托福口语独立任务解析
借此机会我想利用2012年3月10日，3月4日和2月24日的三次托福考试来分析一下新一年托福独立任务的出题特点和应对方略。首先，独立任务对于考生来讲往往是最紧张的任务。它们的准备时间最短，而且作为和第二道考题，考生对口语考试节奏的适应时间很短同时又要在高压下进行做答，这对考生的语言压力是很大的。一般对于独立任务考生存在两个困难。困难一，没有思路，答案无从说起。困难二，能想到如何答，但脑中的答案是中文的，而且不知道如何用英语进行表达。对于备考时间不足两个月的考生来讲最快的应对以上两个问题的方法就是通过寻找题目的共性，编织一些具有普适性的逻辑，对这些理由的意思做出相应的英文表达，之后熟记这些表达的模板。
从这三次的考题我们可以看出，以学生为中心的任务仍然构成了独立任务的主体。这是毋庸置疑的，因为托福考试本身就是针对即将前往北美进行学习的学生进行的考试，所以考试的内容与学生和校园生活息息相关。由此我们可以说只要考生能够熟练表达几个适用于学生的普适逻辑，那么就可以游刃有余地对独立任务进行回答。那么如何找出适用于托福口语的普适逻辑呢?首先，我们要先探究一下学生所具有的一些共同特性。学生就是以学为生的一帮人。那么学生的主要任务是学习，这是学生的一大特点。把这一条概括成一个理由的形式，我们就可以把它表达为“学生需要学习”“Students should focus on their studies.”或是“For a student, his most important task is to study.”发散出去我们还可以说“As a student, so and so should spend more time studying.”那么这个原因在问到关于学生，特别是关于学生的学习，以及学习和课外活动发生冲突的时候我们总可以用到这个理由。
那么在具体回答问题时我们肯定不可能一直不停地只对“studying/study/studies”进行强调，因为题目会要求我们举出一些关于study 的具体例子。那么我们就来想一想，什么样的活动是具有代表性的学习活动，而且又比较具有普适性呢?比如，go to the library/spend time in the library/spend time doing research in the library或“participate in class discussion”，“drop by professor’s office hours”都是关于学习的一些具体例子。 那么比如2012年3月10日 的托福口语试题中Q1: “A friend of yours wants to improve her grade in class. What suggestions will you give her? ”这道题问的是关于学生，且关于学习，那么我们就可以给出这个关于学习的普适逻辑。“I would tell my friend to spend more time studying. On one hand, I think she should do more research in the library, because research can help make her paper more solid and persuasive. On the other hand, she should also participate more in class discussion, since talking with different people on an academic topic can help her understand the topic on a higher level. ”或者“I think the most effective way for her to improve her grade is talking to her professors. I would recommend her to drop by her professors’ office hours and talk with them about her problems in learning. Since professors are the people grading her tests and papers, they are able to offer her the best suggestions.”
同理，如果遇到内容自定性比较大的文章，比如 2012年2月24日托福口语试题的 Q1：“What kind of activity do you enjoy doing most at school? Explain why you enjoy doing this activity.”由于题目答案的可塑性很强，答案的回答方向很广，我们也可以把它转向我们想要的答案方向，也就是我们擅长的答题方向。比如，如果我准备了关于学习的模版式表达，或模版式答案，那么我们就可以答“There’s nothing I enjoy more in school than studying.”之后举出具体的怎么样学习的具体例子，比如上课讨论，和教授交流或者去图书馆学习等一系列的例子——“My favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning is to get up before everybody else does and go to the library to read books or do research for my papers. I feel that I have the whole library to myself, and I love that.”
值得指出的是，即使一些表面看起来和学生没有直接关系的题目往往同样可以根据学生的普适逻辑进行思考和回答。以2012年2月24日托福口语部分的Q2为例：“Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Artists (painters, musicians, etc.) are born and not taught.”乍一看我们觉得这个问题是关于艺术但仔细审题后发现，这道题并没有问到丝毫关于艺术流派的问题，而是问的艺术家的产生。那么这个产生的过程就可以看成是一个学生进行学习的过程。同时我们也注意到题目中有一个很关键的词“taught”，让我们可以更确定地认为这道题可以运用关于学生的普适逻辑进行解答。我们之前强调过的学生应该学习——“students should focus on their studies / students should study hard”变换一个角度就是“working hard makes good students”于是这道题我们也可以把艺术看成一个学习的过程把搞艺术的人看成学生，把成功的艺术家看成好学生，于是——“I disagree with the statement. I think artists are definitely taught. All the great artists in history are great students who studied their asses-off along their way to pursue perfection. Like Van Gogh, even after he went insane, he still painted over ten hours everyday. If he didn’t spent so much time, studied so hard the art of painting, he would have never become the man that changed the history of art. ”
通过以上这几道题我们看到关于“学生爱学习”，“学生应该好好学习”，“好好学习造就好的学生”这个逻辑可以帮我们解决和学生学习，艺术水平增长等有关的一系列话题。当然北美的校园对课余生活的强调与对学习的强调是同等重要的。所以，除了学习以外我们还可以发散想到“students should do extra-curriculum activities”这样的思路。当然做过一定数量的托福口语题后我们会发现，过于笼统的东西往往不如实在的东西好描述。就好像如果让我描述“Chinese culture”，我大概只能说出“Chinese culture is so great and awesome and so cool at the same time, I just love it cause it’s so perfect.”这种没有营养的句子。这种答案之所以含金量低是因为你难以从这个巨大的概念“Chinese culture”出发讲出具有实质性的例子。就好像如果让我去画“Chinese culture”，我是画不出来的，因为它没有颜色，没有形状也没有背景。语言的描绘往往和图像的描绘是相辅相成的。如果一个事物很难用图像去把它具象化，那么一般来讲它也很难用语言去具象化。
然而如果让我描述一辆自行车，我就可以描述的很具象，可说的很多“well, it’s a bicycle and it’s pink, so obviously it’s for girls. Also, it seems to be a tad smaller than standardized bicycles you see on the street everyday, so apparently it’s for kids. It looks like it’s pretty sturdy and it’s made in China. My dad taught me how to ride a bicycle right on this pink, pretty and most importantly, sturdy bicycle, since I fell on the ground multiple times, yet the bike didn’t suffer one scratch. I remember it was a beautiful Sunday morning; I was six at that time. ..”所以由此得出，说抽象的东西不如说具体的东西。所以与其说“我喜欢学校里的课余活动”就不如说具体的一种或一类校园活动。那么想也说的校园活动莫过于体育运动类了——“students should exercise”，因为之后学生可以根据个人的兴趣爱好或词汇量的不同来具体描述自己擅长的体育项目，比如“basketball”，“yoga”，“tap dance”等等。那么做体育运动的原因或者好处——保持身体健康——“students should exercise to stay healthy / to keep fit / to stay in shape.”
