历年考研英语试题命题特点及规律(阅读理解A部分)

来源：来源于网络时间：2009-11-26 09:50:44

　　第二部分阅读理解A部分命题的特点和规律

　　阅读理解A部分试题主要是考查考生对英语词汇、短语、句型等习惯表达方式，尤其是对出现在篇章中的语言知识和语言技能的掌握情况。从另一方面来说，它也包含了对英语国家和世界其他国家的政治、经济、文化、历史、社会等背景以及科技发展动态、热门话题乃至西方人的思维、交流方式等非语言性知识和学习能力方面的考查。因此，阅读理解A部分试题是一个综合性很强的能力测试试题。

　　阅读能力一直是各种英语考试考查的重点。在全国硕士研究生入学考试中阅读理解的A部分占了整个试卷分值的40%，而且其他部分与阅读理解也密切相关。英译汉以它为基础。完形填空只有理解整篇文章的意思才能选对答案。分析典型范文又是写作的基础。此外，掌握外语比较重要的两个因素——词汇量和语感，都是主要通过阅读获得的。因此考生要在考研英语中获得成功，阅读理解是关键。

　　一、阅读理解A部分命题的基本指导思想

　　1《大纲》对阅读理解A部分的评价目标

　　命题小组在设计试题时，一方面要在试题中考查考生是否能够读懂不同类型的文字材料(生词量不超过所读材料总词汇量的3%，包括信函、书报和杂志上的文章)，而且还考查考生是否能够读懂与本人学习或工作有关的文献、技术说明、产品介绍等。根据所读材料，考生应该能够：(1)理解主旨要旨;(2)理解文中的具体信息;(3)理解文中的概念性含义;(4)进行有关的判断、推理和引申;(5)根据上下文推测生词的词义;(6)理解文章的总体结构以及上下文之间的关系;(7)理解作者的意图、观点或态度;(8)区分论点和论据。

　　2阅读理解A部分命题的基本原则

　　试题质量的优劣关系到考试是否达到预期目的，因此命制试题是整个考试的中心环节。命题小组在命制试题时必须遵循以下基本原则：

　　(1)试题应该严格按照考试大纲的要求进行命题，即按照考试大纲规定的评价目标和试卷结构进行命题。命题内容不超过大纲的评价目标，题型和题量也要严格按照大纲的规定。在选取阅读理解A部分的文章时，要注意文章的选材范围和难度，力图让考生在充分理解文章的基础上对问题做出正确的回答，同时要使试题具有适当的难度和较高的效度、信度和区分度。

　　(2)试题指向性必须清楚、准确、周密，易于理解，不出怪题、偏题。试题应该无科学性错误和避免不健康的、带有各种偏见的语言材料。答案要明确、合理、惟一。

　　(3)在命制阅读理解A部分试题时，应该特别注意以下四个方面：第一，必须以考查获得信息为目的，不以考查语法或词汇为目的。当然考查考生通过上下文猜测词义的能力还是必要的。第二，应该避免出只根据一般常识而不用阅读文章就能得出答案的题目。第三，以考查文章提供的主信息为重点，考查考生挖掘文章中的信息能力为目的，命制考查多种层次、多种范畴信息的题目。第四，考查点对语言材料内容的覆盖面应该尽可能全面，这是阅读理解A部分试题命制的比较重要的原则。

　　(4)题干和选项的命制应该遵循的几个原则如下：

　　首先，关于题干的命制。第一，题干应仅描述一个单一的问题，比较好是一个问句或一个不完全的陈述句。题干和选项皆不宜过长，都要简洁、清楚，考点明确，尽量减少不必要的词语。在各选项中共同使用的文字或术语应该反映在题干上。第二，题干和选项中不应含有与所考查内容无关的材料。尽量避免在题干中使用否定词。一旦在题干中出现了否定词，应该特别予以强调，如用黑体或者全大写。第三，题干与正确选项应避免使用相同的修饰词语，以防给考生提供选择答案的线索。第四，题干与每一个选项的搭配都应该在逻辑上、形式上、语气上完整无缺。命制试题时不能只留心题干与正确选项的搭配和表述，而忽视与干扰项的搭配，使考生得到暗示。各选项必须互不包容，否则，他们间的逻辑关系就会暗示正确选项，而使该题失去其应有的效度。

　　其次，关于备选项的命制。第一，各选项的长度、难度和语言结构应该大致相同。因为如果在命制这类试题时，命题者为使正确项绝对正确，致使其长度或结构异于其他选项，那么这些有异选项往往会成为考生乱猜的对象。第二，各干扰项要有迷惑性，才能起到适当的干扰作用。一方面干扰项不能错得太明显，否则形同虚设，反而使考生比较容易利用排除法找到正确答案;另一方面，大部分考生都选择某一干扰项也不理想。第三，同一个题目的选项的排列应按同一原则、同一逻辑顺序、同一规律和方向进行。例如可以按照时间的先后、数值的大小等规律排列。各题应该大致按从易到难的顺序排列。因为考生在临场应试时有个逐渐适应的过程。这样的排列会使他们稳定情绪，顺利进入正常的心理状态。试卷中正确选项字母序号(如[A]，[B]，[C]，[D])出现的次数应该大致相等，这样可避免某些考生因只猜某一选项而“幸运地”获取高分的可能性。

　　比较后，关于干扰项的特点。通过对历年考研真题的分析和研究，我们总结了干扰项的如下特点：第一，看似合理，实则以偏概全、断章取义。要么利用在文章中没有提到的生活常识编造选项;要么把文章中的事实和细节当主旨，把片面的、次要的观点当成主要观点。因此考生一定要从文中找依据、找答案，“合理项”不一定就是正确选项。在主旨题和主要观点题中，应该排除细节干扰，把握文章的主题。第二，偷梁换柱，张冠李戴。要么对原句中的细微处做了改动，要么截取原文中有的词语或类似的结构进行编造。要么在备选项中把因说成果、把别人的观点或作者反对的观点说成是作者的观点。因此考生要注意，过于相似的选项不一定正确，除非它的程度、范围等都与原文完全一致。考生要注意：“原词越多，对的可能性也就越小”。第三，用常规含义代替偏用词义。在英语语言中，许多词或短语存在多义的现象，考生如果只掌握其常用的基本词义是不够的。在阅读实践中，更不能用已掌握的常用词义去代替偏用词义，从而导致对词或句意的误解或费解。命题者在命制词义句意题时，就通常把要考查的词或句意的常规含义作为干扰项以麻痹考生。因此，考生必须根据上下文推测其在特定语境下的含义。第四，过度引申。备选项虽然是从原文中推理引申出来的，但是却超出了文章允许的范围。考生切勿过度发挥，一切以原文为本。

　　二、阅读理解A部分文章的选择

　　阅读理解A部分的文章自2002年起改为四篇，每篇由四个至六个段落构成(也有例外，如：2002年第四篇共九段)。每篇的长度控制在400～500个单词左右。

　　1题材的选取

　　从历年试题命制的情况看，主要是西方国家尤其是美、英、加和日本等国广泛关注的社会话题和热点问题。其内容包罗万象，社会生活类文章在命题中占据了绝大部分，带有普及性质的自然科学和科技方面的文章以及商业经济文章基本上每年都会涉及。命题所选文章的题材虽然广泛，但是按照一般的命题原则，题目的内容应该以不超出短文所给的为限，考生仅凭文章提供的信息就可以做出正确的判断。但是这并不意味着，宽广的知识与阅读理解A部分无关，相反，考生如果平时注意积累这方面的知识，则会大大地提高考试成绩。

　　历年题材分配如下：

2000年~2009年	社会生活、伦理	科普	商业经济	历史文化教育
合计	14	9	11	8
百分比	34%	21%	26%	19%

　　2文章的来源

　　所选文章多来自较新的英文资料，能很好的反映当代英语语言的特点。

　　社会生活和文化教育的文章主要来源于：Newsweek(新闻周刊)，Time(时代周刊)，The Washington Post(华盛顿邮报)，USA Today(今日美国)，The Times (泰晤士报)，The Guardian(卫报)和wwwusnewscom(美国新闻在线)。

　　科普类文章主要来源于：National Geographic(国家地理杂志)，Scientific American(科学美国人)，Science(科学杂志)，New Scientists(新科学家)， Discovery(探索杂志)，Nature(自然)。

　　商业经济类文章主要来源于：Business Week(商业周刊)，The Economist(经济学家杂志)和Wall Street Journal(华尔街杂志)。

　　其他：Telegraph(英国电信日报)，Independent(独立日报)和International Herald Tribune(国际先驱论坛)。

　　3文章的体裁

　　从历年命制的试题看，被选取的文章的体裁绝大多数为议论性的、评论性的和报道性的;多为分析论证的文章，很少有纯抒发情感和描写风景的文学篇章。这同攻读硕士学位研究生期间将面对的大量概括性强、抽象思维为主的材料有关。简言之，主要有论说文、说明文和新闻报道。

　　清楚了解考研文章的体裁特点，有助于考生把握文章结构，理清作者阐述脉络，从而轻松解题。

　　议论文的特点是：(1)写作目的是陈述观点或表明态度;(2)文章围绕一个中心展开，各个段落之间关系紧密，无论是反证还是正面论述，都分别是从不同的角度和侧面阐述这一中心;(3)每一段也是围绕一个中心，段落内部句子之间关系紧密。

　　说明文的特点是以事实为主，观点为辅。对于此类文章，细节题目较多，考生应着重把握具体信息的真伪、程度和作者的态度。

　　三、各类题型的特点及解答技巧

　　(一)主旨题

　　该类题型在历年题型中出现的频率极高，每年必出。它考查了考生综合、概括、归纳和分析问题的能力，要求考生通过对文章的阅读，迅速把握文章或段落的主题中心。主旨题可分为文章主旨和段落主旨两种。命题模式如下：

　　1文章主旨题

　　(1)The passage is mainly about .

