第三章-托福口语Task3（原Task4）详解之实例讲解

实例讲解

Reading

Cognitive Dissonance

Individuals sometimes experience a contradiction between their actions and their beliefs—between what they are doing and what they believe they should be doing. These contradictions can cause a kind of mental discomfort known as cognitive dissonance. People experiencing cognitive dissonance often do not want to change the way they are acting, so they resolve the contradictory situation in another way: they change their interpretation of the situation in a way that minimizes the contradiction between what they are doing and what they believe should be doing.

 TPO-3 TASK 4

Listening

Professor

This is a true story, from my own life. In my first year in high school, I was addicted to video games. I played them all the time, and I wasn’t studying enough. I was failing chemistry. That was my hardest class. So this was a conflict for me, because I wanted a good job when I grew up, and I believed, I knew, that if you want a good career, you got to do well in school. But I just couldn’t give up video games. I was completely torn.

And my solution was to...to change my perspective. See, the only class I was doing really badly in was chemistry. In the others, I was... I was OK. So I asked myself, if I wanted to be a chemist when I grew up, and the fact is I didn’t. I was pretty sure I wanted to be a sociologist, so I told myself my chemistry class didn’t matter, because sociologists don’t really need to know chemistry. In other words, I changed my understanding of what it meant to do well in school. I reinterpreted my situation. I used to think that doing well in school meant doing well in all my classes. But now I decided that succeeding in school meant only doing well in the classes that related directly to my future career. I eliminated the conflict, at least in my mind.

TPO-3 TASK 4

Speaking 

Using the example discussed by the professor, explain what cognitive dissonance is and how people often deal with it.

TPO-3 TASK 4

阅读文本分析：

 原文

 作用

 扩展

 标题

Cognitive Dissonance

给出“认知失调”这一概念。

我们在前面说过阅读材料的框架是先给概念再解释。看完标题，那么在读下面的段落之前，我们就先猜测它会讲哪些内容。比如，在开头部分，文章应该会对 “Cognitive Dissonance” 进行定义。所以在读开头部分之前，我们心里就抱着“这句话是不是定义”的想法。

 第一、二句

Individuals sometimes experience a contradiction between their actions and their beliefs— between what they are doing and what they believe they should be doing. These contradictions can cause a kind of mental discomfort known as cognitive dissonance.

下定义。

尽管第一句话中并没有“Cognitive Dissonance”，但我们应该明确它是在为下定义服务的。果然在第二句话中，“Cognitive Dissonance” 出现了，下定义的标识 —— “known as”也出现了，给出定义：个体有时会感受到他们的行为和信念之间的不一致性，即他们在做什么和他们认为他们应该做什么之间的差异。这些不一致会导致一种叫作“认知失调”的心理不适。到这里，第一任务（标题给出概念并且在文章开头部分下定义）就完成了。读后面的文章时，我们应该带着新的预期。我们之前说过，定义完成之后就是对这个概念的解释。

 第三句

People experiencing cognitive dissonance often do not want to change the way they are acting, so they resolve the contradictory situation in another way : they change their interpretation of the situation in a way that minimizes the contradiction between what they are doing and what they believe should be doing.

进一步解释。

“People experiencing cognitive dissonance often do not want to change the way they are acting, so they resolve the contradictory situation in another way...”（那些感受到认知失调的人通常不想改变他们的行为方式，所以他们用另一种方式来解决这个问题……）这句话显然是对认知失调会有什么症状的解释。句中提到了“in another way”，我们就要想到后面应该会讲述“another way”是什么。那么到底是什么呢？是 “they change their interpretation of the situation in a way that minimizes the contradiction between what theyare doing and what they believe should be doing”（他们改变自己对这种不一致性的解读，最大限度地减少他们在做什么和他们认为自己应该做什么之间的矛盾）。

看到这里，我们发现这个段落分为两个部分：定义和解释。 并且我想我们对于这个理论也有了一定的了解：当我们在描 述一个框架时，前两点（定义和解释）是一定要有的，第三点 （举例）是可有可无的。

阅读笔记如下：

在分析听力文本之前，我们要知道第 3 题的听力内容与阅 读文本之间往往是阐述与被阐述关系，在听听力文本的时候务必要以阅读文章的定义及阅读文章中已经出现的内容作为阐述 基础。譬如，在听这篇文章时，我们心里要先清楚原文对认知 失调（Cognitive Dissonance）下了定义，并且对该定义进行 了解释说明，那么我们在听之前就应该预判听力文本有可能会 对认知失调进行举例。这里有一个小技巧：若阅读文本中没有 给出具体的例子（你甚至可以认为只要是没有出现 for example 等），听力文本就容易直接对定义举例子。

下面我们来分析听力文本吧。

 原文

 作用

 扩展

第一句 

This is a true story, from my own life.

 举例。

听到第一句，你就应该知道教授一定要讲述一个具体的 personal experience 来证明阅读文章中的内容。这是一个重要的预判。你也知道这个例子是为了证明认知失调，所以在听例子的时候关键是找到不一致处在哪里。

第二句

In my first year in high school, I was addicted to video games.

这句话需要记录的信息不多，只要在最后口语复述时记得是在学校发生的事情，知道关键词是 video games 就可以了。但你应该清楚地意识到，这句话中并没有出现冲突，也就是说，他所描述的情形还不足以印证认知失调。

第三句

I played them all the time, and I wasn’t studying enough.

 听到这句话时，一方面了解它的字面意思，另一方面也注意到它同时表达了一个肯定和一个否定的含义，形成了一种冲突。这种不一致性正好是阅读原文定义的体现。

 第四、五句

 I was failing chemistry. That was my hardest class.

