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托福网考阅读和GRE阅读文本复杂度对比研究
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Abstract:
本研究以量化的方式比较了托福网考阅读和GRE阅读在文本复杂度上的差异。研究从三个方面对文本复杂度进行分析：(1) 词汇复杂度，统计标准为单词平均音节数、单词词频和类/形符比；(2) 句子复杂度，统计标准为平均句长；(3) 思维复杂度，统计标准为每100词中反义论证词的数量。研究发现GRE阅读文本在词汇方面相比托福阅读文本要略微复杂一些。两者在句子复杂度上几乎没有区别。但GRE阅读文本在思维复杂度上远高于托福阅读文本。这说明GRE阅读题目难度更高很大程度上是因为GRE阅读文本复杂的思维。
This study compares the complexity of TOEFL iBT reading texts with that of GRE General Test reading comprehension texts in a quantitative manner. Text complexity is analyzed from three dimensions: (1) vocabulary complexity, as indicated by average number of syllables per word, word frequency, and type-token ratio; (2) sentence complexity, as indicated by average sentence length; (3) reasoning complexity, as indicated by the number of oppositional reasoning words per 100 words. The study found that GRE reading texts are slightly more complex in terms of vocabulary than their TOEFL counterparts. Sentence complexity is almost the same for these two kinds of texts. However, GRE texts’ reasoning complexity is significantly higher than that of TOEFL texts. It follows that the relatively high difficulty of GRE reading questions results to a great extent from GRE reading texts’ complex reasoning.
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