新托福写作简洁表达攻略
    
       托福交流

       目前托福写作考试的一个常见问题是，一味地追求句子的长度，有时反而会牺牲句子的“可读性”，特别是对一些基础一般的学生来说，生硬地追求长句反而破坏了句子的句法准确性。下面为考生们列举一些写得并不成功的长句，并给出如何修改的建议。

       1.一些空洞的单词或词组根本不能为句子带来任何相关的或重要的信息，完全可以被删掉。比如下面的句子：

    When all things are considered, modern young adults live richer and more fulfilling lives than their parents, in my opinion.

    这句话当中的“when all things are considered”和“in my opinion”都显得多余。完全可以去掉，避免重复。

    2.尽量避免重复使用同样的词汇。或者有的时候虽然词汇没有重复，但意思却有重复。这时候可以做一些简化的工作。例如下面这个例子：

    The farm on which my grandfather was raised was large in size.

    large对一个farm来说就是size方面的large，所以in size可以去掉，改为： The farm on which my grandfather was raised was large.

    更简洁的表达方式为：

    My grandfather grew up on a large farm.

    选择合适的语法结构可以使句子意思的表达更为精确和简练。虽然语法的多样性也很重要，但选择最恰当的语法结构仍然是更为重要的考虑因素。以下推荐几种考生们在考虑选择何种语法结构时可以参考的原则：

    1.一个句子的主语和谓语动词应该能够反映句子中的最重要的意思。例如：

    The situation that resulted in my grandfather’s not being able to study engineering was that his father needed help on the farm.

    从意思上来分析，上面这句话需要表达的重要概念是“grandfather’s not being able to study，”而在表达这个概念时，原句用的主语是situation，谓语动词是was，不能强调需要表达的重点概念，可以改为下面这句话：

    My grandfather couldn’t study engineering because his father needed help on the farm.

    2.避免频繁使用“there be”结构，例如下面的句子：

    There were 25 cows on the farm that my grandfather had to milk every day. It was hard work for my grandfather.

    更简洁的句式为：

    My grandfather worked hard milking 25 cows daily.