托福口语高分技巧之对比运用

当一位托福考生有基本的表达能力，可以较多的用到答题时间，口语一般都能拿到十几分；但他若想拿到二十分以上乃至24+，则需要在流利度、语调上有更好的表现以及注意一些高分技巧；上篇文章中Phil老师解析了细节描述，本篇文章就另一技巧——对比运用来谈一谈。

当我们面临选择的时候，恰当地运用对比能够帮助我们更好地作答；所以这一技巧很适合用在task 1中的三选一题型、所有的task 2题型以及task 5的“个人建议”部分。这儿运用对比有两个作用：一是让观点表达更有组织、有逻辑，二是展示运用复杂句式的能力。

为此，首先我们需要掌握以下句式：

1. 表达“比较”或“不同”意味的一些单词和词组，如：

Compared to Y, X is…

In contrast to Y, X is…

X is unlike Y because…

X differs from Y because…

X is … However, Y is…

X is …, but Y …

While/ Although/ Even though X is …, Y is …

Despite the fact that X is…, Y is …

On the other hand, …

2. 比较级，如：

X is adj. + ~er (better, worse, safer) than Y because…

X is more adj. (difficult, modern, interesting) than Y in that…

其次，当我们面对二选一或三选一时，先考虑可以用来对比的原因。这也就需要我们平时在练习中选择一个观点的时候，要多想想对立面的利弊，所谓知己知彼百战不殆。

比如下面这一道task2：

Which kind of exercise is better, running or swimming? Give reasons and details in your response.

很好理解的一道题目，也很生活化，可是很多同学在一开始的作答中体现了细节不足、句式简单或者逻辑感差的问题，有的甚至答题时间严重不够；如果我们掌握了对比运用，这些问题则不难解决。

我们可以想到如下对比：1. 从方便的角度看，跑步胜出，可以对比场地、服装等的要求；2. 从花费的角度，跑步胜出，可以对比票价、设备费用等；3. 从安全的角度看，游泳胜出，可以对比身体的承受情况等；4. 从运动效果来看，游泳胜出，可以对比消耗的热量、锻炼到的肌肉群等。（其实使用不同的细节有时候可以得出不同的结论，只要逻辑正确即可。）运用好之前提到的句式，我们便可以做出有层次有逻辑的答复，如：

In my opinion, swimming is the best form of exercise. Compared to running, I think swimming is better because it isn’t so hard on your body. For example, unlike running, swimming doesn’t put as much stress on your legs and knees. It seems like everyone I know that runs has had some kind of injury to their knees or their ankles in contrast to my friends who swim and don’t have any injuries. In addition, swimming builds muscles in both the upper and lower body. On the other hand, running mostly builds muscles in the lower body. Although both swimming and running make the heart stronger and build muscles, I think swimming is better exercise for the whole body.