阅读方法论七Question Patterns (1).doc

阅读方法论七Question Patterns (1)针对常见的国外考试GRE, GMAT, SAT和TOEFL阅读部分的考题，笔者把常考的题型进行了归纳总结，并且通过难题的举例，说明其解题的基本思路。I. Vocabulary Question词汇题在很多考试当中，其实考的不是词汇量的绝对大小，而是侧重于两个方面的考查：一是读者是否通过上下文把握住了信息间的内在相关性；二是读者是否了解词汇的一些文化背景。例如：With a shock Trabbs boy became aware of me, and severely visited as before; butthis time his motion was rotatory, andhe staggered round and round me with knees more afflicted, and with uplifted hands as if beseeching my mercy. （选择SAT官方指南）7. In context, the word ”visited” most nearly means(A) called on(B) resided temporarily with(C) haunted(D) afflicted(E) slump这道题目有相当的难度，其正确答案选的是D。显然这道题目就从上述的两个方面考查了考生：首先visited或visitation作为非常正式的带有宗教意味的用法可以表示punished or punishment by or from god，所以visited在这里表示受惩罚、折磨的意思；其次通过上面highlighted的文字，我们发现了as和分号表示前后分句具有相似关系，然后再通过but, and, more我们知道前后分句存在三个方面的差异，出现了前面没有的旋转，更加afflicted和出现前面没有的求饶的举手动作，所以结合这两个关系，我们知道visited只能和afflicted存在相似关系，从而它表示afflicted。那么怎样提高呢？笔者认为主要从以下两个方面：多读英文原版作品，从中了解各种词汇的文化寓意；Jane Austen: Emma, Mansfield, Pride and Prejudice; Elizabeth Gaskell: Mary Barton; D. H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers; Jacques Barzun: A Jacques Barzun Reader; Henry James: English Hour; Mark Twine: Old Times On The Mississippi; Mary Rowlandson: A True History of The Captivity and Restoration; Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; Frederick Douglass: Narrative of The Live等等。 学会从上下文的语言相关性推测词义，方法论可以参看方法论2。II. General Understanding Questions 与主旨相关的题型考查方式变化非常多，归纳起来主要有以下7种： Main idea: Ask what is the main idea or main point of the passage; Title: Ask reader to give the passage a suitable title; Purpose: Ask about the purpose of the author writing the passage; Organization: Ask about the organization of the passage or some parts of the passage; Further Application: Ask what audience the passage was probably intended for or what type of publication it probably appeared in; Ask which the following statement could be reasonably placed before or after the passage; Prose Summary: Demand reader to complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage; Fill in a Table: Require reader to complete the table by dragging correct answer choices to their correct locations in the table. This question type measures your ability to conceptualize and organize major ideas and other important information from across the passage and then to place them in appropriate categories.1. Main Idea能否做好文章的主旨题目关键在于两点：一是文章本身阅读的问题；二是如何读选项的问题。当然不同的考试其解答题目的规律也不尽一致。(1) GRE、GMAT考试对于GRE、GMAT考试中的短文章，我们主要是学会从文章找到观点，然后根据观点的关系确定谁是最重要的观点从而确定main idea。这里我们非常重视因果关系和由demonstrative pronouns or adjectives承上启下的关系。我们来看下面这个例子：In Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry does not reject integration or the economic and moral promise of the American dream; rather, she remains loyal to this dream while looking, realistically, at its incomplete realization. Once we recognize this dual vision, we can accept the plays ironic nuances as deliberate social commentaries by Hansberry rather than as the unintentional irony that Bigsby attributes to the work. Indeed a curiously persistent refusal to credit Hansberry with a capacity for intentional irony