例谈科普类阅读理解突破策略

例谈科普类阅读理解突破策略编者按：阅读理解的材料有很多种，科普类阅读是相对比较难的，因为它会涉及很多专业名词，晦涩难懂，下面我们就跟随陈老师的脚步来突破科普类阅读理解题。综观2012年各地高考英语试卷中的阅读理解部分，我们不难发现：科普类文章以其清晰的逻辑，严密的选词，已经成为阅读试题中不可或缺的一个组成部分。这类文章往往来源于国外一些面向大众的社科类和科普类刊物，如Science（科学），Discovery（发现）等，反映的是当今人类最先进的科学技术水平和最新的科研成果，内容涉及新兴技术和产品、生物医学、环境保护等。同学们通常觉得这类文章晦涩难懂，很难产生阅读的兴趣，容易在阅读初期就放弃。因此，掌握科普类文章的阅读方法和应试技巧就显得尤为重要。一、理清脉络，整体感知文章科普类文章的主题十分明确，常常在首段就直接引出所介绍的事物，补充一些背景知识，然后介绍其具体特征、研究方式等，最后再做一个总结或者展望今后的发展前景。因此，同学们要利用skimmingandscanning（略读和寻读）两种阅读方式快速浏览全文，理清文章的脉络，关注出现频率高的概念性名词，不要被个别词或难句困住。然后重点抓住4个部分（首段的首尾句以及末段的首尾句），就可以很快地了解文章的说明对象大概是什么，或者感知到作者对此事物的基本态度。这样一来，所设置的题目中有关于主旨大意、标题或者是作者的态度的题目，就可以迎刃而解。例如：Harvardresearchershavecreatedatough，low?cost，biodegradable（可生物降解的）materialinspiredbyinsectshardoutershells.Thematerialsinventorssayithasanumberofpossibleusesandsomedaycouldprovideamoreenvironmentallyfriendlyalternativetoplastic.Thematerial，madefromshrimp（虾）shellsandproteinsproducedfromsilk，iscalled“shrilk”.Itisthin，clear，flexibleandstrong.（2012湖南卷C篇）Whichofthefollowingcanbethebesttitleforthepassage？A.RecentProgressinEnvironmentalProtectionB.BenefitsofInsectsinScientificResearchC.TheHarmofOne?timeProductsD.APossibleAlternativetoPlastic分析：本文介绍了科学家们正在研究的一种更为环保，叫做shrilk的新型的塑料替代产品。可以根据第一段中的low?cost，biodegradable和environmentallyfriendly得知正确答案为A。二、着眼细节，局部筛选信息阅读科普类文章需要较强的辨别和筛选信息的能力。近几年的高考细节题考查已由过去简单的对号入座直接答题，转向通过语句的同义或反义转换来考查同学们对英语语言的理解能力，因此同学们需要加强对细节信息的捕捉、理解和分析能力，特别注意试题（包括选项）与原文之间的适当变换。同学们可以先浏览一下题目，找出关键词，然后快速定位到主体部分相应段落进行细读。例如：“Predictingspeciesreactiontoclimatechangeisamajorchallengeinecology，”saidtheresearchesofseveralU.S.universities.Theysaidplantshadbeenthekeyobjectofstudybecausetheirreactiontoclimatechangecouldhaveaneffectonfoodchainsandecosystemservices.（2012四川卷E篇）Scientistspayspecialattentiontothestudyofplantsbecause.A.theycanprovetheclimatechangeclearlyB.theyareveryimportantinthefoodchainsC.theyplayaleadingroleinreducingglobalwarmingD.theyaregrowingandfloweringmuchfasterthanbefore分析：本题的关键是要能找准定位词，能够通过分析理解定位词的不同表达方式。先确定本题的定位词为“payspecialattentiontothestudy”，该词与本句话中的“thekeyobjectofstudy”相符。找准目标后，仔细分析本句话，即可发觉文中的“haveaneffectonfoodchainsandecosystemservices”和答案B相一致。三、分析结构，重点突破难句在科普类文章中，为了客观地描述事物、避免武断，并严密地表达自己的思想，作者经常会使用集多种语法现象于一体的长句。所以，同学们在平时学习时，一定要对三大从句（定语从句、状语从句、名词性从句）、非谓语结构、倒装结构、结构等语法知识熟练掌握。在阅读科普类文章时，要抓住句子的主干，忽略纷繁芜杂的修饰，这样句子意思就会简单清楚得多，有利于较好地理解文章。Thesnowshoehare，ontheotherhand，hasacolorissue.Mostoftheserabbitschangetheirfurcolorfromwhiteinthewintertimetobrowninthesummer，eachdesignedtogivethembettercoverfrompredators（捕食者）.Asthenumberofdayswithsnowdecreasesallacrossthecountry；however，moreandmorebunniesarebeingleftinwhitefurduringbrowndirtdaysofbothfallandspring，makingthemaneasiermarkforpredators.Researchersknowthatthecolorchangeiscontrolledbythenumberofhoursofsunlight，butwhethertherabbitwillbeabletoadaptquickenoughtosurviveisabigquestion.TheNationalWildlifeFederationhasreportedthathuntershavenoticedtheirnumbersarealreadymarkedlydown.（2012浙江卷A篇）Accordingtothepassage，somerabbitscannowbeeasilydiscoveredbypredatorsbecausethey.A.areexposedtomoreskillfulhuntersB.havemovedtohabitatswithfewerplantsC.haventadaptedthemselvestoclimatechangeD.cantchangetheirfurcolorintowhiteinthefallandthespring分析：该题的答案源于本小节的第三句话“Asthenumber.predators”。这句话较为复杂，包含了一个由as引导的状语从句，和由分词making引出的结果状语。在做本题时，同学们应首先通过题干中的predators快速定位到本句话。然后抓住句子主干“bunniesarebeingleftinwhitefur”，了解越来越多的兔子在春秋两季仍为白色皮毛，没有改变颜色，从而得出答案C，即没能适应气候的变化。总而言之，正如科普类文章本身的严谨准确一样，同学们做题时也应该极力忠实于原文，查源辩证。只有在忠实于原文的基础上结合自己的常识、价值观和阅读经验，才能对阅读内容作出合理的分析与评价。【跟踪练习】Areyouamorninglarkoranightowl？