英语专业四级考试阅读理解方法

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英语专业四级考试阅读理解方法漫谈
阅读理解(一)
先读文章，后看题目
有的考生在做阅读理解题的时候，喜欢先看题目后读文章。他们认为这样会节省时间，但是大多数情况下结果与他们的初衷相反。实际上，在做阅读理解题的时候先看题目不会节省时间，反而会浪费时间。这是因为如果你先看题目，在你阅读文章的时候你的脑中就会充斥着这些题目，那么你就不能集中注意力。你就会集中注意力寻找这些题目的答案，从而影响对文章整体的理解。因此在做阅读理解时要先读文章，后看题目。以下是一些具体的方法：
1．在阅读文章时不要担心时间不够，否则就不能全神贯注于文章内容。在阅读文章开头几句时，你要联想一下文章的大意：文章是关于什么内容、写的谁、谈论什么事物等。
2．当你继续阅读文章时，要努力识别出文章的文体，即是科普文章、文学作品，还是新闻报道或是别的；同时要识别出作者的写作手法，文章是写给谁看的，作者是带着一 种什么样的感情写这篇文章的。
3.在读完文章一遍后，你会对文章的主题和文章的结构有了一定的印象，但是为了准确起见，在你回答问题的时候一定要回过头来再看一遍该文，以确认你的答案。不要根据自己第一遍阅读时的印象答题，也不要根据自己所掌握的文章以外的知识答题。
4．在阅读题目的时候，要注意一些关键字眼，比如EXCEPT, CANNOT, NOT, INCORRECT等出题者为了引起考生特别注意的大写词。
阅读理解(二)
正确识别题目种类 
英语专业四级考试的阅读理解题目主要有主旨题、细节题（或事实题）、推断题等。不同的题目有不同的答题方法，因此正确的判断题目的类型非常重要。以下是几组主要的题型：主旨题
主旨题主要是来测试考生对文章整体大意的理解，这类题目一般以下列形式出现：
What does the passage mainly discuss?
The main point of the passage is to ……
The purpose of this passage is to ……
The author’s purpose in writing this passage is ……
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage? 
The principal idea of the article is ……
The best title for this passage is ……
The passage is mainly concerned with ……
The passage mainly concerns ……
The main theme of this passage is ……
The general idea of the passage is about …… 
细节题（事实题）
此类题目是为了测试考生把握文章细节描写的能力。这类试题主要以下列形式出现：
Which of the following is N

OT true of ……
Which of the following statements is true of……
Which of the following is best supported by the passage?
The author states all the following EXCEPT……
推断题
对于考生来说，推断题是比较难的一类题。因为它是测试考生对作者在文中隐含意义的理解能力。这类题目主要以下列形式出现：
It can be inferred from the passage that ……
The author implies that ……
The passage suggests that ……
Which of the following statements about ……can be inferred from the passage? 
The author seems to indicate that ……
We can conclude from the passage that…… 
态度/语气题
这类题目也较难。此类题目主要是测试考生把握作者情感的能力。但是这类题在近几年的考试中已经越来越少。这类题目主要有以下几种形式：
The author is  about ……
The author’s attitude toward the problem can best be described as ……
The author’s attitude towards …… is……
除了以上几种主要的题目类型外，还有情景转移题、文章写作技巧题、词汇题等，这些
类型的题目总的来说出现频率不高，故此处不再赘述。
阅读理解(三)
主旨题答题方法——文章大意快速查找
前面我们曾讲述了试题的主要类型，其中主旨题是一种比较常考的题型。做主旨题要求考生在读完文章一遍后能够迅速总结出文章的大意。但是不同的文章的大意的体现方式也是不同的，比如有的文章的主题大意很清楚地体现在主题句topic sentence中，而有的文章的主题大意却不明显，需要考生通过体会字里行间的意思和从整体上理解文章的内容。下面我们就来看一下如何找出含有主题句的文章大意。
大意或主旨是一篇文章的中心。段落大意一般体现在一句话中，这句话就叫主题句topic sentence。段落的其他部分是支持和解释大意的具体细节。因此如果能够迅速地找出主题句并确定段落大意和细节的对比，对于文章或段落大的获得是非常有帮助的。
例如：
As a rule, most of my dreams at night are pleasant ones. (c)Recently, though, I had a really bad dream. (a)I was in an alley, dressed in light summer clothing. (b)Coming out of the darkness at the end of the alley were hundreds of large gray rats. Their razor sharp teeth glistened with saliva, and their eyes glowed red with a cold fury. I turned to run away, but attacking the other direction were a dozen pit bulls. (d)And these particular pit bulls were foaming at the mouth; they all had rabies. “Just my luck,” I muttered, and did my best to wake up as quickly as possible.
看完该段落后，你能判断出a, b, c, d四句话哪句是主题句吗?答案是c。那么

