在托福写作过程中,举例论证的使用是一个非常重要的过程,没有举例,托福作文就无从延展。但是实际考生在考试和练习的过程中,对于举例的方式用得相当低端和无效。一部分考生举例和主题无关,而还有一些考生举例过于繁琐并且添加了相当一部分的无用内容。因IBT考试评分标准里规定了“the essay should be well organized and well developed, using clearly appropriate explanations, exemplifications, and/or details”的内容,这就要求考生们在构文的过程中必须要给出适当的例子和地道的支撑内容。
首先,名人名事需要考生在考试之前积累大量的信息,包括名人的名字、事件名称、发生的时间地点人物情节,包括一些名著的情节等。这里并不需要考生完全记忆,故事梗概能对topic sentence进行足量的支撑即可。例:Beethoven, the German Composer, began to lose his hearing in 1801 and was entirely deaf by 1819. However, this obstacle could not keep him from becoming one of the most famous and prolific composers in art history. His music, including 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, several senates and so on, forms a transition from classical to romantic composition. 贝多芬的例子可以用于励志类型的题目(如Should people stick to their dream even though it's difficult to become true or a practical one?)。这样,在写文的过程中加入作品数量和内容,容易增加学术性和说服力。
其次,社会事实的内容一样能够提供大量的例证支持,社会事件的说服力更直接有力。这里特别要注意的是,在描述时间的过程中,注意排除事件的无关背景信息,保留能够为支持论证服务的内容。例:For example, students might attempt to paraphrase to convey information obtained from research but fail to cite their sources. Or they might fail to identify passages as quotations when they are conducting research for a writing project and later treat the passage as though it were a paraphrase. In still other cases, students will knowingly attempt to pass off the work of other writers as their own. 剽窃的例子可以用在诚信或者是信息技术的题目中,凸显内容高度。
当然,考生也可以选择自己和身边亲朋好友的例子。考生常见做法为编造个人经历,现场马上造出一个新鲜的例子。只要举例内容到位,是不会影响得分的。所以在个人经历描写中,考生一定要把握列举事件的人事物地以及情节还有因果,最好加上由此事得出的最终结论。例如:When my grandparents were children, the only transportations for the majorities are animal labored or human labored vents. Once my grandfather tries to go to Beijing to take the big exam, it took him half a month to ride his horse there. However, as air plane is becoming an affordable transportation for most of modern people, it will only take me 1 hour to get there. Not to mention the comfortable environment on an air plane or a train comparing with the vans in the past. 这样的例子要求考生还要注意一点的就是,国际化考试不要给出过多的local概念。很多考生背了很多中国特色短语(像四个现代化,社会主义等),认为用在文章能体现词汇量,这点不是英文考试地道语言内容的体现。
应当注意的是,引出例子不再仅仅只有for example、for instance, 其实针对不同的例子都有不同的巧妙而又自然的引入。比如上述例子中的句式,此外还有:a case in point、after all、as a proof、as an illustration(使用时放于句首,后加逗号)、as an example、for example、for instance、in particular、just as、namely、such、specifically、that is、to illustrate、to demonstrate。举例的位置既可以放在主题句后,也可放段尾。