為什麼GMAT/托福多念了一個月,分數仍然上不去?


教了多年GMAT與托福,常聽見同學在顧問時間很疑惑地說,在圖書館苦待了一個月,結果考出來居然分數一氁一樣,真是吐血+傻眼!甚至信心差點沒被打垮,開始嚴重懷疑自己的智商。相信這是同學心有戚戚焉的感受。念了好久,機經也看了,去考試仍然沒十足把握。

原因在於你閱讀的方式。你是在用學了幾十年的英文能力閱讀、細讀,硬是把每個字翻譯完在腦海中試圖拼湊成有效的資訊,也難怪你在時間壓力下,明明眼睛盯著螢幕上的一行行英文字,但是卻有看沒懂,沒看進去。所以你很可能在家都做得好好的,平常用紙本寫也很ok,但是在考試有強大時間壓力下,卻怎麼也答不好,都不禁要懷疑自己是否有閱讀障礙了!

朋友呀!其實並不是你有閱讀障礙,或是你得了不知名的記憶力短缺症,更不是你的英文能力(試問!我們從小學英文到現在很可能超過十年了,難道還不夠嗎?),而是你從小養成的閱讀習慣。你習慣讀太細,當你試圖用短期記憶記下太多資訊時,當然結果會是甚麼也記不住、什麼也沒看懂。

考試時,同學會面臨大量的資訊,這時候很重要的能力是篩選、簡化資訊。
試想,今天即使考到了滿意的GMAT/TOEFL分數,但出國後,每天面臨一百多頁原文的閱讀量,怎麼有辦法吃得消?

因此,假如你想要出國後,每天花三小時做功課,剩下時間還可以出去和朋友喝一杯、玩耍,而不是整天悶在房內,與功課奮戰,請你現在就具備這樣的閱讀能力吧!

我們來談談skim,也就是略讀的能力。
(以下部分擷取自How to Skim Text這篇文章,對原文有興趣的朋友可以點此連結:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-skim-text.html)

略讀(skim)意即不用每個字都讀卻能掌握文中要點的能力。
略讀需要知道哪些部份該讀、哪些不該讀。


略讀六大技巧:


1. 掌握主旨及目的

在看每個段落時,思考這段的主題是什麼?作者有什麼態度?理解完每個段落重點後,思考一下整篇文章的主旨及目的是什麼?文章的主旨及目的通常會在第一個段落的第一句或是最後一句話出現。

了解文章主旨及目的能夠幫助你判斷哪些例子為不重要的細節,哪些例子跟目的有直接關聯,是重要的資訊。假如沒有大方向,略讀時很容易打瞌睡、甚至會睡著。


2. 掌握結構

結構意指關聯性,句子與句子的關係、段落與段落的關係。讓我們來做個小小實驗:

Efforts to control Spartina outside its natural environment have included burning, flooding, shading plants with black canvas or plastic, smothering the plants with dredged materials or clay, applying herbicide, and mowing repeatedly. Little success has been reported in New Zealand and England; Washington State’s management program has tried many of these methods and is presently using the herbicide glyphosphate to control its spread. Work has begun to determine the feasibility of using insects as biological controls, but effective biological controls are considered years away. Even with a massive effort, it is doubtful that complete eradication of Spartina from nonnative habitats is possible, for it has become an integral part of these shorelines and estuaries during the last 100 to 200 years.

請試著抓這個段落的重點,你會怎麼讀這個段落呢?請把你抓到的重點用紙筆寫下來,或是手邊無紙筆的話,請記在腦海中。


以下是我會閱讀這個段落的方式,括號內為我腦海中記下的重點:

Efforts to control Spartina outside its natural environment have included burning, flooding, shading plants with black canvas or plastic, smothering the plants with dredged materials or clay, applying herbicide, and mowing repeatedly.(ways to control S) Little success has been reported in New Zealand and England; Washington State’s management program has tried many of these methods and is presently using the herbicide glyphosphate to control its spread. (Little success)Work has begun to determine the feasibility of using insects as biological controls, but effective biological controls are considered years away.(看到but,因此會稍微注意一下,發現在講同一件事-little success所以不用特別記新資訊) Even with a massive effort, it is doubtful that complete eradication of Spartina from nonnative habitats is possible, for it has become an integral part of these shorelines and estuaries during the last 100 to 200 years.(看到doubtful,一樣在講little success,所以不用特別記)

看完整個段落,我只記得了,methods to control Slittle success,一個是主題,另一個是態度,因為夠簡化,所以我記得住。因為夠簡化,所以我可以輕易抓到整段架構。這就是skim厲害的地方。可以幫助你節省很多時間,更重要的是,他可以幫你考高分!

