在高考试题中,命题者常用下述方法进行提问:“What can we learn from the text? ”“What does the author mainly tell us about US in the passage?”“What can we infer from the passage?”“ The best title of this passage is... ?”基于上述测试要点,学生在阅读过程中必须采取不同的阅读方法和综合的阅读技能以应对不同的阅读测试点。
(1)说明文。根据历年考试情况分析,说明文的文长基本控制在300词左右。文章的主旨大意多出现在第一段甚至第一段的前几句。文章最后一段多与第一段呼应,文章中间的部分,多是论据或说明文的展开部分。阅读理解的题目通常以如下形式出现 :“What is the best title of the passage?”“What is mainly discussed in the article/passage/text?”“What can be inferred from the passage? ”回答这类阅读问题时,要将阅读重点放在首尾部分,中间部分采用略读的方式,这样既能省时间又能明确目标。
When you throw a ball up into the air as fast as you can, the ball reaches a point where it seems to pause for a moment, and then it comes down. When a bullet (子弹) is shot straight up, it will travel much faster and higher than a ball, but it, too, will come down. Whatever goes up must come down. We have always thought this to be true. An airplane may climb to a height of seventeen miles and then travel far and long. Yet it does not stay up forever. Finally, like everything else, the plane must come down.
英语中,许多词汇可以在前面加前缀(prefix),或在后面加后缀(suffix),从而构成另一个词,乍看起来,这个词可能是生词,但掌握了一定的构词法,就不难猜出它的词义。例如:“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive and creative in that they built a sense of drama based on a subject.”文中interactive是由前缀inter(相互的)和active(活动的,活跃的)构成的,同时根据上下文的意思可以判断,该词的含义应是“互动的”。
2.根据上下文解释作出判断
有时短文中出现一个需猜测其意义的词或短语后会有其定义或解释,这就是判断该词或短语意义的主要依据。例如:Shanghai Bashi Tourism Car Rental Centre offers a wide variety of choices—deluxe sedans, minivans, station wagons, coaches, Santana sedans are the big favourites.”从前面的Car Rental Center可知出租车公司提供的只能是cars for rent(供出租的汽车)。
3.根据上下文的指代关系进行选择
文章中的代词it, that, he, him或them指上文提到的人或物,其中it和that还可以指一件事。有时,代词指代的对象相隔较远,需要认真查找。例如:However, the question that “moon people” asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously thinking about it.句中“it”指上句中的“the question”,而“the question”又指上一段中“月球人”所提的问题,所以要经过两次查找才能选出答案。
4.根据转折或对比关系进行判断
根据上下句的连接词,如but,however,otherwise等可以看到前后句在意义上的差别,从而依据某一句的含义,来确定另一句的含义。另外,分号也可以表示转折、对比或不相干的意义。请看下例:A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun。从上下句可以看出,hassle和a basket of fun肯定是完全相反的意义,也就是a situation causing difficulty or trouble。
5.根据因果关系进行判断
俗话说,“有因必有果,有果必有因”。根据原因可以预测结果,根据结果也可以找出原因。例如:Biggest power failure in the city’s history...All of our ice-cream and frozen foods melted.根据因果关系,停电会导致冰淇淋和冷冻食品“融化”,也就是melted的意思。
6.巧妙绕开生词
英语文章中,有些单词担负着传达主要信息的功能,有些单词主要起语法作用或者说它所传达的信息和下文的其他信息没有联系。这类词有:表示人名、地名、机构名等的专有名词。遇到这些词,只要能辨认出它是专有名词,就可以理解文章。比如在下面的句子中:“In fact,” says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, “there’s even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep.” 两个引号之间的单词在阅读中可以忽略。