2017年PS技巧:抽象名词的力量

很多英语专业的朋友可能听到外教们不止一次地建议，在英文写作中要多尝试用动词代替名词，因为他们认为动词更有力度，更容易领会。这个建议本身并没有错，但与中文不同的是，英语词型灵活多变。例如，动词"lead"，可变为"leader" ，这对中国学生来说是比较容易理解的部分。然而，"lead" 和 "leader" 这两个本来有具体含义的词，还可以进一步变为抽象的"leadership"。我们在申请文书特别是推荐信中经常使用到"leadership"，虽然这个词的概念并不难理解，但中国人很难找到相应的中文词语。通常情况下，"leadership"被翻译为“领导才能”，这样我们就犯了以偏盖全的错误，因为“领导才能”是一个具体名词，而"leadership"比“领导才能”的含义多得多。中国的英语学习者不难理解"She married a wealthy person who comes from an influential and powerful political family"或者"She married into a wealthy and powerful political family"，因为"family"和"person"都是具体名词，但是要明白"She married a powerful political dynasty"就不是那么容易了。因为 "dynasty"是个抽象名词。 由于这种语言差异的存在，学英语的中国人很自然地倾向使用具体名词而不是抽象名词，可能是因为汉语善于运用具体名词而在抽象名词的使用上相对较弱的原因。 再举一个大家非常熟悉的"scholarship"为例，作为具体名词，意思是“奖学金”，但很少有人知道它可以作为抽象名词来解释，如：Drawing on the scholarship of the ancient China, Professor Joseph Needham and his Chinese collaborators at Cambridge University wrote what was to become the colossal 25 volumes of "Science and Civilization in China". 在这里，"scholarship"的意思是学识、学问。书面英语，特别是一篇写得好的申请信中常使用抽象名词。中国申请者在文书方面面临的最大挑战之一是如何学会包括运用抽象名词在内的技巧。例：具体： She has become so famous that her name is synonymous to one of the labs in this university. 抽象： She has become an institution in one of the labs in this university. 具体： Mr.Liu is one of the youngest Fellows of the National Society and a most distinguished biochemist. 抽象： Mr.Liu is one of the youngest Fellows of the National Society and a biochemist of considerable distinction. 具体： My US friends took me to a great many historical corners in campus of Harvard and shared with me abundant information, which I could hardly have obtained in any other way. 抽象： My US friends offered me a remarkable orientation of Harvard's history, which I could hardly have obtained in any other way. 具体： You must seek the word, the verb, and the adjective that best captures your ideas, and never be satisfied with the ones that only come close to what you want to convey. 抽象： You must seek the word, the verb, and the adjective that best captures your ideas, and never be satisfied with approximations. 注意，我们承认英语中存在大量的抽象名词，但并不等于说这些词广泛适用。有些时候这些词过于抽象，读者得不到较切实的印象。拿"Miss Wu had great success in her study"这句化来说，"Miss Wu reached the top ladder of her study"就比它形象具体得多了。我们不说"We go to great length of serving customers with courtesy"，而说"We serve our customers with a smile".