面对雅思口语考试,有些烤鸭确实是背的,自己把范例整理好,一字一句的背,以备不时之需,但也有些不是背的,看着题库辛苦准备,反复练习,只求答题流畅。
无论是哪种情况,一旦被考官判为“背诵”或“过度准备”的话,基本上就是功亏一篑。所以,今天北京新东方烤鸭君就从6个方面告诉大家,到底什么样的表现会让考官觉得你是在“背答案”!
1
语速
最常见的一种现象就是背诵的回答和即兴表达的回答语速不同。这个现象在卡片题尤为突出。
很多考生在回答基础题,尤其是一些稍复杂话题时语速偏慢,停顿犹豫和重复现象较多,但到了自己准备过的卡片题,语速明显提高,且很少停顿犹豫,自信心上看就像换了个人。
这就是一个明确的indication,考官一看就知道,这个卡片题你准备过了。如果背诵痕迹明显,考官可能会觉得听不下去,打断你的回答,并提前进入part 3提高题环节。
另外一个背诵痕迹体现在语速变化上。我们在正常聊天时语速会出现快慢变化。我们讲话一激动,有时候说话会稍微加快,但是有时候讲到了重点,或者是自己需要回忆的地方,语速就会恰当地放慢,这是正常的说话习惯。而不会有人日常沟通时时刻保持完全的匀速。
我们以基础题social networking sites来举个例子。
考官
When did you start to use social networking sites?
考生
Let me see. Um, it was probably six or seven yearsago, when I was in high school. Back then, we had a popular networking site among students, called Renren, which was sort of like the Chinese equivalent of Facebook. However, it wasn’t managed well, so I started to use wechat a couple of years ago. It's a real game-changer. Everyone has shifted to Wechat and its friends circle, I mean, everyone, literally.
一般来说,需要回忆的内容,我们显然是要慢一些说的,比如Let me see; um, 还有具体的数字,例如6 or 7 years. 还有要强调的内容,比如it's a real game-changer; I mean, everyone, literally 等,我们的语速同样要放慢,因为这是我们情绪和感受的体现。但是如果是背诵的话,估计就不会有这些正常的语速变化了~
2
停顿
我|今天|去星巴克|点了|一杯美式咖啡。
按照中文的逻辑,这个肯定是按照意群来停顿了。如果有个人这样说话:我今|天去星巴|克点了一杯美式咖|啡。这样的话我们也会觉得难受吧,这人显然不知道自己在说什么。
英文里面也是这样:
I went to Starbucks|and ordered an Americano,|which is my Dad's favorite,|as well as mine.
越是长的句子,背诵痕迹也会越明显。正确的做法是:在一个语块后面停顿,还有在要强调的重读单词后面停顿。
3
发音和语调
见过很多背答案的烤鸭,他们的发音问题也是蛮明显的。
因为背诵的时候,烤鸭估计只认准一个点,那就是“这个是高分的,我能背下来就好了,不用管那么多!”所以有些单词的动名词形式发音不一样(eg: present)、过去式现在时长得一样,但是发音不同(eg:read)、还有一些比较饶舌的单词(eg: characteristic),估计烤鸭blabla全部一股脑背过去,错了也不管。真是当考官吃素的……
如果一个单词,尤其是长单词,你的发音很吃力,或者出现多次错误,考官会认为这是考前临时背诵的,并不是你平时英语表达会使用的词汇。
还有就是语调,考官最反感的就是robotic tone,从头到尾像机器人一样一个语调。就像前面说的,人一激动,语速会变快,而声调的起伏也一样会起变化。就好像我们中文里面,讲到些开心,激动的事情,会不由自主地升调;讲到伤心,沮丧的事情,会降调一样,你说话的时候语调一成不变,又不是在播新闻联播,考官怎么可能不怀疑。
4
答题思路
除了语速之外,答题思路也是考官判定你是否背诵的一个渠道。最容易出现背诵痕迹的主要有两点:1. 前后矛盾;2. 文不对题。
比如说,在基础题Sport的话题的时候,烤鸭可能说了自己不喜欢运动;但是到了卡片题An article you read online or from magazines about healthy living,或者An activity you do to keep fit的时候,自己又变成了健身狂人……这种真的不是精分嘛!