用关于锻炼的这一理由来看2012年3月10日托福口语的Q2. “Some people play games for fun while other people play games for winning. Which do you prefer?”我们也可以套用锻炼身体强健体魄的思路。输赢是不重要的，比赛的真正意义在于锻炼。只要达到了锻炼的目的，那么最重要的目标就达到了，无所谓谁赢谁输——“I definitely play games for fun. Personally I prefer to enjoy the game itself rather than get trapped in who is gonna win. For example, when I play basketball with my buddies, I don’t care who’s winning in the game. All I care about is the fact that I like playing basketball out in the field and that it’s good exercise to keep me in shape,”
同理，发散出去，体育运动可以使学生健康，那么其他任何可以使学生健康的方式都应该被倡导——“It’s important for students to keep healthy / keep in shape / keep fit”。所以3/4中Q1“The University decides to set a cooking module for students to let them have better understanding of nutrients and health. Do you think it is a reasonable decision or not?” 我们就有思路了。健康对于学生是很重要的，所以如果学校要开一门能够指导学生如何健康饮食和健康做饭的课，那么对保证学生的身体健康能起到积极的作用——：“yes, I definitely think that It’s a great idea, since being healthy is very important for students. Eating healthily as well as engaging in a fair amount of physical exercises is the key to being healthy. However, as students, we are usually so focused on our studies that we don’t have time to research or practice on how to cook a nutritious meal. Thus I feel that if the school takes on the responsibility to show students how to cook, it would be an effective way to make students healthier.”
依据这种思路我们还可以推出一些关于学生的普适逻辑，比如学生需要交流和交友。那么用这个思路我们就可以很轻松想出应对2012年3月4日托福口语中Q2“Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children can learn better from teachers who are kind (amiable) and friendly.”的思路了。因为学生需要交友，年轻的小朋友更需要友谊的滋养，所以善良友好的教师必定会让学生有愉悦的心情，那么小朋友们就更容易和老师成为朋友。而往往人们更愿意听朋友的话，信任朋友，所以成为朋友后小朋友们能学到更多。——“I definitely do agree that children learn better from friendly teachers. Teachers who are sweet and friendly are much more likely to become friends with kids than those who are scary and mean. As students, we are much more likely to listen to our friends than our superiors. So if teacher can cross the boundary and become a friend instead of just a superior, it is more likely that students will listen to him or her and focus more on their studies, and of course, definitely learn more.”
这样，运用我们刚刚提到的普适逻辑，我们就可以用相类似的思路和表达来解决一大类的和学生，学习等话题有关联的问题。那么不断地重复我们已知的表达，我们也可以不断地完善我们的词汇和语句，更好地做到减少甚至杜绝语法错误的发生，加大准备的命中率和回报率。
附
2012年3月10日托福口语独立任务考题：
Q1: A friend of yours wants to improve her grade in class. What suggestions will you give her?
Q2. Some people play games for fun while other people play games for winning. Which do you prefer?
2012年3月4日托福口语独立任务考题：
Q1：The University decides to set a cooking module for students to let them have better understanding of nutrients and health. Do you think it is a reasonable decision or not?
Q2：Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children can learn better from teachers who are kind (amiable) and friendly.
2012年2月24日托福口语独立任务考题：
Q1：What kind of activity do you enjoy doing most at school? Explain why you enjoy doing this activity.
Q2：Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Artists (painters, musicians, etc.) are born and not taught.
作者简介：王怡婕，新航道学校托福口语、SAT写作。毕业于美国迪堡大学经济学专业。文理学院的四年学习使我对英美文学、哲学政治都有了广泛的涉猎。大三时被巴黎索邦大学作为交换生录取，主修欧洲经济学。留学过程中游历了许多地方，亚马逊丛林、加拉帕戈斯群岛、哥斯达黎加都留下了保护野生动物的足迹。留学经历中最宝贵的是打开了我对不同文化的了解之窗。我期待用我对英语教学的热情助所有有留学梦的同学一臂之力。
(本文选自新航道《托福频道》2012年上半年刊)
