定義方法在高考英語閱讀理解解題中的運用

彭蕾

本文系江蘇省教育科學(xué)“十二五”規(guī)劃2013年度重點自籌課題“基于語料庫的高中學(xué)生英語書面語詞匯語法特征研究”（B-b/2013/02/289）和江蘇省第十期教學(xué)研究重點課題“基于語料庫的牛津高中教材研究”（2013JK10-Z063）成果之一。

摘 要：定義是一種常見的修辭方法，是一種重要的闡述、論證手段。本文通過語料庫分析軟件對高考閱讀理解文本中的“定義”表達進行提取，探討運用定義方法進行高考閱讀理解解題的具體做法，并指出在高考復(fù)習(xí)中應(yīng)重視常見修辭方法的教學(xué)，培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的修辭意識，以提高學(xué)生的閱讀能力。

關(guān)鍵詞：定義；定義方法；閱讀理解；解題策略

定義是人們最常用的思維方式之一，日常的語言應(yīng)用過程常常涉及定義。定義的任務(wù)就是將界定對象加以說明，使其同其他對象區(qū)分開來（廖巧云，2005）。筆者通過語料庫分析軟件PowerConc 1.0，對自建的2010-2017年高考閱讀理解文本語料庫（章玉芳，2014）進行“定義”相關(guān)文本提取和分析，探討運用定義方法進行高考閱讀理解測試中的語義題、細節(jié)題、推斷題、意圖題和主題題解題的具體做法。

一、文獻分類

定義是一種常見的修辭方法，是一種重要的闡述、論證手段。定義常見表達包括以下幾種：（1）“A是B”句式。即A（被定義的概念）+is / are+表語+定語，定語可以是從句、分詞短語、介詞短語等。（2）“A被叫作B”句式。該句式中的“被叫作”的常見表達有：be defined as， mean（s）， be known as， be called， refer to， be referred to， be associated with， be applied to等。這些句式均可以表達“界定為、意味著、指的是”，用來界定、解釋或說明。（3）同位語和非限制性定語從句。同位語是用一個詞語的形式對前面的一個范疇的內(nèi)容做出說明、解釋或描述。非限制性定語從句用來對先行詞表達的概念加以補充說明或解釋。（4）表示解釋、說明的標點符號。英語的標點符號中的逗號、冒號、破折號、括號均有解釋、說明的作用。

二、定義在高考閱讀理解解題中的運用

閱讀理解分為四個層次：字面性理解、推斷性理解、評價性理解和欣賞性理解（王楓林，1994）。定義解釋對于字面性理解如：辨認詞義和句法結(jié)構(gòu)、確認文章大意和細節(jié)等有直接的幫助，對推斷性理解如：從上下文推測詞義和中心思想等有間接的幫助。因此，定義方法可以用于高考英語閱讀理解多選題中的詞義題、語義題、信息題、意圖題和主題題等的解題。闡述如下：

1.“A是B”定義表達在解題中的運用

（1）詞義題

But while a shop？蒺s scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds， it is certainly there. And it is proving to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase… Another brand store seeks to be much more than a shop， but rather a destination. And scent is just one way to achieve this.

69. The underlined word “destination” in Paragraph 5 means .

A. a platform that exhibits goods

B. a spot where travelers like to stay

C. a place where customers love to go

D. a target that a store expects to meet

解題：段落結(jié)尾句中的指示代詞this指代上文中的destination，因此解題的關(guān)鍵在“scent is just one way to achieve this”。定位段落第一句中的主語scent，和第二句中用來代替scent的人稱代詞it，找到了“A是B”定義表達“Scent is proving to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase”，該句屬于語用定義。經(jīng)過對選項的語義識別，發(fā)現(xiàn)只有選項C中customers love to go與encourage people to purchase表達相近，判定正確選項為C。

（2）句義題

Franz Kafka wrote that “a book must be the ax（斧子） for the frozen sea inside us.”

