上次與同學們分享了在Paper 1 Reading應如何處理有關詞彙的題目。不得不提的是卷B2,有可能涉及測試同學對不同修辭手法的理解。
首先,同學應了解在考試中常見的修辭手法。常見的修辭手法如下:
1. Metaphor(暗喻):暗喻其實是將兩種事情、物件等放在一起作comparison(比較)。雖然是修辭手法,它時常出現在我們的生活中。例如,Elvis Presley的《I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell》歌詞提及「love is banana peel」。愛情被比喻為香蕉皮,因為它像香蕉皮一樣會令我們跌倒(stumbled)。
2. Simile(明喻):明喻與暗喻差不多,不過在明喻中,兩件事物的比較關係會更突出。如果我們將love is a banana peel改寫為love is like a banana peel的話,就是明喻。其他的例子如life is like a journey,把生命比喻為旅程。
3. Irony(反諷):Irony主要出現在表面(appearance)或期望(expectation)和現實(reality)有矛盾(contradiction)的情況中,例如一個vegan(素食者)在飢餓時食雞脾。又或者:A teacher can't teach his/her own children. 這兩句句子都表現了現實行為與別人的期望背道而馳。雖然irony有不同種類,同學並不需要知道不同種類的irony的分別。Irony很多時候都帶有嘲笑成分。例如:Although this ballistic vest (避彈衣)is claimed to be 100% bulletproof, I know a police officer wearing it had been killed in an operation.
MC題考慮所有答案
同學可考慮以下的點子:
1. 這類題目可以MC或short question的形式出現。
2. 考生一定要仔細思考文章內容,根據上文下理推敲出答案。倘若遇見metaphor或simile的題目,想一想將兩件放在一起時,兩者中的similarity(相似);倘若遇到irony,應留意任何incongruity(反差)。
3. 如果題目是MC形式的話,切記考慮所有答案才作選擇。
4. 平日應多看書,增強自己對修辭手法的掌握。
Practice
Read the following statement and explain the irony in the situation:
An ambulance rushed to the accident scene, only to run over the victim because she was lying in the middle of a dimly lit road.
Explanation: An ambulance is supposed to save rather than kill. The actual action of the ambulance (running over the victim) contradicts people's expectation of what it does.
■Dr. A Chan 哲學博士,哲學碩士,英語講師。熟悉公開考試之出題模式與評
分準則,任教英語。
隔星期三見報
Practice
Read the following statement and explain the irony in the situation:
An ambulance rushed to the accident scene, only to run over the victim because she was lying in the middle of a dimly lit road.
Explanation: An ambulance is supposed to save rather than kill. The actual action of the ambulance (running over the victim) contradicts people's expectation of what it does.
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