考研备考英语阅读突破——理解文章总体结构

考研备考英语阅读突破——理解文章总

体结构

理解文章的总体结构以及上下文之间的关系要求考生做到：第一步，理清“文章思路”，即指考生首先应对文章总体的思路和结构有一个大概的了解，先不要急于去读题目，而是应当将文章从头到尾看一遍，弄清楚文章的中心意思，这一遍阅读的目的并不是要立即找到答题所需要的信息点。在阅读的时候还要有主次之分，文章的第一段是文章的灵魂和核心，也应当是第一遍阅读的重点所在。考生要尽量将第一段的每一句话都理解透彻，因为掌握了第一段，就已经基本了解掌握了整篇文章的内容，至于其他的段落可以加快速度，看得懂就看，看不懂就暂时跳过去，在不懂的地方做出记号，留待以后解决。读完文章并理清思路后就可以接着阅读试题，命题专家在设计考卷时，题目排列的次序与文章的布局基本是相吻合的，也就是说题目所需要的信息点在文章中应当是按顺序出现的，这一点对于基础差的考生相当重要，因为考生完全可以根据每篇文章题目的题干来推测文章大致的内容和思路。

第二步，注重了解句与句、段与段之间的关系，特别是文章中的转折关系，学会利用上下文进行必要的判断、推理和引申。只有掌握句段之间的关系，才能摸清作者深层思路上的逻辑关系。从句子与句子，段落与段落之间的过渡可以读出作者整个的思路及论证过程，才能做出正确的推理、判断或引申。

【举例说明】针对此题型，我们建议考生把握这样几个原则：

一、首段原则，首段原则应用于根据首段内容所设置的题目，它包括两种形式：首句原则和末句原则。

1.首句原则

回顾近几年的考研备考阅读题，细心的考生会发现历年考研备考试卷中都有题目针对首段第一句话设问，为什么会出现这种情况?原因很简单，考研备考阅读所选的文章均是议论文和说明文，此类文章的文体要求在首段提出观点、突出中心，因此第一段就好像全篇文章的一个总纲，确定了文章的主要内容，而第一句话常常是一个自然段的主题句，首段首句自然就成为常考且必考的一个考点。例如2003年第56题：

It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans’life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death—and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.

What is implied in the first sentence?

[A] Americans are better prepared for death than other people.

[B] Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.

[C] Americans are over_confident of their medical technology.

[D] Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.

通过对首句的理解，我们得出该题的正确答案为C。

2.末句原则，有时一个自然段的主题句也会出现在段末，因此考点也相应转向末句。例如1997年第59题：

Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don’t realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase “substance abuse” is often used instead of “drug abuse” to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.

“Substance abuse”is preferable to “drug abuse”in that.

[A] substance can alter our bodily or mental functioning if illegally used

[B] “drug abuse”is only related to a limited number or drug takers

[C] alcohol and tobacco are as fatal as heroin and cocaine

[D] many substances other than heroin or cocaine can also be poisonous

考生对末句稍加深入理解即可得知D为正确答案。

二、段落原则。段落推断原则考查考生对段落内容的理解，分为两类题型：段落首句推断和段落中句子推断。针对这两种具体题型的原则为：先看首句，如与选项符合即可选择，不必再浪费时间看完整个段落，如首句不能与选项吻合时再将整个段落读完以寻找符合的选项。

1. 段落首句推断

例如2003年第44题：

Straitford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymaster’s dream. Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine. “As soon as that report runs, we'll suddenly get 500 new Internet sign-ups from Ukraine,” says Friedman, a former political science professor. “And we'll hear back from some of them.” Ope n-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. That’s where Straitford earns its keep.

It can be learned from paragraph 4 that.

[A] Straitford’s prediction about Ukraine has proved true

[B] Straitford’s guarantees the truthfulness of its information

[C] Straitford’s business is characterized by unpredictability

[D] Straitford is able to provide fairly reliable information

首句推断D为正确答案。

2.段落中句子推断

例如1999年第58题：

But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the web will need to resort to push strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, , and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.