Information&Ideas 信息量与观点

Information and ideas basically concerns whether a candidate's response is organised in a way that makes sense.You will notice that in every Task 1 question,there is the main part of the question,and then beneath it you will have your task.It always has the same wording:

信息量与观点主要关注的是考生所写的内容是否合理。你会看到，写作任务一中，题目的主体内容描述之后，下面就是任务描述。措辞万年不变：

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

The first part about selecting and reporting the main features is largely what your TA grade is marked on.It is the second part,about "make comparisons where relevant" which is what your CC will be graded on.What the question does not explain is what comparisons are,or how we can make them.Basically,comparisons are ideas that are the same,which is what we call comparisons,and ideas which are different we call contrast.This is the logical way to arrange your information and ideas.

题目中前半部分关于 “选择并呈现突出特色” 的写作要求很大程度上决定了你在任务完成度上的得分。后半部分关于 “在相关处进行比对” 的写作要求决定了你在条理性和关联性上的得分。但是题目中并没有解释比对是什么，或者如何进行比对。简单来说，把相似的信息放在一起分析，叫作比对；把不同的信息放在一起分析，叫作对照。这就是我们在对信息与观点进行排布时的逻辑思维。

In the next example,look carefully for what ideas stand out as similar,and what ideas stand out as different.

阅读下面的例题，仔细辨别哪些信息是相似的，哪些信息是不同的。

The first chart below shows how energy is used in an average American household.The second chart shows the greenhouse gas emissions which result from this energy use.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Before we can find out what the similarities and differences are,we must organise the data,which might look something like this:

在辨别相似和不同的信息之前，我们必须梳理数据，梳理完之后是这样的：

You can see that a pattern has emerged already.This is the information that needs to be mentioned in your overview.These are your main features:

这时你会发现规律已经浮出水面了，这就是你在总览中需要体现出来的重点，也就是突出特点：

1) Water heating and cooling generate an equal amount of greenhouse gases compared to the energy use.

水暖和制冷产生的温室气体和消耗的能源是等量的。

2) Refrigeration,lighting and other appliances all generate double the amount of green house gases compared to energy use.

冰箱、制冷以及其他电器产生的温室气体是其消耗能源的两倍。

3) Heating generates less greenhouse gases compared to energy use.

供暖产生的温室气体比其消耗的能源少。

If we include this information in an overview,it might look something like this:

我们把以上信息囊括在总览中，如下：

The two pie charts shown,compare the average energy use in US households to the levels of greenhouse gas they produce.It is notable that water heating and cooling generate approximately an equal level of greenhouses gases compared to energy used.In contrast,Refrigeration,lighting,and other appliances,all generate twice as much.It is only heating that produces fewer emissions than energy use.

This is an example of how information can be grouped,by putting the information into groups which have common features.By doing this,we have already scored CC 7 for our overview.To go one step further,we take the structure of the overview,and then extend them into the key details in the main body of the essay.That looks like this:

以上即为如何对信息进行分组的范例。通过把信息分组，你会发现数据之间的共性。这时，你的总览部分条理性和关联性得分已经达到7 分了。为了精益求精，我们在分析完总览的结构后，现在延伸到文章正文部分来看细节信息如何展开。如下：

Water heating,and cooling systems both generate an equal amount of energy compared to their greenhouse emissions at around 30%and 2%respectively.Refrigeration,lighting,and other appliances all produce double the amount of emissions compared to the energy they use.Lighting jumps from 4%to 8%,refrigeration 7%to 14%,and other appliances 15%to 28%.The only system that releases fewer emissions that energy use is heating,whose emissions are about one third of energy produced,at 15%and 42%respectively.

This answer scores a solid CC 8.It is simply organised in a way that exploits the data.This might look like common sense,but candidates often write what examiners call a shopping list of what see in the question.These shopping lists might look like this:

这个答案的条理性和关联性得分稳稳拿到8分，因为考生在对数据进行展开分析。听起来这就是基本常识，但很多考生写出来的文章经常被考官称之为购物清单。购物清单长这样：

Water heating was 30%of household energy use,but it produced 32%of emissions.

Refrigeration used 7%of household energy,but it released 14%of emission.

