主題思想題在考試中出現(xiàn)的頻率較高，因為這類題可考查考生抓主要信息的能力，而能夠抓住文章的主要信息又是閱讀能力的一個極為重要的方面。
這類題在設(shè)題時常會用到title, subject, main idea , topic, theme等詞。常見的提問形式有以下幾種：
What is the main idea of the passage?
Which of the following would be the best title?
What's the best title for the passage?
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
This passage tells us _____.
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
What does the passage mainly discuss?
做這類題時常用略讀法，把注意力放在抓主要信息上，不去過分注意細(xì)節(jié)事實，否則會造成“只見樹木,不見森林”的結(jié)果。通常的辦法是，快速閱讀文章時注意找出各段主題句。英文文章各段主題句常放在段首，有時也放在段尾或段落中間，有時不明確寫出，通讀文章后把各段主題句聯(lián)系起來，一般就能得出文章主題。
就整篇文章來講，首段和尾段一般對于解這類題更為重要。我們以97年統(tǒng)考試卷中閱讀理解部分的第一篇文章為例：
How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.
Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved ,whatever he may do .It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return .In addition ,life is always presenting new things to the child——things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-know. But a child has his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things, or being punished for what he has done wrong.
When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society.
文章后面第四個問題是：
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
A. life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains
B. young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard
C. childhood is the most enjoyable time in one's life
D. one is the happiest if he can make good use of each age in his life
文章的第一段講的是人們常聽說孩子們盼著長大成人，老年人則希望返老還童。人生的每個階段總是歡樂伴著苦惱，而最幸福的人則是那些既享受人生每一階段所帶來的歡樂，又沒有因虛度年華而終生后悔的人。第二段講述了一個人兒童時代的歡樂與苦惱，第三段則告訴讀者青年人的責(zé)任與義務(wù)，機遇和挑戰(zhàn)。從以上三段文字來看，第一段中第二句即是主題句，所以我們應(yīng)選D為正確答案。
閱讀理解包括三篇短文，總閱讀量不超過900個詞。每篇短文后設(shè)5個問題，每題2分，共30分。所選短文內(nèi)容包括人物傳記、熱門話題、社會、文化、日常知識、科普常識等。閱讀理解題要求考生讀后能掌握文章的主旨大意，了解說明主旨大意的事實和細(xì)節(jié)，并根據(jù)所讀內(nèi)容進行一定的判斷和推論。
閱讀理解題是一種綜合性的技能測試，它不僅要求考生具有較強的理解能力，還要求考生要有一定的閱讀速度。而通常影響閱讀理解的主要有三大因素：詞匯量、語法知識、背景知識。從前些年三級統(tǒng)考的實際情況看，考生們反映最困難是詞匯量太小，其直接后果是感覺時間太緊，答不完試卷。至于后兩項也是弱項的考生來說就更困難了?？忌谶@一項上取得高分，除了要在詞匯量、語法知識、背景知識三個方面多下功夫外，還必須學(xué)會掌握一些最基本的閱讀技能，了解這部分試題的基本設(shè)題思路及解題方法和技巧。下面我分“閱讀技巧”和“解題類型及應(yīng)試技巧”兩部分給同學(xué)們做詳細(xì)介紹。
(一)閱讀技巧
根據(jù)不同的閱讀目的，可以采用不同的閱讀方法，或稱閱讀技巧。一般來說，閱讀方法有略讀、尋讀和細(xì)讀三種。
(1)略讀(Skimming)
“略讀”又稱“瀏覽”，是指跳過細(xì)節(jié)，跳過不重要的描述與例子，進行快速閱讀以求抓住文章的大意和主題思想的方法。閱讀時速度要快，一般來說，250字左右的短文應(yīng)在二、三分鐘之內(nèi)看完。略讀時精力必須十分集中，不要去記憶細(xì)節(jié)，遇到個別生詞或難懂的詞句均可略過，以求對全文總體意思的了解。為了更好地抓住全文的中心思想，略讀時要特別注意文章的起始段和結(jié)束段以及文章中每一段的段首句和結(jié)尾句，因為它們往往是對文章內(nèi)容的概括。
(2)尋讀(Scanning)
尋讀是快速尋找某一特殊信息的閱讀方法。它的目的非常明確，即找到所需要的信息。日常生活中我們對這一方法并不陌生。例如從人群中找出你認(rèn)識的朋友，從貨架上找出你想購買的商品，在書架上尋找一本你要找的書，從一本指南中找出某個單位的地址等，都是利用這種方法。在尋讀時，目光要自上而下，一目數(shù)行地尋視與答題相關(guān)的詞句，與此無關(guān)的內(nèi)容要很快掠過。當(dāng)回答who, when, where等有關(guān)文章細(xì)節(jié)時，我們用這種方法很快就能找到答案。
(3)細(xì)讀(Reading for full understanding)
細(xì)讀是在找到文章中的有關(guān)部分以后，在此范圍內(nèi)逐句閱讀，特別要對關(guān)鍵詞、句仔細(xì)琢磨，以便對其有比較深刻、準(zhǔn)確的理解。不僅要理解其字面意思，還要通過推理和判斷，弄清文章中字里行間所隱含的意思。在細(xì)讀的過程中，對沒有學(xué)過的生詞，可根據(jù)上下文的背景知識來推測其詞義；對難以看懂的長句，可借助語法手段，對其加以分析，以達到正確理解的目的。
總之，在閱讀一篇文章的過程中，我們應(yīng)根據(jù)不同的要求，采用不同的閱讀方法，對有些閱讀理解問題知其大意即可，另一些需要尋讀，而少數(shù)則需要細(xì)心推敲。在三級統(tǒng)考中我們應(yīng)當(dāng)充分利用以上三種閱讀方法，即用“略讀”法瀏覽全文，以求抓住文章的大意和主題思想。在此基礎(chǔ)上根據(jù)問題的要求，采用尋讀或細(xì)讀的方法來解答問題。
(二)解題類型及應(yīng)試技巧
(1) 主題思想常見提問方式及答題技巧
主題思想題在考試中出現(xiàn)的頻率較高，因為這類題可考查考生抓主要信息的能力，而能夠抓住文章的主要信息又是閱讀能力的一個極為重要的方面。
這類題在設(shè)題時常會用到title, subject, main idea , topic, theme等詞。常見的
提問形式有以下幾種：
What is the main idea of the passage?
