名詞化在高考英語(yǔ)解題中的應(yīng)用

浙江 胡 云

一、名詞化的概念、類型和功能

著名語(yǔ)言學(xué)家M.A.K.Halliday于1985年首次提出語(yǔ)法隱喻（grammatical metaphor）這一概念，它指的是在語(yǔ)言表達(dá)過(guò)程中，打破了用名詞體現(xiàn)事件過(guò)程的參與者，用動(dòng)詞體現(xiàn)過(guò)程本身，用形容詞體現(xiàn)事物的特征，用副詞或介詞短語(yǔ)體現(xiàn)時(shí)間、地點(diǎn)、工具、方式等環(huán)境意義，用連詞體現(xiàn)邏輯意義等常規(guī)方式，用名詞體現(xiàn)過(guò)程、特征等，即名詞化使得詞匯語(yǔ)法層所表達(dá)的表層意義和話語(yǔ)意義層所表達(dá)的深層意義變得不一致，例如：

a.The driver drove the bus too fast down the hill,so the brakes failed.

b.The driver’s over-rapid downhill driving of the bus caused brake failure.

在a句中，事件過(guò)程的參與者是由三個(gè)名詞The driver，the bus和the brakes體現(xiàn)的，事件過(guò)程是由動(dòng)詞drove和failed體現(xiàn)的，表示速度的環(huán)境意義是由副詞短語(yǔ)too fast體現(xiàn)的，表示方向的環(huán)境意義是由介詞短語(yǔ)down the hill體現(xiàn)的，表示因果關(guān)系的邏輯意義是由連詞so體現(xiàn)的，這種方式使得詞匯語(yǔ)法層所表達(dá)的表層意義和話語(yǔ)意義層所表達(dá)的深層意義相同。而b句則把三個(gè)過(guò)程參與者The driver，the bus和the brakes以及表示環(huán)境意義的down the hill都變成了名詞短語(yǔ)的修飾語(yǔ)，而表示過(guò)程的drive和fail則都變成了參與者，即它們分別被名詞化為driving和failure。

朱永生認(rèn)為，名詞化指的是把某個(gè)過(guò)程或特征看作事物，詞性轉(zhuǎn)換是其得以實(shí)現(xiàn)的一種方式。他把名詞化分為以下類型：

1.把過(guò)程看作事物

c.The police investigated the matter.

d.The police conducted an investigation into the matter.

2.把特征看作事物

e.They are narrow-minded and I don’t like it.

f.I don’t like their narrow-mindedness.

3.把評(píng)價(jià)看作事物

g.I achieved what I could.

h.I achieved my potential.

學(xué)界普遍認(rèn)為，名詞化在語(yǔ)篇表達(dá)中有著多種功能。

首先，名詞化的使用可以使語(yǔ)篇信息集中。從上面b句中，我們可以看到，句子中包含了兩個(gè)以名詞化了的driving和failure為核心的名詞短語(yǔ)，句子蘊(yùn)含了大量信息，極大地提升了其信息的密度，從而使得整個(gè)句子的表達(dá)更加簡(jiǎn)潔。

其次，名詞化的使用可以使語(yǔ)篇以主述位推進(jìn)的形式實(shí)現(xiàn)更好的銜接與連貫。例如：The government is discussing whether this ancient temple should be reconstructed.This discussion has attracted more and more public attention.此例中第二個(gè)句子中的“discussion”即為第一句中動(dòng)詞“is discussing”的名詞化，通過(guò)這一轉(zhuǎn)化，兩個(gè)句子之間的銜接變得順暢自然。

二、在高考英語(yǔ)試題中出現(xiàn)的名詞化的類型

當(dāng)前的高考英語(yǔ)試題中有大量的閱讀理解題涉及句意轉(zhuǎn)述、段落大意概括和文本大意概括等，表達(dá)形式多為名詞性短語(yǔ)，體現(xiàn)了名詞化信息集中這一功能特點(diǎn)。此外，高考英語(yǔ)試題主要以語(yǔ)篇形式呈現(xiàn)，其中多種類型的試題涉及名詞化的銜接連貫功能。接下來(lái)，本文介紹在高考英語(yǔ)試題中出現(xiàn)的名詞化的類型。

1.句子（群）的名詞化

此類名詞化是將文本中某個(gè)（些）句子進(jìn)行綜合概括，將其核心的動(dòng)詞或形容詞進(jìn)行名詞化，從而使其以一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)短的名詞性短語(yǔ)的形式出現(xiàn)于試題的選項(xiàng)中。如2021年新高考Ⅰ卷閱讀理解C篇：

...Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations,greatly reducing waterfowl habitats（棲息地）.

