词的活力

第九章词的活力文章是否写得生动耐读，和所选之词是否充满活力有关。

写作初学者最常用的动词莫过于动词be和make，有时到了滥用的地步。

而现代英语有使用短小，有力的动态动词来表达的倾向。

如：El Nino’s vast impact on humans has often been catastrophic. The El Nino of 1982-83 inflicted $ 13 billion in damage and claimed some blanketed Melbourne; bursh fires raged in its wake. In place of its normal monsoon, Southern India got dried-up crop and the threat of mass starvation. At the same time,wiolent rainstorms devastated the Western Hemisphere: Peru’s fishing industry-once one of the richest in the world-was wiped out, and seaside towns were washed into the Pacific.(Per Ola Get Readt for Some Wild Weather)这里“inflicted… claimed… turned… blanketed… devastated… wiped out”一连串短小有力的动词的使用给文章带来了生气和力量，堵着它使人感到厄尔尼诺正在发威。

9.1be 动词动词有静态和动态之分。

连系动词be 一般是静态的，较少有活力。

be动词主要指“be”的各种形式、“there+be”的各种形式和which is 的表达。

在英语中它们常被称为静态表达。

只要有可能，英语表达中尽量避免使用，因为它们在表达中往往使文章变得缺乏生气。

请比较：「1a」On one side of town there are many antelopes in the hills and along the roads are yellow wild fllowers. On the other side there is the Big Horns and nearly 10,000 feet up,Powder River Pass is through them.位于小镇一边的山坡上是三、五成群的羚羊，路边满是黄色的野花。

另一边则是高高的大霍恩山波德要隘就在近一万英尺的高处。

「1b」On one side of town,antelope abounded by fours and fives in the hills, and yellow wild flowers lined the roads. On the other side rose the Big Horns and nearly 10,000 feet up,Powder River Pass cut through them.(Jim Doherty Journey Weast) 比较两种写法，我们不难感觉到「1b」的行文充满活力。

而主要原因就是作者选择了那些短小有力的动词，避免使用be，there be 等静态动词。

美国教师路易·克鲁专门在《英语教学论坛》1985年第3期上发表了一篇题为《如何教授学生不仅写得正确而且生动有力》（Teaching EFL students to Write Effectively,Not Just Correctly）的文章，讨论这个问题。

她认为，写作文不能仅仅满足于“没有错误”，或语法用词的正确性，还要追求表达的生动性。

而要写出生动、简洁、有力、耐读和连贯的文章就要“尽可能选择表示强有力的行为动词”，“尽可能少用，不用被动语态和动词to be 的其他形式。

”请看她给北京第二外国语学院的学生改的作文：「2」学生原文：The Summer Palace is one of the biggest and oldest parks in China. It is the most beautiful park in Beijing as well. In the park,there are many famous architectures which make it quiet different from other parks.路易修改文：Many famous architectural features distinguish the Summer Palace, one of the biggest and oldest parks in China, from just any other park.「3」学生原文：After its natural scenery, the dominant feature of Naking is the Yangtze River Bridge.路易修改文：Second only to the natural scenery, the Yangtze River Bridge dominates Nanking.「4」学生原文：There is a beautiful park near my house. The name of the park is Tian-Tan Park, which was built several hundred years ago. It is the biggest park in Beijing. The Tian-Tan Park is famous not only for its beauty but its quietness as well.路易修改文：Near my house stands Tian-Tan, the biggest park in Beijing, built several hundred years ago and famous now for not only its beauty but also its quietness.「5」学生原文：There is a place where dreams of paradise remote are transformed into reality. It is very much the real China, embracing all of the traditional Chinese goods, cultural and history.路易修改文：The place transforms dreams of a remote paradise into reality. It embraces all of the traditional Chinese goods, culture and history.「6」学生原文：Nanking’s climate is marked by intense dry heat during summer months, the origin of its reputation as one of the”five furnaces of the Yangtze”.路易修改文：Intense dry heat in the summer earns Nanking the reputation as one of the “five furnaces of the Yangtze”.「7」学生原文：There is a river before my house. It is an east to west river and connected with the Yangtze River.It is not very long but deep.路易修改文：A river,not very long but deep, runs before my house and connect with the Yangtze.「8」学生原文：On the river banks there are many willow trees with their branches bending into water.路易修改文：Many willow trees bend their branches into the river.「9」学生原文：In the front, it was the sharp slope of a cliff.路易修改文：The front cliff sloped sharply.「10」学生原文：It is a small mountain village surrounded by a clear river winding through a deep valley, with willows and reeds along its banks.路易修改文：A clear river surrouds a small mountain village and winds through adeep valley, with willows and reeds along its banks.dminate, distinguish, run, bend, slope, earn, transform这些动态动词栩栩如生，不仅给原来句子带来了活力和生机，而且大大压缩了句子，使行文简洁、明快、紧凑，因而文章就耐读多了。

我们再看几例：「11a」The frameworks of mutual respect is the basis of our cultural cooperation.「11b」The framework of mutual respect sustains our cultural cooperation.互相尊重的精神是我们文化合作的基础。

「12a」Ecological imbalance is the biggest threat to the survival of wild animas and plants,even human beings.「12b」Ecological imbalance threatens most the survival of wild animals and plants,even human beings.生态失去平衡是对野生动物、植物乃至人类最大的威胁。