谈谈在雅思写作考试如何使用好词

词是文章最基本的单位，恰如棋盘上的棋子，善用者可以达到以卒制帅的局面，使普通词也能发挥出意想不到的效果。因此，要学会聪明地使用每一个知道的词。雅思写作评分标准中就有一项LR(lexical resource),也就是词汇范围或是词汇量。这一项不是考察考生能用多少高难度词，而是考察用词的准确性和多样性。用词有两个境界。首先，用词的最高境界是做到准确达意，就是要做到恰当、符合语境。其次，再去追求多样。多样性包括词性的多样，同义词的多样及难易程度的多样。因此，我们没有必要害怕自己大词或高难度词寥寥无几而丢分，能做到用词多样同样可以给你挣得高分。毕竟，实践证明，高分得主的文章大都通俗易懂，用词简单多样而精到。

（一）多样用词——词之转

以下就一篇8分文章的片段来看看用词（本片段选自2005年英国大使馆雅思考试样题实考文章）：

Almost every country has its traditional costumes and dresses. Some are comfortable and some are difficult to handle. By comfortable I mean a dress being comfortable enough to be worn daily for your routine work. If we take the example of Pakistan’s traditional dress salwar-kameez, one can see that although it is a very comfortable night suit, wearing it for your office work, travelling on a motorbike, or a laborer working on a construction site, it gets quite uncomfortable and dangerous.Becouse of its design, salwar-kameez can obstruct various errands like cycling, hiking and especially after travelling, the dress becomes quite messed up and untidy. If you compare this to regular pants and T-shirts, I believe they are the best piece of clothing to be worn for many different purposes.

上面是一位考生文章的主体段，可以说是最重要的一段，但读完以后你很难发现有任何所谓“大词”或者“重量级的词”。要非得找点“大词”的话，“handle（处理，对付）”、“ routine work(日常工作)”、“. messed up and untidy（乱糟糟）”、“obstruct various errands(碍事) ”或许就是吧。作者在用词上很“节俭”，一个comfortable备用了好几次，先是○1Some are comfortable，然后是○2By comfortable I mean，接着是○3being comfortable enough，随后是○4although it is a very comfortable night suit，再到后来变成了○5gets quite uncomfortable。你可以说作者词汇匮乏，也可以说他或她善用资源，但不管怎样人家得到了8分，我在这里借用中国伟人的话，“不管黑猫白猫，逮到老鼠就是好猫”。其实，仔细再一分析，发现这个comfortable的功能是多变的，○1是作be动词的表语，○5是变成否定义后作get的表语，○2是在形式上作介词by的宾语，○3是变成了分词结构，○4是作定语或是修饰语。

那么，如何才能玩转英文单词呢？我们不妨从认识词汇开始。词从词性上主要分为动词、名词、形容词、副词、介词，连词，代词，还有动名词（由动词加ing变来，兼有动词和名词 的性质）。英语中同一个词往往具有好几种词性，在句子中充当不同的作用，体现着不同的含义。不管怎样，我们必清楚词的功能是不同的：

1. 名词和动名词——主要充当主语、宾语、表语、定语
Company uniforms help to promote sense of teamwork.公司的制服有助于加强团队意识。（company充当定语，即修饰语，uniforms是句子的主语。）

Learning a foreign language is of great significance to children.学习一门外语对孩子们是非常重要的。（learning a foreign language 动名词结构做主语，而a foreign language在逻辑上有充当learning的宾语。）
  注意：相当多的考生会写成Learn a foreign language is very important.动词原形是不能作主语的，当然，可以用动词不定式做主语:To learn a foreign language is very important.

From the chart, we can see that the greatest change is  teachers’ salary.从图中我们可以看出最大的变化是教师工资。（teachers’ salary充当is 后的表语。）

2.动词——主要充当谓语
动词分为情态动词（不能单独作谓语）、be 动词、联系动词、实义动词（分为及物和不及物）。
注意:情态动词接动词原形，be 动词接名词、动名词、形容词及分词，及物动词接宾语，不及物动词不能接宾语。

Traveling can help broaden our horizon.旅游可以开阔我们的视野。（can与help组合充当谓语，help后接动词broaden，省略to）

In my country, some private companies have successfully implemented a uniform policy.在我们国家，有些私营公司已经成功地实行了制服制度。（现在完成时标志词have与implemented共同构成谓语）