这个部分需要记录的内容不多，能把 chemistry class 记录下来就不错了。这种信息的记录能使最后的口语作答有足够的细节。

第六句

 So this was a conflict for me, because I wanted a good job when I grew up, and I believed, I knew, that if you want a good career, you got to do well in school.

总结。 

证明了我们的观点：这的确是一个举例的部分

第七、八句

But I just couldn’t give up video games. I was completely torn.

复述观点。

这两句在最后的口语作答中可以不体现。听到这里我们应该知道对定义的举例已经完成，对后文听力文本的进一步预判建立在阅读文章除了定义之外还阐述了如何解决认知失调问题。阅读文章中给出的对认知失调的解决方案是“they change their interpretation of the situation in a way that minimizes the contradiction between what they are doing and what they believe should be doing”，因此我们预判在听力文本中也会详细讲述教授自己是如何解决这个问题的。

第九句

And my solution was to...to change my perspective.

直接描述解决方法。

听到 solution 的那一刻你就知道自己的预判是正确的。

第十、十一、十二句

See, the only class I was doing really badly in was chemistry. In the others, I was... I was OK. So I asked myself, if I wanted to be a chemist when I grew up, and the fact is I didn’t.

简单介绍情况。

需要在口语中表达的内容不多，只要能在口语中表达出作者不想成为chemist 即可。继续往下听的时候，应该回顾阅读文章中给出的解决方案是 change their interpretation，关键词是 change, 因此我们也需要在听力文本中将 change 的具体内容听出来，了解如何 change 以及改变的前后情形是什么。

第十三、十四句

I was pretty sure I wanted to be a sociologist, so I told myself my chemistry class didn’t matter, because sociologists don’t really need to know chemistry. In other words, I changed my understanding of what it meant to do well in school.

详细解释什么是 change。

你可以简单地理解为这是对阅读文章中 change 概念的举例，这对于我们形成有效的文章框架极其有利。

第十五句

I reinterpreted my situation.

小结。 

验证了我们的预判，也就是所听文本是对上文的具体阐述。

第十六、十七、十八句

I used to think that doing well in school meant doing well in all my classes. But now I decided that succeeding in school meant only doing well in the classes that related directly to my future career. I eliminated the conflict, at least in my mind.

对例子的总结。

完整地阐述了教授自己是如何转变对学校课程的认知的。

可以这样说，听力材料中教授所给出的内容完全是对阅读材料中概念的进一步阐述和举例，其内容与阅读材料一一顺序 对应。清楚地了解阅读材料中阐述的顺序将极大地帮助我们建立听力预期，减轻听力难度和做笔记的压力。

听力笔记如下：

口语参考答案：

Cognitive dissonance occurs when peoplefind that their actions contradict their beliefs, or rather, that they aredoing things they normally should not do. In this situation, they adjust theirbeliefs and thoughts to better match their actions, so that they lessen thedisconnection between their actions and beliefs. In the professor’s example, heexplains that he was playing too many video games when he was in high school,and it was costing his good grades in chemistry class. Instead of giving upvideo games and trying to do better in chemistry, he convinced himself that hewanted to be a sociologist and his chemistry grade didn’t matter. He madehimself believed that he only needed to do well in sociology-related classes,and that made him feel better about his video game habits.

——改编自《新托福真题详解——口语分卷（第一册）第二版》

答案解析：

第 一、 二 句“Cognitive dissonance occurs when people find that their actionscontradict their beliefs, or rather, that they are doing things they normallyshould not do. In this situation, they adjust their beliefs and thoughts to better match their actions, sothat they lessen the disconnection between their actions and beliefs.”给出了认知 失调的定义。在口语作答中，我建议学生尽可能快地复述定义， 一般不超过两句话，参考答案给我们提供了一个好的示范。

随后应该尝试描述听力文本的内容。尽管在很多情况下， 听力文本的举例是与教授本人无关的案例，但在本篇文章中使 用的是教授的个人经历。这给我们的复述带来了很多便捷。答 案的后面几句就是在具体描述听力文本中的内容。

第 三 句“In the professor’s example, he explainsthat he was playing too many video games when he was in high school, and it wascosting his good grades in chemistry class.” 使 用 了“In the professor’s example”来建立阅读材料和听力材料之间的联系。 另外，需要注意的是，我们使用了过去时态来复述教授经历过 的事情，譬如： he explains that he was playing...when he was... 这 是展示自己语言能力的一种取巧的方式：同一篇文章中使用超 过一种的时态、语态。

第 四 句“Instead of giving up video games andtrying to do better in chemistry, he convinced himself that he wanted to be asociologist and his chemistry grade didn’t matter. ”复述了听力材 料中的如下内容：“...But I just couldn’t give up videogames. ... So I asked myself, if I wanted to be a chemist when I grew up, andthe fact is I didn’t. I was pretty sure I wanted to be a sociologist, so I toldmyself my chemistry class didn’t matter, because sociologists don’t really needto know chemistry.”首先我们发现，复述过程中 抛弃了繁杂的心理过程，而直接讲述了结论。这也是我们复述 时候要遵循的原则——重要的是阐述结论而不是得出结论的具 体细节。其次，听力材料中相互论证的部分（paraphrase）在口语作答中为了简洁只出现一次。

第五句“He made himself believed that he only needed to do well insociology-related classes, and that made him feel better about his video gamehabits.”复述了听力材料中的如下内容：“I used to think that doing well in school meant doingwell in all my classes. But now I decided that succeeding in school meant onlydoing well in the classes that related directly to my future career. Ieliminated the conflict, at least in my mind.”关于这部分的复述，我们应该 学习的地方是：听力部分中出现了转折，我们的重点是复述转 折后的内容，得出结论即可。