大学英语四级考试阅读理解文章结构分析

大学英语四级考试阅读理解文章结构分析辨别和理解文章的中心思想是大学英语四级考试阅读测试的重中之重，2006年修订的新四级考试大纲仍然将对此项能力的考查置于首位（见大纲第9页，上海外语教育出版社）。

新四级仔细阅读部分（Reading in Depth）选择题型的篇章阅读中，与此项能力直接相关的一种题型称为主旨题。

如何快速把握文章结构，确定中心思想对快速阅读文章有相当重要的意义。

我们知道，新四级的仔细阅读部分，选择题型的篇章阅读共两篇文章，十道题目，要求考生在15分钟之内完成，平均每篇文章大约7－8分钟的时间，其中文章的阅读大约3－4分钟的时间。

在这么短的时间内读完一篇300－350字的文章，逐字逐句通读全文寻找主旨的方法就显得不切合实际了，这必然要求考生采用适当的阅读技巧。

为此，笔者建议考生采用略读（skimming）和跳读（skip-reading）相结合的阅读方式。

略读是一种浏览式的阅读方法，其主要目的是为了快速有效地把握文章的主旨大意，是平时为了大量获取信息和各种英语应试阅读中特别常用而且极为重要的一种阅读方法。

这种方法主要是指在阅读过程中，只关注与全文大意密切相关的主题信息，而忽略其它支持性的细节信息。

四级考试中，阅读文章主要以说明文和议论文为主，一篇文章的主题信息通常会出现在以下几处：一、文章各段的首句和尾句。

这些处于较明显、较特殊位置的句子往往是段落和文章的主题句，具有相当大的重要性；二、强转折处。

通常以but, however, rather, yet, instead等词为标志，这些词汇后面的句子是主题性信息；三、因果关系处。

通常以t herefore, as a result, thus, so, That is why…等词语或句式为标志，这些词汇或句式后面的句子是主题性信息；四、递进处。

通常以moreover, furthermore, what’s more, what’s the most important, most important of all, most importantly等词汇或短语为标志，这些词汇或短语后面出现的信息是被强调的信息，即主题信息出现的地方；五、例证处。

通常以for example, for instance, Let’s take…, Consider…等词汇、短语或句式为标志，这些词汇、短语或句式表示举例，也是支持性的细节信息，位于例子前后的句子一般都是例子要说明的主题；六、并列处。

通常以firstly, secondly…finally, some…others…, for one thin g…for another, on the one hand…on the other hand等组合为标志，这些组合都是支持性的细节信息，位于这些组合前后的句子一般都是这些细节信息所要支持的主题。

跳读可以作为略读的辅助。

跳读旨在掌握文章的全貌和要点，但又不必将文章中所有的词句全部都读进眼帘，句子中期补充说明、修饰限定作用的，在跳读过程中就可以略去不读。

因此，跳读主要是为了抓住句子的主干部分，忽略次要部分，这种阅读方法并不影响读者对于文章主题信息的把握。

当主题信息处是长难句时，这种方式尤为有效。

跳读可以分为以下三种形式：一、根据特殊的标点符号提示，采用跳读法。

文章中的标点符号都有其一定的含义。

如：两个逗号之间是插入成分或同位语；括号内表示举例或补充说明；冒号通常用来列举事物、附加解释说明性内容；破折号通常放在解释性分句或句子前，或是用来列举前面总括的若干内容，或是放在解释性的插入语之前或之后等。

阅读时，可以将两个逗号之间的部分、括号内的部分、冒号后的部分、破折号后的部分和两个破折号之间的部分省略不读；二、根据句法结构，采用跳读法。

主要是在遇到长难句时，抓住句子的主干部分，即主语部分、谓语部分和宾语部分，而其它补充成分，即定语（从句）、状语（从句）和补语部分可以略去不读；三、根据文章结构和组织形式及段落间逻辑关系、主题句等，采用跳读法。

阅读时，重点关注主题句、表明作者观点的词句，对于举例论证、引用论证、数据论证、正反论证、比喻论证等部分则一带而过，跳过不读。

当我们采用略读和跳读两种方法找到一篇文章的主题信息之后，全文的主旨又在哪里呢？是不是就是把所读到的主题信息句简单相加呢？我们知道，一篇好的文章是一个有机的整体，其内部的信息是按照一定的思维模式逻辑地组合在一起的，这种严密的组合就是文章的结构。

全文主旨的最后确认是离不开文章结构的，因为主旨就是作者的逻辑思维模式。

笔者根据历年四级考试真题中的文章结构，将四级仔细阅读文章中心思想获取的方式大致划分为五种。

下面分别举例说明：1、综合型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 feature s that make one face different from another. Yet a very young child—or even an ani mal, such as a pigeon—can learn to recognize faces, we all take this ability for grant ed.We also tell people apart by how they behave. When we talk about someone’s personality, 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 someon e’s personality in words is somewhat easier than describing his face. If you were ask ed to describe what a “nice face”looked like, you probably would have a difficult t ime 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 dif ferences in people’s behavior. And many of us use this information as a basis for d escribing, or typing, his personality. Bookworms, conservatives, military types-people ar e described with such terms.People have always tried to “type”each other. Actors in early Greek drama wo re masks to show the audience whether they played the villain’s（坏人）or the hero’s role. In fact, the words “person”and “personality”come from the Latin person a, meaning “mask”. Today, most television and movie actors do not wear masks. B ut we can easily tell the “good guys”from the “bad guys”because the two typ es differ in appearance as well as in actions. （1996年6月四级真题）70. Which of the following is the major point of the passage?A) Why it is necessary to identify people’s personalityB) Why it is possible to describe peopleC) How to get to know peopleD) How best to recognize people本文讲述的是我们可以通过面部特征、行为方式和语言方式等来描述人或识别人。

其中，首段谈到了面部特征在描述或识别一个人的过程当中的重要性；第二段紧接着谈到了行为方式在这方面的作用；第三段和第四段分别谈到了用语言方式来对一个人进行描述；最后一段说人们总是根据一个人的面部特征和行为方式将人划分为不同的类型。

划线部分就是需要阅读的句子，黑体字部分是重点标志性词汇。

其中，第一段的两句话根据标点符号，采用了跳读。

其余各段中举例等细节部分信息也跳过不读。

通过阅读主题信息，我们发现，这篇文章的每一段都谈到了描述或识别人的一个方面，全文的主旨需要把各段的主题综合起来，经过总结概括而形成。

这种结构模式我们称之为综合型结构。

这样，考查各段主题，我们可以得出正确答案应该是B。

2、开门见山型Most episodes of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something or wo ndering why you just entered a room－are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded it deeply.”Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event tha t has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create anno ying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t p ay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll pro bably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe (衣柜). “Your memory itself isn’t failing you.”says Schacter. “Rather, you didn’t give y our memory system the information it needed.”Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. “A man who can recite sp orts statistics from 30 years ago.”says Zelinski, “may not remember to drop a lette r in the mailbox.”Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that.Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness says Schacter. “But be sure the cue is clear and available.”he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medic ation (药物) with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and won dering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Ever yone does this from time to time.”says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return t o where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember. (2002年6月四级真题)30. What is the passage mainly about？A) The process of gradual memory loss.B) The causes of absent-mindedness.C) The impact of the environment on memory.D) A way of encoding and recalling.本文讲述的是心不在焉这种心理现象形成的原因——缺乏注意力。