论最新英语科高考命题特色

--首届（2003年）全国中考、高考英语教学改革研讨会大会交流论文

河北省廊坊市文安县第一中学 王锡桥

摘要： 本文以高考试题为依据，从实战对敌的角度揣测出题人之心理，概括为以下三种特色。其中，洋味，即英语的民族特色，已越来越突出的表现在高考试题语言上，读不懂原汁原味的英语的应试者必将成为新试题的败将；考查思维的深刻性与灵活性已成为出题人最喜爱，最得意的命题招式……文中提出了向出题人学习英语和思维的指导方向。

NMET ischanging but steadily. It is no longer a general check up of the knowledge thata student has learned, but a test on a learner’s comprehension of language,quality characters of thinking, and its use of the language. To be short, thereare three main features of the present NMET, namely: 1.一词多义\词义引申 2.洋味\洋结构\同义异构 3.逻辑推理.When a teacher of English is aware of these features, it will be easy for himor her to have a better idea of teaching English as a foreign language inmiddle school.

关键词：洋味英语，逻辑思维，一词多义

总论

二十世纪八十年代至九十年代初，英语测试以知识为主，九十年代中期侧重点转向了内在潜能及学生的未来可塑性。在英语学科上，高考试题特色鲜明：

1.一词多义\词义引申

2.洋味\洋结构\同义异构

3.逻辑推理

$1. Polysemy

Polysemyadds to the difficulty of the comprehension of the test papers. However, thisis a big feature of the English language. Therefore, giving precise explanationon polysemous words is critically necessary in teaching the language.

$1.1一词多义,难以理解,更易误解.

Example1.

Met 91.

On thenight of the play,...He certainly looked the part all right.

Afterall, it was his first time to play a part in a play.

play n.戏 lookthe part all right准确地背下台词

play v.扮演 a part 1)部分2)角色

The morehe watched the play, the more he felt himself part of it.

Example2.

He puthis head in his hands and tried to remember his lines, but...

remember1)记忆2)回想 line 1)线astraight line 2)绳 clothes line 3)台词

Example3.

Themeasure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would neverbe found out.

becausethey give us a way to measure ourselves rather than others.

measurev.测量,衡量 n.尺寸 Make a suit to one's ownmeasure n. usu. pl. 措施

Example4.

In whichorder did O Henry do the following things?

Just letme wipe your table and then I'll take your order. OK?

They areall out of order except my John!

order 1)顺序2)点菜3)订货Compare: order odor

Example5.

JaneClark, fair-haired, blue-eyed and tough as steel has just won the mostdifficult race in the world.

Womanwins the world's toughest race.

fair 1)公平 2)金黄色(的头发) 3)苍白(脸)tough 1)粗糙2)坚硬3)困难的

Example6.

Don't rush.There’s plenty of time. rush跑

Soon therush-hour crowds began to notice. rush-hour交通繁忙时间

Example7.

thinthread 细绳;He is thin while I am fat. thin瘦;thin hair 头发稀疏

threadwidth

Example8.

There,1350 feet above the street, a tiny figure was walking on air.

The stonefigures in the temple are very dull.

Add thesefigures up. Let’s see how much you are in debt.

Many ofthese problems are of college level and these pupils can figure them out. It isjust unbelievable.

figure 1)人 2)人像 3)数字figure out=work out=算出

$1.2.词义的引申

Sometimes,words mean the face meaning, sometimes means differently; what’s worse,occasionally, their meaning is far from that they appear to mean.

Example1.

The boyis so tall that if he reaches out his arm, he can touch the ceiling.

Touchyour nose game.

The sadstory touched me so much that I decided to devote myself to helping peoplebitten by snakes.

touch=触,碰 touch=触动心灵

Thisstory is so touching. touching=moving

Example2.

At thetime of the story, his merchant ships are all at sea.

at sea=在海 上 What are you saying? I'm all atsea. all at sea--American colloquial

=茫然=not understand

Example3.

China hassuccessfully achieved a soft-landing. 软着陆toslow down

A largeblock of ice. The road is blocked.被阻断

Example4.