28.What was a cause of the waterfowl population decline in North America?

A.Loss of wetlands.

B.Popularity of water sports.

C.Pollution of rivers.

D.Arrival of other wild animals.

上面句子提到，水禽數(shù)量下降的原因之一是“wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations”，即濕地被排干為不斷增長(zhǎng)的人口提供食物和住房，從而導(dǎo)致水禽棲息地的減少。這其中的核心信息是“wetlands were dried”，其名詞化形式為“the dryness of wetlands”，命題者將其轉(zhuǎn)述為選項(xiàng)“A.Loss of wetlands.”。

2.段落大意的名詞化

此類名詞化是先用句子來(lái)概括段落的大意，在此基礎(chǔ)上，將句子內(nèi)容進(jìn)行名詞化表達(dá)。如2021年全國(guó)乙卷閱讀理解C篇：

Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled.Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source（來(lái)源）of plastic pollution,but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and,because of their small size and weight,they cannot be recycled.Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes.Once the drink is gone,the straw will take centuries to disappear.

29.Why does the author discuss plastic straws in Paragraph 3?

A.To show the difficulty of their recycling.

B.To explain why they are useful.

C.To voice his views on modern art.

D.To find a substitute for them.

上面這段話里提到塑料吸管之所以被人批判，是因?yàn)樗鼈兒苄『茌p，不能被回收利用（they cannot be recycled），后面又說(shuō)一旦飲料喝完了，吸管就會(huì)被扔掉，而它們需要幾個(gè)世紀(jì)才能消失。所以，總體上，這段話談的是“Plastic straws are easy to drop,but difficult to recycle.”。命題者將這個(gè)綜合信息名詞化為“the difficulty of their (plastic straws’) recycling”。

3.文本大意的名詞化

文本大意概括是高考英語(yǔ)考查的重要內(nèi)容之一，文本大意常用名詞性短語(yǔ)來(lái)進(jìn)行概括。如2021年3月天津卷閱讀理解C篇：

A trial project by the Montreal Children’s Hospital suggested that the use of medical hypnosis (催眠) can reduce pain and anxiety in patients.The project also resulted in a reduction in the amount of medicines used to preform medical-imaging（醫(yī)學(xué)影像）procedures.

50.What is the passage mainly about?

A.An easy way to communicate with patients.

B.The standard method of conducting hypnosis.

C.An introduction of medical-imaging technology.

D.The use of hypnosis in medical-imaging procedures.

文章第一段介紹了文本的核心信息：蒙特利爾兒童醫(yī)院所開(kāi)展的一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)項(xiàng)目表明，醫(yī)學(xué)催眠能減少病人的疼痛和焦慮，還減少了醫(yī)學(xué)影像檢查中藥物的用量。之后的段落介紹了在醫(yī)學(xué)影像檢查的各步驟中如何實(shí)施催眠。所以文本主題是“Technologists use hypnosis in medicalimaging procedures to reduce the amount of medicines.”命題者將其名詞化為“D.The use of hypnosis in medical-imaging procedures.”。

4.語(yǔ)篇銜接連貫的名詞化

如上文所述，名詞化可以使語(yǔ)篇的銜接連貫更加順暢自然。高考英語(yǔ)對(duì)語(yǔ)篇銜接連貫的考查也經(jīng)常涉及名詞化的應(yīng)用。如2021年1月浙江卷“七選五”：

...If there are three lines in the store,delays will happen randomly at different registers.Think about the probability:33 So it’s not just in your mind:Another line probably is moving faster.

33題空格前一句講：“請(qǐng)考慮可能性，即在三個(gè)隊(duì)伍排隊(duì)付款的情況下，你的隊(duì)伍排最快的可能性只有三分之一?！笨崭袂俺霈F(xiàn)的“probability”與D項(xiàng)中的“chances”意思相同，前后銜接連貫，而“your line is the fastest”被名詞化為“your line being the fastest”，作為核心名詞“The chances”的修飾語(yǔ)，故選擇“D.The chances of your line being the fastest are only one in three.”。

又如2021年1月浙江卷完形填空：

...Three days later,a beautiful stairway came into being.The 48 of knowing that my 49 will be on that mountainside for years to come is massive.

