在整個托福寫作考試中如果說參加托?？荚嚂r在綜合寫作中還可以適當使用“模板”的話，那么獨立寫作里“模板”的使用往往會被并標以“pre-prepared”，因此考生想通過這種“捷徑”提高得分的結果不會特別理想。獨立寫作提高得分的關鍵還是“實力說話”。

盡管“模板”效果有限，但短期提高得分的技巧還是很多，如活用“萬能理由”和巧用“論證方法”等。本文主要介紹在獨立寫作中很多考生沒有注意的一個加分“小”技巧—rhetorical question的使用。

在托福寫作實戰中，rhetorical question的使用能夠起到很好的加分作用。為了說明rhetorical question的加分作用，請看托福Official Guide評卷人對一篇題為Dishonesty Kills Reliability的滿分作文的點評。下面是點評中關于language的comment：

The writer's language is fluent, accurate, and varied enough to effectively support the progression and connection of ideas. There is a variety of sentence structures, including rhetorical questions.

評卷人把rhetorical questions看做加分點!

從上面的點評中，我們可以清楚的得出這個結論——至少評卷人把上述段落中的反問句視作一種“句型變化”而加以肯定和褒揚。

那么，何謂rhetorical question?Rhetorical question會不會很難?

我們先來看在托福Official Guide里備受評卷人贊譽的rhetorical question實例。在原文第四段中，為了說明honesty的重要性作者是這樣寫的：

In any relationship of mine, I would wish that first of all, the person I'm dealing with is honest.Even though s/he thinks that s/he did something wrong that I wouldn't like,s/he'd better tell me the truth and not lie about it. Later on if I find out about a lie or hear the truth from someone else, that'd be much more unpleasant. In that case how can I ever believe or trust that person again?How can I ever believe that this person has enough confidence in me to forgive him/her and carry on with the relationship from there.……

提問而不需對方回答，提問只是為了表明并強調作者的立場。這不就是漢語中的“反問”嗎?維基百科對反問句的定義是：

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question thatis asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer. Though a rhetorical question does not require a direct answer, in many cases it may beintended to start a discussion or at least draw an acknowledgement that thelistener understands the intended message.

還有學者對反問的定義更加清楚：

A rhetorical question is asked just for effect or to lay emphasison some point discussed when no real answer is expected.

那么，rhetorical question為什么能夠收到評卷人的贊譽而得到加分?這就要從托福作文的評分標準說起了。托福Official Guide里面對于高分作文的要求(Scoring Rubic)描述如下：

*Effectively addresses the topicand task

*Is well organized and well developed, appropriate explanations, exemplifications, and / or details

*Display Unity, progression, and coherence

*Display consistent use of language,demonstrating syntactic variety, appropriate word choice, and idiomaticity

從上面的評分標準可以清楚看出，rhetorical question能夠幫助我們滿足實現評分標準第四條中的“demonstrating syntactic variety”。這也正是官方指南中評卷人的點評。

其實，除了體現“句型變化”，合理使用rhetorical question還能幫助我們滿足評分標準第一條的要求“effectively addresses the topic and task”。事實上，rhetorical question不僅能夠有效的回應主題，還能強調作者的觀點從而獲得讀者的認同。rhetorical question的這種強調作用最著名的范例可能算是雪萊《西風頌》Ode to the West Wind的結尾了：

“O Wind,If Winter comes,can Spring be far behind?”

另外，問句，尤其是設問的合理使用還能起到很好的銜接作用，也就是評分標準的第三條“Display Unity, progression, and coherence”。因此，有學者把rhetorical question的篇章作用總結如下：

? Emphasize a point

? Persuade powerfully

? Influence subtly

? Provoke thinking

? Help smooth transition

限于篇幅，對這些作用就不一一舉例了。順便說一下，rhetorical question后面的標點并不一定總是question mark，有時也可以是句號或感嘆號。

下面，本文作者提供一篇自己寫的樣文，請大家分析問句在開頭、中間和結尾段中的使用。

Some people prefer to ask others for help; others prefer to solve the problem with their own knowledge. Which is your choice?

Such is human nature that everyone longs for happiness in our life. Unfortunately, on the path to pursue happiness, we are likely to face various problems. How to solve them? Should we rely on ourselves to remove the obstacle or turn toothers for a cure?From my perspective, it is more reasonable to ask others for help.

Admittedly, always hinging on others to solve problems might be irrational in some cases. For example, if you ask an acquaintance with whom you haven’t a close tie to lend you a hand, he might be reluctant, because most of us have our own care and concern. Besides,some people are unwilling to shoulder the responsibility for the advice they offer. It’s not a rare case when we ask our friend for advice on what major to choose only to get a reply: “Well, it’s really hard to say. Who knows what your real interest is? Who knows what major will be popular when you graduate?”

In spite of the points mentioned above, I still cling to the idea that we should depend on others for the following reasons.

First of all, asking others for help can save us much valuable time, time that we can use for other purposes. As is known to all, most people in contemporary society are always burdened with endless stress and strain. To be admitted to prestigious universities, schoolchildren have to burn midnight oil to out do their peers in exams; likewise,university students can do nothing but to work against the clock to lend themselves an edge over others in the talent market so that they can land adecent job. Given the quickening pace of life, how can we expect us to remove all the obstacles only by ourselves?

In addition, turning to others for help is an efficient way for us to enlarge our circle of friends. It is not a rare case that friendship might be formed after we ask others for help. Take myself as an example. After helping me find a cure for my personal health problem, one of my colleagues has become my best friend. Now, when in trouble,he also asks for my advice. No wonder some even state that it is an efficient way to find friends by “bothering” others for their help.Sounds surprising?It is a discovery revealed inrecent research conducted by a group of leading experts.

Most importantly, it is the only choice to call for help when the solution to a problem requires expertise. Itis known to all that today’s society differs greatly from what it was before. Even a century ago, most folks could be self-sufficient: they grew grain on their own land and wove cloth on their own looms, which seems unimaginable in modern society. Unlike the “good old days”, modern society is a huge complex machine in which each person can serve only as a tiny part.For example, City dwellers depend on farmers for grain while farmers rely on factory workers for industrial products; in the same way, factory workers may temporarily drown our worries in soap operas shown on the screen while film-makers cannot have a film produced, however talented they might be, without the talents of play wrights,directors, photographers, actors or actresses.

Why not ask others for solution when necessary?Good or bad, this might be the best choice left to us.

以上的這些內容就是小編為大家整理了的，大家可以學著去運用這些技巧，定能讓你的托福獨立寫作文章提升分數。最后，小編預祝大家托?？荚嚹苋〉美硐氲某煽?。

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