探究2：說(shuō)明文命題解讀和解題策略

江蘇南菁高級(jí)中學(xué) 李現(xiàn)寶

閱讀理解是高考英語(yǔ)試題的重點(diǎn)，是考查學(xué)生語(yǔ)篇閱讀能力、語(yǔ)言意識(shí)、英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)感的重要題型。在全國(guó)各省市的高考英語(yǔ)閱讀理解題中，說(shuō)明文所占比重尤為突出。它既要求考生能熟練運(yùn)用詞匯和語(yǔ)法知識(shí)、理解文章語(yǔ)句、把握語(yǔ)篇整體結(jié)構(gòu)，還要求學(xué)生有大量的閱讀積淀和知識(shí)儲(chǔ)備，熟悉不同的話題和不同的題目考查方式。

一、文體特點(diǎn)

說(shuō)明文通常是使用平實(shí)的語(yǔ)言客觀地解說(shuō)事物、闡明事理，給人以知識(shí)的文體。它通常運(yùn)用舉例、對(duì)比、分類、引用、演繹、歸納等方法，按照時(shí)間、空間或事物發(fā)展的邏輯順序進(jìn)行介紹和說(shuō)明。通過(guò)對(duì)實(shí)體事物 (如儀器、產(chǎn)品、自然環(huán)境)的解說(shuō)，或?qū)Τ橄笫吕?如概念、原理、定律)的闡釋，使人們對(duì)事物的形態(tài)、特征、構(gòu)造、性能、種類、成因、功能等有所了解，或?qū)κ吕淼奶攸c(diǎn)、來(lái)源、演變、異同等有所認(rèn)識(shí)，從而獲得相關(guān)的知識(shí)。說(shuō)明文實(shí)用性很強(qiáng)，它包括廣告、說(shuō)明書(shū)、內(nèi)容提要、規(guī)則章程、解說(shuō)詞、操作指南等。

二、命題特點(diǎn)

閱讀理解主要測(cè)試考生理解主旨與要義、理解文中具體信息、根據(jù)上下文推斷單詞和短語(yǔ)的含義、做出判斷和推理、理解文章的基本結(jié)構(gòu)、理解作者的意圖、觀點(diǎn)和態(tài)度等的能力。說(shuō)明文的主要命題形式有事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題、詞義推斷題、推理判斷題以及主旨概括題，其中事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題和推理判斷題居多。下文將介紹考生在解題過(guò)程中容易出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題和相應(yīng)的策略。

三、解題指導(dǎo)

（一）增加外刊積累、避免思維定式

高考英語(yǔ)閱讀很大一部分選自國(guó)外的網(wǎng)站、報(bào)紙、雜志等，時(shí)效性和話題性比較突出。因此，考生要熟悉外刊的文章特點(diǎn)、常用寫(xiě)作技巧、話題相關(guān)的文化背景知識(shí)等相關(guān)信息，消除文化隔閡、文化差異造成的理解困難和理解偏差。比如，外刊的標(biāo)題一般簡(jiǎn)短概括，非常精練。為了使語(yǔ)句短小而生動(dòng)、醒目，所使用的詞語(yǔ)和句子必須壓縮到最精練的程度，這就要求必須有獨(dú)特的撰寫(xiě)方式。除了大家熟知的省略、縮寫(xiě)等方式，還常常引用或套用名言、典故、諺語(yǔ)和文學(xué)著作，運(yùn)用押韻等修辭手法。這一點(diǎn)是很多考生，甚至是教師的認(rèn)識(shí)盲點(diǎn)。尤其是科普類說(shuō)明文，很多人對(duì)它的認(rèn)識(shí)僅僅停留在標(biāo)題是文章中心的簡(jiǎn)單概括，而忽視了它可能采用的修辭手法或者引用或套用所涉及的文化背景知識(shí)。

