概要
前幾篇文章討論過「閱讀的基本原則」──不外乎，「理解文章旨要」、「理解文章或段落體裁的功能」、「掌握上下文的銜接性與連貫性」、「找到正確的字詞配搭」並注意「文法一致性。
本篇承繼上篇解析文章，要引入另外一個閱讀時常用的技巧，叫作「字換字」(word-for-word)；也稱「大字換小字，」有時候是「單字換片語。」這個技巧是筆者在研究所讀文獻時經常用的技巧。學術文章中經常會有許多專業術語(jargon, or terminology)，以及花俏的學術語言(academic language)；而學術語言不僅是為了讓文章讀起來更專業，更是為了展現作者本身的「文風」(style, or author’s personality)。因此，為了突顯自己的特殊性，適當地使用花俏語言，舉凡在學術場域，或是一般場域的書寫（例如投書報章雜誌，）都有其必要性。
儘管寫作的人會盡情揮灑文采，對閱讀的人就沒那麼友善：因為讀者得記憶大量的單字──而這些單字明明可以用「更簡單的單字」替換。
為了協助自己掃讀，適當地將文章中看起來冷僻的字眼替換成「常用的簡單單字」就十分重要。
以下是筆者嘗試將112年學測英文閱讀題(43-46)關於Zanzibar群島(archipelago)──也是很多解析提供者認為困難的一個題組──透過大字換小字的方式，將文章改寫過：
改過
(1) Located off the coast of Tanzania and washed by the warm, clean waters of the Ocean, Zanzibar is a *tropical archipelago (2) made up of several scattered islands. This popular beach destination is now famous for its white sand beaches, (3) thin and tall palms, and (4) [certain color, close to green] seas. But few people know that in the past, control of Zanzibar meant access to *un-imagin-able wealth.
From (5) [long time ago, the time that belonged to history], Zanzibar has been a (6) trading/goods exchange *hot-spot, thanks to its location on the trade (7) path/line between Arabia and Africa. Traders from Asia had already visited the islands 900 years before the arrival of its first (8) [that would last/stay since then] (9) settler/people who would settle down, or live there from the African *main-land (around 1,000 AD). In the 8th century, Persian (10) traders built (11) *settle-ments[/or where to build homes] here, which grew over the next four centuries into their trading (12) spots. Between the 12th and 15th centuries, trade increased between Arabia, Persia, and Zanzibar, bringing the archipelago both wealth and power.
During the Age of *Explor-ation, (13) business or economy in Zanzibar quickly (14) increased, largely due to the rise of the *spice/[something to add into foods to make them tasty] trade. At the *close/end of the 15 century, Europeans’ *craze [noun for “crazy”] for spices (15) made it happen/caused it to exist to the Spice Route, a *net-work of seas (16) lines/routes (17) connecting Europe with the Far East, where most spices came from. In 1498, Portuguese *explor-er Vasco da Gama made the first sea (18) travelling to India, (19) through the (20) the farthest south of Africa. In 1499, he arrived at Zanzibar, an archipelago sitting at the (21) where roads crossed/met each other of the Spice Route. The islands soon attracted traders from different lands. Hundreds of ships sailing the Spice Route (22) anchored/stopped their ships here, bringing spices and goods for (23) exchange/trading, and Zanzibar became one of the biggest trading centers in the world.
Since the 16th century, Zanzibar has come (24) under the rule of/under control by the Portuguese, the Arabians, and then the British, each leaving a mark on the place. The (25) lines/routes of (26) different kinds of religions also *crossed/met here: Muslims have lived *peace-ful-ly with Christians and Buddhists on the islands for centuries. The (27) one-of-a-kind *cultur-al (28) crossing spots, (29) scented with/added with (30) the smell of *cloves, vanilla, and cinnamon [they were all spices] floating in the air, give these jewels on the Indian Ocean an amazing (31) *attractive-ness that goes far beyond *tropical beach fun.
