不可小覷的雅思閱讀邏輯關系詞

作為學術類國際上權威性的考試，雅思考試有其嚴肅的試題內(nèi)容，即使雅思題型多達十類，富于變化，考點也在文中各處出現(xiàn)。但在雅思這復雜出題方式中，始終會把對英語篇章結(jié)構和行文規(guī)律的理解作為閱讀的一項基本要求重點考查。因此加強這方面的學習研究是從根本上提高應試能力的途徑。本文僅從英語行文結(jié)構中邏輯關系詞的作用及其閱讀功能這一具體方面作初步探討。

關于邏輯關系詞在閱讀中的作用，我們首先來看一段文字：

the discourse markers signal relationships: between different parts of thediscourse … the main reason for studying them is their usulness in helping thereader to work out the meaning of difficult text. They often show therelationship the writer intends between two parts of the text, so if you canunderstand one part, the discourse marker is a possible key to the other part.(Christine Nuttall, 1996. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language,Heinemann)

關于“discourse marker”，P.H.Matthews在其Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics(Oxford University Press) 一書中是這樣描述的：Any of a variety of units whose function iswithin a larger discourse rather than an individual sentence or clause: e.g. butthen in But then he might be late. “discourse marker”

雖然范圍更加廣泛一些，但從以上文字不難看出，它包括了我們所熟悉的邏輯關系詞(即文章中用于表示并列，轉(zhuǎn)折，舉例，因果，遞進，讓步，總結(jié)等邏輯關系的固定單詞或詞組)。也由此可見，特別重視形式邏輯和思維分析的英語行文，在詞語之間和句子之間往往會借助各種邏輯關系詞清楚表達思維邏輯和語意關系。因此了解和掌握邏輯關系詞可以幫助我們把握文章中語意的轉(zhuǎn)換和發(fā)展，理解文章重點表達的意思。

具體到雅思閱讀，邏輯關系詞在解題中體現(xiàn)出兩大功能 ：

一、語意推斷

語意推斷主要是運用于重點題型之一的摘要題(Summary)。具體是指根據(jù)空格所在句及前后句的邏輯關系詞，分析詞語之間，句子之間的語意關系，推斷出所缺單詞的大致含義。

例如：

1.劍4 / P77 / Q38

Some corpora include a wide range of language while others are used tofocus on a particular linguistic feature.

根據(jù)while這個表示對比或轉(zhuǎn)折的邏輯關系詞，可以判斷它前后部分是對比或反義關系?！癮 wide range oflanguage”指的是語言研究的廣泛的各個方面，可以預判空格處應是指具體的方面。

二、定位

根據(jù)對歷年雅思真題的總結(jié)分析，雅思閱讀考試的一個重要規(guī)律是：題干中的句子之間，詞語之間的邏輯關系在原文中一般不變(但表現(xiàn)方式可能會變)。這一規(guī)律使得邏輯關系詞可以有效地協(xié)助題干關鍵詞在原文中定位答案信息源。尤其在摘要題(Summary)中這一方法使用頻率很高。

例如：

1.劍5 / P50 / Q30-31

題干：In Britain, moreover, scientists worried that English had neither thetechnical vocabulary nor the grammatical resources to express their ideas.

原文：First, it lacked the necessary technical vocabulary. Second, it lackedthe grammatical resources required to represent the world … (Para.7)

題干中出現(xiàn)的neither…nor…是連接兩個否定概念的并列邏輯關系詞。原文中對應出現(xiàn)了完全相同的邏輯關系，即first, it lacked …,second it lacked …(表現(xiàn)方式有所變化)。我們可根據(jù)這種對應的邏輯關系在原文中快速定位答案信息源。

2.劍5 / P50 / Q33-34

題干：Although English was then overtaken by German, it developed again in the19th century as a direct result of the industrial revolution.

原文：In the following century much of this momentum was lost as Germanestablished itself as the leading European language of science. … However, inthe 19th century scientific English again enjoyed substantial lexical growth asthe industrial revolution created the need for new technical vocabulary.

題干中出現(xiàn)的兩種邏輯關系均在原文中對應出現(xiàn)。一是表示轉(zhuǎn)折關系的although, 對應于原文中的however;二是表示因果關系的as adirect result of 對應于原文中表因果的邏輯關系詞as。很顯然，這對于題干信息的定位意義重大。

3.劍5 / P70 / Q25-26

題干：To deal with this, Stanley suggests the use of artificial floods in theshort term, and increasing the amount of water available through desalination inthe longer term.

原文：In the immediate future, Stanley believes that one solution would be tomake artificial floods to flush out the delta waterways, in the same way thatnatural floods did bore the construction of the dams. He says, however, thatin the long term an alternative process such as desalination may have to be usedto increase the amount of water available.

題干中出現(xiàn)了表示遞進的邏輯關系詞in the short term … in the longer term…?？焖俨樽x原文，可定位于文中相同的邏輯結(jié)構in the immediate future … in the long term …。

另外，對雅思真題文章進行精讀訓練的同學會發(fā)現(xiàn)，除了以上兩大功能之外，邏輯關系詞在原文中的位置還常常是命題考點最集中的地方。因此學習和掌握邏輯關系詞在閱讀中的功能和作用，將對提高答題的速度起關鍵性的作用。同時，能夠熟練運用邏輯關系詞對于寫出條理清楚，層次分明的雅思作文也大有幫助。

附：雅思考試中常見的邏輯關系詞

1.表示并列關系

likewise once again/once more in (much) the same way (manner)similarly/similar to vice versa also/as well as not only … but also … both … and… neither … nor … like/just like as/just as equally namely or and

2.表示轉(zhuǎn)折關系

but/yet/whereas however otherwise in contrast (to) converselythough/although nevertheless unlike in spite of despite on the contrary evenif/even though

on the one hand …, on the other hand … instead (of) not as … as … ratherthan even so vary different from differ from

while

3.表示舉例

for example/for instance/e.g. such as that is/namely/i.e.

in other words in general/in particular a case in point is especiallyspecifically

4.表示因果關系

as a result as a consequence consequently so/therore/thus then for thisreason hence accordingly because/because of owing to thanks to on account of

since due to …, for as this is why

5.表示遞進關系

and then as well as again another also/too in addition (to) additionallyadditional besides (that) moreover furthermore not only … but also … what’smore

6.表示讓步關系

though/although while even though/even if nevertheless in spite of/despiteadmittedly

7. 表示總結(jié)

in a word in bri in short above all all in all on the whole in general toconclude/in conclusion to sum up/to summarize/in summary