写作-考场上的"兴奋剂"事件

　　注意这个“又”字，心头永远的痛啊！既然能拿到阅读8.5这样的分数，何以再考一次雅思，果然，他接着说：“作文上次是5.5分。”

　　作文5.5，作文5.5，最近听到太多这样的例子，这个分数简直成了中国雅思考生的魔咒。有多少人在为了这个半分交出白花花的银子和宝贵的时间。

　　为什么是5.5？源于雅思作文模板，也就是我所说的雅思“兴奋剂”。

　　兴奋剂，可以让水平一般的运动员在极短的时间里拿到超乎寻常的成绩，国际奥委会对此极度敏感。雅思考官现在也极度敏感，但凡感觉你身上有一丝丝模板的味道，就宁可错杀一千，不可放过一个。因此英语(论坛)专业作文考5.5分的例子也是屡见不鲜。

　　兴奋剂这个东西还是上瘾的，一旦读多了模板，自信就逐渐地消失光光了，一提笔就是 “with the fast development of science and technology…”。

　　Practice makes perfect。练习是王道。

　　1. 大量地广泛地阅读。

　　初级：新概念第三册。课文能背就背，每天早上起早点，到操场上大声朗读，喊也可以的。Don’t be afraid to be different. 顺便模仿一下磁带，练练语音。

　　这个是在电骡上找到的珍惜录音：新概念英语1985和1997竹影无风经典英音版

　　http://www.verycd.com/topics/287131/

　　例如，新概念3第45课节选：

　　In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned. However, this freedom can easily be abused. Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events. Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves. Acting on the contention that facts are sacred, reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives. Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government.

　　练习一：一句话总结这段话的大意。

　　练习二：尝试替换划横线的词语。

　　练习三：尝试改写斜体字句子。

　　经过这三个小小的改进，这段话就是你的了。

　　如果一个月内，你能对新概念3上任何30篇文章中的任何一段文字做上面的工作，并且背诵下来，成果一定惊人。

　　中级：the Economist

　　吸取量级词汇的最好方法，用大单词谁都可以，只要你拥有金山词霸，但是在正确的时间正确的地点用出恰如其分的大单词却不是很容易。这就像同样一件Valentino礼服，有人穿就是best dressing，有人就能生生穿成地摊货。

　　MODERN, Western medicine tends to pooh-pooh its herbal cousin. It is true that synthetic pharmaceuticals are purer, more reliable and often more effective than herbs. But many of them have herbal origins, and the sight of pharmacists botanising (collecting herbs from the countryside for sale as medicine) was common in Europe within living memory.

　　India, too, has a long tradition of herbal medicine, and its government is keen that this tradition should be brought into the mainstream, to the profit of the country's burgeoning drug industry. To that end, it is spending about $40m on what is known as the Golden Triangle Partnership, to assess the country's herbs scientifically, and select those suitable for serious investigation.

　　Most Indian herbal remedies are based on the Ayurvedic system of medicine, although Tamil-based Siddha and Unani, which has Persian roots, are also used extensively. Proving their worth is a daunting task. There are 80,000 Ayurvedic treatments alone, involving the products of some 3,000 plants. More than 7,000 firms make herbal compounds for medical use. Establishing the active ingredients and exactly how they work would thus take some time.

　　怎样才算舒服而且有效的阅读呢？

　　如果上面这段节选中，只有几个词让你稍微驻足的话，那么你的词汇量已经基本达到了雅思水平，你正在进行comfortable and effective reading. 两段文字中对我们有用的词也不外乎这几个，下一步就是各个击破：

　　我们就以daunting 为例：(取自LDCE)

　　对于这个词，你应该了解的是：Daunting: frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident: 令人畏惧的。

　　例如：Climbing Everest is a daunting challenge for any mountaineer. Excuses vary from difficulties in obtaining payment to the daunting prospect of completing export documentation.

　　同义词： challenging demanding taxing exacting

　　Daunt : to make someone feel afraid or less confident about something: 使…沮丧；使…畏惧

　　The book is certainly authoritative but may well daunt the uncommitted reader by its relentlessly hard-nosed factuality.

　　Dauntless: confident and not easily frightened 不屈不挠的；无畏的

　　It is here that the dauntless cavalrymen of Ellyrion rest when they return from their long sweeps through their embattled land.

　　如果你能够每两天读一篇ECONOMIST上的文章，对文章中的三个词作上述工作，两个月之后，有惊喜。

　　高级：read whatever you want as long as you are doing some reading (in English) every day.