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标题: GRE作文“Transitions make your essay more coherent” [打印本页]

作者: 竹林中人    时间: 2012-7-3 02:20
标题: GRE作文“Transitions make your essay more coherent”
我们首先来看下面这段话:
  Panda bear is a kind of docile lovely animal in the southwest of China. Its cherubic appearance and awkward movement appeals to not only children but also adults. It symbolizes the spirit of peace and harmony, which is cherished by Chinese people. Expansion of human activities to wild areas has caused a sharp decrease in the number of panda bears.
  这段话由四句组成,彼此之间存在着明显的联系,论证的都是中国大熊猫的情况。排除语法,文字优美等诸多考虑,这段话给人的感觉是四个孤立的句子,而不是一段文章。其原因之一,也被笔者认为是最重要的一个原因,是它缺乏必要的过渡(Transitions),文中主题之间缺乏有机联系导致文章缺乏必要的连贯性。这一问题也是学生在写作实践中普遍存在的现象。本文的目的就是介绍英文写作中transitions的使用。
  作为考试项目教师,出于通过考试的目的,注意在文章中必要的连接也显得尤其重要。在诸多北美考试的写作评分标准中,都出现过与之相关的要求,比如
  *"displays unity, progression, and coherence, though connection of ideas may be occasionally obscured" (iBT Independent Writing 3分评分标准)
  *"develops and organizes ideas satisfactorily but may notconnect them with transitions"
  (GRE Argument 4分评分标准)
  *"is limited in its organization or focus, or may demonstrate some lapses in coherence or progression of ideas" (Sat Write an Essay 3分评分标准)
  各种考试中不约而同的出现对于coherence,connection,transitions等概念的要求,而且这部分做的不到位都会影响考试写作部分的成绩,其重要性可见一斑。上面三个词的翻译为"连贯性","连接"和"过渡",而connection和transitions在这里可以被理解为同义词,笔者认为就是达到coherence这一目的的重要手段之一(还有一些其他方法,比如重述和首尾的呼应)。
  那么到底甚么是Transitions呢?在GRE考试中又被称作Transitional devices,连接元件。笔者尝试对之做出定义:Transitions是出现在文章中的一种词,短语甚至句子,其目的是用来表明它前后两部分之间的逻辑关系的,它的用处是能够帮助读者自然地从作者的一个idea转移到下一个idea,使用的结果可以使文章的逻辑性更强,更加连贯。打个比方来说,它很像道路上引导旅者的标志牌(They are like the road signs that guide travelers-College Writing Skills)。之所以说"前后两部分",是因为Transitions的前后可能是两个段落,两句话,甚至两个单词,它们彼此之间都会存在各种各样的逻辑关系,比如说:
  *Addition: and, in addition, additionally, one, another, first of all, secondly, furthermore, moreover
  *Time: then, after, before, since, once, until, meanwhile, now, during
  *Space: next to, across, above, below, nearby
  *Change-of-direction: but, yet, however, otherwise, nevertheless, although, in contrast, on the contrary
  *Conclusion: because, so, therefore, as a result, consequently, thus, in summary, conclude
  其实还有很多其他关系,其他的词,这几种是比较常见的。我们发现这种transitions的出现方式非常多样,包含了很多词性:连词,介词,副词,动词等等,还有很多短语,所以把它称之为Transitional devices是非常恰当的。




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