概要寫作教學探究
——以Unit 4 Using Language Animal Extinction為例

周思臾

引言

浙江省屬于高考改革綜合實驗省份，從2016年10月開始，英語新高考實行一年兩考，安排在每年的10月份和第二年的6月份進行（教育部考試中心 2015）。英語新高考試卷與原浙江卷相比，考試題型發生了巨大的變化，尤其是寫作部分，分值由原先的30分上升到40分。寫作部分為兩篇作文，第一篇是應用文寫作（15分），第二篇是讀后續寫或概要寫作（25分）。與有相對固定模式的應用文相比，讀后續寫和概要寫作給高中英語寫作教學帶來新的挑戰。其中，概要寫作同時涵蓋語言的輸入和輸出，不僅能提高學生的閱讀理解能力，還能提升其寫作能力。

一、概要寫作

根據2015年的《普通高等學校招生全國統一考試英語科考試說明》，概要寫作提供一篇350詞以內的短文，要求考生基于該短文寫出一篇60詞左右的內容概要。評分分為五檔，其中第五檔（21—25分）要求“理解準確，涵蓋全部要點；能準確使用相應的語法結構和詞匯；有效使用語句間的連接成分，使所完成的概要結構緊湊；完全使用自己的語言”（教育部考試中心 2015）。

根據高考的評分原則發現，概要寫作以快速掌握原文的內容梗概為目的，不加主觀評論和解釋，簡明、準確地表達原文的主要內容。概要寫作能讓學生通過閱讀原文吸收原文的結構與語言方面的優勢，寫出內容一致、結構近似、語言簡潔的短文。這種寫作既要正確理解原文，又要綜合歸納；既能培養學生的鑒賞能力，又能訓練其寫作能力。一篇優秀的概要寫作有三個特征：完整、簡潔、客觀。

概要寫作不同于固定體裁的文章寫作，學生無法通過學習范文、掌握語言特征、總結歸納、套用模板、反復練習等，在短時間內提升能力（程廉、崔麗芳，等 2004）。概要寫作的原文本身具有不確定性，其體裁可以是議論文，也可以是記敘文、說明文等。因此，原先學習范文、套用模板的方法并沒有很強的指導性。概要寫作的重點是：內容上學習縮寫的方法和思路，語言上掌握同義改寫和句子重構的技巧。

二、概要寫作教學實例

下面以人教版高中《英語》必修2 Unit 4 Using Language Animal Extinction為例，分析概要寫作的教學方法。

（一）快讀原文，提煉主旨

概要寫作要求學生能在最短的時間內讀懂、讀透所給閱讀材料，然后繼續寫作。要快速理解文章，必須先解決學生的詞匯障礙。因此，在這堂概要寫作課前就進行了生詞聽寫。當然，在平時每個單元閱讀教學中，教師也應有意識地訓練學生的閱讀理解能力和閱讀速度。

在課堂上，先要求學生在3分鐘內通讀原文，并找出每一段的主旨句。經過問答和討論，學生得出如下結論：

Topic Sentence for each paragraph：

Para.1：Many animals have disappeared during the long history of the earth.The most famous of these animals are dinosaurs.

Para.2：Nobody knows for sure why and how dinosaurs disappeared from the earth in such a short time.

Para.3：We know many other wild plants，animals，insectsand birdshavedied outmore recently.

教師進一步引導學生，讓其了解主旨句一般位于段首或段末，出現在段中的次數較少。這能幫助學生在今后的閱讀中快速定位主旨句，掌握文章結構和內容。

（二）尋找關鍵信息，形成初稿

找出文章每一段的主旨句后，學生對于文章的框架有了基本的認識。然而，一篇優秀的概要寫作僅有框架是遠遠不夠的，還需要加入一些關鍵信息。因此，教師要求學生在每一段中畫出自己認為關鍵的信息。經過討論，大部分學生能找出以下關鍵信息：

They lived on the earth tens of millions of years ago，long before humans came into being and their future seemed secure at that time.

They learned this from the way the bones were joined together.

According to a UN report，some 844 animals and plants have disappeared in the last 500 years.

The dodo is one of them.

根據主旨句和關鍵信息，學生初步形成概要寫作初稿：

Many animals have disappeared during the long history of the earth.The most famous of these animals are dinosaurs.They lived on the earth tens of millions of years ago，long before humans came into being and their future seemed secure at that time.They learned this from the way the bones were joined together.Nobody knows for sure why and how dinosaurs disappeared from the earth in such a short time.We know many other wild plants，animals，insects and birds have died out more recently.According to a UN report，some 844 animals and plants have disappeared in the last 500 years.The dodo is one of them.

（三）同義改寫

根據概要寫作的評分標準，一篇優秀的概要寫作必須完全使用自己的語言，而非照搬原文。如果不能幫助學生改掉照搬原文的習慣，將會影響他們的概括、整合等思維能力，促進語言內化更無從談起。因此，下面探討如何通過實例講解、方法指導和強化訓練幫助學生在實踐中掌握“同義改寫”的技巧。

首先，給學生示范如何進行同義轉換。

例1：Many animals have disappeared during the long history of the earth.

改寫：The earth has witnessed the disappearance of numerous animals in its long history.

其次，引導學生根據給出的范例，歸納同義改寫的常用技巧：

（1）變換主語（animals→the earth）；

（2）轉換詞性（disappear→disappearance）；

（3）更換詞匯（many→numerous）。

根據歸納出的常用技巧，繼續讓學生操練其他句子的同義改寫，通過分組討論，改寫原文句子：

例2：The most famous of these animals are dinosaurs.

