|
对话题八大考点答题技巧
前文已经讲过，对话题根据其考点，可以分为八类，下面结合例子一一讲解如何听这八类对话。
① 数字题
在对话中常常会出现数字，主要涉及时间、价格、帐目、运算、电话号码等。在近年的四级考试中，出现频率较低，而且听一个数字进行辨音的题很少，一般要求考生既正确辨听谈话中提到的数字，又要求考生进行简单的运算，在听这类题时，要注意以下几点。
a.正确辨听数字，不要混淆：在英语数字听力材料中，容易弄错的数字有：three, six, seven.此外，-teen和-ty也是要分清楚的。
b. 在进行运算时注意关键的提示词，如slow, fast, increase, double, decrease, drop to, twice, 3 times等。以确认是加还是减，是乘还是除，乘几等，例如：
You’ll hear:
W: Oh, good heavens. It’s already 3 o’ clock now.
M: Don’t worry. That clock is one hour faster.
Q: What time is it now?
这一题较简单，但有的同学一听“faster”一词，便会加上一小时，得出“It’s 4 o’clock now.”的结论，这实在是不应犯的粗心错误。
又如：You’ll hear：
M: The number of the freshmen in our department reached 90 last year, but because of lack of dormitory rooms, it dropped 1/3 this year.
W:As far as I know, a lot of new dormitories are being built. The number of the freshmen next year will be double of that this year.
Q: How many freshmen will there be next year?
这一题的运算较为复杂一点，这里我们关键是要听清是“dropped”还是“dropped to”。这一题的四个选项为：(A)60, (B)90，(C)120，(D)150。如果抓住“dropped”及女士谈话中的“double”，不难找到正确答案，即(C)项120。
c. 在对话中出现多个数字时，记好笔记并注意问题——即注意我们要找的是哪个数字，例
如，You’ll rear:
W: How much does that book cost?
M: 10 dollars but each of us 4 has only 8 dollars.
Q: If each of them wants to buy a book, how much do they lack in total?
You’ll read:
(A)$4. (B)$8. (C)$10. (D)$12.
解答这题时，首先要做简单的笔记，记下“10→book”，“4×8”，分别代表“10 dollars a book” 和“4 people ×8 dollars.”其次注意提问，不是“How much does a book cost?”或“How much do 4 books cost?”而是“how much do they lack in total?”，很快我们可以列出算式10×4-8×4=8所以，答案为(B)$8。
② 地点题
地点题是对话中比较容易把握的一类，近年来在四级考试中出现的频率不高，但近两年来每年都有一题。地点题一般分为两种：(1)猜测地点；(2)确认地点。猜测地点指注意谈话环境，从谈话中所提及的关键词推测谈话环境。这类题的提问方式为“Where does the conversation most probably take place?”，谈话中一般不提及地点，如：
M: Do you have any ties that match this shirt?
W: Sure. What color do you want?
在这组谈话中，他们提及“ties” 和“shirt”，特别是女士问“What color do you want?”很明显，这一定是在“clothes store”或“clothes department of a department store”中发生的。
做这一类题要求学生平时注意收集在医院、学校、商店、邮局等特定场合中经常出现的词组或单词，如医院中常会用到：trouble, pain, fever, headache, heart, disease, flu, medicine, operation等，在邮局会听到：mail, stamp, envelope, registered letter, EMS, by airmail, parcel等；在商店中会听到各种商品名称、价格、尺码等以及服务用语。熟悉了这些词汇，一但在对话中听到它们，便会马上联想到谈话是在何种背景下进行的，也就不难猜出谈话的场所。确认地点一般指谈话中会出现多个地点，或方向指示，要求考生从四个地点中挑出
某个特定的地点，如：
M:I know this place. Go 50 meters straight forward. On the left side of the road, there is a beautiful park; on the right side, there is a big supermarket. So you’re not going home, are you?
W: I need to buy some food for dinner before going back home?
Q: Where will the woman go first?
You’ll read:
(A) Go straight forward. (B) Go to the park.
(C) Go to the supermarket. (D) Go back home.
在这段谈话中出现了三个场所：home, supermarket, park，而根据女士提及的“buy some food for dinner”，她要去的地方应该是(C)“the supermarket.”。
③职业及关系题
这类题型在近年来的四级测试中越来越少，它主要考考生对于谈话一方所从事的职业的判断或要求考生正确理解谈话双方之间的关系。我们听到的问题一般为：
What does the man/woman do?
