新托福聽力新增題型解析
顧名思義，所謂“Listen Again”即在新托福聽力考試的某篇文章結(jié)束后，其中某一題采取再次復聽，然后根據(jù)所聽來做推斷既而回答題目的形式來考察考生。對新托?？荚囮P注者會發(fā)現(xiàn)，早在新托?？荚噭偢〕鏊鏁r，世面上眾多分析文章評論說：“新托福聽力考試可以聽兩遍了”。我們下這樣的定義不能說不對，但似為偏頗，至少會誤導對新托福聽力不甚了解的朋友會真的以為整個新托福聽力考試可以重復放音聽兩遍了。這也怪不得關注新托福考試的先驅(qū)者。在未見其真面目時，僅依其官方網(wǎng)上透露的內(nèi)容去揣摩難免會被ETS誤導，即便是現(xiàn)在ETS在網(wǎng)上公布的新托福在線測試樣題與9月份真正在北美正式投入使用的新托福**也是有差別的。在這里筆者稍做澄清：(1)新托?？荚嚪乓暨^程是一遍完成;(2)只有“Listen Again”這種新增題型可以再次復聽文章中的某一部分，并根據(jù)再次回放的這部分回答特殊的問題。
看題：
下面我們看一篇新托福聽力樣題(此樣題的考察問題全部為此種新增Listen Again 題型)
(narrator) Listen to two student discussing a zoology course
(man) Now we can move on to discuss the next part of the chapter the part of the chapter the part on land tortoises
(woman) Yes. Land tortoises are tortoises that don’t live in the water although they may live near the water. They only come to the water to drink or bathe.
(woman) Oh look here in the book. Here’s a picture of one of the 40 kinds of land tortoises.
(man) Land tortoises are the ones that live to such long ages aren’t they?
(woman) Yes my favorite part of the chapter was the part that was about how long land tortoises can really live.
(man) How old can they live to be?
(woman) It’s not really known for sure. There are lots of traditional stories about tortoises that lived for hundreds of years. I do remember hearing when I was young about tortoises that were supposed to be one-to two hundred years old.
(man) That couldn’t be…No way.
(woman) Well there’re a lot of stories but there’s no accurate records so it’s impossible to verify whether or not they’re true.
(man) Well how old is the oldest tortoise on record do you know?
(woman) In the chapter I just read it said that the oldest tortoise whose age can be verified to some extent is the one known as Marion’s tortoise.
(man) I read that Marion’s tortoise was 152 years old.
(woman) Actually I think the book said it was at least 152 years old. It was probably older.
(man) So they’re not really certain how old Marion’s tortoise really was when it died. What is truly known about Marion’s tortoise?
(woman) It’s certain that a French explorer named de Fresne Marion de Fresne captured an adult tortoise in 1766 and he transported the tortoise to the island of Mauritius in that same year.
(man) Well when did Marion’s tortoise die? Are there authentic records?
(woman) Historians are satisfied with the authenticity of the records that show that Marion’s tortoise died in 1918.
(man) How do they know it was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that died there in 1918?
(woman) Tortoises don’t occur naturally on Mauritius so Marion’s tortoise was the only tortoise on the island of Mauritius.
(man) And so this tortoise had been on the island of Mauritius for 152 years when it died.
(woman) That’s right. Marion’s tortoise arrived in Mauritius in 1766 and died in 1918 so that would make it at least 152 years old.
(man) But didn’t you say that the tortoise that was captured and brought to Mauritius by Marion de Fresne was an adult when it was captured?
(woman) Yes. So Marion’s tortoise was known to have lived for 152 years on Mauritius. But because it was an adult when it was captured in 1766 and it’s unclear how old it was at that time it could have been considerably older than 152 years when it died maybe 180 years or more. Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn’t inconceivable.
(man) So a tortoise living to the age of 200 may be possible but there’re no verified records of such a tortoise.
(woman) Exactly!
(1)Why does the man say this: Now we can move on to discuss the next part of the chapter the part on land tortoises
(a) To indicate the next topic for discussion
(b) To suggest a new location for the discussion
(c) To state what has previously been said
(d) To clarify why they are having the discussion
(2)Listen again——Woman: There are lots of traditional stories about tortoises that lived for hundreds of years. I do remember hearing when I was young about tortoises that were supposed to be one-to two-hundred years old.
Man: That couldn’t be…No way.
How does the seem to feel when he says this: “That’s couldn’t be… No way”
(a) Unhappy
(b) Incredulous
(c) Incapable
(d) Disturbed
(3) Listen again——(woman) In the chapter I just read it said that the oldest tortoise whose age can be verified to some extent is the one known as Marion’s tortoise.
(man) I read that Marion’s tortoise was 152 years old.
(woman) Actually I think the book said it was at least 152 years old.
Why does the woman say this:“ Actually，I think the book said it was at least 152 years old.”
