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托福口语考试的目的在于测试那些母语为非英语、想在英语国家或者地区留学的学生的口头表达英语的熟练程度。在这一部分，考生需要基于个人经历、校园环境和学术性材料提出的各种话题用英语表达自己的观点。
托福口语部分共有六道题。前两道题是独立口语任务，考生完全依据自己的观点、见解或者经历来回答问题。另外四道题是综合任务，考生需要先听一则对话或节选的讲座片段，或者先读一篇文章然后听一个简短的讨论或者讲座节选，最后根据要求答题。
托福口语独立任务的两道题要求考生谈及的都是与自己学习和生活息息相关的各类话题，该题有15秒钟的准备时间，有45秒钟进行录音回答。这两道题对于确保托福口语考试的稳定发挥以及取得口语考试高分两方面都起着至关重要的作用。从确保托福考试过程稳定发挥的角度来看，由于独立任务是口语考试开头的前两道题，这两道题发挥的好坏会影响考生接下来的作答情绪和状态。
从口语考试分数来看，对于听力有待提高、受听力影响而完成综合任务比较吃力的考生来说，独立任务是提高口语分数的关键点，因为其只单独考查口语能力，而且可以通过大量已考过的真题机经进行充分准备和练习。
不过，不管是在备考还是考试的过程中，很多考生在面对独立任务的话题时常常束手无策。其中一类有问题的考生，笔者称之为“委屈派”。这部分考生的英语口语表达水平尚可，但是答题时却没有很好的作答思路，说得语无伦次。笔者在北京新东方学校教授托福口语课程时，经常会有学员委屈地向我诉苦：“老师，对于独立任务的回答，真的不是我的英文不行啊，中文我都不知道怎么讲下去啊。”所以，笔者在此与大家分享托福口语考试独立任务部分思路展开的方法，希望对大家的托福口语备考有帮助。
笔者重点要介绍的方法就是巧用拆分法化解你的作答思路困境。先来看看如下几道近年考过的独立任务真题，在笔者给大家分享方法前，考生们可以自己先试试，看看自己说得怎样。
Which of the following do you think benefits students the most: going on field trips, tutoring or doing class presentations?
Which of the following activities do you think benefits young people the most: doing team sports, talking to old people in the community or traveling?
Which of the following three do you think is the most important aspect of life: wealth, education or reputation?
下面笔者以这三道独立任务真题来引出思路展开的方法。考生在独立任务作答时遇到思路展不开时，可以对自己所选择的论点进行拆分。所谓拆分，指的是针对题干当中某个关键词或者考生大脑中的某个简单思路，进行分类讨论、分层展开的方法。拆分的思路通常有如下三种：一是拆分成不同的场景；二是拆分成不同的人群；三是拆分成不同的受益方/受损方。下面通过例题来具体学习这一方法的应用。
拆分成不同的场景
例：Which of the following do you think benefit students more: going on field trips, tutoring or doing class presentations?
对于这道题，考生可以采用拆分法的第一种思路——分为不同的场景去讨论。
假设考生选择第一项going on field trips，也就是要论述学生参加校外考察是最有用的。这时，笔者相信考生的第一反应至少能想到going on field trips一定是有收获的，但是至于“是什么收获”，可能很多考生大脑里一时想不出清晰的思路，此时就可以采用分场景的方式去讨论。题干中的field trips可以拆分为不同的场景，比如走进大自然，或者去博物馆。走进大自然的好处是什么呢？考生可以很容易地想出很多好处，比如提高学生的环保意识(raise their awareness of environmental protection)，或者暂时脱离压力繁重的学习，得到放松减压(it takes students’ minds off stressful studying and allows them take a relaxing break for a while)。所以，考生可以就“走进大自然”这个场景写出以下内容：
I believe that going on field trips will benefit students the most because they can learn a lot of useful things. [开始拆分] Sometimes, field trips allow students to get closer to nature. They can see a lot of beautiful things, like rivers and towering mountains, and encounter wild animals. I believe that these beautiful things will help raise their awareness of environmental protection.
在这里，考生需要意识到英文口语当中有一个很重要的逻辑关系，笔者在课堂上常常把它叫做“叙事+效果”的因果逻辑。逻辑关系能帮助考生展开内容，说得更有逻辑。考生看上面这段话，其实它所谈的“叙事”就是一句话——see a lot of beautiful things，而它的“效果”也只是一句话——raise their awareness of environment protection。那其他内容是什么呢？是细节。考生心中有“叙事+效果”的逻辑关系后要组织答题思路就不难了：考生可以在“叙事”部分加细节让内容饱满，也可以在“效果”后面再继续阐述与效果相关的细节。而且考生建立了逻辑关系之后，在答题时间和答题内容上可自如地控制。比如，如果时间充足，考生想多说一点，还可以在raise their awareness of environmental protection后面加效果的细节，比如：“These things will help to raise their awareness of environmental protection and allow them to become more passionate about nature [加效果一], and enjoy the beauty of our world [加效果二].”
