2007 Kaoyan English Grammar Breakthrough - (Latest Edition)

Author: Hu Min
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: English learning can never be detached from the fundamentals, and grammar constitutes a crucial part of these fundamentals. Although the postgraduate English exam no longer includes purely grammar-focused questions, with only the "English Knowledge Application" section explicitly testing grammar, the indirect and deep-seated assessment of grammar is ubiquitous. It is well-known that the postgraduate entrance exam for English is highly challenging, requiring a higher level of grammatical proficiency. All language skills demand a solid grammatical foundation, requiring candidates to use grammatical knowledge accurately and skillfully. Therefore, the foundation of grammar not only should not be weakened but must instead be strengthened urgently. However, many candidates make a mistake during their preparation by focusing on specific question types while neglecting the review of fundamental knowledge, driven by a desire for quick results, which often leads to difficulties and hinders progress. It can be said that studying without a foundation is like drawing water from a well without a source or planting a tree without roots. "How can the pond be so clear? Because there is a living spring feeding it." According to the general principles of English learning, if candidates can strengthen their internal skills and solidify their language foundation, it truly means enhancing their capabilities, allowing them to remain victorious regardless of how the exam changes. Therefore, candidates should not neglect the essence for the superficial and instead trace back to the root, not just cool the broth but remove the impurities at the bottom. There are countless postgraduate English exam preparation books available, but none focus solely on explaining and guiding candidates through specific exam question types, with few specialized books dedicated to postgraduate English grammar. This book was written in response to the needs of candidates, drawing on the author's extensive experience in learning, teaching, and researching English, with the aim of helping candidates fundamentally solve language problems, enhance their abilities, and pave the way for success in the exam. This book successfully achieves the following five unifications:
1. Grammar Explanation and Postgraduate Exam Questions Unified: All examples in the book are derived from exam questions, systematically summarizing the linguistic essence of past postgraduate exams. Review is the best prospect; studying this book allows candidates to fully immerse themselves in the language of postgraduate exam questions. Based on actual exam questions, the book omits linguistic phenomena rarely tested in the exam and excludes overly simplistic rules, with each chapter covering key and challenging points of postgraduate English.
2. Morphology and Syntax Unified: Morphology is micro-grammar. For words, it is not enough to understand their pronunciation, spelling, and meaning; one must also grasp their collocations, modifications, references, and logical relationships with other words—i.e., interword relationships. Only by understanding the interword relationships of a word can one truly master and skillfully use it. Syntax is macro-grammar, primarily involving the arrangement of sentence structures, the coherence, combination, connection, and logical relationships between sentences. English expresses content through form. Every sentence uses specific sentence patterns, and many complex sentences with coordinate or subordinate relationships are formed through connecting devices. Morphology is the rule of word choice, while syntax is the rule of sentence construction. The most versatile verbs, highly polyvalent prepositions and adverbs, and various idiomatic expressions are the focus of the morphology section, while conjunctions, clauses, comparative sentence patterns, and other common sentence structures are the core of the syntax section.
3. Normative and Flexible Language Unified: English expression cannot be arbitrary; it must conform to linguistic habits and grammatical requirements. At the same time, English also has a degree of flexibility. Some expressions are not mandatory but serve the same purpose. This book is not rigidly bound by traditional rules but faithfully reflects the actual application of language and provides various alternative expressions.
4. Theory and Practice Unified: Beyond the explanations in each chapter are "classic exam questions" related to the content of that chapter, divided into subjective and objective types. Objective questions are multiple-choice, while subjective questions are English-Chinese translation. These two question types have been used throughout the history of the postgraduate exam and remain in use today. Through practice, grammar knowledge is subtly internalized. The "question analysis" section provides detailed guidance on each question, clarifying doubts and resolving confusion.
5. Grammar and the Three Major Postgraduate Exam Skills (Reading, Writing, Translation) Unified: This book goes beyond simply discussing linguistic rules; it does not just talk about grammar for the sake of grammar but uses grammar as a starting point to comprehensively improve candidates' reading, writing, and translation skills. The reading passages in postgraduate English exams are characterized by diverse expressions and concentrated complex sentences, which candidates often find challenging. In light of this, the book not only emphasizes the three types of clauses but also highlights phenomena such as inversion, ellipsis, and emphasis. The final chapter is dedicated to sentence expansion and analysis, selecting complex sentence structures from exam questions to help candidates familiarize themselves with the sentence patterns of postgraduate English, provide correct approaches to analyzing and understanding long and complex sentences, and thus enhance their ability to handle such sentences.
Combining the specific requirements of the postgraduate exam and starting from the perspective of actual language application, the book opens up specialized discussions, pointing out typical problems caused by the influence of Chinese expression habits and thinking patterns, as well as common expression errors, such as "agreement between pronouns," "redundant pronoun reference," "tense consistency," and "logical correlation between participles and sentence subjects." To strengthen candidates' translation skills, the book also reveals the prominent features that distinguish English from Chinese from a comparative linguistic perspective and arranges translation exercises for relevant grammar topics, such as "translating the conjunction 'before'," "translating the passive voice," "translating relative clauses," "translating appositives," etc., as well as translation exercises at the end of each chapter. "Special Tips" scattered throughout the book promptly point out typical problems candidates encounter when using English, answer common questions, provide targeted guidance, analyze errors, and clarify misunderstandings.
Winter has ended, and spring is approaching. May the publication of this book bring a gentle breeze of hope to all candidates. Wishing all students success and smooth progress on their path to the postgraduate exam.
At the time of writing, I am grateful to Mr. Hu Min, President of Beijing New Channel School and a renowned English education expert, for his support and encouragement to the author. I also thank the experienced postgraduate exam preparation expert, Ms. Chen Caixia, for her planning of this book and the guidance she provided to the author.