雅思口語七種武器之二：如何妙用詞彙
很少有人會否認詞彙對於雅思口語的重要性，但同樣很少有人能在實際考試中把詞彙的重要性表現出來 — 不少考生在備考雅思口語的過程中，就會陷入這樣的一個怪圈之中。本文，專家力圖在四個方面論證詞彙使用的極端重要性，這四方面同時也可被看作是雅思口語詞彙的四種用途：
同義詞/近義詞的轉換，以及同義詞鏈的掌握
詞性的自由變換，特別是動詞、名詞、形容詞/副詞之間的來回變動
詞組的使用範圍遠大於單個單詞，尤其是動詞詞組和形容詞詞組
形象化、生動化及趣味性的詞彙應進入我們的備考詞典
能做到以上四點的考生，就單憑詞彙上的一枝獨秀，也能在口語考試中贏得考官的青睞。下面我們通過真題實例來進行逐一分析。
詞彙妙用法一：同義詞/近義詞 & 同義詞鏈
【真題實例】Can you tell me something about your student life?
【答題思路】雖然這是一個簡單到不能再簡單的問題，但我們也不能放棄妙用詞彙的一次機會。從積極的意義上講，學生生活一定是exciting, interesting, colorful, impressive, stimulating, fascinating的代名詞。問題是：我們是否能在自己的回答中把這麼多的同義詞/近義詞加以利用。
【參考答案】Well, my student life has so many interesting and exciting things to talk about. First, I have made a lot of wonderful friends at school, and we share many hobbies, duties and personal opinions. Then, there are a variety of colorful events on campus – almost every student joins a club, takes part in a social activity, or becomes a member of some organization. These events are not only fascinating for young people who like to explore the world, but are also stimulating in terms of developing our thinking skills and lifestyles.
該回答從兩個層面描述學校生活的精彩：一是結識了很多好朋友；二是有各種各樣的校園活動。其間點綴的六個同義詞/近義詞組成了一條既結實、又豐富的同義詞鏈。
詞彙妙用法二：三大詞性之間的“零換乘”
【真題實例】How can a company encourage its employees?
【答題思路】公司鼓勵員工的方式有很多，《劍六》中專門有一篇閱讀文章，叫Motivating Employees under Adverse Conditions，有興趣的考生可以參考一下。其實光動詞encourage和motivate，就含有不少詞性變換的生機：encourage → encouragement → encouraging; motivate → motivation → motivational。能把這兩串詞彙用好，就已經非常令人刮目相看了。
【參考答案】For employees to really perform well, a company should think about how to encourage them at the workplace. For example, encouragement can come in the form of a big reward for those high achievers, so that they are motivated to work harder in the future. Also, even a public letter of recognition and praise is very encouraging. Sometimes, this kind of motivation can go a longer way than financial incentives. Finally, promoting a good worker to a higher position with greater responsibilities is an effective motivational exercise.
三種不同的鼓勵員工的方法在這裏被一一道明：第一是豐厚的物質獎勵（a big reward）；第二是公開的表揚信（a public letter of recognition and praise）；第三是職位的晉升（promoting to a higher position）。其間展示的是encourage和motivate這兩大動詞及其名詞、形容詞之間毫無障礙的自由切換。
詞彙妙用法三：“有權有勢”的詞組
單個單詞能掌控的範圍實在是太有限了，真正懂得詞彙妙用的考生必須從詞組方面着手。像have … in common, prevent … from doing …, be responsible for, be (more/less) likely to …, take … to the next level of … 等動詞詞組或形容詞詞組，它們不僅應用範圍很廣，而且可以控制整個句子的結構及說話的節奏，將其比喻爲“有權有勢”的貴族詞彙一點都不爲過。
【真題實例】What are the main differences between living in the city and living in the countryside?
【答題思路】城市生活和鄉村生活之間的區別是一個仁者見仁、智者見智的話題。不管你的答題思路是老套的、還是具有新意的、甚至是較爲另類的，關鍵還在於你的用詞水平，特別是你運用詞組的能力高下。
【參考答案】I hate to say some bad things about the countryside, but I do think that living in the city enables you to enjoy many benefits that are unavailable in the country. First of all, city residents are more likely to take the convenient public transport to work, to school and to shopping, while rural residents often have no choice but to drive their own cars and deal with the terrible traffic, parking problems and even car accidents. In terms of opportunities, the countryside also has the twin disadvantages of not offering enough new jobs and business opportunities.
這裏的五個詞組中，有動詞詞組enable … to …（使 … 能 …），have no choice but to …（沒有其它選擇，只能 …），has the twin disadvantages of …（具有雙重缺點）；有形容詞詞組be more likely to …（更有可能 …）；也有介詞詞組in terms of …（就 … 來說）。整段回答通過城市與鄉村的優缺點對比，來說明兩者間的差異。
詞彙妙用法四：形象、生動、趣味
英文口語中充滿了形象化的表達方法，比如講成天看電視的人叫couch potato，喜歡亂說話的人叫a big mouth，工作剛上手叫learn the ropes，做了很多無用功叫bark up the wrong tree，裝作沒聽見或置之不理叫turn a deaf ear to，討人嫌的人叫a pain in the neck，等等。如果能在你的回答中顯露一二，考官一定會喜出望外！
【真題實例】Describe an interesting family in your neighborhood.
What kind of family it is
Who are in this family
How did you get to know them
And explain why you think it is interesting.
【答題思路】既然題目要求我們描述一個有趣的家庭，我們不妨多用一些生動趣味的詞彙來突出該家庭的特別之處。很多Part 2的描述問題其實都是編故事，因此考生必須具備現場現編的能力。
【參考答案】The most interesting family in my neighborhood is a very large family of eight people. Can you believe that? Four generations living under the same roof! The most senior person in this family is Old John, who is almost 90 and whose potbelly and rosy cheeks bring a lot of fun to our community. His son Little John and his wife Mary are both nice people, and they have four children: Jack, Rose, Terry and Alice. While their second son Terry is a big mouth who is determined to talk your head off, their little daughter Alice is a real pain in the neck because her favorite hobby is play pranks on the neighbors. In contrast, the eldest child Jack is a yes-man, and he takes orders from almost everyone in the family – his father, his wife his younger sister Rose and even his 7-year-old son Raymond, who is a typical “little emperor” of a big family. It is hard to miss this really interesting family because it is always in the spotlight by appearing on the community newspaper every other day or two.
這裏以集團軍形式出現的形象化表達方式給這個有趣的大家庭增添了無窮的色彩：live under the same roof（同住在一個屋檐下），potbelly（啤酒肚），rosy cheeks（紅潤的臉頰），a big mouth（愛說是非的大嘴巴），talk your head off（把人給煩死），a real pain in the neck（令人討厭的主），a yes-man（老好人），little emperor（小皇帝），in the spotlight（備受關注）。因此強烈建議考生在平時多積累這樣的生動詞藻，以便在考場中隨機應變地發揮一下。