为什么呢？a句意义太狭窄，它是有关作者的衣服，可以断定只是文章的一个细节。b句和d句的意义同样太狭窄，不能概括段落大意。而c句中的really bad dream意义非常广阔，并且能够覆盖所有噩梦的细节，因此它是主题句。
通过查找段落的主题句和段落大意，你就能够很轻松地将它们综合成文章的大意。
阅读理解(四)
主旨题答题方法——主题句在段落中的位置 
前面讲过，文章或段落的主题大意经常体现在主题句上，这就需要我们在阅读文章的时候能够迅速准确地确定主题句的位置。一般来说主题句出现在段首，但是在很多情况下主题句会出现在一段文字的其他位置，比如有时主题句会出现在段落的开头，有时会出现在中间，有时会出现在段尾，有时首尾都有。
（1）主题句出现在段首。
有些作者喜欢使用主题句作为一个段落或篇章的开始，例如：
Pain can cause aggression. When two rats in the same cage were given foot shocks, they attacked each other immediately. In addition, stronger shocks resulted in more violent aggression. Pairs of various other animals reacted similarly. A stubbed toe or a headache has been known to cause similar responses in humans.
很明显作者的主旨在第一句话中就体现了出来，段落的其他部分是对这句话的解释，因此第一句话就是主题句。
（2）主题句出现在段内。
有些段落的主题句前还有几句引导性的细节描写，这些开头句的主要目的是引起读者的注意，将段落大意和前面的段落联系起来，或者是给出该段主题的背景。例如：
Everyone has heard of accounts, salespeople, and lawyers. But have you ever heard of a kiss mixer or a belly builder? Most jobs have common titles, but there are also many unusual position titles. A kiss mixer, for instance, is the person who mixes the ingredients for candy kisses. And a belly builder is the individual who assembles and fits the inside parts of pianos.
读后可知第三句为主题句，因为前两句都是来介绍普通的工作名称和不普通工作名称的对比，以引起读者的注意，而第三句则给出了段落大意。
（3）主题句出现在段尾。
主题句出现在段尾的情况，请看例子。
A couple’s daughter had just graduated from college. So they were not surprised when a florist’s truck pulled in front of their house. However, they were surprised when they saw that the dozen red roses were addressed to them. The card read, “Thanks, Mom and Dad, for making this day possible. I could not have done it without your love and support.” In an unusual switch, the graduate had given her parents a graduation gift.
(4)主题句出现在首尾。
出现在段首的主题句给出

段落大意，出现在段尾的主题句是对段首的强调，例如：
Dental research on rats may lead to chocolate that’s good for you. In one study, researchers found that rats who ate chocolate candy high in fat and casein got 71 percent fewer cavities than those who ate sugar or fudge alone. In a follow up study, rats were fed chocolate candy that had an even greater amount of casein, a milk protein. The rats then got almost no cavities at all. Because of this research, one company may develop a chocolate candy that’s healthy for your teeth.
阅读理解(五)
主旨题答题方法——隐含大意的查找方法
不是所有的段落都有主题句。虽然很多时候文章或段落没有主题句，但是这并不意味着它们没有主题大意，只不过这些大意不是直接体现出来的，而是“隐含的”(implied)。要获得
这样文章或段落的大意，我们就得依靠文章或段落的细节描写来推测出主题大意。请看下面这段文字：
One odd suggestion for curing hiccups is to cut some holes in a paper bag, put the bag over your head, and breathe deeply. Another is to put a teaspoon of sugar on your tongue; by the time the sugar has disappeared, some claim, so have the hiccups. Some people feel that the way to get rid of hiccups is to cover a glass of water with a clean handkerchief and then drink the water through the hankie.
If none of these methods works, you might try yet another odd cure for hiccups: stand on your head, close your eyes tightly, take a deep breath, and recite “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
你会发现这段文字没有主题句，但是你可以通过问两个问题决定此段的大意：
①What is the topic, or subject, of the paragraph? In other words, what is the whole paragraph about?
②What is the main point being made about that topic?
为了找到第一个问题的答案，我们需要看一下什么内容在文章中不断地提及。通过阅读文章可知不断提到的一个内容是“打嗝的治疗方法”(cures for hiccups)，由此可以确定这就
是这篇文章的主题。
一旦你找到了主题，找到第二个问题的答案就简单多了。可能的答案是“There are some odd cures for hiccups，”这句话的意义非常地笼统，足以涵盖该文中所有的细节。
在考试时，考生如果遇到没有主题句的段落，可以先利用上面的方法将每一段的段落大意总
结出来，然后将它们综合起来，就形成了整个文章的大意。
细节题的答题方法
细节题在英语专业四级考试阅读理解试题中所占的比例较大，它主要考查学生在掌握文章大意之后对文章细节的理解掌握。要快速准确地解答细节题，考生需要掌握以下技能：
（1）找出选项中的关键词（如名词、动词等）。
（2