改過的詞（列表）
(1). Situated
(2). Comprised of
(3). Slender
(4). Turquoise
(5). Ancient
(6). Trading
(7). Route
(8). Permanent
(9). Settlers
(10). merchants
(11). Settlements
(12). Posts
(13). Commerce
(14). Boomed
(15) gave rise to
(16). Lanes
(17) joining
(18) voyage
(19) via
(20) the southernmost tip
(21) crossroads
(22) docked
(23) transaction
(24) under the rule of
(25) paths
(26) various
(27) unique
(28) intersections
(29) scented with
(30) aroma
(31) charm
去掉註記版
Located off the coast of Tanzania and washed by the warm, clean waters of the Ocean, Zanzibar is a tropical archipelago made up of several scattered islands. This popular beach destination is now famous for its white sand beaches, thin and tall palms, and close-to-green-colored seas. But few people know that in the past, control of Zanzibar meant access to *un-imagin-able wealth.
From the time that belonged to history, Zanzibar has been a trading/goods exchange *hot-spot, thanks to its location on the trade path/line between Arabia and Africa. Traders from Asia had already visited the islands 900 years before the arrival of its first group of people who would stay since then, the people who would live there from the African *main-land (around 1,000 AD). In the 8th century, Persian traders built the places where to build homes here, which grew over the next four centuries into their trading spots. Between the 12th and 15th centuries, trade increased between Arabia, Persia, and Zanzibar, bringing the archipelago both wealth and power.
During the Age of *Explor-ation, business or economy in Zanzibar quickly increased, largely due to the rise of the *spice/[something to add into foods to make them tasty] trade. At the *close/end of the 15 century, Europeans’ *craze [noun for “crazy”] for spices made it happen to the Spice Route, a *net-work of seas lines/routes connecting Europe with the Far East, where most spices came from. In 1498, Portuguese *explor-er Vasco da Gama made the first sea travelling to India, through the the farthest south of Africa. In 1499, he arrived at Zanzibar, an archipelago sitting at the where roads crossed/met each other of the Spice Route. The islands soon attracted traders from different lands. Hundreds of ships sailing the Spice Route anchored/stopped their ships here, bringing spices and goods for exchange/trading, and Zanzibar became one of the biggest trading centers in the world.
Since the 16th century, Zanzibar has come under control by the Portuguese, the Arabians, and then the British, each leaving a mark on the place. The lines/routes of different kinds of religions also *crossed/met here: Muslims have lived *peace-ful-ly with Christians and Buddhists on the islands for centuries. The one-of-a-kind *cultur-al crossing spots, added with the smell of *cloves, vanilla, and cinnamon [they were all spices] floating in the air, give these jewels on the Indian Ocean an amazing *attractive-ness that goes far beyond *tropical beach fun.
結語
這樣做有幾點好處：
(1). 不用在考場想著「必須把文章轉譯成中文譯文。」
每次轉動腦袋，將字句硬轉成中文，就是多花幾秒時間；這些無數個腦中轉譯的時間積累起來，就是無端的浪費時間。考試中，同一篇文章通常只會閱讀2-3次──初次閱讀，以及「檢查時略讀。」如果每次檢查都花時間一一轉譯，不僅會無端造成時間浪費，而且會讓自己資訊過載、腦容量負荷過大。
(2). 遇到生字時，不需要查找字典
文章中的大字，或生字，通常可以從上下銜接的文句找到「字換字」的近似義語詞。比如說Archipelago群島這個字，第一次出現在首段時，文句中就有”comprised of several scattered islands”這個提示。因此，不需要查找「群島」這個詞意，就能知道這個詞指涉何義。
(3). 訓練自己「用英語學英語」、「用已知英文單字去背誦新的英文單字。」
第三點，筆者認為，才是大考中心理想中，期待考生做到的事：「透過英文吸收新知。」不僅在吸收新的資訊的方面，更在英語學習領域上，考生能透過已知的英文知識，逐漸擴張自己的詞彙量。
最後，本文的目的在於協助考生自我練習。
透過字換字的訓練，可以幫助自己跨過生字叢生的文章密林，逐步梳理出文章的脈絡，進而掌握文章旨要。
