托福閱讀做題要點之如何“定位”

大家都知道，托福閱讀文章之長、詞匯量要求之高以及題型種類之多，不過萬物都有破解之道。托福閱讀不僅有題型技巧，還涉及到閱讀技巧、良好的做題習慣和心態(tài)，而這些都可以通過訓練來達成。

讓我們先來“康康”托福閱讀十大題型都有什么：

詞匯層面——詞匯題、指代題；

句子層面——句簡題、插句題；

段落層面——修辭題、細節(jié)題、選非題、推理題；

篇章層面——歸總題、表格題。

除去頭（非?；A(chǔ)性）和尾（綜合性強）的四個題型，大部分同學要想拿到25分左右的分數(shù)，都需要將重點放在句子層面和段落層面的這六個題型上，其中句簡題、插句題、修辭題這三個題型，頻率基本在1題/篇，且技巧性極強，經(jīng)過老師課堂教學，輔以一定的訓練，基本到了后期正確率會相對穩(wěn)定下來。那么，真正拉開差距的，其實是【細節(jié)題】、【選非題】、【推理題】這三個理解性的題了。這三個題型均考查學生對于信息的快速篩查定位和理解能力。

以細節(jié)題為例，常見三種定位方法——

① 題干關(guān)鍵詞定位；②題干意思定位；③選項定位或全段通讀。

通過三個例子分別對應(yīng)以上三種定位方法。

【1】

The West had plenty of attractions: the alluvial river bottoms, the fecund soils of the rolling forest lands, the black loams of the prairies were tempting to New England farmers working their rocky, sterile land and to southeastern farmers plagued with soil depletion and erosion. In 1820 under a new land law, a farm could be bought for $100. The continued proliferation of banks made it easier for those without cash to negotiate loans in paper money. Western farmers borrowed with the confident expectation that the expanding economy would keep farm prices high, thus making it easy to reply loans when they fell due.

According to paragraph 3, what was the significance of the land law passed in 1820?

○It granted government-supported loans to farmers.

○It provided farmland at an affordable price.

○It required banks to offer loans to farmers.

○It enabled farmers to sell their land for a profit.

【解析】：基于題干理解，通過題干特殊關(guān)鍵詞1820,可以快速在文中定位到，基于定位句理解，選擇同義替換正確選項B。若題干中出現(xiàn)大寫、數(shù)字、合成詞、專有名詞等特殊詞，可采取這種直接定位的方式高效做題。但此題錯誤率并不低，很多同學會繼續(xù)往后文閱讀下去，或者常見的是以“瀏覽”的形式看下去，就非常容易選擇D。注意選項中的指代對象對應(yīng)題干中的關(guān)鍵對象。此類細節(jié)題實際出現(xiàn)概率較低。

【2】

Wildman and Niles observed that systematic reflection on teaching required a sound ability to understand classroom events in an objective manner. They describe the initial understanding in the teachers with whom they were working as being "utilitarian...and not rich or detailed enough to drive systematic reflection." Teachers rarely have the time or opportunities to view their own or the teaching of others in an objective manner. Further observation revealed the tendency of teachers to evaluate events rather than review the contributory factors in a considered manner by, in effect, standing outside the situation.

According to paragraph 3, what did the teachers working with Wildman and Niles often fail to do when they attempted to practice reflection?

○Correctly calculate the amount of time needed for reflection

○Provide sufficiently detailed descriptions of the methods they used to help them reflect

○Examine thoughtfully the possible causes of events in their classrooms

○Establish realistic goals for themselves in practicing reflection

【解析】：基于題干理解，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)題干問得是一個具體細節(jié)點，而不是一整個段落面，原則上并不需要通讀整段才能解題。但仔細審題會發(fā)現(xiàn)題干沒有可快速定位的特殊詞，不能像例【1】一般直接定位，且題干問的是老師通?！癴ail to do”的事情，動詞和形容詞被替換的頻率較高，因而，此題建議用上述第二種定位方法——題干意思定位，即邊讀邊找。從每句話主干的角度出發(fā)（尤其需要注意謂語動詞的理解），快速鎖定第二句“…and not rich or detailed enough to…”、第三句“Teachers rarely have the time or opportunities to…”、第四句“Further observation revealed the tendency of teachers to evaluate events rather than…”，其中【not】、【rarely】、【rather than】這三個否定詞替換了題干中的【fail to do】，綜合理解，確定答案為C。此題極易選B。

【3】

The function and status of ceramics in China varied from dynasty to dynasty, so they may be utilitarian, burial, trade-collectors', or even ritual objects, according to their quality and the era in which they were made. The ceramics fall into three broad types—earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain—for vessels, architectural items such as roof tiles, and modeled objects and figures. In addition, there was an important group of sculptures made for religious use, the majority of which were produced in earthenware.

