托福听力常考题型：细节题——例子题

细节题的另外一个高频出题点是举例子。举例子考察考生听出这个例子所服务的概念或观点是什么，同时也考察我们对例子本身内容的理解。托福听力中很多情况下是没有信号词的。对举例子而言，其常用的信号词如for example、for instance等也可能会省略，在这种情况下，考生该如何预判后文将出现的是例子呢？接下来我们来听一段材料。

例1：If we value something not as a means to something else, but for its own sake, let us say that it has “intrinsic value.” Exercise. There may be some people who value exercise for itself, but I don’t. I value exercise because if I exercise, I tend to stay healthier than I would if I didn’t. So I desire to engage in exercise and I value exercise extrinsically—not for its own sake, but as a means to something beyond it. It brings me good health. (TPO 2 Lecture 3 Philosophy) 

在这段材料中，exercise显然是一个例子，但是它前面没有出现信号词。很多考生在听这段的时候之所以能听出来exercise是例子是因为后文的多次重复，但是托福听力的录音材料不会每次都这么“善意”。那么诀窍在哪里？请记住：如果录音材料在解释或论证一个概念时，其后突然莫名其妙地出现一个其他类别的名词，并且后文对该名词展开了论证，那么这个名词的作用极有可能是举例子，前面提到的概念就是例子所服务的对象。比如上文首先解释了intrinsic value的概念：“If we value something not as a means to something else, but for its own sake, let us say that it has‘intrinsic value.’”在这句话之后，考生听到一个似乎不相干的其他类别的名词exercise，而且后文还对其展开了论证，那么exercise在这里就是例子。

此外例子题选项的设置是具有一定的规律的，正确答案往往是支持主题，一般具有概述性，跳出例子中的细节而讲述某个道理，很少就事论事出现太多例子的细节，而错误答案往往喜欢陈列例子本身细节的情况。我们先来听一段录音。

例2：Student: I mean with the four-year degree in food science, I’ll always be able to find a job.
Professor: You’re absolutely right. Before entering academia, I worked as a scientist for several food manufacturers and for the US Food and Drug Administration. I even worked on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska a couple of summers while I was an undergraduate. We bring in the day’s catch to a floating processor boat where the fish got cleaned, packaged and frozen right at sea. (TPO 9 conversation 1 )

Questions . Why does the professor mention his previous jobs?
A  To explain why the woman should study physics, math, and chemistry
B   To recommend that the woman get a summer job on a fishing boat
C   To point out that industry jobs can lead to a teaching career
D   To confirm an assumption the woman made about finding a job

本题是例子题，考查的是文中老师举例子的作用。从举previous job之前我们可以得知女生说学这个专业很容易就能找到工作，马上老师用了absolutely来表肯定支持，并展开了自己亲身经历来例证，所以这些例子是支持这个观点的。A选项的关键词是physics, math, and chemistry,这里提到的是学这个专业要学习的科目，与这里的找工作无关。B选项的关键词是summer job,老师没有任何建议学生获得工作的意图。C选项的关键词是lead to a teaching career,这里老师只是举例子说明可以找到工作，而不是说这个工作可以最终让她成为老师。第四个选项的关键词是confirm an assumption,原文是老师对学生关于找工作假设的肯定，是正确答案。

A答案相关信息出现在举例之后的位置，属于信息层次错位。BC 这两个答案是很典型的从细节入手，利用大家听到了summer job，  a fishing boat，entering academia等细节，当考生对题型不熟悉，听力基础不扎实就很容易受干扰，往往会先选这些自己有点印象的答案，但这些只是细节的拼凑，都偏离了对老师说话意图的回答。D选项才是老师举例的意图，选项具有宏观的概述性的特征。