如何在托福考试中利用连接词来串联逻辑?

无论是写作还是口语,让读者/听者了解我们的想法是从哪里开始改变,以及为什么要改变,是非常重要的。因为这可以保证读者/听者能够跟上我们的思路,并且充分理解我们想要表达什么

试想一下,你正在看一部电影。一群劫匪在讨论要抢劫银行,突然画面就变成了他们正在银行里。紧接着他们就坐在了车上。这是不是会让人觉得有点摸不着头脑?

而这就是当我们在写作或者说话时,不使用连接词/短语后会出现的状况。你的每一个想法的转变都是突然的,这就会让你的读者/听者感到困惑。

所以在这篇文章中,老师想要和同学们来聊一聊连接词(transitions)在托福考试中的重要作用

什么是连接词?

连接词通常是指能够将两个句子连接在一起的单词或者短语。言下之意就是,“这个部分我已经讲完了,下面我要开始讲它所造成的结果了哦。”当然,正常情况下我们并不会这样刻意的表达,而是用一个或者两个单词来代替。

However”和“Therefore”是在英语中非常常见的连接词。

However”表达的意思是“尽管我刚才说了那么多,但我接下来说的内容会和刚才完全相反!”例如:

l Eating at a restaurant every day is really expensive; however, it avoids the waste that comes with buying too many vegetables and having to throw them away.

而“Therefore”表达的意思则是“我刚才讲完了这件事,而正是因为这件事,另一件事发生了!”例如:

l Governments have frequently given bailouts to big businesses when it has looked like they would collapse. Therefore, people have lost a lot of trust in the relationship between these governments and corporations.

所以,不同的连接词拥有不同的作用,所要强调的含义也有很大的区别。通常来说,我们可以分为以下5类: 

作用 示例
强调时间 

Demonstrating time

meanwhile, at the same time, then, recently
展示例子 

Giving an example

for example, for instance, to illustrate
给出理由 

Showing reason

because, as a result, for this reason, due to this
解释说明 

Clarifying something

in other words, of course, to put it another way
比较或对比 

Comparing or contrasting

on the other hand, in contrast, similarly, however, nonetheless, on the contrary

同时,老师在这里也要提醒各位同学:

虽然这些连接词的作用都是一样的(引导读者从一个想法到另一个想法,并让他们知道文章或者段落的结构发生了什么变化),但在使用时的语法可能会有所不同。

例如“Because”后面可以直接接句子,而“Due to”不能。

为什么连接词在托福考试中很重要?

托福写作和托福口语两个单项的评分标准中都对表述的连贯和衔接有一定的要求,考官需要看到考生的作答是否遵循正常的逻辑发展,而连接词的使用不足就会让我们的逻辑发展看起来不够连贯。

比方说,我们看这样的一道题:

What is your favorite kind of book to read?

老师会在下面展示三种不同的回答,同学们可以来对比一下哪个回答最好。

回答一:

I really like non-fiction books such as Sapiens by Noah Yuval Harari. These kinds of books really interest me because they explore the world around us, as well as our history, in great depth and give fantastic insight. For example, Harari talks about the invention of religions and corporations as ways of uniting humanity from tribes into modern forms of communication and cooperation. It’s this sort of fascinating idea that makes me go back to non-fiction books time and again.

回答二:

I really like non-fiction books Sapiens by Noah Yuval Harari is one that I like. These kinds of books really interest me. They explore the world and history in great depth and give fantastic insight. Harari talks about the invention of religions and corporations. These united humanity from tribes into modern forms of communication and cooperation. These fascinating ideas make me go back to non-fiction books time and again.

回答三:

First of all, I really like non-fiction books such as Sapiens by Noah Yuval Harari. The reason is that these kinds of books really interest me because they explore the world around us, as well as our history, in great depth and give fantastic insight. For example, Harari talks about the invention of religions and corporations as ways of uniting humanity from tribes into modern forms of communication and cooperation. In conclusion, it’s this sort of fascinating idea that makes me go back to non-fiction books time and again.

首先,回答二是最先要被排除的。整个回答中都是没有连接词的,每句话都是独立出现。和其他两个回答相比,回答二给人的感觉甚至是有点小孩子气的(childish),就像小朋友说话一样,信息都是一个一个往外蹦的,没有串联。

而回答三虽然使用了大量的连接词,但是明显是过多了(overuse)。其中一些连接短语让整个回答显得过于正式,整体的可读性降低。

综上,回答一才是最好的。

总结

在托福口语和托福写作中加入适当的过渡词/短语是非常有用的,因为它们能够极大增加表达的流畅性和整体性。但是,同学们在使用时也需要注意对应的语法和语义是否正确。最后,同学们一定不要过度使用,这反而会让我们的表达变得非常生硬且形式化。

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