由于大多数人的思维习惯是趋向于肯定的,因而对“否定”概念不甚敏感;又因为英语在表达“否定”意义时有自身独特的习惯和用词,而不像中文一样只需采用简单的“不”或者“否”来表达即可,导致很多国内考生在听力考试中无法对“否定”概念进行快速正确地辨识,导致误听误选。“否定”概念可能出现在雅思听力的任一题型中,无处不在地给考生制造各种麻烦和陷阱,稍不留神就会丢分。因而掌握“否定”概念的表达特点,强化辨识“否定”概念的能力是提分的核心一环。
首先,让我们来梳理下常见的四种“否定”概念的常见表达方式。
1.“No”或者“助动词+not”
一提到否定词,相信大家最快想到便是“no”或者像“isn't”,“aren't”,
“weren't”,“won't”,和“wasn't”这一类以助动词与not结合的否定表达。然而这种在阅读中十分直白的“显性”否定词在听力理解中却是难点。例如,在“Also the incentive should be something the individual actually wants,and this isn't always just money.”(C7 T2 S3)中,很多同学反映并没有听到否定词“isn't”,因而会错误地理解为公司所提供得incentive(激励措施)应该都与money有关。看似简单的否定表达,在与前后单词的连读之后,在听力过程中就变得难以辨认。
2.带否定前缀/后缀的词
此外,在听力中难以辨认的“否定”概念还经常出现在单词的前缀和后缀上,例如:unnecessary,impossible,wingless,misunderstand等。在的《剑桥真题12》中,就考核了否定前缀un-的辨音与抓听。例如:
题目:The word'lazy'in this context refers to people who avoid doing tasks that are 37.(C12 T5 S4)
听力原文:Here'lazy'means having a rational determination not to carry out unnecessary tasks.
很多学生在抓取答案时,会忽略否定前缀“un-”的发音导致拼写不完整,错误地填写necessary作为答案。
3.表示“否定”的单词
在英文中,“否定”概念还可以通过简单单词,如实义动词、形容词、副词和介词等来体现。1)动词类:avoid,deny,exclude,fail等;2)形容词/副词类:neither,hardly,rarely,little,few,too等;3)介词类:without,beyond,against等。而在这些单词中,越是音节简单的词,越喜欢考核。例如:
题目:14.Alice says oil exploration causes problems to dolphins because of
A.noise.B.oil leaks.
C.movement of ships.(C10 T3 S2)
听力原文:This has long been a haven for dolphins because it has very little shipping(movement of ships).However,that may be about to change soon because oil companies want to increase exploratio n there.We're campaigning against this because,although there'll be little pollution from oil(oil leaks),exploration creates a lot of underwater noise.
在这道例题中,考官设置了两次little来否定B选项和C选项,但由于little发音较短,很多同学反映只听到名词,并未注意到有little这一否定词,或者出现将little误听为a little的情况。
4.表示否定的短语和句型
提到雅思听力常考核的“否定”短语和句型,很多同学会想到“rather than”,“instead of”,“neither…nor…”和“not…but…”等。这些表达体现了雅思听力中难度的“否定”概念考点——“前肯后否”和“前否后肯”。在一些文本中,当说话人先表达否定了信息A,再引出正确的答案信息B时,称作“前否后肯”,常用“Not A but B”,“Although A…,B…”,“Despite A,B…”等句型体现;而当说话人直接表达信息A“好于/强于”信息B时,则是“前肯后否”,常用“prefer A to B”,“A is better than B”,“A rather B”和“A instead of B”等句型,而这两种概念在雅思听力考试中都会频繁出现。例如:
题目1:33.Anita feels that the findings on the handedness will be of value in
A.helping sportspeople identify
their weakness.
B.aiding sportspeople as they
plan tactics for each game.
C.developing suitable training programmes for sportspeople.(C7 T2 S4)
听力原文:I think Matthews'findings will be beneficial,not so much in helping sportspeople to work on their weaker side,but more that they can help them identify the most suitable strategies to use in a given game.
这道例题采用了“前否后肯”的出题方式,熟悉“not A,but B”的句型可以帮助我们快速地界定选项的肯/否概念归属。
题目2:The band should use the 7.
door at the back.(C11 T1 S1)
听力原文:Well,they'll have a lot of equipment,so rather than using the front door they should park their van round the back and use the stage door there.
这道题从文本来看难度并不大,但由于音频中把rather than读得太快,又刻意把front door进行了重读和缓读,在听力过程中很多同学漏听了rather than这一否定短语,误以为front door是答案。
接下来,针对雅思听力中这种“否定”概念表达——“no”或者“助动词+not”,笔者建议可以采用以下三种方式进行针对性提高练习。
(1)强化肯定与否定表达的语音区别。因为听力与阅读不同,无法重听或通过视觉效果来辨认,因而需要强化对否定表达和肯定表达上语音区别的印象。例如:They weren't actually majoring in physics—they were majoring in what's known as the STEM disciplines.(C11 T1 S3)这句听力原文既包含否定表达“weren't”,又有肯定表达“were”,非常适合用来进行听音对比和跟读复述,加强对两者的辨识。
通过上下文语境判断。例如,很多同学在进行“And just at the moment you can see various flowers that are pretty unusual–the soil in Paxton isn't very common.”(C11 T3 S1)答案句复述时,常觉得并未听到“isn't”,但根据常识可知有些特殊的花卉需要特别的泥土来种植,因而既然flowers很unusual,也能推测出soil也是uncommon的,因而前面应该含有“否定”表达。
(2)配合“否定”概念常用搭配词进行理解。通过上文的介绍,相信大家都了解有些“否定”概念具有自己标志性的“伙伴”,如果能注意到这些词,也能帮助我们掌握“否定”概念。例如:
题目:There are no and accommodation in the area.(C12 T5 S1)
听力原文:It's a great ride,but you want to be well-prepared because it's very remote—you won't see any shops round there,or anywhere to stay.
本题很多同学虽然没有听到won't这一否定表达,但可以通过any来判断shops是本题的答案。
总的来说,“否定”概念在雅思听力中的出题频率非常高,而且往往直接决定答案的正误,因而需要考生进行针对性的强化练习。希望本文能帮助大家更好掌握考试常见的“否定”概念,提高做题正确率。
备注:文章中的C7 T2 S3代表“《剑桥雅思7》Test 2 Section 3”之意,类似的C12 T5 S4代表“《剑桥雅思12》Test 5 Section 4”,以此类推。
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