字神帝國英語天地

我們換個角度來談聽力，不談語音，不談詞彙，不談技巧，從邏輯思維這一層來分析，在單字都能聽懂的情況下，如何提高理解力。要給大家介紹的方法是語言學中的詞塊法(lexical chunks)，運用到聽力裡面，稱之為語塊聽力法。

在語言學上，對語塊的定義是這樣的："Chunks" refers to language that occurs in (semi-) fixed units and that we usually learn as one piece. Collocations, fixed expressions and idioms are all different kinds of chunks.(The TKT course) 聽力的學習也離不開片語，孤零零地聽單字只會像電腦翻譯一樣詞不達意，提取關鍵資訊就更加困難。

單字和片語或許能拼湊出大概的意思，但是沒有結構的句子都只是詞彙與片語的堆砌，堆到後面記憶混亂，聽力成災。只有讓單字成群，片語成塊，運用邏輯，聽力才會清晰。聽起來這似乎是很大的工作量，但是如果養成良好的思維習慣，讓語塊法內化，大腦便會自動對聽力的句子進行切分組合，以達到快速準確地理解。

今天將從片語和句子兩方面來與大家探討如何運用詞塊法提高聽力，例子取自TPO真題。

1. 片語，包括固定搭配，表達和習語等。
以固定搭配為例，即collocations。Collocations：words that regularly occur together.(The TKT course) 既然是固定的組合，那就要求大家積累，除了幫助聽力理解，口語寫作時也是極好的素材。

◎ TPO4-4：
Student: Not really. I’m worried about other two people in my group. They are just sitting back, not really doing their fair share of the work and waiting for an A. It’s kind of stressing me out, because we are getting close to the deadline and I feel like I’m doing everything for this project.
Professor：Ah, the good old free rider problem.
Student：Free rider?
Professor：Ah, it’s just a term that describes this situation, when people in the group seek to get the benefits of being in a group without contributing to the work.
Q. Why does the professor mention the ‘free-rider’ problem?
A. To review a concept he explained in class.
B. To give the student a plan to solve her problem.
C. To clarify the problem the student is facing.
D. To explain a benefit of working in groups.

上文中“free rider”這一固定搭配出現了兩遍且有出題，聽力困難有兩點：1. 沒注意到這個單字，不能定位題目；2. 聽到的是單個的單字，不知道片語的意思。

解題思路：根據其位於problem前，和後面再次搭配出現，先判定 “free rider” 是片語且代指某個問題，我們暫且用“FR”記下，學生表達過抱怨“I’m worried about other two people in my group. They are just sitting back, not really doing their fair share of the work and waiting for an A。” 這句話沒有生詞沒有搭配，可以理解大意是其他人不做事。老師再次解釋“it’s just a term that describes this situation, when people in the group seek to get the benefits of being in a group without contributing to the work。” 重申解釋“term”，並且強調不做貢獻。上下文翻譯是搭便車者或不勞而獲者。聽完發現其實我們的思路也是一直在等老師解釋單字，就會很快選出老師在給學生闡述這種現象的問題，答案選C。

還有幾例，大家不妨自己做一做：
They are taking credit for things they shouldn’t take credit for(接受榮譽). (Tpo4-4)

I agree, good point. Yes, Beaux had high regard for (尊敬)Sargent’s work. (Tpo19-6)

2. 句子：簡單句抑或長難句，許多都有固定的結構和邏輯關係，如果能用語塊法進行處理預測，會減少記憶容量，提高聽力效率。

◎ TPO4-6：
And as far as the public goes, well…there are about as many individuals who disagree with the government support as there are those who agree. In fact, with artists in particular, you have lots of artists who support and who have benefited from this agency, although it seems that just as many artists oppose a government agency being involved in the arts, for many different reasons, reasons like they don’t want the government to control what they create.
Q: What does the professor say about artists’ opinions of government support for the arts?
A. Most artists believe that the government should provide more funding for the art.
B. Most artists approve of the ways in which the government supports the arts.
C. Even artists do not agree on whether the government should support the arts.
D. Even artists have a low opinion of government support for the arts.
　
“there are about as many individuals who disagree with the government support as there are those who agree.” 這句話中有很明顯的搭配as many...as，語塊聽力法就運用這種結構加以預測，在聽到as many individuals who disagree with the government support，預測到後面會講“disagree”的內容的話，思路清晰，內容準確。

同理，“you have lots of artists who support and who have benefited from this agency, although it seems that just as many artists oppose a government agency being involved in the arts, for many different reasons, reasons like they don’t want the government to control what they create.” 這句話中用的邏輯詞是“although”，讓步前的語塊比較簡單，藝術家支持及原因，“although”出現時基本判斷後面的語塊是反對，準確聽出”oppose”(此處有連讀artists -oppose，很多同學會聽成suppose。最後還有原因解釋這一語塊“reasons like they don’t want the government to control what they create。”說明是不願意支持的，也能選出選項C。

下面也有兩例，大家不妨試試：
Because the older and more experienced birds who nest in the high density shrub areas have significantly more offspring than those in low density areas. (Tpo8-2)
It turned out that there were actually four times as many bird pairs or couples living in the stream edge habitat compared to the area away from the stream. (Tpo8-2)