如今去国外留学这条道路已经成为很多学生们“镀金”的选择,不少学生在高中毕业后会选择去国外就读大学,这样学成归来后,就会成为人人羡慕的“海归派”。但是留学生在国外学习中,也会遇到很多问题,会接触到很多写作难题,比如留学生assignment写作。留学生assignment写作一定要注意用词准确,这样才可以拿到高分。今天我们就针对留学生assignment写作中如何精准用词的问题做详细介绍。 1、留学生assignment写作要注意把握好语句语气。英文中有很多近义词,在使用的时候,一定要学会区分开,要选最合适的词语。如果选词不当,就会改变语句词义,影响到自己要表达的意思。下面为大家举个例子: When American soldiers returned home after World War II, many women abandoned their jobs in favor of marriage.(abandon这个词在这里太负面,需要选用left) 2、尽量选择具体的名词(Concrete and specific nouns) 什么是具体的名词?什么是比较泛,比较抽象的名词呢?咱们看下下面的例子就明白了:film 太泛;fantasy film 稍微具体一些;Harry Potter 更加具体。justice, realism, dignity 这些看不见摸不着的都属于抽象名词。steeple, asphalt, lilac, stone 这些属于具体名词。 有些时候,抽象名词是必要的,但是如果可以用具体名词代替的情况,总是要选择使用具体名词,因为他们更加达意,下面为大家举例说明: The senator spoke about the challenges of our state’s future: the environment and crime. 修改之后:The senator spoke about the challenges of our state’s future: pollution, dwindling natural resources, and overcrowded prisons. Toni Morrison’s Beloved is about slavery, among other things. 修改之后:Toni Morrison’s Beloved is about slavery, motherhood, and memory. 3、同学们来看看同样以难词和复杂句式著称的《经济学人》小编是如何完成这一系列的“高难度”写作(段落节选自文章 The case for liberal optimism): This newspaper churlishly deprives its editors of the egocentric adornments of our trade.Tragically, these pages include no weekly “editor’s letter” to readers, underneath a beaming, air-brushed picture. Online, there is a weekly e-mail, but that comes from your “desk”, not you. As editor, you spend your time in deplorable obscurity, consoled merely by the fact you have the nicest job in journalism. But there are two indulgent exceptions: a brief mention when you are appointed; and this valedictory leader, which attempts to sum up the world that hashurtled across your desk. 和开头的文章一样,上文也使用了不少大词。比如 churlishly, egocentric, deplorable, indulgent, valedictory, hurtle, 但它们非常形象且恰到好处。例如作者故意用 churlishly deprive, deplorable obscurity 这些大词来强调《经济学人》对编辑的“不友好”,导致很多人籍籍无名(因为杂志上所有的文章都不署名,也没有所谓的“编辑的话”栏目),以此来达到自嘲效果。 两者的差别可能就在于能否用好大词以及长难句的问题了。这是一个人英语水平的体现,但这是一件门槛很高的事情。在没有透彻理解单词含义和使用语境之前,不要轻易尝试。写作的根本目标是清晰有力地表达思想,一味堆砌大词难词,效果可能会适得其反。 比如对于上面的例子: Enter Stregato the self-named assidious low-profile who had a late start of English-learning odyssey where multifarious Herculean goals are set for the apotheosis of self-improvement... 整句话显得过于晦涩拖沓,改成下面这个版本会好很多: I started to learn English at an older age and set out with ambitious goals of achieving fluency in it. 为了更好地表达思想,我们在写作中要注意单词的使用语境以及常用搭配。要做到这一点这一点其实并不难,多查词典,多模仿例句可以解决绝大多数问题。 4、 用词准确的重要性。如果留学生们在写作assignment的时候,对于一个单词的用法不了解或者是不确定的话,建议不要使用这个词语了。建议大家平时多查查字典,多了解一些词语的具体使用场景,保证用词的准确性。例如:Most dieters are not persistence enough to make a permanent change in their eating habits. (persistence 改成 persistent,词性要搞清楚)。 5、 英语中很少有单词能真正做到严格对等,很多近义词在含义上都有微妙的区别,做到精确用词的第一步是学会对它们进行辨析。对于“提及……话题”这一表达,作者用的词是 broach,而不是我们常用的 mention/raise,因为 broach 除了带有“提及”的含义,还包含了另一层意思“提及的话题通常会令人尴尬、不快或引起争论”,这与原文语境更为契合。提高近义词辨析能力,除了多查词典之外,还可以系统学习相关书籍。商务印书馆曾经引进一本《牛津英语同义词学习词典》,这本词典对于意义相近的词语进行对比,逐个说明,甚至还将一些词按照意思强弱程度进行排列,有助于学习者理解词与词之间的细微区别。推荐感兴趣的同学入手。留学生们在写作时还要注意表达多样性存在的问题。毕竟大家写文章难免会单调,比如将一个单词或短语简单重复多次。增加用词的多样性将有助于表达效果的提升。 (a) Just as drones can make up for poor roads, the theory goes, mobile phones can overcome a lack of well-functioning banks, portable solar panels can stand in for missing power stations and free learning apps can substitute for patchy education. (b) Eventually, America ran into trouble too. The tech-stock bubble burst in early 2000, prompting a broader share price slump. Business investment, particularly in technology, sank; and as share prices fell, consumers cut back. By early 2001 America, along with most of the rich world, had slipped into recession, albeit a mild one. 就从上面文章的选段中美伦小编(www.lxws.net)试着给大家总结一下,实现用词多样性的方法主要有两种: (1)近义词替换,例如使用 make up for,stand in for,substitute for 这几个短语来表达相同的意思“代替,顶替”。 (2)表达方式转换,例如要表达“经济下滑”,有 run into trouble,prompt a share price slump,business investment sinks,share prices fall,slip into recession 这几种不同的说法。 6、避免用错词,用词准确是用词精确的前提。如果你在assignment写作中不能100%确定某一个词的用法的时候,建议大家就不要使用这个词了,特别是在一些限时课堂essay写作的时候遇到拿捏不准的词建议大家放弃。平时写essay的时候遇到这种情况,建议大家要多查查字典,看看字典给的例句,明白单词使用的场景(context),用错单词会很搞笑,例如: Fans who arrived late were migrating up the bleachers in search of seats. (migrating 改成 climbing) Marie Winn quarrels that television viewing is bad for families because it “serves to anesthetize parents into accepting their family’s diminished state” (357). (quarrels 改成 argues) Most dieters are not persistence enough to make a permanent change in their eating habits.(persistence 改成 persistent,词性要搞清楚) 7、不要过分使用 clichés。clichés 其实就是那些老掉牙的表达,比如说:cool as a cucumber; beat around the bush; blind as a bat; busy as a bee, beaver; crystal clear; out of the frying pan and into the fire; light as a feather 等等,处理方式就是重写,大家看看下面的例子: When I received a full scholarship from my second-choice school, I found myself between a rock and a hard place. 修改之后:When I received a full scholarship from my second-choice school, Ifelt squeezed to settle for second best. 同学们要记住,我们的写作目标不仅仅是随意完成一篇文章,其精髓应该是用词精准。无论是难词还是常用词,在使用时都要明确使用语境和搭配,切不可望词生义,生搬硬套。多查词典,多学习精彩用词案例是一种行之有效的方法。除此之外,学会辨析近义词以及提升用词多样性也有助于我们实现精准用词。 |