Which of the following would be the best title?
What's the best title for the passage?
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
This passage tells us _____.
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
What does the passage mainly discuss?
做這類題時常用略讀法，把注意力放在抓主要信息上，不去過分注意細(xì)節(jié)事實，否則會造成“只見樹木,不見森林”的結(jié)果。通常的辦法是，快速閱讀文章時注意找出各段主題句。英文文章各段主題句常放在段首，有時也放在段尾或段落中間，有時不明確寫出，通讀文章后把各段主題句聯(lián)系起來，一般就能得出文章主題。
就整篇文章來講，首段和尾段一般對于解這類題更為重要。我們以97年統(tǒng)考試卷中閱讀理解部分的第一篇文章為例：
How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.
Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved ,whatever he may do .It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return .In addition ,life is always presenting new things to the child——things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-know. But a child has his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things, or being punished for what he has done wrong.
When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society.
文章后面第四個問題是：
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
A. life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains
B. young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard
C. childhood is the most enjoyable time in one's life
D. one is the happiest if he can make good use of each age in his life
文章的第一段講的是人們常聽說孩子們盼著長大成人，老年人則希望返老還童。人生的每個階段總是歡樂伴著苦惱，而最幸福的人則是那些既享受人生每一階段所帶來的歡樂，又沒有因虛度年華而終生后悔的人。第二段講述了一個人兒童時代的歡樂與苦惱，第三段則告訴讀者青年人的責(zé)任與義務(wù)，機遇和挑戰(zhàn)。從以上三段文字來看，第一段中第二句即是主題句，所以我們應(yīng)選D為正確答案。
(2) 主要事實和細(xì)節(jié)題設(shè)題思路及答題技巧
主要事實和細(xì)節(jié)題就是我們平時所說的由who ,what ,where ,when ,why ,which ,how引出的問題。這是極為常見的閱讀理解題。這類題主要是針對論證支持主題的事實或例證設(shè)題，可能涉及數(shù)學(xué)計算、概念理解以及是非判斷等。
這類題的方法一般是先用尋讀法找出與問題相關(guān)的詞語或句子，再對相關(guān)部分進行細(xì)讀，找出問題答案。
這類題提問的形式多種多樣，常見的有以下幾種：
Which of the following (statements) is Not mentioned in the passage?
According to the passage，which of the following statements is true?
According to the passage, all of the following are true except _____
How many…？
What…?
Why…?
解這類題時，審題是關(guān)鍵，首先一定得看清問題。比如一句結(jié)論性的話后邊到底是…is true,還是is not true.另外，由于細(xì)節(jié)題比較容易，有時為了增加測試難度，命題人員在題干或選項中要增加一些文字或意義上的干擾。所以考生很少能在原文中找到一模一樣的現(xiàn)成答案。
我們引用2002年試題為例。
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of politeness. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.
It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked , "I have failed again." On the train back to Washington, he said sadly, "That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed."
Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little as people read the speech they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.
Today, every American school child learns Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest speeches ever given in American history.
文章的最后一題是：
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has deep meaning.
B. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is simple in style.
C. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is memorized by every American schoolchild.
D. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is the greatest speech ever delivered in the United States.
答案可以在文章的第三段和第四段找到?！八难葜v含義深刻、風(fēng)格簡樸；如今美國所有的在校的學(xué)生都能背誦他的演講”；文章中他談到：“現(xiàn)在所有的人都認(rèn)為他的演講是美國歷的演講之一?！倍皇敲绹难葜v。所以D是錯誤的。
(3) 推理性試題常見提問方式及答題技巧
推理性試題大多含有infer ,imply ,suggest ,conclude,(most)probably等關(guān)鍵詞。以下是一些常見的提問方式：
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
The passage implies that _____.
The passage suggests that _____.
What is implied in the passage?
