高考题的训练如果拿到高分,是必须建立在一定量的阅读和技能训练上的。但我们教师平时经常会遇到这种:我高一学生甚至小学六年级学生做2023年高考题只错了一题。这当然是要表扬的,但大概率就是偶发性。譬如打高尔夫,没有摸过两次球杆的居然今天比顶级名家打的都好,那是不是说他是专家。当然不是。另外,也有平时成绩特别好的高一或高二学生做高考题突然失常,反而不如平时比他差的。这也是不足为怪的。
专业和业余的区别是:稳定性。专业选手无论什么比赛,大概率情况下都会打出稳定的水平,极少数情况下失常,但业余选手大概率情况下都是最低水平,极少数情况下凑巧是高手水平。而且更不用说在真实紧张的环境下的比赛,业余选手更是被秒成渣。这和在平时休闲无所谓情况下比赛完全不同。
所以,在你没有成为专业级的选手之前,你所有的训练都只是量的积累,任何一次成绩,无论高低,它都是为成为专业选手做铺垫。
那么到底存不存在特例?
我认为可能性有,但很稀缺。这存在的前提是:他必须有一定的母语阅读量做积累。
语言学习到了一定的层次,不再是单向发展,而是双向互补的。就六级和和如今的高考题而言,推理能力是需要基于一定的阅读思考积累的。人的大脑发育也是遵循一定的规律的。我女儿幼儿园的时候背诵了很多诗歌,但其实并不理解,某种意义上就是死记硬背。到了二年级,才开始真正去理解诗歌了,而且还是从最基础的开始。我认为这就很符合脑神经的发育规律。又譬如数学,99%的孩子都是经历适合该年龄阶段的理解思维,如果你超前搞辅导,表面上看比别人成绩优秀了,但长远看,我不认为有什么好处。
一个小学生去思考高阶思维的阅读推理题,不是不可以,而是要看他平时的母语阅读是不是跟上了这个节奏。如果平时阅读的都是美文、漫画类,我很难想象他做对了科普文和议论文的思辨题,是不是连蒙靠猜的,又或者是生搬硬套了一些做题技巧。
同理,一个学生进入高中了,还没有具备一定的阅读理解的思辨能力,这也要反思母语阅读上的欠缺了。如果还没有具备,那就要在高一下点功夫了,这还是来得及的,当然过程是比较熬人的。
为了具体说明何为思辨能力,思辨能力我又称之为高阶思维。
我以下面题目为例:
At its annual general assembly in Vienna last month, the European Geosciences Union (EGU) did something unusual. The chair of its awards committee, Thomas Blunier, presented a breakdown, by gender, of prize nominees (被提名者) and nominators (提名者) since 2014. The data were revealing. Although women make up 37% of the society’s members, they made just 20% of nominations, suggesting that women are less likely to nominate than men. The data also showed that people tend to favour their own gender when making nominations --- with men most likely to nominate other men.
This is clearly a problem, but awareness of the situation opens the door to fixing it. Although women are still under-represented in EGU nominations, their share of awards is now approaching their representation among EGU members, thanks to corrective measures taken by the organization’s awards committee. The EGU is distinct from most other scientific societies that do not make nomination data public, though it is necessary for the fairness among prizewinners.
32. What is the purpose of showing the data from the EGU?
A. To show the gender balance among its members.
B. To encourage females to nominate other females.
C. To reflect that women have been ignored in awards.
D. To reveal the significant impact from gender awareness.
这段我干脆翻译一下:
上个月在维也纳举行的年度大会上,欧洲地球科学联盟(EGU)做了一些不同寻常的事情。颁奖委员会主席托马斯·布鲁尼尔(Thomas Blunier)按性别列出了获奖者:被提名者和提名人(自2014年以来的)。这些数据很有启发性。尽管女性占该协会成员的37%,但她们只获得了20%的提名,这表明女性被提名的可能性低于男性。数据还显示,人们在提名时倾向于支持自己的性别,男性最有可能提名其他男性。
这显然是一个问题,但对这一情况的认识为解决这一问题打开了大门。尽管女性在EGU提名中的代表性仍然不足,但由于该组织奖项委员会采取了纠正措施,她们在EGU成员中所占的份额现在正接近她们的代表性。EGU与大多数其他不公开提名数据的科学协会不同,尽管这对于获奖者之间的公平性是必要的。
32.显示EGU数据的目的是什么?
A.显示其成员之间的性别平衡。
B.鼓励女性提名其他女性。
C.反映出妇女在奖项中被忽视的情况。
D.揭示性别意识的重大影响。
这个题目翻译成汉语后,还是有不少学生选错,而他们都是理科非常聪明的学生。他们选了D,理由是第二段不都是谈到了影响了吗?