        因此,我們來做個小小總結,當你在看一個句子時,試著在腦海中用一個關鍵字表達他的重點。當你發現下一句話重點仍然不變,那麼就不需要重複記。假如下一句話,重點不一樣了,那麼就可以用轉折詞再記第二個重點。這樣在腦海內,雖然看了整個段落,卻仍然只記了兩個重點,便能做到有效的簡化資訊。


3. 找尋作者的論點

當你看到帶有態度的字眼(attitude word)時,這些字會告訴你作者的想法。由於每篇文章都有自己的立場,只要是作者的態度、論點便會是重要的資訊,往往也會是考題所在。當你看到作者論點時,一樣也可以做簡化資訊的動作。假如你發現他給了兩個例子,都是在支持他的論點,那麼你只需要記得他的論點,而不用特別記例子。而當你看到他用了轉折詞,如Furthermore, but,你便知道他要給下一個論點,或是他的態度、立場轉變了,這時候就可以再記下一個論點。


4. 看段落的第一句話抓重點

英文的邏輯是先給結論,因此,每個段落都會圍繞著第一句話,用給例子的方式繼續延伸。假如能夠養成看段落先看第一句話,再去思考其它句跟第一句的關係,就能夠簡化資訊。有個很簡單的方法可以測試你目前對於抓重點的掌握程度,當你看完一個段落時,是否有辦法浮現清楚的重點及態度呢?沒有的話,代表你仍然再使用細讀,那麼請繼續練習。


5. 不要讀完整的句子

在讀每句話時,要懂得篩選資訊,分辨主要/次要資訊。而要如何判斷什麼是主要/次要的資訊呢?同學通常是看完整句話了,才有辦法判斷,這樣並沒有節省到時間。請你要使用句子結構來幫助你判斷,假如是一句話裡面的主要子句(S. V. O.),當然會是重要資訊,假如是修飾語,如介系詞片語、形容詞、複詞、附屬子句,便有極高可能會是次要資訊,可跳過。 我們一樣用剛剛的段落來做個小小實驗,請抓一下每句話的重點,你是每個字都看呢?還是只看SVO

Efforts to control Spartina outside its natural environment have included burning, flooding, shading plants with black canvas or plastic, smothering the plants with dredged materials or clay, applying herbicide, and mowing repeatedly. Little success has been reported in New Zealand and England; Washington State’s management program has tried many of these methods and is presently using the herbicide glyphosphate to control its spread. Work has begun to determine the feasibility of using insects as biological controls, but effective biological controls are considered years away. Even with a massive effort, it is doubtful that complete eradication of Spartina from nonnative habitats is possible, for it has become an integral part of these shorelines and estuaries during the last 100 to 200 years.


黃色部分為我讀的地方: 

Efforts to control Spartina outside its natural environment have included burning, flooding, shading plants with black canvas or plastic, smothering the plants with dredged materials or clay, applying herbicide, and mowing repeatedly. Little success has been reported in New Zealand and England; Washington State’s management program has tried many of these methods and is presently using the herbicide glyphosphate to control its spread. Work has begun to determine the feasibility of using insects as biological controls, but effective biological controls are considered years away. Even with a massive effort, it is doubtful that complete eradication of Spartina from nonnative habitats is possible, for it has become an integral part of these shorelines and estuaries during the last 100 to 200 years.(通常看到for是介系詞片語不用看,但這裡的for是指原因,因果關係是重要的關係,所以要看。)

這樣是否覺得簡化資訊不難呢?其實對於一般不習慣skim的同學來說,這是說來容易,做來難,因此,還是得常練習,試著去習慣這種閱讀方法,才能上手喔!


6. 跳過細節

同學通常對於細節格外執著,會覺得如果不記細節,很不安心,怕會考出來。事實上,考題通常都不外乎是考你態度及轉折詞出現處的重要資訊,或是考你結構、關聯性。要知道,沒有論點的例子、細節是單一、瑣碎的資訊,並沒有很大的用處,不會是作者寫文章的目的、更不會是重要的資訊,因此不用特別記,只要有印象這個例子在講的是哪個論點就可以了。假如出現細節題,再用關鍵字定位(Scan),便可以很快地找到答案。


看完了skim的六大技巧,這能力還是要靠同學常常練習、養成每天閱讀的習慣,才有辦法擁有良好的略讀能力。因此,同學在每天努力念書準備考試之餘,請不忘檢視自己是否有效地調整閱讀習慣,才能在分數上見效喔!