浙江

品讀英語文學(xué)作品尤其是經(jīng)典名著可以為學(xué)生打開了解別國歷史、文化、風(fēng)俗的窗口。通過閱讀英語原版文學(xué)作品，學(xué)生可以拓展視野，感受不同文化的魅力。在學(xué)生閱讀這些名著的同時，教師要指導(dǎo)學(xué)生深入品味名著語言并把握語篇結(jié)構(gòu)，著眼提高他們的高考備考能力。

仔細(xì)分析，高考備考能力的提高建立在詞（詞語）、句（句子）和文（篇章）這三個不同層面的能力提高的基礎(chǔ)上。下面筆者結(jié)合Jack London的著名短篇小說To Build a Fire，談一下如何通過品讀英文原著來促進這三個層面的能力提高，希望能夠起到拋磚引玉的作用。

一、詞

熟詞多義是英語學(xué)習(xí)中的一個難點，如形容詞wild既可以表示褒義，意為“狂喜的”，也可以表示中性，意為“野生的”，還可以表示貶義，意為“野蠻的”。在不同的語境中，wild這個單詞表示不同的意思，而如何判斷該詞的詞義是考生較難把握之處，因為這需要具體語境的支撐，英語原版名著無疑提供了很好的范本。下面請看小說To Build a Fire中關(guān)于熟詞多義的具體例子：

Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero.That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head.

precisely在常規(guī)用法中表示褒義，意為“精確地”，如：He has formed a good habit of expressing his feelings precisely.（他養(yǎng)成了精確表達(dá)自己情感的好習(xí)慣。）但是在這里，結(jié)合語境precisely則表示貶義，意為“僅僅”，與后面的“that never entered his head”相呼應(yīng)，以此強調(diào)他的盲目和無知。

如果學(xué)生能夠掌握一定數(shù)量熟詞的生義，并在寫作中自由運用這些詞會使其文章增色不少。比如，同樣是表達(dá)“因為我關(guān)心你，我才不要你太晚回家。”使用“It's precisely because I care about you that I don't like you staying out late.”明顯比“It's because I care about you that I don't like you staying out late.”更勝一籌。precisely在此意為“正是，確實”，強調(diào)真實或明顯。

二、句

經(jīng)典名著中通常會有一些長難句或亮點句，而這些句子恰好是值得學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)的好素材，因為高級句型的使用會為學(xué)生的書面表達(dá)增分添彩。

比如，同樣表示“一想到父親去年買來的那些每只看起來都很可愛的貓，他就很高興。”，不少考生習(xí)慣表達(dá)成He became quite happy when he thought of those cats.Each of them had been bought by his father the year before.Each of them looked very lovely.雖然這樣的表達(dá)在準(zhǔn)確性上沒有問題，但是要想打動閱卷老師取得高分卻非常困難。那么，該如何突破這個瓶頸呢？我們不妨從名著To Build a Fire中找尋答案。

He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits,each cut open and sopped in bacon grease,and each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon.（一想到那些餅干，他就欣然一笑，那些餅干每塊都被切開，吸收了熏肉的油脂并包裹著一大片煎熏肉。）

此句為長難句，其中as引導(dǎo)的是時間狀語從句，表示“當(dāng)……的時候”，而后面的句子則是省略了with的獨立主格結(jié)構(gòu)，讀者的常見疑問是“為什么cut與sop（濕透，滲透）這兩個動詞使用過去分詞，而enclose（包，裝）這個動詞卻使用現(xiàn)在分詞？”實際上，作者Jack London非常注重語言上的細(xì)節(jié)，對于名詞和動詞之間的關(guān)系拿捏得非常到位，由于名詞biscuits與動詞cut與sop是被動關(guān)系，所以使用過去分詞，而與動詞enclose則是主動關(guān)系，所以必須使用現(xiàn)在分詞。

通過分析上面引自To Build a Fire中的句子，學(xué)生豁然開朗，并嘗試著把上文那幾個平淡無奇的句子改寫如下：

He became quite happy as he thought of those cats,each bought by his father the year before and each looking very lovely.