What is the man / woman?
What’s the probable relationship between the speakers?
这一类型题目太直接，一般从选项的内容一眼可看出考题是否属于这一类型，答题的关键同上一个类型的题一样要求考生迅速抓住对话中的关键词。考生平时也应注意收集在从事某一职业活动中出现频率高的词。如教师与学生的对话中很可能会现出class, exams, paper等，在侍者与顾客之间会出现menu, main, course, dessert等。此外，称呼也是这类题目中应注意的，Professor, Mr., Mrs.是对老师的称呼，officer是对警察的称呼；朋友之间互称名(first name)；夫妻之间常用darling, dear等；服务人员称服务对象为Sir或Madame。例如：
W: Excuse me for being late, Mr. Thomson. Something wrong with the engine of the bus I took and it stopped between 2 stops.
M: That’s all right, Mary. Come in and take your seat.
Q: What is the probable relationship between the 2 speakers?
There are 4 choices:
(A) Friends. (B) Boss and secretary.
(C) Teacher and student. (D) Policeman and suspect.
在本题中，女士称呼男士为Mr. Thomson，而男士则称女子为Mary。很明显这段对话要么在上、下级之间，要么在师生间进行。而“come in and take your seat”一词常用于课堂上，所以这段对话一定发生在(C)Teacher and Student之间。
④态度与评价题
这类题目要求考生在听对话时，能根据谈话内容判断出谈话的双方或一方对于谈及的事物所反映出来的态度及做出的评价，是赞赏、反对、不关心还是厌恶、喜欢等。这类问题一般也能从卷面选项中辨认，在四级考试中出现较频繁。2001年1月的考试中还出现了两题。它的提问方式一般有：
What does the man/woman think of ...?
What does the man/woman say about...?
What is the man/woman’s reaction/response to...?
在听这类考题时，首先注意听力的重点在哪。听前要求考生迅速浏览一下题目的四个选项。如果选项中包含反应人的态度的形容词，如impatient, bored, curious, satisfied, optimistic等等，那么十之八九这是一道态度题。在阅读选项时，还要特别注意代词是he, she or they, 即尽早把握考查的是男士，女士，还是他们共同的对某事的态度。在听的时候，也就可以及早判断应该把注意力放在一方的身上，或不得不关注双方的对话，从字里行间推判出二人的态度，如四个选项为：
(A)He finds the presentation hard to follow.
(B)He considers the presentation very dull.
(C)He thinks Professor White has chosen an interesting topic.
(D)He speaks highly of the presentation.
从选项中明显可以看出这是一道态度题，而且关注的重点的是男士的态度，我们可以听到下列对话：
W: Professor Whites presentation seems to go on forever. I was barely able to stay awake.
M: How could you sleep through it? Its one of the best I have ever heard on this topic.
Q:What does the man think of Professor Whites presentation? (CET-4/ 2001/1—5)
这是一道典型的重点考查谈话一方的态度的题目。在大多数这样的题目中，第一个说话者谈及的是某一事实的现象，在这题中女士点出了话题 “Professor Whites presentation”；第二个说话者对话题发表看法，他也是考查的对象。这里第二个说话者正好是男士，四个选项的内容也告诉我们应注重男士的谈话。根据他所说的 “Its one of the best I have ever heard on this topic”，可得出结论 “He speaks highly of the presentation.” 所以所选答案为(A)。
听前阅读选项明确考查的对象还有一个好处是在有的考题中，考查对象为第一个说话者，他/她所说的最开始的一两句话便反应了她的态度，而这正是考生容易忽略的，因为一开始说话时，考生的注意力还没有集中。当然，如果选项告诉了你考查的对象，自然也不会忽略了。例如四个选项为：
(A) It was boring. (B) It was entertaining.
(C) It was touching. (D) It was encouraging.
这些选项提示我们谈话的双方可能会对话题发表自己的看法，要注意谈论的是何事，双方的意见如何。听到的对话为：
W: The speech the blind girl gave this evening was extremely moving.
M:I think everyone felt the same.
