托福考试作文还在套模板?这可不是作为一个学霸应有的态度!通过阅读原版外文报刊,小编近期又发现了几个好用的写作句型,希望和大家分享一下这些地道的用法。我们一起去拿下一次托福
SAT的作文满分!话不多说,赶快跟着一起来围观!
1.对……有害
如何表达“某事情对……有害”?常见的说法是:something will do harm to…/something is harmful to… 除此之外还可以学习下面的表达:
If a reporter discovers, and knows that two or three rival reporters have also discovered, that a politician is going to say something newsworthy, it would be odd, and a disservice to the readers, not to report it.这句话的大意是如果记者们知道政客接下来要发表有新闻价值的讲话,但没想着去报道,那么这样的行为会很奇怪,同时也损害了读者的利益。这里可以提取出一个表达be a disservice to somebody/something,意思即“……损害某人/某物(的形象、利益、声誉等)”。
举个例子:
Although taking part-time jobs offers a variety of benefits to students, it would be a disservice to them if these jobs take up too much of their time that could otherwise be used for reading textbooks or preparing homework.
同时,该句型的反义表达是do a service to somebody / do somebody a service,例如:
Although academics are important, it is not advisable for students to spend all of their time buried in their books. University students who devote some of their time and energy to extracurricular activities will be doing a service totheir studies and careers.
2.公众对……很关心
国内考场作文有一个被用滥了的句型 there is widespread concern about… 我们可以从外刊中找到其他句型来替换,比如:
Public concern is picking up. A poll last year of 38 countries found that 61% of people see climate change as a big threat; only the terrorists of Islamic State inspired more fear.Public concern is picking up. 其中pick up这一词组用得很棒,它在这里的意思相当于“增加,加强”,可以用 Public concern about/over XX is picking up. 来说明“公众对于……的担忧在加强”,例如:
After a series of vaccine scandals, public concern over vaccine safety is picking up.
除此之外,还可以使用下面的句型:
Today, it still has the power to inflame passions: for Protestants, particularly Orangemen, it remains a flaunted source of ancestral pride; for many Catholics, it is an historical irritant.从这里可以提取出一个句式something has the power to inflame passions,含义是“某事(通常是有争议的事件)能够激起人们强烈的感情”,比如:
Whether animals should be used in medical research has been debated for decades and the topic still has the power to inflame passions, with animal rights activists claiming that humans have no right to use the suffering of others to seek benefits.
3.手段与目的
我们有时候可能需要表达这样的意思“……只是手段,而不是目的”,用
英语应该怎么说?
The bag ban is not an end in itself. It’s part of a culture change, with more and more people asking questions about the cost of convenience. At heart, it’s a conservative movement – reusing things where you can, making them last, understanding that the greatest power most of us have is consumer power.这一段话的背景是塑料污染对海洋生物造成了危害,因此有公益组织建议大家停止使用塑料袋。但塑料袋禁令只是手段而不是目的,其根本目的是要唤醒人们的环保意识。一、句中的an end in itself是一个固定用法,含义是“某事物本身就是目的”,举个例子:
She started exercising for her health, but she enjoyed it so much that exercising became an end in itself.
要表达“……只是手段而不是目的”,即something is not an end in itself,例如:
Economic growth is a means, not an end in itself. The ultimate goal of growth should be to spread benefits to all levels of society.
4.某事情值得怀疑
下面的段落节选自The Economist对于西班牙政局的报道:
A Galician, the Spanish like to quip, is the sort of person you meet on the stairs and you don’t know whether he is going up or coming down. Such ambiguity, or retranca, can make for entertaining and ironic speech, and an attitude of caution, even suspicion. For Mariano Rajoy, the Galician-born Spanish prime minister, playing to this archetype is a way to survive and manage conflicting demands. Whether it is the character trait Spain needs to overcome its agony is open to doubt.这段文章开头很有意思,作者引用了西班牙人对加西亚人的调侃(在楼梯上碰到他们时你无法确定他们究竟要上还是下)来说明他们做事风格模糊,令人捉摸不透的特点。通过这一背景介绍很自然地引出了同样是加西亚地区出身的西班牙首相马里亚诺·拉霍伊,他通过这种加西亚人式的行事风格来协调各种利益冲突,但这种风格能否帮助西班牙走出困境还是一个未知数。
然后一句话be open to doubt是一个固定表达,含义是“……有待考证,值得怀疑”(If you say that something is in doubt or open to doubt, you consider it to be uncertain or unreliable.) 它更加强调某说法存疑的可能性更大。例如:
(1) Whether minority languages can survive in this increasingly globalized world is open to doubt.
(2) Whether international aid can have a positive impact on the recipient countries is open to doubt.
与此同时,还有一个类似说法something remains to be seen,但该表达更加中立,单纯强调某事物目前还无法确定。例如:
Whether humans will be able to colonize Mars in this century remains to be seen.
总结:
本期一共介绍了以下几个表达:
(1) be a disservice to somebody/something
(2) Public concern is picking up./ have the power to inflame passions
(3) not an end in itself
(4) whether...is open to doubt / remains to be seen