　　(2)What is the main point the author makes in the passage?

　　(3)Which of the following best reflects the main idea of the passage?

　　(4)What is the main topic for this passage?

　　(5)The proper subject of this article is .

　　(6)The best title for this passage might be .

　　(7)What the author tries to suggest may best be interpreted as .

　　(8)The passage was written to explain .

　　2段落主旨题

　　(1)From the first (2nd, 3rd, 4th，etc) paragraph, we learn that .

　　(2)From the last (1st, 2nd，etc) paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that .

　　(3)We learn from the first (last，etc)paragraph that .

　　3隐蔽的文章主旨题

　　(1)From the passage we learn (infer) that .

　　(2)What can be inferred from the passage?

　　(3)What the author tries to suggest may be interpreted as .

　　Example

　　Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as “steering the economy to a soft landing” or “a touch on the brakes”, makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. The link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy. Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rear-view mirror and a faulty steering wheel.

　　Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 23% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 25% this July. This is a long way below the double-digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.

　　It is also less than most forecasters had predicted. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America’s inflation rate would average 35% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 26% in August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.

　　Economists have been particularly surprised by favourable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America’s, have little productive slack. America’s capacity utilisation, for example, hit historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate (56% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural rate of unemployment—the rate below which inflation has taken off in the past.

　　Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have up-ended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.(1997年 Passage 5)

　　From the passage we learn that .

　　[A] there is a definite relationship between inflation and interest rates

　　[B] economy will always follow certain models

　　[C] the economic situation is better than expected

　　[D] economists had foreseen the present economic situation

　　题干问的是从整个文章可以推断出下面哪个说法，实际上是在变相地问全文的中心思想是什么。全文都在论述目前的经济形势比预想的要好很多([C]选项)。第一段和第二段提到经济运行难以预测，然而近来经济形势却比往年都好。第三段首句又提到“它(指平均通货膨胀率)比多数预测者预测的数字要低”，接着通过具体数据对此观点加以说明。第四段首句也指出“经济学家对英美两国有利的通胀率特别感到诧异”。

　　4主旨题的特点

　　无论是在段落中还是在文章中，是明显还是隐蔽，主旨的提出主要有四种情况。

　　(1)首段或首句开门见山指出中心或讨论的问题。

　　Example

　　The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia—where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.(1997年 Passage 1)

　　From the second paragraph we learn that .

　　[A] the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries

　　[B] physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia

　　[C] changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hasty passage of the law

　　[D] it takes time to realize the significance of the law’s passage

　　该段是典型的首句主旨题。以首句为段落主题句，其他各句都围绕此句展开论述。正确答案为[D]选项。考生若对sink in理解有困难，还可以从段落总结归纳出主旨大意。

　　(2)文章中间或段落中间给出中心。

　　Example

　　Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $26 a barrel, up from less than $10 last December. This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary memories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled, and 1979～1980, when they also almost tripled. Both previous shocks resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline. So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time?

　　The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term.

　　Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s. In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past.

　　Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price. Energy conservation, a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energy-intensive industries have reduced oil consumption. Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or car production. For each dollar of GDP (in constant prices) rich economies now use nearly 50% less oil than in 1973. The OECD estimates in its latest Economic Outlook that, if oil prices averaged $22 a barrel for a full year, compared with $13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich economies by only 025%～05% of GDP. That is less than one-quarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980. On the other hand, oil-importing emerging economies—to which heavy industry has shifted—have become more energy-intensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed.

　　One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economist’s commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%. (2002年 Text 3)

　　We can draw a conclusion from the text that .

　　[A] oil-price shocks are less shocking now

　　[B] inflation seems irrelevant to oil-price shocks

　　[C] energy conservation can keep down the oil prices

　　[D] the price rise of crude leads to the shrinking of heavy industry

　　文章前面两段描述出一种现象，指出比较近石油价格大幅上涨;接着在文章中间部分提出文章主旨“这次油价上涨不会造成经济衰退的原因”，并在以后各段分别论述这些原因。正确答案为[A]选项。这里涉及的阅读技巧是当有but,however,yet,while之类的转折连词出现时，该篇/段/意群/句的中心往往是这些词后面的部分。

　　(3)文章末段或段落末句对全文或全段进行总结归纳，得出中心思想。

　　Example

　　Scattered around the globe are more than 100 small regions of isolated volcanic activity known to geologists as hot spots. Unlike most of the world’s volcanoes, they are not always found at the boundaries of the great drifting plates that make up the earth’s surface; on the contrary, many of them lie deep in the interior of a plate. Most of the hot spots move only slowly, and in some cases the movement of the plates past them has left trails of dead volcanoes. The hot spots and their volcanic trails are milestones that mark the passage of the plates.

　　That the plates are moving is now beyond dispute. Africa and South America, for example, are moving away from each other as new material is injected into the sea floor between them. The complementary coastlines and certain geological features that seem to span the ocean are reminders of where the two continents were once joined. The relative motion of the plates carrying these continents has been constructed in detail, but the motion of one plate with respect to another cannot readily be translated into motion with respect to the earth’s interior. It is not possible to determine whether both continents are moving in opposite directions or whether one continent is stationary and the other is drifting away from it. Hot spots, anchored in the deeper layers of the earth, provide the measuring instruments needed to resolve the question. From an analysis of the hot-spot population it appears that the African plate is stationary and that it has not moved during the past 30 million years.

　　The significance of hot spots is not confined to their role as a frame of reference. It now appears that they also have an important influence on the geophysical processes that propel the plates across the globe. When a continental plate comes to rest over a hot spot, the material rising from deeper layers creates a broad dome. As the dome grows, it develops deep fissures (cracks); in at least a few cases the continent may break entirely along some of these fissures, so that the hot spot initiates the formation of a new ocean. Thus just as earlier theories have explained the mobility of the continents, so hot spots may explain their mutability (inconstancy).(1998年 Passage 5)

　　The passage is mainly about .

　　[A] the features of volcanic activities

　　[B] the importance of the theory about drifting plates

　　[C] the significance of hot spots in geophysical studies

　　[D] the process of the formation of volcanoes

　　文章总共三段，第一段对热点下定义：热点及其火山痕迹是板块移动的标志。第二段和第三段主要论述热点理论的作用。全文主旨句是第三段的前两句，它们承上启下，指出热点不仅有参照作用，还对推动板块移动的地质物理学过程提供了解释。正确答案为[C]选项。

　　(4)文章或段落中不明确给出中心，考生要根据各段中心或各句的内容进行总结，自己推出主旨。

　　Example

　　A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the world’s best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.

　　It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea’s LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America’s machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.

　　All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America’s industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.

　　How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride. “American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted,” according to Richard Cavanaugh, executive dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,” says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as “a golden age of business management in the United States.”(2000年 Passage 1)

　　What can be inferred from the passage?

　　[A] It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride.

　　[B] Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.

　　[C] The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation.

　　[D] A long history of success may pave the way for further development.

　　答案：B

　　解析：文章的主题既不在首段，也不在末段，需要考生综合各段内容得出。从全文看，文章叙述了美国经济从繁荣到衰败再到繁荣的过程，且特别强调竞争给美国带来90年代的经济复苏。[B]选项“激烈的竞争可能促进经济的发展”正合全文大意。

　　5主旨题的解题技巧

　　根据上述这四种情况，制定如下解题对策：

　　第一，因为考生需要读完全文才能把握文章主题，所以在解答此类题时，考生不要急于去找答案，不论它出现在什么位置都把它作为比较后一道题来做。在做完另外几道题后，无疑会有助于考生加深对整个文章的理解。

　　第二，看到文章主旨型题目，考生要着重理解首段或末段，同样，段落主旨题也要重视首末句。这是英语文章中出现中心思想比较频繁的位置。

　　第三，文章主旨出现在中间的比较少见。这样的主旨句一般兼起承上启下的作用。遇到文章中前后段意思转折时，考生应该提高警惕，它往往是主旨所在。段落中情况也类似。

　　第四，如果文章中没有明确的主题句，主题思想要通过各段的主要内容进行归纳。这时考生就要着重看各段的首末句。试题中的Title 题也属于该种情况。考生必须通读全文，才能得出答案。

　　解题中还有一些具体实用的解题技巧：

　　首先，关于主题句的判断方法。第一，段落主题句的判断要看该段的第二句或第三句。如果它们是对第一句进行阐述，那么第一句就是主题句;如果是对第二句进行阐述，那第二句就是主题句;主题句也可能出现在末句。当比较后一句是对全段进行总结时，该句就是主题句。对于主题句在句中的情况，当段落中出现转折时，该句很可能是主题句。文章主旨所在段落的判断与此相同。第二，作者有意识地反复重复的观点通常是主旨。第三，首段出现疑问句时，该问题就是全文探讨的内容，对该问题的解答就是文章主旨。第四，作者提出文章主旨时，常常伴有文字提示，如therefore，thus，but，however，in short 等等。

　　其次，选项特点。正确选项特点：(1)不出现细节信息;(2)不含过分肯定或绝对意义的词。干扰项特点：(1)一般以偏概全，只是文章的细枝末节，不能涵盖全文内容;(2)出现细节性的名词信息;(3)过于笼统。

　　(二)作者观点题和态度题

　　在一篇文章中，不管作者对某一观点是支持、反对还是中立，是同情、冷漠还是失望，是批评还是赞扬，主观还是客观，都表达了作者一定的观点和态度。只是这些观点态度的提出有的直截了当，有的隐含在字里行间，有的通过所用词语的褒贬来体现，有的则需要通读全文，把握主旨才能领会。一般情况下，所选的文章不带有强烈的感情色彩，因此不会引起太大的争议和分歧。

　　此类题型可细分为作者态度题(表明作者的好恶)和作者观点题(表明作者对某事物的观点)。题干中的关键词或词组有attitude，opinion，tone等等。其命题模式如下。

　　1作者态度题

　　(1)What is the tone (mood) of the passage?

