巧用虛擬語氣提高作文檔次

虛擬語氣是英語里的一個語法現象，它表示說的話不是事實，或是不可能發生的情況或難以實現的主觀愿望，抑或是建議假設的語氣。

正因為虛擬語氣的這種非“真實性”，很容易被一些考生所忽略。事實上，虛擬語氣是廣東高考英語的一個重要考點，在近高考的語法填空中考查過一次（2012年第17題），在高考寫作中考查了兩次。因此，靈活運用虛擬語氣不但可以提高語法填空的分數，而且還可以提高作文檔次。

[例1] 2009年廣東高考讀寫任務

假如你處在那些動物的處境， 你會有什么反應。

在本要點中考查到了虛擬語氣，此要點可表達如下：

If I were in the same position as the animals in the zoo， I would be strongly against being photographed. Not having peaceful surroundings to sleep in，I would feel rather tired and annoyed.

不過，很遺憾，當年不少考生卻沒能用到虛擬語氣，而是誤用了一般的陳述語氣。寫成：If I am in the same situation as the animals， I will definitely feel irritated. 這就暴露了有的考生還不會運用虛擬語氣，甚至還沒真正掌握這種語法現象。

[例2] 2013年廣東高考讀寫任務

假如沒有清潔工，環境會變得如何？

寫作此要點時虛擬語氣又派上了用場，該要點可表達如下：

If there were no cleaners in the world， we would undoubtedly live in a messy， dirty and smelly environment， which would badly affect our health.

然而，令我們大多數高考閱卷老師失望的是，能在此處用上且用對虛擬語氣的考生，可謂鳳毛麟角。

由上述兩次高考作文可知，虛擬語氣在高考寫作中大有“用武之地”，運用得當，可以為作文增值。那么，考生如何才能在作文中運用好虛擬語氣呢？筆者建議，除了掌握虛擬語氣的基本用法外，也要有意識地背誦和積累與之相關的實用句型，以便日后服務于寫作。請看以下的句子：

1. My teacher advised me to put my heart into my studies. 老師建議我潛心學習。

2. It is time for them to go out for relaxation. 是他們外出放松一下的時候了。

3. It is necessary for a teacher to have a thorough knowledge of the subject he teaches. 教師必須對他所任教的科目有個全面的了解。

4. I regret wasting so much time on meaningless things. 我后悔花這么多時間做無意義的事情了。

5. My head teacher treats me very well. 我的班主任對我很好。

6. I want you to stay a little longer. 我想你多逗一會。

7. He had meant to go to the cinema with you， but one of his friends came to visit him then. 他本來打算和你一起去看電影的，但后來有個朋友來看望他。

8. Her mother prefers her not to go to college. 她母親不希望她上大學。

9. We didn’t work hard and failed eventually. 我們沒有用心工作，結果失敗了。

10. He jumped into the river in time to rescue me and I was saved. 他及時跳進河里來救我，最終我獲救了。

請同學們把上述句子轉換成含有虛擬語氣的句子。參考答案如下：

1. My teacher advised that I（should）put my heart into my studies. 老師建議我潛心學習。

2. It is high time that they went out for relaxation. 他們該外出放松一下了。

3. It is necessary that a teacher（should）have a thorough knowledge of the subject he teaches. 教師必須對他所任教的科目有個全面的了解。

4. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time on meaningless things. 要是我不浪費這么多時間在無意義的事情上就好了！

5. My head teacher treats me so well that it seems as if she were my mother. 我班主任對我很好，好得仿佛她是我母親似的。

6. I wish you could/would stay a little longer. 要是你能多逗留一會就好了。

7. He would have gone to the cinema with you if one of his friends hadn’t come to visit him.

Or：But for the fact that one of his friends had come to visit him， he would have gone to the cinema with you. 要不是有個朋友來看望他，他當時就會和你去看電影了。

8. Her mother would rather she didn’t go to college. 她母親寧愿她不上大學。

9. We might have succeeded if we had worked hard. 我們倘若當時努力的話，我們說不定就成功了。

10. Had it not been for his timely help，I would have lost my life.

Or：Without his timely help，I would have lost my life. 要不是他及時的幫助，我當時就喪生了。

對比之下，顯然含有虛擬語氣的句子比之前的句子在表達上要高明些。貌似簡單的句子，卻蘊含了考生在寫作中靈活運用語法知識的能力，往往能讓評卷老師“心動”。

除了試題本身要求學生運用虛擬語氣外，考生也可以“主動出擊”，在適當的時機，在有把握的情況下，向評卷老師“秀”一下虛擬語氣。如：

“感謝老師對我的無私幫助”，可以這樣寫：

Mrs. Zhang treats me so well that it seems as if I were her son. Had it not been for her selfless and generous help，I would have given up my study and dropped out of school. How grateful I am to her kindness！

[即時練習]

以下是近年各市模擬題中讀寫任務的要點，請恰當運用虛擬語氣。

1. 假設你是學校校長，談談你將如何處理違紀學生，并陳述理由。（2009年廣州一模）

2. 假如你是父母一方，你會如何磨礪自己的孩子？（2013年揭陽一模）

3.“我”后悔過去虛度光陰，以致忽略甚至荒廢了學業。

4. 父母對“我”過度嚴格，導致“我”喪失自由，渴望得到解脫。

參考范文

1. Were I in charge of a school，I would also be very strict with the students who don’t behave well. I would first warn and then suspend the students who disturb the learning of others or disrespect their teachers. Also，it is necessary that I visit the poor students’ home and discuss the problems with their parents so that we could find solutions.

2. If I were a parent，I would advise him that he should face any difficulties bravely instead of giving up. Besides，I would expose him to the hardships in life instead of solving all the problems for him，providing them with chances to fight for his bright future by conquering challenges.

3. I used to waste so much time surfing the Internet and watching TV that I neglected my study totally. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time playing. Instead，I should have devoted myself to improving my grades. If I had made an effort，I would have made greater progress. Now，I’m well aware that it’s high time that I focused on my studies.

4. My parents are so hard on me that it seems as if I were a bird confined in a cage without freedom. They always put pressure on me and would rather I spent all my energy on studies. How I wish my parents could stand in my shoes and come to realize it’s vital that I （should） balance study with relaxation.

綜上所述，虛擬語氣在我們的英語寫作中很實用，只要考生掌握好，并能靈活運用，就能提升作文的檔次，在寫作中脫穎而出。

（作者單位：江門開平市第一中學）

責任編校 蔣小青