Other appliances used 15%of household energy,and released 28%of emissions

And so on…

This style of directly reporting what the candidate can see is not meeting the requirements of the ques-tion.Shopping list questions like the one above may be well-written,but the most they will ever score is CC 5.Make sure to organise your data into groups,and you'll be on your way to CC 8.Here's a more challenging example.See if you can group the data.

这种看见什么写什么的写作方式是不符合题目要求的。上述这种清单式语言看上去还不错，但在条理性和关联性上最多得5分。所以一定要对数据进行分组，这样你的分数在条理性和关联性上才能上8分。下面这个例题更具有挑战性，尝试一下你能否对下面的数据进行分组吧。

The table below compares the use of different fuels for energy production in the United Kingdom in 1990,1996,and 2000.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

On the surface,this looks like a very complicat-ed question.Exam writers at Cambridge love to throw questions like this in to the exam every few weeks.It reminds candidates that the IELTS test is supposed to be difficult,but by taking a moment and simplifying the data,it is not that tough.In the table below,the numbers have been rounded up or down,and the trends shown:

这道题看上去非常复杂。在剑桥埋头苦思的雅思写作出题人隔几周就喜欢出几道这样的题，来跟考生传达一个信息：雅思考试是很难的，但是静下心来想一想，对数据进行简化后，你会发现并没有那么难。在下表中，对上表中的数据进行四舍五入后，趋势就显现出来了：

Now that the decimal places have been removed,we can more easily observe what the patterns in the data are.There are two kinds of general trends that we can look for to build our main features.In the chart,you can see there are patterns and final trends.Remember that it is a good idea to look for pairs.Pairs could be couples which have the same trend,or an opposite trend.Here are some pairs from the chart above:

把小数点去掉后，我们就能更轻松地观察到数据之间的规律了。我们可以选择其中两条宏观趋势来作为总览部分的写作重点。上表中既有规律也有最终趋势，记住我们需要做的是找配对。配对可以是有相同趋势的项目，也可以是有相反趋势的项目。下面是从上述表格中找到的配对：

SIMILAR PAIRS 相似的配对

● Natural gas,hydropower and,total energy units produced all increased between 1990 and 2000.

天然气、 水力发电以及产生的能量总值在1990年到2000年间呈上升趋势。

● Natural gas and total energy units produced increased year on year between 1990 and 2000.

天然气和产生的能量总值在1990年到2000年间逐年递增。

● Coal decreased between 1990 and 2000.

煤炭的能量产值从1990年到2000年呈下降趋势。

OPPOSITE PAIRS 相反的配对

● Nuclear power increased in 1996 and then decreased in 2000,whereas hydropower decreased in 1996 and increased in 2000.

核能的能量产值从1990年到1996年上升， 从1996年到2000年下降； 然而水力发电的能量产值从1996年到2000年是上升趋势。

NOTE:DON'T BE TEMPTED TO WRITE "FLUCTUATE".AT LEAST FIVE DATA POINTS ARE NEEDED BEFORE YOU CAN CALL IT A FLUCTUATION.

注意：不要使用 “fluctuate （波动）” 这个词。至少以五个数据点为依据才能判断出是否有波动。

Identifying the similarities and differences in data to establish patterns in data may seem quite simple in pie charts and data tables,but what about in maps and diagrams?About one in eight of Task 1 questions involve either a map,usually where the candidate must compare two maps,or a flow diagram,where the candidate summarizes the process.It may seem that these are more difficult in terms of arranging ideas,but we can use the same principals.Looking at the example below,think about how can we group the ideas.

对于饼状图和数据表格来说，发现数据间的异同之处、然后组建规律看起来不太难，那么对于地图和流程图来说情况如何呢？写作任务一的题目中出现地图题或流程图题的概率大约是1/8，通常考生需要对两张地图进行对比，或者对一张流程图进行步骤分析。相比之下，前面提到的对信息进行归纳整理似乎简单多了，不过我们可以使用相似的解题思路。看看下面的例题，思考我们如何对下图中的信息进行分组。

The two maps below show an island,before and after the construction of some tourist facilities.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,and make comparisons where relevant.