　　(2)The author’s attitude towards...might be summarized as(seems to be) .

　　(3)Which of the following can best describe the attitude of the author towards...?

　　(4)The author is most critical of .

　　2作者观点题

　　(1)According to the author, .

　　(2)In the author’s opinion, .

　　(3)What is the author’s opinion (idea) about?

　　(4)The author thinks (believes, suggests, deems, asserts) that .

　　(5) In the author’s eyes...

　　态度题的选项一般是形容词，按照作者对所阐述问题的态度进行分类，可以分为：

　　积极类：objective(客观的), impartial(公正的)，helpful(有帮助的)，positive(正确的)，supporting(支持的)，admiring(羡慕的)，interesting(引起兴趣的)，unbiased(没有偏见的)，concerned(关心的)，confident(自信的)，impressive(给人印象深刻的)，optimistic(乐观的)等;

　　中立类：detached(超然的), factual(实际的), indifferent(无关紧要的)，impassive(冷漠的)，uninterested(不感兴趣的)，ambivalent(矛盾的)，apathetic(无动于衷的)，neutral(中立的，不确定的)，impersonal(不带个人色彩的)等;

　　消极类：disgusting(令人厌恶的)，critical(批评的)，negative(否定的)，intolerable(不能忍受的)，disappointed(失望的)，subjective(主观的)，biased(有偏见的)，doubtful(怀疑的)，compromising(折中的)，worried(担心的)，pessimistic(悲观的)，hostile(敌对的)等。

　　历年作者态度题：

年份	正确选项	干扰项
2007 Text 2	[B] skeptical(消极类)	[A] Supportive（积极类） [C] Impartial（中立类） [D] Biased（消极类）
2006 Text 2	[D]is sympathetic to the RSC(积极类)	[A] is supportive of both sides(积极类) [B] favors the townsfolk’s view(积极类) [C] takes a detached attitude(中立类)
2004 Text 4	[A] optimistic（积极类）	[B] Confused. (消极类) [C] Carefree. (积极类) [D] Panicked. (消极类)
2003 Text 4	[B] reserved consent(积极类)	[A] strong disapproval(消极类) [C] slight contempt(消极类) [D] enthusiastic support(积极类)
T2002 Text 3	[A] optimistic(积极类)	[B] sensitive (中立类) [C] gloomy (消极类) [D] scared(消极类)
2001 Passage 4	[B] objective (积极类)	[A] optimistic(积极类) [C] pessimistic(消极类) [D] biased(消极类)

　　3作者态度题的解题技巧

　　第一，某一事物是好是坏。作者对它是支持还是反对，态度都非常明确，而带中立色彩的词比较不可能是正确答案。问作者对某事物的态度时，表示“客观”的词多为正确选项，如：objective, impartial, unbiased等;问作者对其提到的人们的观点的态度时，答案只能是肯定或否定，支持或反对。如：critical, approval, opposition, supporting等。

　　第二，既然写了文章，那么作者的态度就不可能漠不关心，因此见到indifferent，uninterested这类词可以首先排除。

　　第三，注意不要把考生自己的好恶态度糅进其中，要注意区分作者本人的态度和作者引用的观点的态度。

　　第四，当作者的态度没有明确提出时，考生要学会根据作者使用的词语的褒贬性去判断作者态度，如：wonderful(y)，successful(y)，positive(ly)，active(ly)，negative(ly), unfortunate(ly), doubtful(ly)等。

　　Example

　　Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death probably by a deadly injection or pill—to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks, ” he says.(1997年 Passage 1)

　　The author’s attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of .

　　[A] opposition [B] suspicion [C] approval [D] indifference

　　作者通过living without the haunting fear of his suffering这一肯定性词语表达出自己的态度是[C] approval。

　　解答态度观点题应注意两点：

　　第一，区别作者的态度与其他人的态度。问文中某人对某事物的态度一般归入事实细节题。

　　第二，选项可能不再是态度明确的肯定或否定的形容词，而改为带有程度限制的形容词。一般带有绝对化或过于强烈的表示态度的词必错,如strong/complete/entire/enthusiastic等。而有保留的态度比较客观，因此常常是正确选项，如reserved(保留的)/qualified (有限制的，有条件的)/tempered (有所控制的)/guarded(慎重的)/consent (赞同)等。

　　4作者观点题的解题技巧

　　第一，文章陈述的内容并非都是作者的观点。作者引用别人的观点时，是作为支持或抨击的对象，因此别人的观点是为了证明作者观点的论据。

　　第二，作者观点一般与文章主旨相关联。

　(三)词义/句意题

　　命制的试题中经常有要求考生对词语和句子做出解释的题目。两者都主要侧重于考查考生通过上下文去判断词义、句意的能力。词义题的考查有两种：一是超纲词含义的推断，另一个是熟词僻义或是在特定场合的意思。

　　1词义句意题命题模式

　　(1)The phrase (word, sentence) “...” (in line...) most probably means .

　　(2)By “...”, the wrier (probably ) means .

　　(3)What does the author probably mean by “...” in... paragraph?

　　(4)The phrase (word, sentence) suggests .

　　(5)From the passage,we can infer that the word “...”is .

　　(6)According to passage, what is “...” ?

　　(7)When the author says that..., he means .

　　2词义题的解题技巧

　　(1)根据上下文进行推理猜测

　　考生必须明确，不管所考的词语有多超纲，都能够通过上下文得出其意思;不管这个词有多熟悉，都必须通过上下文得出其在特定场合的意思。在克服畏惧心理的同时，也要避免直接用自己熟悉的意义去解释词义。对句子的理解也要通过前后关联的句子进行推测。比如利用前后的比较对照关系、利用文中给出的定义或对它进行的重述、利用所举的例子进行归纳、利用同义/近义/反义词、利用特殊标点符号等等。

　　Example

　　We live in a society in which the medical and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses? First of all, most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.(1997年 Passage 3)

　　The word “pervasive” (Line 1, Paragraph 2) might mean .

　　[A] widespread [B] overwhelming [C] piercing [D] fashionable

　　所要解释的词pervasive后有冒号，起解释说明的作用。因此通过冒号后的内容就可以知道该词的含义。作者在冒号后面列举了物质在日常生活的各个方面的使用，因此可推知[A]选项“分布广泛的，普遍的”为正确答案。

　　(2)对超纲词含义的推断

　　生词是造成阅读困难的障碍之一。阅读短文中的词汇一般不超过大纲的词语范围，但也有5%左右的派生词和合成词，2%～3%的超纲词。对于部分超纲而且专业性较强的词，在较早的几年里命题者还曾给出过其汉语意思，如：1991年Passage 1中的chlorophyll(叶绿素)、carbohydrates(碳水化合物);1992年Passage 2中的inertia(惯性)，Passage 3中的hockey(曲棍球);1993年Passage 1中的babbling(咿呀学语)，Passage 2中的bureaucratic(官僚主义的)，Passage 3中的monopoly(垄断);1994年Passage 4中的pancreas(胰腺)、genes(基因)，Passage 5中的mold(霉)。但是后来的命题趋势中取消了这种形式，其意图在于让考生更多地去猜测词语含义。其实很多短文中出现的超纲词汇并不影响对全文的理解，而且我们可以以下几种方法去猜测其含义。

　　①构词法：掌握常见的英语词根、词缀，通过分析生词的词根、前缀、后缀去推测词义。如：1996年Passage 5中的nonfundamentalist(非原教旨主义 non-非，不;fundament基础，基本原理;-al 形容词后缀;-ist…主义者)。

　　②词性加搭配：先判断生词在文章中的词性，再看它与哪些词语可以搭配，比较后根据自己的常识猜测其大概含义。

　　③找同义词、同义解释或反义词和反义解释：在上下文中找出生词的其他表达法，可能是近(反)义词、一个解释或一些暗示。

　　④找同位词：上下文中可能有类似生词出现的句子的平行结构，找出其中和生词处于同一位置的词去推测。

　　考生可以适当记些词根词缀，以备不时之需。如：

　　geo-：前缀，表示“地球”，如：geography：地理学, 地理;geology：地质学 ;geophysic：地球物理学;

　　hydro-：前缀，表示“水”，“液体”，如：hydrobiology：水生物学;hydro-cooling：水冷法;hydro-mania：投水狂，自溺;hydroelectric：水电的;

　　over-：前缀，表示“越过，超过”，如：overcrowdedness：过于拥挤;overestimate：估计过高，过高评价;oversensitive：过于敏感;overplease：使过分高兴;overactive：过于活跃。

　　Example

　　Moreover, demographers see the continuing shift south and west joined by a related but newer phenomenon: More and more, Americans apparently are looking not just for places with more jobs but with fewer people, too. Some instances—

　　● Regionally, the Rocky Mountain states reported the most rapid growth rate—371 percent since 1970 in a vast area with only 5 percent of the US population.

　　● Among states, Nevada and Arizona grew fastest of all: 635 and 531 percent respectively.

　　Except for Florida and Texas, the top 10 in rate of growth is composed of Western states with 75 million people—about 9 per square mile.(1998年 Passage 4)

　　The word “demographers” (line 1, paragraph 8) most probably means .

　　[A] people in favor of the trend of democracy

　　[B] advocates of migration between states

　　[C] scientists engaged in the study of population

　　[D] conservatives clinging to old patterns of life

　　根据上下文demographers提到的两个例证都涉及人口，因此他们应该是 “人口统计研究方面的人”。[C]选项“研究人口的科学家，也就是人口统计学家”是该词的正确含义。同时，也可运用构词法的知识， demo=people, graph=write， -er指人。因而猜出它指“记录人口方面数据的人”。

　　(3)句意题解题技巧

　　试题中出现句意题时，考生需要根据上下文的内容联系去猜测句意;或将所考的句子与它的上下文进行关系对照，找出它与上下文的关系，如转折、并列、递进、解释说明等，然后针对不同的关系，对上下文采取取非、找同义等方法进行解题。

　　Example

　　It is also less than most forecasters had predicted. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America’s inflation rate would average 35% in 1995 In fact, it fell to 26% in August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan;over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.(1997年 Passage 5)

　　The sentence “This is no flash in the pan” (Line 5, Paragraph 3) means that.