另外文不对题也有这个情况,尤其是P3部分,很多问题都是考官即兴提问的,因此很多烤鸭自作聪明,把考官的问题rephrase成自己准备过的话题,硬往准备过的内容上拉。这种生拉硬拽,加上考官对你语速还有语音、语调等方面的考察,很可能就会判定你为背诵了。
5
语言风格
如果你的表达特别“Written English”,也很可能被判定为背诵。这个现象在基础题尤为明显。
很多同学的习惯是,看到话题就把自己的答案“写”下来。无论你是5-6分的考生,还是7-8分的考生,“写”出来的东西肯定比“说”出来的东西要formal很多。背了“写”好的范例,肯定会让考官感觉很不自然。
这也就是为什么真正厉害的雅思口语老师在给大家准备范例的时候都是直接答题,把录音转换为文字,再润色。如果你有提前准备范例的习惯,不妨按照这个方法来试试。
除了语音语速、肢体语言这些因素外,你的回答在内容上有哪些“破绽”呢?
很多同学在口语part 2的备考中比较喜欢提前写好答案,背一下。也有同学喜欢编好一个故事后,尽量套在不同的题目上。
这些同学都担心自己被听出来是编的,所以他们会花很多时间去思考怎么看起来是“现场讲的”,比如说,故意吞吞吐吐的,故意放慢速度等。
然而,不管怎么努力,最后考官还是听出来是背的。他们可能会提前打断学生,加问1-2个问题,来看你的应对表现。
遇到比较直接的考官,可能会直接问“I have heard of this story before, have you ever shared this story with others?”
很多同学因为表达能力局限于背好的内容,遇到这种问题马上就乱了分寸。
最后,进入part 3这个针对part 2细节提问的部分,同学就答不上来了,基本口语也就砸了。
到底是哪里露了马脚?
回答的第一句话或者头几句话和题目不相关;
过分依赖一些连接表达,衔接生硬;
用词不恰当,过分正式,不符合语境,不自然;
内容跳跃,突然出现一些背好的表达;
使用词汇的时候,没有解释,前后不匹配;
时态错误,导致事情描述的时间段不合理;
中间描述故事的重心和细节和题目没有太大关联,没有题目中的关键词;
下面看个例子:
Describe a positive change in your life.
You should say:
What the change was;
when it happened;
How it happened;
And explain why it was a positive change
考生回答
a. What the change was
观点:早起,上班不迟到
拓展:我是一个上班族,每天需要8:30到公司,但是上班高峰期经常堵车,经常迟到。
I felt delighted to form some good habits of getting up early in the morning and being punctual in the workplace. I am an office worker, which means I need to arrive at my company before half past eight,but because of traffic jams in the morning rush hour,I was always late.
点评:
问题1:第一句话不扣题,不出现关键词
小标题问的是what the change was,一定要提到的就是你的改变,而不是你有一个早起的习惯,你喜欢在工作中早到。这就是不扣题。
考官马上就能知道你是从当季的其他话题,比如说描述一个早起的经历(describe an occasion you got up extramely early)中套用过来的。
问题2:过分利用连接表达,衔接生硬
which means连接了前后两部分内容,但非常牵强,office worker就要早到?这很容易被考官认为是一个提前准备好的套句,而并不是在考场上顺着思路说下去的内容。
b. When it happened
观点:是今年6月份
拓展:公司来了一个新员工,每天都早到,而且工作认真。
Something changed because of a newly recruited colleague.She was hired this June and could work hard.To my suprise,she was never late for work and always showed her passion to her jobs.
c. How it happened
观点:我向她请教,她跟我说,她每天都会有早起的习惯,并且会在早高峰之前就出门
拓展:她不会选择自己开车,因为如果堵车了就会进退两难
Out of curiosity, I consulted her,and she told me that it was her habit of getting up early in the morning that allowed her to have a better work performance the whole day.She chose to avoid the peak hour and try to take public transport rather than drive to the workplace.
