命題者說(shuō)：影響英語(yǔ)閱讀理解難度的因素分析

寧夏

閱讀理解是高考英語(yǔ)試題中分值所占比例最大的項(xiàng)目，每年高考結(jié)束后，專家學(xué)者們都會(huì)對(duì)當(dāng)年的試題進(jìn)行分析，其中一個(gè)重要維度就是閱讀理解的難度。筆者作為一線教師，結(jié)合自身教學(xué)及命題實(shí)踐分析影響閱讀理解難度的因素，旨在拋磚引玉，為廣大同行的閱讀教學(xué)及命題提供一些有益的啟示。

一、試題難度的定義

難度是指被試群體完成某一道題的正確率或正答所占的百分比，這個(gè)統(tǒng)計(jì)量稱為試題的難度。定量刻畫(huà)試題難度的量數(shù)，被稱之為難度系數(shù)或難度值。難度系數(shù)的大小，往往直接以試題的平均得分率或?qū)W生通過(guò)率來(lái)表達(dá)。難度系數(shù)使用字母P 表示，P 越大表示試題越簡(jiǎn)單，P 越小表示試題越難。一般來(lái)講，難度0.3～ 0.7 為中等難度，這樣的試題區(qū)分度一般較好；0.3 以下為難題；0.7 以上為簡(jiǎn)單題。

二、影響難度的因素

1.體裁和題材

英語(yǔ)課程內(nèi)容是發(fā)展學(xué)生學(xué)科核心素養(yǎng)的基礎(chǔ)，由六大要素組成，即主題、語(yǔ)篇、語(yǔ)言知識(shí)、文化知識(shí)、語(yǔ)言技能和學(xué)習(xí)策略。其中，主題指圍繞人們生活、學(xué)習(xí)和工作相關(guān)的某一范圍展開(kāi)的話題類別，為語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)提供內(nèi)容范圍。學(xué)生對(duì)主題意義的探究應(yīng)是學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言的最重要內(nèi)容，直接影響學(xué)生對(duì)語(yǔ)篇理解的程度、思維發(fā)展的水平和語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)的成效。整個(gè)高中階段所涉及的主題內(nèi)容包括人與自我、人與社會(huì)和人與自然三大類別。人與自我圍繞“生活與學(xué)習(xí)”“做人與做事”設(shè)計(jì)了9 項(xiàng)子主題；人與社會(huì)圍繞“社會(huì)服務(wù)與人際溝通”“文學(xué)、藝術(shù)與體育”“歷史、社會(huì)與文化”“科學(xué)與技術(shù)”設(shè)計(jì)了16 項(xiàng)子主題；人與自然圍繞“自然生態(tài)”“環(huán)境保護(hù)”“災(zāi)難防范”“宇宙探索”列入了7 項(xiàng)子主題。

當(dāng)學(xué)生所面對(duì)的閱讀材料是他所熟悉的主題內(nèi)容時(shí)，如外研版教材中涉及的肢體語(yǔ)言、威尼斯狂歡節(jié)、英語(yǔ)與美語(yǔ)的異同等，相對(duì)而言，閱讀理解的難度就會(huì)有所降低。根據(jù)圖式理論，如果學(xué)生不熟悉閱讀材料的內(nèi)容，那么新的圖式不能在原有的圖式中找到相應(yīng)的位置，更不能更新原有圖式，這樣的閱讀理解難度相對(duì)較大。

如下文是一篇高考同源文章，主題是人與社會(huì)中的11.法律常識(shí)和法治意識(shí)等；體裁是說(shuō)明文。

The law is important for a society for it serves as a norm of conduct for citizens.It was also made to provide for proper guidelines and order upon the behaviour for all citizens and to sustain the equity on the three branches of the government.It keeps the society running.Without law there would be chaos and it would be survival of the fittest and everyman for himself.Not an ideal lifestyle for most part.

…

Nonetheless,when law cannot bring about change without social support,it still can create certain preconditions for social change.Moreover,after independence,the Constitution of India provided far-reaching guidelines for change.Its directive principle suggested a blueprint for a new nation.The de-recognition of the caste system,equality before the law and equal opportunities for all in economic,political and social spheres were some of the high points of the Indian Constitution.