　　[A] the low inflation rate will last for some time

　　[B] the inflation rate will soon rise

　　[C] the inflation will disappear quickly

　　[D] there is no inflation at present

　　此题需要根据上下文推测句意。在This is no flash in the pan之前，作者给出近来美国、英国和日本的通货膨胀率都低于经济学家预期的数字;之后又指出在过去的几年，英国和美国的通货膨胀率始终低于预期的水平。由此可以推断，该句意思是“并非一时现象，并非是昙花一现”。 [A]选项“低通货膨胀率将会持续一段时间”符合题意。

　　(4)选项特点

　　正确选项特点：第一，词义题中，不是熟词的常规含义。第二，句意题中，正确选项不含有意义过于绝对化的词语，而是使用不肯定语气词或意义解释深刻。

　　Example

　　The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most. Private businessmen, striving to make profits, produce these goods and services in competition with other businessmen; and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it.(1994年 Passage 1)

　　In line 8,paragraph 1, “the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes” means .

　　[A] Americans are never satisfied with their incomes

　　[B] Americans tend to overstate their incomes

　　[C] Americans want to have their incomes increased

　　[D] Americans want to increase the purchasing power of their incomes

　　[A]、[B]选项都使用了带有绝对意义的词语，如never 和overstate因此可直接排除。[C]和[D]意义相近，但是[D]的意义更为深刻，因此可知[D]为答案。而且，此处的income不是常规词义“收入”，而是“收入的购买力”，故不可选答案[C]。

　　干扰项特点：第一，与所考词汇形似。第二，如果考的是熟词，含有常规词义的一般是错误选项。第三，根据命题原则，正确选项不会使用与原文过多相同的字眼，因此，对句子的解释中含有过多原句中已有的词和短语的选项一定是错误的。

　　(四)推理引申题

　　推理引申题主要测试考生理清上下文逻辑关系的能力，要求考生领悟所读材料中句子之间的逻辑关系，并且根据材料提供的已知信息进行分析、归纳和推理。判断推理能力对深刻理解一篇文章十分重要，特别是理解作者字里行间的言外之意、作者的观点、写作意图和态度。命题专家在命制此类试题时通常要求考生对文章或段落进行深层推理和理解，不可能把试题的答案非常直接地暴露于选项中。因此考生应该注意把它与事实细节题区别开来，推理引申题必须以事实为依据，但是得出的结果又绝对不是事实本身，即不能“就事论事”。

　　推理引申题对一些基础比较薄弱的考生而言是一个难点，考生似乎对文章读懂了(可称之为“自我感觉良好”)，然而在解题时却始终不知如何下手，试题也做得不好。这是考生没有领会命题专家设置推理引申试题的用意的缘故。事实上推理引申题考查的不仅是考生对字面意义的理解，更要求考生透过文章的字里行间去推测作者未明说而又意欲表达的含义。解此类题，考生应该根据文中的材料进行有关的判断、推理和引申。

　　广义的推理引申题涵盖的范围极其广泛。它既可以就总体信息也可以就具体或特定信息提问。总体提问通常包括文章主旨题、作者观点态度题;局部提问通常指段落主旨题、猜测词义/句意题。但是为了突出这四种出现频率很高且带有典型性的题型，我们下面谈到的推理引申题是排除以上情况的狭义概念。

　　1命题模式

　　狭义的推理引申题题干中常有infer，imply，suggest，deduce，conclude等词出现，常见的命题模式有：

　　(1)It can be inferred from the text/the last paragraph/the first sentence that...

　　(2)We can infer (assume, deduce) that .

　　(3)Which of the following can (not) be inferred from the passage?

　　(4)It is implied (indicated, suggested) in the passage/the first paragraph/the second sentence/the example that .

　　(5)By... the author implies (suggests, indicates )that .

　　(6)The passage implies in the passage that .

　　(7)The author suggests(indicates)in the passage that .

　　(8)It can be concluded from the passage that .

　　(9)From the passage /the third paragraph/the last sentence/the example that... we can draw the conclusion that .

　　(10)What conclusion can be drawn from the passage (the first paragraph, the last paragraph)?

　　引申推理题按照解题思路主要可以分为暗指题、推理题和结论题。

　　暗指题的特点是要求读者体味“言外之意”，信息只能从字里行间获得。对于这类试题，考生首先要分清是明述还是暗指，即言内还是言外;其次，要尽比较大可能与命题者达成“共识”，因为命题人事先确定的答案不允许考生的认识有任何偏差;比较后，要对文章中的有关事实和观点进行分析和研究，按照事实发展的逻辑次序，总结出合情合理的结论。

　　Example 1

　　If experiments are planned and carried out according to plan as faithfully as the reports in the science journals indicate, then it is perfectly logical for management to expect research to produce results measurable in dollars and cents. (1999年 Passage 5)

　　The author implies that the results of scientific research .

　　[A] may not be as profitable as they are expected

　　[B] can be measured in dollars and cents

　　[C] rely on conformity to a standard pattern

　　[D] are mostly underestimated by management

　　原句是个假设条件句，指出“假如科学实验像科学杂志登载的科学报告显示的那样完全按事先的计划去规划和实施，那么，对管理层来说，期待研究能够产生可以用金钱衡量的结果是完全合理的”。此处正话反说，作者的言外之意是，科学实验总有不可预测的现象，产生的结果也难以预测，因此不能肯定有效益。[A]选项“可能不像预料的那样有利可图”才是作者真正想要表达的含义。

　　Example 2

　　Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.

　　Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, “With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman.”(1996年 Passage 4 )

　　It is implied that adaptiveness and inventiveness of the early American mechanics .

　　[A] benefited a lot from their mathematical knowledge

　　[B] shed light on disciplined school management

　　[C] was brought about by privileged home training

　　[D] owed a lot to the technological development

　　这里第二段的首句指出：敏锐的外国观察家将美国人的适应能力和创新能力与这个教育优势联系在一起。this往回复指前述的比较后内容，也就是前一段末句谈到的“技工们有文化并且熟知算术、几何学、三角学”，从而可知这种教育优势就是熟练掌握数学。因而作者暗指的意思是[A]选项“它们很大程度上得益于数学”。

　　推理题与暗指题虽然有许多相似之处，但是其思路与方法更侧重于推理，主要测试考生的思维判断能力，即由已知的事实为依据去获得未知的信息。考生解题时首先要把握推理范围——大至段落或全文，小至词语或句子;其次要严格遵循逻辑规律，保持正确的思维过程和严密的逻辑;再次可以利用相关部分提供的事实、背景知识和常识去推理。

　　干扰项的特点：根据文章中某些事实亦可以推导，然而又答非所问。

　　(1)推断文章内容的含义和引申意思

　　Example

　　Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms today could re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly a century ago in the U. S., when the Standard Oil Trust was broken up. The mergers of telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary, the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration is increasing-witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan—but it does not appear that consumers are being hurt.(2001年 Passage 4)

　　From Paragraph 4 we can infer that .

　　[A] the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers

　　[B] WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs

　　[C] the costs of the globalization process are enormous

　　[D] the Standard Oil Trust might have threatened competition

　　命题者设置的难点是第二句中定语从句的理解。原文谈到“目前难以预料，数家石油公司的合并是否会再次对竞争造成威胁。100年前美国的标准石油联合公司(Standard Oil Trust)被解散，就是因为当时人们担心它会对竞争构成威胁”，由此引申推理可知[D]项“标准石油联合公司可能曾对竞争形成过威胁”。此外，考生还需要注意，might have threatened是虚拟语气，表示对过去的推测。

　　(2)运用数字进行推理

　　Example

　　Emerging from the 1980 census is the picture of a nation developing more and more regional competition, as population growth in the Northeast and Midwest reaches a near standstill.

　　This development—and its strong implication for US politics and economy in years ahead—has enthroned the South as America’s most densely populated region for the first time in the history of the nation’s head counting.

　　Altogether, the Us population rose in the 1970s by 23.2 million people—numerically the third-largest growth ever recorded in a single decade. Even so, that gain adds up to only 11.4 percent, lowest in American annual records except for the Depression years.

　　Americans have been migrating south and west in larger numbers since World War Ⅱ, and the pattern still prevails. (1998年 Passage 4)

　　Discerned from the perplexing picture of population growth the 1980 census provided, America in 1970s .

　　[A] enjoyed the lowest net growth of population in history

　　[B] witnessed a southwestern shift of population

　　[C] underwent an unparalleled period of population growth

　　[D] brought to a standstill its pattern of migration since World War Ⅱ

　　这是一道涉及数字的题目，从标志词1970s可以定位为文章第三段，本段指出：“20世纪70年代，美国人口总共增长了2 320万——从数字上看，这是有纪录以来10年期人口增长的第三高峰。即使如此，人口总数也只增加了11.4%，除了大萧条时期，这是美国年度记录比较低的增长率。”因此，[A]选项和[C]选项与文意不符。接着文章第四段谈到人口普查显示出“第二次世界大战以来，美国人不断移居西部和南部，现在这种趋势依然存在”。因此可以得出[B]选项是正确答案，而[D]选项与该段内容正好相反。

　　(3)用类比的例子，要求考生进行推理演绎

　　Example1

　　There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language-all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.

　　By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they encounter new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept. (1995年 Passage 2)

　　A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when .

