论文部分内容阅读
【Abstract】Chinese students in preparation of TOEFL iBT would adopt translation as auxiliary approach to aid comprehension， which in detail can help establish a sound sense of language in terms of syntax. The Back-Transformation Theory by Eugene Nida aims to reveal meaning behind language form by means of surface structure and deep structure， and this theory can be used to help students comprehend complicated lengthy sentences in TOEFL iBT reading and improve their language study performance.
【Key words】TOEFL iBT Reading; Back-Transformation; Eugene Nida
【作者簡介】王中枢，天津大学外国语言与文学学院。
1. Specifics of TOEFL iBT Reading
TOEFL iBT reading section includes three to four passages that aim to examine test takers’ reading comprehension. As the passages are usually excerpts from college textbooks to illustrate concepts in a certain academic discipline， this section requires test takers to possess a strong comprehension ability to deal with classifications， comparison and contrast， cause and effect， and solutions to a problem. The TOEFL Reading passages include exposition， argumentation and history. For each passage， there are possibly eight types of questions， in which the type 7， as officially called Sentence Simplification Questions， challenges most test takers for its complicated sentence structures and logical relations within clauses. It requires the reader to clarify firstry the structure and secondly the logical connection， and then compare the meaning and logic of a highlighted sentence with that in given options， which means this single one question asks the reader to process five lengthy sentences altogether. Even besides type 7 questions， there are also numerous lengthy sentences that require a sound set of grammatical skills and prepared vocabularies to process them into every detail for best comprehension. Below is a lengthy sentence example：
Fuller devised a type of dance that focused on the shifting play of lights and colors on the voluminous skirts or draperies she wore， which she kept in constant motion principally through movements of her arms， sometimes extended with wands concealed under her costumes （ETS， 2017：336）.
To explicitly understand this sample sentence， readers should be able to precisely break it down to pieces till the structure of main clause， map out the syntactic hierarchy， and clarify the function of each part， each level.
【Key words】TOEFL iBT Reading; Back-Transformation; Eugene Nida
【作者簡介】王中枢，天津大学外国语言与文学学院。
1. Specifics of TOEFL iBT Reading
TOEFL iBT reading section includes three to four passages that aim to examine test takers’ reading comprehension. As the passages are usually excerpts from college textbooks to illustrate concepts in a certain academic discipline， this section requires test takers to possess a strong comprehension ability to deal with classifications， comparison and contrast， cause and effect， and solutions to a problem. The TOEFL Reading passages include exposition， argumentation and history. For each passage， there are possibly eight types of questions， in which the type 7， as officially called Sentence Simplification Questions， challenges most test takers for its complicated sentence structures and logical relations within clauses. It requires the reader to clarify firstry the structure and secondly the logical connection， and then compare the meaning and logic of a highlighted sentence with that in given options， which means this single one question asks the reader to process five lengthy sentences altogether. Even besides type 7 questions， there are also numerous lengthy sentences that require a sound set of grammatical skills and prepared vocabularies to process them into every detail for best comprehension. Below is a lengthy sentence example：
Fuller devised a type of dance that focused on the shifting play of lights and colors on the voluminous skirts or draperies she wore， which she kept in constant motion principally through movements of her arms， sometimes extended with wands concealed under her costumes （ETS， 2017：336）.
To explicitly understand this sample sentence， readers should be able to precisely break it down to pieces till the structure of main clause， map out the syntactic hierarchy， and clarify the function of each part， each level.