英语阅读技巧：如何在选择题中理解作者的真正意图

英语自学网

　　在阅读中，有这么一类题目，每次都以选择题的面目出现，非常容易定位，但常让烤鸭们抓狂。这类题目的问题很简单：What is writer’s main
idea about this sentence/in this paragraph?
看似轻描淡写，实则四面埋伏。许多烤鸭一不留神，就掉进了“一千个哈姆雷特”的陷阱中。
        　　下面奉上三种方法，并上两点注意事项，帮助你快速地掀起作者其实一点都不神秘的面纱，探索他在字里行间的真正意图。
        　　方法一： 寻找因果连词
        　　找到表示原因的词，你就知道了为什么会有这个现象;找到引导结果的词，你就知道了这个行为带来了什么样的影响。这些都是作者想要说的，用他们来找答案，正确性和可操作性都非常强。
        　　比如这道常错真题:
        　　The writer thinks that the declaration‘There is no bullying at this school’
(C5T4P3，Q33)
        　　is no longer true in many schools.
        　　was not in fact made by many schools.
        　　reflected the school’s lack of concern.
        　　reflected a lack of knowledge and resources.
        　　Until recently, not much was known about the topic, and little help was
available to teachers to deal with bullying. Perhaps as a consequence, schools
would often deny the problem. ‘There is no bullying at this school’ has been a
common refrain, almost certainly untrue. Fortunately more schools are now
saying: ‘There is not much bullying here, but when it occurs we have a clear
policy for dealing with it’.
        　　在这里有很多同学会因为觉得学校是缺乏关心而选C。但如果能看到as a
consequence，就会发现这一句说的是结果：学校经常否认这个问题。那么导致它的原因正是在前一句——not much was known和little
help，对应的正是选项D。
        　　【常见的因果连词】 因：because，because of，since, due to，thanks to, owing to, result
from，as a result of，result from, be a consequence of，be attributed to，on account
of. 果：therefore, hence, thus, so, in effect, as a result，as a consequence,
result in，lead (up) to，give rise to, cause，contributed to, consequently,
accordingly.
        　　方法二：寻找转折词
        　　有时候烤鸭们会觉得，看文章像在绕圈子。这时找到转折词，就能一招拆百招。无论作者是先抑后扬，还是先扬后抑，在虚虚实实的对比之中，真正意图都藏在转折词后面。
        　　例：What does the writer say about America’s waste problem? (C5T1P3 Q37)
        　　It will increase in line with population growth.
        　　It is not as important as we have been led to believe.
        　　It has been reduced through public awareness of the issues.
        　　It is only significant in certain areas of the country.
        　　People worry that the endless rise in the amount of stuff everyone throws
away will cause the world to run out of places to dispose of waste. Yet, even if
American population doubles by 2100, all the rubbish America produces through
the entire 21st century will still take up only one-12,000th of the area of the
entire United States.
        　　原文的首句虽然对美国的垃圾问题进行了渲染，但转折词yet后才是作者想真正说明的观点。就算人口在2100年翻倍，美国整个21世纪产出的垃圾也只能够占据整个领土面积的12万分之一。因此，第一句中人们的担心是多虑的，垃圾问题并没有我们相信的那么严重，所以会选B。
        　　【常见的转折词】but, yet, however, nevertheless,
although，though，while，rather，instead, despite，on the other hand，in spite of.
            
            

enone

        　　方法三：结合上下文，着重看举例
        　　当上述两种方法都无效时，我们需要浏览整个段落，仔细研究作者举的例子，甚至进一步放在全文的大基调下来分析。
        　　What is the writer’s main point about lobby groups in paragraph 6? (C5T1P3
Q35)
        　　Some are more active than others.
        　　Some are better organised than others.
        　　Some receive more criticism than others.
        　　Some support more important issues than others.
        　　Though these groups are run overwhelmingly by selfless folk, they
nevertheless share many of the characteristics of other lobby groups. That would
matter less if people applied the same degree of scepticism to environmental
lobbying as they do to lobby groups in other fields. A trade organisation
arguing for, say weaker pollution controls is instantly seen as self-interest.
Yet a green organisation opposing such a weakening is seen as altruistic, even
if an impartial view of the controls in question might suggest they are doing
more harm than good.
        　　题目明确指出了答案在第六段，但此段非常的迂回，光转折就出现了两次。作者对游说组织的观点从两句转折中可见，一是环保组织具有游说组织的许多特性。二是环保组织虽为他人考虑，但实际上弊大于利。我们虽然知道了他的态度，但没有对应的选项。这时就来分析下作者的举例：如果一个贸易组织为环保而争论，会被立即认为与自身利益有关。说明人们对贸易组织有偏见和批评，而贸易组织正是前句中所说的“lobby
group in other field”，也就是选项C中的some lobby groups.
D中的“更重要问题”在此段中没有提到，再从全文把握，作者对环保组织其实是持并不认可的态度，认为他们与别的游说组织并无区别，因此也不会觉得他们是在为更重要的课题服务。
        　　下面还有两点要特别提醒大家：
        　　一是要仔细体会选项间的细微差别，这也是做对此类题目的关键。
        　　The writer suggests that newspapers print items that are intended to
(C5T1P3 Q36)
        　　educate reader.
        　　meet their readers’ expectations.
        　　encourage feedback from readers.
        　　mislead readers.
        　　A third source of confusion is the attitude of the media. People are
clearly more curious about bad news than good. Newspapers and broadcasters are
there to provide what the pubic wants. That, however, can lead to significant
distortions of perception. An example...
        　　原文说因为人们对坏消息更好奇，所以报纸才迎合他们，因此选B。不少同学错选D，它和B的区别在于媒体并不是有意要去误导读者，而是满足公众的需求。出发点的不同，造就了选项间的差异。
        　　二是千万不要自我推断。切记脑洞大开，很容易掉坑里喔!
        　　The writer suggests that people may have difficulty sleeping in the
mountains because (C7T4P3 Q27)
        　　humans do not prefer peace and quiet to noise.
        　　they may be exposed to short bursts of very strange sounds.
        　　humans prefer to hear a certain amount of noise while they sleep.
        　　they may have adapted to a higher noise level in the city.
        　　In general, it is plausible to suppose that we should prefer peace and
quiet to noise. And yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust
to sleeping in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially ‘too
quiet’, an experience that suggests that humans are capable of adapting to a
wide range of noise levels.
        　　人们为何在山间睡不着?因为那里实在是“太安静”了。于是不少同学结合自身生活习惯，想当然地觉得因为人们需要有点噪音才睡得着觉(C)。但事实上，通过yet对前句的转折和
suggest引出的后半句，作者都在表明“太安静”并不是人们本身的生活习惯，而是人们已经适应了城市里的噪音(D)，因此have to adjust.
        　　做雅思阅读真不是一件诗情画意的事情，因为无法有“一千个哈姆雷特”的存在。但它又是一件极有成就感的事情，因为在命题组煞费苦心的故弄玄虚之中(也是蛮拼命的呢)，你还是能找到那一个唯一的“哈姆雷特”。
        　　教师介绍：
        　　周诗乐，英国格拉斯哥大学理学硕士，英语专业八级。毕业后在英从事翻译工作，熟悉英国文化生活，善于将其融入教学之中。授课风格生动活泼，注重基础与技巧的结合，具有强烈的实用性和针对性。将学生们取得理想成绩视为最大的快乐，并以这种快乐鼓舞激励学生，使学生们在取得理想成绩的同时提高阅读能力，为出国学习做好准备。