兩篇中外文化對比類閱讀的比較

陳光偉

新課標明確指出，所有主題語境都應包含中外文化的范疇，并且新課標將文化意識列為英語學科核心素養(yǎng)之一，以引領學生“在中外文化對比中汲取正確的世界觀和價值觀”，進而提升“對比、分析、綜合、歸納等思維品質(zhì)”。

在2017-2022年高考英語試題中，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)高考語篇的文化意識承載類型豐富、分布比較適當，既涉及英語國家文化、我國的本土文化、人類共有文化，也含有不同民族的文化對比。其中，英語國家文化的語篇占比最高， 其次為我國的本土文化以及人類共有文化的語篇。呈現(xiàn)文化對比的語篇占比不高，在備考中容易忽視，因此也一定程度上值得高三師生的關注。除了高考真題，備考的師生也可關注一些質(zhì)量較高的各省市的高考模擬題。下文選取了2020年與2022年的廣州一模試題中兩篇中外文化對比類閱讀。

［例1］ 2020廣州一模D篇

1. 原題呈現(xiàn)

After 400 years， William Shakespeare （1564-1616） is still widely celebrated as a great crafter of language and playwright （劇作家）. But he was not the only great master of dramatic writing to die in 1616， and he is certainly not the only writer to have left a lasting impact on theatre. While less known worldwide， Tang Xianzu is rightly considered China's greatest playwright and is highly admired in that country of ancient literary and dramatic traditions．

Tang was born in 1550 in Linchuan， Jiangxi Province， and worked as a government official until， in 1598 and aged 49， he retired to focus on writing. Unlike Shakespeare's large body of plays and poems， Tang wrote only four major plays： The Purple Hairpin， A Dream under a Southern Bough， Dream of Handan and The Peony Pavilion--widely considered to be his masterpiece. In the latter three， much of the story is told through dream sequences. Tang used these scenes to explore human emotions in ways that challenged the feudal system of his time. It is a similar dream structure that we find in Shakespeare'?A Midsummer Night's Dream．

Tang lived towards the end of the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） and， similarly to Shakespeare， his lasting success was partly due to the growth of theatre as an artistic practice during his lifetime. As in Shakespeare's England， it became hugely popular in China， with public theatres opening in different cities and traveling performance groups becoming common. Theatrical audiences started to populate open public spaces， and theatre as a popular form of entertainment found its place outside palaces. However， unlike in Shakespeare's England， there was hardly any mixing of the rich with commoners at theatrical events．

During this time， the way in which play-texts were enjoyed， spread and performed also changed. Initially， Chinese dramas had an emphasis on poetic language and were distributed in book form， to be read like novels. They were seldom， if ever， performed. However， from the mid-16th century， kunqu opera， a form of musical drama， spread from southern China to become a symbol of Chinese culture．

While Tang and Shakespeare lived a world away from each other， they share in common the humanity of their drama， their heroic figures， their love for language， a lasting popularity — and the anniversary during which we still celebrate them．

32. Why does the writer refer to Shakespeare throughout this article about Tang？

A. To compare the writing styles of the writers．

B. To emphasize Tang's importance in literature．

C. To assess the achievements of these two great writers．

D. To examine the different influences of Tang and Shakespeare．

33. What distinguishes The Purple Hairpin from Tang's other plays？

A. It does not rely heavily on dream scenes．

B. It is widely considered to be his best work．

C. It was the only play to be publicly performed．

D. It challenged the feudal system of ancient China．

34. What characteristic was shared by both English and Chinese theatre during Tang's lifetime？

A. Music and poetry were present in most performances．

B. The popularity of public theatrical performances grew rapidly．

C. Different social classes often attended the same performances．

D. Most plays were written to be read as novels rather than performed．

35. Which of the following would the author probably agree with？

A. Tang's plays were superior to his poems．

B. Tang is more widely read than Shakespeare．

C. Tang is the best playwright in Chinese history．

D. Tang and Shakespeare knew of each other's works．

2. 分析

2020年廣州一模D篇內(nèi)容為介紹我國劇作者湯顯祖，答案為BABC。其中涉及文化對比的題目為第32題與第34題。

第32題考查寫作手法及其目的。作者雖然通篇都有提到莎士比亞，其目的并非要對比兩大文豪異同，而是用西方讀者熟悉的莎士比亞引出相對不為他們熟悉的中國劇作家。從第一段第二句“But he was not the only great master of dramatic writing to die in 1616， and he is certainly not the only writer to have left a lasting impact on theatre.”可知這篇文章中莎翁并非主角，主角是后一句“While less known worldwide， Tang Xianzu is rightly considered China's greatest playwright and is highly admired in that country of ancient literary and dramatic traditions.” 中的湯顯祖，這種從熟悉到不熟悉的思路目的是為了凸顯出湯顯祖的跟莎翁同等的文學地位。而錯選的人都沒有看出”莎翁”在本文中的襯托作用，以及作者介紹湯顯祖的寫作意圖。

第34題考查細節(jié)理解能力，特別是多細節(jié)信息綜合對比能力，從第三段第二句“As in Shakespeare's England， it became hugely popular in China， with public theatres opening in different cities and traveling performance groups becoming common.”可知湯顯祖時期也就是莎士比亞時期，戲劇在中英兩國同時流行起來。而本題的干擾點是第三段最后一句“However， unlike in Shakespeare's England， there was hardly any mixing of the rich with commoners at theatrical events.”這句本來是講兩國戲劇的不同，但錯選的考生沒看到unlike的否定。在兩個細節(jié)信息的夾擊之下思維混亂了。

［例2］ 2022廣州一模C篇

1. 原題呈現(xiàn)

