疫情期间，同学们在线上课堂中或多或少会分享时下的“战‘疫’”信息。结合这个题材，希望在本文中跟新航道英语老师们分享班上同学练习口语 part 2 时常犯的两项细节处理不当问题：缺乏上下文语境及信息冗杂（无法抓住/表述关键信息），并提出相应的完善建议。

　　1.缺乏上下文语境

　　在一次事件题（Describe a leisure family activity that you often do）的练习中，有同学作了如下表述：

　　“... because there are fewer patients now, so we decide to go out / go for a walk”（此处引述同学练习原话；应使用一般过去式描述：are, decide应为were, decided）。

　　然而在提及patients（“病人”）的上下文中，同学并没有交代相关的背景信息（i.e. during the outbreak of the novel corona virus, more and more patients recovered / were cured）。

　　由于我们此刻都生活在国内，“自我隔离在家（self-isolate / work at home）”，当然不难理解上述的“病人”即感染新冠病毒的人们。

　　但使用英文表述同样概念时，不能套用我们中文的思维逻辑（即假定听者听到“病人”立刻能联想到“新冠疫情”）：在不交代相关的背景和上下文前提下，对方难免产生疑问：为什么不能是其他疾病呢？而且同学也没有交代“病人”“减少的原因”（whether by receiving proper treatment / medication, or unfortunately killed as a result of infection）。

　　因此课上向同学提出了如下建议：

　　可以考虑换一种说法（描述“病毒”：since / as the spread of the virus proved under control），或描述“病人”时明确指出是“出院”或“康复”（病例减少的原因、关联此后的动作：as there were more and more patients getting proper treatment; which eased people’s concerns on doing outdoor activities）。

　　当然，如果能在一开始就交待背景（a new kind of corona virus broke out unexpectedly ... people were strongly recommended to reduce social contacts / not to join public gathering）则更为理想。但由此则会引出接下来论述的、同学们常犯的另一失误：信息冗杂（无法抓住/表述关键信息）；（在本段落最后的“背景描述”中则表现是否过于冗长、占用后续关键信息的表述时间）。

　　2.信息冗杂（无法抓住/表述关键信息）

　　以下通过另一道话题的素材（Describe a person in the news who you would like to meet），即对钟南山院士的简介来说明：

　　In 2003, when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was raging in China, Prof Zhong Nanshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in the Division of Medical and Health Engineering, and a leading respiratory expert, asked to be transferred to the area most hit by SARS, where he provided guidance to medical workers on the front line. Because of his significant contributions in the battle against SARS, he received the accolade "Anti-SARS Hero', and was voted as one of the top ten individuals who have touched the hearts of the Chinese people in the year 2013. Now, Prof Zhong, at the age of 84, is fighting against novel corona virus.

　　描述名人或公众人物时，同学们开动脑筋、找寻权威性的表达，努力确实值得肯定。然而找到了好表达，另一个问题又接踵而来：很多同学会开始照念、或者无法识别其中的关键信息。可以看出，上文中的部分素材如用于当前无疑是“背答案”（‘In 2003 ...’）、或是冗杂（a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in the Division of Medical and Health Engineering；在两分钟的part 2作答时间中，相信大部分同学很难流利地回答这部分的信息，且不论与随后的内容是否关联紧密）。

　　而在课上对同学们作出建议时，部分表达如a leading respiratory expert则已非常清晰地说明人物的身份，asked to be transferred to ... the front line, ... raging in China等表达，则只需将SARS替换成当前的COVID-19，仍能有效地参照。

　　当然，上述文段对钟南山院士的具体指引或动作只作概括（provided guidance to medical workers），结合当下一些简易“防疫”常识（wear / put on surgical mask (while staying outdoors), reduce social contacts, wash hands after arriving home / no shake hands, etc），相信能帮助同学们更清晰地梳理和表达关键点。