Imagine that you were looking at this map from outer space,and could only make out the very general features.What would they be:

想象你现在正从太空中俯瞰这张地图，只能看到宏观特点，这些特点是：

The eastern end of the island and the beach on the western shore have not changed.

岛屿东部和西部的海岸线没有变化。

Accommodation has been built in the centre and western end of the island.

岛屿中部和西部修建了住宿区。

A restaurant and reception have been built in the centre of the island.

岛屿中部修建了一个餐厅和接待处。

A pier has been built on the southern shore of the island.

岛屿的南海岸线上修建了一个码头。

These form our main features,the foundation on which we will provide a more detailed description.In terms of LR,notice that we are using directions phrases like "eastern end of the island","western shore",and "southern shore".These phrases are more accurate than "right","left" and "at the bottom",so it adds to the sense of cohesion.Putting all these ideas together,we get an overview that looks like this:

以上即为本题的突出特点，也是接下来进行细节描写的基础。从词汇丰富度的角度来说，我们使用了“东、西、南” 这些方位词，而不是“左、右、下面” 这样的词汇，同样这些词也有助于增强文章的关联性。把以上信息汇聚到一起，形成文章的总览如下：

Shown in the diagrams is previous map and current map of an island which is approximately 200 metres long,and 100 metres wide.Although there has been significant development,the eastern end of the island,and the beach on the western shore have not changed.Accommodation has been built in the centre,and at the western end of the island,between which a restaurant and reception are located.There is also a pier on the southern shore.

It can be seen here,that writing the overview for a map question is much simpler than for data questions.There is a trap that candidates often fall into which is that while they provide lots of general details forming their main features,they forget to include the finer details which make up their key features.It can be tough to identify what the examiner expects you to write for the key features,but they should build on what you have mentioned in your main features:

以上可以看出，地图题的总览写起来比数据分析类题型容易得多。不过考生经常走进一个误区，那就是只注意到了大量宏观信息来描写突出特点，而忽略了构成正文段的细节信息即细节特点。我们很难知道关于细节特点的描述考官到底想看到哪些内容，但基于总览段中提及的突出特点内容来进行拓展描述是不会错的：

While the eastern end of the island has not changed,a swimming area has been added to the beach on the western shore.The accommodation includes two rings of huts,nine in the centre of the island,and six in the west.Between these areas there is a restaurant and reception area.A vehicle track links the pier,to the reception and restaurant,and smaller footpaths connect the other areas of the island.

The focus of this question is not only to describe the differences between the two maps,but also to describe the locations of the changes.For this reason,it is important to include the correct vocabulary so that your answer makes sense:

答题的关键不仅在于描述两幅地图之间的差异，还在于描述发生变化的方位。因此使用恰当的词汇来让文章有条理性就非常重要了：

VOCABULARY&PHRASES 词汇&短语

● Approximately 200 metres long and 100 metres wide…

● A football pitch is about 90 metres long and 45 metres wide.

● A basketball court is about 28 metres long and 15 metres wide.

In the final answer below,all the main points have been covered in the first paragraph,and the key features mentioned in the second.Along with appropriate vocabulary related to the task,this scores an easy CC 8.

下面是例文的最终版，首段中涵盖了所有突出特点，第二段中提及了所有细节特点。文中使用的词汇都是跟内容紧密相关且非常贴切的，因此这篇文章在条理性和关联性上轻轻松松拿到8分。

Shown in the diagrams is previous map and current map of an island which is approximately 200 metres long,and 100 metres wide.Although there has been significant development,the eastern end of the island,and the beach on the western shore have not changed.Accommodation has been built in the centre,and at the western end of the island,between which a restaurant and reception are located.There is also a pier on the southern shore.

While the eastern end of the island has not changed,a swimming area has been added to the beach on the western shore.The accommodation includes two rings of huts,nine in the centre of the island,and six in the west.Between these areas there is a restaurant and reception area.A vehicle track links the pier,to the reception and restaurant,and smaller footpaths connect the other areas of the island.