48.A.satisfaction B.ambition

C.expectation D.intention

49.A.work B.memory

C.record D.story

在這段話中作者提到，他利用三天的時(shí)間，在巖石上鑿出了一段漂亮的臺(tái)階。知道自己的作品會(huì)在山坡上留存幾年的時(shí)間，作者自然是感到高興滿意的，句子可表達(dá)為“Knowing that my work will be on that mountainside for years to come,I was very satisfied.”，此處將這個(gè)句子中的形容詞satisfied名詞化為satisfaction，而將表示原因的環(huán)境意義的現(xiàn)在分詞短語(yǔ)名詞化后，作為satisfaction的修飾語(yǔ)，從而將作者的情緒和前一句中成果的出現(xiàn)緊密銜接。

三、名詞化在解答高考英語(yǔ)試題中的應(yīng)用

在明晰了高考英語(yǔ)試題名詞化的思路后，學(xué)生可以通過(guò)解構(gòu)名詞化來(lái)快速解答相關(guān)題目。下面，筆者通過(guò)具體例子來(lái)分析如何應(yīng)用名詞化解答高考英語(yǔ)試題。

1.句子的名詞化解構(gòu)

2021年全國(guó)乙卷閱讀理解D篇：

So why do so many of us hate our open offices? The problem may be that,in our offices,we can’t stop ourselves from getting drawn into others’ conversations while we’re trying to focus.Indeed,the researchers found that face-to-face interactions and conversations affect the creative process,and yet a coworking space or a coffee shop provides a certain level of noise while also providing freedom from interruptions.

34.What makes an open office unwelcome to many people?

A.Personal privacy unprotected.

B.Limited working space.

C.Restrictions on group discussion.

D.Constant interruptions.

首先，這道題的設(shè)問(wèn)把文本中詢問(wèn)原因的why名詞化為詢問(wèn)參與者的what，第二句話中的“The problem may be that”直接呈現(xiàn)其答案，即“in our offices,we can’t stop ourselves from getting drawn into others’conversations while we’re trying to focus”。這句話可以解讀為“we’re interrupted by others’ conversations in our offices while we’re trying to focus”，我們可以進(jìn)一步將其名詞化為“interruptions by others’ conversations”，以回應(yīng)問(wèn)題中what所指向的信息，即“others’ interruptions make many of us hate our open offices/make open offices unwelcome to many people。而“D.Constant interruptions.”只是省略了打擾是由他人的談話所導(dǎo)致的這一信息，但并不妨礙學(xué)生順利得到正確答案。

在這個(gè)例子中，我們解構(gòu)名詞化的過(guò)程為：首先抓住句子的核心內(nèi)容——句子中的動(dòng)詞或形容詞，解讀其意思，然后將其名詞化，建立文本內(nèi)容和選項(xiàng)中的詞匯之間的聯(lián)系，從而確定正確答案。

2.段落大意的名詞化解構(gòu)

2020年全國(guó)卷Ⅲ閱讀理解B篇：

The creative team behindApesused motion-capture（動(dòng)作捕捉）technology to create digitalized animals,spending tens of millions of dollars on technology that records an actor’s performance and later processes it with computer graphics to create a final image（圖像）.In this case,one of a realisticlooking ape.

25.What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A.The cost of makingApes.

B.The creation of digitalized apes.

C.The publicity aboutApes.

D.The performance of real apes.

在這個(gè)段落中，核心信息是電影制作團(tuán)隊(duì)制作電子類人猿形象的方法，即“The creative team...processes it with computer graphics to create a final image.”，我們可以將此信息解讀為“The team creates an image of an realisticlooking ape by recording an actor’s performance and later processing it with computer graphics.”，最終可以將核心信息名詞化為“The creation of digitalized apes.”，即選項(xiàng)B。

在確定段落大意時(shí)，我們將句子名詞化的過(guò)程為：抓住段落的核心內(nèi)容，并通過(guò)一個(gè)句子呈現(xiàn)其意思，最后將句子的內(nèi)容名詞化，聯(lián)系選項(xiàng)中的核心詞匯，從而確定正確答案。

3.文本大意的名詞化解構(gòu)

With the young unable to afford to leave home and the old at risk of isolation（孤獨(dú)）,more families are choosing to live together.”

2020年全國(guó)卷Ⅲ閱讀理解C篇：

31.What is the text mainly about?

A.Lifestyles in different countries.

B.Conflicts between generations.

C.A housing problem in Britain.

D.A rising trend of living in the UK.

