Some people believe that children are given too much free time. They feel that this time should be used to do more schoolwork. How do you think children should spend their free time?
一些人认为孩子们有太多的空闲时间了,他们应将这些时间用于从事更多的学业。你认为孩子们应该怎样使用空闲时间?
【 说明 】
长期批改国内同学的作文,Pat有一个深刻的体会,就是“低分作文的弱点都是一样一样的,高分作文的优点却各有各的不同”。7分是LSE和Warwick等牛校的多数专业所要求的分数。我们来对比两篇分数相同、但却写法迥异的范文。
( A ) 强势的考生 甲 ( 剑桥官方提供的本题7分范文 )
To a large extent,I believe that children are given too much free time.
Free time, in my opinion,refers to time that is not spent under the direct supervision of a parent,teacher or a person entrusted with the responsibility of bringing up the child. Such time is often spent on several things such as watching television,playing with friends,going to parties,doing homework and playing games on their own among others.
Among all of the above activities, a child could either be influenced by his or her peer group especially when left without attention or be influenced by what he or she watches on TV, most of which are those not meant to be viewed by the child's age group.
In my opinion, most of the formative years of a child should be spent doing schoolwork or engaging in recreational activities that would develop the child emotionally and mentally . I believe this strongly because at a young age,a child is quick to grasp most of what is seen or heard.
词汇和短语
(标★的是本类话题的高频词汇或短语)
refer to … (固定短语) 是指某类人或者某类事物 【剑桥例句】 The sales figures refer to UK sales only.
★ under the direct supervision of … 本文里指 在某人的直接监护下
★ be entrusted with the responsibility of … 被寄予某种责任
★ peer n. 同龄人
age group 本文里指 某个年龄段的人们
★ the formative years of a child 一个孩子在各方面逐渐成形的阶段
engage in 【动词短语】 参与
【近义】participate in
★ recreational activity 【名词短语】 休闲活动 【近义】 leisure activity (请注意在地道英文中通常是写 leisure activity 而较少写 leisurely activity )
★ emotionally and mentally 在情感与心智方面
★ is quick to grasp … 可以很快地领会、把握某事物
本文思路与结构剖析
本文的开头段极为直白,旗帜鲜明地提出孩子们确实是被给予了过多的空闲时间。在 主体段 里, 这名考生首先对free time下了定义:即孩子没有受到家长、老师或其他监护人监督的时间 。然后提出孩子的这类时间多被花在了看电视、与朋友们一起玩儿、参加parties等事情上面,并没有得到充分地利用。接下来,该考生提出在空闲的时间里,孩子们要么就是受自己的同龄人影响,要么就是看那些他们/她们本不应该看的电视节目。而在结束部分,这名考生则提出由于孩子们处在情感和智力成型期,对于接触到的新东西吸收得很快,因此他们/她们应该花更多时间在学业或者对自己的心智有益的休闲活动上。
剑桥对这篇7分考生作文的官方评语
论证扣题度和充实度
The candidate's point of view is clearly stated throughout. He presents relevant main ideas and draws appropriate conclusions from these. However,the response is unfinished and this means that some of the ideas are rather generalised and would need more support. The opening sentence is copied and the whole answer is underlength,so it loses marks for this.
本文的观点很明确,思路扣题,并且在论证的基础上得出了合理的结论。但是 本文没有达到250 words的最低字数要求,而且有一部分素材并没有得到足够的展开支持,给人泛泛而谈的感觉 ,这些属于在论证扣题度和充实度这一项评分上的硬伤,因此导致了失分。
行文连贯性与衔接效果
The writing has clear organisation and some sophisticated use of link words and referencing. However,paragraphing is not always logical as it is organised by sentences rather than topics.
分段不够严谨,但是在整体布局上仍保持了清晰的秩序感,而且对于连接词和指代的运用较为娴熟。
词汇多样性与准确度 & 语法多样性和准确度
The range of vocabulary and structures is very good with a high level of control and precision. Complex ideas are expressed in a sophisticated way and most sentences are accurate. There are only rare errors,e. g. in spelling and subject/verb agreement.
