AP Lang備考方法：Reasoning和Line of Reasoning

（一）

這篇文章想跟大家探討如何訓練AP Lang的閱讀。

這個(ge) 話題非常宏大，所以我想聚焦在一對概念上：reasoning 和 line of reasoning。

我之所以選取這一對概念，是因為(wei) 它們(men) 足夠典型，具備“以小見大”的能力，是Lang閱讀考試的重要考點。同時，它們(men) 能夠幫我們(men) 看出AP lang這門學科知識體(ti) 係的構建和其他學科的不同。

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我簡單歸納了三點：

PART 1

概念不夠陌生化。國際學校或者美高的孩子從(cong) 小學開始，reasoning這個(ge) 詞在語文課上估計聽了不少次。相比之下，他們(men) 對以下概念會(hui) 更加陌生。

心理學的cerebellum，diencephalon，amygdala；生物學的mitosis，meiosesis；化學的lattice energy，VSEPR，hybridization，electronegativity等等。

如果概念足夠陌生，讀者會(hui) 表現足夠的虔誠。不亞(ya) 於(yu) 在健身房教練給你的一對體(ti) 測指數，不明覺厲。相反，lang的概念太常聽見了，以至於(yu) 很多同學忽略了對他們(men) 定義(yi) 的了解。

PART 2

長相相似，實質卻不同。比如這兩(liang) 個(ge) 詞在Webster的定義(yi) ：

簡單來說，reasoning是一種argument，可以分為(wei) deduction（演繹法）和 induction（歸納法）兩(liang) 種。而line of reasoning重點在line，即達到conclusion前那些reasons是如何串起來。

PART 3

概念與(yu) 概念的差別不是並列關(guan) 係，而是多種關(guan) 係。

人類思維的方式喜歡二元對立：A與(yu) 非A。但是很多Lang的概念卻不如此。比如典型的是metonymy（換喻）和 synecdoche（提喻）的差別並不是截然相反，而是前者包含了後者。

又比如，reasoning有兩(liang) 種模式，line of reasoning可以是deduction（演繹法），也可以是induction（歸納法）。

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考試的時候

（二）這兩(liang) 個(ge) 考點是怎麽(me) 考察的？

比如，題目會(hui) 讓我們(men) 判斷是哪種reasoning：

Located in which paragraph, the thesis indicates which organizational pattern for this passage?

A. paragraph 1, deduction

B. paragraph 2, deduction

C. paragraph 4, induction

D. paragraph 5, induction

E. paragraph 6, induction

同時，題目也會(hui) 出現這種考法：

The essay’s line of reasoning is developed by primarily using

A. familiar to unfamiliar

B. unfamiliar to familiar

C. induction

D. deduction

E. question and answer

通過這兩(liang) 個(ge) 題目，證明了上述區別的第三點。兩(liang) 者不是截然對立。既然如此，為(wei) 什麽(me) 有必要去區分差別，比如第二點？

大家閱讀下麵Lang的真題文本節選，嚐試抽取裏麵的line of reaoning：

I suppose none of us will doubt that everything possible should be done to improve the quality of the mind of every human being.—If it is said that the female brain is incapable of studies of an abstract nature, — that is not true: for there are many instances of women who have been good mathematicians, and good classical scholars. The plea is indeed nonsense on the face of it; for the brain which will learn French will learn Greek; the brain which enjoys arithmetic is capable of mathematics. — If it is said that women are light-minded and superficial, the obvious answer is that their minds should be the more carefully sobered by grave studies, and the acquisition of exact knowledge.—If it is said that their vocation in life does not require these kinds of knowledge, — that is giving up the main plea for the pursuit of them by boys;—that it improves the quality of their minds. —If it is said that such studies unfit women for their proper occupations,—that again is untrue. Men do not attend the less to their professional business, their counting-house or their shop, for having their minds enlarged and enriched, and their faculties strengthened by sound and various knowledge; nor do women on that account neglect the work-basket, the market, the dairy and the kitchen. If it be true that women are made for these domestic occupations, then of course they will be fond of them. They will be so fond of what comes most naturally to them that no book-study (if really not congenial to their minds)  will draw them off from their homely duties. For my part, I have no hesitation whatever in saying that the most ignorant women I have known have been the worst housekeepers; and that the most learned women I have known have been among the best,—wherever they have been early taught and trained to household business, as every woman ought to be.