Discoveries at the famous Sanxingdui ruins in Southwest China show that the region's ancient Shu Kingdom civilization shared similarities with the Maya．

The Sanxingdui ruins belonged to the Shu Kingdom that existed at least 4，800 years ago and lasted more than 2，000 years， while the Mayan civilization built its city-states around 200 AD．

The bronze-made remains of trees unearthed at the ruins of the Shu Kingdom resemble the sacred ceiba tree， which symbolized the union of heaven， earth and the underworld in the Mayan civilization. “They are very important similarities，”says Santos， a Mexican archaeologist （考古學家）， stressing that “the representations of trees in both cultures provide a symbolism that is very similar”．

The findings at the Sanxingdui ruins， considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century， also show a new aspect of Bronze Age culture， indicating the ancient civilization already had technologies that were thought to have been developed much later．

While the time span between the Shu Kingdom and the Mayan culture is great， the findings highlight the closeness between the two civilizations. They developed in areas with comparable climates and reflected their worldview through related symbols. “In the end， man is still man， independent of time and space. What we have is that， at this latitude （緯度）， both the Shu people and the Mayans looked at the same sky and had the same stars on the horizon，”the expert says．

One notable feature of the recent discoveries at Sanxingdui was the cross-subject work and technology applied by teams of Chinese archaeologists， which allowed the unearthing of artifacts as fragile as silk remains， which other types of less careful digging methods would not have been able to register．

Cooperation between Chinese and Mexican archaeologists could benefit projects in the Mayan World， where the rainy climate and humidity are problematic for the conservation of ruins．

“Every time our cultural knowledge increases， regardless of whether we speak one language or another， what it shows us is that we continue to be sister cultures and， therefore， the exchange of such knowledge is fundamental，” says Santos．

28. What is a similarity between the Shu Kingdom and Mayan civilizations？

A. Their starting time．

B. Their historical origins．

C. Their cultural symbols．

D. Their ceremony traditions．

29. The findings at the Sanxingdui ruins have proved that ______

A. silk was a common clothing material then

B. some technologies were developed much earlier

C. the Bronze Age started earlier than previously assumed

D. the Shu Kingdom and the Mayan world had close contact

30. What is a common challenge for the conservation of both ruins？

A. Damp weather．

B. Positioning of ruins．

C. High latitude．

D. Language barriers．

31. What is the focus of Santos'?quote in the last paragraph？

A. The future of the China-Mexico cooperation．

B. The benefits of speaking a different language．

C. The importance of the exchange of cultural knowledge．

D. The increasing sisterhood in culture between China and Mexico．

2. 分析

2022年廣州一模C篇內(nèi)容為我國三星堆文化和墨西哥瑪雅文化的對比，答案為CBAC。其中涉及文化對比的題目為第28題與第30題。

第28題問及古蜀國與瑪雅文明的相似性，考查學生理解細節(jié)信息的能力。答案源自第三段對蜀文明和瑪雅文明所使用的象征物品之間相似性的介紹：蜀國遺址出土的青銅樹殘骸類似于（resemble）瑪雅文明中的圣樹木棉樹，引文“They are very important similarities，” says Santos， a Mexican archaeologist stressing that “the representations of trees in both cultures provide a symbolism that is very similar”為答題的直接線索。選項A中的“文明的起始時間”與本文事實相悖；而選項B、D所述內(nèi)容文中未提及。

第30題問及兩處遺址的保護工作中面臨的共同挑戰(zhàn)是什么，考查學生綜合理解細節(jié)信息并作出簡單推斷的能力。第七段“Cooperation between Chinese and Mexican archaeologists could benefit projects in the Mayan world， where the rainy climate and humidity are problematic for the conservation of ruins. ”一句講到：瑪雅遺址所在地多雨潮濕，是遺址保護的難題。此外，根據(jù)文章第五段“They developed in areas with comparable climates…”的表述，兩地氣候有可比性，可以推斷出這個難題在三星堆也應該存在。綜合判斷，兩地在保護文明遺址方面都有的挑戰(zhàn)是所在地氣候潮濕的問題，答案為A。其它選項與文章內(nèi)容相悖。

小結(jié)

從上面兩個例子，我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，這兩篇文化對比類的文章選材緊跟地方特色或時事：2016年為紀念兩位大師逝世400周年，廣州舉辦了“湯顯祖·莎士比亞廣州戲劇文化年”活動，而2021年是中國考古學誕生100周年。

其次，語篇題目設空多為細節(jié)理解類，解題難度不算太大。

我們也發(fā)現(xiàn)，除了做題，文化對比類語篇更重視培育學生的文化認同與傳播、感悟與鑒別各類文化的意識與能力。2022年C篇比2020年D篇更強調(diào)中國的硬實力，如文章后半部分提到的中國先進的考古技術(shù)惠及他國，這充分體現(xiàn)了國家在世界上不斷增強的影響力、話語權(quán)，引導學生增強文化自信。

因此，備考的過程中師生應時刻保持文化自覺，充分挖掘教材中的中華文化元素，并以此為切入點，適當拓展同一主題語境下的中華文化元素，培養(yǎng)以中華文化為驕傲的文化自信。同時，可以通過對比中外文化，如對比中外詩歌文化在表達方式和創(chuàng)作思路上的異同、中外餐桌禮儀和節(jié)日習俗差異等，進一步加深對中華文化的理解和認同，形成文化多元化意識。

【本文系廣東實驗中學“十四五”教育研究課題“案例教學法在新人教版高中英語文化教學中的應用研究”（立項編號：GDSYZX2021-gj02）研究成果】

責任編輯吳昊雷