The housebeing built will be given to his son as a wedding present.

Sportsbuild our body. build=make a person strong.

$2. Foreign Flavor

Foreignflavor. Every nationality has its own language. The longer tradition a languagehas, the greater the difference will be from other languages. Most prevalenttextbooks only provide revised or adapted articles that are much easier for thestudents to understand and that have lost the unique feature of the Englishlanguage. On the contrary, the articles the NMET adopts are those that havestriking foreign flavor, which doesn’t agree with most Chinese students. If theteacher trains his or her students with original materials in the targetlanguage, he or she will make greater achievements with less effort.

$2.1洋味词汇

Example1.

I've noidea. = I don't know.

He is agood swimmer. = He swims very well. She is a good dancer.

She willmake a good wife. = She will become a good wife.

It's nouse crying at spilt milk.

Example2.

Muttondoesn't agree with me. I don't agree tothe plan. Tom doesn’t agree with what Isaid. They haven't agreed on that point.

Example3. come

Our teamcame second in the game.

The car raninto a wall and came to a stop.

He triedto remember his lines but nothing came to his mind.

Example4.

Ready? Go!Please get ready. If you are in trouble, turn to Lao Li for help. He’s alwaysready to help.

ready 1)准备好的2)乐于助人

Example5. go

A littlemoney can go a long way. go=last

Hasanything gone wrong? go=变 e.g.: go bad, go blind, go worse, go sour

Everythingwent black.

Everythingwent well. go=进展 go badly *go bad

Everythingis going on well. This tie goes with this suit. go with=match

The housewent cheap. go=be sold out

He wentto school without breakfast. Since he is ill, we’ll go without him.

Example6.

One day afew years ago a funny thing happened to a neighbor of mine.

What's happening?That day he happened to be out.

happen 1)发生2)出事3)碰巧

Example 7

Every mannormally has two hands. Hands up!

Let megive you a hand. hand=help

Pleasehand in your papers before the end of the week. hand in=turn in

$2.2洋结构

Idiomsand the organization principles of English sentences can both be different fromthe Chinese language. When the reader has had the language sense and has had aknowledge of the principles of English, he will make greater progress inlearning. We can use this method to crack long sentences in reading: 长句子的理解: 1.先简化 2.后增补 3.充分理解同位语, 定语, 状语.

Example1.

Santa Fe,the capital of New Mexico, USA, is in the central part of the state, on theSanta Fe River, which flows into the Rio Grand 35 kilometers west of the city.

长句子的理解:1.先简化 2.后增补 3.充分理解同位语, 定语, 状语.

We canparaphrase the above into the following:

Santa Feis in the central part of the state on Santa Fe River.

Extra information:Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. New Mexico is in the USA. Santa Fe isalso the name of a river. The Santa Fe city is by the river. We also know thatSanta Fe River flows into Rio Grand. Rio Grand may be a place that holds water.It is 35 kilometers west of the Santa Fe city.

Question:Which of the drawings below gives an idea of what Santa Fe is like?

If we use the above methodto teach these sentences, the students can easily make out that D is thecorrect answer.

Example2.

Forthousands of years, man has enjoyed the taste of apples. Apples, which areabout 85 percent water, grow almost everywhere in the world but the hottest andcoldest areas. Apples grow almost everywhere.

but=except(除...之外)

Example3.There are various kinds of apples, but a very few make up the majority ofthose grown for sale.

1.make upthe majority=占据了大多数

2.thosegrown for sale 过去分词作定语

Example4.

As a child,his father died, leaving him nothing but debts.有误。

When hewas a child, his father died, leaving him nothing but debts.

Hehurriedly left home. Everything was left in disorder.

Can Ihave some more bread? Sorry, there is none left.

Whencrossing the street, you should first see if the road is clear.

Being afine day, we will go for a swim in the lake.有误

Example5.

So do I. 我也... 倒装 否定式为: Nor do I. Neither do I.

So I do. 同意对方观点 Itis a fine day. So it was. 确实是好天.

I did so.我那样做了.

