雅思口語“必殺”全攻略之二：傳統活動

傳統話題涵蓋的領域極爲寬泛，無論是談論人物、描述事物、還是敘述經歷，tradition都是一個很活躍的展開點。比如要談論活動（events），那麼活動具有的傳統習俗（traditional ritual）是一個較好的切入點；再比如談論婚禮，傳統婚禮模式（traditional wedding）和西方婚禮模式（western wedding）之間的差異和互補就是一個必講的要點。

上一講中，我們討論了傳統話題在雅思口試第一階段中出現的話題模式、答題要求及應對技巧和策略。在這一講中，專家將繼續探討“傳統”話題在口試第二、三階段中所扮演的角色。筆者將按照“傳統”話題系統分類，並進行一一列舉，給出真題實例及參考答案。

上一講傳送門>>>>>>

二、傳統活動“對對碰”

【Cue Card 1】:

分析：考生首先需挑選某個節日

Chinese traditional festival:

Spring Festival（春節）、Mid-Autumn Festival（中秋節）、Dragon Boat festival（端午節）、Double Ninth Festival（重陽節）、Pure Brightness Festival（清明節）、Lantern Festival（元宵節）

activities：（參見雅思口語“必殺”全攻略— 傳統話題系列文章之一：傳統節日）

【回答】: The Spring Festival is the most important traditional Chinese festival and it is also my favorite holiday. On New Year’s Eve, the whole family gets together and has a wonderful supper. After supper, the elders give the children lucky money with which the young can buy whatever they want. During the Spring Festival, people visit their relatives and wish each other ’Happy New Year’. Throughout the Spring Festival, everyone is much more friendly and kinder than at any other time of the year, and you feel that the world is full of love. During the Spring Festival, since there is no school, the children always walk in the streets in groups, singing and laughing. Sometimes they set off firecrackers and generally have a good time. The young always go shopping or go to the parks together, or they stay at home and enjoy special TV programs. There is a peaceful and happy atmosphere.

擴展信息：Changes about celebrating the festival:

going out to have a get-together dinner or party in restaurants instead of big exhausting home dinner;

making a phone call to one’s friends and relatives or sending e-mails or forwarding short messages by cell phone to express good wishes instead of troublesome visiting;

taking the advantages of modern communication devices to improve the efficiency

【Cue Card 2】:

【回答】: I am a firm believer of a saying” Culture is one of the very few things that can make people get obsessed with forever”. Indeed, it is like a fashion, like a trademark, like a time. It is Cambridge made me know about UK. It is Disney made me know about USA. It is Louis Vuitton made me know about France. Talking about interesting culture, I think the most impressive one is Chinese culture.（注意：本句爲經典套句，可以模仿，但句式複雜，同類從句避免運用過多。作爲開頭，無需用例文中的所有排比句式，建議挑選用，不然顯得累贅，不能馬上切入主題。）Chinese wedding, as one of the most fantastic parts in （句式不錯）Chinese culture, never fails to（雙重否定表肯定=can always ）draw any attention anytime. Here I would like to tell you about two typical customs involved in Chinese wedding: the hair combing ceremony and door-game playing.

Although it is not always performed today, it is a lovely ritual that got special meaning. Anyway, I would do it when I get married. The night before the wedding, the bride is supposed to bathe and then take a seat in front of lit candles. Her hair is combed four times by her mother. It is considered to be fortunate in life. The first combing symbolizes “from beginning to end”（一梳梳到底）. The second means “harmony form youth though old”（二梳白髮齊眉） which is followed by the third combing with a wish for many grandchildren（三梳子孫滿堂）. And it ends up with the fourth combing offers hope for wealth and a happily-ever-after marriage（白頭到老）. Isn’t it sweet?

Another ceremony I wanna talk about here is what we called” Door game”. Say, when groom picks up（接） the bride, and he will be blocked at the front door by bride’s relatives or friends, and the bridesmaids will play door game with the groom and his groomsmen. Bridesmaids will try to stop him from entering by asking tough questions. It is supposed to be a way to test if he really cares about her. They may also do other tricks to delay the bride’s leaving. The groom will try to get through the door by presenting “lucky money”, money wrapped in red envelopes, to the bridesmaid. Finally, the groom has to give the bride a piggy back（give sb a piggy back背某人） to the limo waiting outside.（例文中描述了兩種傳統婚禮的儀式1.梳頭2.撞門遊戲。中心段落有些過長，可以不必完全背誦，建議學生參考例文的描寫模式。）

Certainly, there are still millions of other cool customs, such as bed setting, 12-course traditional Chinese wedding banquet, bowing procedure, rings exchanging, arm-crossed drinking, paper cutting of dragon and phoenix, double happiness…all of these make Chinese wedding really special.（最後一段列舉了鞠躬，交換戒指，交杯酒，龍鳳剪紙，雙喜剪紙，建議學生可以參考一下這些術語的英語表達）

三、“武裝到牙齒”的回答

【Question 1】:

Do you think people need festivals?

分析：建議考生回答“是”。The answer is probably yes.

然後給出理由。Tell why it is so by giving some specific reasons.

【回答】: Absolutely. For one thing, people need to take some time off their normal duties and relax. There is always a holiday atmosphere during these times and that’s important. Also it gives an opportunity for people to socialize. And it’s a time for get together. Family reunion, in my opinion, is one of the most charming and exciting things about festivals. It strengthens family bonds.

【Question 2】:

Are there any traditional skills in your country?

思路拓展：考生可以考慮：What are they?

Do you think people try to learn these skills?

【回答】: Well, yes. We have all kinds of skills such as woodcarving（木雕）, sculpturing（雕塑）, paper cutting（剪紙）, sewing（縫紉） and knitting（編織）, cooking local food and so on. But less and less people nowadays are showing interest in traditional skills. I think the reason is that modern science and technology is developing with a faster pace than ever before. So many high-tech products and devices are available for modern consumers that they tend to think science and technology is what life is all about, and they tend to care less and less about the humanities, histories and traditions.

分析：由於傳統技術本身就是一種文化遺產（cultural heritage），因此技術其實是對傳統的一種繼承形式。由於現代科技的發展速度過快，導致人們產生“重科技、輕人文”的思維傾向；很顯然，該回答把人們不欣賞傳統技術的原因歸結爲“科技發展 VS 人文傳統”的兩元對立。於是，在我們闡述原因的同時，就很巧妙地把隱藏在深處的humanities, histories and traditions推到了臺前，顯示出講話者的人文關懷。而在談到年輕人不再關心傳統技術的時候，也折射出對於傳統文化漸漸式微的一種憂慮之心。