The paragraph following (proceeding) this passage probably will discuss (discusses)_____.
推理性試題不能從文章中直接找到答案。解這類題需要考生在正確理解原文語言字面意義的基礎(chǔ)上，運用邏輯推理的方法去理解文章字里行間的意義。對原文中找到的所有相關(guān)信息要進行仔細(xì)分析，摸清它們相互之間時間、方位、因果、對比等邏輯關(guān)系，在此基礎(chǔ)上進行綜合推理，選定答案。
我們?nèi)砸?002年試題中的閱讀理解文章為例。
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of politeness. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.
It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked , "I have failed again." On the train back to Washington, he said sadly, "That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed."
Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little as people read the speech they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.
Today, every American school child learns Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest speeches ever given in American history.
文章后面的第五題就是一個推理性試題。
It can be inferred from the text that _____.
A. Lincoln prepared his speech very carefully before he went to Gettysburg
B. Lincoln was very busy at the time and didn't have much time to prepare his speech
C. Lincoln's speech was full of rich words
D. Lincoln's speech was very long
文章的第二段有這樣的話：“It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech.”“據(jù)說林肯是在去葛底斯堡的火車上準(zhǔn)備他的演講的。那天深夜，在賓館的房間里，他既孤獨又疲倦，只是又簡單準(zhǔn)備了一下?！彼酝ㄟ^這些句子我們可以判斷林肯非常的忙，沒有更多的時間準(zhǔn)備他的演講，B是正確答案。A, C, D,均不符合文章的內(nèi)容。
(4) 詞匯題設(shè)題形式及答題技巧
詞匯題是詢問文章中出現(xiàn)的某個詞、某個詞組甚至某個句子含義的題型。其中所詢問的詞、詞組或句子，往往不為考生所熟悉，但又能在文中找到線索進行推測，所以這類考題是檢查考生是否具備根據(jù)一個詞、詞組或句子所處的特定環(huán)境來判斷其意義的能力。
解答這類試題時，考生應(yīng)首先明白，任何詞或詞語都不是孤立的，它或它們所在的上下文往往能提供重要的線索。某個定義、解釋、甚至標(biāo)點符號、關(guān)聯(lián)詞都可以幫助考生推測一些詞或詞語的意義，除此之外，我們還必須注意所測試的詞或詞語與其前后一些詞形成的同義、反義、并列和指代等關(guān)系。
這類題常見的提問方式有以下幾種：
The word “ … ”in line 5 refers to………
The word “… ”(Line 6. para.2) most probably means _____.
By “… ”,the author means _____.
The word “… ”could best be replaced by which of the following?
which of the following is nearest in meaning to “… ”?
In para.2,the sentence “…… ” probably means “…… ”
我們以2002年閱讀第二篇文章為例：
The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market.
In the international market, goods on sale coming from different countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting (報價), what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc. Then, how can we obtain such information? There are many channels that we can make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor's offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot.
Certainly, face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course , there are some other ways of making market investigations.
文章的第三題是詞匯題。
The word "indispensable" in the first line means_____.
A. impossible B. essential C. advisable D. available
“indispensable ”在文章的第一段的第一行。從它后面的句子：“市場調(diào)查和促銷的關(guān)系就像牙齒和嘴唇的關(guān)系一樣緊密?！苯又终f：“生產(chǎn)是為了銷售，如果沒有事先的市場調(diào)查，銷售就不可能成功?！庇指鶕?jù)所給的四個選項，B：必不可少的，必需的。最合適。
以下介紹幾種通過上下文推斷詞義的行之有效的方法.
1、標(biāo)點符號是理解詞義的一條重要線索,因為有些詞的定義是通過標(biāo)點符號,如破折號，括號,冒號等來完成的.如:
Sometimes we work on night shift—— from 11:30 p . m to 7:30 a.m
從破折號后的說明，我們可以斷定“night shift”是“夜班”的意思。
2、有些信號詞如：is called, means, that is, is, or, define as, refer to 等通常是針對某一詞匯的定義、解釋或說明。如：
One sort of crimes which particularly worries people is juvenile delinquency，that is, crimes committed by young people.
從that is的解釋來看,我們可以斷定“juvenile delinquency”即 “青少年犯罪”。
3、舉例可以幫助我們理解詞義。對于有些重要的詞匯，作者常在詞后自帶解釋或例子。因此，根據(jù)例子可猜出詞義。如：
You may select any of these periodicals ：Time Magazine, Newsweek, Reader′s Digest or The New Yorker.
從后邊列舉的時代周刊、新聞周刊等流行期刊，我們可以斷定“periodical”即“期刊雜志”。
4、靠形成反差、對照的詞或詞組猜出詞義。常見的這些詞或詞組有while, whereas, unlike, but, yet, although, however, in contrast, on the other hand, rather than 等。如：
Jane was talking with others while Eliza remained reticent all the time.
文章的while作“而，卻”解，由此我們可以斷定“reticent”作“沉默寡言的”解。
5、憑借常識和經(jīng)驗猜測詞義。如：
The door was so low that I hit my head on the lintel.
