GRE類比看似在純粹考察學生的詞匯量。但經(jīng)過小馬過河GRE研究專家的研究,GRE類比可以靈活的運用在GRE寫作當中。如果考生做到用GRE詞匯寫GRE作文,那么考生至少在作文詞匯上,就沒有問題
一、類比在ISSUE中的應用。
ISSUE是立論文,也就是說,我們需要用理由或例子去支持自己的觀點。在英語中有個單詞叫comparable,直譯的話是可比較的,其實它等同于similar(相似的)這個單詞,因為在西方文化中,只有相似的東西才具有可比較性。因此相似性也就成為了整個類比關系的前提和基礎。
個人認為,類比(Analogy)在上述提到的五種論據(jù)方法中是最有邏輯性的,使用得當可以省力又出彩地證明觀點。它有點像中學時代所學的幾何題,解題的關鍵不在論證的過程,而是添加一條輔助線。只要找到合適的輔助線,論證就是水到渠成的事了。當我們想論證一個抽象復雜的命題A——B時,我們可以選擇一個具體形象并且不需要證明的——D來作為輔助線,然后就把原本復雜的A——B的論證過程替代為論述AB和CD之間的相似性就可以了。這里需要指出的是,所謂具體形象且不需要證明的CD其實指的就是事實或常識。所以類比關系建立的難點就在與選擇合適的CD。我們來看個例子。
The Negro has callus growing on his soul and it’s getting harder and harder to hurt him there. That’s simple law of nature. Like a callus on the foot in a shoe that’s too tight. The foot is nature’s and that shoe was put on by man. The tight shoe will pinch your foot and make you holler and scream. But sooner or later, if you don’t take the shoe off, a callus will form on the foot and begin to wear out the shoe。
It’s the same with the Negro in America. That shoe—the white man’s system—has pinched and rubbed and squeezed his soul until it almost destroyed him. But it didn’t. And now a callus has formed on his soul, and unless that system is adjusted to fit him, too, that callus is going to wear out that system。
很顯然在這段文字中,作者想證明的是全文第二段的最后一句話:And now a callus has formed on his soul, and unless that system is adjusted to fit him, too, that callus is going to wear out that system。(現(xiàn)在黑人的靈魂中已經(jīng)產生了老繭,除非白人的統(tǒng)治體系能調整以適合他們,否則老繭將使這個體系土崩瓦解。)簡而言之,就是黑人終將沖破白人統(tǒng)治。
黑人反抗白人統(tǒng)治獲得解放這無疑是個非常抽象復雜的命題。采用一般的例證法,學生們都不約而同能想馬丁。路德。金。且不管例子雷同與否,事實上,很少有人能真正清楚又準確地寫出馬丁。路德。金的具體事跡來證明這個觀點。甚至還有學生會想到曼德拉或奧巴馬來證明,實在有失偏頗。
現(xiàn)在我們再來看上面這段文字。作者很巧妙地找了CD,即foot(nature)——shoe( put on by man)之間的關系。鞋子小了,腳穿著會疼,如果不及時脫掉或調整,腳上會產生老繭。如果鞋子繼續(xù)對腳進行禁錮,那么總有一天,腳會把鞋子穿破。這是一個再平常不過的道理,不需要再花時間進行論證,括號里的就是AB和CD間的相似性,輕松論證了這個復雜的命題,這就是類比的魅力。
下面再給大家一段文字來體會類比的妙用。
“It is unrealistic to expect individual nations to make, independently, the sacrifices necessary to conserve energy. International leadership and worldwide cooperation are essential if we expect to protect the world’s energy resources for future generations。”
Another reason why an international effort is required is that other problems of an international nature have also required global cooperation. For example, has each nation independently recognized the folly of nuclear weapons proliferation and voluntarily disarmed? No. Only by way of an international effort, based largely on coercion of strong leaders against detractors, along with an appeal to self-interest, have we made some progress. By the same token, efforts of individual nations to thwart international drug trafficking have proven largely futile, because efforts have not been internationally based. Similarly, the problem of energy conservation transcends national borders in that either all nations must cooperate, or all will ultimately suffer。
類比,這種說理手段對大家而言其實并不陌生。在中國古文中如《老子》,《莊子》等都很擅長把深刻的道理用顯而易見的故事來講述出來,比如刻舟求劍等。另一方面,在詩歌中也會采用大量類比或比喻的手段來把抽象的意境具體化地表現(xiàn)出來。這里選用幾句Tagore (泰戈爾)飛鳥集中的句子來賞析一下希望能給大家些靈感:
Her wishful face haunts my dreams like the rain at night(她的熱切的臉,如夜雨似的,攪擾著我的夢魂。)
Woman, when you move about in your household service your limbs sing like a hill stream among its pebbles。(婦人,你在料理家務的時候,你的手足歌唱著,正如山間的溪水歌唱著在小石中流過。)
The touch of the nameless days clings to my heart like mosses round the old tree。(無名的日子的感觸,攀緣在我的心上,正象那綠色的苔蘚,攀緣在老樹的周身。)