給閱讀插上翅膀

張彬

正在為福備戰(zhàn)的學(xué)子們，你們是否還在為閱讀中的繁雜定位而傷神？是否還在為選項(xiàng)的各種比較而糾結(jié)？其實(shí)，有時候問題并不像想象中的那么難。如果我們了解了ETS (Educational Testing Service，美國教育考試服務(wù)中心)的出題思路，那么我們可以像先知一樣，猜到文章哪個位置會出題，甚至答案會怎樣設(shè)計(jì)！這一切并不是空談，閱讀真的可以像游戲一樣輕松。對外漢語考試曾經(jīng)在考查老外聽力的時候用過這樣一個對話：

男：你的牙真漂亮！

女：嗨，假的！

男：真的假的？

女：真的！

就以上這個對話，筆者問過很多學(xué)生：“如果是你們出題，會怎么設(shè)計(jì)題干？”得到的答案無一例外都是“這個女人的牙是真的還是假的”?？窗?，大家的想法跟命題人不謀而合！

那么ETS的出題思路是如何的呢？很多的TPO*真題都證明ETS喜歡利用對比點(diǎn)(轉(zhuǎn)折、時間對比等)來設(shè)計(jì)問題，其中時間對比常常成為出題點(diǎn)。既然這樣，考生在解題時就應(yīng)對原文中出現(xiàn)對比的內(nèi)容保持敏感，因?yàn)檫@些內(nèi)容很可能就是解題的依據(jù)。下面筆者通過三道TPO 真題來具體分析通過抓對比點(diǎn)解閱讀題的方法和步驟。

關(guān)注轉(zhuǎn)折詞出現(xiàn)的句子

在利用題干的關(guān)鍵詞回原文定位出現(xiàn)困難時，考生可以換個角度來尋找答案范圍，那就是關(guān)注原文中出現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)折詞(如but、however、although、in contrast等)的句子，因?yàn)槌霈F(xiàn)對比點(diǎn)的地方經(jīng)常是命題人的出題點(diǎn)。下面以TPO 4的“Petroleum Resources”這篇文章的一道題目為例來講解如何尋找對比點(diǎn)。

例1：Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3 about gushers?

A. They make bringing the oil to the surface easier.

B. They signal the presence of huge oil reserves.

C. They waste more oil than they collect.

D. They are unlikely to occur nowadays.

解析 根據(jù)題干，考生應(yīng)該以關(guān)鍵詞gusher回原文第三段定位題目的答案范圍。第三段的內(nèi)容如下：

Oil pools are valuable underground accumulations of oil, and oil fields are regions underlain by one or more oil pools. When an oil pool or field has been discovered, wells are drilled into the ground. Permanent towers, called derricks, used to be built to handle the long sections of drilling pipe. Now portable drilling machines are set up and are then dismantled and removed. When the well reaches a pool, oil usually rises up the well because of its density difference with water beneath it or because of the pressure of expanding gas trapped above it. Although this rise of oil is almost always carefully controlled today, spouts of oil, or gushers, were common in the past. Gas pressure gradually dies out, and oil is pumped from the well. Water or steam may be pumped down adjacent wells to help push the oil out. At a refinery, the crude oil from underground is separated into natural gas, gasoline, kerosene, and various oils. Petrochemicals such as dyes, fertilizer, and plastic are also manufactured from the petroleum.

在這樣一個長段落里找貌不驚人的單詞gusher頗費(fèi)勁。由于托福閱讀的文章段落行文邏輯比較固定，因此考生可以根據(jù)段落的邏輯要點(diǎn)順序來進(jìn)行定位。具體而言，托福文章的第一段通常是introduction，考生定位時可先看末句，接著看首句，最后再看段落中間；而在文章的主體段落中定位時，考生應(yīng)先看首句，接著看末句，最后再看段落中間。該題對應(yīng)的第三段屬于主體段落，考生應(yīng)先關(guān)注該段的首句和末句。然而，該段的首句和末句均沒有g(shù)ushers。在這種情況下，考生應(yīng)看段落中間?？忌梢韵瓤焖贋g覽段落中間，會發(fā)現(xiàn)有一個句子含有轉(zhuǎn)折詞although，表示此處會出現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)折對比，很可能是出題點(diǎn)，因此需要細(xì)讀這個句子?？忌鷷l(fā)現(xiàn)，題干的關(guān)鍵詞gushers恰好就在這一句里?？忌灰J(rèn)為這是偶然，所有的偶然背后都存在著一定的必然。原文中的“Although this rise of oil is almost always carefully controlled today, spouts of oil, or gushers, were common in the past”這句話既含有轉(zhuǎn)折關(guān)系，也含有現(xiàn)在與過去的對比，從這句話中考生可以推斷出井噴這種現(xiàn)象從過去的常見變成了現(xiàn)在的不常見，而正確選項(xiàng)的內(nèi)容也應(yīng)該涉及這一點(diǎn)，由此可以得出本題的正確答案是選項(xiàng)D。

