新托福写作句式变化：短句变长句

朗阁海外考试研究中心

有很多同学都相当困惑，究竟什么样口味的句子才是ETS阅卷官们喜欢的呢？其实，在新托福写作中，口味为“具体具体再具体”，You cannot be more specific. 这也意味着，句子越细节，你的得分越高，但绝不是生搬硬套东拉西扯。所以本次讲解的核心技能就是扩充句子，使其获得由短变长的飞跃。究竟怎样扩充句子呢？有如下方式：

1. 增加并列成分；

2. 增加修饰成分；

3. 增加从句；

4. 增加连词；

如以下例句：

They grow long hair.

这个句子没有任何闪光点，我们利用以上扩充方法来修改这句话，变成了如下的句子：

They grow long hair, regardless of the gender, usually part of which is dyed in gold.

这句话就相当璀璨夺目，有修饰成分，也有从句。

同理，做以下的三个练习：

1. They wear jeans.

They wear jeans in each and every season, commonly knees of which are deliberate torn.

2. Boys wear earrings.

Boys are keen on earrings and other weird ornaments.

3. Girls smoke.

Girls are fond of Marlboros or some odd bad words.

以下为一组多个句子组成的一段话。

Energy is much needed now. And nuclear plants are clean and economical. They can produce vast amounts of energy. But people, especially local residents are very concerned about safety. They hold a strong negative attitude toward them.

这几个句子都是简单句，虽然表达的意思很清楚，但是明显没有满足ETS的口味偏好，下面我们将上述句子搭配成完整的复杂句。合并句子的准则为：同一个词汇可以合并，变成从句或修饰成分，例如“energy”、“people”。修改后的句子为：

Nuclear plants are a clean and economical way of producing vast amounts of much-needed energy; however people, especially local residents, who are very concerned about safety, hold a strong negative attitude toward them.

同理，做两个练习：

修改前：Some people succeed. Other people fail. The difference is not the number of opportunities. It is whether they can take advantage of opportunities. Opportunities will arise in the course of one’s life, though they are rare.

修改后：One essential difference between those who succeed and those who fail is the extent to which they take advantage of opportunities rather than the number of opportunities, which will inevitably arise, if rarely, in the course of one’s life.

修改前：College students now are primarily interested in grades and economic success. They are expected to cheat more frequently. They are unlike those graduated ten years ago. They are only interested in their own personal future and consider little the problem of society.

修改后：College students, primarily interested in grades and economic success, are expected to cheat more frequently than those who graduated ten years ago and are far less concerned with the problem of society than with their own personal future.

至此大家应该知道如何使短句变长句了，同学们要时刻牢记：不积跬步无以至千里，不积小流无以成江海。写作的目的是考察学生的语言能力，平庸的短句是无法吸引考官眼球的。