欠網友這個 post 很久了, 實在不好意思.

今次想跟大家推介一套美國 Houghton Mifflin 出版社出品的寫作閱讀書籍--College Reading Series. 故名思義, College Reading Series (以下簡稱 CRS) 是一 "系列" 的書藉, 共有三本. 但嚴格來說, 他們並不是三本 "不同" 的英文書, 他們三本書籍的主題是一模一樣的. 他們不同之處只是例文及測驗的艱深程度. 所以, 假如你的英語程度很高, 又有興趣買的話, 直接買 CRS 3 就可以. 同樣地, 假如你的英語程度只是一般高中生的英語水平, 那你只買 CRS 1 就好了. 無謂浪費金錢.

回歸主題, 這本書為甚麼值得一買?

1) 內容全部來自真實的美國報章雜誌文章, 而不是某某英語專家所 "虛構" 的英語文章.

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早兩日跟蕭 sir MSN 聊天. 談到學生的作文問題. 剛巧前一日就改了一篇文章, 裡頭的一句令我印象深刻:

I was blissful and delighted when I found the book.

蕭 sir 稱此類句子 "走火入魔", 與我給予的 "獅身人面" 稱謂可說不謀而合. 這句句子包含了兩類學生常犯的作文問題.

第一, 亂用生字.

可能同學都被 "同義詞" 一字迷惑. 語言裡頭, 其實是沒有意義完全相等的字. 即使是 "爸爸", "父親", "老豆" 都各帶有不同的含意. 例如三者的正式程度不同: 當代廣東話裡, "父親" 幾乎只會用於書面, "老豆" 則通常只能用於口語, "爸爸" 則兩方面都可以. 意義上, "父親" 表達了父子間較為嚴肅的關係, 而 "老豆" 則親切可愛得多.

即使近如 "空調" 跟 "冷氣機", "冰箱" 跟 "雪櫃", 都有微妙的分別. 例如它們各反映了講者的身份.

"熱" 跟 "炎熱" 是同義詞, 但假如有位學中文的鬼佬跟你說:

"呢杯奶茶好炎熱"

你一定會掩住半邊嘴笑.

學生寫作造句亦同一道理. 好地地的一個 "happy" 不用, 嫌它不夠 "high-class", 不夠型, 硬要用 "blissful", 於是寫出來的怪字怪句就令改卷人哭笑不得.

第二, 語意重疊.

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有網友曾邀請筆者介紹書藉給他們. 中學生來說我推薦當代作家 Spencer Johnson 的作品. 因為他的文筆簡單, 意念清晰, 是本人欣賞的一類作家. 此亦令人想起現時高中生喜歡賣弄生字的怪現象. 其實作文無非是為表達; 連這個最基本的目的都做不好, 就莫論文筆了. 所以最令人眼前一亮的文章, 就是那些文字結構簡單, 但內容意念清晰, 甚至令人看完恍然大悟 (小悟也可以) 的文章. 中學生的你們, 與其花時間查字典找些艱深的生字, 不如多花點精神去架構一些有創意的句子吧!

扯得太遠. 筆者昨日無意中看到一段 Who Moved My Cheese? 的動畫影片. 相信大家都有聽過這個書名罷! 這就是 Spencer Johnson 的成名作 <誰動了我的奶酪>. 對於不喜歡閱讀文字的學生們, 又多一個學英語的選擇了:

(Part 1)

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上回打了餐單的前半部分. 今日繼續:

3. 隔日打一篇英文網誌

有打網誌習慣的同學, 從今開始改用英文打網誌. 記什麼呢? 就記你平時記開的東西吧. 生活, 興趣, 什至每日時事, 感想等. 記什麼內容不要緊, 重要的是要用完整句子. 忌用過於口語的生字, 句子. 亦避免用自己未完全掌握的艱深字眼. 嘗試運用簡單的生子及句子結構, 準確表達自己的思維.

日記的字數亦不是重點, 總之半小時可以打完的, 已經很足夠.

4. 星期六或日選一部英語電影(或類似的東西), 看兩次.

請選一些有內容的電影. 笑劇 (如Friends) 的笑話你未必會明, 明亦未必覺得好笑, 加上粗俗口語過多, 內容欠奉, 對口語表達沒有大幫助, 避選. 啞的笑劇 (如Mr. Bean系列) 三分鐘只有兩句對白, 每句兩個字的, 更加避選. 它們都是很好的娛樂電影, 但並非有效的英語學習材料. 除了以上兩類, 其他大部分都可供選擇.

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從留言得知有兩三位將要會考的考生在閱讀此blog. 我是澳門人, 對香港會考一點兒也不熟悉, 不能教授你們考試的技術, 要訣.

澳門的中學會提供外國考試 (如GCE ), 但參加與否是自願性質的, 所以沒有香港的瘋狂補習風氣. 有網友問了這樣一條問題: 學生這樣學 (指補習) 能真的學好英語嗎?

學是可以的, 但學 "好" 則沒有可能. 大家餐餐食 m 記, 一樣可以發育成長, 但發育良好嗎? 成長得健康嗎? 這個不是 m 記的重點, 固然亦非補習社的重點.

對於閱我blog的澳門香港中學生, 本人現提供一份較有營養的英語餐單.

