(三)长难句常考
考点一般集中在长难句上。这些句子的共同点就是同位语、定语和分句很多；主语和谓语之间的距离很远，还时常伴有插入成分。主要考查句子之间的指代或逻辑关系，以引申推理题、事实细节题等多种形式出现。理解长难句的要领就是先找出主干，化繁为简，然后再看各个分句或修饰成分与它的关系。
Example
In addition to this, there is the growing mobility of people since World War Ⅱ. As families move away from their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships, the informal flow of information is cut off, and with it the confidence that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable. The almost unconscious flow of information about the simplest aspects of living can be cut off. Thus, things once learned subconsciously through the casual communications of the extended family must be consciously learned.(1995年Text 3)
The word “it” (Line 3, Paragraph 2) most probably refers to .
[A] the lack of stable communities
[B] the breakdown of informal information channels
[C] the increased mobility of families
[D] the growing number of people moving from place to place
首先把握整个句子的主干是：the informal flow of information is cut off。前面是as引导的状语从句，their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships三个名词短语都是from的宾语。with it介词结构修饰confidence，表伴随；按照代词指代关系中的临近一致原则和上下文的含义，it应该指代它前面的信息，即“非正式的信息流通被切断”这句话。正确答案为[B]选项。
(四)转折处或对比处常考
在历年考题中，转折和对比一直受到命题者的青睐。文章通过however，but，in fact，yet等逻辑词进行转折，转折后的内容常常是作者真正表达的内容。对比常用unlike，different from，until，not so much as等词语引导，考的是对比双方的属性。对转折题，考生要着重把握作者转折后的观点。对于文章中出现的将两种人或两种观点进行对比时，考生要准确把握每一种的特点，避免被张冠李戴的选项迷惑。
Example 1
Few creations of big technology capture the imagination like giant dams. Perhaps it is humankind’s long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that makes the idea of forcing the waters to do our bidding so fascinating. But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind. Several giant dam projects threaten to do more harm than good. (1998年 Passage 1)
The third sentence of paragraph 1 implies that .
[A] people would be happy if they shut their eyes to reality
[B] the blind could be happier than the sighted
[C] over-excited people tend to neglect vital things
[D] fascination makes people lose their eyesight
该段前两句指出人们热衷建坝的事实和热衷的自然原因；第三句but话锋一转，引出作者探讨的主题。正确答案为[C]选项。
Example 2
An invisible border divides those arguing for computers in the classroom on the behalf of students’ career prospects and those arguing for computers in the classroom for broader reasons of radical educational reform. Very few writers on the subject have explored this distinction—indeed, contradiction—which goes to the heart of what is wrong with the campaign to put computers in the classroom.（1999年 Passage 3）
The author thinks the present rush to put computers in the classroom is .
[A] far-reaching
[B] dubiously oriented
[C] self-contradictory
[D] radically reformatory
作者将两种态度做了对比，指出对于计算机课堂教学，人们在观点上存在着一条无形的界限：一是以学生的就业前景为理由，另一种是以激进的教育改革为理由。因此[B]为答案。
(五)因果句常考
（1）出这类题时，文章中一般都有since，for，because，as，therefore，result in，originate from这些标志词。没有标志词的就需要考生通过上下文推出二者的因果关系。
Example 1
Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don’t realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase “substance abuse” is often used instead of “drug abuse” to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.（1997年 Passage 3）
“Substance abuse”(Line 5, Paragraph 1) is preferable to “drug abuse” in that.
[A] substances can alter our bodily or mental functioning if illegally used
[B] “drug abuse” is only related to a limited number of drugtakers
[C] alcohol and tobacco are as fatal as heroin and cocaine
[D] many substances other than heroin or cocaine can also be poisonous
该段最后一句用to明确表达用“物质滥用”代替“药物滥用”的目的所在，也就是原因。正确答案为[D]选项。
（2）当有多种原因时，主要原因常考。
Example 2
Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $26 a barrel, up from less than $10 last December. This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary memories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled, and 1979～1980, when they also almost tripled. Both previous shocks resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline. So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time?
The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term.（2002年 Text 3）
The main reason for the latest rise of oil price is .
[A] global inflation
[B] reduction in supply
[C] fast growth in economy
[D] Iraq’s suspension of exports
文章第一、二段给出了多种原因。“伊拉克暂停石油出口”、“经济快速增长”和“冬季的到来”是第二段提到的进一步推动油价上涨的原因，而第一段谈到的“石油输出国组织在3月决定减少原油供应”才是最主要的原因。正确答案为[B]选项。
(六)段首段尾常考
考研阅读所选的文章均是议论文和说明文。此类文章的文体要求在首段提出观点、突出中心，因此第一段就好像是全篇文章的一个总纲，确定了文章的主要内容，而第一句话常常是一个自然段的主题句。首段首句自然就成为常考且必考的一个考点。有时一个自然段的主题句可能出现在段末，因此考点也相应转向末句。
Example 1
If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.（2002年 Text 1）
To make your humor work, you should .