　　[A] he has given up his smoking habit

　　[B] he has made great efforts in his work

　　[C] he is keen on learning anything new

　　[D] he has tried to determine where he is on his journey

　　本文指出看待人的成长有两个观点：一是视为结果，一是视为过程。第一段具体讲到第一种观点的详细内容。它是大部分人都持有的观点，看重外在结果因为其可以量化，可以通过具体事例反映出来，如：工人得到升迁、学生成绩提高和外国人学会了一门新的语言。第二段讲第二种观点的详细内容：成长是人在遇到新的经历和意外险阻时表现出来的态度和情感，而不是实在的结果。问的是根据第一种观点，以下哪一种是成长表现。通过文中类比的例子可知只有[A]选项是实在的结果。

　　结论题与推理题在解题思路和方法上有许多相似之处，但是推理题偏重于推理过程，而结论题偏重于归纳过程。解答结论题时一定要根据题目要求，就短文有关内容做出合乎逻辑的、可靠的结论。有时为了克服片面性，可以扩大阅读范围，否则获得信息的范围太窄，结论便欠妥。因此，解答此类试题既要以事实为依据，也要依据自己的常识和经验;既要重视文章主题，也要重视发展或印证主题的细节;而尤为重要的是把握作者的写作意图。注意过于概括、过于全面或过于细节化的选项，往往属于干扰项。

　　(1)先了解全文，把握主题

　　考生可以通过首尾段、文章结构、或归纳整理各段信息迅速了解主题。然后再通过主题与细节的关系进行合乎理性的归纳。

　　Example

　　The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly professed. Consequences follow from this, of course, some of which are that ambition is driven underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life. (2000年 Passage 5)

　　From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained .

　　[A] secretly and vigorously

　　[B] openly and enthusiastically

　　[C] easily and momentarily

　　[D] verbally and spiritually

　　该段谈到人们对雄心的攻击远多于对它的维护，因此本应是一种健康公开的品质得不到很多支持。第四句和第五句指出了不公开表达雄心带来的不良后果，由此可以推出人们不应该隐瞒自己的雄心。此外，纵观全文，作者提倡的是正确对待雄心，坦言自己的抱负。因此[B]选项“公开而热情地”是作者提倡的对待雄心的正确态度。

　　(2)把握作者的写作意图

　　Example

　　No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science: exceptions can be found to any rule. Nevertheless, the word “amateur” does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values. The growth of specialisation in the nineteenth century, with its consequent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science. The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology in the United Kingdom. (2001年 Passage 1)

　　The author writes of the development of geology to demonstrate.

　　[A] the process of specialisation and professionalisation

　　[B] the hardship of amateurs in scientific study

　　[C] the change of policies in scientific publications

　　[D] the discrimination of professionals against amateurs

　　前一段谈到，业余研究者进入专业领域很难的趋势在某些科学领域尤为突出，英国地质学的发展就说明了这一问题。后一段通过对19世纪英国地质学及其出版物的变化、研究方式的变化、非专业人员研究过程的困难等的陈述，说明专业人员和业余人员之间的分化越来越明显。因此可引申推理出作者的写作目的正是描述[A]选项 “职业化和专业化形成的过程”。

　　2推理引申题的解答技巧

　　(1)推理引申题的划分

　　推理引申题按照难易可以分为：简单推理题和复杂推理题。第一，简单的推理题。虽然在原文中不能直接找到答案，但是有间接的暗示和线索。它们与答案之间的关系比较清楚，联系起来后便可以得出答案。而且答案与其他选项差别也较大。第二，复杂的推理题。在原文中找不到明确的解题线索，考生只能根据隐藏在词句后面的含义，根据作者说话的语气，反复分析，才能找到答案，而且干扰项的干扰较强。考生在几个选项中犹豫不定，不知选哪个好。后一种推理题是近几年命题的趋势。

　　Example

　　Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses’ convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. “Who is that?” the new arrival asked St. Peter. “Oh, that’s God,” came the reply, “but sometimes he thinks he’s a doctor.” (2002年Text 1)

　　The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are .

　　[A] impolite to new arrivals

　　[B] very conscious of their godlike role

　　[C] entitled to some privileges

　　[D] very busy even during lunch hours

　　考生要根据全文的主旨以及作者的语气，从那个关于医生的笑话里推理医生和上帝有相似的特点：医生无礼、傲慢，自以为像上帝一样。接着再推测护士对医生的看法是：非常在乎自己上帝般的角色。这种推理是一个比较复杂的过程。[B]选项为正确答案。

　　(2)推理引申题选项特点及其解答技巧

　　正确项的特点：①不是文中明确说明的内容，因为即使符合原文，没有引申推理就不是正确选项;②如果四个选项全能凭常识判断，其中含义深刻的是正确选项，有时惟一不是常识项的是正确选项。

　　干扰项的特点：①只是原文的简单复述，而非推断出来的结论，把直接表达当成间接推理;②看似从原文推断出来的结论，然而实际上与原文不符，例如把原文的原因变成了选项中的结果，把原文的手段变成了选项中的目的;③根据常识判断是正确的，然而不是在文章事实或上下文逻辑基础上推理而得出的观点，因此，考生要注意不能根据自己的主观想法或生活经验去推理，因为命题者考查的是考生揣摩作者意图的能力;④虽然以文章提供的事实或内在逻辑为推理依据，但推理过头，概括过度;⑤有部分选项的内容纯属编造。

　　根据推理引申试题的特点，考生在解答时要注意以下两点：

　　首先，考生在浏览全文时，一要留意那些似乎话中有话的间接表达句。它们往往采用说半句、打比喻、反过来讲的方式，留有让考生自己作结论或推理的余地。二要留意含义深刻或结构复杂的句子。考生对作者表达的意思不能一下子看透，它们往往是命题点所在。

　　Example

　　If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it’ll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman’s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn’t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.(2002年 Passage 1)

　　It can be inferred from the text that public services

　　[A] have benefited many people

　　[B] are the focus of public attention

　　[C] are an inappropriate subject for humor

　　[D] have often been the laughing stock

　　该段末句“如果拿公共服务行业作为替罪羊(scapegoats)去进行评论，你就会处于安全境地”让人读了不是很明白，禁不住要去推想到底为什么公共服务行业这么特殊呢?联系上文，前面的内容说的是“开玩笑取乐要看听众是不是自己同行业的人，如果不是就有可能招人反感”。一番推理之后，才明白这句话的另外一层未说明的含义，即选项[D]反映的内容：公共服务行业是大家经常谈论的共同笑料。

　　其次，根据题干的关键词迅速搜索定位以便确定推理依据的范围，利用语法、词汇、语境线索，了解单句的含义，弄清上下文的逻辑关系，然后按题意进行推理。题目可能要求考生对某句话或数句话进行正确理解或释义，也可能从某句话或某段话中推测出一两件事实。

　　Example

　　In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past.(2002年 Passage 3)

　　It can be inferred from the text that the retail price of petrol will go up dramatically if .

　　[A] price of crude rises

　　[B] commodity prices rise

　　[C] consumption rises

　　[D] oil taxes rise

　　题干中的关键词是“the retail price of petrol”。根据它定位到文章段落，文章先给出事实：原油价格占汽油零售价格的一小部分，其大部分是税收。在欧洲国家这个比例更是高达五分之四，因此原油价格的变动对汽油价格影响不大。据此可以推出二者的潜在关系：影响汽油价格的主要因素是税收;税收涨，油价也大幅度地涨。

　　3特殊的引申推理题型

　　(1)针对作者思路的推断

　　主要是猜测上下文可能出现的信息：首先，考生应该在分析概括文章的写作结构基础上进行推理。如：文章是按事物分类的叙述，而所选材料是其中一类，那么上下文就可能是对其他类别的叙述。其次，如果要求考生猜测短文之后的内容，就应该特别注意其结尾部分;如果要求考生猜测之前的内容，就应该特别注意短文的开始部分。其命题模式如下：

　　It can be assumed that the paragraph, preceding (following) the passage most probably discusses .

　　The paragraph preceding (following) this one is probably about .

　　此类题型到目前为止还未在研究生考试中的阅读部分出现，但是我们不能排除它是将来的一种新题型。

　　(2)推断文章来源的类型

　　要求考生在读懂全文的基础上判断本篇文章选自何种书、杂志或文章的一部分。这种题目往往在文章中有所暗示。考生也可根据文章的写作结构、行文风格去推断其文体。此类题的例题模式如下：

　　This passage appears to be a digest of .

　　The passage is most likely a part of a .

　　Example

　　Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publisher’s pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. “Scientific” creationism, which is being pushed by some for “equal time” in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfundamentalist religious leaders have come to regard “scientific” creationism as bad science and bad religion.

　　The first four chapters of Kitcher’s book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may come as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior.

　　Kitcher is a philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The non-specialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapters on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust jacket of this fine book, Stephen Jay Gould says: “This book stands for reason itself.” And so it does—and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate.(1996年 Passage 5)

　　This passage appears to be a digest of .

　　[A] a book review [B] a scientific paper

　　[C] a magazine feature [D] a newspaper editorial

　　文章首段以20本关于创造论与进化论之争的书开始，然后在第二段和第三段专门介绍金切尔著作的结构内容和突出特点，比较后引用斯蒂芬·杰·古尔德的对话对此书做出高度评价，因此可以看出这是一篇典型的书评。英语书评的写作特点是：一般会先给出背景知识，接着介绍该书的主要内容，比较后对所介绍的书籍做出一个总体评价。正确答案应该是[A]选项。

　　(3)判断文章写作方法

　　这种题型在2005年试题中首次出现，体现了阅读理解选择题开始从对局部信息的考查转向对文章组织结构的考查。考生需要了解不同类型英语文章的特点，开头、结尾方式及段落的拓展技巧，只有对文章整体组织结构有了清楚的了解，解答此类题型才能得心应手。

　　Example

　　Everybody loves a fat pay rise. Yet pleasure at your own can vanish if you learn that a colleague has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he has a reputation for slacking, you might even be ourtaged. Such behaviour is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying assumption that other animals would not be capable of this finely developed sense of grievance. But a study by Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.(2005年Text 1)

　　In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by

　　[A] posing a contrast. [B] justifying an assumption.

