【英語寫作】英語寫作提升的永遠離不開:閱讀與模仿。(關注本站,持續更新基礎英語考研資料,不定時發放英語大禮包)
英文寫作是一個創造和發現的過程,一般來說,它主要包含兩個方面的能力:語言能力以及邏輯思維能力。
其中,邏輯思維能力與每個人的人生經歷、知識儲備以及思維模式息息相關,這是一個循序漸進的發展過程。
相比邏輯思維能力,語言能力有著更為清晰的提升路徑。語言能力提升的重點在于提升對詞匯以及句子的運用能力。
詞匯運用能力并不等同于詞匯量,詞匯運用能力的關鍵在于對詞匯使用語境的精確理解。句子結構的運用能力也并不等同于語法知識,它的關鍵在于靈活應用各種句型準確地表達自己的思想。
怎樣培養詞匯運用能力以及句子結構的運用能力呢?對優秀句子和篇章進行模仿練習是一個很好的方法。
語言能力的提升并不是靠學習理論知識,而是大量的練習和模仿?;仡櫣沤裰型庾骷业膶懽鹘洑v,你會發現,人類寫作歷程堪稱一部模仿史。無論是英語寫作,還是漢語習作,一開始都離不開大量的閱讀與模仿。通過對經典英語文章的模仿,我們能夠學習怎樣寫出靈活地道的句子,更好地理解段落的層次性和邏輯性。
具體來講,我們可以從句子和段落兩個層次入手進行模仿訓練。
對句子的模仿
句子是組成篇章的基本單位,只有先寫好句子,才有可能寫好文章。通過大量模仿經典英語的句式和句子結構,我們能夠將其內化,并在寫作時做到融會貫通。句型模仿訓練的前提是尋找優秀的材料,并提取出相應的句型進行大量的訓練。通過大量的模仿將這些優秀的句型變成我們表達的一部分。
目前對于句子模仿從易到難主要有兩個方式:替換單詞,提取句式
替換單詞
將一個句子進行單詞替換是最常見同時也是最簡單的方法。舉個例子,經濟學人中有這樣一個句子:
The hundred years since the Battle of Waterloo had not been entirely free of disaster—there had been a horrific civil war in America, some regional scraps in Asia, the Franco-Prussian war and the occasional colonial calamity. But continental peace had prevailed. Globalisation and new technology—the telephone, the steamship, the train—had knitted the world together.
加粗的句子用在全球化相關話題里面不錯吧?不過現在是21世紀了,可以將句子相應改一下:
The world is changing at a rapid pace. Globalisation and new technology—the internet, the airplane, the high-speed train—have knitted the world together.
又比如新概念英語4里面出現的一個句子:
As is so often pointed out, knowledge is a two-edged weapon which can be used equally for good or evil.
我們可以將其中的 knowledge 替換為那些具有兩面性的事物,比如 nuclear technology / gene engineering / international trade 等:
As is so often pointed out, nuclear technology / gene engineering / international trade is a two-edged weapon which can be used equally for good or evil.
提取句式
提取句式是在單詞替換的基礎上發展而來,它的難度更高,但訓練效果也會更好。在做此類練習時,我們要先對一個句子進行分析,從中提取出一個“通用模板”,然后根據這個模板進行造句練習。舉個例子,有這樣一個句子:
It is a disturbing omen for the Chinese economy. For all the talk of reform, many government officials still want to paper over bad loans. With credit going to keep moribund companies alive, China’s debt levels have soared even as growth has slowed.
我們可以提取出這樣的句型:For all the talk of ...still...
比如可以說:
For all the talk of equal rights for women, gender discrimination is still rife in the workplace.
又比如這個句子:
China’s advance is all the more potent in the context of a series of disappointments for democrats since 2000. The first great setback was in Russia. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the democratisation of the old Soviet Union seemed inevitable.
提取出來的句型是 ...is all the more potent in the context of ...
我們可以寫:
a) The appeal of online education is all the more potent in the context of soaring university tuition fees.
b) Regulating social media is all the more tricky in the context of widespread use of smartphones by which everyone is able to voice their opinions.
還有這個例子:
So it came as a shock last month when a bill sprinted through the lower house of Congress, on the first day of a new session, that sets out to change the terms of their 30-year concessions after only 17 years.
我們可以提取出來的句型是 It came as a shock ...when ...