只要你知道so that這個結(jié)構(gòu)，憑借常識就應(yīng)猜出“l(fā)intel”的意思是“過梁，上門梁”。
6、根據(jù)構(gòu)詞法來猜測詞義。熟悉英語詞匯的構(gòu)詞法，特別是派生詞的構(gòu)成方法及詞義，可以幫助我們在閱讀過程中有效地猜測詞義，提高閱讀速度，準(zhǔn)確答題。
考生應(yīng)特別注意英語詞綴的某些特點。如，一般來說前綴只增加或改變一個詞的意義，但并不改變其詞性。例如：supermarket(超市)，foretell (預(yù)言)，dissatisfied(不滿意的)uncomfortably(不舒服地)等。而后綴不但可以增加或改變一個詞的意義，而且改變其詞性。如washable變動詞“洗”為形容詞“可洗的”，normalize變形容詞“正常的”為動詞“使……正常化”，beginner變動詞“開始”為名詞“初學(xué)者”，childless則由名詞“小孩”變?yōu)樾稳菰~“無子女的”。只要知道詞根的意義，又熟悉前綴和后綴表示的意義，就不難判斷這些詞的詞義。
(5) 詢問作者寫作目或態(tài)度的常見提問方式及答題技巧
作者的語氣態(tài)度往往不會直接寫在文章里，只能通過細(xì)讀文章，從作者的選詞及其修飾手段中體會出來。這種題型常見的提問形式有：
The author seems _____.
The author's tone in this passage is _____.
The purpose of the author in writing this passage is _____.
The author's intention in writing the passage is to _____.
The writer probably feels that _____.
In the author's opinion, _____.
這類考題中，詢問語氣態(tài)度的題，選擇項里常出現(xiàn)以下一些重要的詞：sympathetic 同情的；critical批評的; doubtful懷疑的；objective客觀的；enthusiastic熱情的，matter-of-fact實事求是的；hostile 敵對的；satisfied滿意的；friendly友好的；indifferent冷淡的；subjective主觀的；optimistic樂觀的；pessimistic悲觀的；disappointed失望的；neutral中立的。
詢問寫作目的的題，選擇項里常出現(xiàn)的詞是：
explain解釋；persuade勸說；comment評論；
criticize批評；interest引起……的注意或興趣；
entertain使歡樂；argue辯論；demonstrate舉例說明，示范；
tell講述；prove 證明；urge激動；advise勸告；analyze分析；
praise贊揚，view看待,等等。
例：
One bright spot in the U.S. economy in 1979 was the surprising decline in gasoline use. Rising fuel costs are finally prodding Americans to cut back on consumption, and the need for this becomes more acute all the time.
有關(guān)作者態(tài)度或觀點的問題是：
How does the author view the decline in gas consumption?
A. He is indifferent. B. He thinks it is a good sign.
C. He doesn't see the need for it. D. He is unhappy about it.
作者把“the decline in gas consumption”描述為“one bright spot in the U.S economy”，可見答案應(yīng)該是B.
除了要掌握基本的閱讀方法和前面講到的應(yīng)試技巧以外，要想在規(guī)定的時間內(nèi)，既能準(zhǔn)確又能快速地回答好所有問題，考生還應(yīng)注意以下幾點：
1、考生應(yīng)針對文章的不同題材和題型，選擇不同的閱讀方法。有時需要先瀏覽文章，后看題目；有時則不然。但通常情況下，應(yīng)首先確定文章的主旨或主題，然后再審讀問題。在絕大多數(shù)情況下我們的答題步驟應(yīng)該是(1)預(yù)先快速瀏覽題干和每段首句，確定哪些是重點和相關(guān)因素，知道所設(shè)問題的類型，做到心中有數(shù)。(2)快速閱讀文章，了解文章大意和重點，盡快掃描，讀到與剛才所記住的與題干有關(guān)的內(nèi)容，先用鉛筆做些記號，快速在答案中選出一個臨時答案，然后繼續(xù)閱讀。(3)用最快速度重讀問題，找出心中已經(jīng)有把握的答案位置。再閱讀一遍該段有關(guān)材料，盡快答完有把握的問題。對那些尚未作答的題目，再用上述方法一口氣重讀一遍文章，這次應(yīng)找出更微妙的線索，集中精力解決難題。
2、一般來說，除了主旨及推論型題目以外，題目順序與文章的情節(jié)發(fā)展是一致的，因此應(yīng)按題目順序解題。
3、文章較難時，不必緊張，根據(jù)語言學(xué)科的測試規(guī)律，如果文章難則問題比較簡單。只要能很好地應(yīng)用閱讀技巧，就不難找到正確答案。另外，文章偏長也不一定就難，因為在較長的篇幅中，其詞匯，句子結(jié)構(gòu)的復(fù)雜程度要相對容易些。
4、閱讀過程中，可以在文章或問題旁空白處做些記號，也可以對一些與答題有關(guān)的詞句劃線。還可以標(biāo)出一些關(guān)鍵詞，尤其是文章的論點、論據(jù)及一些有關(guān)事實，以避免遺忘或回顧時浪費時間。
5、回答問題時不能按照個人的主觀臆斷，回答問題的根據(jù)應(yīng)該建立在閱讀文章的基礎(chǔ)上。
這類題在設(shè)題時常會用到title, subject, main idea , topic, theme等詞。常見的提問形式有以下幾種：
What is the main idea of the passage?