）根据第一遍阅读时留下的记忆或通过（如果记不住）扫视在文中找出这些关键
词或它们的同义词。
（3）当你找到关键字或同义词时，再读一遍句子以确定出题者没有使用原来的措辞来误导
你。
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阅读理解(六)
推断题的答题方法
推断题又可称为隐含题，试题的答案不是文中所陈述的，而是隐含的。这类题在专四考试中也占有很大比例，它主要是考察考生对文章的理解、判断、分析能力。在做这类题的时候要注意找出“暗示”hints，通过这些暗示我们就能比较轻松的得到答案。请看例子：
A twenty-eight-year old woman named Catherine Genovese was returning home from work one day. Kitty, as she was called by almost everyone in her Queens neighborhood, had just parked her car. Then a man with a knife grabbed her. She screamed, “Oh my God, he stabbed me! Please help me! Please help me!”
For more than half an hour, thirty-eight neighbors watched the killer stalk Kitty. The last time he stabbed her, she was slumped on the foot of the stairs to her apartment. Not one person telephoned the police during the fatal attack. Later, the policemen gathered statements from the witnesses. Among their comments were, “I didn’t want to get involved,” “We thought it was a lovers’ quarrel,” and “I was tired. I went back to bed.”
Q: We can conclude that the man who stabbed Genovese 
A. was someone she knew B. intended to kill her
C. was a convicted criminal D. was crazy
为了回答这个问题首先要找到文章中的暗示，比如有何证据表明Genovese认识这个杀手或他是罪犯或疯子呢？还有，杀害Genovese的凶手为什么在捅伤她之后还不停的用刀捅她。经过分析可知B为正确答案。因为如果罪犯的目的只是为了抢劫或别的，他在最后捅她之前早就可以完成。另外文中没有证据表明Genovese认识这个罪犯，因为文中只提到 “a man with a knife”，Genovese既没有喊他的名字，也没有目击者说认识他。另外文中也没有证据或字眼暗示罪犯是在逃犯或者疯子。因此答案只能是B。杀手就是想杀死Genovese。
阅读理解(七)
如何猜出生词的意思 
在做阅读理解题的时候，肯定会碰到生词。如果单独看这些生词，你可能会无从下手，但是如果把它们放到句子里，情况就不一样了。比如bilingual，你可能不认识。但是如果你看到下面的句子，就会猜出这个词的意思：
Rick is bilingual, speaking English almost as well as he speaks Spanish.
看过此句后很容易就猜出bilingual意为“能讲两种语言的”。
由此可知我们可以通过上下文猜测生词的意思，这就是所谓的“语境线索”（context clues）。语境线索主要有

四种：
（1）事例Examples
通过生词的具体例子猜出该词的意义。阅读下面的例句，例句中的黑体字就是线索。另外，例子通常是由for example, for instance, including和such as等词引导出来。
In our house, hangers have various functions. For instance, in addition to holding clothing, they scratch backs and hold up plants in the garden.
Functions mean .
A. shapes B. problems C. uses D. tools
根据句中黑体字提供的事例线索可知functions的意思为uses。
（2）同义词Synonyms
根据上下文的同义词猜测词义是最常使用的一种猜测词义的方法。有时作者故意使用同义词以帮助读者理解生词的词义。这种情况下作者一般使用逗号、破折号、括号等引出，或者使用连词or和that引出，例如：
Affluent, or wealthy, Americans should be more concerned with the problems of the homeless. My best friend squandered all his money; his drinking and gambling wasted his earnings.
在上面的两个例句中，由于有同义词我们很容易就可以猜出affluent意为 “wealthy”; squander意为“waste”。
（3）反义词Antonyms
反义词也是非常有用的语境线索。反义词一般由however, but, yet, on the other hand和in contrast引出。例如：
The coach takes every opportunity to censure his players, yet he ignores every chance to praise them. Some teachers are too lenient—they have no rules in class and no real goals. I’d rather have a strict teacher who took class seriously.
第一句中的censure意为“批评”，因为它的反义词是praise。lenient意为“和蔼的，随和的”，因为它的反义词是strict。
（4）语义线索
有时可以通过一篇文章中的其他概念或观点猜出一个生词的意义。例如：
The newlyweds agreed to be very frugal in their shopping because they wanted to save enough money to buy a home.
根据句意可知，如果这对新婚夫妇想要攒钱的话，他们必须要节俭，由此可猜出frugal意为“节俭”。
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阅读理解(八)
其他答题方法及注意事项 
首先，简要介绍其他几种题型的答题方法：
（1）在解答态度/语气题的时候，考生首先要检查一下文章中的措辞。作者一般通过使用像tranquil, fragrant, peaceful等形容词来表示肯定的内涵，而通过使用stingy, ugly, ruffled等词来表示否定的内涵。当我们讲话的时候我们的语气就表达出我们的情感，比如frustrated, cheerful, critical, gloomy, angry等。
（2）在解答语境转换题的时候考生应该做到以下三点：
①推论——如果X是正确的，那么Y一定是正确的。
②领会感觉——如果作者对A是这么感觉的，那么他对B也很可能是