【典型案例】

2019 年 The Economist（《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》）有一篇關(guān)于學(xué)生參加夏令營(yíng)的文章，標(biāo)題是Mutually assured distraction。如果不了解相關(guān)的文化背景知識(shí)，直接翻譯為“相互保證消遣”，就無(wú)法體會(huì)作者選用該標(biāo)題的精妙之處，無(wú)法體會(huì)作者選用該標(biāo)題所體現(xiàn)出的夏令營(yíng)如火如荼開(kāi)展的背后的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)氛圍，也無(wú)法準(zhǔn)確感受結(jié)尾處和該標(biāo)題的呼應(yīng)。如果我們多閱讀外媒文章、重視對(duì)西方文化背景知識(shí)的積累，就會(huì)了解到文章標(biāo)題Mutually assured distraction來(lái)自軍事術(shù)語(yǔ)mutually assured destruction，簡(jiǎn)稱M.A.D，中文譯名為：相互保證毀滅。這是一種軍事戰(zhàn)略思想，具體指當(dāng)兩個(gè)國(guó)家武力相當(dāng)，都能夠毀滅對(duì)方時(shí)，反而會(huì)相互牽制，維持一種緊張但穩(wěn)定的和平局面。此戰(zhàn)略主要應(yīng)用于美蘇冷戰(zhàn)時(shí)期，并且被當(dāng)成避免兩大陣營(yíng)全面直接沖突的助力，但這種軍事戰(zhàn)略也直接導(dǎo)致了軍備競(jìng)賽，因?yàn)殡p方都要爭(zhēng)取保持平手，才能不被毀滅。正如文章中提到的，學(xué)生們爭(zhēng)相參加夏令營(yíng)，試圖獲得競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)，但最終誰(shuí)也無(wú)法真正超過(guò)同齡人，宛如一場(chǎng)軍備競(jìng)賽。同時(shí)，這和結(jié)尾處“But as wealthier parents splash out on ever more specialized programmes,it is getting harder for the less well-to-do to keep up in the summer-camp arms race.”中的arms race構(gòu)成了首尾呼應(yīng)，非常精彩。

【試題鏈接1】

Listen carefully to the footsteps in the family home,especially if it has wooden floors,and you can probably work out who it is that is walking about.The features most commonly used to identify people are faces,voices,finger prints and retinal scans. But their “behavioural biometrics”,such as the way they walk,are also giveaways.

64.What's the best title of the passage?

A.Listen to your footsteps

B.Applaud pattern recognition

C.Love the way you walk

D.Better the mats you step on

在該題的選擇過(guò)程中，很多考生都不敢選擇C項(xiàng)。因?yàn)樵谒麄兊男哪恐?，說(shuō)明文的標(biāo)題就是刻板、直接、枯燥的，這與選項(xiàng)中的love風(fēng)格極為不符。仔細(xì)閱讀這一段，其實(shí)很容易感受到作者選用該標(biāo)題的含義?！癓isten carefully to the footsteps in the family home,especially if it has wooden floors,and you can probably work out who it is that is walking about.” 此句表示通過(guò)分辨腳步聲，你就可以辨別出走路的人是誰(shuí)。這個(gè)人一定是自己的家人，或者是非常熟悉的朋友。因此，在聽(tīng)到腳步聲的時(shí)候應(yīng)當(dāng)是充滿著親切和期待，甚至是開(kāi)心和激動(dòng)的。當(dāng)一個(gè)人在家的時(shí)候，當(dāng)一個(gè)人孤獨(dú)的時(shí)候，當(dāng)一個(gè)人不開(kāi)心、需要安慰的時(shí)候，最喜歡的就是這種熟悉的腳步聲。文章介紹的通過(guò)識(shí)別人的走路方式來(lái)識(shí)別身份的墊子，也跟腳步聲有一樣的功效，墊子“喜愛(ài)”通過(guò)識(shí)別人的走路方式發(fā)揮作用，墊子主人也“喜愛(ài)”熟悉的、親近的人的到來(lái)。

【試題鏈接2】

In English the sky is blue,and the grass is green.But in Vietnamese there is just one color category for both sky and grass:xanh.For decades cognitive（認(rèn)知）scientists have pointed to such examples as evidence that language largely determines how we see color.But new research with four-to-six-month-old babies indicates that long before we learn language,we see up to five basic categories of color—a finding that suggests a stronger biological element to perceive（感知） color than previously thought.