I think that long-term traffic and pollution reductions would depend on educating the public to use public transport more, and on governments using public money to construct and run efficient systems.从长远看来，我认为要减少交通和污染问题，就得教育公众多使用公共交通工具，同时政府得把公共资金花在建设以及运作高效的体系上。（在此句中，depend是不及物动词，所以得借助介词on才能接宾语。）

3. 形容词——主要充当定语及表语
It might sound awkward that employees must wear a company uniform.员工必须穿制服或许听起来有点别扭。(形容词awkward放在系动词sound后面作表语)
A foreign language is an important tool in a person’s career development.外语是一个人事业发展中的一件重要工具。（important修饰名词tool）。

注意：在表达“越来越……”时，an increasing number of people 中的increasing应经演化成了形容词，来修饰后面的名词number；而在Mobile phones are becoming increasingly important in our daily life中，只能用副词increasingly来修饰后面的形容词。

4. 副词——充当状语或修饰动词与形容词 Nuclear power is highly effective.核能是高效的。（highly修饰形容词effective）

We must carefully develop the use of nuclear power.我们必须谨慎地开发核能。(carefully修饰动词develop)

I don’t know where he lives. (此句中where he lives 作know的宾语，而where 作lives 的状语)

5. 介词——后接名词、代词、动名词及名词性从句
We should make joint efforts to cope with this problem.我们必须共同努力来解决这个问题。（cope不及物动词，后面必须加上介词with才能接宾语）

As for teenagers, travel is beneficial to developing a sense of independence.对于青少年来说，旅行可以培养独立意识。（词短语中的to是介词，后面的动词要变成动名词。）

There is a heated debate on whether we should send children to study abroad.人们激烈讨论该不该送孩子出国求学。（介词on 后面接名词性从句whether we should send children to study abroad作宾语）

注意：介词是极其容易出错的。所以，在记忆和使用短语搭配时，一定要做个有心人，务必做到100%正确，不能凭感觉。

6. 连词——连接句子或名词、代词

Whether you can pass the exam depends on how hard you work.你是否能通过考试就看你有多用功了。（连词whether引导名词性从句充当主语）
  

I picked up some French words while I was having a holiday in Paris.在巴黎度假时我偶然间学会几个法语单词。（while 引导时间状语）

Although he was weak, yet he tried his best to do the work.尽管当时他很虚弱，他还是尽力工作。

认识了词汇基本情况后，现在我们来看一下到底怎么才能让词汇转起来。很明显，词本身是不能转的，能转的只有是作者的大脑。所以，在写作过程中，我们应该以积极地态度应对词的选择与变换。请看下面文字，体会一下词汇之转:

As shown in the pie chart, $200 is spent on rent and food each week, taking up one third of the total expenditure. Next come the school fees, consuming $180, less than the first by $20 a week. When it comes to the fees on underground, we find that one fifth of the money is allocated to it, which is $120.In terms of study materials, only $50 is given to this aspect, accounting for one twelfth of the weekly expense. The rest of the money goes to entertainment and clothes, which are $10 and $40 respectively.

以上是A类作文Task1的一个主体段，描述的是某学校学生平均每周的开销状况。面对这样的题材，必然要解决一个动词问题——花费。在英语里表示“花费”的词有不少：take, cost spend, consume(更侧重于“消耗，消费”)，lay out, invest。在上面的文字里，作者对此词采用了7种处理办法，分别用了：被动结构is spent on，is allocated to，is given to，主动结构goes to，非谓语结构taking up ，consuming，到最后直接用be动词are。另外，在表达各部分所占比例时，作者用了taking up, accounting for ,和直接法，即one fifth of the money is allocated to it。

不管你感觉如何，以上这段文字写得相当有技巧。作者把“花费、开销”玩得团团转。要想玩转词汇，最常用的办法就是使用同义词进行不断地变换，灵活地利用词的不同词性来表达按不同的含义。 但不管怎样，大家永远不要忘记：要保证准确，其它都是浮云。