一样的感觉。
③把自己放在作者的位置上进行假设。
其次，在做阅读理解题的时候考生要注意下列事项：
（1）有些题的选项很长，一定要认真阅读，体会各个选项的差异，如概念的大小，结论的深浅等。
（2）答完题后检查时，在没有十分把握的情况下不要轻易地改动第一遍所做的答案，因为第一印象往往是非常准确的。
（3）英语专业四级考试在阅读理解试题后还有五分钟的快速阅读，注意在规定时间前千万不要擅自拆开封条。
快速阅读(一)
略读 skimming
快速阅读部分一般分为略读(skimming)和查读(scanning)。对于这一部分，学生应看清题目，根据题意有针对性地阅读所给文章。
本部分的题目主要有主旨题、态度/语气题等，即总结或归纳文章的中心大意、文章的可能出处、文章的性质或作者的写作手法及文章的语气等，在前文已有讲解。但是因为此类题型出现在快速阅读中，因此当学生读完文章时，要求迅速在选项中找到一个恰如其分的、高度概括的、能覆盖文章全部内容的中心大意；根据内容把文章归纳为何种类别，判断属性等；或迅速判断出文章总体给读者的印象（比如：轻松愉快、妙趣横生、心情沉重、平淡如水、讽刺批评等）。由于是快速阅读，学生不可能有很多时间去琢磨，因此应根据自己的第一印象找出合适的选项。在阅读时，要注意抓住重点，比如每篇文章的首段和末段、每段的首句和末句，这样会大大提高阅读速度。
另一方面，快速阅读的材料相对较短，也较容易，因此考生也不必紧张，只要全神贯注地答题就能快速准确地找出答案。例如：
First read the following question.
The general idea of the passage is why the U.S. .
A. made atomic bombs
B. used atomic bombs
C. invaded Japan
D. accepted Japan’s surrender
Now skim the passage below and answer the question.
The decision to drop the atomic bombs, once the scientists had developed them, was not lightly made. Operating without knowledge of the highly secret scientific breakthrough, allied military staffs planned to invade Japan in November, 1945, with a second major landing in March, 1946. Japanese resistance in the Pacific islands had been so fierce that the Allied planners anticipated more than a million Allied and two million Japanese casualties. President Truman’s hope was that the atomic bombs—through a demonstration of immense power—would shock the Japanese command into accepting the idea of surrender and save lives on both sides.
根据前面章节所介绍的有关解答主旨题的方法，考生可以很容易发现文章最后一句话是主题
句，这就是文

章的大意，因此正确答案为B。

快速阅读(二)
查读Scanning
本部分题目一般为细节题，就是在所给的材料（一般为列表、信函、广告等）中查找有关事实和数据。学生应先看题目，根据题意在该文中迅速找出某一具体细节，而不必把文章从头至尾通读一遍。如果需要找年代或地点，则只需把注意力集中到有关数字或大写字母上。有时甚至只需寻找某个首字母就可以找到有关内容。查读材料比较长时，还要判断查的内容可能出现的部位，有的内容按字母排列，有的内容按时间顺序排列，或按其他方式排列，只要用目光把全文扫描一下，心中就有数。有时材料会很长，甚至会有少量超过大纲规定的词汇，学生在应考时不要因此产生心理负担，因为大部分内容不需阅读。例如：
First read the following question.
Margaret Mee went on her first expedition to the Amazon in .
A. 1952 B. 1968 C. 1947 D. 1956
Now scan Text and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
Margaret Mee: English Explorer and Painter of Amazon Flora
** Born in Chesham, England, in May 1909.
** Studied at St Martins School of Art and later at the Camberwell School of Art. 
** Went to Brazil with her husband Breville, a commercial artist, in 1952.
** Made her first expedition to the Amazon in 1956 at the age of 47.
** Made 15 further expeditions to the Amazon. The last expedition took place in May 1988.
** She never painted or drew from photographs. She painted what she saw.
** She published two books of her paintings in 1968 and 1980.
** She achieved an ambition of 36 years to paint the night flowing Amazon Moonflower only in 1988.
** Her diaries, In Search of the Flowers of the Amazon Forest, were published in 1988. 
通过查读很容易就会发现正确答案为D。