Scientistsusethatsimplifiedcategorizationtoexplainthatdifferentpeoplehavedifferentinternalbodyclocks，commonlycalledcircadianclocks.Sleep?wakecycles，digestiveactivities，andmanyotherphysiologicalprocessesarecontrolledbytheseclocks.Inrecentyears，researchershavefoundthatinternalbodyclockscanalsoaffecthowpatientsreacttodrugs.Butphysicianshavenotbeenabletoexploitthesefindingsbecausedetermininginternalbodytimeis，well，timeconsuming.Itsalsocumbersome.Themostestablishedandreliablemethodrequirestakingbloodsamplesfromapatienthourlyandtrackinglevelsofthehormonemelatonin，whichpreviousresearchhastiedcloselytointernalbodytime.NowaJapanesegrouphascomeupwithanalternativemethodofdetermininginternalbodytimebyconstructingwhatitcallsamoleculartimetablebasedonlevelsinbloodsamplesofmorethan50metaboliteshormonesandaminoacidsthatresultfrombiologicalactivity.Theresearchersestablishedamoleculartimetablebasedonsamplesfromthreesubjectsandvalidateditusingtheconventionalmelatoninmeasurement.Theythenusedthattimetabletodeterminetheinternalbodytimesofothersubjectsbycheckingthelevelsofthemetabolitesinjusttwobloodsamplesfromeachsubjectperday.Havingsuchatimetablecouldallowdoctorstosynchronizedrugdeliverytointernalbodytime，theteamreportsonlinetodayintheProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences.“Usuallypersonalizedmedicineisfocusingongeneticdifferences，buttherearealsotemporaldifferencesamongpatients.Thatwillbethenextstepinpersonalizedmedicine，”sayssystemsbiologistHirokiUedaoftheRIKENCenterforDevelopmentalBiologyinKobe，Japan，whoheadstheresearchgroup.“Inprinciple，themethodholdsgreatpromiseasawayofreplacingthecumbersomemelatoninassay，”saysStevenBrown，amolecularbiologistattheUniversityofZurichinSwitzerland.“Theauthorsshowinasmall?scale，well?controlledexperimentthattheyareabletopredictinternalbodytimewithinaprecisionframeof3hours，”saysUrsAlbrechtoftheUniversityofFribourginSwitzerland.Bothresearcherssayfurtherworkwillbenecessarytomakethetechniquemorepracticalandmorewidelyapplicable，andUedaagrees.Theexperimentalsubjectswereallyoungmen，anddifferentmoleculartimetablesarelikelyneededforwomenandforpeopleofdifferentages.Hewouldalsoliketoimprovetheprecisionandmakeitreliablewithjustonebloodsampleperday.1.ThefollowingdescriptionsaboutmoleculartimetablearetrueEXCEPT“”A.Itwasthemostestablishedandreliablemethod.B.ItwasputforwardbyagroupofJapanesescientists.C.Itmadeitpossibleforresearcherstodetermineinternalbodytime.D.Italloweddoctorstosynchronizedrugdeliverytointernalbodytime.2.Whatisthemainideaofthelastparagraph？A.Themethodhasapromisingfuture.B.Asmall?scale，well?controlledexperimentcantbereliable.C.Furtherworkisneededtoassuretheprecisionandreliablityofthemethod.D.Themethodcannotpredictinternalbodytimeofwomenandtheold.3.TheunderlinedwordinParagraph4refersto.A.focusingongeneticdifferencesB.focusingontemporaldifferencesC.establishingamoleculartimetableD.validatingthemoleculartimetable4.Whatisthemainpurposeofthistext？A.Tocallonpeopletopaymoreattentiontotheinternalbodyclocks.B.Tointroducedanewmethodofdetermininginternalbodytime.C.Toprovethatthepatientsreactiontothedrugsisaffectedbythetimetheytakeit.D.Toaskphysicianstoimprovetheprecisionofthenewmethod.5.Wherecanyouprobablyfindthetext？A.Inanofficialreport.B.Inaphysicstextbook.C.Inacopyofscientificnewspaper.D.Inatouristguidebook.答案与解析1.A。本题首先要注意题目的要求是选择一个错误的描述，这是很多学生容易忽略的地方。抓住moleculartimetable一词进行定位，选项B和C与文章第三小节的第一句话相一致，选项D的依据在第四小节的第一句话。而根据第二小节的第三句话，可以得出A选项是错误的。2.C。最后一小节是对该项研究的总