accord / agreement
back / support
ban / prohibition
bar / prohibit, exclude
bid / attempt
boost / incentive
chide / ridicule
coup/ change in government
curb / restraint
cut / reduce
deal / agreement
drive / campaign, effort
envoy / diplomat
gems / jewels
head / direct
held / restraint
jet / affected badly, airplane
key / essential, vital
link / connection
oust / push out, replace
pack / treaty
pay / wages, salary
poll / public opinion survey
probe / investigate
quit / leave, resign
talks / discussion
ties / relations
top / exceed
tot / child
vow / promise
wed / marry
主动语态(active voice):比较例句:a) Senator Dole planned to announce his resignation from the Senate.和例句:b) To announce his resignation from the Senate was planned by Senator Dole.
时态:一般用现在时而不是过去时表示事件是最近发生的,是新闻而不是旧闻。
肯定句(positive form):比较例句:a) He was not very often on time. 和例句:b) He usually came late.
2.观点:
英美报刊,尤其是美国报刊,常用“客观”、“公正”来体现新闻报道的价值。即所谓:unprejudiced, unopinionated, uninvolved和unbiased.(不偏不倚,不予评论 ,不加参与,不带偏见)。因而一般作者对于文章探讨的主题是站在比较中立客观的角度去分析的。这也解释了为什么雅思的阅读部分一旦问到作者态度的时候,答案大部分都是跟中立客观有关。
3.时效性:
雅思考试阅读部分的文章全部选自英美主流报刊杂志。所以考生在考试中会经常遇到一些时髦话题的文章,像BSE(疯牛病)、911事件、安然公司破产案这样的内容在考试中都出现过。所以大家平时最好能够经常关心时事,积累一些必要的背景知识,这对于考试而言,大有裨益。
4.结构特点:
大多数雅思考试所考察的文章的结构是人们常说的“到金字塔”形式。这是指在一篇文章中,最重要的信息都放在开头部分,尤其是开头的前三段。也就是说,一篇文章的主题(主题句)都出现在前三段。一般我们把这样的段落称为导语段。文章一般把新闻所涉及的人物、时间、地点、过程和结果都交待出来。读者读完了导语段,也就知道了新闻的关键信息。
接下来就是逐步向读者交待事件发生的起因、过程、影响等信息。这是文章的主要部分,但是各种信息并不是平铺直叙的,而是按照它们的重要性先后出现的。与事件直接相关的信息被认为是最重要的,因此位置靠前,然后才是次要的信息。
在这一部分,文章还可以交待消息的来源,并且时常引用记者在采访中得到的有关人士的话,以证明消息的可靠。新闻还可以补充说明一些背景材料,有时不惜重复一些内容。
文章的结构有时显得松散,段落之间的逻辑关系不紧密,这是因为需要交待的信息没有一定的关联模式,只是发生的一些实事的铺陈。
新闻一般不要求结尾,尤其是总结性的结尾段。在交待完事件的全过程后,作者通常加上一两段与该消息有点关系、但是不是很重要的信息,作为新闻的结尾。请大家参考下面的例文,体会上述结构特点。
Student Face Bleak Job Market in Japan
(introduction & main idea)
TOKYO—More than 12,000 college students in Japan, who graduate next spring, packed into the giant Tokyo Dome sports stadium Monday with the anxious hope of landing jobs.
(more facts)
Hundreds lined up before dawn, some having traveled from distant cities for a huge job-counseling program organized by the ministry of Labor.
(background)
September brings the formal start of Japan’s annual job-recruitment season. But after nearly five years of recession and “job shock”, those entering the work force face the most forbidding season in years, and many have settled for jobs they would have once dismissed.
(quotes)
“I am looking for a job as receptionist, a sales clerk—it doesn’t matter,” said Takako Nakahara, who flew more than 500 miles from her two years college in southern Japan for Monday’s program.
(more detail)
High school and college graduates—especially women—have borne the brunt of Japan’s economic pain. Thanks in large part to the lifetime employment practices of most Japanese companies, the nation’s official unemployment rate is only 3.2 percent—a level Americans would consider a victory over joblessness