在托福備考過程中,考生們非常希望能夠快速掌握寫作技巧,為此也可能在尋找大量范文。
遺憾的是,ETS提供的官方范文數量非常有限,只有官方指南中的幾篇文章;市面上的大量范文,都是機構里教授托福寫作的老師寫的,相對于考官寫的范文,其參考價值自然大打折扣。
其實,考生們往往忽略了一點,就是從TPO閱讀文章中學習如何寫獨立寫作。

我們知道,TPO綜合寫作需要先閱讀一篇短文,再聽一個講座,短文的字數一般是 300詞左右,和托福獨立寫作的字數要求基本一致。
大部分考生做完一篇綜合寫作后就到此為止了,很少有人回過頭來再細細分析短文。
如果我們在對短文內容已經了解的基礎上,進一步探討文章的寫作思路和邏輯推進,就能夠一舉兩得:既提高了閱讀能力,又提高了寫作技能。
文章結構
綜合寫作絕大部分閱讀短文分為四段,開頭段先交代一個背景信息,在這一段的最后表明作者的立場。
主體段分為三段,每一段提供一個支持的分論點,并對這個分論點展開具體論述。
除了沒有結尾段之外,整篇短文的結構和獨立寫作的是一致的,當然這也是ETS學術論文的基本架構。
所以,在寫獨立寫作時,考生完全可以參考這個文章結構,只需要加一個結尾段就可以了。
例如:TPO1
In the United States, employees typically work five days a week for eight hours each day. However, many employees want to work a four-day week and are willing to accept less pay in order to do so. A mandatory policy requiring companies to offer their employees the option of working a four-day workweek for four-fifths (80 percent) of their normal pay would benefit the economy as a whole as well as the individual companies and the employees whodecided to take the option.
The shortened workweek would increase company profits because employees would feel more rested and alert, and as a result, they would make fewer costly errors in their work. Hiring more staff to ensure that the same amount of work would be accomplished would not result in additional payroll costs because four-day employees would only be paid 80 percent of the normal rate. In the end, companies would have fewer overworked and error-prone employees for the same money, which would increase company profits.
For the country as a whole, one of the primary benefits of offering this option to employees is that it would reduce unemployment rates. If many full-time employees started working fewer hours, some of their workload would have to be shifted to others. Thus, for every four employees who went on an 80 percent week, a new employee could be hired at the 80 percent rate.
Finally, the option of a four-day workweek would be better for individual employees. Employees who could afford a lower salary in exchange for more free time could improve the quality of their lives by spending the extra time with their families, pursuing private interests, or enjoying leisure activities.
主體段的寫法
從上文我們可以看到,在一個主體段中,都是先寫一個主題句(Topic Sentence),即這一段的主旨,然后對這個主題句展開具體解釋說明。
例如上文中,主體段1的主題句是The shortened workweek would increase company profits.
主體段2的主題句是 For the country as a whole, one of the primary benefits of offering this option to employees is that it would reduce unemployment rates.
主體3的主題句是the option of a four-day workweek would be better for individual employees.
對這些主題句做一些分析,我們還能學習寫主題句的方法。
1. 簡明扼要
這里的三個主題句兩個是簡單句,一個用了復合句,都非常簡潔的說明了公司這種做法的好處。
2. 同義替換
這體現在表達公司這一政策時采用的不同表達:The shortened workweek,offering this option to employees, it, the option of a four-day workweek。這些同義替換體現了詞匯多樣化這一學術寫作的要求。
分析了主題句的寫法之后,我們再來分析文章是如何擴展這一主題句的。
主體段1在主題句后面緊跟了一個原因狀語從句,然后用一個并列分句寫出了這一選擇的結果 (because employees would feel more rested and alert, and as a result, they would make fewer costly errors in their work.)。然后進一步分析雇用更多公司為什么會獲得更多利潤。
主體段2先寫了一個if條件句,然后引出這一選擇的結果,thus ...
主體段3 擴展時用了一個定語從句 (Employees who could afford a lower salary in exchange for more free time),實際上這個定語從句相當于一個 if 條件句,后面的主句則是這一選擇的結果。
從這里我們可以看出,擴展主題句的一個重要方法:因果論證法,即分析某種做法的原因,尤其是結果。
當然,從短文中我們也可以學習到一些好的句式和表達。如 as a result,ensure that ...,result in,one of the primary benefits of is that,if... Thus ... sb who ... would ... by doing ... 這些表達展現了非常好的邏輯關系,這是許多考生欠缺的。
總之,TPO綜合寫作中的50多篇閱讀短文長度和獨立寫作的要求差不多,文章結構一致,都遵循著學術寫作的規范,相比市面上很多亂七八糟的參考范文來說,具有更高的參考價值。
如果考生能夠精心分析這些文章,既也能夠擴大詞匯量,提高閱讀能力,又能夠學習地道的表達,提高寫作能力。



