许多学生认为在托福写作中展示语法水平是非常困难的。虽然我们掌握了很多语法句子结构,但我们缺乏使用它们的方法和想法,也不知道如何使用它们来满足写作评价标准。
托福写作选择句法结构原则案例讲解案例
1. 句子的主语和谓语动词应该能够反映句子中最重要的含义。例如:
The situation that resulted in my grandfather’s not being able to study engineering was that his father needed help on the farm.
从意义上分析,上述句子需要表达的重要概念是“grandfather’s not being able to study“,但在表达这个概念时,原话中使用的主语是situation,谓语动词是was,不能强调需要表达的关键概念,可以改为以下句子:
My grandfather couldn’t study engineering because his father needed help on the farm.
2. 防止经常使用“防止经常使用”there be“结构,如下面的句子:
There were 25 cows on the farm that my grandfather had to milk every day. It was hard work for my grandfather.
能够改成:My grandfather worked hard. He had to milk 25 cows on the farm every day.
更简洁的句型为:
My grandfather worked hard milking 25 cows daily.
3. 将从句改为句子或单词。例如:
Dairy cows were raised on the farm, which was located1000 kilometers from the nearest university and was in an area that was remote.
简介的表达方式如下:
The dairy farm was located in a remote area, 100 kilometers to the nearest university.
4. 只有当需要强调宾语而不是主语时,才使用被动语态。例如:
In the fall, not only did the cows have to be milked, but also the hay was mowed and stacked by my grandfather’s family.
这句话不够简洁的原因是这句话的重点应该是“忙碌的家庭”-my grandfather’s family使用被动语态后,重心似乎变成了cows和hay。以下表达方式为主动语态,相对简洁:
In the fall, my grandfather’s familynotonlymilkedthecowbutalsomowedandstackedthehay.
5.用更准确的动词代替动词短语,如以下句子:
My grandfather didn’t have time to stand around doing nothing with his school friends.
Stand around doing 事实上,nothing可以用一个动词来表示,即loiter:
My grandfather didn’t have time to loiter with his school friends.
6. 有时两句话的信息可以用一句话简单地表达出来,比如:
Profits from the farm were not large. Sometimes they were too small to meet the expenses of running a farm. They were not sufficient to pay for a university degree.
两句话的信息可以合并为以下更简单的句子:
Profits from the farm were sometimes too small to meet operational expenses, let alone pay for a university degree.