According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true of Chinese ceramics?

○The function of ceramics remained the same from dynasty to dynasty.

○The use of ceramics as trade objects is better documented than the use of ceramics as ritual objects.

○There was little variation in quality for any type of ceramics over time.

○Some religious sculptures were made using the earthenware type of ceramics.

【解析】：基于題干理解，“which of following…”一般考查整個段落，無從定位。不過此題段落較短，可以采取“選項定位法”，通過理解各個選項，把握選項關(guān)鍵詞【A：function】【B：比較結(jié)構(gòu)】【C：quality】【D：religious sculptures】回歸原文掃讀，馬上可以確認答案為D。

同樣是“which of the following…”這種問法，我們再來看一下長段落的定位方法有什么不同。

【4】

Although southern Maya areas received more rainfall than northern areas, problems of water were paradoxically more severe in the wet south. While that made things hard for ancient Maya living in the south, it has also made things hard for modern archaeologists who have difficulty understanding why ancient droughts caused bigger problems in the wet south than in the dry north. The likely explanation is that an area of underground freshwater underlies the Yucatan Peninsula, but surface elevation increases from north to south, so that as one moves south the land surface lies increasingly higher above the water table. In the northern peninsula the elevation is sufficiently low that the ancient Maya were able to reach the water table at deep sinkholes called cenotes, or at deep caves. In low-elevation north coastal areas without sinkholes, the Maya would have been able to get down to the water table by digging wells up to 75 feet (22 meters) deep. But much of the south lies too high above the water table for cenotes or wells to reach down to it. Making matters worse, most of the Yucatan Peninsula consists of karst, a porous sponge-like limestone terrain where rain runs straight into the ground and where little or no surface water remains available.  

Which of the following statements about the availability of water in the Mayan homeland is supported by paragraph 3?

○The construction of wells was an uncommon practice in both the north and the south because it was too difficult to dig through the karst.

○In most areas in the north and the south, rainwater was absorbed directly into the porous karst.

○The water table was an important resource for agriculture in both the north and the south of the Yucatan Peninsula.

○The lack of surface water in both the north and the south was probably due to the fact that most of it was quickly used up for agricultural purposes.

【解析】：基于題干理解，“which of following…”一般考查整個段落，無從定位，且該段落較長，也不建議采用“選項定位法”，故我們采用通讀整段來理解排除。這種考查整段理解的題在改革后的考試中尤其常見，ETS爸爸越來越不滿足于僅僅是考查對詞句的理解定位來做題了，這個時候我們需要采用“結(jié)構(gòu)化閱讀”來輔助長段落的有效理解。通過把握總起句，可以判定段落結(jié)構(gòu)是“現(xiàn)象-解釋”型，針對Maya降水南多北少，但水問題反而南方更嚴重這個現(xiàn)象，在第3句話給了解釋“The likely explanation is that…”，說明了地勢問題與水位之間的關(guān)系——地勢南高北低，南方取水困難。第4-6句，句間無轉(zhuǎn)折，通過主干閱讀法可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，始終圍繞第3句在做一個展開。到第7句即最后一句話，“Making matters worse…”可知，信息遞進，提出了第二個可能的解釋——喀斯特地貌（karst）影響了地表水的儲存。水的可用性，取決于地下水，而不是地表降水。通過閱讀選項，最終確定答案為B。此題錯誤率極高。

綜上，我們會發(fā)現(xiàn)以上四個例題的難度呈現(xiàn)遞增趨勢，大家可以針對性來了解下自己目前所處的一個實際情況。采用分層訓練的方式，一步步去自己的綜合能力。但不管是哪種定位方式，要注意本質(zhì)還是需要理解。很多同學細節(jié)題錯誤率高，的問題不是看不懂，而是看不下去或者不相信自己可以通過理解來做對。習慣性瀏覽掃讀，看到有相關(guān)詞匯或表達的對應(yīng)就選了選項，被題目牽著鼻子走，將段落信息理解得支離破碎，到頭來，時間花得不少，效率卻并不高。希望，一開始大家都能養(yǎng)成良好的做題習慣。早日和托福君分手吶！