托福口語中第四題如何找定義
一般來說，第四題閱讀文章的題目就是問題中需要解釋的學術概念，所以一個大原則就是，在文中找到原詞重現，原詞重現的那句話，有很大幾率就是概念的定義。例如TPO4 target marketing：
Target Marketing
Advertisers in the past have used radio and television in an attempt to provide information about their products to large, general audiences; it was once thought that the best way to sell a product was to advertise it to as many people as possible. However, more recent trends in advertising have turned toward target marketing.Target marketing is the strategy of advertising to smaller, very specific audiences – audiences that have been determined to have the greatest need or desire for the product being marketed.Target marketing has proved to be very effective in reaching potential customers.
這裡文章中出現了兩次target marketing，第一句里說「最近更傾向於使用target marketing」，顯然不是定義，那麼第二句中「target marketing是一種廣告策略……」就是概念的定義了。這種是最簡單的，可以直接抄原句。
第二種，仍然是找到原詞重現的那句話，但是要稍作改變，因為一句話摘抄出來之後，脫離了上下文，可能會出現意思表達不清楚的地方，如TPO25 cultural lag：
Cultural Lag
Technological change occurs very rapidly in modern society – sometimes more rapidly than many people are prepared for. As a result, when new technology emerges, people may struggle for a time to adapt to it.This period of transition, when people are adjusting to technological change, is known as cultural lag.At first, people are not accustomed to the new technology and may not understand it; they may therefore have a negative attitude toward it. Over time, however, their attitudes change, and they successfully incorporate the new technology into their daily lives.
這裡this period of transition顯然適合上文有聯繫的，「這個」如果離開了原文就不知道是哪個。在說的時候需要換成定冠詞，變成Cultural lag refers to the period of transition during which people adjust to technological change.
其實這個還不是特別明顯，因為就算是我們不做任何改變，直接摘抄原句，也只是有一些語法上的不通順，但是並不影響聽者對於概念的理解。那麼我們再來看下一個，TPO33 carrying capacity :
Carrying Capacity
An animal species needs to have enough resources, like food and water, to survive in any given environment. However, because resources are limited, only a certain number of animals of a particular species are able to survive in a given habitat.The greatest number a habitat can support is known as the carrying capacity.If nothing happens to disrupt or unbalance the relationship between the animal and its habitat, the carrying capacity will remain stable. However, a carrying capacity is not fixed. If there is a significant disruption, such as an environmental event that alters the amount of available resources in the habitat, the carrying capacity will change.
這個不難看出，原詞重現的句子就是定義，但如果照抄原句，會給人造成理解的困難，因為「the greatest number」在失去了前文的對於棲息地和動物數量的鋪墊之後，就不知道是什麼東西的最大數量，所以這裡必須要補充好「the greatest number of a certain animal species」，聽者才能明白在談什麼。
第三種，迷惑性比較大，就是出現原詞重現的句子經常會被錯認為是定義，但實際上它並不是定義，這種情況下，定義通常在離這句話比較近的一個句子里。例如TPO1 groupthink :
Groupthink
One process by which groups may make bad or irrational decisions is known as groupthink. Individual members of a group attempt to conform their opinions to what they believe to be the group consensus even though the result may be negative. There are many reasons why groupthink happens. These include the desire to be liked, fear of losing a job, or even not wanting to be the one employee delaying a decision that seems inevitable. These kinds of implicit pressures to conform lead group members to ultimately make decisions that each, by himself or herself, might normally not make.
這個文章中第一句話末尾「…… is know as groupthink.」使很多人認為這一句就是定義句。而是事實，如果我們把這句話做一下句子簡化，會發現最後得到的信息是「groupthink is a process.」它是一種過程，並且由於這個過程，一個團隊會做不好的決定，這裡只說了後果，但是groupthink到底是怎樣發生的，這個過程究竟是什麼，我們並不知道，所以這句話並不是定義。而真正的定義在它後面的一句「Individual members of a group attempt to conform their opinions to what they believe to be the group consensus even though the result may be negative.」這句話解釋了，人們會使他們自己的想法，和他們認為團隊里其他大多數人的想法保持一致，這樣才可能會產生壞的結果，這句話才解釋了groupthink到底是怎樣的一個過程，所以它才是定義。
我們再來看一個例子，TPO24，flagship species：
Flagship Species
Environmental organizations work to protect plants and animals whose natural habitats are threatened by human activity. One way they do this is by selecting a particular species to represent the threatened habitat to the general public. This species, called a flagship species, is one that people are likely to find attractive and interesting. The flagship species is used to raise public awareness and motivate people to take action to protect the threatened habitat. People』s support of the flagship species results in protection for all the plant and animal species living in the threatened area.
按照原詞重現規則，我們找到了這句話：「This species, called a flagship species, is one that people are likely to find attractive and interesting.」從這句話理解，旗艦物種是一種人們覺得有趣又吸引人的物種。可是這並不是短文里所說的重點，通讀短文之後，我們不難知道，flagship species的特點是被選為代表，引起人們的注意，去保護一個棲息地，而上面那句話只是說明了旗艦物種的一個通常具備的特徵，所以不能作為它的定義。它的定義我們可以前面的一句話「select a particular species to represent the threathened habitat to the general public」，這個應該是比較接近的定義的一句話，但是它只說了被選出來作為代表，而目的沒有明確，為什麼被選出來則沒有提及。我們再看後面的一句話「is used to raise public awareness and motivate people to take action to protect the threatened habitat.」，這裡說明了旗艦物種存在的意義。所以定義應該是兩句話結合那麼我們可以說「flagship species is a particular species selected to represent a threatened habitat to the genneral public to to raise public awareness and motivate people to take action to protect the threatened habitat.」
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