托福阅读解题技巧
TOEFL iBT阅读技巧—关键词法解题
关键词在阅读理解中的重要作用：
key words—结构（structure）
—推断（inference）
1.key words—结构（structure）
针对题型：大意概括题
解题步骤：1.找结构关键词（but, and, as ,while, so, to……）;
2.分析句子结构; (并列，递进，从属，因果……)
3.结合文本大意选出正确选项。
例1
TPO34 Islamic Art and the Book
Papermaking spread quickly to Egypt – and eventually to Sicily and Spain – but it was several centuries before paper supplanted parchment for copies of the Koran, probably because of the conservative nature of religious art and its
practitioners.
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A) It was several centuries before papermaking techniques spread to
faraway areas where parchment was popular and used widely in art.
B) Although papermaking came to Egypt quickly, it took much longer for
paper to be used when copying the Koran, probably because of the conservative nature of religious art.
C) Papermaking spread beyond Egypt, Sicily, and Spain, but it was not
widely used by artists for centuries, probably because of the conservative nature of art in those countries.
D) Paper replaced parchment in copies of the Koran, probably at the
request of conservative practitioners in areas like Egypt, Sicily, and Spain.
[解析]
关键词：but, because of. But 连接的是两个句子的转折，而because of 是
对这种转折的原因的解释。所以这个句子可以看成一个转折加上了一个因果解释。即：快速传播，但是花了很久才取代，这样的原因是。。。
回到题干，答案的结构中应该包含转折和因果，马上排除A,D , C项信息超出了原文容（注意beyond），排除，所以选B.
例2
TPO33 The First Civilizations
While some of these urban centers were identified with a particular economic function, such as proximity to gold or iron deposits or a strategic location on a major trade route, others served primarily as administrative centers or the site of temples for the official cult or other ritual observances.
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning
in important ways or leave out essential information.
A)Some cities were associated with economic activities, while others
were government or religious centers.
B)Emerging cities generally served strategic administrative, economic,
and religious purposes.
C)The creation of an economic or administrative activity led to the
emergence of a city for its proper supervision.
D)Some cities emerged as economic centers and later became the sites
of administrative or religious activities.
[解析]
关键词: while,others 对比关系，一些怎么样，而另一些怎么样，立即可以找出A选项，检查一下句子意思，符合原文，答案就是A.
例3
TPO 33 Extinction Episodes of the Past
However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information
in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the
meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A)The dominance of dinosaurs came to an end 65 million years
ago, at which time mammals began to flourish and diversify.
B)Because no group of species can remain dominant forever,
mammals became the dominant group when dinosaurs became extinct.
C)After being the dominant group for more than 200 million years,
the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end 65 million years ago.
D)The diverse group of mammals that we know today, including
bats and whales, evolved from small terrestrial forms that had been
dominated by dinosaurs.
[解析]
关键词: and when; 该句子有多个插入语和伴随状语，看似较复杂，其实抓住and when就很简单。首先and是该句子两部分的并列，即第一句没有物种能够永远主宰以及when引导的时间状语从句。而这两个部分是概括和具体的关系，when引导的从句是来解释第一句话的，相当于一个主旨句和一个解释句。When引导的从句就是恐龙灭绝时哺乳动物兴起这样一个并列结构。所以答案选项总体上是一个由具体到概括的结构，而具体的例子是个并列的结构。
B选项，一个because一个when, 很好地吻合了原文的and when。答案即选B。
2.key words—推断（inference）
针对题型：定位题
解题步骤：1.找题干句关键词（指代，承接，解释，转折……）;
2.找原文关键词(指代，承接，解释，转折…….)
3.通过关键词匹配准确定位。
例4
TPO34 Islamic Art and the Book
Papermaking had been introduced to the Islamic lands from China in the eighth century. 【】It has been said that Chinese papermakers were among the prisoners captured in a battle fought near Samarqand between the Chinese and the Muslims in 751, and the technique of papermaking – in which cellulose pulp extracted from any of several plants is first suspended in water, caught on a fine screen, and then dried into flexible sheets – slowly spread westward. 【】Within fifty years, the government in Baghdad was using paper for documents. 【】Writing in ink on paper, unlike parchment, could not easily be erased, and therefore paper had the advantage that it was difficult to alter what was written on it. 【】Papermaking spread quickly to Egypt – and eventually to Sicily and Spain – but it was several centuries before paper supplanted parchment for copies of the Koran, probably because of the conservative nature of religious art and its practitioners. In western Islamic lands, parchment continued to be used for manuscripts of the Koran throughout this period.
Look at the four squares 【】that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
This change occurred for good reason.
Where does the sentence best fit?
[解析] 关键词: This change, reason。This可以看出这个句子是一个后置项，肯定紧跟在某个句子后面，核心词是change。Reason说明该句子是某个解释句的前项。思路就是看各个选项之前包含change意思，以及之后带有解释意味的选项。即: 前change,后解释。
A项，前面述一个事实，不是change, 排除；
B项，前面也是一个事实。
C项，Within，一个时间段，表示改变；后面的advantage对应
reason, 正确答案。
D项，后面也是一个事实，不对应reason,不选。
例5
TPO34 The Development of Steam Power
By the eighteenth century, Britain was experiencing a severe shortage of energy. 【】Because of the growth of population, most of the great forests of medieval Britain had long ago been replaced by fields of grain and hay. 【】Wood was in ever-shorter supply, yet it remained tremendously important. 【】It served as the primary source of heat for all homes and industries and as a basic raw material. 【】Processed wood (charcoal) was the fuel that was mixed with iron ore in the blast furnace to produce pig iron (raw iron). The iron industry’s appetite for wood was enormous, and by 1740 the British iron industry was stagnating. Vast forests enabled Russia to become the world’s leading producer of iron, much of which was exported to Britain. But Russia’s potential for growth was limited too, and in a few decades Russia would reach the barrier of inadequate energy that was already holding England back.
Look at the four squares 【】that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Energy had not been a problem for Britain in the past because it relied on
a rich source of energy: its vast forests.
Where does the sentence best fit?
[解析]
关键词:had not, because. 说明目前能源是个问题，而且可能会和because后面的原因相关。所以回到原文，答案的前面应该涉及现在的能源情况，后面涉及到与vast forests改变相对应的情况。原文里面定位关键词: shortage，replaced，答案确定为A。
例6
TPO34 Protection of Plants by Insects
Ants are portably the most frequent and certainly the most persistent defenders of plants. 【】Since the highly active worker ants require a great deal of energy, plants exploit this need by providing extrafloral nectar that supplies ants with abundant energy. 【】To return this favor, ants guard the nectaries, driving away or killing intruding insects that might compete with ants for nectar. 【】Many of these intruders are herbivorous and would eat the leaves of the plants. 【】Look at the four squares 【】that indicate where the following sentence could be
added to the passage.
Sometimes they capture the insects to feed their protein-hungry larvae.
Where does the sentence best fit?
[解析]
关键词: sometimes, they。Sometimes说明这句句子是说明了they 有时还和the insects有另一种情况，那选项的前句一定提到了they以及the insects。由该段容可知they是保护植物的蚂蚁而the insects是那些入侵的昆虫。A项前面并未提到the insects，不选；B项前面主语是植物，不选；C项，前句说了蚂蚁如何对付这些入侵的昆虫，符合。正确答案C。