新托福听力Ｌｉｓｔｅｎ Ａｇａｉｎ题型解析

tycoon

　新托福听力新增题型之Listen Again是本托福改革中最受关注的听力测试形式。此测试形式之新颖独特处，乃国内外众多英语听力考查形式之未闻未见。
　　顾名思义,“Listen Again”即在新托福听力考试的某篇文章结束后，其中某一题采取再次复听，然后根据所听来做推断回答题目的形式。对新托福考试比较关注的考生会发现，早在新托福考试刚浮出水面时，有许多分析文章评论说：“新托福听力考试可以听两遍了”。在这里笔者先作澄清：（1）新托福考试放音过程是一遍完成；（2）只有“Listen Again”这种新增题型可以再次复听文章中的某一部分，并根据再次回放的这部分回答特殊的问题。
　　看过样题的朋友们不难发现，此类题型其实只要理解Listen Again的内容就可以答题，而无须理解全文。下面我们就来看一篇新托福听力样题，由于篇幅所限，此处略去完整对话内容，只给出题目，变色部分为Listen Again的内容(W代表Women，M代表Man)。
　　
　　样题回放
　　
　　(1) Why does the man say this: Now we can move on to discuss the next part of the chapter, the part on land tortoises.
　　(a) To indicate the next topic for discussion
　　(b) To suggest a new location for the discussion
　　(c) To state what has previously been said
　　(d) To clarify why they are having the discussion
　　
　　(2) W: There are lots of traditional stories about tortoises that lived for hundreds of years. I do remember hearing, when I was young, about tortoises that were supposed to be one-to two-hundred years old.
　　 M: That couldn't be... No way.
　　
　　How does the seem to feel when he says this: “That's couldn't be... No way”
　　(a) Unhappy (b) Incredulous
　　(c) Incapable (d) Disturbed
　　
　　(3) W: In the chapter I just read, it said that the oldest tortoise whose age can be verified to some extent is the one known as Marion's tortoise.
　　 M: I read that Marion's tortoise was 152 years old.
　　 W: Actually, I think the book said it was at least 152 years old. Why does the woman say this:“Actually，I think the book said it was at least 152 years old.”
　　(a) To contradict what was in the book
　　(b) To indicate that she is not sure what is correct
　　(c) To restate what the man said
　　(d) To correct an error by the man
　　
　　(4) W: Historians are satisfied with the authenticity of the records that show that Marion's tortoise died in 1918.
　　 M: How do they know it was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that died there in 1918?
　　 What does the man mean when he says this: “How do they know it was the same tortoise? Could it have been a different tortoise that died there in 1918?”
　　(a) What was said sounds plausible
　　(b) Marion's tortoise was not on the island of Mauritius
　　(c) There may be an alternate explanation
　　(d) There was only one tortoise on the island
　　
　　(5) W: Yes. So Marion's tortoise was known to have lived for 152 years on Mauritius. But because it was an adult when it was captured in 1766 and it's unclear how old it was at that time, it could have been considerably older than 152 years when it died, maybe 180 years or more. Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn't inconceivable.
　　 Which sentence best describes how the woman feels when she says this: “Two hundred years old for this type of tortoise isn't inconceivable“
　　
　　(a) It is possible for a tortoise to live for 200 years
　　(b) A tortoise could not possibly live to the age of 200
　　(c) No 200-year-old tortoise has ever been found
　　(d) Many types of tortoises live to be very old
　　
　　【答案】 (1) a(2) b(3) d(4) c(5) a
题目透视
　　
　　新增Listen Again题型属于测试考生Pragmatic understanding (recognize a Speaker's attitude or degree of certainty; recognize a speaker's function or purpose) 即实际理解的能力。此类能力测试占整个新托福听力测试的25%之多。那么，Listen Again题型考的到底是什么？简言之，就是要考生理解再次听到的那段对话的：
　　
　　1、功能(目的)
　　要求考生不仅理解说话者在说什么，而且理解说话者为什么这样说。例如，确定说话者这样说是为了道歉、解释、阐述观点、改变话题、提示观点的转变或者建议一项新的行动(上面样题第一题即是)。
　　
　　2、立场(态度)
　　要求考生判断说话人对某一特定话题的看法。例如：确定说话人对于某一个特定话题是持肯定态度还是否定态度、是快乐还是难过、是有印象还是没有印象，或者是热心的还是受其困扰。还会问到说话人对自己所说的是怀疑还是确定（上面样题后四道题目即是）。
　　简单的说，即对再次回放内容中讲话者讲此句话的目的或态度进行推断。因此，考生解答此类题目时，即便在全文放音的过程中不知所云， 在Listen Again时也要务必把握Listen Again内容--仔细听说话者在被重复的段落里说了什么，然后据此得出结论。
　　
　　答题技巧
　　
　　从以上样题中可以看到：(1)考生勿须理解全文，只要理解Listen Again的内容就可以对题目进行做答；(2) 听再次回放的内容时对讲话者的语气、语调应该格外关注。如第2题的那句That couldn't be... No way讲出来时语气格外激昂，可见讲话者是对第一人话语的一种质疑，一种否定；(3) 以往旧托福的解题技巧仍可继续使用，如第3题。以往在小对话中有这样一种叫做Actually的题型，即在答句开头听到Actually时，必为否定第一人观点。第3题女方以Actually开头，那么考生应迅速寻找能够否定男方的选项，(d) To correct the Error by the man就是答案。
　　根据以上对新增Listen Again题型的解析，我们可以看到：此类题型应属送分题型，即便全文整体概念、信息模糊不清，但仍可只依靠再次回放的部分解答此类题型。如果再深入探求一下，此类新题型，不正是1995年8月前的单句题和1995年8月后的小对话题的一种综合变体吗？只不过它比单句题稍微显长显复杂，比小对话题测试内容上要更实际，与学术的结合更紧密而已，而这恰恰体现了改革后的新托福听力部分的宗旨。