與對(duì)話和下文提及的新聞聽(tīng)力相比較，短文聽(tīng)力既沒(méi)有一問(wèn)一答的形式，也不會(huì)出現(xiàn)大部分聽(tīng)力原文，聽(tīng)者很難把握信息的走向、預(yù)測(cè)信息內(nèi)容。因此，主位、述位理論是語(yǔ)篇分析中圍繞信息流向發(fā)展起來(lái)的一個(gè)有力工具，可以幫助聽(tīng)者把握聽(tīng)力的語(yǔ)篇大意。

首先，根據(jù)和短文相關(guān)的問(wèn)題和選項(xiàng)，聽(tīng)者可以判斷出短文的體裁、內(nèi)容和主題，掌握一定的信息。例如，以下是英語(yǔ)專業(yè)四級(jí)預(yù)測(cè)題中一篇短文的相關(guān)問(wèn)題和選項(xiàng)。

① John Williams’ house（T）is made of ____.

A. wood B. bricks C. animal skin D. old stones

② John Williams（T）has lived in his present location ____.

A. since he was born

B. since he graduated from college

C. since his wife died

D. almost half his life

③ According to the speaker，which of the following（T）could John Williams not use in his cabin?

A. An ax. B. Clothing. C. Knives. D. Electricity.

④ John Williams（T）likes to ____.

A. live away from human society

B. find a peaceful place to read books

C. make things by himself

D. have a chat with his friend in his cabin

基于以上四個(gè)問(wèn)題，聽(tīng)者可以預(yù)測(cè)出這篇短文的體裁是敘事性的記敘文；主位、述位的分析幫助聽(tīng)者。在第二章中筆者分析了記敘文語(yǔ)篇主位推進(jìn)模式出現(xiàn)的頻數(shù)較多的是平行型、延續(xù)型和集中型；交叉型、無(wú)模式型、派生型和并列型出現(xiàn)的概率較小。下面，首先對(duì)原文的小句劃分主位、述位。

More than 40 years ago, (T1) John Williams gave away all of his belongings and went off to the mountain to live the way people lived 100 years ago. For food (T2) he traps wild animals, fishes in the rivers, and plants whatever he can. John (T3) lives in a cabin he made by hand, out of trees he chopped down with an ax. Though he has no relatives that he knows of, (T4) he does have a deer he raised from a fawn. The deer (T5) lives in the house in the winter and goes with John when he goes into the forest mountains and John has not been out of the mountains during the entire forty years. One day last year (T6) I hiked in to see how John lives. It (T7) was like going back in time. There (T8) were no roads, no stores, no noise, no population, not even a post office.

Most notable of all, there (T9) were no people and that’s just the way John Williams wants to keep his part of the world without people. But there (T10) is a paradox in his story. John (T11) is an educated man. He (T12) has books and nobody knows how he got them. Mostly he (T13) reads about his world, the forest, the animals, the plants, and the mountains. He (T14) has seen airplanes flying overhead but does not want to know about them. For him, (T15) electricity’s lightning. John Williams is 85 years old and has not had a sick day in his life. He (T16) attributes his long life to the fact that he has nothing to do with people and in order that he might enjoy many more years of health, happiness, and solitude. I (T17) will not tell you where his kingdom lies. There (T18) is no room there for you and me.

這篇短文各小句的主位多數(shù)是無(wú)標(biāo)記主位（小句的主位＝小句的主語(yǔ)），但也有少數(shù)標(biāo)記性主位：T1（More than 40 years ago）；T2（For food）；T6（One day last year），時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)和介詞短語(yǔ)充當(dāng)了主位。

其次，分析語(yǔ)篇的主位推進(jìn)的模式。

R1 (John Williams gave away all of his belongings and went off to the mountain to live the way people lived 100 years ago)＝R2 (he traps wild animals, fishes in the rivers, and plants whatever he can)＝T3 (John)＝T4 (Though he has no relatives that he knows of) — R4 (he does have a deer he raised from a fawn)＝T5 (The deer) —R5 (lives in the house in the winter and goes with John when he goes into the forest mountains and John has not been out of the mountains during the entire forty years)＝R6 (I hiked in to see how John lives)＝R7 (was like going back in time) ＝R8 (were no roads, no stores, no noise, no population, not even a post office); T8 (There)＝T9 (there)＝T10 (there) —R10 (is paradox in his story)＝T11 (John)＝T12 (He)＝T13 (Mostly he)＝T14 (He)＝T15 (For him)＝T16 (He) —R16 (attributes his long life to the fact that he has nothing to do with people and in order that he might enjoy many more years of health, happiness, and solitude)＝R17 (will not tell you where his kingdom lies)＝R18 (is no room there for you and me)