文章介紹了法律在社會(huì)中的重要性。但是首先學(xué)生對(duì)于說(shuō)明文和議論文本身就具有畏難情結(jié)，再者學(xué)生在日常的生活和學(xué)習(xí)中，接觸法律的機(jī)會(huì)也較少，并沒(méi)有明確的法律常識(shí)和法律意識(shí)，這就使得文章難度陡然上升。若難度過(guò)高，教師在改寫(xiě)的過(guò)程中，可以通過(guò)“提煉中心，縮短文本，添加注釋，替換詞匯，改變句式”等方法降低難度，以符合當(dāng)前高考難度以及命題規(guī)律，如上文中第一段內(nèi)容。該段內(nèi)容介紹了法律的重要性，其中時(shí)態(tài)使用了一般現(xiàn)在時(shí)和一般過(guò)去時(shí)：一般現(xiàn)在時(shí)：The law is important；一般過(guò)去時(shí)：It was also made；語(yǔ)態(tài)使用了被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)：It was also made to provide for proper guidelines。狀語(yǔ)從句：for it serves as a norm of conduct for citizens；虛擬語(yǔ)氣：Without law there would be chaos；并列句：Without law there would be chaos and it would be survival of the fittest and everyman for himself.省略句：Not an ideal lifestyle for most part.超綱詞匯：norm，guidelines，sustain，equity idea；文化障礙：a norm of conduct，guidelines and order，the equity on the three branches of the government，be survival of the fittest；熟詞生義：for most part。筆者將該段落進(jìn)行改寫(xiě)，新的段落內(nèi)容為：The law is important for a society.Firstly,it directs the behaviors of citizens.Secondly,it keeps the balance of the government.It keeps the society running.

2.文本詞匯

影響閱讀理解難度的第二個(gè)因素是材料中詞匯的使用。閱讀材料的詞匯因素主要指生詞數(shù)量和語(yǔ)篇長(zhǎng)度?！犊荚嚧缶V》中要求詞匯量為3500 左右。一般而言，閱讀理解部分生詞量不超過(guò)3%，所謂的生詞是指超出《課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)》和《考試大綱》范圍的詞。生詞過(guò)多會(huì)使材料難度加大。因此，在命制試題的過(guò)程中，當(dāng)生詞量超過(guò)3%時(shí)，教師應(yīng)替換和刪掉一些生詞，或者給出漢語(yǔ)注釋，以降低閱讀材料的難度。下文是筆者對(duì)高考同源文章的一次簡(jiǎn)化：

原文：Society is a‘web-relationship’and social change obviously means a change in the system of social relationship where a social relationship is understood in terms of social processes and social interactions and social organizations.Thus,the term,‘social change’is used to indicate desirable variations in social institution,social processes and social organization.It includes alterations in the structure and functions of the society.Closer analysis of the role of law leads us to distinguish between the direct and the indirect aspects of the role of law.

簡(jiǎn)化后：Society is a‘web-relationship’and social change obviously means a change in the system of social relationship,where a social relationship is understood in terms of social processes and social interactions（互動(dòng)）and social organizations.Thus,the term,‘social change’is used to show some variations（變化）in social institution,social processes and social organization.It includes changes in the structure and functions of the society.Closer analysis of the role of law leads us to distinguish（區(qū)別）between the direct and the indirect aspects.

筆者的改動(dòng)范圍主要是減少文章詞數(shù)，將難詞替換，并對(duì)關(guān)鍵詞進(jìn)行漢語(yǔ)注釋。如將原文中的interactions,variations,distinguish 進(jìn)行注釋，將原文中的indicate 改為show,desirable 改為some，使該段落的原長(zhǎng)度由87 詞縮減為82 詞，并將原文章的592 詞縮減為324 詞，從而降低了文章難度。

3.試題的類型

試題類型多指細(xì)節(jié)理解題、推理判斷題、詞義猜測(cè)題、主旨大意題等不同的考點(diǎn)。一般而言，細(xì)節(jié)理解題相對(duì)而言，比較簡(jiǎn)單，其他幾種類型的試題則相對(duì)較難。

以下為筆者命制的高考同源試題，文章屬于記敘文，難度不大，但是在試題設(shè)置上，筆者沒(méi)有設(shè)計(jì)細(xì)節(jié)理解題，而是以其他考點(diǎn)為主，以便增加試題難度：

The origin of coffee? I never really thought about it.When I was a kid,coffee was always around.My parents drank coffee,my grandparents drank coffee,all the adults I knew drank coffee.I thought I would drink it too when I was older,and of course,I did.

But there must have been a time before coffee.I don’t remember coffee making an appearance in any of the Bible（圣經(jīng)）stories I learned.Jesus changed water into wine,not coffee.Maybe if coffee had been around,he would have changed some of the water into coffee,for after dinner.Maybe that’s what “B.C.”meant:“before coffee”.

According to popular legend,the origin of coffee can be traced to a thousand years ago,when an Abyssinian (Ethiopian)goatherd（牧羊人）named Kaldi observed his goats dancing and jumping.Kaldi had previously found the behavior of his goats to be“normal”,so he knew that something unusual was going on.When Kaldi went closer,he saw that the goats were happily eating the red berries（漿果）and shiny（發(fā)亮的）leaves of an unfamiliar tree.Kaldi decided to try some,and when he did he joined the dancing goats and became“the happiest herder（牧者）in happy Arabia”.

Some time later,a passing monk（和尚）observed Kaldi and the goats.When Kaldi told him about the berries,the monk thought they might be the answer to his prayers（祈禱）.The unnamed monk came up with the idea of drying and boiling the berries to make a beverage.His fellow monks loved the new drink because it encouraged them to pray — and it tasted good too.

So now that I know about Kaldi and his goats,if someday someone calls me an“old goat”,I’ll just smile,have another sip of coffee,and maybe do a little dance.