has led some critics to interpret the plays thematic conflicts as mere confusion, contradiction, or eclecticism. Isaacs, for example, cannot easily reconcile Hansberrys intense concern for her race with her ideal of human reconciliation. But the plays complex view of Black self-esteem and human solidarity as compatible is no more contradictory than Du Bois famous, well-considered ideal of ethnic self-awareness coexisting with human unity, or Fanons emphasis on an ideal internationalism that also accommodates national identities and roles.1. The authors primary purpose in this passage is to(A) explain some critics refusal to consider Raisin in the Sun a deliberately ironic play(B) suggest that ironic nuances ally Raisin in the Sun with Du Bois and Fanons writings(C) analyze the fundamental dramatic conflicts in Raisin in the Sun(D) justify the inclusion of contradictory elements in Raisin in the Sun(E) affirm the thematic coherence underlying Raisin in the Sun这道题目选的是E。注意文章中的划线部分的关键词。Once和this的出现，让我们明白了这里存在上述的承上启下的指示关系，也就是说第一句话虽然是观点句，对Lorraine Hansberry做出了判断，但这样的判断服务于第二句话，所以第二句话的观点（deliberate social commentaries）比第一句的观点（dual vision）重要。而第三句话中led to的出现以及它和第二句话的关系，我们发现：第二句话的观点是导致第三句话的观点性判断（interpret the plays thematic conflicts as mere confusion, contradiction, or eclecticism）的原因。换句话说，第三句话的观点判断更加重要。再加上后面for example引导的反例的指示，和but、compatible的正态度的给出，我们可以清楚地知道这篇短文的中心讨论的不是dual vision，也不是deliberate ironic，而是thematic conflicts是否和谐的问题。阅读方法论七Question Patterns (3)II. General Understanding Questions1. Main Idea(1) GRE、GMAT考试对于GRE、GMAT考试中的短文章，我们主要是学会从文章找到观点，然后根据观点的关系确定谁是最重要的观点从而确定main idea。这里我们非常重视因果关系和由demonstrative pronouns or adjectives承上启下的关系。我们来看下面这个例子（例子参看上期文章阅读方法论七Question Patterns (1)） 而对于GRE、GMAT的长文章，我们主要是重视文章首段和二段的阅读。GRE、GMAT的长文章一般在结构可以分为两个大类：评论型文章（Evaluative）和说明型文章（Expository）。根据文章的写作目的，我们又可以细分为四个大类，六个小类，参看下表：Viewpoints Conflicting PatternsDifferent ViewpointsOpposing ArgumentsPersuasive PatternsEstablishmentDisagreementExpository PatternsExpositoryDescriptive + Evaluative PatternsDescriptive plus EvaluativeExample 1: Different ViewpointsExample 2: Opposing ArgumentsTraditionally, pollination by wind has been viewed as a reproductive process marked by random events in which the vagaries of the wind are compensated for by the generation of vast quantities of pollen, so that the ultimate production of new seeds is assured at the expense of producing much more pollen than is actually used. Because the potential hazards pollen grains are subject to as they are transported over long distances are enormous, wind-pollinated plants have, in the view above, compensated for the ensuing loss of pollen through happenstance by virtue of producing an amount of pollen that is one to three orders of magnitude greater than the amount produced by species pollinated by insects.However, a number of features that are characteristics of wind-pollinated plants reduce pollen waste. For example, many wind-pollinated species fail to release pollen when wind speeds are low or when humid conditions prevail. Recent studies suggest another way in which species compensate for the inefficiency of wind-pollination. 