66. The underlined words in Paragraph 1 probably mean that a book helps to .

A. realize our dreams

B. give support to our life

C. smooth away difficulties

D. awake our emotions

解題：定位句子“a book must be the axe... ”，該句為“A是B”定義表達。該句為使用了“隱喻修辭”的語用定義，ax的功能為“劈開”“打開”，引申為“喚起”，frozen sea inside us意為“我們內(nèi)心冰封的情感”，選項D中awake、our emotions分別為ax、frozen sea inside us的同義表述，判定正確選項為D。endprint

（3）信息題

What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired？... A feeling of being bored， anger， anxiety， tenseness， worry， a feeling of not being appreciated—those are the emotions that tire sitting workers.

65. According to the author， which of the following can make sitting workers tired？

A. Challenging mental work.

B. Unpleasant emotions.

C. Endless tasks.

D. Physical labor.

解題：根據(jù)題干“make sitting workers tired”找到文中最后一段的“what kinds of emotions make... those are the motions that tire sitting workers”，該句型為“A是B”式語用定義。指示代詞those前面有破折號，破折號后面的內(nèi)容是對前文的關(guān)鍵信息的解釋、補充說明，those指代“a feeling of being bored， anger， anxiety， tenseness， worry， a feeling of not being appreciated”，選項B“unpleasant emotions”為上述這些情緒的概括，判定正確選項為B。

（4）結(jié)論題

Happiness isn？蒺t about what happens to us—it？蒺s about how we see what happens to us. It？蒺s the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. Its not wishing for what we don？蒺t have， but enjoying what we do possess.

55. What can be concluded from the passage？

A. Happiness lies between the positive and the negative.

B. Each man is the master of his own fate.

C. Success leads to happiness.

D. Happy is he who is content.

解題：根據(jù)題干中的“conclude”定位文中最后一段，結(jié)論一般出現(xiàn)在語篇結(jié)尾段落。段落中出現(xiàn)了“A是B”式語用定義，經(jīng)過分析綜合，段落最后一句的“happiness is enjoying what we do possess”與選項D表

達最為相近，而且選項D“Happy is he who is content”本身也是“A是B”式語用定義，判定正確選項為D。

通過“A是B”式定義表達，可以找到對解題有直接幫助的定義，對解答詞義題、語義題、信息題和結(jié)論題提供了豐富的解題線索。

2.“A被叫作B”定義句式在解題中的作用

（1）信息題

This corresponds to what psychologists refer to as offensive anger： the angry person moves closer in order to influence and control the person or situation causing his anger.

63. Which of the following is typical of offensive anger？

A. Approaching the source of anger.

B. Trying to control what is disliked.

C. Moving away from what is disliked.

D. Feeling helpless in the face of anger.

解題：由題干中的offensive anger定位到正文中的offensive anger段落，refer to… as…是“A被叫作B”式定義表達。題干中的“typical of offensive anger”是正文中的“what … refer to…as offensive anger”的同義表述。Offensive anger后面的冒號引出其定義解釋“the angry person moves closer … to the person or situation causing his anger”，該句中的move closer、the person or situation causing his anger與題項A中的approach、the source of anger為同義表述，判定正確選項為A。

（2）寫作意圖題

Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia （懷舊） . ... Home is where we ran remember pain， live， and some other experiences…Sometimes when I feel lost， I lie down and shut my eyes， and I go home. …. But I don？蒺t mind， because I want to hear her say my name， which reminds me I？蒺m home.endprint

46. What is the author？蒺s purpose of writing this passage？

A. To express how much she is attached to her home.

B. To declare how much she loves her first house.

C. To describe the state of her family.

D. To look back on her childhood.

解題：這是一道寫作意圖題。第一段開門見山點明主題，首句的“Homes to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia”是“A意思是B”式定義表達。選項A中的“be attached to”意為“be full of affection for sb./sth.（依戀）”與句中的“a sense of familiarity and nostalgia（親近和懷舊的感覺）”為同義表述。另外，在跨句的語篇層面上，重復(fù)的信息home雖然本身沒有提供新的信息，但這種重復(fù)證明前面被重復(fù)的信息十分重要，需要擴展論述，被重復(fù)與重復(fù)信息共同構(gòu)成了重要信息，因此排除了干擾項較強的選項C。判定正確選項為A。

通過“A被叫作B”式定義表達，找到“be referred as”、“be known as”、“means”等語句中關(guān)鍵性的定義解釋詞語，同時通過語篇中重復(fù)出現(xiàn)的這些語篇關(guān)鍵詞，對于解答信息題和意圖題有一定幫助。筆者在通過語料庫檢索時發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種定義表達在高考閱讀理解文本中出現(xiàn)頻率最高。

3.同位語和非限制性定語從句在解題中的運用

The cottages could be an example of the industry？蒺s odd love affair with “l(fā)ow technology” ， a concept associated with the natural world， and with old？鄄school craftsmanship that exists long before the Internet era.