文章第一段提出當(dāng)前英國(guó)的一種社會(huì)現(xiàn)象：由于年輕人無(wú)法負(fù)擔(dān)離開(kāi)家的費(fèi)用，老年人面臨著孤獨(dú)，越來(lái)越多的家庭選擇住在一起。之后以Nick Bright為例，談?wù)撍麄円患胰巳绾瓮∫淮狈孔樱Ⅻc(diǎn)明他們是“one of a growing number of multigenerational families in the UK living together under the same roof ”，而后再次提出“research indicates that the numbers have been rising for some time.Official reports suggest that the number of households with three generations living together had risen from 325 000 in 2001 to 419 000 in 2013.”，所以我們可以將文本的核心意思概括為“the number of multigenerational families in UK has been rising/growing”，然后可以將其名詞化為“D.A rising trend of living in the UK.”，其中原來(lái)句子中表示過(guò)程的動(dòng)詞rise成了名詞化短語(yǔ)中的修飾語(yǔ)。

在組織文本大意時(shí)，我們應(yīng)該首先確定文本的寫(xiě)作對(duì)象（subject），進(jìn)而通過(guò)對(duì)各段內(nèi)容的理解，把握其主題內(nèi)容（topic），之后先以句子的形式呈現(xiàn)文本大意，再通過(guò)名詞化的手段概括大意，最后聯(lián)系選項(xiàng)中的關(guān)鍵詞匯，從而確定正確答案。

4.銜接連貫意義的名詞化解構(gòu)

2019年北京卷“七選五”：

To explain this phenomenon,the researchers explored the degree to which a good performance by a team requires its members to coordinate（協(xié)調(diào)）their actions.___48___ In baseball,the performance of individual players is less dependent on teammates.They conclude that when task interdependence is high,team performance will suffer when there is too much talent,while individual talent will have positive effects on team performance when task interdependence is lower.If a basketball star is,for example,trying to gain a high personal point total,he may take a shot himself when it would be better to pass the ball to a teammate,affecting the team’s performance.Young children learning to play team sports are often told,“There is no I in TEAM.” ...

A.It’s not a simple matter to determine the nature of talent.

B.Sports team owners spend millions of dollars attracting top talent.

C.The group interaction and its effect drew the researchers’attention.

D.Stars apparently do not follow this basic principle of sportsmanship.

E.Several recent studies examined the role of talent in the sports world.

F.Building up a dream team is more complex than simply hiring the best talent.

G.This task interdependence distinguishes baseball from football and basketball.

這段話首先提到，研究者探究了運(yùn)動(dòng)隊(duì)要想有好的表現(xiàn)，隊(duì)員們需要相互配合使動(dòng)作達(dá)到何種程度。接著呈現(xiàn)他們的研究結(jié)果，48題上一句的核心是“its members to coordinate（協(xié)調(diào)）their actions”，G選項(xiàng)中的“This task interdependence”可以看作是其名詞化短語(yǔ)“the coordination of its members’ actions”的轉(zhuǎn)述，故G選項(xiàng)通過(guò)“This task interdependence”這個(gè)名詞化短語(yǔ)實(shí)現(xiàn)了與上一句的銜接，而后半句談到這種依賴使棒球區(qū)別于足球和籃球，所以第48題的正確選項(xiàng)是G。

從上面的例子中我們可以看出，以名詞化實(shí)現(xiàn)段落內(nèi)部的銜接與連貫，通常會(huì)以名詞化短語(yǔ)來(lái)呈現(xiàn)前面句子中的關(guān)鍵信息，或是其中的動(dòng)詞內(nèi)容、形容詞內(nèi)容等，而名詞化的表述可以直接從前文中的動(dòng)詞或形容詞轉(zhuǎn)化而來(lái)，也可以在此基礎(chǔ)上進(jìn)一步轉(zhuǎn)述。解題時(shí)，學(xué)生抓住其中詞匯的聯(lián)系即可。

語(yǔ)法隱喻中的名詞化在語(yǔ)言表達(dá)和語(yǔ)篇組織中有著重要作用，教師要培養(yǎng)學(xué)生快速識(shí)別、解構(gòu)名詞化表達(dá)的能力，使其在高考英語(yǔ)考試過(guò)程中可以快速解讀句子和文本，從而找到正確答案。此外，在識(shí)別、解構(gòu)名詞化的過(guò)程中，學(xué)生還能同時(shí)提升語(yǔ)言概括能力和轉(zhuǎn)述能力，從而提升自己的綜合語(yǔ)言能力。