通过上面文章首段、二段我们已经标记好的重点内容（Traditionally和viewed as表明了传统观点的提出，而because的出现标志着对老观点的因果解释和说明，however和for example的出现都表明二段首句是一个重要的观点，而another的出现表明转折后的观点的表现可以包括两个方面），我们可以清楚地知道，这篇文章出现了两个观点：一个观点认为风媒植物为了确保授粉的成功一定要通过大量的浪费来实现；而另一个观点认为风媒植物为了确保授粉的成功其实可以通过一些特点来实现并减少浪费。所以这两个观点是一种补充关系。而下面的主旨题目要正确一定要出现focus: wind-pollinated and pollen waste。另外一定要强调转折后的观点，即减少浪费。The author of the passage is primarily concerned with discussing(A) the current debate on whether the morphological attributes of wind-pollinated plants are evolutionary adaptations(B) the kinds of airflow patterns that permit wind-pollinated plants to capture pollen most efficiently(C) the ways in which the reproductive processes of wind-pollinated plants are controlled by random events(D) a recently proposed explanation of a way in which wind-pollinated plants reduce pollen waste(E) a specific morphological attribute that permits one species of wind-pollinated plant to capture pollen选项A的内容与前两段内容没有关联，不可能是中心，因为学术化文章的中心一定会在前面的段落中出现；选项B过于具体而且还出现了most efficiently这样莫须有的最高级，错；选项C是属于老看法，错；选项E 从specific morphological attribute看出是细节不是观点句，也错；只有选项D符合减少浪费这一中心，所以选D。Example 3: EstablishmentThomas Hardys impulses as a writer, all of which he indulged in his novels, were numerous and divergent, and they did not always work together in harmony. Hardy was to some degree interested in exploring his characters psychologies, though impelled less by curiosity than by sympathy. Occasionally he felt the impulse to comedy (in all its detached coldness) as well as the impulse to farce, but he was more often inclined to see tragedy and record it. He was also inclined to literary realism in the several senses of that phrase. He wanted to describe ordinary human beings; he wanted to speculate on their dilemmas rationally (and, unfortunately, even schematically); and he wanted to record precisely the material universe. Finally, he wanted to be more than a realist. He wanted to transcend what he considered to be the banality of solely recording things exactly and to express as well his awareness of the occult and the strange.In his novels these various impulses were sacrificed to each other inevitably and often.通过上面文章首段我们已经标记好的重点内容（were numerous and divergent的判断，always限定词也伴随着观点的提出not work together in harmony），所以我们判定这篇文章应该是立论型的文章，再通过首段首句之后的内容的阅读我们发现，occasionally, also, finally等词引导的内容其实就是为了体现Thomas Hardys impulses的多而杂乱这一特征。接着我们发现二段首句的内容sacrificed to each other inevitably and often与not work together in harmony是相互呼应的，由此映证了我们前面的判定。所以这篇文章的中心是围绕着Hardy Novelistic Impulses的特点多而杂，没有很好协调这两个特征来阐述的。由此下面的题目我们可以轻松地判定答案选D。需要注意的是，命题题型关键是看下面选项的主干是不是和文章的focus吻合，而不是通过自己的思考来判断。Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage, based on its content?A. Under the Greenwood Tree: Hardys Ambiguous TriumphB. The Real and the Strange: The Novelists Shifting RealmsC. Energy Versus Repose: The Role of ordinary people in Hardy fictionD. Hardy Novelistic Impulses: The problems of controlE. Divergent Impulses: The Issue of Unity in the Novel 需要注意的是，命题题型关键是看下面选项的主干是不是和文章的focus吻合，而不是通过自己的思考来判断。既然我们这篇文章的中心是Hardy Novelistic Impulses，所以答案就只有可能选D。阅读方法论七Question Patterns (4)II. General Understanding Questions1. Main Idea(1) GRE、GMAT考试对于GRE、GMAT考试中的短文章，我们主要是学会从文章找到观点，然后根据观点的关系确定谁是最重要的观点从而确定main idea。