　　[C] making a comparison. [D] explaining a phenomenon.

　　第一段先举例：当知道懒散的同事拿到比自己更多的薪水时，每个人都会很气愤。接着文章指出，这样的行为被看作是“人之常情”，它潜在地假定了其他动物没有这种高度发达的不满情绪。转折but在首段出现非常重要，它往往是主题出现的标志，即前面的内容被推翻，之后的新观点才是要论证的主题。该段but之后提出主题：研究表明猴子也有类似的情感。可见，第一段主要使用了类比论证手法，将猴子与人做比较，找出它们的相似之处。因此[C]正确。

　　[A]选项中的contrast(对照)是比较两事物的不同点。[B]选项与原文相反，原文是推翻了一个假定而证明。原文提到了发生在人类身上的一个现象，但文章并未就此提出主题，排除[D]选项。

　　(五)事实细节题

　　在阅读理解测试中，很大比例的题目是考细节的。事实上在对历年试题的分析中发现，事实细节题的比例占一半以上。文章中的细节通常指的是作者为论证文章主题特别是论证段落的大意而使用的具体信息。因为就议论文和说明文而言，作者在阐明准备论述的问题或观点后，通常会用大量具体的事实细节去说明或支持它们。这些细节可以是理由、例子、数字，也可以采用下定义、作比较、对比、打比方等方法去组织。根据具体考查的内容或范围，事实细节题可以再细分为因果细节题、态度细节题、观点细节题、类比细节题、综合细节题和具体细节题。

　　1常见的命题模式

　　(1)According to the passage/ the author, who (what, where, which, when, why, how, etc.)

　　(2)Which of the following is true/correct/ false/not included?

　　(3)All of the following are (not) true, are (not) mentioned except .

　　(4)The author mentions all of the items listed below/all of the following except .

　　(5)We learn from the last paragraph(the first three paragraphs, the text) that .

　　事实细节的考查内容和形式可以说是五花八门，但是大致可以归纳为以下三种类型：

　　(1)According 型

　　题干中多用who，what, where, which, when, why, how等疑问词引导，利用词性、同义词、近义词或一些意思相似的语句去考查考生对原文表达细节信息的词汇、惯用法的正确理解，要求考生在文中寻找重要事实与细节。考生可以利用题目的关键词去寻找文中对应词，在对应词周围找答案。注意：此类题中，考what 和why 的比较多。

　　(2)隐含的事实和细节型

　　测试考生对文章展示的细节的综合概括能力;需要在读懂全文的基础上，综合概括作者展示的各种细节。

　　Hunting for a job late last year, lawyer Gant Redmon stumbled across CareerBuilder, a job database on the Internet. He searched it with no success but was attracted by the site’s “personal search agent”. It’s an interactive feature that lets visitors key in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then E-mails them when a matching position is posted in the database. Redmon chose the keywords legal, intellectual property and Washington, D.C. Three weeks later, he got his first notification of an opening. “I struck gold,” says Redmon, who E-mailed his resume to the employer and won a position as in-house counsel for a company.(2004年Passage 1)

　　How did Redmon find his job?

　　[A] By searching openings in a job database.

　　[B] By posting a matching position in a database.

　　[C] By using a special service of a database.

　　[D] By E-mailing his resume to a database.

　　整个全文的主题是介绍“搜索代理”这种网上谋职工具。而第一段围绕雷德曼通过“个人搜索代理”求职的个人经历展开论述。根据整个段落的细节内容和全文的主题可以判断出[C]选项正确，该选项中的“特殊服务”指的就是“个人搜索代理”这种服务，其他干扰项都不符合文意。

　　(3)正误判断题

　　此类试题多根据文章的一段或数段提问，考查考生在现实生活中的阅读技能，即快速、准确寻找所需信息的能力。这种题目因为覆盖面较广，搜索定位时间较长，因而难度较大，容易给考生带来心理压力。因此考生遇到此类题型时，首先要调整心理状态，冷静地返回到文章中去寻找答案。

　　这种题原文往往有罗列，因此其解题三步骤如下：首先，读懂题干和四个选项的内容，提炼和记忆它们的主要意思;其次，带着问题去阅读文章，扫描和搜寻信息点，与题目不相关的句子和语段很快掠过，相关信息语言区域则要放慢速度，细致地对照原文和选项提供的信息;比较后，“对号入座”，找到解题范围后，立刻排除明显的干扰项，然后“逐个突破”，对余下的选项进行筛选，使选项的范围越来越小，判断的准确率越来越高。

　　正误判断题有两种题型：一正三误和三正一误，即要求考生找出四个选项中惟一正确的一个和要求考生判断哪一个选项与文章不符。

　　这中间应该特别提到的是后者，又称except题型。其特点是题干中常常含有否定意义词汇except，not (mentioned /true), least等，要求考生辨认哪些细节文章中未提及。解此类题也遵循上面的三个步骤。在对号入座时，可以将原文中提到的内容划线，表示是排除的内容;无法对号的即是答案。

　　Example

　　Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labour, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television licence would need to be doubled and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more. (1995年Passage 1)

　　In the passage, which of the following is NOT included in the advantages of advertising?

　　[A] Securing greater fame. [B] Providing more jobs.

　　[C] Enhancing living standards. [D] Reducing newspaper cost.

　　这是一道典型的except题。先略读题干和选项，得知题目主要问的是广告的益处。定位到文章第一段。这一段列举了广告的四点益处: a有助于产品以合理价格稳定国内市场，以有竞争力的价格进入国际市场;b有利于提高人们的生活标准;c增加了市场需求，扩大了就业;d使许多公共事业的服务价格低廉。对号入座，发现只有选项[A]文中未提及。

　　2事实细节试题的选项特点和解题技巧

　　(1)正确选项的特点

　　①一般可以在文章中直接或间接找到答案，但是不可能与阅读材料一模一样，而是用不同的词语或句型去表达相同的思想。如：原文用双重否定，选项用肯定的句式;进行同义词替换或句子结构的变换;或原文与选项互换反义词等等。然而这只是词语和句法上的变化，意思是一致的。模式为：题干+正确选项的信息值=/≈原文中某句的信息值。

　　②体现中心思想，有很多正确选项刚好在段落主旨句中。

　　Example

　　The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in these countries are looking at this process and worrying: “Won’t the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anti-competitive force?” (2001年 Passage 4)

　　What is the typical trend of businesses today?

　　[A] To take in more foreign funds.

　　[B] To invest more abroad.

　　[C] To combine and become bigger.

　　[D] To trade with more countries.

　　文章的第一段指出当今企业界出现的一个现象，即整个世界正在经历一场前所未有的兼并和收购浪潮。这一并购之风从异常活跃的美国到达欧洲，并以不可比拟的威力影响到新兴经济国家。[C]选项“合并并且变得更加庞大”就是该段首句提到的mergers and acquisitions，即当今企业发展的主要趋势。该段的段落主旨句就是首句。

　　③在细节的因果关系处常常命题，正确项多为其产生原因或主要原因，也有少量考结果的。

　　Example

　　I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers’ demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. As productivity grows, the world’s wealth increases.(2001年 Passage 4)

　　According to the author, one of the driving forces behind M&A wave is.

　　[A] the greater customer demands

　　[B] a surplus supply for the market

　　[C] a growing productivity

　　[D] the increase of the world’s wealth

　　该段剖析了造成并购潮流的数个重要原因，如：交通和通讯成本的日趋下降，贸易和投资壁垒的降低，以及扩大的市场要求扩大业务去满足顾客的需要。[A]选项“顾客更大的需要”是上面提到的第三个因素，因此[A]为正确选项。[B]选项“对市场的供给过于充裕”即市场供应过剩，应该是企业缩小生产的原因。[C]选项“日益增长的生产率”是企业合并后的结果，而[D]选项“世界财富的增长”又是生产力提高的结果。

　　(2)干扰项的特点

　　①部分正确，部分错误;②是原文信息，但不是题目要求的内容，如：根据题干中的关键词定位到段落，若选项中出现这个范围之外其他段落的内容必错;③符合常识，但不是文章的内容;④与原句的内容极为相似，但在程度上有些变动，如：将文中并非绝对化的内容绝对化，或偷梁换柱改动一些关键词;⑤明显不是文章的信息，与文中事实相反或不符。

　　(3)事实细节试题的解题技巧

　　①主题和事实细节内容是相辅相成的，确定了主题，才能深刻理解细节材料的作用。同样，对具体细节有较为全面的理解，就能够更好地判明主题。考生要记住这一原则：文章的每一词、句、段都和文章主题相关，不是用来证明主题的论据，就是作者要批判的论据。

　　②文章的事实细节内容不会孤立地出现，它与前后的内容密切相关。文章或段落中的细节都存在某种内在的联系，如：因果关系，类比关系，时间、空间先后关系，考生在阅读中可以利用这些关系将零碎的细节组成一个有机的整体。

　　③看细节内容要“跳”出来看，即要对文章的组织结构了如指掌，知道这部分细节是为什么主题服务的，才能迅速捕捉到所需的信息。

　　④一般都可以在文章中直接或间接找到答案。遵循“本本主义”，以原文为解题的惟一依据，而不可以自我发挥或凭感觉做题。如：选项中出现文章未涉及的中心词可以首先排除。

　　⑤考生要留意文章或题干中一些细小的地方，如：正确把握文中代词的所指关系，它们是为了避免上下文重复而使用的。此外还有时态、语气等。

　　Example

　　If the preoccupation of schools with academic work was lessened, more time might be spent teaching children surer values. Perhaps selection for the caring professions, especially medicine, could be made less by good grades in chemistry and more by such considerations as sensitivity and sympathy. It is surely a mistake to choose our doctors exclusively from A-type stock. B’s are important and should be encouraged.(1995年Text 4)

　　The selection of medical professionals are currently based on .

