掌握所读材料的主旨和大意是正确理解全文的关键。对主题思想的提问是阅读理解测试的必考题。但提问方式及用词都有差异,这类题常见提问方式可归纳如下:
1. The main idea of this passage is _______
2. This passage tells us_______
3. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
4. Which of the following sentences best summarizes the author's main point?
5. Which of the following best states the theme of the passage?
6. The subject matter of this selection is ______
7. The passage mainly discusses_______
8. This passage illustrates ______
9. This paragraph centers / focuses on ______
10. This passage mainly deals with ______
11. This passage is chiefly concerned with ______
12. The author's purpose in writing this passage is _______
13. What is the passage mainly about?
14. What is the best title of the passage?
15. The major point discussed in the passage is
解答这一类题目的基本方法如下:
A.找出主题句。首先要读标题,因为标题往往是主题句中的核心词或概括性的词。抓住全文中心思想的最快捷的途径就是找出主题句。主题句一般位于文章或段落的开始,然后围绕主题展开论述。因为许多作者喜欢采用从一般到个别的论证或叙述方式,即演绎法(deduction)。这是一种很常见的文章或段落的写作形式。若作者采用归纳法(induction),即从个别到一般来论证或叙述,主题旬就会位于段末。除此之外,主题句还有可能位于段落的中间。找到主题句后,就应以它为标准,在解题时,凡是与主题句意思最接近的选项必然是正确的答案。
例1
In rock music there is a distinct and almost overwhelming beat.No single beat is characteristic of the music today. But each song has an easily recognizable rhythm.As you listen to a son9,your foot usually starts to pick up the beat.Before lon9,your entire body seems to be moving with it.Your head pounds with the beat,and there is no room for thought.Only the surge of the music is important.In its own way,rock music is as dominant as the rock Gibraltar. Its message is an evergrowing emotional one.
在这一段文章中 “In rock music there is a distinct and almost overwhelming beat.” 为主题句。beat则是句子的信息核心。该词在第2、4、6句里重复出现,而第3句中的“rhythm”(节奏)跟“beat”(强烈的节奏)意思基本一致,这就保证了主题平稳而持续的发展。请注意:第8、9句作者重申并总结了主题句,而不是说段末是主题句。
例2
The vegetable and fruit and flower merchants are surrounded by baskets of purple eggplants, green peppers,strings of tiny silvery onions,heads of bitter Indian spinach.and a dozen Indian vegetables for which I don’t even know the English names.I had forgotten about the profusion of fruit in India—it is only during the brief intense summer that you see much variety of fruit in Moscow. In Russia,as winter approaches all vegetables except for potatoes and the pervasive cabbage in soup seem to disappear from the menus.
主题句在中间的第二句“I had forgotten about the profusion of fruit in India—it is only during the brief intense summer that you see much variety of fruit in Moscow.”
例3
People live in cities today think that meat is something that comes wrapped in cellophane.from the supermarket,potatoes come by the pound in plastic or paper bags,and feather grows in hats. The city dwellers’ views are quite different from the views of their ancestors, who knew that? meat is hunted down in the forest,potatoes are planted and weeded,and only birds can produce1eathers. Yet, whether people today realize it or not,they are still as dependent on animals and plants for their existence as their ancestors were.
主题句为最后一句 “Yet,whether people today realize it or not,they are still as dependent on animals and plants for their existence as their ancestors were.”
以上为叙述的方便并考虑到篇幅的限制,只选单段短文为例。实际上阅读理解题中大部分是多段短文。但主题句一般出现在起始段。
B.概括和归纳出主题思想。实际上,在阅读理解测试部分有的文章是没有主题句的。这是由于文章的体裁不同或是由于阅读的短文是从篇幅较长的文章中节选的。这时就要靠读者自己进行概括或归纳隐含的主题思想了。概括主题可以从归纳每段的要点开始(大部分阅读理解短文都是由数段组成),最后将各段要点集中概括并归纳出全文的主题思想。下面不妨考察几个例子:
例4
A bus driver must answer questions while guiding a bus through heavy traffic. All day long, the driver answers the same questions without becoming angry. Every few minutes a bus driver has to ask passengers to step to the rear of the bus. In spite of traffic snarls and thoughtless passengers who cause delays, a bus driver is expected to cover his or her route on schedule.
这一段的隐含主题句可概括为“Driving a bus is hard work.”
例5
A green I-538 form is used by international students in order to obtain permission from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to transfer from one university to another in the United States. If you are planning to transfer, remember that you must obtain the permission before leaving the university where you are currently studying. You must complete the form I-538, have it signed by the foreign student advisor, and submit it to the District Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service together with the form I-20 from the new school and the small, white form I-94 that was affixed to your passport when you entered the country.
Submitting the signed 1-538 and other documents does not insure permission to transfer. Only an official of Immigration can decide each case. Students who have not completed one term of study at the school that issued them their first I-20 are not advised to file for permission to transfer until they have completed one term.
这篇短文的隐含主题旬可归纳为 “What should an international student d0.if he or she wants to transfer from one university to another in the United States.”
本文由3COME文档频道编辑精心为您收集整理，仅供大家参考。