词汇和语法结构的多样性与准确度都很好,只有偶尔出现的小错误。
Pat 评析
这篇7分作文的 优点 很明显:行文衔接自然、连贯,展现出了令人满意的词汇量(关键是用词的准确度也很高)与多样、准确的语法句式结构。因此,Cambridge ESOL在评语里毫不吝惜地使用了“very good”这一有感情色彩的评价(在剑桥官方评语里这个评价通常均是留给9分范文的)。
但本文的 缺点 也同样明显:文章长度竟然没有能够达到task 2写够250 words的最低要求,而且对主体段里的一些ideas缺少足够的展开论证,在论证充实度这一项评分上无法真正说服阅卷人。因此,尽管本文 在行文连贯性和整体感以及词汇、语法等方面已经明显超过了官方评分标准里对7分作文的要求 ,但是四项评分累计之后的得分仍然是7分。这与Pat在北京环雅工作期间与一些中国区考官进行交流得到的结论一致: 考官们对于四项评分标准的重视程度是完全平等的,并没有厚此薄彼的倾向。 很多国内同学对于“好文章”的认识误区就在于过度看重词汇和句子,却无视 论证扣题度与充实度 和 行文连贯性和整体感 这两项在考官们心目当中同样极为关键的评分标准。
语法多样性分析
◆ Among all of the above ,a child could either be influenced by his or her peer group especially when left without attention or be influenced by what he or she watches on TV, most of which are those not meant to be viewed by the child's age group.
本句中相当密集地使用了状语前置、虚拟语气、由when引导的过去分词短语、由what引导的宾语从句和由which引导的定语从句等多种丰富句式的手法,而且准确度也较好。在IELTS作文里其实并没有必要写这么“炫技”的句子,但很显然这名考生的语言基本功相当扎实。如果字数能写够而且展开论证过程能写得再充实一些的话完全可以冲击更高的分数,可惜了
◆ In my opinion,most of the formative years of a child should be spent doing schoolwork,engaging in recreational activities that would develop the child emotionally and mentally .本句里也接连使用了主被动交替、that引导的定语从句、虚拟语气和副词在句尾叠用等句式多样化手法,但是该考生因为过度雕琢语言而最终导致没有足够的时间进行深入论证甚至达不到最低字数要求其实是失策之举
行文连贯性分析
(适合需要写作单项7分的同学学习)
◆ Free time,in my opinion,refers to time that is not spent under the direct supervision of a parent,teacher or a person entrusted with the responsibility of bringing up the child. Such time is often spent on several things such as watching television,playing with friends,going to parties,doing homework and playing games on their own among others.
这两句话之间并没有直接出现连接词,而是在第二句话里用Such time来 指代 前一句话里面所说的儿童不受家长、老师或者其他看护人看护的时间,从而在这两句话之间建立起了很明确的逻辑关系。而且,在第二句话的后部,这名考生又用such as这个表示例证的连接词给出了这些时间被用于的具体活动,实现了行文衔接“ 明暗结合 ”(即一些内容之间直接使用连接词,但其他内容之间则不直接使用连接词、而是通过上下文之间的语义关系自然承接)的多样化衔接效果。
对于高分范文在行文衔接方面“明暗结合”这一显著特点更深入的分析请看今天的 第21篇范文 。
本文量化评分
■译文
我在很大程度上认为孩子们的确被给予了过多的空闲时间。
在我看来,空闲时间就是指不处于家长、教师或者监护人的直接监管之下的时间。而孩子们通常把这类时间花费在如看电视、和朋友一起玩、参加聚会、做家庭作业、自己玩游戏等事情上。
在上述活动中,孩子既可能受同龄人影响(特别是在缺乏关注的情况下),又可能受电视节目影响,而这些电视节目大部分并不适合孩子们所在的年龄段。
在我看来,孩子的成长岁月最应该花在功课和对心智发展有益的休闲活动上。我之所以非常认同这一点,因为孩子在小时候能够快速地理解所看到或听到的大部分事物。
【 比较研究 】 (B)朴实的考生乙
下面这篇文章是海淀国图高分班的许宗毓同学关于这道考题的习作。坦白地说,许同学的英语基础明显不如前面那个语言很彪悍的大牛,也没有像一些“土豪”那样去刻意生硬地堆砌难词或者拼凑难句,但她仍然凭借并不华丽但却更加充实的论证拿到了写作单项7分的成绩。下面是她在考试结束后根据自己的回忆发给Pat的文章,文笔虽略显稚嫩,但已经初步体现出使用英语来深入地展开论证观点的能力,而且论证过程也已经具备了一定的说服力,属于典型的7分范文(原文里有少量的拼写和语法错误已纠正):
I agree that the time children spend on school work offers them more meaningful activities than their idle free time does. However,I also believe that children should be able to decide for themselves how to spend their free time.
