笔者在日常教学中,多以阅读写作为主,尽管一项为输入,一项为输出,一项是许多学生的得分机会,一向让考生头痛不已,但两者在雅思教学点上却有着相辅相成的密切关系。在教授阅读时,笔者常引导学生利用写作框架观察阅读文章结构,更好地把握定位方向;而在写作课上,分析真题题目也少不了阅读能力的帮助。

许多学生认为,动辄900-1000字的阅读文章对于只有150和250字的雅思作文借鉴意义不大,事实上,两者在主题、构思、句式、用词等方面有着很大的相似性。本文中,专家将就此一一说明:

1. 主题性

阅读文章和雅思写作题目涵盖的范围比较广,具有极强的主题性,其重合话题有:环境、社会、教育三大方面。阅读文章的内容能帮助考生更好地理解题目的文化背景,积累观点素材,在备考过程中,考生可以将这两项结合起来。

剑四test 2的reading passage 1“Lost for Words”极好的回答了雅思一道较难的文化类考题:what are the reasons for the loss of many cultures and languages? How to solve this problem?”

许多学生因为缺少对这一背景的了解而无从下手,我们完全可以看看这篇阅读文章提供了哪些素材:

1 “What makes a language endangered is not just the number of speakers, but how old they are. If it is spoken by children, it is relatively safe。”

2 “…people reject the language of their parents… It begins with a crisis of confidence, when a small community finds itself alongside a larger, wealthier society…”

3 “Quite often, governments try to kill off a minority language by banning its use in public or discouraging its use in schools, all to promote national unity。”

4 “… They cannot refuse to speak English if most commercial activity is in English…”

这些都是十分准确而又全面的回答,说明了许多语言丧失的原因,甚至连语言丧失对于文化的连带影响也有所涉及:“Language is also intimately bound with culture, so it may be difficult to preserve one without the other。”

这篇文章在后文也对如何解决这一问题做出了回答:

“ …a growing interest in cultural identity may prevent the direst prediction from coming true…。’apprentice’ programs have provided life support t several indigenous languages。”

值得注意的是,这篇阅读文章的结构是遵循“背景—原因—解决方式”的架构来安排的,对于写作结构也有很好的架构作用。

2.流程图的描述

2010年雅思写作Task I图画题频现,许多学生不太熟悉流程图,对于如何描述其过程极为担心。其实分析发现,这样的句式在说明型的阅读文章中屡见不鲜,这类阅读文章常常涉及某个事物的发展过程或者制作方式,其遣词造句都是可以进行学习和利用。

剑五Test 2 Reading passage 1是一篇关于对现代塑料的说明文章,其中有一段就是对塑料制作过程的描述,很多句式都可以“拿来我用”。

首先是对这一流程的总体概括“The original patent outlined a three-stage process, in which phenol and formaldehyde were initially combined under vacuum inside a large egg-shaped kettle。” 我们可以根据这个句式来描写2009年9月一道关于玻璃瓶子回收过程的题目,如:

“A three-stage process is outlined, in which the used bottles are collected and re-produced in the plant. “