(a) To contradict what was in the book
(b) To indicate that she is not sure what is correct
(c) To restate what the man said
(d) To correct an error by the man
(4)Listen again——(woman) Historians are satisfied with the authenticity of the records that show that Marion’s tortoise died in 1918.
(man) How do they know it was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that died there in 1918?
What does the man mean when he says this: “How do they know it
was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that
died there in 1918?”
(a) What was said sounds plausible
(b) Marion’s tortoise was not on the island of Mauritius
(c) There may be an alternate explanation
(d) There was only one tortoise on the island
(5)Listen again——(woman) Yes. So Marion’s tortoise was known to have lived for 152 years on Mauritius. But because it was an adult when it was captured in 1766 and it’s unclear how old it was at that time it could have been considerably older than 152 years when it died maybe 180 years or more. Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn’t inconceivable.
Which sentence best describes how the woman feels when she says
this:“Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn’t
inconceivable”
(a) It is possible for a tortoise to live for 200 years
(b) A tortoise could not possibly live to the age of 200
(c) No 200-year-old tortoise has ever been found
(d) Many types of tortoises live to be very old
(注)以上五道題目中帶陰影部分皆是再次回放的內(nèi)容。
(答案)(1)A (2)B (3)D (4)C (5)A
解析：
新增Listen Again題型屬于測試考生Pragmatic understanding(recognize a Speaker’s attitude or degree of certainty; recognize a speaker’s function or purpose)即實際理解的能力。此類能力測試在整個新托福聽力測試的比重占25%之多。也就是說，Listen Again題型處理好，新托福聽力的總34道題目你將會解決至少6道題目。
那么到底Listen Again題型讓我們考生實際理解什么?很簡單，即要求考生去理解你再次聽到的那段話中的：
(1)Function(purpose):
ask you to understand not just what the speaker said but why the speaker said it. For example to determine that a speaker said sth in order to apologize explain clarify a point change a topic indicate a change of opinion or suggest a new action .(上面樣題第一題即是)
(2)Stance (attitude)
Ask you how the speaker seems to feel about a particular topic. For example to determine if the speaker feels Positive or negative happy or sad impressed or unimpressed or enthusiastic or bored about a particular Topic. Also ask about whether a speaker is doubtful or Certain about what he or she is saying.(上面樣題后四道題目即是)
簡單的說即對再次回放內(nèi)容中講話者講此句話的目的或者態(tài)度進行推斷。因此，考生解答此種問題時即便在全文放音過程中不知所云， 也要在Listen Again時，務必把握Listen Again內(nèi)容——Listen carefully to what the speaker says in the part of the passage that is repeated and then draw a conclusion。
技巧：
其實根據(jù)上面樣題所示，你也會發(fā)現(xiàn)：(1)勿須理解全文，只要理解Listen Again的內(nèi)容你就可以對題目進行做答。(2)聽再次回放內(nèi)容時對講話者的語氣、語調(diào)應尤為關注。如第2題的那句That’s couldn’t Be…No way講出來時語氣格外激昂，可見講話者的意圖是針對第一人話語的一種不信，一種否定。(3)以往舊托福的解題技巧仍可應用，如第3題。以往在小對話中有這樣一種叫做Actually的題型，即在答句開頭聽到Actually時，必為否定第一人觀點的。第3題女方選手開頭Actually，那么看哪個選項是否定男方的，D這個答案To correct the Error by the man即入選。
結(jié)論：
根據(jù)以上新增題型的解析，值得我們考生興奮的是：此類題型應屬送分題型，即便全文整體概念、信息模糊不清，但仍可只依靠再次回放的部分解決此種題型。再深入探求其本質(zhì)，難道我們還能下新托福聽力取消了原來小對話部分這樣的定義嗎?此種新增題型，不正是以往小對話所測試我們的基本所在嗎(讓我們?nèi)プ鐾普??只不過，現(xiàn)在的新增部分綜合了95年8月前的單句題和95年8后的小對話題而已。現(xiàn)在的“Listen Again”題型——說它是單句題，它比單句題稍微顯長顯復雜;說它是小對話題，它比小對話題測試內(nèi)容上要稍顯更實際、更結(jié)合與學術。這不正是ETS此次托?？荚嚫母镪P于聽力部分的宗旨(Academic Listening Skills：The Listening section measures test takers’ ability to understand spoken English from North America and other English-speaking countries. In academic environments students need to listen to lectures and conversations. )嗎?
尾聲：
據(jù)本文所引、所論，透析ETS 之詭計多端于新增題型處，故此，我們該做到剝?nèi)バ峦懈Ｂ犃π略鲱}型的偽裝，立在ETS出題的科學規(guī)律上“去違存真;棄相修真”，并再次高呼：“新托福聽力——道是有變卻無變!”。這更是一種在出國路上、在人生奮斗途中屢遇險阻、逢遇叵測，即便疲憊、憔悴、厭倦甚至想要退縮時我們堅定的目光與困難摩擦并迸射——堅持的聲音!那讓我們一路鎮(zhèn)定，泰然，從容，堅強的走下去吧!
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