根据国外学者的调查统计,一个以句号结尾的英语句子,单词的数量最好不要超过20个,否则的话,句子偏长,听话人的注意力有可能不集中,漏听一、两个单词,从而影响对整个句子的理解。为了避免句子冗长,通常采取两种办法,一种是将一个长句子,划分为几个短句子,每个短句子之间有语气上的停顿,让听话人有间歇的感觉,另外一种则是简化句子的单词构成,用一些简单的单词,代替一些复杂的单词。下面我就给各位介绍三种常用的简化方法。
第一种方法是用一个单词代替一组意义相同的单词,比如:
①用forget代替do not remember
②用ignore代替do not pay attention to
③用now代替at this point in time
④用because代替due to the fact that
第二种方法是省略同义词或近义词,比如在下面例句中,形容词important和significant,就是两个同义词,我们可以省略important,只保留significant。
①The government project is important and significant.
②The government project is significant.
第三种方法是在不改变句子含义的前提下,省略所有可以省略的单词,比如在下面例句中,the cover of the book可以省略成the book cover,is red in color可以省略成is red。
①The cover of the book is red in color.
②The book cover is red.
最后我们把这三种方法结合起来,将一个冗长、绕嘴的句子,改写成一个简短、易懂的句子。
①University malls must be accessible and free from congestion1 in order that students, faculty2 and employees may have unobstructed passage through those areas of the campus.
②University malls must be free enough from congestion to allow people to walk through easily.