The author’s rhetorical stance is characterized by a dynamic tension between her

(A)  appeal for change and her insistence that such a change does not threaten the status quo

(B)  celebration of women’s intellect and her apparent unwillingness to name examples of outstanding female thinkers

(C)  sympathy for women writers and her desire not to appear too partial toward them

(D)  efforts to valorize domestic labor and her obvious distaste for the drudgery of such work

(E)  concern for the state of women’s education and her conviction that men’s education needs reform as well

答案：A。

選擇其他答案的同學，有兩(liang) 個(ge) 主要原因：

壹

把所有女性主義(yi) 的文章的主題簡化：男女平等。有點類似於(yu) 我們(men) 去日本旅遊前，對日本的印象是街道幹淨整潔。之後，你興(xing) 高采烈地和朋友去了日本一趟，回來被問及你對日本的看法，你的回答是：幹淨和整潔。

貳

沒有理解line of reasoning的精髓：line！reasons到conclusion是如何串起來的。

大家閱讀下麵Lang的真題文本節選，嚐試抽取裏麵的line of reaoning：

（1）結論：I suppose none of us will doubt that everything possible should be done to improve the quality of the mind of every human being.(應該給女性教育)

（2）理由1: If it is said that the female brain is incapable of studies of an abstract nature, — that is not true:（她們(men) 有能力抽象思考）

（3）理由2: If it is said that such studies unfit women for their proper occupations,—that again is untrue……; nor do women on that account neglect the work-basket, the market, the dairy and the kitchen …… They will be so fond of what comes most naturally to them that no book-study (if really not congenial to their minds)  will draw them off from their homely duties.（學習(xi) 不會(hui) 耽誤她們(men) 的工作）

如果足夠敏感的讀者會(hui) 驚訝地發現，（3）到（1）的推導過程是ironic。理由是（1）的結論的確是男女平等，女性平等地有權力受到教育。但是理由（3）卻是男權的。接受教育的前提是不能影響homely duties。這就是（3）和（1）體(ti) 現題目的dynamic tension

結論，把（3）推到（1）的過程就是“line”的精髓，問自己是怎麽(me) 推過去？日本真的隻是幹淨和整潔嗎？

（三）

經過上麵論述，大家應該已經體(ti) 會(hui) 到這對概念的重要性。那如何訓練這種能力？

提供四種解決(jue) 辦法：

1.真題。優(you) 點，貼近真實考試；缺點，題目有限。

2.教輔。優(you) 點，題目數量多；缺點，雜，且出題方式直白，非所有題符合考試特點。守壹團隊對所有題目進行了深度篩選，選出適合練習(xi) 的題目。

3.國外獲獎文章。優(you) 點，比lang考試的文章長，而且難度稍微更高。守壹團隊統計了lang真題閱讀裏麵的主題特點，結合真題出題思路，我們(men) 選取了國外獲獎文章，帶著學生練習(xi) 。（不是小說、戲劇、詩歌，這些是lit的內(nei) 容）。缺點，自己篩選需要大量時間，且不知道自己分析的質量如何。

4.原版閱讀。如果時間充裕，追求比3更高難度，我們(men) 會(hui) 和學生討論經典文本，分析裏麵的line of reasoning：

閱讀Karl Marx（馬克思）的 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844《1844經濟哲學手稿》。討論人是如何被異化？資本如何獲得生命？通過重塑KM的line of reasoning，不再局限於(yu) 知道結論。

閱讀Friedrich Nietzsche（尼采）的The Birth of Tragedy。討論人生的意義(yi) 是什麽(me) ？《悲劇的誕生》下麵是通過對文本line of reasoning的分析討論Aeschylus，Sophocles和Euripides的戲劇是如何推導出尼采對Dionysus（酒神）的推崇。

文本難度如下：

With those two gods of art, Apollo and Dionysus, we establish our recognition that in the Greek world there exists a huge contrast, in origin and purposes, between the visual arts, the Apollonian, and the non-visual art of music, the Dionysian. These two very different drives go hand in hand, for the most part in open conflict with each other and simultaneously provoking each other all the time to new and more powerful offspring, in order to perpetuate in them the contest of that opposition, which the common word “Art” only seems to bridge, until at last, through a marvellous metaphysical act of the Greek “will,” they appear paired up with each other and, as this pair, finally produce Attic tragedy, as much a Dionysian as an Apollonian work of art.

上課分析的節選：

篇幅關(guan) 係無法一一列舉(ju) ，基本的邏輯是：

如果時間緊張，（1）無疑是最好的材料。

如果時間充裕，利用（2）（3）（4）讓水平高於(yu) 考試，無往而不利。