集中型：R1＝R2，R6＝R5，R7＝R6，R8＝R7，R17＝R16，R18＝R17

延續(xù)型：T3＝R2，T5＝R4，T11＝ R10

平行型：T4＝T3，T9＝T8，T10＝T9，T12＝T11，T13 ＝T12，T14＝T13，T15＝T14，T16＝T15

在這篇記敘文中，主位推進(jìn)模式出現(xiàn)了三種（平行型、延續(xù)型和集中型），符合記敘文主位推進(jìn)的特點(diǎn)。在介紹人物John Williams時(shí)，聽(tīng)力材料出現(xiàn)了平行型。譚珊燕^[4]認(rèn)為在記敘性語(yǔ)篇中，作者為了讓讀者欣賞對(duì)人物的生動(dòng)描寫(xiě)，將描寫(xiě)性部分即人物主位化。馬緒光^[5]也認(rèn)為，記敘、描寫(xiě)類文學(xué)語(yǔ)篇類型章一般會(huì)使用平行型，以便使主題連續(xù)保持不變，以突出人物形象。因此，在聽(tīng)錄音時(shí)文中的人物John Williams是聽(tīng)力語(yǔ)篇的焦點(diǎn)，聽(tīng)者注意到了平行型，主位重復(fù)了舊信息，那么述位就是新信息。

聽(tīng)力語(yǔ)篇還運(yùn)用了集中型：述位相同；承載相同的已知信息；突出了各條信息的相同特征；起到了強(qiáng)調(diào)作用。例如：

R1（John Williams gave away all of his belongings and went off to the mountain to live the way people lived 100 years ago）＝R2（he traps wild animals，fishes in the rivers，and plants whatever he can）；R5（lives in the house in the winter and goes with John when he goes into the forest mountains and John has not been out of the mountains during the entire forty years）＝R6（I hiked in to see how John lives）＝R7（was like going back in time）＝R8（were no roads，no stores，no noise，no population，not even a post office）

從字表來(lái)看，這篇集中型的述位不相同。但實(shí)際上，下一個(gè)述位是對(duì)上一個(gè)述位承載的信息的重復(fù)，屬于上義、下義和同指重復(fù)。對(duì)于語(yǔ)篇中重復(fù)的舊信息，Hoey分為：① 簡(jiǎn)單的詞匯重復(fù)；② 復(fù)雜詞匯重復(fù)；③ 組成篇章的詞匯重復(fù)和“機(jī)會(huì)”詞重復(fù)；④ 簡(jiǎn)單釋義；⑤ 復(fù)雜釋義和三角連接；⑥ 上義、下義和同指重復(fù)；⑦ 人稱代詞；⑧ 指示代詞和修飾詞；⑨ 其他替代關(guān)系。與平行型不同，聽(tīng)者應(yīng)將注意力集中在承載著新信息的各小句主位上。

這篇描寫(xiě)人物的短文還應(yīng)用了延續(xù)型，前句的述位是后句的主位：R2（he traps wild animals，fishes in the rivers，and plants whatever he can）＝T3（John）；R4（he does have a deer he raised from a fawn）＝T5（The deer）；R10（is paradox in his story）＝T11（John）。在這種推進(jìn)類型中，聽(tīng)者既要注意到承載后句的述位，又要關(guān)切前句的主位。

因此，聽(tīng)錄音時(shí)，聽(tīng)者忽視了舊有的信息，注意到了承載新信息的主位或述位，就可以獲取需要的信息，順利做出正確選擇。例如：

John lives in a cabin he made by hand, out of trees he chopped down with an ax; he has not been out of the mountains during the entire forty years; there were no people and that’s just the way John Williams wants to keep his part of the world without people; electricity’s lightning…答案應(yīng)該是A、D、D、A。