这里我们非常重视因果关系和由demonstrative pronouns or adjectives承上启下的关系。我们来看下面这个例子（例子参看上期文章阅读方法论七Question Patterns (1)） 而对于GRE、GMAT的长文章，我们主要是重视文章首段和二段的阅读。GRE、GMAT的长文章一般在结构可以分为两个大类：评论型文章（Evaluative）和说明型文章（Expository）。根据文章的写作目的，我们又可以细分为四个大类，六个小类，参看下表：Viewpoints Conflicting PatternsDifferent ViewpointsOpposing ArgumentsPersuasive PatternsEstablishmentDisagreementExpository PatternsExpositoryDescriptive + Evaluative PatternsDescriptive plus EvaluativeExample 1: Different ViewpointsExample 2: Opposing ArgumentsExample 3: EstablishmentExample 4: DisagreementPresent-day philosophers usually envision their discipline as an endeavor that has been, since antiquity, distinct from and superior to any particular intellectual discipline, such as theology or science. Such philosophical concerns as the mind-body problem or, more generally, the nature of human knowledge they believe, are basic human questions whose tentative philosophical solutions have served as the necessary foundations on which all other intellectual speculation has rested. The basis for this view, however, lies in a serious misinterpretation of the past, a projection of modern concerns onto past events. The idea of an autonomous discipline called “philosophy,” distinct from and sitting in judgment on such pursuits as theology and science turns out, on close examination, to be of quite recent origin.通过上面文章首段和二段当中，我们已经标记好的重点内容（usually envision和believe引出了Present-day philosophers的观点看法，接着however和serious misinterpretation的出现，表明了作者予以驳斥的态度，并且针锋相对地通过turns out, on close examination, to be提出作者完全相反的观点），所以我们判定这篇文章应该是驳论型的文章。基于上述的分析，我们在做下面的主旨题时，采用的方法是：首先确定哪个选项与老观点直接相关，接着看它是否对老观点做出了取非。Which of the following best expresses the authors main point?(A) Philosophys overriding interest in basic human questions is a legacy primarily of the work of Kant.(B) Philosophy was deeply involved in the seventeenth-century warfare between science and religion.(C) The set of problems of primary importance to philosophers has remained relatively constant since antiquity.(D) The status of philosophy as an independent intellectual pursuit is a relatively recent development.(E) The role of philosophy in guiding intellectual speculation has gradually been usurped by science.由于老观点是：哲学作为一种学科，它自古以来就是独立于并且高于任何其它学科的。所以选项A、B、C、E的内容都与老观点没有直接关联性，直接就被删除掉了。而选项D中的status与老观点中的superior相关，independent与老观点中的distinct from相关，intellectual pursuit与老观点中的endeavor相关，relatively recent development是对老观点的自古以来进行了直接的反击与二段作者的观点turns out, on close examination, to be of quite recent origin一致。所以正确答案选D。对于驳论型文章，其驳斥的观点在GRE和GMAT考试中存在一定的规律，虽然不能称之为可靠的方法，但是也仍然可以以技巧的形式帮助考生。 Viewpoint of the past, 伴随着过去时间点提出的观点容易被驳斥； Traditional viewpoint, 伴随着traditionally等表示传统认为的观点容易被驳斥； Appeal to authority, 权威人士所提出的观点容易被驳斥； Appeal to bandwagon; 伴随着most people, most scientists等提出的观点容易被驳斥； 用likely等possibility signals提出的观点容易被驳斥； 反对今人的角度看古人，反对用政治标准评价文学作品; Set prejudice: 对马克思、恩格斯的观点，对进化论的看法，对弗洛伊德的观点容易驳斥；相反对弱势群体（妇女、少数民族、黑人、小孩）的观点和作品一般都比较认同。 另外需要说明的是，因为Expository的文章在结构上就是在前两大类文章的基础上，增加了关于现象或问题说明的内容，所以我们不用单独再做主题的分析了。而Descriptive & Evaluative的文章一般没有非常统一的观点，其特点就是针对一个focus，不断地对其某个方面做出描述和提出针对这一个方面的观点或者评价，所以此类文章一般不会设置主旨题。