Which of the following would be the best title?
What's the best title for the passage?
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
This passage tells us _____.
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
What does the passage mainly discuss?
做這類題時常用略讀法，把注意力放在抓主要信息上，不去過分注意細(xì)節(jié)事實，否則會造成“只見樹木,不見森林”的結(jié)果。通常的辦法是，快速閱讀文章時注意找出各段主題句。英文文章各段主題句常放在段首，有時也放在段尾或段落中間，有時不明確寫出，通讀文章后把各段主題句聯(lián)系起來，一般就能得出文章主題。
就整篇文章來講，首段和尾段一般對于解這類題更為重要。我們以97年統(tǒng)考試卷中閱讀理解部分的第一篇文章為例：
How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.
Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved ,whatever he may do .It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return .In addition ,life is always presenting new things to the child——things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-know. But a child has his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things, or being punished for what he has done wrong.
When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society.
文章后面第四個問題是：
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
A. life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains
B. young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard
C. childhood is the most enjoyable time in one's life
D. one is the happiest if he can make good use of each age in his life
文章的第一段講的是人們常聽說孩子們盼著長大成人，老年人則希望返老還童。人生的每個階段總是歡樂伴著苦惱，而最幸福的人則是那些既享受人生每一階段所帶來的歡樂，又沒有因虛度年華而終生后悔的人。第二段講述了一個人兒童時代的歡樂與苦惱，第三段則告訴讀者青年人的責(zé)任與義務(wù)，機遇和挑戰(zhàn)。從以上三段文字來看，第一段中第二句即是主題句，所以我們應(yīng)選D為正確答案。
閱讀理解包括三篇短文，總閱讀量不超過900個詞。每篇短文后設(shè)5個問題，每題2分，共30分。所選短文內(nèi)容包括人物傳記、熱門話題、社會、文化、日常知識、科普常識等。閱讀理解題要求考生讀后能掌握文章的主旨大意，了解說明主旨大意的事實和細(xì)節(jié)，并根據(jù)所讀內(nèi)容進行一定的判斷和推論。
閱讀理解題是一種綜合性的技能測試，它不僅要求考生具有較強的理解能力，還要求考生要有一定的閱讀速度。而通常影響閱讀理解的主要有三大因素：詞匯量、語法知識、背景知識。從前些年三級統(tǒng)考的實際情況看，考生們反映最困難是詞匯量太小，其直接后果是感覺時間太緊，答不完試卷。至于后兩項也是弱項的考生來說就更困難了?？忌谶@一項上取得高分，除了要在詞匯量、語法知識、背景知識三個方面多下功夫外，還必須學(xué)會掌握一些最基本的閱讀技能，了解這部分試題的基本設(shè)題思路及解題方法和技巧。下面我分“閱讀技巧”和“解題類型及應(yīng)試技巧”兩部分給同學(xué)們做詳細(xì)介紹。
(一)閱讀技巧
根據(jù)不同的閱讀目的，可以采用不同的閱讀方法，或稱閱讀技巧。一般來說，閱讀方法有略讀、尋讀和細(xì)讀三種。
(1)略讀(Skimming)
“略讀”又稱“瀏覽”，是指跳過細(xì)節(jié)，跳過不重要的描述與例子，進行快速閱讀以求抓住文章的大意和主題思想的方法。閱讀時速度要快，一般來說，250字左右的短文應(yīng)在二、三分鐘之內(nèi)看完。略讀時精力必須十分集中，不要去記憶細(xì)節(jié)，遇到個別生詞或難懂的詞句均可略過，以求對全文總體意思的了解。為了更好地抓住全文的中心思想，略讀時要特別注意文章的起始段和結(jié)束段以及文章中每一段的段首句和結(jié)尾句，因為它們往往是對文章內(nèi)容的概括。
(2)尋讀(Scanning)
尋讀是快速尋找某一特殊信息的閱讀方法。它的目的非常明確，即找到所需要的信息。日常生活中我們對這一方法并不陌生。例如從人群中找出你認(rèn)識的朋友，從貨架上找出你想購買的商品，在書架上尋找一本你要找的書，從一本指南中找出某個單位的地址等，都是利用這種方法。在尋讀時，目光要自上而下，一目數(shù)行地尋視與答題相關(guān)的詞句，與此無關(guān)的內(nèi)容要很快掠過。當(dāng)回答who, when, where等有關(guān)文章細(xì)節(jié)時，我們用這種方法很快就能找到答案。
(3)細(xì)讀(Reading for full understanding)
細(xì)讀是在找到文章中的有關(guān)部分以后，在此范圍內(nèi)逐句閱讀，特別要對關(guān)鍵詞、句仔細(xì)琢磨，以便對其有比較深刻、準(zhǔn)確的理解。不僅要理解其字面意思，還要通過推理和判斷，弄清文章中字里行間所隱含的意思。在細(xì)讀的過程中，對沒有學(xué)過的生詞，可根據(jù)上下文的背景知識來推測其詞義；對難以看懂的長句，可借助語法手段，對其加以分析，以達到正確理解的目的。
總之，在閱讀一篇文章的過程中，我們應(yīng)根據(jù)不同的要求，采用不同的閱讀方法，對有些閱讀理解問題知其大意即可，另一些需要尋讀，而少數(shù)則需要細(xì)心推敲。在三級統(tǒng)考中我們應(yīng)當(dāng)充分利用以上三種閱讀方法，即用“略讀”法瀏覽全文，以求抓住文章的大意和主題思想。在此基礎(chǔ)上根據(jù)問題的要求，采用尋讀或細(xì)讀的方法來解答問題。
(二)解題類型及應(yīng)試技巧
(1) 主題思想常見提問方式及答題技巧
主題思想題在考試中出現(xiàn)的頻率較高，因為這類題可考查考生抓主要信息的能力，而能夠抓住文章的主要信息又是閱讀能力的一個極為重要的方面。
這類題在設(shè)題時常會用到title, subject, main idea , topic, theme等詞。常見的
提問形式有以下幾種：
What is the main idea of the passage?
