托福综合写作优秀作文练习题：文艺青年减少了

 　　托福综合写作阅读材料：

　　A recent study reveals that peopleespecially young people are reading far less literature – novels, plays, andpoems – than they used to. This is troubling because the trend has unfortunateeffects for the reading public, for culture in general, and for the future ofliterature itself.

　　最近的研究显示人们，尤其是年轻人不再像以前那样爱读想小说、喜剧或者诗歌这类文学作品了。这个现象是令人担忧的。这是因为这对广大读者受众、对广义文化以及对于文学本身未来的发展都是非常不幸的。

　　While there has been a decline in bookreading generally, the decline has been especially sharp for literature. Thisis unfortunate because nothing else provides the intellectual stimulation¹ thatliterature does. Literature encourages us to exercise our imaginations,empathize with others, and expand our understanding of language. So, by readingless literature, the reading public is missing out on important benefits.

　　在书籍阅读量下降的大气候下，文学类书籍阅读量下降更为明显。这是令人遗憾的，因为在启迪心智方面，没有什么可以替代文学作品的作用。文学让我们发挥我们的想象力;让我们同他人心灵相通;让我们体味语言的魅力。文学阅读量的下降，让很多公众错失了这些文学的益处。

　　Unfortunately, missing out on the benefitsof literature is not the only problem. What are people reading instead?Consider the prevalence of self-help books on lists of best seller. These areusually superficial poorly written, and intellectually undemanding.Additionally, instead of sitting down with a challenging novel, many persons arenow more likely to turn on the television, watch a music video, or read a Webpage. Clearly, diverting time previously² spent in reading literature to trivialforms of entertainment has lowered the level of culture in general.

　　不幸的是，公众失去的不仅仅是文学本身的益处。人们用什么取代阅读呢?想想畅销书排行榜上那些颇为流行的自主类图书吧。这些书往往是内容肤浅、文笔粗糙的。而且，相对于坐在那里饶有兴趣地看一部小说，现在的很多人都倾向于看电视节目、音乐录影带或者上网看看网页。显然，把那些本该用在阅读文学作品的时间消耗在琐碎的娱乐将降低大众的文化水平。

　　The trend of reading less literature is allthe more regrettable because it is taking place during a period when good literatureis being written. There are many talented writers today, but they lack anaudience. This fact is bound to lead publishers to invest less in literatureand so support fewer serious writers. Thus, the writing as well as the readingof literature is likely to decline because of the poor standards of today’sreaders.

　　当想到这是一个不乏好作品的时候，文学作品阅读量的减少更显得令人遗憾了。有很多天才的作家，但是他们却鲜有读者。这会导致出版商不再投资于文学作品，而转而支持那些不够严谨的作家。因而，当今读者的水平不高导致了文学作品的创作跟阅读量同时下降。

　　托福综合写作阅读部分需要提取的观点是：

　　- Main point: 文学作品阅读量的减少对于读者、文化和文学的发展都是有害的

　　- Sub point 1: 文学作品阅读量减少对于读者是有害的

　　- Sub point 2: 文学作品阅读量降低文化水平

　　- Sub point 3: 文学作品阅读量减少导致文学创作减少

　　托福综合写作听力材料：

　　It is often said that people are readingless literature today than they used to. What should we make of this?

　　现在常有人说人们不像以前那样多的阅读文学作品了。我们应该如何应对呢?

　　Well first, a book doesn’t have to beliterature to be intellectually stimulating³. Science writing, history,political analysis and so forth⁴ aren’t literature perhaps, but they are oftenof high quality and these kinds of books can be just as creative andwell-written as a novel or a play. They can stimulate⁵ the imagination. So don’tassume that someone who isn’t reading literature isn’t reading a good book.

　　首先，启迪人只会的不一定必须是文学作品。学科书籍、历史、政治分析等基本上都不是文学作品，但是它们的质量往往很高，而且它们也想小说和喜剧那样的充满创造力和文采。它们也可以启发人的想象力。所以不要认为不读文学作品的人就不读书。

　　But let’s say that people aren’t justspending less time with literature, they are also spending less time with booksin general. Does that mean that the culture is in decline? No, there’s plentyof culturally valuable material that isn’t written – music and movies, forexample. Are people wasting their time when they listen to a brilliant song orwatch a good movie? Do these non-literary activities lower cultural standards?Of course not. Culture has changed. In today’s culture, there are many forms ofexpression available other than novels and poems. And some of these forms speakmore directly to contemporary concerns than literature does.

　　我们假设那些很少读文学作品的人同时也很少读各种书。这就意味着文化水平下降吗?不是的，因为除了写作之外还有很多文化形式，比如音乐和电影。当人们聆听美妙的音乐或者看一部好电影的时候，我们能说这是在浪费时间吗?非文字类的行为会降低文化水平吗?显然不是。文化已经不同了。在今天，除了小说和诗歌之外，我们有了更多的形式表达文化。而且，它们中的很多比文学作品更直接地表达当代社会的关注点。

　　Finally, it’s probably true that there’sless support for literature today than in earlier generation. But don’t be tooquick to blame the readers. Sometimes it’s the author’s faults. Let’s behonest. A lot of modern literature is intended to be difficult to understand.Here is not much reason to suppose that earlier generation of readers wouldhave read a lot of today’s literature either.

　　最后，或许现在对于文学作品的支持不如以前的。但是不要过于草率地去责备读者。有时，这是作者的问题。说实话，很多当代的文学作品刻意地写得很难以理解。我们没理由相信以前的读者会青睐现在的文学作品。

　　托福综合写作听力笔记：

　　Main point: 阅读部分的说法不成立

　　Sub point one: 人们虽然读文学书少，但是可以在其他类型的书籍中获益

　　Sub point two: 除了文学作品之外，音乐和电影也是很好的文化传播方式

　　Sub point three: 文学作品的支持减少不是因为读者阅读减少，而是因为作者的问题。

　　提示：

　　- 这篇文章阅读部分的分论点集中于每段段尾。尽管在独立写作中我们不推荐这种写法，但是这是完全符合essay的写作要求的。选择分论点的时候不可以想当然地选择段首句，而是要仔细阅读，筛选分析。方法呢，看以前的解析吧。

　　- 在反驳的过程中，前两点是直接反驳缺点，陈述说缺点并不存在。而第三点，这是“另寻他因”：文学出版减少的原因不是因为读者不读书，而是作者的问题。反驳角度不同，不可以想当然。

　　托福综合写作范文(仅供参考)：

　　The lecturer raises several arguments tocounter the reading passage’s strong criticism of the general public’sdeclining interest in reading literature.

　　The lecturer argues that literature is onlyone among many forms of reading genres⁶ from which the public can benefitintellectually. The public also benefits from reading works of science fictionand historical novels, among other reading genres. Therefore, the reading isworking to claim that the public is suffering great losses by not readingliterature.

　　Furthermore, the lecturer explains thateven if it is true that the public is reading fewer books and watching moretelevision and films instead, it does not necessarily mean culture is indecline.

　　Television and film are simply modern formsof cultural expression that are also intellectually stimulating and directlyrelevant to contemporary life.

　　Finally, the lecturer admits a decline inaudience and support of literature in today’s society, but she attributes it tothe authors themselves, who have alienated⁷ themselves from the reading publicby using overly complex language. The reading, however, blames the loweringstandards of the public for the declining interest in reading great works ofliterature.

1 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

6 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

7 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》