　　[A] candidates’ sensitivity [B] academic achievements

　　[C] competitive spirit [D] surer values

　　这段文章基本上是虚拟语气，即所给的细节和情况都与现在的事实相反。虽然比较后两句是直接陈述语气，但是却没有直接指明[A]和[B]在这里具体代表什么。而试题问的是现在的情况，因此对整段进行综合分析并且将原句反过来表述而得出,现在的选择标准就是academic work或good grades。因此[B]为正确答案。

　四、其他的常考点

　　(一)引语常考

　　文章中出现的引语基本上都是考点，只是采用不同的题型而已，如推理引申题、句意理解题、作者意图题等等。特别注意首段引语的三种作用：第一，作为支持作者观点的论据;第二，作为作者批判的靶子;第三，给出文章大背景。

　　Example 1

　　Tight-lipped elders used to say, “It’s not what you want in this world, but what you get.”

　　Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.(1996年 Passage 1)

　　What do the elders mean when they say, “It’s not what you want in this world, but what you get?”

　　[A] You’ll certainly get what you want.

　　[B] It’s no use dreaming.

　　[C] You should be dissatisfied with what you have.

　　[D] It’s essential to set a goal for yourself.

　　此题以引言作为文章首句，作为作者批判的靶子，进而引出真正的观点，即做事前应该制定计划。命题目的在于检查考生能否准确把握what you want和what you get具体化后的含义。原句it’s not...but...结构否定的是“你所想”，肯定的是“你所得”。即，得到什么比想要什么重要。[B]选项为正确答案。

　　Example 2

　　No company likes to be told it is contributing to the moral decline of a nation. “Is this what you intended to accomplish with your careers?” Senator Robert Dole asked Time Warner executives last week. “You have sold your souls, but must you corrupt our nation and threaten our children as well?” At Time Warner, however, such questions are simply the latest manifestation of the soul-searching that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990. It’s a self-examination that has, at various times, involved issues of responsibility, creative freedom and the corporate bottom line. (1997年 Passage 4)

　　Senator Robert Dole criticized Time Warner for .

　　[A] its raising of the corporate stock price

　　[B] its self-examination of soul

　　[C] its neglect of social responsibility

　　[D] its emphasis on creative freedom

　　此处引言的作用就是给出文章探讨的大背景。要求考生通过该引言推出责备Time Warner的原因。答案为[C]选项。

　　(二)例子常考

　　例子经常出现在命题中，而且题型多为作者观点态度题。此类题型主要针对文章中所举之例的作用进行发问。考生应该注意例子的出现无非有两种情况：一是先提观点后举例;二是先举例后提出观点。而该观点就是作者引用例子所要说明或反驳的。因此见到例子后，考生应该迅速查找其上下文，目的必在其中。通过历年真题分析，发现先提观点后举例的情况占多数。

　　Example 1

　　You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.

　　Likewise, if you want to find a job, take a sheet of paper, and write a brief account of yourself. In making a blueprint for a job, begin with yourself, for when you know exactly what you have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your services.(1996年 Passage 1)

　　A blueprint made before inviting a friend to dinner is used in this passage as .

　　[A] an illustration of how to write an application for a job

　　[B] an indication of how to secure a good job

　　[C] a guideline for job description

　　[D] a principle for job evaluation

　　举例是为了说明或驳斥某个观点，在这篇文章中，例子直接摆在观点句后，是典型的先提观点后举例的形式。作者先表述其观点：You can make a mental blueprint of a desire... and each of us is continually making these blueprints in general routine of everyday living。接下来作者以请人吃饭的例子来说明a mental blueprint of a desire,并把它与“找工作”的方式联系起来，指出两者的相同之处都是要“勾画一幅欲望蓝图”。因此，[A]选项为正确答案。

　　Example 2

　　To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure(the basic structural foundations of a society)in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn’t have the capital to do so. And that is why America’s Second Wave infrastructure—including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on—were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain’s former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you’re going to be. That doesn’t mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet. (2001年 Passage 2)

　　The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of .

　　[A] providing financial support overseas

　　[B] preventing foreign capital’s control

　　[C] building industrial infrastructure

　　[D] accepting foreign investment

　　此题是典型的先举例后提出观点的形式。以美国为例之后，作者提出“哪个国家利用外资多，哪个国家就将变得更富裕”的结论。由结论可以直接得出答案。正确答案为[D]选项。

　　(三)长难句常考

　　考点一般集中在长难句上。这些句子的共同点就是同位语、定语和分句很多;主语和谓语之间的距离很远，还时常伴有插入成分。主要考查句子之间的指代或逻辑关系，以引申推理题、事实细节题等多种形式出现。理解长难句的要领就是先找出主干，化繁为简，然后再看各个分句或修饰成分与它的关系。

　　Example

　　In addition to this, there is the growing mobility of people since World War Ⅱ. As families move away from their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships, the informal flow of information is cut off, and with it the confidence that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable. The almost unconscious flow of information about the simplest aspects of living can be cut off. Thus, things once learned subconsciously through the casual communications of the extended family must be consciously learned.(1995年Text 3)

　　The word “it” (Line 3, Paragraph 2) most probably refers to .

　　[A] the lack of stable communities

　　[B] the breakdown of informal information channels

　　[C] the increased mobility of families

　　[D] the growing number of people moving from place to place

　　首先把握整个句子的主干是：the informal flow of information is cut off。前面是as引导的状语从句，their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships三个名词短语都是from的宾语。with it介词结构修饰confidence，表伴随;按照代词指代关系中的临近一致原则和上下文的含义，it应该指代它前面的信息，即“非正式的信息流通被切断”这句话。正确答案为[B]选项。

　　(四)转折处或对比处常考

　　在历年考题中，转折和对比一直受到命题者的青睐。文章通过however，but，in fact，yet等逻辑词进行转折，转折后的内容常常是作者真正表达的内容。对比常用unlike，different from，until，not so much as等词语引导，考的是对比双方的属性。对转折题，考生要着重把握作者转折后的观点。对于文章中出现的将两种人或两种观点进行对比时，考生要准确把握每一种的特点，避免被张冠李戴的选项迷惑。

　　Example 1

　　Few creations of big technology capture the imagination like giant dams. Perhaps it is humankind’s long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that makes the idea of forcing the waters to do our bidding so fascinating. But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind. Several giant dam projects threaten to do more harm than good. (1998年 Passage 1)

　　The third sentence of paragraph 1 implies that .

　　[A] people would be happy if they shut their eyes to reality

　　[B] the blind could be happier than the sighted

　　[C] over-excited people tend to neglect vital things

　　[D] fascination makes people lose their eyesight

　　该段前两句指出人们热衷建坝的事实和热衷的自然原因;第三句but话锋一转，引出作者探讨的主题。正确答案为[C]选项。

　　Example 2

　　An invisible border divides those arguing for computers in the classroom on the behalf of students’ career prospects and those arguing for computers in the classroom for broader reasons of radical educational reform. Very few writers on the subject have explored this distinction—indeed, contradiction—which goes to the heart of what is wrong with the campaign to put computers in the classroom.(1999年 Passage 3)

　　The author thinks the present rush to put computers in the classroom is .

　　[A] far-reaching

　　[B] dubiously oriented

　　[C] self-contradictory

　　[D] radically reformatory

　　作者将两种态度做了对比，指出对于计算机课堂教学，人们在观点上存在着一条无形的界限：一是以学生的就业前景为理由，另一种是以激进的教育改革为理由。因此[B]为答案。

　　(五)因果句常考

　　(1)出这类题时，文章中一般都有since，for，because，as，therefore，result in，originate from这些标志词。没有标志词的就需要考生通过上下文推出二者的因果关系。

　　Example 1

　　Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don’t realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase “substance abuse” is often used instead of “drug abuse” to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.(1997年 Passage 3)

　　“Substance abuse”(Line 5, Paragraph 1) is preferable to “drug abuse” in that.

　　[A] substances can alter our bodily or mental functioning if illegally used

　　[B] “drug abuse” is only related to a limited number of drugtakers

　　[C] alcohol and tobacco are as fatal as heroin and cocaine

　　[D] many substances other than heroin or cocaine can also be poisonous

　　该段比较后一句用to明确表达用“物质滥用”代替“药物滥用”的目的所在，也就是原因。正确答案为[D]选项。

　　(2)当有多种原因时，主要原因常考。

　　Example 2

　　The main reason for the latest rise of oil price is .

　　[A] global inflation

　　[B] reduction in supply

　　[C] fast growth in economy

　　[D] Iraq’s suspension of exports

　　文章第一、二段给出了多种原因。“伊拉克暂停石油出口”、“经济快速增长”和“冬季的到来”是第二段提到的进一步推动油价上涨的原因，而第一段谈到的“石油输出国组织在3月决定减少原油供应”才是比较主要的原因。正确答案为[B]选项。

　　(六)段首段尾常考

　　考研阅读所选的文章均是议论文和说明文。此类文章的文体要求在首段提出观点、突出中心，因此第一段就好像是全篇文章的一个总纲，确定了文章的主要内容，而第一句话常常是一个自然段的主题句。首段首句自然就成为常考且必考的一个考点。有时一个自然段的主题句可能出现在段末，因此考点也相应转向末句。

　　Example 1

　　If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.(2002年 Text 1)

　　To make your humor work, you should .

