雅思作文真题解析

雅思作文考试第一部分是一道图表题,要求考生在20分钟内将某一图表中的信息准确客观的反映出来,文章不应少于150字.这一部分对于不熟悉雅思的考生来说甚至比第二部分的议论文更难,原因主要有两点:1描述数据是需要用固定语言的,而我们平常很少使用这些语言.2描述数据是需要按一定顺序进行的,而顺序的选择是一门很大的学问,选择对了可以达到省时高效的目的,选择错了则费力不讨好.我们就结合下面这道雅思真题来作一说明.

WRITING TASK 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The table below shows the comsumer durables (telephone, refrigerator, etc.) owned in Britain from 1972 to 1983.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below.

You should write at least 150 words.

考生所面临的第一个难题就是百分比的表达法, “1972年中有37%的英国家庭拥有中央暖气”该如何表达呢?我们可以说成“In 1972 37% of British families had a central heating.”，但是英语作文最忌讳的便是重复，考生对于同一概念必需准备多种表达方式，而上面这个图表中的数据是极其单调的，因此考生更需有相当的储备才行。“In 1972 37% of British families owned a central heating”“The central heating was used by 37% of British families in 1972” “Central heating ownership in Britain was 37% in 1972”都是地道的表达方式。

考生所面临的第二个难题就是按什么顺序来处理这个图表。数据少的表格我们可以选择一个数据一个数据地阐述，但此图表中的数据有60来个，我们不可能用150字把它们每一个都表达出来，实际上这样做也毫无意义。聪明的考生按趋势的顺序来表达从而收到了良好的效果。“The greatest increase was in telephone ownership, rising from 42% in 1972 to 77% in 1983. Next came central heating ownership, rising from 37% of households in 1972 to 64% in 1983. The percentage of households with a refrigerator rose 21% over the same period and of those with a washing machine by 14%. Households with vacuum cleaners, televisions and dishwashers increased by 8%, 5% and 2% respectively. In 1983, the year of their introduction, 18% of households had a video recorder.”这样写既全面准确地反映出该图表中数据的主要特征，又省时省力，可见顺序的选择对于处理图表题是多么地重要。

(北京紫铭培训学校雅思教师姜以超)