这个题目具有一定的推理性:
第一段是EGU的数据,该数据非常客观,没有任何主观看法在内,而其目的就需要带有一定的主观,很明显数据凸显了女性获奖提名少。
而第二段是该数据呈现后,带来了一定的社会效应,迫使官方采取措施。但这到底是不是托马斯·布鲁尼尔的目的,我们不得而知。托马斯·布鲁尼尔在文中展示的就是让大家意识到女性获奖的客观情况。至于这种情况的披露到底会可能带来什么社会效应,这不是托马斯·布鲁尼尔能掌控的了,至少从文中看来与他无关了。
这实际上就是欧美从小学一年级在语文教材里反复训练的:Fact VS Opinion。这说起来就是思辨活动的基础,但我们的语文阅读始终缺少这个训练。缺少这个训练的学生虽然偶然做对一个题,但并不代表他就具备了这个能力,这就需要专业的刻意训练了。
接下来再看今年高考D篇:
This effect capitalizes on the fact that when people make errors, those errors aren't always the same. Some people will tend to overestimate, and some to underestimate. When enough of these errors are averaged together, they cancel each other out resulting in a more accurate estimate. If people are similar and tend to make the same errors, then their errors won't cancel each other out. In more technical terms, the wisdom of crowds requires that people's estimates be independent. If, for whatever reasons, people's errors become correlate or dependent, the accuracy of the estimate will go down.
32. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?
A. The methods of estimation.
B. The underlying logic of the effect.
C. The causes of people's errors.
D. The design of Galton's experiment.
这题错误比较多。其实它考查的归纳能力。归纳或演绎能力也是高阶思维。
同样我也把这个题目翻译成汉语:
这种效应利用了这样一个事实,即当人们犯错误时,这些错误并不总是相同的。有些人会高估,有些人会低估。当有足够多的误差被平均在一起时,它们会相互抵消,从而产生更准确的估计。如果人们相似,往往会犯同样的错误,那么他们的错误不会相互抵消。从更专业的角度来说,群众的智慧要求人们的估计是独立的。无论出于何种原因,如果人们的错误变得相关或依赖,估计的准确性就会下降。
32.案文第2段的主要内容是什么?
A.估算的方法。
B.效应的基本逻辑。
C.人们错误的原因。
D.高尔顿实验的设计。
这一段是典型的:主题句+支撑句。主题句说了上面的效应的原因,接下来就是详细解释。而logic实际上就是cause的另一种说法。
如何用一个或两个词归纳大意,这是需要专门训练的,C篇的31题也是这个考查这个能力:
The second part of this book takes a closer look at some ideas that will help you cultivate (培养) a sustainable digital minimalism lifestyle. In these chapters. I examine issues such as the importance of solitude (独处) and the necessity of cultivating high-quality leisure to replace the time most now spent on mindless device use. Each chapter concludes with a collection of practices, which are designed to help you act on the big ideas of the chapter. You can view these practices as a toolbox meant to aid your efforts to build a minimalist lifestyle that works for your particular circumstances.
31. What does the author suggest readers do with the practices offered in part two ?
A. Use them as needed. B. Recommend them to friends.
C. Evaluate their effects. D. Identify the ideas behind them.
命题人把You can view these practices as a toolbox meant to aid your efforts to build a minimalist lifestyle that works for your particular circumstances.(你可以将这些实践视为一个工具箱,旨在帮助你建立一种适合你特定情况的极简主义生活方式。)归纳成:Use them as needed.(必要时使用它们。)平时不常进行训练的,是比较难以理解的。
最后说一下今年这个题目:
After studying agriculture, medicine, and fisheries in college, John went back to observing nature and asking questions. Why can certain plants trap harmful bacteria (细菌)? Which kinds of fish can eat cancer-causing chemicals? With the right combination of animals and plants, he figured, maybe he could clean up waste the way nature did. He decided to build what he would later call an eco-machine.
The task John set for himself was to remove harmful substances from some sludge (污泥). First, he constructed a series of clear fiberglass tanks connected to each other. Then he went around to local ponds and streams and brought back some plants and animals. He placed them in the tanks and waited. Little by little, these different kinds of life got used to one another and formed their own ecosystem. After a few weeks, John added the sludge.
25. Why did John put the sludge into the tanks?
A. To feed the animals. B. To build an ecosystem.
C. To protect the plants. D. To test the eco-machine.
这个题目也有不少学生做错了,他们选了B。表面看起来似乎没问题,因为第二段就是说具体的建构步骤。但他忽略了上一段的逻辑:
为了探究能否:clean up waste the way nature did,他于是搞了一个模型:eco-machine。做这个模型:First,...Then,...Little by little,...After a few weeks, John added the sludge.至此,我们可以看出做这个模型的每一步都是为了看他的eco-machine如何。
这是比较简单的因果逻辑测试。脱离上下文单纯看第二段,是不容易看到因果的。
总结一下今天讲到的三大高阶思维:
事实和观点;
归纳;
因果。
这三种思维具体到每个语篇,都需要我们进行可以训练,而非一日之功。