做閱讀理解題目時(shí)常碰到如下這樣的問題。

　　The word "it" in line× most probably refers to .

　　In line×, the word "one" could best be replaced by .

　　What does the word "they" in line×refer to ?

　　這里所說的指代，主要是指代詞的指代。

　　代詞指代總的原則是就近指代：指代在性(陰性或陽性)、數(shù)(單數(shù)或復(fù)數(shù))、格(主格或賓格)、邏輯、意義、位置等方面與之接近的名詞。就位置而言，如上所述，代詞所指代的名詞通常在本句或其上句之中;就數(shù)而言，單數(shù)代詞指代單數(shù)名詞，復(fù)數(shù)代詞指代復(fù)數(shù)名詞，例如：it指代單數(shù)名詞(單數(shù)可數(shù)名詞或不可數(shù)名詞)，也可指代一個(gè)句子;they指代復(fù)數(shù)名詞主格;them指代復(fù)數(shù)名詞賓格;one指代單數(shù)可數(shù)名詞等。除了位置、性、數(shù)和格等方面的要求外，邏輯和意義也是衡量的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，也就是說，正確的答案應(yīng)該從意義(主要指語法搭配)上和邏輯(主要指思想內(nèi)容)上都說得通。

　　通過單數(shù)和復(fù)數(shù)做題

　　就it來說，指代有兩種情況。

　　1.指代單數(shù)詞或詞組

　　例如，He poured into his writings all the pain of his life, the fierce hatred of the bourgeoise that it had produced in him, and the conviction it had brought to him that the world could be made a better place to live in.

　　it不能指代復(fù)數(shù)的his writings，從語法規(guī)則，能指代的只有the pain of his life，也即the fierce hatred of the bourgeoise that it (the pain of his life) had produced in him, and the conviction it (the pain of his life) had brought to him…

　　2.指代句子意思

　　例如，Long afterwards the U-2 pilot recalled that when got into trouble he was asked whether he was an American."It seemed," he said,"pointless to deny it."

　　這里的it就是指代前面he was an American整個(gè)句子的意思。也即It seemed pointless to deny that l was an American.

　　就they和them來說，盡管指代的必須是復(fù)數(shù)名詞，但具體的指代也有兩種情況。

　　一是有生命的，如復(fù)數(shù)男的，復(fù)數(shù)女的，以及復(fù)數(shù)動(dòng)植物;二是無生命的東西。在中文分別用他們、她們和它們指代，英語中都用they，them。如Some of the bigger firms are engaged in researches which are of such general and fundamental nature that it is a positive advantage to them not to keep them secret.

　　句中有兩個(gè)them，符合指代條件的有firms和researches。根據(jù)句子意思，第一個(gè)them指代firms;第二個(gè)them是指代researches，也即it is a positive advantage to them (the bigger firms) not to keep them (researches) secret.(不保密這些研究肯定對大公司是有利的。)

　　至于one，也有既可指代有生命的又可指代無生命的，但能夠被one指代的必須是不可數(shù)名詞。而且one還可以是one person的簡略形式，也就是說先行詞可以不出現(xiàn)，直接用one。

　　例如，There will be no heroics in a war where the safest place will be the front line, if there is one, and the most dangerous the house of our civilization population.

　　句中的one就是指代無生命the safest place。也即if there is one (the safest place)。

　　再如，My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable.句中的the one就是指代有生命的9eneration。

　　例

　　In most situations where music is performed in our culture it is not difficult to dis-tinguish the audience from the performers, but such is often not the case in Africa. Alban Ayipaga, a Kasena semiprofessional musician from northern Ghana, says that when his flute(長笛) and drum ensemble(歌舞團(tuán))is performing. "Anybody can take part.. " This is true, but Kasena musicians recognize that not all people are equally ca-pable of taking part in the music. Some can sing along with the drummers, but rela-tively few can drum and even fewer can play the flute along with the ensemble. It is fairly common in Africa for there to be an ensemble of expert musicians surrounded by others who join in by clapping, singing, or somehow adding to the totality of musical sound. Performances often take place in an open area (that is, not on a stage) and so the lines between the performing nucleus and the additional performers, active specta-tors, and passive spectators may be difficult to draw from our point of view.

　　The word "such" (Line 2) refers to the fact that

　　A. music is performed with the participation of the audience

　　B. music is performed without the participation of the audience

　　C. people tend to distinguish the audience from the performers

　　D. people have records, television sets and radio to fulfill their musical needs

　　such可以就近指代上文的名詞或一個(gè)句子，在這里指代前一分句的主句：it is not difficult to distinguish the audience from the performers(不難區(qū)分演員和觀眾)，這是我們文化里的情況，與非洲文化里的情況相反，因?yàn)椤皊uch”所在的句子說：but such is often not the case in Africa。而根據(jù)文章后半部分的敘述，在非洲文化的音樂表演中觀眾積極參與，反之，我們文化里的音樂表演中就沒有觀眾參與，因此B為正確答案。C說的是人們傾向于區(qū)分演員與觀眾，與原文是否難以區(qū)分意思不符，所以應(yīng)該排除。

　　例

　　The statuses we assume often vary with the people we encounter，and change throughout life.Most of US can，at very high speed, assume the statuses that various situations require.Much of social interaction consists of identifying and selecting among appropriate statuses and allowing other people to assume their statuses in relation to us.This means that we fit our actions to those of other people based on a con-stant mental process of appraisal and interpretation.Although some of US find the task more difficult than others，most of US perform it.rather effortlessly.