The study,published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA,tested the color-discrimination abilities of more than 170 British babies.

60.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A.Rainbow in the Baby's World

B.A Journey to the World of Colors

C.A New Challenge:Language vs.Culture

D.Different Babies,Different Color Perception

本題答案為A。該題同樣也向大家傳遞出了一個(gè)信號(hào)，說(shuō)明文的標(biāo)題同樣可以是文藝范的，可以是優(yōu)美的，可以是充滿文學(xué)氣息的。

【點(diǎn)石成金】平時(shí)增加國(guó)外報(bào)紙、雜志等文本的閱讀，熟知其寫(xiě)作特點(diǎn)和套路。同時(shí)，關(guān)注相關(guān)的文化背景知識(shí)，體會(huì)和感受說(shuō)明文中獨(dú)特的語(yǔ)言美。

（二）關(guān)注句間銜接，緊扣段落中心

英語(yǔ)文章中有大量的詞匯是作者用來(lái)聯(lián)系句子的，從而使整篇文章前后貫通、語(yǔ)義明確。標(biāo)志詞（signal words）就是表明句子間和段落間的邏輯關(guān)系，具有詞義、語(yǔ)法結(jié)構(gòu)標(biāo)志作用的詞或詞組。句子間的邏輯關(guān)系和銜接手段不外乎列舉、原因、結(jié)果、讓步、對(duì)照、補(bǔ)充、目的、條件等。如表示列舉的詞：for example,for instance； 表羅列的詞：first,second,third,to begin with,to conclude；表轉(zhuǎn)折的詞：however,but,whereas；表示原因的詞：because,since,as；表示結(jié)果的詞：so,therefore,thus,consequently,as a result；表示對(duì)照的詞：on the contrary,by contrast,in comparison；表示目的的詞：so that,in order that等。標(biāo)志詞就像指路牌一樣，指明作者思路發(fā)展的方向和思路之間的邏輯聯(lián)系。標(biāo)志詞前后的信息往往都是命題和答題的主要線索或依據(jù)，因此，識(shí)別標(biāo)志詞對(duì)考生更快、更好地理解文章具有舉足輕重的作用。

【典型案例】

例如，在上文提到的summer camp的外刊中，有這樣的段落“In a classroom at Imperial College London,students sit hunched over laptops,typing lines of code.Just nine years old,they are attending Firetech,a British technology summer camp for children.Courses include Junior Augmented Reality and Creating for YouTube.Such programmes are proliferating in many countries.They pander to two common demands from well-off parents:to entertain children over the long summer holidays and to give them a leg-up over their peers.”。該部分為文章首段，通過(guò)介紹個(gè)例引入話題：特寫(xiě)學(xué)生在教室敲代碼的場(chǎng)景，引出Firetech夏令營(yíng)，舉例說(shuō)明Firetech夏令營(yíng)的具體項(xiàng)目。后面的Such非常關(guān)鍵，起到承上啟下的作用，由個(gè)例轉(zhuǎn)向普遍趨勢(shì)，指出父母送孩子進(jìn)入夏令營(yíng)的兩個(gè)目的：娛樂(lè)（讓孩子得到快樂(lè)）與教育（讓孩子更具競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力）。這為后文詳細(xì)闡述做鋪墊，其中代詞they實(shí)現(xiàn)句間銜接。通過(guò)對(duì)這些連接詞的準(zhǔn)確識(shí)別和理解，我們可以明確作者的寫(xiě)作意圖，把握段落的中心（引出夏令營(yíng)的兩個(gè)目的，即to entertain children over the long summer holidays and to give them a leg-up over their peers）。

【試題鏈接3】

A new commodity brings about a highly profitable,fast-growing industry,urging antitrust(反壟斷的)regulators to step in to check those who control its flow.A century ago,the resource in question was oil.Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants(巨頭)that deal in data,the oil of the digital age.The most valuable firms are Google,Amazon,Facebook and Microsoft.All look unstoppable.

Such situations have led to calls for the tech giants to be broken up.But size alone is not a crime.The giants'success has benefited consumers.Few want to live without search engines or a quick delivery.Far from charging consumers high prices,many of these services are free (users pay,in effect,by handing over yet more data).And the appearance of new-born giants suggests that newcomers can make waves,too.

