巧用虚拟语气提高作文档次

虚拟语气是英语里的一个语法现象，它表示说的话不是事实，或是不可能发生的情况或难以实现的主观愿望，抑或是建议假设的语气。

正因为虚拟语气的这种非“真实性”，很容易被一些考生所忽略。事实上，虚拟语气是广东高考英语的一个重要考点，在近高考的语法填空中考查过一次（2012年第17题），在高考写作中考查了两次。因此，灵活运用虚拟语气不但可以提高语法填空的分数，而且还可以提高作文档次。

[例1] 2009年广东高考读写任务

假如你处在那些动物的处境， 你会有什么反应。

在本要点中考查到了虚拟语气，此要点可表达如下：

If I were in the same position as the animals in the zoo， I would be strongly against being photographed. Not having peaceful surroundings to sleep in，I would feel rather tired and annoyed.

不过，很遗憾，当年不少考生却没能用到虚拟语气，而是误用了一般的陈述语气。写成：If I am in the same situation as the animals， I will definitely feel irritated. 这就暴露了有的考生还不会运用虚拟语气，甚至还没真正掌握这种语法现象。

[例2] 2013年广东高考读写任务

假如没有清洁工，环境会变得如何？

写作此要点时虚拟语气又派上了用场，该要点可表达如下：

If there were no cleaners in the world， we would undoubtedly live in a messy， dirty and smelly environment， which would badly affect our health.

然而，令我们大多数高考阅卷老师失望的是，能在此处用上且用对虚拟语气的考生，可谓凤毛麟角。

由上述两次高考作文可知，虚拟语气在高考写作中大有“用武之地”，运用得当，可以为作文增值。那么，考生如何才能在作文中运用好虚拟语气呢？笔者建议，除了掌握虚拟语气的基本用法外，也要有意识地背诵和积累与之相关的实用句型，以便日后服务于写作。请看以下的句子：

1. My teacher advised me to put my heart into my studies. 老师建议我潜心学习。

2. It is time for them to go out for relaxation. 是他们外出放松一下的时候了。

3. It is necessary for a teacher to have a thorough knowledge of the subject he teaches. 教师必须对他所任教的科目有个全面的了解。

4. I regret wasting so much time on meaningless things. 我后悔花这么多时间做无意义的事情了。

5. My head teacher treats me very well. 我的班主任对我很好。

6. I want you to stay a little longer. 我想你多逗一会。

7. He had meant to go to the cinema with you， but one of his friends came to visit him then. 他本来打算和你一起去看电影的，但后来有个朋友来看望他。

8. Her mother prefers her not to go to college. 她母亲不希望她上大学。

9. We didn’t work hard and failed eventually. 我们没有用心工作，结果失败了。

10. He jumped into the river in time to rescue me and I was saved. 他及时跳进河里来救我，最终我获救了。

请同学们把上述句子转换成含有虚拟语气的句子。参考答案如下：

1. My teacher advised that I（should）put my heart into my studies. 老师建议我潜心学习。

2. It is high time that they went out for relaxation. 他们该外出放松一下了。

3. It is necessary that a teacher（should）have a thorough knowledge of the subject he teaches. 教师必须对他所任教的科目有个全面的了解。

4. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time on meaningless things. 要是我不浪费这么多时间在无意义的事情上就好了！

5. My head teacher treats me so well that it seems as if she were my mother. 我班主任对我很好，好得仿佛她是我母亲似的。

6. I wish you could/would stay a little longer. 要是你能多逗留一会就好了。

7. He would have gone to the cinema with you if one of his friends hadn’t come to visit him.

Or：But for the fact that one of his friends had come to visit him， he would have gone to the cinema with you. 要不是有个朋友来看望他，他当时就会和你去看电影了。

8. Her mother would rather she didn’t go to college. 她母亲宁愿她不上大学。

9. We might have succeeded if we had worked hard. 我们倘若当时努力的话，我们说不定就成功了。

10. Had it not been for his timely help，I would have lost my life.

Or：Without his timely help，I would have lost my life. 要不是他及时的帮助，我当时就丧生了。

对比之下，显然含有虚拟语气的句子比之前的句子在表达上要高明些。貌似简单的句子，却蕴含了考生在写作中灵活运用语法知识的能力，往往能让评卷老师“心动”。

除了试题本身要求学生运用虚拟语气外，考生也可以“主动出击”，在适当的时机，在有把握的情况下，向评卷老师“秀”一下虚拟语气。如：

“感谢老师对我的无私帮助”，可以这样写：

Mrs. Zhang treats me so well that it seems as if I were her son. Had it not been for her selfless and generous help，I would have given up my study and dropped out of school. How grateful I am to her kindness！

[即时练习]

以下是近年各市模拟题中读写任务的要点，请恰当运用虚拟语气。

1. 假设你是学校校长，谈谈你将如何处理违纪学生，并陈述理由。（2009年广州一模）

2. 假如你是父母一方，你会如何磨砺自己的孩子？（2013年揭阳一模）

3.“我”后悔过去虚度光阴，以致忽略甚至荒废了学业。

4. 父母对“我”过度严格，导致“我”丧失自由，渴望得到解脱。

参考范文

1. Were I in charge of a school，I would also be very strict with the students who don’t behave well. I would first warn and then suspend the students who disturb the learning of others or disrespect their teachers. Also，it is necessary that I visit the poor students’ home and discuss the problems with their parents so that we could find solutions.

2. If I were a parent，I would advise him that he should face any difficulties bravely instead of giving up. Besides，I would expose him to the hardships in life instead of solving all the problems for him，providing them with chances to fight for his bright future by conquering challenges.

3. I used to waste so much time surfing the Internet and watching TV that I neglected my study totally. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time playing. Instead，I should have devoted myself to improving my grades. If I had made an effort，I would have made greater progress. Now，I’m well aware that it’s high time that I focused on my studies.

4. My parents are so hard on me that it seems as if I were a bird confined in a cage without freedom. They always put pressure on me and would rather I spent all my energy on studies. How I wish my parents could stand in my shoes and come to realize it’s vital that I （should） balance study with relaxation.

综上所述，虚拟语气在我们的英语写作中很实用，只要考生掌握好，并能灵活运用，就能提升作文的档次，在写作中脱颖而出。

（作者单位：江门开平市第一中学）

责任编校 蒋小青