　　[A] take advantage of different kinds of audience

　　[B] make fun of the disorganized people

　　[C] address different problems to different people

　　[D] show sympathy for your listeners

　　本题的答案主要集中在段首和段尾。该段首句指出，如果你想在谈话中用幽默使人发笑，你就必须知道如何辨别共同的经历和共同的问题。接着作者又对此进行了解释，即：你的幽默必须与听众有关，显示你是他们中的一员，或你理解他们的处境并赞成他们的观点。作者在第三句得出结论，即Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different.(针对不同的听众，谈及不同的问题)由此可知，[C]选项恰好是对该段中心的概括，为正确答案。

　　Example 2

　　...With regard to Futurist poetry, however, the case is rather difficult, for whatever Futurist poetry may be-even admitting that the theory on which it is based may be right-it can hardly be classed as Literature.

　　...

　　This, though it fulfills the laws and requirements of Futurist poetry, can hardly be classed as Literature...(2000年 Passage 3)

　　The author believes that Futurist poetry is .

　　[A] based on reasonable principles

　　[B] new and acceptable to ordinary people

　　[C] indicative of a basic change in human nature

　　[D] more of a transient phenomenon than literature

　　通过首段末句和末段首句的前后呼应，作者对未来派的观点和态度跃然纸上，即未来派诗歌很难被归于文学作品，只能是一种暂时的现象。正确答案为[D]选项。

　　此外，首段有问句出现的，该句也通常会成为命题点。命题形式是主旨题。因此见到首段的问句，应该首先考虑它是不是文章所要探讨的主要问题。

　　Example 3

　　Why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The American Society of Newspaper Editors is trying to answer this painful question. The organization is deep into a long self-analysis known as the journalism credibility project.(2001年 Passage 3)

　　What is the passage mainly about?

　　[A] Needs of the readers all over the world.

　　[B] Causes of the public disappointment about newspapers.

　　[C] Origins of the declining newspaper industry.

　　[D] Aims of a journalism credibility project.

　　文章一开头就给出讨论的话题“造成公众对报纸失望的原因”，接下来的内容亦围绕它展开。正确答案为[B]选项。

　　(七)类比比喻常考

　　议论文和说明文在论证说明事理的时候均很抽象。为了让读者更形象地理解一些抽象的内容，文章常采用类比的手法。形象的类比不仅有助于将抽象的道理阐释清楚，更可以让读者加深印象。类比在文中有两种体现方式，一是明喻，即A像B一样;二是暗喻，说A是B，由于暗喻更加隐蔽，近年来命题专家越来越趋向于在暗喻内容上设问。

　　Example

　　If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition—wealth, distinction, control over one’s destiny—must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition’s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition—if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is a heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped—with the educated themselves riding on them.(2000年 Passage 5)

　　The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is .

　　[A] customary of the educated to discard ambition in words

　　[B] too late to check ambition once it has been let out

　　[C] dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfillment of the goal

　　[D] impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition

　　这里要求考生理解“马已经跑了再关上马厩的门”这一比喻句的真实含义。通过上文的内容可知，此句用来比喻“那些受过良好教育的人从雄心中收益匪浅，但是他们却声称要放弃以雄心为理想”的虚伪行为，其中horses代表ambition，riding代表ambition带来的好处。正确答案为[C]选项。

　　(八)复指处常考

　　考点是复指代词或与复指副词作用相同的词。1996以前此类题目大多是直接问考生文章某句中的it或that指代什么。近几年此类题目的问法开始转向隐蔽。考生在遇到此类题时应该记住，题目的答案所在位置必定在复指词的上文中。因此，只需返回原文，在复指词上方扫描即可找到正确答案。

　　Example

　　For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.

　　The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn’t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.(1997年 Passage 2)

　　Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers .

　　[A] to improve their hard life

　　[B] in view of their long-distance travel

　　[C] to add some flavor to their own daily life

　　[D] out of a charitable impulse

　　this指代的是上文提到的“陌生人和旅行者很受欢迎。他们带来了娱乐消遣，还带来了外面世界的消息”，因此边远地区的家庭款待旅游者的原因就是[C]选项“为自己的日常生活增添情趣”。

　　五、阅读技巧

　　(一)阅读时采用何种顺序

　　(1)从面到点，先通读文章后看题，不清楚再回头去读有关段落。优点：一开始就对文章有一个总的概念和印象。缺点：速度慢，读起来没有重点，做题时对文章细节记不清楚。

　　(2)从点到面，先看问题后浏览文章,带着问题的记忆去文章中找答案。优点：针对性强、速度快，无关的内容可以省略不读，与问题很可能有关的内容则可重点标出。缺点：开始时没有对文章的整体把握。

　　(3)点面交叉，读一层意思做数道题，阅读和做题交叉进行。优点：速度适中，比较有针对性，对刚读完的内容印象深。因为全文比较重要的部分在首段和各段首句，用这种方法也可以对文章的轮廓有初步的了解。

　　总结：任何方法都不是绝对的，考生可根据自己的个性与思维习惯以及具体的题目情况灵活处理。像段落主旨题、词义/句意题、事实细节题这些局部问题可以采用从点到面的方法，而主旨题、作者态度/观点题、引申推理题因为就全文提问或考上下文逻辑关系则需要从面到点。然而命题者出于对难易平衡的考虑，基本上会保证每篇都有一道至两道全局性问题。所以考生可以考虑点面交叉的方法。

　　(二)初读文章时哪些信息可以不读

　　(1)有关职务、头衔、社会地位等补充性说明;

　　(2)句中破折号后提供的旁支信息;

　　(3)复杂的难句中除了主、谓、宾以外的其他辅助信息(除非与解题有关);

　　(4)例子、对名人言论的引用的具体内容可以先不读，而只读前面的观点或总结句。

　　(三)可以读哪些信息

　　(1)读题干。细心审题是一个重要环节，题干中包含解题的关键信息。它们能够帮助考生在浏览文章时迅速选定“精读内容”进行集中消化、整理，同时舍弃与题目无关的信息，排除干扰，从而减少阅读量和时间，提高解题的正确性。

　　(2)读选项。因为命题要求选项部分的语言难度要低于文章语言的难度，所以读懂选项的语言常常会帮助考生正确理解文章的内容。

　　(3)读文章的写作大纲。先要问自己三个问题：①本文比较重要的事物或观点是什么?②作者谈的是主题的哪个或哪些方面?③作者在这方面想说些什么?阅读要用眼更要用脑去判断哪些是重要信息，还要在脑子里加工、整理，从而得出全文的提纲。

　　(4)读主题句。每个段落都有一个基本点，加在一起烘托出文章的中心思想。各段的基本点常常通过段落主题句表示。主题句的位置是不固定的，可以在开始也可以在结尾，有时也不出现，需要考生自己提炼。主题句与其他句子的区别是它们的概括性更强，比较笼统、抽象。

　　(5)读关键词。注意文章中出现频率比较高的词和短语。它们有时是相同的重复，有时以不同的形式出现，但是归根结底都是指同一事物或事情，因些就很可能是本篇短文的中心或关键问题或事物。关键词和词组能够使句与句、段与段之间的关系更加清楚，提供了要点之间的“桥梁”，给读者指明了“路子”，是贯穿全文的线索。

　　考生在浏览文章时抓住、抓准这些关键信息，就可以迅速理解文章的主要内容、缩短解题时间。

　　Example

　　The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most. Private businessmen, striving to make profits, produce these goods and services in competition with other businessmen; and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes， that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it.

　　An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fall in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by seller-producers. If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system.

　　The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individual are allowed to own productive resources (private property), and they are permitted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain rights, including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.

　　这篇文章中的关键短语是American economic system，在文中多次反复出现，刚好它就是全文的写作对象。抓住了这个关键信息再加上“路标”词，文章的结构一目了然。

　　文章首句提出了含有写作对象的主题，即美国经济体制的特点是通过私有企业和市场导向起调节作用。末句thus后面是对主题的进一步阐释，分析和指出消费者的需求、企业家对比较大利润的追求和个人对收入取得比较大收益的渴望，共同决定着生产什么以及如何使用资源进行生产。第二段说明市场导向型经济的重要特点之一是价格机制。第三段说明私营经济的性质和特点是财产私有和同时拥有相关权利。

　　(6)读“路标”词。在阅读理解中有部分“虚词”比“实词”更重要，它们就是一些表示作者思路的过渡词、短语或句子，有利于作者思想的衔接和转折。抓住它们，考生就能够对全文的结构一目了然，就不会出现“词都认识，就是不知道全文在讲什么”的情况。它们就是在阅读行进过程中起指示作用的“路标”，随时提醒考生将要读到什么。

　　“路标”词按照功能可以分为：

　　①前进型。这一类词和词组起的是顺接、递进作用，指示读者继续往下看，其前后可能存在并列、递进、因果、解释等关系，往往接下来的可能是作者要强调的重要内容。

　　如：and, also, more, moreover, more than that, furthermore, likewise, equally important, first, second, in addition to, thus, so, therefore, consequently, accordingly, as a result 等。

　　②转弯型。这一类标志着前后两个句子或段落之间的转折或对比关系，读者要敏感地意识到后面出现的是与前面截然不同的事物或观点，从而对作者的思想进行预测。

　　如：but, yet, while, however, nevertheless, although, though, otherwise, despite, instead, on the contrary, in contrast, notwithstanding等。

　　③终点型。这一类标志着下面的内容是对前面的概括和总结。

　　如：to conclude, to sum up, in sum, in conclusion, in short, in brief, on the whole等。

　　④其他。表示空间位置(near, far, beside, next to, above, on the side of, across, behind)、目的(for this purpose, so that, in order to)、强调(indeed, in fact, surely, certainly, to be sure, I am certain)、举例(for example, for instance, in particular)、条件(in that case, that being so, in these circumstance, if, unless)等。

　　以上都是关于阅读理解的一些基本知识和技能的总体介绍，但是不能够光靠这些就可以提高阅读能力。冰冻三尺非一日之寒，阅读水平的提高，更多地要靠考生在实际阅读的积累中去体会和揣摩。因此希望考生在积极备考中务必将历年真题做熟、做精，深刻体会阅读理解的各个部分，从而产生质的飞跃。

结束

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