解析雅思阅读中的“靶子”句式
雅思阅读中，有一类相对很重要的句式：“靶子”句式。所谓的“靶子”句式，就是这种句式后面所衔接的内容并不是作者要展开陈述的，而是要被反驳掉，从而引出重要的观点或者得出结论的。体会并且把握好这类句式，对于提高烤鸭们对段落内容的预判能力至关重要。下面笔者将结合雅思阅读真题，归纳总结一下雅思阅读中的三大类“靶子”句式。
借他家之言，标新立异
|
代表句式 |
意思 |
|
1. It was once assumed/ thought |
人们曾经认为 |
|
2. People may think |
人们可能认为 |
|
3. Many people think |
很多人都认为 |
|
4. People tend to think |
人们倾向于认为 |
|
5. There is a widespread that |
人们普遍认为 |
以上面的句式2和句式3为例，作者为什么要提及“人们可能认为”和“很多人都认为”，意图是显而易见的，多半这些句式后面的观点内容都会被**转折的形式反驳掉，然后引出新的观点或者得出结论，烤鸭在解题过程中要注意这些句式，尤其是这些句式出现在段落开头的时候，下面通常都会有转折的内容出现。
下面以剑桥真题为例，强化烤鸭们对“靶子”句式的理解。
例1：
Cam 6 T2 R1 advantagesof public transport
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List of Headings i Avoiding an overcrowded centre ii A successful exercise in people power iii The benefits of working together in cities iv Higher incomes need not mean more cars v Economic arguments fail to persuade vi The impact of telecommunications on population distribution vii Increases in travelling time viii Responding to arguments against public transport |
It was once assumedthat improvements in telecommunications would lead to more dispersal in thepopulation as people were no longer forced into cities. However, the ISTPteam's research demonstrates that the population and job density of cities roseor remained constant in the 1980s after decades of decline. The explanation forthis seems to be that it is valuable to place people working in related fieldstogether. 'The new world will largely depend on human creativity, andcreativity flourishes where people come together face-to-face.'
段落开头的It was once assumed（人们曾经认为）烤鸭读到的时候要特别注意，这句话之后很有可能有转折出现。段落的第二句话However,after decades of decline就把人们曾经持有的观点（通讯的完善会导致人口出现分散）否定掉，段落的重心后移，后面强调的是把工作在相关领域的人集中在一起的好处。
所以这个段落的段意选的是iii.the benefits of working together in cities, 而不选命题人用来干扰烤鸭的vi.the impact of telecommunications on population distribution。
例2：
Cam 8 T1 R2 airtraffic control in the USA
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List of Headings i Disobeying FAA regulations ii Aviation disaster prompts action iii Two coincidental developments iv Setting altitude zones v An oversimplified view vi Controlling pilots' licences vii Defining airspace categories viii Setting rules to weather conditions ix Taking off safely x First steps towards ATC |
Many people thinkthat ATC consists of a row of controllers sitting in front of their radarscreens at the nation's airports, telling arriving and departing traffic whatto do. This is a very incomplete part of the picture. The FAA realised that theairspace over the United States would at any time have many different kinds ofplanes, flying for many different purposes, in a variety of weather conditions,and the same kind of structure was needed to accommodate all of them.
烤鸭在读到段落开头的Manypeople think that…这句话的时候要引起警惕，做好预判，提醒自己下面很有可能会有转折。果不其然，第二句话：Thisis a very incomplete part of the picture就把**句话里很多人都认为的观点反驳掉了。结合所读的备选小标题，答案选v.an oversimplified view（一种过于简单的看法）。
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TIP: 在笔者日常的听阅教学中发现很多同学对picture这个单词的认识不全面，从而出现对句子的误读。 The picture: the general situation concerning sth这个表述很多时候结合语境是“状况/形势”的意思，而不是很多烤鸭所理解的“这幅图片”。 此外，picture还有这样一层意思：a description that gives you an idea in your mind of what sth is like“描述；描绘”的意思。 This book gives you a good picture of what life was like in Japan in the 19th century. |
例3：
OG T8 R3 left orright?
For many years itwas assumed that lateralisation was a uniquely human trait, but this notionrapidly fell apart as researchers started uncovering evidence of lateralisationin all sorts of animals. For example, in the 1970s, Lesley Rogers, now at theUniversity of New England in Australia, was studying memory and learning inchicks. She had been injecting a chemical into chicks' brains to stop themlearning how to spot grains of food among distracting pebbles, and wassurprised to observe that the chemical only worked when applied to the lefthemisphere of the brain. That strongly suggested that the right side of thechick’s brain played little or no role in the learning of such behaviors.Similar evidence appeared in songbirds and rats around the same time, and sincethen, researchers have built up an impressive catalogue of animal lateralisation.
这是一道很多烤鸭谈之色变的“断子绝孙”（段落信息搭配题）所对应的段落，段落开头的“靶子”—Formany years it was assumed lateralisation was a uniquely human trait.（在过去的很多年，人们都认为身体的偏侧性是人类独有的特征。）—、在第二句话中即被反驳掉：this notionrapidly fellapart（塌陷；倾覆）as researchers started uncovering evidence oflateralisation in all sorts of animals（研究人员发现身体偏侧性也存在于各种动物中），随后作者用LesleyRogers做例子来说明身体的偏侧性在动物中的普适性这一现象。
Questions36-40
Reading Passage 3has eight paragraphs, A-H.
