作为雅思写作的一个重要话题,文化类经常考察的方面有:建筑类、旅游类、语言类等等。在曾经的2013年11月16日的雅思考试中,就考察了这样的一个题目:Some languages are increasing in use,while many others are declining. Do you think this is a positive or negative development? 这就是一个有关语言类的话题。初次知道,常见的文化类话题还有:
20130314建筑类When designing a building,the most important thing to take into account is the intended use of the building rather than its outward appearance. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
20130706 旅游类 Space travel has been possible for some time and some people think the space tourism could be developed in the future. To what extent do you think it's a positive or negative development?
20130727 建筑类The restoration of old buildings in major cities in the world costs numerous governments' expenditures. This money should be used in new housing and road development. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
在文化类话题中,我们需要去论述的主要有文化的特征、重要意义、传统文化与外来文化等等问题,以及文化与经济和国家发展的结合。那么我们就一起通过一篇经济学人上的文章来学习一下有哪些好的表达。
1、Guarding precious and vulnerable places is one of the better things the UN’s cultural agency does—but it may topple over if it stretches too far.
Guard:守卫,保卫,比如英国的著名报纸就叫做the Guardian 《卫报》。
Precious and vulnerable: 宝贵的和易受伤害的,用于形容传统建筑或者文化非常好。
2、Anyone who dreams of exercising authority (of a fairly benign sort) over the entire world—with a special remit for the planet's most beautiful and fragile places—will enjoy perusing the 250 or so pages that contain the latest pronouncements from UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.
most beautiful and fragile:最美的和脆弱的,用于形容文化遗产,替换刚才的Precious and vulnerable,注意雅思写作的词汇丰富性。
3、This year's most dramatic move was a rare decision to strip a place—Dresden and the surrounding Elbe valley—of its status as a “World Heritage Site”: that is, a location deemed to be of universal worth to humanity by virtue of its built environment, ecological importance or both.
deemed to be of universal worth to humanity by virtue of its built environment, ecological importance or both:be deemed to be 被认为是,另外这句话可以用来说明文化的重要性,句型非常好。
4、What makes this whole procedure tolerable (and indeed, respected) is that it is a voluntary arrangement between governments, with groups of states taking turns to form committees that duly exercise UNESCO's moral power.
这句话的句子结构很好,what引导主语从句,后面的is 之后是表语从句,大家可以学习去写。
5、An architect with a fondness for old cities that are evolving, Mr Bandarin relishes the memory of his sparring matches with Ken Livingstone, then mayor of London, whose love for skyscrapers cast a shadow overthe Tower of London and the Palace of Westminster, both of which are UNESCO sites. “He wanted to build Shanghai in London,” the Italian says of the maverick socialist mayor. What UNESCO should be protecting, he says, is not stones but human values; cities must develop in ways that cater to present needs but also respect and integrate the past.
with a fondness for:介词短语with 用来修饰前面的建筑师
relish the memory of:回味。。。的记忆,非常生动的表达
skyscraper:摩天大楼
is not stones but human values: 不是。。。而是。。, 不是只保护石头而是人类的价值,说明文物的精神价值。
这篇文章从联合国教科文组织的角度,分析了文化尤其是传统文化和建筑的保护问题,有很多非常生动地道的表达。