如何利用具體時間幫助解題

在托福閱讀里出現(xiàn)的時間可以分為具體時間和抽象時間。具體時間包括年份、世紀(jì)、事件等?？忌诙ㄎ坏胶羞@類時間的句子時，要注意比較原文句子和選項(xiàng)包含的介詞是否一致，因?yàn)镋TS往往會在介詞上做文章。下面以TPO 3的“Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer”這篇文章的第一題為例來具體闡述。

例2：According to paragraph 1, which of the following statements about the High Plains is true?

A. Until farmers and ranchers settled there in the 1880s, the High Plains had never been inhabited.

B. The climate of the High Plains is characterized by higher-than-average temperatures.

C. The large aquifer that lies underneath the High Plains was discovered by the Ogallala Sioux Indians.

D. Before the early 1900s there was only a small amount of farming and ranching in the High Plains.

解析 這是一個典型的細(xì)節(jié)題，考生可用題干中的專有名詞High Plains回到第一段定位：

The vast grasslands of the High Plains in the central United States were settled by farmers and ranchers in the 1880s. This region has a semiarid climate, and for 50 years after its settlement, it supported a low-intensity agricultural economy of cattle ranching and wheat farming. In the early twentieth century, however, it was discovered that much of the High Plains was underlain by a huge aquifer (a rock layer containing large quantities of groundwater). This aquifer was named the Ogallala aquifer after the Ogallala Sioux Indians, who once inhabited the region.

該段有兩處出現(xiàn)了該專有名詞，第二次出現(xiàn)的地方由于有轉(zhuǎn)折詞however出現(xiàn)，是原文內(nèi)容出現(xiàn)對比的信號，因此此處是命題人出題的首選，考生應(yīng)聯(lián)系however前后的句子來幫助解題。而且這句話的開頭有個具體時間的表達(dá)in the early twentieth century，所以考生可以用這個時間去比對選項(xiàng)。四個選項(xiàng)中只有選項(xiàng)A和選項(xiàng)D含有時間，且只有選項(xiàng)D的時間與the early twentieth century一致，因此考生可以先考慮選項(xiàng)D是否符合題意。選項(xiàng)D中使用的介詞(before)與原文的介詞(in)不一致。由于托福的文章都是學(xué)術(shù)性的文章，明顯遵循時間先后順序的寫作邏輯，再結(jié)合轉(zhuǎn)折詞的對比提示，這道題的答案設(shè)計(jì)一定是in the early twentieth century前面的一句話：“This region has a semiarid climate, and for 50 years after its settlement, it supported a low-intensity agricultural economy of cattle ranching and wheat farming.”選項(xiàng)D就是這一句的同義轉(zhuǎn)述，即在20世紀(jì)早期之前High Plains這個地方只有少量的牛群放牧和小麥種植。因此，本題的正確答案是選項(xiàng)D。

無獨(dú)有偶，在TPO 20的“Westward Migration”這篇文章的第一題ETS故技重施。下面筆者來具體分析一下。

例3：What can be inferred from paragraph 1 about western farmers prior to 1815?

A. They had limited their crop production to wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton.

B. They were able to sell their produce at high prices.

C. They had not been successful in raising cattle.

D. They did not operate in a national market economy.

解析 題干中有具體時間prior to 1815 (1815年之前)，考生可以用時間1815回第一段定位：

The story of the westward movement of population in the United States is, in the main, the story of the expansion of American agriculture—of the development of new areas for the raising of livestock and the cultivation of wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton. After 1815 improved transportation enabled more and more western farmers to escape a self-sufficient way of life and enter a national market economy. During periods when commodity prices were high, the rate of westward migration increased spectacularly. “Old America seemed to be breaking up and moving westward,” observed an English visitor in 1817, during the first great wave of migration. Emigration to the West reached a peak in the 1830s. Whereas in 1810 only a seventh of the American people lived west of the Appalachian Mountains, by 1840 more than a third lived there.

