閱讀理解文章基本上是說明文，議論文。而這類體裁的文章少不了用例子、事實(shí)來說明觀點(diǎn)。因此往往會(huì)碰到要求推測(cè)文章舉例的目的(這些例子要說明什么觀點(diǎn))的題目。如

　　The example of…is given to show/illustrate that .

　　What can be inferred from the author's example of…?

　　The experiment/study suggests/shows that .

　　例證題為三級(jí)閱讀理解的�？键c(diǎn)之一，所以閱讀時(shí)對(duì)于for example, for instance, such as, as等引出的例子可以注意，劃出這幾個(gè)提示詞，以便做題時(shí)查找。這類題的基本結(jié)構(gòu)為The author provides in Line…(或Paragraph…)an example in order to…，意思是問文中舉出某現(xiàn)象或例子的目的。由于三級(jí)閱讀理解文章大都是說明文和議論文，所以文章中舉出一些例子無非是為了說明一定的道理。關(guān)鍵在于這個(gè)例子在原文出現(xiàn)的位置，但不管如何，這個(gè)例子之前或之后不遠(yuǎn)處通常都有一句總結(jié)說明性的話，這句話就是答案，即被例證的對(duì)象。如果例子與全文主題有關(guān)，則例證主題，答案為主題句;如果例子與段落主題有關(guān)，那就是例證段落主題，則答案為段落主題句;此外，答案為例子前后總結(jié)說明性的話。做例證題的注意事項(xiàng)如下。

　　1.illustrate(例證)、give an example(舉例)、verify(證實(shí))等不同表達(dá)法在題干或選項(xiàng)中并不影響答案。

　　2.假如題干問的是某一具體事物，其所在的句子就是例證的內(nèi)容。例子為句段的，通常為兩種模式：a.先總結(jié)說明，再舉例子(例證)，總結(jié)說明后有時(shí)伴有提示詞，如for instance, for example等;b.先舉例子(例證)，再總結(jié)說明，總結(jié)說明前有時(shí)伴有提示詞，如thus, therefore, in conclusion, as a result等。

　　3.注意例證所在的段落主題句。如果例證所在段有概括段落思想的主題句，就首先讀這個(gè)主題句，看它的意思和問題下四個(gè)選擇項(xiàng)哪項(xiàng)意思一致。一致的那個(gè)就是答案，不要去讀具體例證了。因?yàn)榕e例的目的是為了說明觀點(diǎn)，而段落中的例子大多是說明段落主題思想的。

　　Faces, like fingerprints, are unique. Did you ever wonder how it is possible for us to recognize people? Even a skilled writer probably could not describe all the features that make one face different from another. Yet a very young child--or even an animal, such as a pigeon-can learn to recognize faces, we all take this ability for granted.

　　We also tell people apart by how they behave. When we talk about someone's per-sonality, we mean the ways in which he or she acts, speaks, thinks and feels that make that individual different from others.

　　Like the human face, human personality is very complex. But describing someone's personality in words is somewhat easier than describing his face. If you were asked to describe what a "nice face" looked like, you probably would have a diffi- cult time doing so. But if you were asked to describe a "nice person", you might begin to think about someone who was kind, considerate, friendly, warm, and so forth.

　　There are many words to describe how a person thinks, feels and acts. Gordon Allport, an American psychologist, found nearly 18,000 English words characterizing differences in people's behavior. And many of us use this information as a basis for de- scribing, or typing his personality. Bookworms, conservatives, military types—people are described with such terms.

　　People have always tried to "type"each other. Actors in early Greek drama wore masks to show the audience whether they played the villain's (壞人) or the hero's role. In fact, the words "person"and "personality"come from the Latin persona, meaning "mask". Today, most television and movie actors do not wear masks. But we can easily tell the "good guys"from the "bad guys"because the two types differ in ap-pearance as well as in actions.

　　By using the example of finger prints, the author tells us that

　　A. people can learn to recognize faces

　　B. people have different personalities

　　C. people have difficulty in describing the features of finger prints

　　D. people differ from each other in facial features

　　這是一道例證題，實(shí)際上考的是對(duì)文章首句的理解：Faces, like fingerprints, are unique(人的面孔像指紋一樣獨(dú)一無二)，由此可知D項(xiàng)為正確答案：各人的面孔各不相同。

　　4.注意例證上下文、上下旬的作者觀點(diǎn)。如果例證所在段沒有主題句或例證本身就是一段，就要看例證上面一段或句、下面一段或句有否相關(guān)的歸納性的作者觀點(diǎn)。如果這個(gè)作者觀點(diǎn)和問題中的某一個(gè)選擇項(xiàng)意思一致，那就是答案，也不要去讀具體例證了。