$2.3 同义异构

Usingdifferent expressions to express the same meaning is a striking feature inNMET. This is best seen in READING COMPREHENSION. The test paper writer usesdifferent forms to question the exam-takers. If you choose the answer that usesthe same expression as the text, you are probably making a wrong choice. Bear inmind: choose the one that uses different expressions.

1. 同义词, 近义词

Example1.difficult--tough

Met 91

JaneClark, fair-haired, blue-eyed and tough as steel, has just won the most difficultrace in the world.

Question:Which of the following best gives the main idea of this newspaper article?

A. Womanwins the world's toughest race.

B. Womanfights bitter winds and snowstorm! Note:difficult=tough

Example2.job--career

Met 92

ShuPulong has helped at least 1000 people bitten by snakes. "It was seeing people with snake bites(伤口)that led me to this career,"he said. Question:Which of the following words can take theplace of the word career in the first paragraph (段)?

A.conclusion B. story C. incident D. job

Note: career=job

Example3.

Met 93

Kleptomaniais an illness of the mind that gives a person the desire to steal.

Question:Which of the following can best replace (替代)the word desire in the first sentence?

A. chance B. power C. right D. wish

Example4. Met 93

Forthousands of years, man has enjoyed the taste of apples. Apples, which areabout 85 percent water, grow almost everywhere in the world but the hottest andcoldest areas. Among the leading countries inapple production are China, France and the United States.

There arevarious kinds of apples, but a very few make up the majority of those grown forsale. The three most common kinds grown in the United States are Delicious,Golden Delicious and McIntosh Apples are different in color, size, and taste.The color of the skin may be red, green, or yellow. They havevarious sizes, with Delicious apples being among the largest. Thetaste may be sweet or tart (酸).Generally, sweet apples are eaten fresh while tart apples areused to make applesauce (苹果酱)

Appletrees may grow as tall as twelve metres. They do best in areas that have verycold winters. Although no fruit isyielded during the winter, thiscold period is good for the tree.

Question1: It can be learned from the text that Delicious apples are_________. A. grownin France B. sold everywhere C.very bigD. quite sweet 此题易错选A. The correct answer is C. Note: large=big

Question4: The word yielded in the last sentence means_____

A.improved B. increased C. produced D. soldNote: yield=produce

2.同义异构 同向,同性

In thesame above passage.

Question3: China, and the United States are considered to ______.

A. belarge producers of apples B. be large producers of applesauce

Note: leadingcountries in apple production= large producers, large producing countries

Example2.

Met 93.

When hewas 11,he read the book Marco Polo and made up his mind to visit the Silk Road.

Question:1.The story about Marco Polo. B. The famous sights in Xi'an.

C. Hisinterest in Chinese silk. D. His children dreams about bicycles.

Example3.

Met 95.

The ideaof fighting a noise by making more noise sounds strange.

Carmakers’research and development laboratories have already proved that mixing in morenoise with the help of loudspeakers can reduce the unwanted noise.

Besidesits main function (功能) the noise-killing systemcan______.

A. make acar lighter B. make a car quieter. C.reduce the costof a silencer. D. improve theperformance of a silencer.

Note: noise-killingsystem means a system to kill noise, which can also be understood as a systemto make a car quieter.

Example4.

Met 96.

Cataloguecards usually give the following important information:(1) the name of thewriter,(2)the shelf-mark (架号),that is, the Deweynumber which helps people to find where the books are,(3)the title ofthe book ,(4)the year of publication and the publisher, and(5)the numberof pages in the book.

Question:If you know the title of a book and want to find out if it is in the catalogue,what else do you need to know?

A. Theshelf-mark B. The name of the writer C. The Dewey number D. The year of publication

Thecorrect answer is B.

$3. Reasoning

Reasoningis very important in solving comprehension test. The test writer will focus onthe reasoning of subject, details and inferences.

$3.1主题推理

Example1.

Met 92

ShuPulong has helped at least 1000 people bitten by snakes. "It was seeingpeople with snake bites (伤口)that led me to this career," he said.