61.Why is there a call to break up giants?

A.They have controlled the data market.

B.They collect enormous private data.

C.They no longer provide free services.

D.They dismissed some new-born giants.

該題的信息源定位到第2段的第一句話“Such situations have led to calls for the tech giants to be broken up.”，顯然，問(wèn)題的根本原因就是該句的第一個(gè)詞Such所代指的內(nèi)容。Such既起到承上啟下的作用，又是對(duì)第1段主要信息的概括。因此，需要把握住第1段的中心句，即Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants that deal in data。同時(shí)，要想對(duì)該句有精準(zhǔn)的把握，還需要對(duì)該句中的similar concerns所指的內(nèi)容有準(zhǔn)確的把握，這又體現(xiàn)了句子之間連接的重要性，環(huán)環(huán)相扣，聯(lián)系緊密。通過(guò)對(duì)前幾句的理解，我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)similar concerns指的是反壟斷，因此，就是因?yàn)閴艛嗖乓缶揞^解體，答案為A。

【試題鏈接4】

But there is cause for concern.The Internet has made data abundant,all-present and far more valuable,changing the nature of data and competition.Google initially used the data collected from users to target advertising better.But recently it has discovered that data can be turned into new services:translation and visual recognition,to be sold to other companies.Internet companies'control of data gives them enormous power.So they have a “God's eye view”of activities in their own markets and beyond.

62.What does the technological innovation in paragraph 3 indicate?

A.Data giants'technology is very expensive.

B.Google'sideaispopular among data firms.

C.Data can strengthen giants'controlling position.

D.Data can be turned into new services or products.

該題解決的關(guān)鍵仍然是要理清句子之間的邏輯關(guān)系?！癟he Internet has made data abundant,all-present and far more valuable,changing the nature of data and competition.”為中心句，即互聯(lián)網(wǎng)改變了數(shù)據(jù)和競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的性質(zhì)。其后，Google initially used...雖然沒(méi)有for example作為標(biāo)志詞，但是，我們可以判斷出此處作者正在用具體的事例對(duì)中心句做具體的舉例論證說(shuō)明。該句和后面的 “Internet companies'control of data gives them enormous power.”分為兩個(gè)方面就互聯(lián)網(wǎng)改變了數(shù)據(jù)和競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的性質(zhì)（變成可以出售的服務(wù)和讓企業(yè)擁有“上帝視角”）進(jìn)行了具體說(shuō)明。把握住它們之間的關(guān)系，該題很容易看出，只有C項(xiàng)才是符合中心句的觀點(diǎn)的 （加強(qiáng)了企業(yè)的控制地位，即擁有“上帝視角”）。

【點(diǎn)石成金】在閱讀的過(guò)程中，理清句子之間的關(guān)系，可以更加清晰段落中心，有助于精準(zhǔn)把握作者的寫(xiě)作目的和意圖，輕松選出正確答案。

（三）把握文章結(jié)構(gòu)，理清作者思路

說(shuō)明文主題鮮明、脈絡(luò)清晰，行文結(jié)構(gòu)模式較為固定。弄清文本結(jié)構(gòu)有助于把握文章主旨和閱讀重點(diǎn)。作者在謀篇布局上常使用以下說(shuō)明方法：描述法（description）（包括舉例子、下定義、列數(shù)據(jù)等）、因果法（cause and effect）、問(wèn)題與對(duì)策法（problem and solution）。實(shí)驗(yàn)、研究型文章一般會(huì)以實(shí)驗(yàn)的過(guò)程、進(jìn)展為線索，多用描述法、問(wèn)題與對(duì)策法等方法，通過(guò)列數(shù)據(jù)、做對(duì)比等來(lái)說(shuō)明新的科學(xué)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)及其產(chǎn)生的影響。介紹說(shuō)明型文章通常是介紹一種新產(chǎn)品、新技術(shù)，更多運(yùn)用描述法從功能、用途、材料和市場(chǎng)前景等方面進(jìn)行介紹。