阅读方法论七Question Patterns (5)II. General Understanding Questions1. Main Idea(1) GRE、GMAT考试(2) TOEFL考试Pattern 1: Prose Summary首先我们来了解一下托福考试对观点考查的形式和要求，然后根据托福考试的特点提出针对性的策略：An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided here. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 pointsDespite a lack of written information about the Underground Railroad, there is still quite a bit that has been discovered about the individuals who ran and used it and about the difficulties they encountered. Answer Choices The 13th amendment, adopted on December 18, 1865, after the end of the Civil War, made the institution of slavery officially illegal Dangers to slaves on the Railroad were many, and escapees were forced to consider factors such as timing, age, and ability to conceal themselves before undertaking the journey. Harriet Tubman, a famous escaped slave, made at least 20 trips on the Underground Railroad Daily living conditions for slaves using the Underground Railroad were extremely harsh The stationmasters and conductors who helped slaves escape came from diverse backgrounds Sadly, many of those who helped slaves on the Underground Railroad were arrested and jailed首先，从题目考查的要求6选3，我们来分析一下托福阅读文章的特点：现在的托福阅读文章很多都是Expository和Historical的文章，Evaluative的文章很少。这就造成了文章很少有统一全文的中心句，每个段落相对独立，并且都会给出各自重要的观点、看法或总结。所以托福阅读文章的阅读过程应该采取以下的方式：（1）仔细阅读每一段，并立即完成相应段落的题目；（2）在草稿纸上写下每一段重要观点、看法或总结的关键字；（3）当完成所有段落的阅读后，就可以根据草稿纸上写下的关键字顺利完成最后的这道Prose Summary的题目了。其次，根据题干的要求：Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage。我们知道，这种题目选择答案的标准其实是两条：一是正确，二是必须是观点。所以在看选项时，首先应该关注每个选项的主干部分的表述是观点还是事实。The 13th amendment made the institution of slavery officially illegal. 这是事实性表述；Dangers were many and escapees were forced to consider factors. 这是观点和总结性表述；Harriet Tubman made at least 20 trips on the Underground Railroad. 这是事实性表述；Daily living conditions were extremely harsh. 这是观点性表述；The stationmasters and conductors came from diverse backgrounds. 这是总结性表述；Sadly, many were arrested and jailed. 这是事实性表述。 通过上面的分析我们很容易就发现这道题目的答案只能选择第二、四、五选项了。第三，解决这种题目还有一个比较好的切入点在于，题目给了考生一个示范性的例子，很多情况下我们可以根据这个例子的相关内容来验证自己选的答案是否正确。Despite a lack of written information about the Underground Railroad, there is still quite a bit that has been discovered about the individuals who ran and used it and about the difficulties they encountered. 从这个示范性的例子的主干部分，我们得知这篇文章的重要观点之一就是要去发掘与Underground Railroad有关的参与人和他们所遇到的困难。所以第一个选项的主干内容The 13th amendment made the institution of slavery officially illegal与示例无关，可以直接排除掉。最后，关于托福此类题型的考试界面做以下说明：（1）这类题目出现时，文章和题目不能在同一界面看到，只可能通过屏幕上方增加的一个按键在题目和文章之间进行切换，这就是需要大家在草稿纸上做笔记的原因，因为过去频繁地切换会严重影响我们对文章的理解和观点的寻找；（2）此类题目，考生拖动选项的先后顺序不会影响判分，也就是说只要考生拖的三个选项正确，其拖动的顺序并不重要。（3）这类题目并非拖错一个选项就会将所有分数全部扣除，其详细的评分的规则如下：Correct NumberScore32210-10阅读方法论七Question Patterns (6)II. General Understanding Questions1. Main Idea(1) GRE、GMAT考试(2) TOEFL考试Pattern 1: Prose SummaryPattern 2: Filling the Table首先我们来了解一下托福考试对结构信息考查的形式和要求，然后根据托福考试的特点提出针对性的策略：Now, using the skill of skimming, select the appropriate phrases from the answer choices. Match them to the type of small machine to which they relate. TWO of the answer choices will NOT be used. This question