In 1963, afterhis army service, Shu entered a medical school and later became a doctor ofChinese medicine. As part of his studies he had to work in the mountains. Therehe often heard of people who had their arms and legs cut off after a snakebitein order to save their lives.

"Iwas greatly upset by the story of an old farmer I met. It was a veryhot afternoon. The old man was pulling grass in his fields when he felt a pain in his left hand. He at once realized apoisonous snake had bitten him. In no time he wrapped a cloth tightly aroundhis armto stop the poison spreading to his heart. Rushing home he shouted, "Bring me the knife!" Minutes later the manlost his arm forever.

"Thesad story touched me so much that I decidedto devote myselfto helping people bitten by snakes," Shu said.

Question:The best headline for this newspaper article is____

A.Astonishing Medicine B. Farmer Loses ArmC. Dangerous Bites D. Snake Doctor

Example 2

Met 95

Fat onhuman beings is distributed (分布)in different ways. Somefat people have a large stomach and no waistline- - which makesthem look round, rather like apples.Others are fatter below the waist, whichmakes them appear pear-shaped.

There aretwo types of fat: external fat (fat under the skin) and internal fat (fatinside the body wall). Doctors, who have been examining the relationshipbetween health and fatness, have found that the 'pears' have less internal fat,but the 'apples' have more internal fat than external fat. This seems to bewhat causes the health problems.

The besttreatment for fatness isto reduce theinternal fat. But unfortunatelyit seems that dieting (节食)simply makes an apple- shaped person into a smaller apple anda pear-shaped person into a smaller pear .At the moment there is no known wayof reducing the internal rather than external fat.

The textis mainly about________.

A.fatness and health B. ways to loseweight C. people's figuresD .distribution of fat

Example

Met97

In the1930s,a lot of people in the USA were outof work. Among these people was a man named Alfred Butts. Healways had an interest inword games and so, to fill his time, he planned a game which he called'Lexico' .However, he was not completely satisfied with the game, sohe made a numberof changes toit and, in time,changed its name from 'Lexico' to 'Alph' and then to 'CrissCross'. He wanted to make some money from his new game but he didn't haveany real commercial (商业) success.

In 1939,Butts happened to meet a man called Jim Brunot who showed an interest in thenew game. The two men worked together on developing the game and in 1948 it wasoffered for sale in the United States under its new name--'Scrabble'.

At first,it didn't sell very well. In the first year it sold just 2, 250 sets and by 1951 it had only reached8,500 sets a year.

Then, in1952 the manager of Macy's department store in New York, Jack Strauss, happenedto play 'Scrabble' while he was on holiday. Hethought it was a wonderful game and, when he went back to work after hisholiday ,he insisted that Macy's should stock (储备)the game and an effort (努力) to call the public's attention to it.

As aresult, 'Scrabble' became a big success in the United States and it soon spread to Australia and then to otherEnglish-speaking countries.

This textis mainly about_____.

A. 'Lexico'B. three men C. a word game D. Alfred Butts

$3.2细节推理

Met 91

One day afew years ago a very funny thing happened toa neighbour of mine. He is a teacher at one of London'sbig medical schools. Hehad finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airporton his way to Russia to give a lecture.

He hadput a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton(人体骨架)to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase(箱子).At the airport desk, he suddenly thoughtthat he had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He left his suitcase near the deskand went over to the shop.

When hegot back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake. He oftenwonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.

Who wrotethe story?

A.Rupert's teacher. B. The neighbour'steacher.

C. Amedical schoolteacher. D. The teacher'sneighbour

(四减三,等于一)If three of the answers are wrong, the last one that you are not sure about issurely the correct one.

Cloze Met92.

Hecertainly looked the part all right, he thought as he____himself in the mirror.

A. lookedB. showed C. admired D. enjoyed

错觉: 看镜中的自己, 似合逻辑, 可惜后面缺at;show means 给别人看, 不是看自己.

enjoyoneself玩的开心, 但岂能在镜里?