[A] take advantage of different kinds of audience
[B] make fun of the disorganized people
[C] address different problems to different people
[D] show sympathy for your listeners
本题的答案主要集中在段首和段尾。该段首句指出，如果你想在谈话中用幽默使人发笑，你就必须知道如何辨别共同的经历和共同的问题。接着作者又对此进行了解释，即：你的幽默必须与听众有关，显示你是他们中的一员，或你理解他们的处境并赞成他们的观点。作者在第三句得出结论，即Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different.（针对不同的听众，谈及不同的问题）由此可知，[C]选项恰好是对该段中心的概括，为正确答案。
Example 2
...With regard to Futurist poetry, however, the case is rather difficult, for whatever Futurist poetry may be-even admitting that the theory on which it is based may be right-it can hardly be classed as Literature.
...
This, though it fulfills the laws and requirements of Futurist poetry, can hardly be classed as Literature...（2000年 Passage 3）
The author believes that Futurist poetry is .
[A] based on reasonable principles
[B] new and acceptable to ordinary people
[C] indicative of a basic change in human nature
[D] more of a transient phenomenon than literature
通过首段末句和末段首句的前后呼应，作者对未来派的观点和态度跃然纸上，即未来派诗歌很难被归于文学作品，只能是一种暂时的现象。正确答案为[D]选项。
此外，首段有问句出现的，该句也通常会成为命题点。命题形式是主旨题。因此见到首段的问句，应该首先考虑它是不是文章所要探讨的主要问题。
Example 3
Why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The American Society of Newspaper Editors is trying to answer this painful question. The organization is deep into a long self-analysis known as the journalism credibility project.（2001年 Passage 3）
What is the passage mainly about?
[A] Needs of the readers all over the world.
[B] Causes of the public disappointment about newspapers.
[C] Origins of the declining newspaper industry.
[D] Aims of a journalism credibility project.
文章一开头就给出讨论的话题“造成公众对报纸失望的原因”，接下来的内容亦围绕它展开。正确答案为[B]选项。
(七)类比比喻常考
议论文和说明文在论证说明事理的时候均很抽象。为了让读者更形象地理解一些抽象的内容，文章常采用类比的手法。形象的类比不仅有助于将抽象的道理阐释清楚，更可以让读者加深印象。类比在文中有两种体现方式 ，一是明喻，即A像B一样；二是暗喻，说A是B，由于暗喻更加隐蔽，近年来命题专家越来越趋向于在暗喻内容上设问。
Example
If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition—wealth, distinction, control over one’s destiny—must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition’s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition—if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is a heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped—with the educated themselves riding on them.（2000年 Passage 5）
The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is .
[A] customary of the educated to discard ambition in words
[B] too late to check ambition once it has been let out
[C] dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfillment of the goal
[D] impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition
这里要求考生理解“马已经跑了再关上马厩的门”这一比喻句的真实含义。通过上文的内容可知，此句用来比喻“那些受过良好教育的人从雄心中收益匪浅，但是他们却声称要放弃以雄心为理想”的虚伪行为，其中horses代表ambition，riding代表ambition带来的好处。正确答案为[C]选项。
(八)复指处常考
考点是复指代词或与复指副词作用相同的词。1996以前此类题目大多是直接问考生文章某句中的it或that指代什么。近几年此类题目的问法开始转向隐蔽。考生在遇到此类题时应该记住，题目的答案所在位置必定在复指词的上文中。因此，只需返回原文，在复指词上方扫描即可找到正确答案。
Example
For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.
The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn’t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.（1997年 Passage 2）
Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers .
[A] to improve their hard life
[B] in view of their long-distance travel
[C] to add some flavor to their own daily life
[D] out of a charitable impulse
this指代的是上文提到的“陌生人和旅行者很受欢迎。他们带来了娱乐消遣，还带来了外面世界的消息”，因此边远地区的家庭款待旅游者的原因就是[C]选项“为自己的日常生活增添情趣”。
五、阅读技巧
（一）阅读时采用何种顺序
（1）从面到点，先通读文章后看题，不清楚再回头去读有关段落。优点：一开始就对文章有一个总的概念和印象。缺点：速度慢，读起来没有重点，做题时对文章细节记不清楚。
（2）从点到面，先看问题后浏览文章,带着问题的记忆去文章中找答案。优点：针对性强、速度快，无关的内容可以省略不读，与问题很可能有关的内容则可重点标出。缺点：开始时没有对文章的整体把握。
（3）点面交叉，读一层意思做数道题，阅读和做题交叉进行。优点：速度适中，比较有针对性，对刚读完的内容印象深。因为全文最重要的部分在首段和各段首句，用这种方法也可以对文章的轮廓有初步的了解。
总结：任何方法都不是绝对的，考生可根据自己的个性与思维习惯以及具体的题目情况灵活处理。像段落主旨题、词义/句意题、事实细节题这些局部问题可以采用从点到面的方法，而主旨题、作者态度/观点题、引申推理题因为就全文提问或考上下文逻辑关系则需要从面到点。然而命题者出于对难易平衡的考虑，基本上会保证每篇都有一道至两道全局性问题。所以考生可以考虑点面交叉的方法。
（二）初读文章时哪些信息可以不读
（1）有关职务、头衔、社会地位等补充性说明；
（2）句中破折号后提供的旁支信息；
（3）复杂的难句中除了主、谓、宾以外的其他辅助信息（除非与解题有关）；
（4）例子、对名人言论的引用的具体内容可以先不读，而只读前面的观点或总结句。
（三）可以读哪些信息
（1）读题干。细心审题是一个重要环节，题干中包含解题的关键信息。它们能够帮助考生在浏览文章时迅速选定“精读内容”进行集中消化、整理，同时舍弃与题目无关的信息，排除干扰，从而减少阅读量和时间，提高解题的正确性。
（2）读选项。因为命题要求选项部分的语言难度要低于文章语言的难度，所以读懂选项的语言常常会帮助考生正确理解文章的内容。
（3）读文章的写作大纲。先要问自己三个问题：①本文最重要的事物或观点是什么？②作者谈的是主题的哪个或哪些方面？③作者在这方面想说些什么？阅读要用眼更要用脑去判断哪些是重要信息，还要在脑子里加工、整理，从而得出全文的提纲。
（4）读主题句。每个段落都有一个基本点，加在一起烘托出文章的中心思想。各段的基本点常常通过段落主题句表示。主题句的位置是不固定的，可以在开始也可以在结尾，有时也不出现，需要考生自己提炼。主题句与其他句子的区别是它们的概括性更强，比较笼统、抽象。
（5）读关键词。注意文章中出现频率最高的词和短语。它们有时是相同的重复，有时以不同的形式出现，但是归根结底都是指同一事物或事情，因些就很可能是本篇短文的中心或关键问题或事物。关键词和词组能够使句与句、段与段之间的关系更加清楚，提供了要点之间的“桥梁”，给读者指明了“路子”，是贯穿全文的线索。
考生在浏览文章时抓住、抓准这些关键信息，就可以迅速理解文章的主要内容、缩短解题时间。
Example
The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most. Private businessmen, striving to make profits, produce these goods and services in competition with other businessmen; and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes， that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it.
An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fall in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by seller-producers. If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system.
The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individual are allowed to own productive resources (private property), and they are permitted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain rights, including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.
这篇文章中的关键短语是American economic system，在文中多次反复出现，刚好它就是全文的写作对象。抓住了这个关键信息再加上“路标”词，文章的结构一目了然。
文章首句提出了含有写作对象的主题，即美国经济体制的特点是通过私有企业和市场导向起调节作用。末句thus后面是对主题的进一步阐释，分析和指出消费者的需求、企业家对最大利润的追求和个人对收入取得最大收益的渴望，共同决定着生产什么以及如何使用资源进行生产。第二段说明市场导向型经济的重要特点之一是价格机制。第三段说明私营经济的性质和特点是财产私有和同时拥有相关权利。
（6）读“路标”词。在阅读理解中有部分“虚词”比“实词”更重要，它们就是一些表示作者思路的过渡词、短语或句子，有利于作者思想的衔接和转折。抓住它们，考生就能够对全文的结构一目了然，就不会出现“词都认识，就是不知道全文在讲什么”的情况。它们就是在阅读行进过程中起指示作用的“路标”，随时提醒考生将要读到什么。
“路标”词按照功能可以分为：
①前进型。这一类词和词组起的是顺接、递进作用，指示读者继续往下看，其前后可能存在并列、递进、因果、解释等关系，往往接下来的可能是作者要强调的重要内容。
如：and, also, more, moreover, more than that, furthermore, likewise, equally important, first, second, in addition to, thus, so, therefore, consequently, accordingly, as a result 等。
②转弯型。这一类标志着前后两个句子或段落之间的转折或对比关系，读者要敏感地意识到后面出现的是与前面截然不同的事物或观点，从而对作者的思想进行预测。
如：but, yet, while, however, nevertheless, although, though, otherwise, despite, instead, on the contrary, in contrast, notwithstanding等。
③终点型。这一类标志着下面的内容是对前面的概括和总结。
如：to conclude, to sum up, in sum, in conclusion, in short, in brief, on the whole等。
④其他。表示空间位置（near, far, beside, next to, above, on the side of, across, behind）、目的(for this purpose, so that, in order to)、强调(indeed, in fact, surely, certainly, to be sure, I am certain)、举例(for example, for instance, in particular)、条件(in that case, that being so, in these circumstance, if, unless)等。
以上都是关于阅读理解的一些基本知识和技能的总体介绍，但是不能够光靠这些就可以提高阅读能力。冰冻三尺非一日之寒，阅读水平的提高，更多地要靠考生在实际阅读的积累中去体会和揣摩。因此希望考生在积极备考中务必将历年真题做熟、做精，深刻体会阅读理解的各个部分，从而产生质的飞跃。