Q: How did the man feel about the girls speech? （CET-4/97/1-10）
这一题虽然问的是男士的看法，但他并没有直接陈述他的看法，他附和了女士的意见 “I think everyone felt the same”，而女士一开始就表明了她的态度： “The speech …was extremely moving”。 这里我们必须从一开始就关注谈话人对话题的看法，只有注意到女士的评论，才能选出正确的答案，即（C）。
有时考查的是谈话双方的态度，例如，You’ll read:
(A)He gets nervous very easily.
(B)He is an inexperienced speaker.
(C)He is an awful speaker.
(D)He hasnt prepared his speech well.
You will hear:
W: Tom looks awfully nervous, doesnt he?
M: Yes. Im afraid he is not used to making speeches.
Q: What do they think of Tom?
在这段谈话中，女士首先表明态度：“Tom looks nervous”，男士继而说明Tom紧张的原因“not used to making speeches”。综合二者意见可以得出结论“He is an inexperienced speaker”。在听这类谈话中，除了分析选项外，还有一点也非常重要，那就是谈话的语调。如下例：
W: Tobby is certainly the best player of this game!
M: The best player? If he were, I would be the couch of the national team?
Q: What does the man say about Tobby?
(A) He thinks Tobby is a good player.
(B) He thinks Tobby should be the coach of the team.
(C) He doesn’t think Tobby is a good player.
(D) He thinks he can play better than Tobby.
男士话语中的“The best player”是用升调说出的。这表明这是一种反问，常表示不满，不赞同，惊异等。男士后半部分的谈话进一步证明了这一点。 因此这题的答案为(C)。如果第二个说话者重复第一个说话者中某一内容，并且用升调，这往往表示第二者不赞同前者的意见。
再看下例：
W: Did you go to the gallery yesterday? The painter certainly got some good paintings.
M: Didnt he?
Q: What do we learn from the man’s response?
(A) He went to the gallery yesterday, too.
(B) He wasn’t sure whether the paintings were good.
(C) He didn’t go to see the exhibition.
(D) He shared the woman’s opinion.
上述对话中，男士听完女士的谈话后，用降调说“Didn’t he?”这已不是在询问，也不是表示惊异，而是表示赞同女士的意见，所以此题答案应为(D)。
⑤因果关系题
因果关系的考题在近年来的考题中也较频繁的出现, 2001年6月的考题中还出现了两道。这种类型的题目通常以两种形式出现：1.直截了当地询问原因，提问的形式有：
“Why did ×do this?”
“What’s the reason that × did ...?”
“What reason was given for ...?”
例如：
W: Why didnt you make an appointment to see the doctor last week when you first twisted your ankle?
M: The injury didn’t seem serious then. I decided to go today because my foot still hurts when I put my weight on it.
Q: Why didn’t the man see the doctor earlier?
(A)His injury kept him at home.
(B)He was too weak to see the doctor.
(C)He didn’t think it necessary.
(D)He failed to make an appointment. （CET-4/ 2001/6—6）
在这段对话中，女士直截了当地问男士没有去看医生的原因，男士也做了直截了当的回答“didnt seem serious then”，不严重就意味着没有必要。听懂这类谈话应毫无困难。较难的是谈话似乎并不是在谈论某事的前因后果。事情的原因包含在谈话中，需听懂整段对话的含义，从中体会出来。如：
W: Excuse me, Professor Hill. May I ask you a few questions?
M: Yes, of course. But Im sorry I have a class at ten. Why don’t you call me in my office hours? That is 4 to 5 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday.
Q: Why can’t professor Hill answer her question now?
(A)He will only be available in the afternoon.
(B)It’s not his office hour.
(C)He doesn’t have time.
(D)He is too tired after class. (CET-4/99/6-3)
上述例子与第一类相比稍复杂。女士问男士是否可问几个问题，男士似乎同意了，但实际上通过“but”一词委婉地拒绝了，所以他话中的“but”非常关键，暗示他不能回答问题的原因是“have a class at ten”，同时他还建议“call me in my office hours”， 所以答案为(C)项。在这段对话中没有表示原因的连词如because, for, since等，原因需要听者从对话中体会出来。在因果关系的考题中这类题型非常多，常见的有
a. 通过婉拒建议的句型
“I’d like/love to, but...”来说明拒绝某事的原因, 如：
[1] [2] [3] 下一页
|
