2016年雅思考试口语专项模拟练习(结合考点)二

情态动词：在英文中主要用来表示说话人的看法、态度。

Look at the script of the audio recording about the life expectancy chart. Underline the modal verbs.

‘Hey, have you seen this chart? Guess which country has the highest life expectancy in the world?’

‘I know the answer to that question: it’s Japan. 82 years is how long the average Japanese can expect to live. … Why is that, do you think?’

‘I don’t know for sure but their diet might have a lot to do with it. They eat lots of fish and vegetables.’

‘Oh. Do New Zealanders have a good diet too?’

‘As far as I know, they eat too much meat and cheese so it’s not exactly a healthy diet… lots of protein but probably too much fat. Their quality of life would be good though. New Zealand’s part of the developed world, but it’s not really an industrialised country, so they’ve got plenty of clean, fresh air.’

‘That could be the reason for their longevity, I suppose … I thought it might be because they play a lot of sport and get lots of exercise. Look, I see life expectancy in China is pretty high.’

‘Yes. 72. I think that’s the highest it’s ever been… higher now than Peru where people only live to be 70 on average. I have heard that there is a lot of poverty in Peru, in both urban and rural areas. Many of the workers are paid very low wages so they may not be able to afford nutritious food or proper health care… and Russians are even worse off; they can only expect to live to 65!’

‘Too much vodka!’

‘I don’t know about that… but alcoholism could be a factor. Seriously, I think they have quite a low standard of living you know, things like the quality of housing and the amount of food available. Even so, their life expectancy is nearly double that of Botswana.’

‘I don’t think I’ve heard of Botswana before. Where’s that?’

‘Africa. People in Botswana only live on average to the age of 34!’

‘That’s awful!’

‘Terrible isn’t? I know that about two thirds of Botswana is desert, but I also know it has a great natural resource, diamonds, so it’s a relatively wealthy country and it only has a small population, less than 2 million. I’ve also heard that it has a good system of government and there is no civil war or fighting. It even has free education and health care for all its citizens.’

‘Why do they die so young then?’

‘Disease. The AIDS epidemic. It’s the worst-affected country in the world!’

So they may not be able to afford nutritious food or proper health care.

因此他们可能支付不起有营养的食物及合适的卫生保健。

从语气上看，may / could / might 都表示推测语气较不确定;尤其是might, could，其意很不肯定;might不表示过去时态，只是语气上比may更委婉，表示的可能性更小。

a. I don’t know for sure but their diet might have a lot to do with it.

我也不大确定他们的饮食和这个是否有关系。

b. I thought it might be because they play a lot of sport and get lots of exercise.

我想那有可能是因为他们体育锻炼比较多。

c. That could be the reason for their longevity, I suppose.

我猜，那个可能是他们寿命长的原因。

d. I don’t know about that… but alcoholism could be a factor.

我也不知道，不过酗酒可能是原因之一。

Ÿ 表达否定的时候，may/might not和couldn’t意思截然相反。

a. They mightn’t have had good health care. = perhaps they did, perhaps they didn’t (in other words, I’m not sure)

(我)不太确定他们能否得到很好的卫生保健。

b. They couldn’t have had good health care. = it’s not possible

他们不可能得到很好的卫生保健。

Ÿ would肯定性最小，通常表示人的主观愿望、假想等虚拟语气，而不表示客观存在的事实。

Their quality of life would be good enough.

我猜测他们的生活质量很好。