改寫：Dinosaurs are a typical example.

例3：They lived on the earth tens of millions of years ago，long before humans came into being and their future seemed secure at that time.

改寫：Long before the appearance of humans，dinosaurs live on our planet free from any dangers.

例4：They learned this from the way the bones were joined together.

改寫：By examining their bones found in China，the scientists are amazed to learn their ability to run and climb.

例5：Nobody knows for sure why and how dinosaurs disappeared from the earth in such a short time.

改 寫 ：The causesofdinosaur’ssudden extinction remain a mystery.

例6：We know many other wild plants，animals，insects and birds have died out more recently.

改寫：Recent years have seen the extinction of other wild species.

例7：According to a UN report，some 844 animals and plants have disappeared in the last 500 years.

改寫：Based on data from the UN，about 900 species have died out in the past five centuries.

例8：The dodo is one of them.

改寫：The dodo is one example.

根據改寫，學生初步形成概要寫作修改稿：

The earth has witnessed the disappearance of numerous animals in its long history.Long before the appearance of humans，dinosaurs live on our planet free from any dangers.By examining their bones found in China，the scientists are amazed to learn their ability to run and climb.The causes of dinosaur’s sudden extinction remain a mystery.Recent years have seen the extinction of other wild species.Based on data from the UN，about 900 species have died out in the past five centuries.The dodo is one example.

（四）句子重構

修改稿的篇幅和語句已經基本滿足了概要寫作的要求，但評分標準中還要求“有效地使用語句間的連接成分，使所完成的概要結構緊湊”。修改稿只是句子的簡單拼湊，缺乏關聯性，因此，教師需要引導學生重構句子。

只有運用多種形式的句子結構表達思想，才能寫出層次清晰、內容簡潔的概要。因此，教師需對學生進行針對性訓練，使其體會化繁為簡、變句為詞和整合散句等重構技能。

在課堂上發現，學生對于文中提到的兩種恐龍滅絕假說無從下手。有學生借鑒議論文的寫作方法這樣寫：

Some believe the extinction resulted from a giant rock unexpectedly hitting the earth while others argue that the extremely hot temperature led to their dying out.

這樣寫文章會增加很多不需要的單詞，違背概要需要簡潔的原則，因此教師引導學生把這些句子變成短語甚至單詞來重構句子。學生經過討論，概括 為 ：（1）a giant rock hitting the earth；（2）the extremely hot temperature。

（五）形成終稿

教師提醒學生可以利用定語從句、非謂語等語法結構重構句子，最終形成如下幾篇優秀的概要寫作終稿：

終稿 1：Dinosaurs were once the masters of the world.However，a sudden and mysterious extinction hit them，leaving behind their bones and eggs for humans’research.Scientistshave proposed two popular theories concerning their sudden disappearance，from an unexpected incident to the climate change.Actually，as what is claimed in a UN report，the number of species dying out is increasing more rapidly，and the dodo is a typical one.

終 稿 2：Dinosaurs are well-known animals which died out from the earth over the long history，but seemingly nothing could be a threat to their existence.By examining their bones，scientists are amazed to discover some of them can climb and run.No one could tell the certain reason for dinosaurs’sudden disappearance.Based on data from the UN，we can draw the conclusion that about 844 animals and plants have become extinct species in the past few centuries.

終稿 3：Long before the appearance of humans，dinosaurs lived on the earth free from danger，some of which used to live in China including a new species of bird-like dinosaurs.Their unique bone connection enabled them to run and climb the trees.However，they became extinct in a short time，the reasons for which remain a mystery.Similar to dinosaurs，many wild species died out in the past 500 years，the dodo included.

終稿 4：Dinosaurs，whose existence could never be threatened then，used to live on our planet long before humans appeared.Their ability to run and climb have been revealed through the inspection of their bones discovered in China.Scientists have suggested many possible causes of their extinction ranging from a rock hitting the earth to the extremely hot climate，which are yet to be proved.Actually，recent centuries have witnessed the extinction of approximately 900 species including dodo.

三、反饋與啟示

通過這一堂概要寫作課，學生能基本掌握如下寫作方法（見下頁圖）：

但在教學過程中，發現部分學生存在以下問題：

（一）主次不清、邏輯性差

部分學生把每一段話總結為一句話，然后將其簡單地拼湊，形成概要。這樣寫出來的概要雖然涵蓋了文章的要點，但是主次不分，缺乏邏輯性。因此，在教授概要寫作時，教師應提醒學生分清文章的主次內容，對關鍵信息進行反復推敲，運用關聯詞等使文章銜接緊密、邏輯順暢。

（二）強加主觀評論

個別學生會加入主觀想法，添加文章沒有提到的信息。在這堂概要寫作課中，有的學生這樣寫道：“People should attach great importance to protecting wildlife.”雖然這名學生運用了高級詞匯，但由于文章中并未提到保護野生動物的行為，所以屬于脫離原文的“創作”。因此，在概要寫作教學時，教師應強調概要是對原文內容和思想的再現和濃縮，注意其客觀性。

（三）詞匯缺乏多樣性

由于部分學生詞匯量缺乏，一篇概要中重復出現同一個單詞，詞匯缺少變化。如對于die out的解讀只會使用本單元extinction，而不會使用become extinct，disappear，disappearance 等同義詞。因此，在平時的教學過程中，教師可以有意識地幫助學生積累同義詞匯。

結語

在新高考背景下，概要寫作讀寫整合課不僅能幫助學生提高閱讀速度和能力，還能讓他們通過廣泛閱讀內化語言，為寫作打下堅實的基礎。