一道高考英語試題所引發(fā)的思考

經(jīng)過了一年多的緊張復(fù)習(xí)，高三同學(xué)們即將迎來2007年高考。然而，回顧近幾年的高考英語命題，卻有許多不盡人意的地方。

2006年高考英語山東卷第23題 Engines are to machines _____hearts are to animals.

A. as B. that C. what D. which

當(dāng)時(shí)官方公布的答案是C. what，目前市面上各種輔導(dǎo)書也都給出了這個(gè)答案。然而，這個(gè)題的最佳答案應(yīng)該是A. as，盡管如果沒有as，what也是可以的。

為什么會(huì)出現(xiàn)這樣的錯(cuò)誤呢？一位高中英語教師告訴我，在高中英語課本中曾經(jīng)出現(xiàn)過 “A is to B what C is to D” 這個(gè)句型。但這只能證明在這個(gè)句子中，選what 是可以的，并不能說明 what 是最佳答案。

當(dāng)我用百度搜索時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)：Engines are to machines_____hearts are to animals 這句英文在網(wǎng)上很多地方都出現(xiàn)過，一般是在“高三英語單項(xiàng)選擇題精選”的頁面中，四個(gè)選項(xiàng)是 that、what、where 和which。 就這個(gè)題而言，答案當(dāng)然是 what。

但2006年山東高考英語卷的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)是 A. asB. that.C. whatD. which 。命題者的本意如果是想考察上述what的句型，在設(shè)計(jì)題的時(shí)候就應(yīng)該特別小心，不能把 as 出現(xiàn)在備選項(xiàng)中。

為了進(jìn)一步確認(rèn)，首先，我問了幾個(gè)外教，他們都說就這孤立的、沒有語境的一句話而言，as 是首選答案，這是毫無疑問的。其中，英籍教育專家 Mr. David Rowles 在給我的E-mail中說：

As I said in my earlier e-mail，I think that context has a role to play in all this... my first “gut” reaction was “as”...and I think that “as” is better in a bald，no-context statement. If the “engines” statement comes at the end of a paragraph detailing similarities between engines and hearts，and maybe prefaced by “so”，then maybe “what” is more appropriate. But，as it stands without context， then “as” is better.

其次，我在yahoo.com 英文網(wǎng)站上發(fā)了帖子，尋求native speaker的幫助，在14個(gè)回復(fù)中，13人選擇了as。 這是其中的一個(gè)回復(fù)：

The correct answer is “as”. This type of question is called an analogy.

Another and more popular example of one is： A glove is to hand as a shoe is to _____ (The answer is ‘foot’ because the glove covers/protects the hand， then the shoe must cover/protect whatever it is referring to.)

I hope that made sense to you. If I figure out a better way to explain it let you know.

再次，我且在BBC 的學(xué)習(xí)網(wǎng)站上也發(fā)了帖子，一位語言教師回復(fù)道：

I’d agree with you. Though ‘what’ is possible，it cannot be used in the sentence you have given as an example. If we use ‘what’ the relationship between the two parts has to be absolute. This is not the case. The engine of a machine does not perform the same function as the heart in an animal - the heart is simply a muscle that pumps，it does not provide any power.

When we use ‘a(chǎn)s’ we provide only an analogy，not a direct relationship. It’s the same as using ‘like’. An engine in a machine is like the heart - without it the machine doesn’t work / body ceases to function.

我們整天強(qiáng)調(diào)素質(zhì)教育、強(qiáng)調(diào)學(xué)習(xí)英語的目的是為了應(yīng)用，反對(duì)死背語法。然而考試，尤其是高考更具有指揮棒的作用，高考的命題是不是也應(yīng)進(jìn)一步地改革，更加合理、科學(xué)呢？（語言測(cè)試也是一門科學(xué)，在國(guó)外已經(jīng)有了相當(dāng)?shù)陌l(fā)展）。自從2004年以來，除了北京、上海等省市外，很多省份高考都采取了自主命卷，也因此出現(xiàn)了很多設(shè)計(jì)不嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)脑囶}。即使讓接受過正規(guī)高等教育的英國(guó)、美國(guó)人士做這些試題，他們也都會(huì)感到莫名其妙、稀里糊涂。以下是筆者通過對(duì)最近幾年的高考英語試題研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)的一些“有問題”的試題。

1． The husband gave his wife _______every month in order to please her. (2004年重慶高考英語卷)

A. all half his incomeB. his half all income

C. half his all incomeD. all his half income

這道題根本就沒有正確的答案！上述選項(xiàng)都不是地道的表達(dá)方法！

2． —What’s wrong with your coat?

— Just now when I wanted to get off the bus，the man next

to me _______on it. （2005年重慶高考英語卷）

A. satB. had satC. had been sitting D. was sitting

這道題的題干設(shè)計(jì)有嚴(yán)重缺陷，選A 和 D 都是有道理的，甚至還有native speaker選別的選項(xiàng)！

3． He was educated at a local grammar school，_______ he went on to Cambridge. (2005年山東高考英語卷)

A. from which B. after thatC. after whichD. from this

這道題設(shè)計(jì)也不是很嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)。盡管大部分人選C項(xiàng)，一些native speaker 可能會(huì)選別的選項(xiàng)！

4． I _______ in London for many years，but I’ve never regretted my final decision to move back to China.（2006年重慶高考英語卷）

A. livedB. was livingC. have livedD. had lived

這道題設(shè)計(jì)也有嚴(yán)重缺陷，大部分native speaker認(rèn)為選 A 和 D 都是有道理的，甚至還選別的選項(xiàng)！

5． —It’s thirty years since we last met.

—But I still remember the story，believe it or not，_______

we got lost on a rainy night.（2006四川高考英語卷）

A. whichB. thatC. what D. when

這又是一個(gè)設(shè)計(jì)很有缺陷的試題，盡管選 B 是對(duì)的，但是更多的 native speaker 會(huì)選擇D 項(xiàng)。

如上所述，高考作為選拔性的考試，無疑對(duì)于教學(xué)起著指揮棒的作用。因此，我們希望高考英語的命題者能進(jìn)一步提高命題的質(zhì)量，從真正有利于提高學(xué)生的英語水平這個(gè)角度出發(fā)，讓英語試題更貼近實(shí)際，與時(shí)俱進(jìn)，這樣才能對(duì)廣大的中學(xué)教師和學(xué)生有個(gè)滿意的交代。