Which of the following would be the best title?
What's the best title for the passage?
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
This passage tells us _____.
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
What does the passage mainly discuss?
做這類題時常用略讀法，把注意力放在抓主要信息上，不去過分注意細(xì)節(jié)事實，否則會造成“只見樹木,不見森林”的結(jié)果。通常的辦法是，快速閱讀文章時注意找出各段主題句。英文文章各段主題句常放在段首，有時也放在段尾或段落中間，有時不明確寫出，通讀文章后把各段主題句聯(lián)系起來，一般就能得出文章主題。
就整篇文章來講，首段和尾段一般對于解這類題更為重要。我們以97年統(tǒng)考試卷中閱讀理解部分的第一篇文章為例：
How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.
Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved ,whatever he may do .It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return .In addition ,life is always presenting new things to the child——things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-know. But a child has his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things, or being punished for what he has done wrong.
When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society.
文章后面第四個問題是：
The main idea of the passage is that _____.
A. life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains
B. young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard
C. childhood is the most enjoyable time in one's life
D. one is the happiest if he can make good use of each age in his life
文章的第一段講的是人們常聽說孩子們盼著長大成人，老年人則希望返老還童。人生的每個階段總是歡樂伴著苦惱，而最幸福的人則是那些既享受人生每一階段所帶來的歡樂，又沒有因虛度年華而終生后悔的人。第二段講述了一個人兒童時代的歡樂與苦惱，第三段則告訴讀者青年人的責(zé)任與義務(wù)，機遇和挑戰(zhàn)。從以上三段文字來看，第一段中第二句即是主題句，所以我們應(yīng)選D為正確答案。
(2) 主要事實和細(xì)節(jié)題設(shè)題思路及答題技巧
主要事實和細(xì)節(jié)題就是我們平時所說的由who ,what ,where ,when ,why ,which ,how引出的問題。這是極為常見的閱讀理解題。這類題主要是針對論證支持主題的事實或例證設(shè)題，可能涉及數(shù)學(xué)計算、概念理解以及是非判斷等。
這類題的方法一般是先用尋讀法找出與問題相關(guān)的詞語或句子，再對相關(guān)部分進行細(xì)讀，找出問題答案。
這類題提問的形式多種多樣，常見的有以下幾種：
Which of the following (statements) is Not mentioned in the passage?
According to the passage，which of the following statements is true?
According to the passage, all of the following are true except _____
How many…？
What…?
Why…?
解這類題時，審題是關(guān)鍵，首先一定得看清問題。比如一句結(jié)論性的話后邊到底是…is true,還是is not true.另外，由于細(xì)節(jié)題比較容易，有時為了增加測試難度，命題人員在題干或選項中要增加一些文字或意義上的干擾。所以考生很少能在原文中找到一模一樣的現(xiàn)成答案。
我們引用2002年試題為例。
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of politeness. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.
It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked , "I have failed again." On the train back to Washington, he said sadly, "That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed."
Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little as people read the speech they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.
Today, every American school child learns Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest speeches ever given in American history.
文章的最后一題是：
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has deep meaning.
B. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is simple in style.
C. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is memorized by every American schoolchild.
D. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is the greatest speech ever delivered in the United States.
答案可以在文章的第三段和第四段找到?！八难葜v含義深刻、風(fēng)格簡樸；如今美國所有的在校的學(xué)生都能背誦他的演講”；文章中他談到：“現(xiàn)在所有的人都認(rèn)為他的演講是美國歷的演講之一?！倍皇敲绹难葜v。所以D是錯誤的。
(3) 推理性試題常見提問方式及答題技巧
推理性試題大多含有infer ,imply ,suggest ,conclude,(most)probably等關(guān)鍵詞。以下是一些常見的提問方式：
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
The passage implies that _____.
The passage suggests that _____.
What is implied in the passage?
The paragraph following (proceeding) this passage probably will discuss (discusses)_____.