通過時間1815定位到的句子為：“After 1815 improved transportation enabled more and more western farmers to escape a self-sufficient way of life and enter a national market economy.”這個句子中的時間1815前面使用的介詞是after，意思正好與題干中的prior to相反。與例1不同，這句話中沒有出現(xiàn)表示轉(zhuǎn)折的詞，完全靠原文和題干中具體時間前面的介詞來體現(xiàn)對比。由于存在對比，本題的答案應(yīng)與定位到的原文句子表達(dá)的意思相反。原句的意思是1815年以后，交通的改進(jìn)使得越來越多的西部農(nóng)民擺脫了自給自足的生活方式并開始進(jìn)入國家市場經(jīng)濟(jì)階段。由此可見，在1815年之前的時候西部農(nóng)民主要靠自給自足而沒有國家市場經(jīng)濟(jì)。經(jīng)過比對原文和選項(xiàng)，考生可以得出本題正確答案是選項(xiàng)D。

利用抽象時間幫助解題

抽象時間包括對過去和現(xiàn)在的籠統(tǒng)表達(dá)，命題人主要圍繞過去與現(xiàn)在的對比來出題。表示過去的常見表達(dá)包括in earlier times、XXX years/centuries ago、in the past、at that time等。表示現(xiàn)在的常見表達(dá)包括now、 nowadays、today、at present、in modern times等。下面來看看抽象時間是如何幫助我們預(yù)測出題點(diǎn)及答案的。以TPO 3的“Architecture”這篇文章的第七題為例。

例4：In paragraph 4, what does the author imply about modern buildings?

A. They occupy much less space than buildings constructed one hundred years ago.

B. They are not very different from the building of a few generations ago.

C. They weigh less in relation to their size than buildings constructed one hundred years ago.

D. They take a long time to build as a result of their complex construction methods.

解析 根據(jù)題干內(nèi)容，考生只能用關(guān)鍵詞組modern buildings回到原文第四段定位：

Even development in architecture has been the result of major technological changes. Materials and methods of construction are integral parts of the design of architecture structures. In earlier times it was necessary to design structural systems suitable for the materials that were available, such as wood, stone, brick. Today technology has progressed to the point where it is possible to invent new building materials to suit the type of structure desired. Enormous changes in materials and techniques of construction within the last few generations have made it possible to enclose space with much greater ease and speed and with a minimum of material. Progress in this area can be measured by the difference in weight between buildings built now and those of comparable size built one hundred years ago.

考生如果認(rèn)真閱讀本段落，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)本段并沒有出現(xiàn)modern buildings這個詞組，即使出現(xiàn)了，要在這樣一個較長的段落里面快速找到modern buildings也不是一件容易的事情。那么考生該如何在原文定位到題目的答案范圍呢？由于關(guān)鍵詞的modern buildings里面含有時間詞modern，因此考生可以在通讀時特別關(guān)注含有時間的句子。由于這是第四段，屬于學(xué)術(shù)性文章的主體段落，其結(jié)構(gòu)要點(diǎn)句應(yīng)該是首句和末句，因此考生可以首先閱讀該段的首句和末句?？忌梢园l(fā)現(xiàn)，這段的末句“Progress in this area can be measured by the difference in weight between buildings built now and those of comparable size built one hundred years ago”里面有明顯的基于時間的對比點(diǎn)，講的是科技的進(jìn)步表現(xiàn)為現(xiàn)在的建筑和一百年前大小相同的建筑在重量上的差異。考生可以發(fā)現(xiàn)題干中的modern buildings對應(yīng)的是這一句話中的buildings built now，考生可以推測，正確選項(xiàng)里應(yīng)該會涉及重量的差異和“一百年前”的表達(dá)，通過比對原文與選項(xiàng)，考生不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，選項(xiàng)C就是我們要找的正確答案。

通過以上幾個例子我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)ETS基于對比點(diǎn)的出題思路是顯而易見的。學(xué)會尋找對比點(diǎn)、敏銳感知矛盾處就等于切中了ETS出題的脈搏，為自己的閱讀插上自信的翅膀，在考試的天空中自由翱翔！