一、同义替换
同义替换是听力选择题的核心考点,多选题肯定也不例外,同义互换给考生造成的疑惑点也可想而知,如果没有听懂原文的意思,那么很难将原文相应内容与选项内容对应上,也就直接导致答案选不对甚至直接感觉答案都没在听力原文里出现过。多选题和单选题很像,同义替换的位置不仅会在选项上,同样也会在题干里面,而且同义替换的方式多变。
比如,剑桥4 Test2 Section3的第25, 26两题:
What TWO disadvantages of the questionnaire form of data collection do the students discuss?
A. the data is sometimes invalid
B. Too few people may respond
C. It is less likely to reveal the unexpected
D. In can only be used with literate populations
E. There is a delay between the distribution and return of questionnaire
原文:
…………
ROSA: No, I’m sure it talked drawbacks as well, didn’t it? Something about the response rate and the problems you get if it’s too low. (B)
MICK: Yeah, but we only need data from five subjects anyway.
ROSA: I suppose so. Another drawback I remember it mentioned was that questionnaire data tends not to reveal anything unexpected (C), because it is……
我们不难发现,问题当中的disadvantage这个词,换成了drawback, 还有选项B中的few替换成了too low。这些同义替换都是最基本的近义词、同义词间的互换。
而且这些同义替换都是常见的,重复出现的,所以难度不大。对于这样的题目或者说这样的同义替换,考生们肯定要在平时多积累常见的同义替换的单词、词组,多去延伸某一个单词的近义词、同义词。就拿上面那个例子当中disadvantage=drawback的同义替换来说,在剑桥3、剑桥7、剑桥9当中出现了至少4次。
当然也有同义替换难度比较大的,比如:剑桥6 Test1 Section4的第38, 39, 40三题:
Which THREE of the following problems are mentioned in the connection with 20th century housing in the East End?
A. Unsympathetic landlords
B. Unclean water
C. Heating problems
D. High rents
E. Over crowing
F. Poor standards of building
G. Houses catching fire
答案C, E, F在文中对应的内容为:
Houses were crowded closely together and usually very badly built. (F)
Few houses had electricity at this time, so other sources of power were used, like coal for the fires which heated perhaps just one room. (C)
A tiny, damp, unhealthy house like this might well be occupied by two full families, possibly including several children, grandparents, aunts and uncles. (E)
这样的同义替换是一种概括总结型的同义替换,这样的替换方式没有办法死记,因为每次替换的内容都可以不一样,不像近义词同义词的对等替换,概括总结型的同义替换是一种从属性质的替换,选项在意思上将原文内容意思高度概括,从而达到一种对应,这样的替换不仅要求考生听懂原文当中句子的意思,而且还要有同义互换的主动意识,也就是说要能够在听懂意思的基础上积极主动的去思考听懂的信息是否与某个选项匹配。否则,很多考生就会听懂原文意思,但没有反应过来听懂的意思可以和哪个选项对应。
二、干扰
干扰其实不仅在多选题当中有,单选题、填空题都会有干扰。在多选题中,干扰大多是选项内容与听力原文中的内容部分甚至完全相同,但从符合题意的角度,该选项不能作为正确选项。简单说来就是听到但不能选。同义替换已经很难了,为什么还要设计干扰作为另外一个难点?因为有时候同义替换的难度不够酸爽,再配上干扰,这样对于剑桥来说就完美了!干扰的情况在多选题当中比较容易判断,可以大致分为所有选项干扰、部分选项干扰以及问题条件干扰。
首先以剑桥5 Test1 Section1的第5, 6两题为例:
Which TWO things are included in the price of the tour?