在閱讀時(shí)，首先用略讀法快速瀏覽每段的首尾句，分析原文的文本結(jié)構(gòu)，然后根據(jù)作者謀篇布局的邏輯線索歸納主旨大意。如果文章中含有小標(biāo)題、副標(biāo)題等，在概括全文主旨大意和寫(xiě)作目的時(shí)需要重點(diǎn)考慮。

【試題鏈接5】

Old Problem,New Approaches

While clean energy is increasingly used in our daily life,global warming will continue for some decades after CO2emissions(排放)peak.So even if emissions were to begin to decrease today,we would still face the challenge of adapting to climate change.Here I will stress some smarter and more creative examples of climate adaptation.

...

Around the world,people are adapting in surprising ways,especially in some poor countries.Floods have...

Elsewhere in Asia even more astonishing actions are being taken.Chewang Norphel lives in a mountainous region in India,where he is known as the Ice Man...

Increasing Earth's reflectiveness can cool the planet.In southern Spain the sudden increase of greenhouses(which reflect light back to space)has changed the warming trend locally,and actually cooled the region.While Spain...

In Peru,local farmers around a mountain with a glacier that has already fallen victim to climate change have begun painting the entire mountain peak white in the hope that the added reflectiveness will restore the life-giving ice.The outcome is still far from clear.But the World Bank has included the project on its list of“100 ideas to save the planet”.

More ordinary formsofadaptation are happening everywhere.A friend of mine...

68.What do we learn from the Peru example?

A.White paint is usually safe for buildings.

B.The global warming trend cannot be stopped.

C.This country is heating up too quickly.

D.Sunlight reflection may relieve global warming.

這是一篇人文社科類說(shuō)明文。文章舉例說(shuō)明了在全球變暖的情況下，人類應(yīng)該如何發(fā)揮聰明才智，以創(chuàng)新的方式（new approaches）適應(yīng)氣候變化。文章內(nèi)容新穎，結(jié)構(gòu)清晰，主題鮮明。文章結(jié)構(gòu)如下：

I n t r o d u c t i o n O l d p r o b l e m S o l u t i o n 1 P e o p l e a r e a d a p t i n g i n s u r p r i s i n g w a y s.S o l u t i o n 2 E l s e w h e r e i n A s i a e v e n m o r e a s t o n-i s h i n g a c t i o n s a r e b e i n g t a k e n.S o l u t i o n 3 I n c r e a s i n g E a r t h's r e f l e c t i v e n e s s c a n c o o l t h e p l a n e t.S o l u t i o n 4 M o r e o r d i n a r y f o r m s o f a d a p t a t i o n a r e h a p p e n i n g e v e r y w h e r e.

通過(guò)對(duì)文章結(jié)構(gòu)的把握，我們很容易發(fā)現(xiàn)the Peru example是對(duì)上一段的方法“Increasing Earth's reflectiveness can cool the planet.”具體實(shí)施的一個(gè)案例。因此，答案就可以非常容易選出。而很多同學(xué)只閱讀試題相關(guān)的段落，不顧及該段落在全文框架結(jié)構(gòu)中的位置，就很容易出現(xiàn)理解偏差、選錯(cuò)答案的情況。

【點(diǎn)石成金】了解文章的結(jié)構(gòu)，把握文章的脈絡(luò)，在閱讀中著眼全局（see the big picture）,避免只關(guān)注細(xì)節(jié)，能夠更加準(zhǔn)確和快速地解決問(wèn)題。

說(shuō)明文是高考英語(yǔ)閱讀理解題中的重點(diǎn)內(nèi)容。說(shuō)明文具有與自己特點(diǎn)相適應(yīng)的說(shuō)明方法，雖然，說(shuō)明文抽象度高，解題難度較大，但是，只要考生掌握說(shuō)明文的文章特點(diǎn)、篇章結(jié)構(gòu)、作者的行文脈絡(luò)和敘述方式，以冷靜的心態(tài)閱讀原文，重點(diǎn)突破長(zhǎng)句結(jié)構(gòu)特點(diǎn)和邏輯關(guān)系，對(duì)其做出準(zhǔn)確的語(yǔ)意理解，輕松解題便水到渠成。