jié)，以免出現(xiàn)混淆。如：
　　Susan Anthony was born in Massachusetts in 1820 and died in Rochester, N.Y., in 1906. In the 1850s, she saw many problems in her country and wanted to do soemthing about them.
One of these problems was that women did not have the right to vote in the United States. Susan Anthony and many others felt that women and men should have equal rights. In 1869 she helped start the National Women's Association. This group worked hard to get women the rights to vote in the United States.
　　In 1869, the state of Wyoming gave women the right to vote. Some other states also allowed women to have the right to vote. They worked to add this to the Constitution of the United States. Finally, in 1920, fourteen years after Susan Anthony's death, an article was added to the Constitution. It gave all American women the right to vote. (1996.1)

12.Who among the American women had the right to vote before 1920?
A. The women of some states.
B. The women in the state of Wyoming only.
C. The member of the National Women's Association.
D. The women in the state of Massachusetts only.

13.When did all women finally get the right to vote in the United
States?
A. At the very beginning of the 20th century.
B. At the end of the 19th century.
C. After Susan Anthony's death.
D. Just before Susan Anthony's death.

　　如果同學(xué)們在聽之前預(yù)讀以下選項，就可以猜出本篇聽力材料中時間一定不少，在聽的過程中就應(yīng)該做一下筆記，記一下時間與事件之間的關(guān)系。時間弄清楚了，答案也就清楚了，12題為A，13題為C。

（3）整體理解

　　無論是對話還是文章都是圍繞一個主題展開的，文章的一切細(xì)節(jié)都是用來說明一個主題。一般選擇題的設(shè)計也都是針對文章的主題和用來說明主題的有關(guān)細(xì)節(jié)。在聽的時候，考生通過預(yù)讀選項了解了文章的話題范圍，這樣在聽的之后就可以搜索與該話題有關(guān)的信息，前后聯(lián)系，綜合考慮，從而把握文章的主題。前后的關(guān)聯(lián)，整體的把握對聽力文章的理解至關(guān)重要，不能因為細(xì)節(jié)而忽略整體。要做到整體理解需要：

① 注意文章的首句。一般文章的主題由首句提出，然后以舉例、列舉、比較、對照等手段，抓住首句也就掌握了文章的主題，對文章的敘事方式也就有了預(yù)測性的了解。理解起來也就簡單了許多。

② 抓關(guān)鍵詞。并不是每個單詞，每個句子都同樣的重要，有的是論點(diǎn)，有的是論據(jù)，有的只表示關(guān)聯(lián)，更有很多是冗余信息。因此，在聽的時候，同學(xué)們要注意分清哪些是關(guān)鍵詞匯，哪些是關(guān)鍵句子，將注意力集中在關(guān)鍵之處。

③ 忽略。所謂忽略，指當(dāng)同學(xué)們遇到難以理解的詞句時不要停，而是跳過去，繼續(xù)聽下文，根據(jù)上下文的關(guān)系去理解文章。


　　影響聽力的因素很多，有助于聽力的技巧也很多，如四級聽力測試的模式、考查重點(diǎn)和具體應(yīng)對策略，下一講我再與同學(xué)們繼續(xù)討論。再見。