Children are at the best stage in life to gain knowledge ,develop skills and form good learning and social habits . If this precious period is mainly spent on idle activities such as watching TV and playing video games,which are many children's favorite hobbies,they will have to do much more to compete with their peers when they become adults.
What can be more worrying about giving children too much free time is the increase in children's behaviour problems . Nowadays it is common for parents to work long hours . The children who often spend time alone after school are more likely to suffer from loneliness and boredom ,and develop anti-social behavior. By contrast,not only does school work include listening to lectures and writing reports,it also offers a wide range of interactive activities ,such as group discussions and team presentations. These activities can improve children's social and cooperative skills .
On the other hand,I believe that children should be given enough freedom in deciding how to use their free time. The skill of managing time properly is as important as doing academic exercises. Providing children with the right to choose what they do after school will also develop their sense of responsibility . With advice from parents and teachers,children can choose meaningful activities for their free time, including art projects,sports and volunteer work .
In conclusion,I think that students should be encouraged to spend more time on school work. At the same time,they should be given guidance about how to use their free time properly.
词汇和短语
(标★的是本类话题的高频词汇或短语)
precious adj. 珍贵的
【近义】valuable
★ idle activities 闲散的活动
their peers 他们的同龄人
work long hours 工作很长的时间
suffer from loneliness and boredom 受到孤独与无聊的困扰
★ develop anti-social behaviour 形成反社会行为
interactive activities 互动的活动
★ social and cooperative skills (名词短语) 社会交往与合作技能
【相关短语】teamwork skills团队合作的技能
art projects 本文里指儿童的艺术作品制作项目
foundation n. 基础
volunteer work (名词短语) 义工
manage time properly 合理地管理时间
their sense of responsibility 他们的责任感
guidance n. 指导
本文思路与结构评析
本文的开头段明确提出自己的看法:用于学业的时间确实能为孩子们提供更多有意义的活动,但仍应允许孩子们自己决定如何使用空闲时间。
主体部分里的第1、2段 分别论证了适当控制孩子自由时间的两个必要性: ❶ 让孩子们充分利用宝贵的青少年阶段; ❷ 减少未成年人出现反社会行为的可能。 主体部分里的第3段 则提出学生支配自由时间的权利应该被尊重,因为学会合理地安排时间本身就是一种重要的社会技能,而且,如果有家长和老师的建议,孩子们通常也会为自由时间选择很有意义的活动。
许同学的结论是:应该鼓励孩子们更多地学习,同时应该指导他们如何去正确地利用自由支配的时间。
本文量化评分
■译文
我同意孩子们花在学业上的时间要比闲散时间能为他们提供更多有意义的活动。但我也认为孩子们应该可以自己去决定如何支配自由时间。
儿童正处在获取知识、发展技能和形成良好的学习与社会生活习惯的最佳人生阶段。如果这个宝贵的阶段主要是被用在很多孩子业余时间最喜欢的看电视和打电子游戏等闲散活动上面,他们在成年之后将必须做远远更多的事情才能和自己的同龄人竞争。
更令人担心的是,给孩子们过多的空余时间可能会导致孩子们的行为问题增加。当今,家长们往往要工作很长时间。放学后经常自己一个人的孩子们更容易感到孤独与无聊,并形成反社会的行为。相比之下,学业不仅包括听讲和写研究报告,也提供各种互动的活动,比如小组讨论或团队演示等,这些活动能增进孩子们的社会与合作技能。
另一方面,我认为学生应有充分的自由来决定如何利用业余时间。学习合理管理时间的技能与做课业练习同样重要。给予学生权利去选择课外活动也将促进他们的责任感。来自家长与教师的建议能帮助孩子们为自己的空闲时间选择有意义的活动,包括艺术品制作、运动和义工等。
总之,我认为孩子们应该被鼓励在学业上花更多的时间。同时,他们应该被给予关于如何恰当使用自由支配时间的引导。