今天来体会阅读以及写作,从VOA英语的一篇新闻开始...-英语学霸网

我们从VOA特别英语的一篇新闻报道，来体会阅读以及写作的训练。这篇报道既可以当做短文阅读及写作的范本，又可以从中获得有关语言学习的诸多启发。我们边阅读边分析。

ONE

U.S. Adults Make FewGains in Reading Skills Since 1992

04 January2006

About one in twenty adults in the United States cannotread English. A new federal studyshows that adults made little progress in their reading skills between nineteenninety-two and two thousand three.

第一句话破空而出，直接用一个具体且醒目的统计数据点题：平均每二十个美国成人中有一个人不能阅读。紧接着给出一项新的联邦研究（A new federal study）的总体结论，与标题呼应：美国成人10年间阅读能力没有进步。报道的题目和第一段，提纲挈领。读者此时应立刻调动起三大背景

相关知识（内容基模和文化基模）：社会科学研究的模式；阅读能力；美国成人社会。

TWO

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy is the mostimportant test of how well adult Americans can read. Researchers testednineteen thousand people over the age of sixteen. The study represents an adultpopulation of two hundred twenty-two million.

Those who took part were tested on how well they couldread and understand information used in everyday life.

第二第三段自然要说明研究的概貌：覆盖的时间跨度，样本大小为，代表的人口规模，测试内容。信息具体而丰富，又高度精练。提供权威研究的名称和阐述研究规模，便向读者传达了一个隐含信息，这项研究的结论靠谱。从批判性思维角度，这等于是边报道（撰写），边回答听众或读者可能产生的疑问：这些结论怎么得来的，可靠性如何,等等。在文化知识背景层面，第二段已经显露出作者的全文是按教育研究规范的思维模式向读者阐述该研究的一种“互动活动”。

THREE

The study found that eleven million adults, or fivepercent, cannot read English. They could not answer even the easiest writtenquestions. Four million of them most likely cannot speak English either.

The study shows that more than forty percent of adultscan perform only simple reading activities. For many, even that can bedifficult.

Fifty-six percent of adults can perform moderateor complex activities. Moderate can mean finding information in a book. Of thatnumber, thirteen percent can perform complex tasks like comparing two differentnewspaper commentaries.

所以紧随其后的三段，自然是将研究总体结论展开为重要的分项统计数据。超过40%的成人只能完成简单的阅读活动，甚至还会感觉困难；只有56%的成人能够完成中等难度的阅读活动，其中只有13%的成人能够完成复杂阅读活动。边叙述边做出必要的解释（以回答读者的质疑），研究中怎样界定阅读活动的难度？中等：finding information in a book；复杂：comparing two different newspaper commentaries。解释通俗、具体而简洁。其中moderate一词相对生僻，但从文本语境simple reading activities和moderate or complex activities，易于推知其含义为中等（难度）。

FOUR

Researchers say part of the problem is that many youngAmericans do not read as much for pleasure anymore. Also, there are greaternumbers of non-English speaking immigrants.

Reading skills can directly affect the ability to earn aliving. The best readers were found to earn up to twenty-eight thousand dollarsa year more than those who lacked simple reading skills.

Yet, compared to the last study in nineteen ninety-two,adult reading skills were about the same or lower across every level ofeducation. This was true even among people who have completed college.

接下去更深入更具体。提供造成这种结果的原因解释：除了移民因素之外，美国人为娱乐而阅读的活动减少了；提醒阅读能力的重要性：与赚钱多少直接相关；尽管阅读能力如此重要，再次具体化本研究的结论：各教育层次的成人，包括大学毕业生，阅读能力都没有进步，甚至有退步。全文的主题更突出。

FIVE

By race and ethnic group, blacks and Asians had thebiggest increases in English reading skills. But levels decreased amongHispanics. Experts say, however, that while many Hispanics are unable to read in English, they may read well inSpanish.

提供更深入的具体数据的同时，也不忘扩展覆盖面和代表性。美国是个多民族熔炉，既然是fedaralstudy,这项研究必须覆盖少数族群，而要覆盖少数族群，必须谨记美国社会的教条：政治正确。所以，文章进而给出少数族群的数据。黑人和亚裔群体阅

读能力进步了（政治正确），泛西班牙裔群体退步了，赶紧加上一句，西班牙裔群体中不少人母语的阅读能力还是蛮好的嘛（政治正确）。

Overall, American adults improved the most in answeringquestions that involved numbers. Even so, the test found that the average adultcannot do much more than perform simple, everyday math.

The Department of Education says the literacy findingsshow the need for reforms especially at the high school level.

This VOA Special English Education Report waswritten by Brianna Blake and Steve Ember.

至此，整个报道一片“悲观”，文章已接近结尾，不忘来一点亮色，以增加报道的平衡感和中立印象：涉及数字能力的阅读，美国人有所进步。不过作为科学研究，其数据的客观性是第一位的，这个亮点一闪即灭：研究同时发现美国成人平均而言只能完成最简单的日常数值计算。

报道最后以联邦政府教育部的评论落幕，与联邦的研究相呼应；一句话就收拢，给读者收放自如的深刻印象。

一篇不足四百个单词的报道，用词用语简单（VOA 特别英语对用词有严格规定），但结构清晰，内容丰富；将几万字的专业研究报告，提纲挈领地归纳，深入简出地表达。作者极不可能是社会科学家，但对写作内容的驾驭举重若轻，反映出作者对社会科学研究思维模式的娴熟，这就是文化背景知识的功底。当然，行文通俗流畅，又反映文字功底。如果读者也熟悉社会科学研究的思维模式，那么读这篇文章既轻松又能迅速把握关键信息，即使有一些生词都

不妨碍预测和理解。