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今朝解釋過semi-colon 的用法, 再分享一下外國例文.

Thing do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.

Henry David Thoreau (十九世紀美國作家兼哲學家)

第一句及第二句都在談論 "改變", 關係密切, 因此可用 semi-colon 代替 fullstop. 而第二句及第三句的關係就遠得多啦, 所以用上fullstop 來分隔.

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1. Ready to Write More, Longman
由淺入深, 例文, 練習充足, 適合初中級程度學生

2. Nue Guide to Writing, Macmillan

亦是例文充足, 優勝在於內裡談及很多不同文體, 適合中高級程度學生

3. College Reading Series, Houghton Mifflin Co.

例文全是真實材料, 亦是由淺入深, 適合高級程度學生

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Table Manners:a Cultural Difference

　　For many Westerners, the Chinese dinner table is terra incognita([拉]未發現的地域). There are no forks or knives for the Westerners to use. The Chinese host makes great, sweeping（大範圍的）arm movements that go over large sections of the table passing over both food and friends alike. The scene is fantastic（非常好的）, but it leaves many foreigners at a loss（讓……迷惑）for what to do. In most Western restaurants and homes there are rules about how to talk, eat and sit that are highly restrictive（受限制的）, and they create an atmosphere（氣氛）that is completely different from what we find here in China.

        In my childhood home, dinner was enjoyed with hushed(壓低聲音的) voices, and the topics open for discussion were very much restricted. We were not allowed to bring up anything that was potentially unappetizing（倒胃口的）; body functions（上洗手間）, bugs, murder and mayhem（使人肢體傷殘的行為）in general were all strictly forbidden topics. If I had to leave the table to use the toilet, I had to verbally excuse myself without mentioning what it was that I was going to do. "May I be excused, please? I need to wash my hands." I would say. My mother would say, "Sure." My father would often play a joke on us by saying, "Your hands don't look dirty to me!"

　　As for eating, we did it quietly. No eating noises were allowed. Everything must be done as quietly as possible. Therefore, we had to eat with our mouths closed. To make a "smacking" noise was, per-haps, the worst offence possible. While drinking soup or coffee or wine "slurping"（咕嘟咕嘟地喝）was also forbidden. If any sound whatever was created by our intake of food or beverage（飲料）, it constituted（構成）bad manners! With that in mind, it was, of course, unthinkable to speak with one's mouth full of food, so speaking only occurred（發生）before or after one had taken in food and swallowed（吞咽）it.

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一定是平時太勞累電腦, 以後要善待它… 

由於時間關係, 只能夠分享部分原來想打的東西. 望請見諒 這次帶來的是一些報章雜誌的sample paragraphs: 

Newspapers have definite advantages over other sources of information. The wonderful thing about the newspaper is that all the work is done for you. There is nothing to turn on, nothing to search for, nothing between you and the information. Somebody else has already categorized, organized, edited and condensed the information for you in a form easily handled and assimilated… 

(Ref: Joe Saltzman, “Too Much Information, Too little Time,” USA Today, September 1997) 

顯而易見, 第一句就是topic sentence. 何解? 因為以後每一句都是在說明為何報紙比其他資料來源有優勢. 再看以下一段: 

Jigsaw puzzles (拼圖), which were created in the 1760s, are still a popular pastime. Thirty million jigsaw puzzles were sold in 2000. Eighty percent of American homes contain a jigsaw puzzle for adults. Eighty-three percent of American homes contain at least one child’s jigsaw puzzles. There’s even a National Jigsaw Puzzle Championship every year. This contest offers puzzle enthusiasts $10,000 in prizes. It’s clear that many people still enjoy this centuries-old hobby. 

(Ref: John Tierney, “Playing with the Puzzle People,” Reader’s Digest, May 2001)

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英語作文與中文作文的文體分類不盡相同, 一般來分的話, 可分作最少七類:

1. Descriptive (eg. Title: My mother)

2. Cause & Effect (eg. Title: Global Warming)

3. Argumentative (eg. Title: Stop Smoking!)

4. Critical (eg. Title: How Beowulf makes a change in traditional mythology)

5. Compare and Contrast (eg. Title: My Secondary & University Life)

6. Procedural (eg. Title: Planting a Tree)

7. Narrative (eg. Title: My Summer Vacation)

8. Others [themetic, definition, chronological, etc]

每一類後面的括號都有一個題目供大家參考(不要怪題目很行貨, 我乃是臨時想的). 大部分文體都可因名思義, 所以我不全部解釋. Argumentative essay= 議論文. 而critical essay 中學生應該很少機會接觸到. 它們主要是對文學, 論文等的一些評論.

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有時批改學生文章時會發現一個怪現象, 就是學生喜歡用short forms (contracted forms).

例如:

I've read the story already.

It's bad to tell lies.

有些學生更加會用口語的short forms

又例如:

I wanna become a doctor.

我想強調一點, short forms 是不會用於寫作 (尤指公函等正式文章時).

那什麼是short forms 呢, 以下先舉一些例子:

have>>'ve

has, is>>'s

will>>'ll

do not>>don't

(informal)

want to>> wanna

got to>> gotta

going to>> gonna

got you>> gocha

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