在前幾個星期，我花了很多時間討論了不同的寫作issues。在本周，我們將會討論一下關於在reading tasks中怎樣確定作者的tone，因為同學在考試中亦常有機會遇到。
靠詞語加上文下理
這裡所謂tone，並不是指「音調」，而是指「語氣」。 作者的tone揭示了他（或她）對某個主題的態度。通常，在reading comprehension中，作者不會直接告訴讀者他（或她）的態度。Tone通常透過作者選擇的詞語表達出來。常見的tone可能包括：憤怒、同情、悲傷、不喜歡等等。要成功地推斷出作者的tone，你必須考慮文章中整體的信息和詞語的選擇。
看看這個例子：Your recent work? Oh, it's just fantastic. I have never seen anything like that!
在上面的例子中，作者的態度可能是praising（讚美）、approving（認同）、insincere（不誠實的）或sarcastic（諷刺）。沒有上文下理（context），就很難推斷出作者的語氣。因此，身為讀者，你不能只依靠詞語的選擇（word choice）去推斷出作家的tone。
論點透露立場
再看另一個例子：In traditional Chinese medicine, certain foods have a heat-inducing quality while others cool your body. Achieving a balance is the key to staving off illness or diseases. Indeed, not only ordinary people support it. More research suggests the effectiveness of Chinese medicine.
雖然作者沒有明確提及自己的立場，但在上面的例子中，你可以推斷出作者對Chinese medicine的態度是肯定及正面的。因為在例子中作者只提及大眾對Chinese medicine的支持論點，例如「越來越多科學研究指出Chinese medicine的有效性」。
因此，要了解一篇文章的tone，請注意上文下理和作者詞語的選擇才能成功推斷出a writer's tone。
■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。
Exercise
Read the following paragraph and answer the question below.
For last four months Crystal prepared vigorously for the coming DSE exam. On the day of the exam, she had everything ready: notes, stationery, money. She even considered that was the biggest day of her academic life because she was confident that she would get excellent in this particular subject. She smiled as the taxi pulled up outside the exam venue. She entered the building and pushed 2 on the elevator. Suddenly, as the elevator closed, she realized that she had left her identity card at home.
Which of the following tones does the above paragraph illustrate?
a. Cheerful
b. Ironic
c. Sentimental
d. Neutral
Answer
B
隔星期三見報