二、閱讀理解題的方法和技巧
1.如何獲取段落的主旨和大意?
最有效的辦法是找出主題句。一篇文章(或一段文章)通常都是圍繞一個中心意思展開的。而這個中心意思往往由一個句子來概括。這個能概括文章或段落中心意思的句子叫做主題句。因此,理解一個段落
或一篇文章的中心意思首先要學(xué)會尋找主題句。在一篇短文或一個段落中,大部分主題句的情況有三種:
(1)主題句在段首或篇首。
主題句在段首或篇首的情況相當普遍。一般新聞報道、說明文, 議論文大都采用先總述,后分述的敘事方法。
例如:2003年陜西省英語中考試題閱讀材料B的第一段:
All living things on the earth need other living things to live. Nothing lives alone. Most animals must live in a group, and even a plant grows close together with others of the same kind. Sometimes one living thing kills another, one eats and the other is eaten. Each kind of life eats another kind of life in order to live, and together they form a food chain(食物鏈)。
Some food chains become broken up if one of the links disappears
59. Which of the following do you think is the best title for this passage?
A. Animals B. Plants C. Food Chains D. Living Things
評析:找出主題句即第一句。這個句子概括了本段的中心意思,“地球上所有的生物要生存都離不開其它的生物”。后面講述了大量的事實,“大部分動物必須成群的生活,甚至一種植物也要和其它同類的植物靠在一起生長。有時一種生物殺死另一種生物,一種生物吃另一種生物,而另一種生物被吃”。在列舉了大量的事實之后,作者指出:如果這些食物鏈中的一個鏈環(huán)消失,所有的食物都會斷掉。所有這些事實都是圍繞第一個句子展開的。
根據(jù)主題句的意思,我們可以很容易判斷:
(2)主題句在段末或篇末。
用歸納法寫文章時,往往表述細節(jié)的句子在前,概述性的句子在后,并以此結(jié)尾。這種位于段末或篇末的主題句往往是對前面細節(jié)的總結(jié),歸納或結(jié)論。例如2002年陜西省中考試題閱讀材料A的最后一段:
If you buy some well-made clothes, you
can save money because they can last longer.
They look good even after they have been
washed many times. Sometimes some clothes
cost more money, but it does not mean that
they are always better made, or they always
fit better. In other words, some less expensive
clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.
評析:這段文章前面列舉了兩件事實:如果你買一些制作優(yōu)良的衣服,你會省錢,因為這些衣服能穿得時間長一些。即使他們洗了很多次,仍然看起來很好。有時有些衣服花得前更多,但并不意味著這些衣服做得更好。最后一句話是對這兩個事實的概括:有些價錢便宜的衣服比價錢貴的衣服更好看,更合身。段末這個句子就是主題句。
(3)無主題句
有時,一篇文章里并沒有明顯的主題句。這時我們應(yīng)該怎樣來確定文章的主題或中心意思呢?其實這也不難。我們可以首先找出每一段的中心意思,各段的中心意思往往都是圍繞一個中心來展開的,或者說是來說明一個問題的。這個中心或這個問題就是這篇文章的主題或中心意思。請看2004年江西省中考試題閱讀理解A:
Killer bees started in Brazil 1957. A scientist in Sao Paulo wanted bees to make more honey(蜂蜜). So he put forty-six African bees with some Brazilian bees. The bees bred(繁殖) and made a new kind of bees. But the new bees were a mistake. They didn’t want to make more honey. They wanted to attack. Then, by accident, twenty-six African bees escaped and bred with the Brazilian bees outside.
Scientists could not control(控制) the problem. The bees increased fast. They went from Brazil to Venezuela. Then they went to Central America. Now they are in North America. They travel about 390 miles a year. Each group of bees grows four times a year. This means one million new groups every five years.
Why are people afraid of killer bees? People are afraid for two reasons. First, the bees sting(叮) many more times than usual bees. Killer bees can sting sixty times a minute nonstop for two hours. Second, killer bees attack in groups. Four hundred bee stings can kill a person.
Already several hundred people are dead. Now killer bees are in Texas. In a few years they will reach all over the United States. People can do nothing but wait.
在這篇短文的后面就出了一道這樣的閱讀理解題:
59. The best title of the passage is ____________.
A. How to make more honey B. Killer bees
C. A foolish scientist D. How to feed killer bees
評析:這篇短文就沒有主題句,那末怎樣來確定它的中心意思呢?按照上面的說明,我們可以得出
每一段的大意:第一段講的是“killer bees”的產(chǎn)生。
第二段講的是“killer bees” 的急劇增加。
第三段講的是人們害怕“killer bees”的原因。
第四段講的是“killer bees”已經(jīng)殺死的人數(shù)和將來的
狀況。
從這幾段的大意可以看出這篇文章自始至終都是
圍繞“killer bees”這一中心展開的。換句話說,“killer bees”就是這篇文章的主題。
2.如何根據(jù)上下文猜測詞義?
猜測詞義也是一種英語閱讀能力。英語閱讀理解試題中有不少這樣的題目。任何一個實詞,只有在一定的上下文中才能表示一個確定的詞義。所謂上下文(context),正如英語辭典所解釋的,其作用就是幫助確定上下文中的詞、短語或句子的意義。據(jù)此,我們
可以盡可能地利用上下文來猜測詞義,即從已知推求未知,也就是用我們所熟悉的詞或短語來猜測我們不熟悉的詞的詞義。猜測詞義時,我們可以從三個方面來考慮:1)根據(jù)上下文已知部分進行邏輯上的推理。2)運用語法知識進行語法分析。
3)依靠常識和經(jīng)驗做出判斷。
(1)根據(jù)上下文已知部分進行邏輯上的推理猜測義:
例1:甘肅省2002年中考英語試題閱讀材料B:
A bag is useful and the word “bag” is useful. It gives us some interesting phrases(短語). One is “ to let the cat out of the bag.” It is the same as “to tell a secret”…. Now when someone lets out (泄漏)a secret, he “l(fā)ets the cat out of the bag.” 短文后面有一個理解題目:
John “l(fā)ets the cat out of the bag” means he
________.
A. makes everyone know a secret
B. the woman bout a cat
C. buys a cat in the bag
D. sells the cat in the bag
評析:在這篇文章里,“l(fā)et the cat out of the bag”雖然是一個新出現(xiàn)的短語,但緊接著后面就給出解釋It is the same as “to tell a secret”.