再回到拆分的话题，考生说完第一个场景“走进大自然”，可以转而进入第二个拆分的场景中，即“去博物馆”。按照上文介绍的“叙事+效果”的逻辑思路，考生脑海里首先想到最简单的关系：学生去参观博物馆，可以增长见识。其中，“参观博物馆”是叙事，“增长见识”是效果。考生作答时，可以结合作答剩余的时间灵活调整内容。时间多的话，考生可以在叙事或者效果两方面多加细节；时间少的话，考生只要说清楚因果关系即可。考生可以就“参观博物馆”的场景写出下面的内容：
Sometimes museums are also a great place for field trips. Once I visited a science museum where I saw a lot of advanced technology, including laundry robots. I really think it was a great place to broaden my horizons.
这里visit a science museum是叙事，接下来的一句话是这一叙事的细节。如果考生还想多说一点，可以继续谈细节，比如“The super computer there was astoundingly amazing!”如果作答时间还有剩余，考生可以在效果句broaden my horizons后面继续陈述效果的细节，比如：“I really think it was a great place to broaden my horizons, and it helped raise my interest in science and technology.”
拆分成不同的人群
例：Which of the following activities do you think benefit young people the most: doing team sports, talking to old people in the community or traveling?
假设考生选择第二项talking to old people in the community，那就要论述“与社区的老年人交流有何益处”。考生可以抓住old people这个关键词，将其拆分为不同人群去讨论。比如，第一类人可以是社区里退休的工程师等，年轻人和他们交流，一定能够得到很多的职场建议；第二类人可以是社区里身体健康的长者，年轻人和他们交流，能够得到很多有关健康的宝贵建议。所以，考生可以这样作答：
To my mind, talking to old people in the community will benefit young people the most because they can gain much advice which can help them enormously. If they talk to former engineers or company directors, they may receive useful work suggestions, such as how to get along well with co-workers, how to deal with conflicts among team members, or even how to get a quick promotion. I believe these suggestions will be super beneficial for young people’s future careers by helping them make progress at work. Sometimes they may even be able to talk to senior citizens who live a very healthy lifestyle. Perhaps these people can offer some useful tips, such as the importance of eating more fruit and vegetables and keeping away from junk foods like hot dogs and hamburgers. In interacting with the older generation, young peop
le are giving themselves the opportunity to access an abundance of wisdom.
此回答表达的内容远远超出了独立任务45秒钟中所表达的内容(注：通常情况下，结合大量高分学员的实践，每秒两词是比较自然的语速，故独立任务45秒钟作答的字数最好为90~110词)。笔者之所以写出更多的内容，目的主要是为了通过这道题让各位考生掌握拆分法以及“叙事+效果”的逻辑关系。考生会发现上面这么多内容，其实主要讲的是两个拆分层次，其“叙事+效果”的逻辑关系分别如下：①叙事为“Young people may receive useful work suggestions”，效果为“These suggestions will be super beneficial for young people’s future careers”。②叙事为“Perhaps these people can offer some useful tips about health”，效果为“giving themselves the opportunity to access an abundance of wisdom.”其他内容就是对叙事加细节，或是对效果加细节。
拆分法之找不同的受益/受损方
例：Which of the following three do you think is the most important aspect of life: wealth, education or reputation?
假设这道题考生选择第二项education，作答的内容就是“为什么教育是人生最重要的方面”？考生可以采用拆分法中“找不同的受益方”的方法。考生很容易想到，一个人接受教育，至少有三个受益方：第一是自己，第二是自己的下一代，第三是社会。相关思路如下： ①it is good for you，具体的叙事细节可以是much easier to land a job、to see things in a wider perspective、to be smart enough to address problems、to gain others’ respect等；②it is also good for your future children，比如可以这样阐述叙事细节：“Well-educated parents will not criticize or belittle their children when their children fail or experience difficulties. They will inspire them to work hard, have faith and care deeply about what they believe in instead.”③it is good for society，比如可以这样表达：“If everyone is well-educated, everyone will behave well. This will nip violence in its bud in society.”
以上就是拆分法在托福口语独立任务中的应用。