修改后的句子借鑒了原著中的獨立主格結(jié)構(gòu)，讓人眼前一亮。不過，如果學(xué)生缺乏對經(jīng)典原著或其他優(yōu)秀文章的積累，若想在高考書面表達(dá)中寫出令人耳目一新的高級表達(dá)顯然是不太現(xiàn)實的。

綜上所述，學(xué)生在句型、結(jié)構(gòu)上借鑒經(jīng)典名著，可以使自己的表達(dá)更加地道，從而為書面表達(dá)增分添彩。

三、文

學(xué)生通過品讀經(jīng)典名著提升備考能力，最終要落實到文中，因為文對學(xué)生的要求在理解詞語、句型的基礎(chǔ)上更進了一步，文要求學(xué)生對英、美經(jīng)典名著的寫作手法，如細(xì)節(jié)描寫（description）、比喻（simile或metaphor）和擬人（personification）等有非常深入的體會，感知這些文學(xué)作品的語言魅力。在Jack London的To build a Fire這本小說中，上述寫作手法運用得非常嫻熟和恰當(dāng)，下面筆者摘選一些具體的實例來分析一下這些寫作手法的具體使用。

1.細(xì)節(jié)描寫（description）

He had no chance to take a bite of biscuit.He struck the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the m itten,baring the other hand for the purpose of eating.He tried to take a mouthful,but the ice-muzzle prevented.He had forgotten to build a fire and thaw out.He chuckled at his foolishness,and as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping into the exposed fingers.

本段通過行為動作描寫，展示了主人公在寒冷中吃餅干的情景，起到烘托惡劣環(huán)境對主人公吃餅干造成困難的作用。

The man was shocked.It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death.For a moment he sat and stared at the spot where the fire had been.Then he grew very calm.Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right.If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now.

本段通過心理活動描寫，展現(xiàn)了主人公在面臨死亡時的后悔之情，得出人不能太固執(zhí)這一文章主題。

2.比喻（simile或metaphor）

He tried to poke them together again,but in spite of the tenseness of the effort,his shivering got away with him,and the twigs were hopelessly scattered.Eachtwig gushed a puff of smoke and went out.

本段的最后一句話運用了隱喻的寫作手法，暗指“隨著樹枝火苗的熄滅，主人公的生命也走到了盡頭?！边@里的樹枝并非只是指具體的物象，而是代表了主人公自己的生命希望。

3.擬人（personification）

The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire.

這里的yearned以擬人化的手法非常傳神地刻畫出這條狗的落寞失望之情。

掌握了這些手法后，學(xué)生要盡量在自己的書面表達(dá)如讀后續(xù)寫中運用這些手法，以使自己的語篇靈動、具體，從而得到閱卷老師的青睞。如同樣表示“累”，我們應(yīng)該拋棄籠統(tǒng)的表達(dá)“I was very tired.”，可以使用具體的描寫“My clothes were all wet with sweat.”。在描述湖面的美麗時自覺摒棄刻板的表達(dá)“The lake was very beautiful.”，可以用“The lake was just like a pure mirror in the setting sun.”這種比喻手法。

在掌握詞、句和文的基礎(chǔ)上，教師要引導(dǎo)學(xué)生在理解和欣賞英、美經(jīng)典名著后進行仿寫和改寫等相關(guān)創(chuàng)作活動，這有助于學(xué)生體會這些名著的精華并提升自己的思維能力。

請先欣賞小說原著最后三段：

He pictured the boys finding his body next day.Suddenly he found himself with them,coming along the trail and looking for himself.And,still with them,he came around a turn in the trail and found himself lying in the snow.He did not belong with himself any more,for even then he was out of himself,standing with the boys and looking at himself in the snow.It certainly was cold,was his thought.When he got back to the States he could tell the folks what real cold was.He drifted on from this to a vision of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek.He could see him quite clearly,warm and com fortable,and smoking a pipe.

“You were right,old hoss; you were right,” the man mumbled to the old-timer of Sulphur Creek.