The backdoor and the windows were all____and there was no _____of forced entry. (进入)

1. A. lockedB. opened C. broken D. fixed

2. A. sceneB. show C. sign D. sight

没有暴力进入的1.景色 2.展示 3.迹象 4.场面, 只能搭配3.迹象

The firstsentence in the text says: Mrs. Clark locked the door and went to the club asusual. 锁门,故thedoor is locked. 结论: 门锁着,且无撬门迹象.

I wasgoing to be late____the manager wasn't going to be____.

1. A. as B. but C.and D. or

2. A. pleased B. worried C. sorry D. patient

雇员迟到,____ (1.因为 2.但是 3.所以 4.或者)经理_____ (1.不高兴 2.担心 3.对 不起 4.耐心)

He___upinto a row of faces. "It's funny," he thought. "they look soangry."

A. turnedB. looked C. hurried D. stood

动词与 up 搭配:turn up=露面 look up=抬头看 hurry up=匆忙 stand up=起立

能与表情 angry搭配的只能是look up into...faces.

$3.3智力推理

Met 91

Valenciais in the east part of Spain (西班牙).It has a port on the sea, two miles away on the coast. It is the capital of aprovince that is named Valencia.

The cityis a market centre for what is produced by the land around the city. Most of the city's money is madefrom farming. It is also a busy business city, with shops, railways, clothesand machine factories.

Valenciahas an old part with white buildings, coloured roofs, and narrow streets. The modern parthas long, wide streetsand new buildings.

Valenciais well known for its parks andgardens. It has manyold churches and museums. The university in the centre of the citywas built in the 13th century.

The cityof Valencia has been known since the 2ndcentury. In the 8th century it was the capital of Spain.There is also an important city in Venezuela(委内瑞拉)named Valencia.

What isthe main difference between the twoparts of the city?

A. The colorof the buildings B. The length of the streets

C. Theage of the buildings D. The color of the roofs

Met 98

Thereport came to the British on May 21,1941. The German battleship Bismarck, the most powerfulwarship in the world, was moving out intothe Atlantic Ocean. Her task: to destroy the ships carrying suppliesfrom the United States to war-tornEngland.

TheBritish had feared such a task. No warship they had could matchthe Bismarck in speed or in firepower. The Bismarck had eight 15- inchguns and81 smaller guns. She could move at 30 nautical miles (海里) anhour.

She wasbelieved to be unsinkable.

However,the British had to sink her. They sent out atask force headed by their best battleship Hood to huntdown the Bismarck. On May 24, the Hood found the Bismarck.

It was ameeting that the German commander Luetjens did not want to see.

Hisorders were to destroy the British ships that were carrying supplies, but tostay sway from a fight with British warships.

Thebattle didn't last long. The Bismarck's first torpedo (鱼雷) hit the Hood, which went down taking allbut three of her 1,419 men with her. But in the fight, the Bismarck wasslightly damaged. Her commander decided to run for repairs to France, which hadat that time been taken by the Germans. The British force followed her.However, because of the Bismarck's speed and the heavy fog, theylost sight of her.

For two days,every British ship in theAtlantic tried tofind the Bismarck, but with nosuccess. Finally, a plane from Ireland sighted her. Trying to slow theBismarck down sothat their shipscould catch up with her, the British fired her from the air. The Bismarckwas hit.

On themorning of May 27,the last battle was fought. Four British ships fired on the Bismarck,and she was finally sunk.

Welearned from the text that on 24 May_______.

A. theBritish won the battle against the Bismarck

B. theBismarck won the battle against British

C. theBritish gunfire damaged the Bismarck seriously

D. theBismarck succeeded in keeping away from the British

$4. Conclusion

From theabove discussion, we can clearly see that the main features of NMET are: 1.一词多义\词义引申 2.洋味\洋结构\同义异构 3.逻辑推理.In teaching, the teacher should lay enough emphasis on the teaching offoreign-flavor vocabulary, the annotation of the unique characteristics of theEnglish language, and cultivating the thinking of the students. To be morespecific, choose some original materials from English-speaking media, andfamiliarize the students with foreign culture and language features. Doreasoning exercises in class and in daily life. Every learner can get goodmarks if he or she pays enough attention to the above-mentioned features ofNMET.