（二）准确用词——词之境
下面我想简单谈谈如何准确用词。一味地追求高难度，必将摔地很惨。当然，一味地追求多样性，也可能落得个弄巧成拙。如何避免惨剧的发生呢？注意语境。只有注意语境，做到词随境变，才能发挥词的真正功力。比如说在写大作文时，我们应该知道这是较正式的文章，应该使用档次高点的词，想表达同意某种观点，不要说I think this suggestion OK ,也不要老说I agree with this opinion。稍微讲究一点，可以用In my perspective, 或者 From my perspective, this opinion does sound rational。在写G类小作文的书信时，道歉信的用词应该谦卑诚恳些，抱怨信的选词应该显示礼貌的同时用词力道大些、狠些，这样才能传达你的本意。写学术小作文，尤其是数据类文章，精确很重要，因为此类文章很讲究科学性和准确性。精确来源于图表的观察和自己的分析。比如一个学生写了这样一个句子：I can see from the chart that the number of tourists from USA kept rising from 2003 to 2007.单看句子确实没有语法错误，但行家一看就知道此句描写不准确，句子没有表达出人数上升的势态——快或者慢，逐渐上升还是急剧上升，稳定上升还是拨动着上升。较好一个写法：The chart shows that the number of tourists form USA kept rising dramatically\gradually from 2003 to 2007.

我们来看一下考官怎么用词(下文引自剑8第167页)：
There is no doubt that traffic and pollution from vehicles have become huge problems, both in cities and on motorways everywhere. Solving these problems is likely to need more than a simple rise in the price of petrol.
1. 简单的词简单的句型There is no doubt that
2. 简单的形容词huge
3. 动名词作主语Solving these problems，避免“人”的出现，试图更客观

While it is undeniable that private car use is one of the main causes of the increase in traffic and pollution, higher fuel costs are likely to limit the number of drivers for long. As this policy would also affect the cost of public transport, it would be very unpopular with everyone who needs to travel on the roads. But there are various other measures that could be implemented that would have a huge effect on these problems.
1. 连词While引出让步壮语，后面的句型it is undeniable that也挺好的
2. increase此处作名词用。
3. 常用的词组加简单的词are likely to limit
4. 连词As引导一个原因壮语从句
5. 普通的动词affect
6. 实用精到的短语be very unpopular with
7. 还不错的形容词various，表达“多种多样的”
8. 有点难度的及物动词implemented，表达“应用、使用”
9. 又是普通的短语加通俗的形容词have a huge effect on，huge是第二词被用到

I think to tackle the problem of pollution, cleaner fuels need to be developed. The technology is already available to produce electric cars that would be both quieter and cleaner to use. Persuading manufactures and travelers to adopt this new technology would be a more effective strategy for improving air quality, especially in cities.
1.还算可以的动词搭配tackle the problem of pollution
2.较简单的词develop表达“开发”
3. available在写作中比较常用，也比较好，表达“可利用的、可得的”
4.多简单的形容词 quieter and cleaner
5.还不错的动词搭配adopt this new technology
6. a more effective strategy，简单形容词effective可以清晰地传达意思

However, traffic congestion will not be solved by changing the type of private vehicle people can use. To do this, we need to improve the choice of public transport services available to travelers. For instance, if sufficient sky trains and underground train systems were built and effectively maintained in our major cities, then traffic on the roads would be made attractive and affordable alternatives to driving your own car for long journeys.
1. 交通阻塞traffic congestion要会写
2. improve the choice of public transport services available to travelers，此处improve是“增加”之意，available作后置定语有用了一遍。好词经常用。
3. 较有难度的sufficient，表达“足够的”
4. 准确的搭配effectively maintained
5. 较难的名词及形容词搭配would be made attractive and affordable alternatives

In conclusion, I think that long-term traffic and pollution reductions would depend on educating the public to use public transport more, and on governments using public money to construct and run efficient systems.
1. 普通的短语depend on
2. construct and run efficient systems，用两个动词并列准确达意，用一个平常但精准的形容词efficient作限定词

对于考官的文章，我从不迷信，也从不膜拜。以上只是个人觉得比较好的地方，做了简单分析，以供大家借鉴。

（三）结束语
正确的方法与技巧的确能事半功倍，但是，不要一味投机取巧妄想一夜暴富。毕竟，写文章不可能一日就能达到出语惊人的功力。所以，我们得扎扎实实做点最起码的功课——记单词，否则一切都将是无源之水，流不长啊！不过，如果时间有限的话，可以记忆一下高频同义词，以解燃眉之急。