没学会自己读书会吃多大的亏？
byXIAOLAIon2010/09/19·27 COMMENTS
今天又遇到一个学生，拿来很认真准备、反复修改过很多次的作文给我看，寻求批评意见。搭眼一看，直接就火冒三丈。
首先用的是各个网站也好培训班也罢之中流行的“模板”：
When it comes to …, however, I firmly believe … (明显是个病句) I will list the reasons as following.
The first reason that we have to consider is that …
Another reason that everyone can think of is that …
Finally, we also have to make sure that we didn’t miss the point that…
To put all in a nutshell, …
我问他，你写中文文章，也这个德行么？全都是可有可无的废话？什么是废话？摘掉之后，原文意义并无变化的就是废话。以上列出的，全部是废话。
该学生告诉我，这是他的老师教他的。那老师说的总结起来有以下两个要点：
- 托福作文是机器评分。
- 在内容大致差不多的情况下，字数多的会得高分。
我一听，火更大了。拼命忍住才没骂人。
我给他拿来TOEFL官方指南：（第二版，第259页）
How Essays Are Scored
评分人员会评估考生作文质量，即评估考生如何展开论点，组织文章结构，以及运用语言表达自己的观点。
…
不要仅仅为了增加文章字数而死记硬背一些冗长的首、末段，评分人员不会看好下来累赘的首、末段。The importance of the issue raised by the posed statement, namely creating a new holiday for people, cannot be underestimated as it concerns the very fabric of society. As it stands, the issue of creating a new holiday raises profound implications for the future. However, although the subject matter in general cannot be dismissed lightheartedly, the perspective of the issue as presented by the statement raises certain qualms regarding practical application.
In conclusion, although I have to accept that it is imperative that something be done about creating a new holiday for people and find the underlying thrust of the implied proposal utterly convincing, I cannot help but feel wary of taking such irrevocable steps and personally feel that a more measured approach would be more rewarding.
同样，评分人员也不会看好下列段落，这些段落堆砌了大量词语，但却没有针对论点展开论述。
At the heart of any discussion regarding an issue pertaining to creating a new holiday, it has to borne in mind that a delicate line has to be trod when dealing with such matters. The human resources involved in such matters cannot be guaranteed regardless of all good intentions that may be lavished. While it is true that creating a new holiday might be a viable and laudable remedy, it is transparently clear that applied wrongly such a course of action could be calamitous and compound the problem rather than provide a solution.
我让他读，大约5分钟之后，他读完了。
我对他说，“以你高中以上的阅读水平，是不是5分钟之内就能读完这些东西，并且可以全部看懂？”
他点头。我接着说，“看完了之后，是否能明白之前那个老师说得纯属扯淡？”
他又点头。我又说，“可是为什么你竟然就信了呢？”
他不知道该怎么回答。但明显若有所思。
这就是“不亲自读书”的祸害。
有书不自己只字不落地阅读，却只靠老师去讲。要是老师是个有良好学习习惯的人倒也罢了，问题在于90%以上的人（不仅仅是老师）从未养成“自己的书要自己看，并且还要只字不落地看”的习惯，于是，大多数老师也只不过是道听途说，胡说八道，那学生就惨了。最终死得很难看，且死因不详。怎么死最难看？就是自己已经死了自己却不知道，明明早就是僵尸了，还以为自己是颗大蒜，最难看了。
关于“机器评分”，请阅读之前的一篇文章《留学考试中作文部分的“机器评分”到底是怎么回事？》