比如可以說:
It came as a shock last week when an explosion shaked New York City and injured 29 people.
對于下面這個句子:
To say that the “age of the grand hotel ran from 1860 to 1960” is to make it seem that Paris’s Grand had no antecedents.
我們可以提取出 To say that...is to make it seem that...這個類比句型,模仿寫出:
To say that universities should merely provide students with employment skills is to make it seem that theoretical knowledge is of secondary importance.
平時在閱讀中要有意識地積累這類經典句式,并通過模仿造句地方式將它們內化,這樣寫出來的句子才會更加規范地道。
對段落的模仿
通過對文章經典段落的模仿,我們能夠學習并熟悉段落的基本構架,段落展開方式,以及段落內部句子之間的承接等,在寫作時能夠更有效地組織自己的思想,寫出層次鮮明、邏輯嚴謹的段落和文章。
舉個例子,經濟學人在一篇題為 The curious case of the fall in crime 的文章中,對當今西方社會犯罪率下降的原因有這樣一個論述:
There is no single cause of the decline; rather, several have coincided. Western societies are growing older, and most crimes are committed by young men. Policing has improved greatly in recent decades, especially in big cities such as New York and London, with forces using computers to analyse the incidence of crime; in some parts of Manhattan this helped to reduce the robbery rate by over 95%. The epidemics of crack cocaine and heroin appear to have burnt out.
這個段落的邏輯非常清晰。開頭第一句為主題句,后面三個句子進行展開:
1.Western societies are growing older, and most crimes are committed by young men.
2.Policing has improved greatly in recent decades.
3.The epidemics of crack cocaine and heroin appear to have burnt out.
我們可以對上面的段落框架進行模仿:
There is no single cause of childhood obesity; rather, several have coincided. Many children have been surrounded by fast food outlets selling unhealthy foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs, which contain a lot of calories, sugar and salt. Moreover, their parents are too busy climbing up the career ladder to keep an eye on their eating habits. Lack of exercise also does its bit. Most children spend too much time sitting in their room watching TV or playing computer games, and too little doing outdoor activities.
有哪些適合模仿的材料?
材料質量的高低對于句子和段落模仿的效果會有很大的影響。用于模仿學習的材料要必須足夠經典地道。這里推薦兩種:
新概念英語3和4
作為影響一代人,經久不衰的英語學習教材,新概念英語3和新概念英語4中提供了非常多值得借鑒的經典句型以及段落篇章。新概念英語教材中類似 Life on a desert island, New Year resolutions, Knowledge and progress, Education 等課文都是極佳的模仿材料,如果能對這些文章做到熟練背誦并模仿,相信你的遣詞造句水平會得到很大提升。
經濟學人
為經濟學人寫作的記者們來自歷史、哲學、法律等多個領域,不少人文化積淀深厚,是遣詞造句以及邏輯論證的高手。他們寫出來的文章可圈可點之處非常多,是很好的學習模仿材料。有志于提升英語寫作水平的同學可以重點閱讀模仿經濟學人中這幾個欄目的文章:Leaders, Business, Books and arts, Obituary
材料的選擇在于精而不在多,認認真真將幾十篇文章讀懂讀透,選取其中的優秀句型段落進行改寫模仿,效果比囫圇吞棗讀上幾百篇文章要好很多。
對經典英語作品的模仿是走向高水平寫作的必經之路。
我們可以從句子和篇章段落這兩個角度入手,將提取出來的句型和段落結構與要寫的話題結合起來進行模仿,以此來提升自己遣詞造句以及邏輯思維能力。
除此之外,平時也要養成整理積累好詞好句的習慣,建立自己的“語料庫”,寫作時才能做到厚積薄發。
以上就是【英語寫作】英語寫作提升的永遠離不開:閱讀與模仿的所有內容,希望對大家有幫助!現在國內越來越重視英語了,掌握一首好英語,不僅對學習和工作都有很大的幫助。
在這里我分享一節免費的試聽課:【http://www.rjcnn.com/daily/?qd=king】 跟歐美外教一對一學習,快速提高英語能力!
推薦閱讀:
【英語寫作】英語作文熱點話題事物篇|社會實踐活動
【英語寫作】英語作文熱點話題事物篇|你怎樣學好英語。
【英語寫作】英語作文熱點話題社會篇|獻愛心捐贈