1.Why did Jesus change water into wine instead of coffee?

A.Because Jesus didn’t like coffee.

B.Because coffee didn’t appear that time.

C.Because it was not the right time to have coffee.

D.Because Jesus was better at changing water into wine.

分析：根據(jù)第二段第四句 “Maybe if coffee had been around,he would have changed some of the water into coffee,for after dinner”，該句中的be around 本意為“露面，拜訪”，此處表示咖啡的“出現(xiàn)”，該題考查學(xué)生是否真的理解了be around 等同于appear；而且該句為虛擬語(yǔ)氣，使用if+過(guò)去完成時(shí)，表示對(duì)過(guò)去的假設(shè)，由此可知當(dāng)時(shí)咖啡并沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)。

2.What was the author’s attitude toward the origin of coffee?

A.Serious. B.Objective.

C.Humorous. D.Sincere.

分析：該題考查學(xué)生對(duì)于作者行文寫(xiě)作中寫(xiě)作口吻的把握。學(xué)生讀完文章可知，文章是介紹咖啡起源的，這樣的社科文章，通常都是刻板、嚴(yán)肅的，學(xué)生會(huì)陷入思維定式的陷阱，根據(jù)文章第二段最后一句話“Maybe that’s what‘B.C.’meant:‘before coffee.’”眾所周知，B.C.的意思是“公元前”，而在本文中，作者用大家都知道的例子，來(lái)驗(yàn)證自己的說(shuō)法，從而得出一個(gè)令人啼笑皆非的結(jié)論，這說(shuō)明作者是很幽默的。

3.What does the underlined word“beverage”in Paragraph 4 mean?

A.A kind of new drink.

B.A kind of food made by monks.

C.A kind of soup needed to be boiled.

D.A kind of drugs encouraging people to keep awake.

分析：該題為猜測(cè)詞義題。根據(jù)畫(huà)線詞所在句子“The unnamed monk came up with the idea of drying and boiling the berries”，筆者設(shè)計(jì)了B 選項(xiàng)中的monk，C 選項(xiàng)中的boiled，以及D 選項(xiàng)中學(xué)生所熟知的咖啡的功效keep awake 來(lái)進(jìn)行干擾。而猜測(cè)生詞時(shí)，不僅要關(guān)注上文，同樣也要關(guān)注下文，原文中下一句“His fellow monks loved the new drink”才是解題的題眼。

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.The Development of Coffee

B.The Popularity of Coffee in the World

C.The Coffee-Drinking Tradition in My Family

D.The Origin of Coffee:Kaldi and the Dancing Goats

分析：標(biāo)題概括題的選項(xiàng)通常是簡(jiǎn)短的，學(xué)生容易誤選A，而這篇文章的關(guān)鍵不是development，而是origin，文章的標(biāo)題除了簡(jiǎn)短外，還要具有概括性，這是學(xué)生不容易注意到的。

答案：1.B 2.C 3.A 4.D

4.受測(cè)群體

影響閱讀理解難度的另一個(gè)因素是受測(cè)群體的最近水平能力。高三針對(duì)的是選拔性的高考，有嚴(yán)格的《考試說(shuō)明》，高考命題者在命制閱讀理解試題時(shí)，所面對(duì)的是全國(guó)的考生，其目的是為高校選拔人才，所以閱讀理解難度往往中等偏上，所以高考才是權(quán)威的。而高一高二，學(xué)生的課標(biāo)任務(wù)還沒(méi)有完成，詞匯量有限，而且受測(cè)群體的主要任務(wù)是完成教學(xué)目標(biāo)，且該受測(cè)群體所接受的測(cè)試任務(wù)是課堂練習(xí)、小測(cè)驗(yàn)、單元考試、期中考試等，這類測(cè)試中所選的閱讀理解主要是檢測(cè)受測(cè)群體在單位時(shí)間內(nèi)所學(xué)的內(nèi)容，屬于診斷性測(cè)試。因此，命制閱讀理解試題之前，命題者要熟悉受測(cè)范圍內(nèi)受測(cè)群體，即高一高二學(xué)生，近期內(nèi)的學(xué)習(xí)心理、學(xué)習(xí)態(tài)度等非智力因素以及學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)度、學(xué)習(xí)的知識(shí)和能力等基本學(xué)習(xí)情況，以此作為命制閱讀理解試題的依據(jù)。同時(shí)，為保證受測(cè)群體不產(chǎn)生厭學(xué)的負(fù)面情緒，命題者要把控閱讀理解的文本難度，在文本長(zhǎng)度、試題類型、詞匯分布等方面，均要與近期內(nèi)受測(cè)群體的能力水平保持一致。

三、總結(jié)

綜上所述，教師在命制閱讀理解試題時(shí)，應(yīng)綜合考慮文本材料，并結(jié)合受測(cè)群體的水平，選擇合適的題材和體裁，對(duì)文章中的詞匯進(jìn)行二次加工，根據(jù)閱讀文本的難度對(duì)試題的類型進(jìn)行調(diào)整，以增加或者減少閱讀理解的整體難度。