Day 12

英文重现

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

这个句子的主干是一个被动句“the stories are shaped”。“people tell to explain themselves”是省略了“that”的定语从句，修饰前面的“the stories”（因为“that”在从句中作“tell”的宾语，所以可以省略）。“as well as”表示“和……一样”，与前句互为平行结构，连接的两个“by”结构在句子中作状语，引出“shape”这个动作的发出者：“narrative devices and storytelling conventions”和“other cultural and historical factors”（即主动语态中的主语部分）。“in ways …”是方式状语，表示“be shaped”的方式。

词义辨析

参考翻译

此外，叙事技巧、讲故事的习俗和其他文化的以及历史的因素以讲述者可能没有意识到的方式影响了人们为解释自己而讲述的故事。

实战演练

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

本题很容易根据题干的“shapes”找到对应的句子“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”去和选项对应就可以了，但要注意的是：选项中不一定提到文中提到的所有方面，只要最少提到一个方面就行。

选项A“叙述故事的妇女所生活的文化中标准历史（讲述）的习俗”虽然出现“conventions”，但是错在“standard histories”，因为“standard histories”和“oral narratives”（即“storytelling”）是两种不同的方法，因此该选项是迷惑选项。

选项B“叙述故事的妇女所生活的文化中讲故事的习俗”和选项A唯一不同的地方在于将A中的“standard histories”改成了“storytelling”，因此是正确的（需要特别注意的是：在考试中偶尔会遇到两个“对立的”选项，这种情况下，一般正确答案会是两者中的一个。正式考试时，为节省时间，可直接在A和B中选一个，基本排除其他选项）。

选项C“叙述故事的妇女在家族起源中形成的具有独特传统的讲故事经验”中的“storyteller's experience”和选项E“叙述故事的妇女对她所生活的文化群体中的其他成员为解释自己而讲述的故事的熟悉度”中的“storyteller's familiarity”都明显和原文不对应。

选项D“那些口头叙述的听众的文化期待和经历”中的“who listen to oral narratives”也是错误的，文中论述的对象是“who tell the oral narratives”。