推理性試題不能從文章中直接找到答案。解這類題需要考生在正確理解原文語言字面意義的基礎(chǔ)上，運用邏輯推理的方法去理解文章字里行間的意義。對原文中找到的所有相關(guān)信息要進行仔細(xì)分析，摸清它們相互之間時間、方位、因果、對比等邏輯關(guān)系，在此基礎(chǔ)上進行綜合推理，選定答案。
我們?nèi)砸?002年試題中的閱讀理解文章為例。
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of politeness. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.
It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked , "I have failed again." On the train back to Washington, he said sadly, "That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed."
Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little as people read the speech they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.
Today, every American school child learns Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest speeches ever given in American history.
文章后面的第五題就是一個推理性試題。
It can be inferred from the text that _____.
A. Lincoln prepared his speech very carefully before he went to Gettysburg
B. Lincoln was very busy at the time and didn't have much time to prepare his speech
C. Lincoln's speech was full of rich words
D. Lincoln's speech was very long
文章的第二段有這樣的話：“It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech.”“據(jù)說林肯是在去葛底斯堡的火車上準(zhǔn)備他的演講的。那天深夜，在賓館的房間里，他既孤獨又疲倦，只是又簡單準(zhǔn)備了一下?！彼酝ㄟ^這些句子我們可以判斷林肯非常的忙，沒有更多的時間準(zhǔn)備他的演講，B是正確答案。A, C, D,均不符合文章的內(nèi)容。
(4) 詞匯題設(shè)題形式及答題技巧
詞匯題是詢問文章中出現(xiàn)的某個詞、某個詞組甚至某個句子含義的題型。其中所詢問的詞、詞組或句子，往往不為考生所熟悉，但又能在文中找到線索進行推測，所以這類考題是檢查考生是否具備根據(jù)一個詞、詞組或句子所處的特定環(huán)境來判斷其意義的能力。
解答這類試題時，考生應(yīng)首先明白，任何詞或詞語都不是孤立的，它或它們所在的上下文往往能提供重要的線索。某個定義、解釋、甚至標(biāo)點符號、關(guān)聯(lián)詞都可以幫助考生推測一些詞或詞語的意義，除此之外，我們還必須注意所測試的詞或詞語與其前后一些詞形成的同義、反義、并列和指代等關(guān)系。
這類題常見的提問方式有以下幾種：
The word “ … ”in line 5 refers to………
The word “… ”(Line 6. para.2) most probably means _____.
By “… ”,the author means _____.
The word “… ”could best be replaced by which of the following?
which of the following is nearest in meaning to “… ”?
In para.2,the sentence “…… ” probably means “…… ”
我們以2002年閱讀第二篇文章為例：
The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market.
In the international market, goods on sale coming from different countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting (報價), what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc. Then, how can we obtain such information? There are many channels that we can make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor's offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot.
Certainly, face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course , there are some other ways of making market investigations.
文章的第三題是詞匯題。
The word "indispensable" in the first line means_____.
A. impossible B. essential C. advisable D. available
“indispensable ”在文章的第一段的第一行。從它后面的句子：“市場調(diào)查和促銷的關(guān)系就像牙齒和嘴唇的關(guān)系一樣緊密?！苯又终f：“生產(chǎn)是為了銷售，如果沒有事先的市場調(diào)查，銷售就不可能成功?！庇指鶕?jù)所給的四個選項，B：必不可少的，必需的。最合適。
以下介紹幾種通過上下文推斷詞義的行之有效的方法.
1、標(biāo)點符號是理解詞義的一條重要線索,因為有些詞的定義是通過標(biāo)點符號,如破折號，括號,冒號等來完成的.如:
Sometimes we work on night shift—— from 11:30 p . m to 7:30 a.m
從破折號后的說明，我們可以斷定“night shift”是“夜班”的意思。
2、有些信號詞如：is called, means, that is, is, or, define as, refer to 等通常是針對某一詞匯的定義、解釋或說明。如：
One sort of crimes which particularly worries people is juvenile delinquency，that is, crimes committed by young people.
從that is的解釋來看,我們可以斷定“juvenile delinquency”即 “青少年犯罪”。
3、舉例可以幫助我們理解詞義。對于有些重要的詞匯，作者常在詞后自帶解釋或例子。因此，根據(jù)例子可猜出詞義。如：
You may select any of these periodicals ：Time Magazine, Newsweek, Reader′s Digest or The New Yorker.
從后邊列舉的時代周刊、新聞周刊等流行期刊，我們可以斷定“periodical”即“期刊雜志”。
4、靠形成反差、對照的詞或詞組猜出詞義。常見的這些詞或詞組有while, whereas, unlike, but, yet, although, however, in contrast, on the other hand, rather than 等。如：
Jane was talking with others while Eliza remained reticent all the time.
文章的while作“而，卻”解，由此我們可以斷定“reticent”作“沉默寡言的”解。
5、憑借常識和經(jīng)驗猜測詞義。如：
The door was so low that I hit my head on the lintel.