点评:
问题3:用词不恰当,过分正式,不自然
out of curiosity太模板化,I consulted her在这里用的不自然。Consult表示向专家,长辈请教,和同事谈话一般用talk to her就可以了。
问题4:内容跳跃,突然出现一些背好的表达
it was her habit of getting up early in the morning that allowed her to have a better work performance the whole day.
这句话意思是说,早起让她有了一个更好的工作表现,问题是早起只能早到,和工作表现没关系,考官会认为a better work performance 是一个提前准备好的词汇,或者是从其他准备好的故事里套过来的。这样的“思维跳跃”会让考官眉头一皱,觉得你的回答不够连贯。正常的思路是,她能够早睡早起,有更多的精力去工作,所以让她的工作表现更好。
d. And explain why it was a positive change
观点:我开始转变自己对待生活的态度,开始健康的生活方式
解释:以前总是抱怨交通问题让我迟到,被扣工资
拓展:现在能够适应环境,能够更好的利用早上的时间,乘坐地铁更加省钱,因为错开了高峰期,地铁不是那么拥挤,有时间在地铁上看一下新闻,听半小时英语。
I started to change my own attitudes toward my work and life, and also tend to lead a healthy lifestyle.I used to complain other factors like transport congestion,which may result in lateness and salary deduction.But now,I could adapt to working environments and take advantage of my commuting time in the subway,where I could read some newspapers and listen to English radios.Actually, the early metro was not packed with people and I also saved money on fuel.
点评:
问题5:使用词汇的时候,没有解释,前后不匹配
I started to change my own attitudes toward my work and life,and also tend to lead a healthy lifestyle.
这句话里面突然提到了change one`s attitude towards life前面没有提到,也没有解释,因为这件事情,人生观都改变了,考官怎么听都觉得很奇怪。
lead a heathy lifestyle很多人都用,它不仅仅指早起,还有饮食,运动,所以用在这里不恰当。
问题6:时态错误,导致事情描述的时间段不合理
the early metro was not packed with people and I also saved money on fuel之前说我有了一个积极的改变,那么现在描述的就是改变后的状态,是现在发生的事情,应该用现在时。这个地方的早班地铁没有人挤,我也存钱这些事应该用一般时态而不是用过去时。
修改后范文
a. What the change was
The change I'd like to talk about is the habit of getting up early in the morning .I'm an office worker,and I need to arrive at my company before half past eight,but because of traffic jams in the norning rush hour,I was always late.
1.扣题the change I'd like to talk about
2.并列句衔接,衔接自然
b. When it happened
I wasn't to find a solution to this problem until a new colleague joined the company.She was hired this June and worked hard.To my surprise,she is never late for work even though she lives far away from the office.
3.扣题I wasn't able to find a solution to this problem until,暗示了possitive change的发生
c. How it happened
I talked to her, and she told me that it was her habit of getting up early in the morning that allowed her to avoid the rush hour traffic and arrive at the office before everybody else. She also tried to take public transport, catching the first train, rathe than drive to the workplace, because there is a lot uncertainty over a car journey, such as car accients, road construction.
4.口语化表达talk to her
5.能够早起的好处是比别人早到arrive at the office before everybody else
6.用car accidents和road construction来具体化a lot of uncertainly
d. And explain why it was a positive change
I have basically followed her advice.But now, I have developed good bedtime routine. I go to bed before 10 and wake up before 6.I no longer need to set an alarm. Daily commuting is also more enjoyable. On the subway, I could read some newspaper and listen to English radio programmes. Acutally, the early metro is not packed with people.
7.开头说明了积极地改变I have basically followed her advice
8.词汇用的恰当develop good bedtime routine,早起的好处是睡眠作息时间,后面用I go bed before 10 and wake up before 6. I no longer need to set an alarm.
9.时态使用正确
总体来说,雅思考官们的“向善性”还是很强的,他们会更倾向于相信考生不是背的。他们也理解,对于母语非英语的我们来说,背材料本就是我们大多数人从小到大学习英语的方式。
但是换个思路想,不论是“背答案”还是“抄袭”,一旦考官意识到了这一点,在他心里已经对你这个人打了低分。所以建议大家还是尽量根据官方的建议来进行准备。