Whichparagraph contains the following information?
Writethe correct letter, A-H, in boxes36-40 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
36. description of a study which supports anotherscientist’s findings
37. the suggestion that a person could gain fromhaving an opposing lateralisation to most of the population
38. reference to the large amount of knowledge ofanimal lateralisation that has accumulated
39. research findings that were among the first tocontradict a previous belief
40. a suggestion that lateralisation would seem todisadvantage animals
Q39— researchfindings that were among the first to contradict（v 反驳） aprevious belief—的答案就是段落B了。Aprevious belief对应的是Itwas once assumed所引出的观点，researchfindings that were to contradict对应evidence of lateralisation in allsorts of animals及其后面的作为例子的研究。
浅尝辄止，管中窥豹
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代表句式 |
意思 |
|
At first sight |
**眼看上去-- |
|
At first glance |
**眼看上去-- |
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On the face of it |
从表面上来看-- |
|
Taken at face value |
若只看表面 |
很简单的道理，**眼看上去所得的和只看表面所得的通常是肤浅的，所以烤鸭们在读到这样的句式时也要注意，下面通常也会有转折，转折之后作者把现实实际情况公之于众。
例4：
OG T2 R2 dawn ofthe robots
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List of Headings i Tackling the issue using a different approach ii A significant improvement on last time iii How robots can save human lives iv Examples of robots at work v Not what it seemed to be vi Why timescales are impossible to predict vii The reason why robots rarely move viii Following the pattern of an earlier development ix The ethical issues of robotics |
At first sight itlooked like a typical suburban road accident. A Land Rover approached a ChevyTahoe estate car that had stopped at a kerb; the Land Rover pulled out andtried to pass the Tahoe just as it started off again. There was a crack offenders and the sound of paintwork being scraped, the kind of minor mishap thatoccurs on roads thousands of times every day. Normally drivers get out, gesticulate,exchange insurance details and then drive off. But not on this occasion. No onegot out of the cars for the simple reason that they had no humans inside them;the Tahoe and Land Rover were being controlled by computers competing inNovember's DARPA (the U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) UrbanChallenge.
开头的At first sight, itlooked like a typical suburban road accident.（一眼看上去像是一场普通的郊区交通事故。）这句话给下面的转折留下伏笔，Normallydrivers get out, and then drive off这句话进一步说明发生交通事故后司机通常会怎么做，在段落的倒数第四行，But not on this occasion把前文的描述给予了否定。
结合备选小标题，A的段意应该选v.not what it seemed to be（并不是看上去的那样）。
例5：
Cam 4 T2 R3 play isa serious business
Then there's theskills-training hypothesis. At first glance, playing animals do appear to bepractising the complex manoeuvres they will need in adulthood. But a closerinspection reveals this interpretation as too simplistic. In one study,behavioural ecologist Tim Caro, from the University of California, looked atthe predatory play of kittens and their predatory behaviour when they reachedadulthood. He found that the way the cats played had no significant effect ontheir hunting prowess in later life.
开头的第二句话At first glance,they will need in hunting.（动物的玩耍是在练习长大后需要的技能）在下一句即被反驳掉：Acloser inspection reveals this interpretation as too simplistic. 下面用一个对猫的研究作为例子，说明猫的玩耍对于之后的捕食技能并没有什么影响。
假如出一道判断题：
Playing is conduciveto（有利于发生/实现的）animal’s hunting skills.
答案很明显应该是FALSE或者NO。
底气不足，猜测多于肯定
例6：
Cam 10 T3 R2 autumnleaves
Some theories aboutanthocyanins have argued that they might act as a chemical defence againstattacks by insects or fungi, or that they might attract fruit-eating birds orincrease a leaf's tolerance to freezing. However there are problems with eachof these theories, including the fact that leaves are red for such a relativelyshort period that the expense of energy needed to manufacture the anthocyaninswould outweigh any anti-fungal or anti-herbivore activity achieved.
段落的开头提出anthocyanins可能(might)的三个功能：defenseagainst attacks by insects or fungi, attract birds以及increaseleaf’s tolerance to freezing. 第三行的However there are problemswith each of these theories把三个可能的功能都反驳掉。
引申：
剑10的这篇讲秋天树叶变红原因的文章是雅思阅读里不太常见的“现象解释类”文章，在D/E/F三个段落里分别分析了树叶变红的原因，纵观雅思托福阅读，“现象解释类”文章的套路是把**合理的假说或者假设放在**后提出，烤鸭们对此要有个基本的认识。以本篇为例：
D: Anthocyanins:
Function 1: defenseagainst attacks by insects or fungi
Function 2: attractbirds
Function 3: increaseleaf’s tolerance to freezing
Conclusion: Howeverthere are problems with each of these theories.
E: （承接D段提出新理论）Ithas also been proposed that…
Conclusion: the flaw（n缺点；缺陷） inthis theory lies in…
F: perhaps the most plausible(adj 有说服力的）suggestionas to…
小结：
雅思阅读需要烤鸭们在日常练习中不断提高自己“见一叶而知秋”的能力，也就是提高自己在阅读中对行文内容走向的预判能力，只有这样，才能提高自己的解题效率，同时，只有奠定了这样的基础，才可以更好地应对出国后比较繁重的阅读任务。