只要你知道so that這個結(jié)構(gòu)，憑借常識就應(yīng)猜出“l(fā)intel”的意思是“過梁，上門梁”。
6、根據(jù)構(gòu)詞法來猜測詞義。熟悉英語詞匯的構(gòu)詞法，特別是派生詞的構(gòu)成方法及詞義，可以幫助我們在閱讀過程中有效地猜測詞義，提高閱讀速度，準(zhǔn)確答題。
考生應(yīng)特別注意英語詞綴的某些特點。如，一般來說前綴只增加或改變一個詞的意義，但并不改變其詞性。例如：supermarket(超市)，foretell (預(yù)言)，dissatisfied(不滿意的)uncomfortably(不舒服地)等。而后綴不但可以增加或改變一個詞的意義，而且改變其詞性。如washable變動詞“洗”為形容詞“可洗的”，normalize變形容詞“正常的”為動詞“使……正常化”，beginner變動詞“開始”為名詞“初學(xué)者”，childless則由名詞“小孩”變?yōu)樾稳菰~“無子女的”。只要知道詞根的意義，又熟悉前綴和后綴表示的意義，就不難判斷這些詞的詞義。
(5) 詢問作者寫作目或態(tài)度的常見提問方式及答題技巧
作者的語氣態(tài)度往往不會直接寫在文章里，只能通過細(xì)讀文章，從作者的選詞及其修飾手段中體會出來。這種題型常見的提問形式有：
The author seems _____.
The author's tone in this passage is _____.
The purpose of the author in writing this passage is _____.
The author's intention in writing the passage is to _____.
The writer probably feels that _____.
In the author's opinion, _____.
這類考題中，詢問語氣態(tài)度的題，選擇項里常出現(xiàn)以下一些重要的詞：sympathetic 同情的；critical批評的; doubtful懷疑的；objective客觀的；enthusiastic熱情的，matter-of-fact實事求是的；hostile 敵對的；satisfied滿意的；friendly友好的；indifferent冷淡的；subjective主觀的；optimistic樂觀的；pessimistic悲觀的；disappointed失望的；neutral中立的。
詢問寫作目的的題，選擇項里常出現(xiàn)的詞是：
explain解釋；persuade勸說；comment評論；
criticize批評；interest引起……的注意或興趣；
entertain使歡樂；argue辯論；demonstrate舉例說明，示范；
tell講述；prove 證明；urge激動；advise勸告；analyze分析；
praise贊揚，view看待,等等。
例：
One bright spot in the U.S. economy in 1979 was the surprising decline in gasoline use. Rising fuel costs are finally prodding Americans to cut back on consumption, and the need for this becomes more acute all the time.
有關(guān)作者態(tài)度或觀點的問題是：
How does the author view the decline in gas consumption?
A. He is indifferent. B. He thinks it is a good sign.
C. He doesn't see the need for it. D. He is unhappy about it.
作者把“the decline in gas consumption”描述為“one bright spot in the U.S economy”，可見答案應(yīng)該是B.
除了要掌握基本的閱讀方法和前面講到的應(yīng)試技巧以外，要想在規(guī)定的時間內(nèi)，既能準(zhǔn)確又能快速地回答好所有問題，考生還應(yīng)注意以下幾點：
1、考生應(yīng)針對文章的不同題材和題型，選擇不同的閱讀方法。有時需要先瀏覽文章，后看題目；有時則不然。但通常情況下，應(yīng)首先確定文章的主旨或主題，然后再審讀問題。在絕大多數(shù)情況下我們的答題步驟應(yīng)該是(1)預(yù)先快速瀏覽題干和每段首句，確定哪些是重點和相關(guān)因素，知道所設(shè)問題的類型，做到心中有數(shù)。(2)快速閱讀文章，了解文章大意和重點，盡快掃描，讀到與剛才所記住的與題干有關(guān)的內(nèi)容，先用鉛筆做些記號，快速在答案中選出一個臨時答案，然后繼續(xù)閱讀。(3)用最快速度重讀問題，找出心中已經(jīng)有把握的答案位置。再閱讀一遍該段有關(guān)材料，盡快答完有把握的問題。對那些尚未作答的題目，再用上述方法一口氣重讀一遍文章，這次應(yīng)找出更微妙的線索，集中精力解決難題。
2、一般來說，除了主旨及推論型題目以外，題目順序與文章的情節(jié)發(fā)展是一致的，因此應(yīng)按題目順序解題。
3、文章較難時，不必緊張，根據(jù)語言學(xué)科的測試規(guī)律，如果文章難則問題比較簡單。只要能很好地應(yīng)用閱讀技巧，就不難找到正確答案。另外，文章偏長也不一定就難，因為在較長的篇幅中，其詞匯，句子結(jié)構(gòu)的復(fù)雜程度要相對容易些。
4、閱讀過程中，可以在文章或問題旁空白處做些記號，也可以對一些與答題有關(guān)的詞句劃線。還可以標(biāo)出一些關(guān)鍵詞，尤其是文章的論點、論據(jù)及一些有關(guān)事實，以避免遺忘或回顧時浪費時間。
5、回答問題時不能按照個人的主觀臆斷，回答問題的根據(jù)應(yīng)該建立在閱讀文章的基礎(chǔ)上。