51. Low technology is regarded as something that

.

A. is related to nature

B. is out of date today

C. consumes too much energy

D. exists in the virtual world

解題：通過題干中的“l(fā)ow technology is regarded as”是“A被叫作B”表達方式，定位原文中的“l(fā)ow technology”的同位語“a concept associated with the natural world”，同位語是對前面的一個范疇的內(nèi)容做出說明、解釋或描述，選項A中的“be related to”與“associated with”是同義表述，“nature”與“the natural world”屬于通過詞形變換的同義表述，判定正確選項為A。

4.表示解釋、說明的標點符號在解題中的運用

All human beings possess a body clock. Along with other alerting systems， this governs the sleep/wake cycle and is therefore one of the main processes which govern sleep behaviour. Typically， the preferred sleep/wake cycle is delayed in adolescents， which leads to many students not feeling sleepy until much later in the evenings. This typical sleep pattern is usually referred to as the “night owl” schedule of sleep.

This is opposed to the “early bird” schedule， and is a kind of disorder where the individual tends to stay up much past midnight. Such a person has great difficulty in waking up in the mornings. Research suggests that night owls feel most alert and function best in the evenings and at night. Research findings have shown that about 20 percent of people can be classified as “night owls” and only 10 percent can be classified as “early birds” — the other 70 percent are in the middle. Although this is clearly not true for all students， for the ones who are true night owls this gives them an excellent excuse for missing their lectures which unfortunately fall before midday.endprint

46. What does the text mainly talk about？

A. Functions of the body clock.

B. The “night owl” phenomenon.

C. Human beings？蒺 sleep behaviour.

D. The school schedule of “early birds”.

解題：語篇中第一、二段通過詳述、舉例、對比等修辭手法來具體定義“the ‘night owl？蒺 phenomenon”。第一段結(jié)尾點題“This typical sleep pattern is usually referred to as the “night owl” schedule of sleep.”。帶引號的night owl在第一段和第二段中出現(xiàn)了四次，引號標示著重論述的對象或具有特殊含義的詞語。在跨句的語篇層面上，這種重復(fù)雖然本身沒有提供新的信息，但證明前面被重復(fù)的信息十分重要，需要擴展論述，語篇文字通過擴展論述和舉例解釋、說明 “night owl” 現(xiàn)象，因此被重復(fù)與重復(fù)信息共同構(gòu)成了重要信息即語篇的中心是the “night owl” phenomenon，判定正確選項為B。

三、教學(xué)啟示

運用定義方法可以提高高考閱讀理解的字面性理解和推斷性理解層次上的閱讀能力。上述分析表明，在閱讀技能訓(xùn)練中加強同義詞語及同義結(jié)構(gòu)的講解和訓(xùn)練有一定的意義，堅持進行詞語釋義和詞語替換的訓(xùn)練，讓學(xué)生學(xué)會運用同義結(jié)構(gòu)來解釋詞語。

另外，定義是常見的修辭手段之一，常見的修辭手段還有分類、描寫、對比、舉例等。在高考英語復(fù)習(xí)中教師應(yīng)重視常見修辭方法的教學(xué)，培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的修辭意識，促進學(xué)生的閱讀能力的提升。

[限于篇幅，文中的語篇內(nèi)容略有刪節(jié)。]

參考文獻：

1.廖巧云.定義的語用認知研究——一個元語言問題探討[J].外語學(xué)刊，2005（5）：91-95.

2.王楓林.閱讀理解和語篇分析[J].外語界，1994（1）：19-23.

3.章玉芳.語料庫輔助的高考應(yīng)用文閱讀分析及教學(xué)啟示[J].中小學(xué)英語教學(xué)與研究，2014（9）：65-70.

（作者單位：南京師范大學(xué)附屬中學(xué)）endprint