The method that we have looked at for arranging the main and key features in the previous questions may seem straightforward once you understand the system,but there is another kind of question which terrifies candidates.Candidates rarely know how to organise the information in a flow diagram.Looking at the example below,think about how the information could be arranged:

一旦你了解了这个写作手法，就会发现前面例题中讲到的如何排布突出特点和细节特点的方法非常直白易懂。不过还有一类题型让考生闻风丧胆，那就是流程图。考生特别犯愁的是如何在流程图中组织信息。看看下面的例题，思考如何梳理图中的信息：

The diagram below shows the process of milk production.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,and make comparisons where relevant.

When looking at a flow diagram like this,what we first must do is sort out what the main features and key features are.For purposes of flow diagrams,main features are the same as main stages,and key features are the same as sub-stages.In this example,there are four main stages:

拿到像这样的流程图，我们首先要做的是辨别它的突出特点和细节特点。对于流程图来说，突出特点就等同于主要步骤，细节特点就等同于次要步骤。在这个例题中，有四个主要步骤：

1） Producing the milk 产奶

2） Storing and delivering the milk 贮藏及运输牛奶

3） Turning the milk into products 生产奶制品

4） Packaging and delivering the milk 包装及运输成品

These main stages provide us with the structure that we need to add more details later.Already our overview should be looking something like this:

这些主要步骤为我们搭建出了基本框架，然后往里填充细节信息即可。总览基本出炉，如下：

The flow diagram shown displays the four main stages involved in milk production.These stages include:feeding the cows and producing the milk;storing and delivering the milk to the dairy;turning the milk into products at the dairy;and either pasteurising/packaging the milk for sale in shops,or producing other dairy items.

You'll notice that the stages in this list are divided by semi-colons.These are great for giving lists,but the difference between a normal list where commas are used (see below)

你可能注意到了，这段话中不同的步骤之间用分号划分开来。分号在陈述清单式内容时非常好用，但分号与逗号的使用有着明显的差别，逗号用于常规的并列词语之中，而 （见下文）

I went to the supermarket.I bought ham,cheese,bread,and milk.

and lists with semi-colons,is that semi-colons provide lists of longer items,for example:

分号通常使用在更长的句群中，例如：

In Beijing,there are six main ring-roads:the first surrounds Tiananmen Square;the second and third include the main parts of the city;the fourth includes the university districts;and the fifth and sixth are mostly on the outskirts of the city.

This style of using semi-colons makes your writing much more direct and efficient.It is also a great way to improve your GRA score.Going back to the milk question,now we should break down the main stages into their eight sub-stages:

通过使用分号能够让你的文章更直白、条理更清楚，同时在语法丰富度和准确性的维度也是一个加分项。回到牛奶的问题上，现在我们把主要步骤细分为八个子步骤：

To produce the milk,cows are firstly grazed in fields,and then milked twice a day by indoor milking machines.After that,the milk is stored in large refrigeration tanks before it is picked up by the milk tanker and delivered to the dairy.In the dairy,after being processed,the milk either goes through pasteurisation and packaging,after which it is delivered to stores,or used to create other dairy products such as cheese,cream,and butter.

In this answer,you can see that each of the main stages correspond to the sub-stages.Also important is that you have the right sequencing language to arrange your ideas.This will be explored more in the cohesive devices part of this chapter,but you can see some of the examples from the milk question below.

在这篇例文中，你会发现主要步骤与次要步骤之间是对应的。同时掌握表达顺序的语言非常有利于厘清你的思路。这一点在本章的衔接手段部分会详细讲到，在下面的牛奶范例中可以先感受一下。

VOCABULARY&PHRASES 词汇&短语

● Cows are firstly grazed in fields…

NOTE:IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO HIDE"FIRSTLY" IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR SENTENCE;IT IS LESS OBVIOUS.

注意：把 “firstly” 放在句子中间使用是个好方法，看起来不那么显眼。

● And then milked twice a day…

● After that,the milked is stored before it is picked up…

● After being processed…

● After which…

Now that we have looked at a variety of question styles and learned how to organise the main features and key features to achieve the best possible effect,we're going to move on now to look at a problem that drags down thousands of candidates'scores,that is inaccurate details.

我们已经学习了各种题型以及如何最高效地描写突出特点和细节特点，现在我们将进行到下一个拖无数考生后腿的问题——不准确的细节信息。