畅谈托福口语学术话题阅读之

快速准确找定义法

很多小白同学在刚开始学托福口语的时候会觉得：“口语嘛，不就说说吗？小case啦，我没事都能说一大串”。但是到大家真正接触到口语话题的时候才发现事实并非如此，开始蒙圈了。

“什么？只给我15秒准备时间作答，还让我连续说45秒英语？我头脑一片空白，没有思路哎。”“什么？还有阅读和听力？还让我概括总结？”大家可能学习信心又下降一半，觉得口语好难啊。绝杀是遇到Task3的讲座阅读，只给考生短短的 45秒并要求概括学术定义，天哪读文章都读不完，这简直天方夜谭好吗……别急，通过今天这篇分享，让我们来了解下如何快速高效地定位学科术语，希望对大家练习有益。

我们都知道口语task3考察的是先给学生看一篇关于某个学科术语的文章，然后再模拟国外大学上课模式，听教授讲解关于这个学术概念的讲座片段。最后要求考生结合阅读概念和听到的讲座例子，复述定义及讲座内容。简单流程概括为：• Read an academic concept -> Listen to a part of a lecture ->30 seconds to prepare ->60 seconds to speak。

对很多同学而言， 45秒阅读时间一般是不够的。读题的时候大脑一片空白都没记下什么具体的内容。那怎么办呢？别急，我们先来看一篇真题：

Comfort Zone Bias

 Psychologists have found that when people make important decisions, they often choose to stay in their "comfort zones"; that is, they prefer remaining in comfortable, familiar situations, rather than entering into new, unfamiliar ones. This tendency is often referred to as the comfort zone bias. When people are reasonably content, they often decide not to pursue a new opportunity, even if it attracts them and offers more advantages. Psychologists believe that the comfort zone bias exists not only because we have a natural preference for what we already know, but also because we want to avoid taking risks. 

超级定位法一

首先定位comfort zone bias (注意不是comfort zones) 在文章中次出现的位置（大家不要惯性的以为会在文章开头，实际上文章中任何位置都有可能）。好的，大家找到了(文中加黑位置)。然后看这句话出现了is referred to 表示定义句的句式。特别需要注意的是开头的this，那同学们马上就知道前一句很有可能就是定义解释句的位置。一看果然是！最后我们联系前面的内容得出大致的定义解释：Comfort zone bias is a tendency that when people make important decisions, they are likely to stay in comfortable and familiar situations rather than unfamiliar ones. 这样操作是不是很快很准很高效？

方法总结：

• 1. 定位术语(term)在文章中次出现的位置

• 2. 如果包含术语（term）那句话含有定义句型：…… is referred to ／... is known as／ ... is called／ refers to 等并且有完整的解释，一般此句就是定义句。当该句中含有代词如this、these的时候，基本上前一句就是定义句。 

我们用真题实际演练一下：

• Mental Accounting •

Although they may not realize it, people do not always manage their money in responsible way. In their minds, people tend to divide their money into different categories as if they were putting it into separate mental bank accounts. This tendency is known as mental accounting. People mentally store some money in one account to be saved, while they imagine other money being stored in another account from which money can be taken and freely spent. Mental accounting can lead people to spend more money than they should, which can make it difficult for them to save enough money to achieve their long-term financial goals.

大家应该能很快找到定义解释句：In their minds, people tend to divide their money into different categories as if they were putting it into separate mental bank accounts.

核心阅读方法二

当然，我们的阅读出题形式不止这一种，还有其他的一些比较复杂的情况：

• Ritualization •

 Socio-biologists believe that some communicative behavior in animals is developed through a process called ritualization. In this process, the purpose of a given behavior changes overtime - a behavior that originally had a practical purpose develops into one that communicates a specific message. For example, a certain movement or physical feature might evolve to serve as a signal or a warning that other animals will understand. Once a behavior is ritualized, it becomes a form of communication; therefore, if an animal engages in this behavior, other animals will be able to interpret the meaning of the behavior quickly and respond appropriately. 

很多同学乍一看不是句吗？有出现术语而且又是一个完整的句子。但是大家仔细看了吗？里面出现提示信息through a process，所以后面的那句才是真正的解释：a behavior that originally had a practical purpose develops into one that communicates a specific message. 那我们来总结一下这种 阅读的方法。

核心阅读方法二 ： 如果含术语的句子里带有through、by等提示方法的词，术语后面一句可能就是定义解释句。

那根据这种方法，我们再来看看另外一篇 相似的真题，大家运用一下。

• Refute-and-Persuade •

 Sometimes companies realize that consumers may have developed a negative impression of a product. One way in which they can resolve this problem is by using an advertising technique known as refute-and-persuade. Refute-and-persuade means that in advertising a product, the company first indicates its awareness of the product’s disadvantage. But then the company refutes or challenges that disadvantage by demonstrating how the advantage of buying and using the product makes up for any limitation it may have. In this way, companies can persuade consumers to purchase a product despite its drawbacks. 

大家找到了吗？综上所述，运用有效的方法， 我们完全可以巧妙快速地在有限时间内获得准确的定义信息，从而圆满完成答题。