　　In the last sentence of this paragraph.the pronoun "it" refers to

　　A.fitting our actions to those of other people appropriately

　　B.identification of other people’s statuses

　　C.selecting one’S own statuses

　　D.constant mental process

　　“it”所在的句子為：Although some of us find the task more difficult than others，most of us perform it rather effortlessly.由這個(gè)句子可知，兩個(gè)分句結(jié)構(gòu)相同，而且前一分句的find與后一分句的兩個(gè)動(dòng)詞處于同等位置上，因此這屬于上述一句話內(nèi)部指代的第二種情況：一句話中并列動(dòng)詞的賓語代詞指代的是第一個(gè)動(dòng)詞后的名詞，那么it指代task，而task又指的是上一句：This means that we fit our actions to those of oth-er people based on a constant mental process of appraisal and interpretation中that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句的內(nèi)容，因此A為正確答案。

　　3.兩句話間指代

　�、偌偃绲诙�句話的代詞主語指代前一句話的名詞主語，表示剛才談?wù)摰脑掝}仍在延續(xù)。例如：假如第一句話使用了there引導(dǎo)的表示存在的句型，那么第二句話的代詞主語指代前一句里的名詞主語;

　�、诩偃绲诙�句話的代詞主語指代第一句話就近的名詞概念，那么第一句話的名詞概念為第二句的新概念，即第二句所要談?wù)摰膬?nèi)容;

　　③this和that既可以指代單數(shù)名詞，也可以指代它們之前的句子。

　　例

　　Just seven years a90，the Jarvik一7 artificial heart was being cheered as the model of human creativeness.The sight of Barney Clark--alive and conscious after trading his diseased heart for a metal—and—plastic pump--convinced the press，the public and many doctors that the future had arrived.It hadn’t.After monitoring production of the Jarvik一7, and reviewing its effects on the l 50 0r so patients (most of whom got the device as a temporary measure) the U.S.Food and Drug Administration concluded that the machine was doing more to endanger lives than to save them.Last week the agency cancelled its earlier approval，effectively banning(禁止)the device.

　　The recall may hurt Symbion Inc，maker of the Jarvik-7，but it won’t end the request for an artificial heart.One problem with the banned model is that the tubes connecting it to an external power source created a passage for infection(感染). Inventors are now working on new devices that would be fully placed, along with a tiny power pack, in the patient's chest. The first sample products aren't expected for another 10 or 20 years. But some people are already worrying that they'll work--and that America's overextended health-care pro-grams will lose a precious $ 2.5 billion to $ 5 billion a year providing them for a relatively few dying patients. If such expenditures (開支) cut into funding for more basic care, the net effect could actually be a decline in the nation's health.

　　The word "them" in Para. 2 refers to

　　A. doctors who treat heart diseases

　　B. makers of artificial hearts

　　C. America's health-care programs

　　D. new models of artificial hearts

　　“them”所在的句子與其上句為：The first sample products aren’t expected for another 10 0r 20 years.But some people are already worrying that they’ll work--and that America’s overextended health-care programs will lose a precious$2.5 billion to$5 billion a year pro-viding them for 3 relatively few dying patients.由此可知，them與they’ll work中的they指代同一對象，即人工心臟新模型。首先，根據(jù)兩句話間指代的第一種情況，they指代前一句的sample products，表示第二句仍在討論sample products這個(gè)話題。而them指代sam-pie products，即“人工心臟新模型”也表示在延續(xù)同一話題。根據(jù)上下文，C與D成為選擇對象(因?yàn)閜rovide sth.for…中的sth.指物，而不指人)，但將C代人them所在的位置，語法上說得過去，但從邏輯上而言講不通，因?yàn)槲恼乱恢痹谡勏蛐呐K病患者提供人工心臟而不是一般保健項(xiàng)目的問題。所以D為正確答案。

　　例

　　For any given task in Britain there are more men than are needed. Strong unions keep them there in Fleet Street, home of some London's biggest dailies, it is under- stood that when two unions quarrel over three jobs, the argument is settled by giving each union two. That means 33 percent overmanning, 33 percent less productivity than could be obtained.

　　A reporter who has visited plants throughout Europe has an impression that the pace of work is much slower here. Nobody tries too hard. Tea breaks do matter and are frequent. It is hard to measure intensity of work, but Britons give a distinct im-pression of going at their tasks in a more leisurely way.

　　But is all this so terrible? It certainly does not improve the gross national product or output per worker. Those observant visitors, however, have noticed something else about Britain. It is a pleasant place.

　　Street crowds in Stockholm. Paris and New York move quickly and silently heads down, all in a hurry. London crowds tend to walk at an easy pace (except in the profi-table, efficient City, the financial district).

　　Every stranger is struck by the patient and orderly way in which Britons queue for a bus.- if the saleswoman is slow and out of stock she will likely say, "oh dear, what rest of the gang taking hold by twos until it is clear of the car. They come forward at a run.

　　At the word of command, the rail is dropped in its place, right side up. Less than thirty seconds to a rail for each gang, and so four rails go down to the minute. "

　　In Para. 2, the word "they" refers to

　　A. men

　　B. valleys

　　C. Mountains

　　D. jobs

　　在And they did all these jobs largely by their own muscle power句子中，把四個(gè)選項(xiàng)的內(nèi)容men，valleys，mountains，jobs依次代入they的位置，就可發(fā)現(xiàn)只有A men和did all these jobs形成意義上的搭配。valleys，mountains，jobs不可能did all these jobs.更不可能有their own muscle power。所以這一句無須讀上下文就可找到答案。