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most com fortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known.The dog sat facing him and waiting.The brief day drew to a close in a long,slow twilight.There were no signs of a fire to be made,and,besides,never in the dog's experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire.As the twilight drew on,its eager yearning for the fire mastered it,and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet,it whined softly,then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man.But the man remained silent.Later,the dog whined loudly.And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death.This made the animal bristle and back away.A little longer it delayed,how ling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky.Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew,where were the other food-providers and fire-providers.

由上文可以看出，To Build a Fire這本小說以主人公被凍死和一條狗在無望的情況下無助逃生這樣的悲愴結(jié)局來收尾，閱讀完這樣的結(jié)局我們不免心生唏噓。但學(xué)生可以在教師的指導(dǎo)下運用他們的開放性思維和創(chuàng)造性思維去大膽地改寫結(jié)局，以下是一位學(xué)生改寫的結(jié)局：

The intelligent dog tried his best to run to the camp it was familiar with and succeeded in finding someone who was so kind as to go there to accompany him and saved him eventually.Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most com fortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known.In the dream he found he was almost frozen and that he was very scared at that time.Luckily he woke up the next morning and found it was merely a dream.

在上文中，學(xué)生運用了be familiar with,accompany,eventually,satisfying,luckily和merely等高級詞匯，也運用了so...as to do...結(jié)構(gòu)和what引導(dǎo)的名詞性從句等高級句型，同時還使用了夢境這樣的細(xì)節(jié)描寫，最重要的是學(xué)生通過閱讀原著，提高了想象能力。

提升高考備考能力的方法有很多種，但是閱讀經(jīng)典名著無疑是諸多方法中比較保險且高效的方法之一。通過品讀這些經(jīng)典名著，學(xué)生的閱讀能力和書面表達(dá)能力將不斷提升。

To Build a Fireis a short story by American author Jack London.There are two versions of this story,one published in 1902 and the other in 1908.The story written in 1908 has become an often anthologized classic,while the 1902 story is less well known.The 1908 version is about an unnamed protagonist who ventures out in the subzero boreal forest of the Yukon Territory,accompanied by his dog,to visit his friends — ignoring warnings from an older man about the dangers of hiking alone in extreme cold.The protagonist underestimates the harsh conditions and slowly begins to freeze to death.After trying and failing to build a fire,he slips into unconsciousness and dies of hypothermia.

The 1908 To Build a Fire is an oft-cited example of the naturalist movement that portrays the conflict of man vs.nature.It also reflects what London learned in the Yukon Territory.

1908 version p lot

Anunnamed man sets out to hike through the forests bordering the Yukon River on a w inter day whose temperature has reached -75℉ (-59℃).Having ignored the advice of an old prospector against traveling alone in such weather,he is accompanied only by his large husky dog.The animal's instincts warn it about the dangers of the extreme cold,and it follows the man unwillingly.As they follow the course of a frozen creek,the man is careful to avoid patches of thin ice,hidden by the snow,that cover pockets of unfrozen water.His goal is to reach a group of prospectors (“the boys”) at their camp by 6：00 that evening.

At half past noon,the man stops and builds a fire so he can warm up and eat his lunch.Shortly after resuming his hike,he breaks through the ice and soaks his feet and lower legs (“half-way to the knees”),forcing him to stop and build another fire — this one under a tree — in order to dry himself.As he pulls twigs from the brush pile around the tree to feed the flames,the vibrations eventually cause the snow to tumbledown from the branches overhead and extinguish the fire.The man quickly begins to lose sensation in his extremities and hurries to light another fire,now starting to understand the life-threatening danger posed by the extreme cold.He lights the fire,igniting all of his matches and burning himself,but accidentally pokes it apart while trying to remove a piece of moss.With no more matches on hand,the man tries to kill the dog and use its insides for warm th,but his hands are so stiff that he can neither strangle it nor draw his knife.Finally he tries to restore his circulation by running toward the camp,but stumbles and falls in the snow.The man dies of hypothermia,imagining himself standing with“the boys”as they find his body,and the dog leaves the body after dark to find food and shelter at the camp.