Day 12

英文重現

Moreover, the stories people tell to explain themselves are shaped by narrative devices and storytelling conventions, as well as by other cultural and historical factors, in ways that the storytellers may be unaware of.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 9

解析

這個句子的主干是一個被動句“the stories are shaped”。“people tell to explain themselves”是省略了“that”的定語從句，修飾前面的“the stories”（因為“that”在從句中作“tell”的賓語，所以可以省略）。“as well as”表示“和……一樣”，與前句互為平行結構，連接的兩個“by”結構在句子中作狀語，引出“shape”這個動作的發出者：“narrative devices and storytelling conventions”和“other cultural and historical factors”（即主動語態中的主語部分）。“in ways …”是方式狀語，表示“be shaped”的方式。

詞義辨析

參考翻譯

此外，敘事技巧、講故事的習俗和其他文化的以及歷史的因素以講述者可能沒有意識到的方式影響了人們為解釋自己而講述的故事。

實戰演練

Scholars of women's history should, however, be as cautious about accepting oral narratives at face value as they already are about written memories. Oral narratives are no more likely than are written narratives to provide a disinterested commentary on events or people. Moreover, the stories people tell to explain themselves are shaped by narrative devices and storytelling conventions, as well as by other cultural and historical factors, in ways that the storytellers may be unaware of…

According to the passage, which of the following shapes the oral narratives of women storytellers?

(A) The conventions for standard histories in the culture in which a woman storyteller lives.

(B) The conventions of storytelling in the culture in which a woman storyteller lives.

(C) A woman storyteller's experience with distinctive traditions of storytelling developed by the women in her family of origin.

(D) The cultural expectations and experiences of those who listen to oral narratives.

(E) A woman storyteller's familiarity with the stories that members of other groups in her culture tell to explain themselves.

答案：B

答案解析

本題很容易根據題干的“shapes”找到對應的句子“Moreover, the stories people tell to explain themselves are shaped by narrative devices and storytelling conventions, as well as by other cultural and historical factors, in ways that the storytellers may be unaware of”，需要做的就是用“narrative devices”、“storytelling conventions”、“other cultural and historical factors”去和選項對應就可以了，但要注意的是：選項中不一定提到文中提到的所有方面，只要最少提到一個方面就行。

選項A“敘述故事的婦女所生活的文化中標準歷史（講述）的習俗”雖然出現“conventions”，但是錯在“standard histories”，因為“standard histories”和“oral narratives”（即“storytelling”）是兩種不同的方法，因此該選項是迷惑選項。

選項B“敘述故事的婦女所生活的文化中講故事的習俗”和選項A唯一不同的地方在于將A中的“standard histories”改成了“storytelling”，因此是正確的（需要特別注意的是：在考試中偶爾會遇到兩個“對立的”選項，這種情況下，一般正確答案會是兩者中的一個。正式考試時，為節省時間，可直接在A和B中選一個，基本排除其他選項）。

選項C“敘述故事的婦女在家族起源中形成的具有獨特傳統的講故事經驗”中的“storyteller's experience”和選項E“敘述故事的婦女對她所生活的文化群體中的其他成員為解釋自己而講述的故事的熟悉度”中的“storyteller's familiarity”都明顯和原文不對應。

選項D“那些口頭敘述的聽眾的文化期待和經歷”中的“who listen to oral narratives”也是錯誤的，文中論述的對象是“who tell the oral narratives”。