雅思口语从日常活动出发

在最近一次的中国雅思年会上，专家们提出“雅思生活化”的全新备考理念。其核心思想是避开高谈阔论，从细节处入手，以贴近生活实际的方式应对雅思口语和写作。中国文学的特点是追求“用词难度，思维深度”。作为外语学习者，我们很多考生对于英文文法的掌握以及语言的感受能力都还只能算是停留在“OK”的阶段，试图照搬中国式思维的结果可想而知。不但违背了英文“重理重实际”的原则，也在自己“拙劣”的中译英过程中丢掉了语言的美感，导致中式英语笑料百出。

道理可能很多人都明白，关键是怎么做。在雅思口语考试中，怎样才能贴近生活，不仅保证自己在语言应用上游刃有余，也能在说理方面以事实和细节打动人。本文中，将从“日常生活”这一角度出发，节选雅思口语每部分普遍被认为较难的一个问题为例，探索合理的应对方法。

Part 1典型案例：

【真题实例】:

Q: What kind of flowers has special meanings in China?

【模拟考场】:

A1: ...er...peony, which means “rich”. And..um..rose means “love”.

A2: Well, I am afraid I really don’t know much about flowers, but everyone knows that roses mean” love”. And that is also the case in China. As to other flowers, I bet my father has a better understanding of their different meanings. Actually, he is planning to grow some in the garden of our new house.

【专家点评】

Answer 1是多数考生碰到类似这种不太有话说的问题时的回答，明显在内容和篇幅上都过于简短。相比较而言，之所以Answer 2要更具体，内容会更丰富，就是本着从日常生活入手的原则。实事求是讲到“自己不太懂花”，而“老爸对花比较感兴趣”。分析认为，我们很多考生有一种误解，觉得不该在考试时说“不知道”，于是顶着头皮死撑，结结巴巴说不好。其实say no的方式有很多，像这里A2开场用的I am afraid I really don’t know much about…这一句就是很好的一种表达“不知道”的方法。

【模拟考场】:

A1: I’d like to talk about Yaoming who is from shanghai. He is a famous basketball player. He is now in NBA. He is special because he is very tall. He is also a kind man who takes part in charity.

A2: Well, I have to say that sports is really not my cup of tea. Actually, P.E lessons have always been a nightmare to me all through my school life. That may explain why I am not a fan of any sports star. But um, I think I can tell something about Yaoming, who is a basketball player from shanghai. I bet you’ve heard of him, since he is now a NBA star. You can see him on TV commercial, billboards, posters, etc. All of these prove how famous he is. He is a very tall man. I can hardly imagine how it would be if I were standing beside him. A striking contrast! Apart from that, Yao is the kind of sports star who would like to help others. I once read an article saying that Yao is one of the richest men in China and he devotes much to charity.

【专家点评】:

这一组A1和A2的对比再次突显了生活细节给口语内容带来的绝妙变化。A2中的“不喜欢体育，体育课在学生时代一直是噩梦”，“电视广告，路边海报到处可见姚明踪影”，“曾经读到的一篇文章讲…”这些都是日常生活中的细节。这些话本身在语言上一点都不难，却能起到很好的作用，有真实感。包括最后一句“很难想象自己与姚明站一起将会是身高上的多大悬殊”也是用较为生活化的语言让听者对于“高”这一特点有更直观的认识。

Part 3典型案例：

【真题实例】:

Q: what do you think will the buildings be like in the future?

【模拟考场】:

A1: …（无语）maybe in the future there will be more buildings because the population is growing. And the buildings may be even higher because of the limited land resource.

A2: Well, the question actually reminds me of a piece of news I read on line the other day. You know, as two major earthquakes took place in China within two years, and many other natural disasters happened across the globe, architects are busy constructing buildings that can sustain heavy stress. In particular, they aim to construct the kind of building that can sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake.

【专家点评】

对于part 3的话题，建议考生添加细节，否则很多问题都会觉得难以拓展开。以该题为例，A2提出将来的房屋“会抗压性更强，用以抵御各种自然灾害”不仅内容丰富还很有新意和内涵。这就要求考生平时要多积累，勤思考，看到一些与雅思口语话题相关的新闻故事多留个心眼，不妨记下以备不时之需。

总之，雅思考试是源于生活的，是与我们周围发生的事紧密相关的。鉴于这一点，我们在考试中不应该脱离现实高谈阔论，而应从日常生活实际出发，把考官当作朋友，真切的去与他们进行交流。