A. Fishing trip
B. Guided bushwalk
C. Reptile park entry
D. Table tennis
E. Tennis
这题就是上面说的所有选项干扰的一题,根据听力原文You guide will take anyone who is interested either on a bushwalk through the national park near the hotel, and there’s no extra charge for that, or on a fishing trip. That’s an extra $12 I think. And there is also a reptile park in town-that costs more or less the same. And if you just want to relax, you are free to sit by the hotel pool or go down the beach. Oh, they also have tennis courts at the hotel, but you have to pay for those by the hour. But there are table tennis tables downstairs, and they are part of the accommodation package…… A-E所有5个选项在听力原文当中都出现了,如果没有听懂意思,而只是听单词,这题难度就很大了,所以一定要关注符合题目“are included in the price of the tour”要求的选项。这种所有选项干扰的情况可以在审题的时候就预判出来,一般选项内容简单且不太容易做同义替换的时候,很容易出现所有选项都在听力中重现的情况,如果考生们能在审题时发现这一点,从而提醒自己一定不能再听到什么就选什么,一定要关注符合问题内容的信息,这样做对的几率会大大增加。值得注意的是,在选项全部在听力原文中重现的这种多选题中,并非同义替换就不存在了,只是不在选项上了,同义替换的位置很有可能会在题干当中,如上题,“are included in the price of the tour”就被替换成了2种说法“no extra charge”和“part of the accommodation package”,且后一种同义替换的难度非常大,很多烤鸭都没有反应过来这是住宿打包费用的一部分的意思,也就是费用已包含的意思。其实,如果所有选项都在听力中重现,还可以用排除法去剔除错误选项,剩下的就是正确选项了,也就是说就算不知道“part of the accommodation package”的意思选不出E来,也应该知道D. table tennis是需要pay by the hour的,也就是和“are included in the price of the tour”意思相反,A,C选项也可以用同样的方式剔除。
再以刚刚提过的剑桥6 Test1 Section4的第38, 39, 40三题为例:
其实这题的难度远不止正确选项C, E, F的同义替换,如果我们看看所有选项以及题目相关的所有听力内容就不难发现,其实这题也有干扰,这种情况就是上面说的部分选项干扰,即不是所有选项都出现,只是其中几个选项出现,并且有的具有干扰功能:
A. Unsympathetic landlords
B. Unclean water
C. Heating problems
D. High rents
E. Over crowing
F. Poor standards of building
G. Houses catching fire
A-G 7个选项对应的所有听力原文内容为:
Houses were crowded closely together and usually very badly built, because there was no regulation. But the poor and needy were attracted by the possibility of work, and they had to be housed. It was the availability, rather than the condition, of the housing that was the major concern for tenants and landlords alike. Few houses had electricity at this time, so other sources of power were used, like coal for the fires which heated perhaps just one room. Of course, the smoke from these contributed a great deal to the air pollution for which London used to be famous. A tiny, damp, unhealthy house like this might well be occupied by two full families, possibly including several children, grandparents, aunts and uncles.
不难发现,原文中有landlords一词,这个词也出现在了A选项中,构成了干扰,尤其对于没有听太清楚这个句子意思的考生,可能会想选A, 毕竟有个原文中出现的单词,其实在选项字比较多比较容易做同义替换的多选题当中,当有选项内容或者部分内容原文重现的时候,这样的选项不仅不能立刻认为正确,而且还要慎重考虑是否会是干扰;“the smoke from these contributed……”,很多同学也会因为这个部分而选择G, 因为前面说在房子里烧煤取暖,这里又说冒烟,联系起来自己脑补一下感觉可能是说房子容易由于烧煤取暖而着火冒烟,因此这里的G也是一个干扰,且这个干扰对于水平稍好,能听懂一部分内容而不是全部内容的同学来说尤其具有迷惑性,因为这个选项没有之前的干扰方式那么简单粗暴的就将原文重现,而是疑似做了一下同义替换,这是比较难的一种干扰选项的出现方式,即根据原文内容做了一部分的意思同义替换,但整个选项意思还是和原文不符的,这样的干扰选项的排除就需要考生听懂不止是某几个词,而是整句话。
最后以剑桥6 Test4 Section3的第28, 29, 30题为例:
这道多选题除了刚刚说的那些干扰和同义替换情况之外,还有另外一种干扰存在,这种干扰不是单纯利用选项和听力原文的相似性进行干扰,这种干扰还和问题有关,也就是上面所说的问题条件干扰:
Which THREE topics do this term’s study skill workshop cover?
我们只看其中的选项A. An introduction to the Internet对应的听力原文的内容“the one for internet beginners was last term”和题目要求的this term相反,除此之外的部分与A选项的意思完全一样,就是时间限制让A选项成了错误项、干扰项。而且,通过总结发现,问题当中最常充当干扰内容的就是时间限制条件,且这样的干扰也会出现在单项选择题当中。因此,以后在问题当中看到表示时间限制的内容要多加小心,原文中可能会有另一个时间限制。
三、分类
当然,剑桥6 Test4 Section3的第28, 29, 30题可能不止是同义互换和干扰是难点,这个多选题难还因为题目的长度:
Which THREE topics do this term’s study skill workshop cover?
A. An introduction to the Internet
B. How to carry out research for a dissertation
C. Making good use of the whole range of library services
D. Planning a dissertation
E. Standard requirements when writing a dissertation
F. Using the Internet when doing research
G. What books and technical resources are available in the library
读完问题和7个选项的时间只有差不多10秒钟,这个时间显然不够,就算可以在规定时间内读完选项,在做题的时候,那么多文字内容在边听边要做出选择的时候也是一种巨大的挑战。所以,在做多选题的时候,如果能给选项分类,那就可以大大减小边听边找选项的压力,把需要看的选项缩小到一定范围。不难发现,上题的7个选项可以分3类,一类里面有internet的A, F;一类是有dissertation的B, D, E;一类是有library的C, G, 这样一来,当听力中提到比如internet的时候,我们就不用每个选项都去看是否符合,只需要去看A, F, 这样大大减小了做题难度。
总之,从做题顺序角度而言,多选题的解题对策可以简单概括成:看分类,看干扰点,听同义替换。把握住这3点,多选题一下子褪去了复杂的外衣,漏出本质,更易得分。