一篇文章看清你托福阅读的所有问题

正文

语言为作者传达信息的一种媒介。一篇文章的作者在写文章之前，会先梳理好自己想表达的main idea，和下面的subpoints。而subpoints又会思考出对应的论据，最终将这些意思转换为语言这种符号。写作是一个从意思到语言的编码过程，而阅读是一个与写作完全相反的解码过程：即从语言这种符号入手进而感知其传达的信息的过程，是一个从语言到意思的解码过程，这个解码过程中所需要的知识和能力，包含语言知识，包含整合信息的能力，包含作出推断把握态度的能力，都可以被叫做阅读能力，具体而言。阅读能力可以分为三个层次：

（1）读懂字面含义的能力：这个能力以语言知识语言积累为依托。主要指词汇和语法（比如可以表现为长难句）的掌握：词汇题，句子简化，细节题都是主要考察这类能力的题型。就词汇层面而言，阅读听力考察理解，口语写作考察词汇的应用。而关于语法，虽然托福不像高考英语专门考语法，但语法的不牢固有时会影响到对句子的理解。

（2）读出句子和句子之间的联系，读懂段落，读出全文的框架（段落与段落之间的关系）：段落不是句子和句子之间的随意堆砌，而是有章可循的，句子和句子之间的关系如进一步的解释，具体化（如举例），转折等。如果从论点/论据的角度看，一个段落多为单论点，多分论点，转折段等多种类型。这些知识并非毫无作用，在真题班课上结合真题有具体的阐述。

至于全文的结构，常见的结构这里提一种：“现象解释型”，即先提出一种现象（往往在第一段），然后全文给出多种解释或理论来解释这样的现象，会用每种理论来解释全文开头提出的现象，有时可能还会谈到这个理论或解释的弊端或问题。这一点看似平凡，但其实这种类型的考场上的文章的一些题目，结合这一点更加容易做对。真题班课上有更多的讲解。

托福阅读中专门考察此能力的题型有目的题，句子插入题，有时还有段落关系题（即问某一段和上一段的关系，此类题型相对较少，但也有时会遇到），另外有一些其他题型，甚至推断题做对都需要利用到这一层级的能力。

之前曾经有一个阅读已经考了27分的同学问了我一道句子插入题，我看完题目后提示它，被插入句既然包含了一个these extinctions，要么前文一定就提到了这些extinctions。之后该生过了不到一分钟便说“明白了”。在某空之前有个..... were gone.被插入句的these extinctions系指代前文。

（3）做推断，隐晦转述和概括的能力。推断题，小结题和一部分细节题都考查此能力。推断题高频的类型如“比较型”的推断题，真题班作业的多道均属于此类型限于篇幅限制此处不赘述，但这里谈一种隐晦转述型的推断题，即题目并没有真正去推理。而只是对原文的一种隐晦转述：原文往往是一种比较直接的说法，而答案是一种比较相对隐晦的说法，比如说原文说“许多同学轻视托福作文的复习，在第一次考托福前没有写过完整的作文”。那么答案可能是选“许多同学的第一篇托福作文是在考场上完成的”（这里假设考场上不会交白卷）。其实不妨仔细想一想，两个句子看着不一样，其实意思是一样的。这个例子中，原文和选项的意思可以互推，当然有时意思并不完全对等（即原文可以推到选项，选项未必可以推到原文），比如之前真题班命中的一篇真题讲到原核生物1.2亿年前进化速度很慢，0.5亿年前变得很快。答案选真核生物在历史上的不同时期的进化速度并不是完全一致的。

题型的做法限于篇幅限制，此处不再赘述。

任何理论脱离了具体的题目和练习都是空中楼阁。你知道游泳需要身体协调能力却未必游得好，相反，许多游泳高手未必喜欢强调这一点，但是他们通过练习和专业的指导培养了很强的身体协调能力。真题班讲解过程中精选的有讲解价值的真题帮助你发现问题，解决问题，才能有针对性的提高。下面三个题为真题班讲解的一些例子。

第一例（第一层能力）：

【If a branch is not producing enough carbohydrate to cover its own running costs—i.e., it needs to be subsidized by other branches because, for example, it is being shaded and receives little light—it will usually be got rid of.】

句子简化题，大家对题型都很熟悉，题干不再展示

A. A tree will usually shed branches that use more carbohydrate than they produce.

B. Branches that are shaded usually do not receive enough light to produce all the carbohydrate they need.

C. If a tree gets rid of a branch, it is usually because other branches lack enough carbohydrate to subsidize it.

D. If a branch is shaded and cannot produce as much carbohydrate as it needs, it will usually be subsidized by other branches.

第二例（第二层能力）：

Geologists working during the nineteenth century understood that if they were to discover the actual age of Earth or of particular rock bodies, they would have to concentrate on natural processes that continue at a constant rate and that also leave some sort of tangible record in the rocks. Evolution is one such process, and geologist Charles Lyell (1797-1875) recognized this. By comparing the amount of evolution exhibited by marine mollusks during the Tertiary Period with the amount that had occurred since then, Lyell estimated that 80 million years had elapsed since the beginning of the Tertiary Period. He came astonishingly close to the mark, since it was actually about 65 million years. However, for older sequences of evolutionary development, estimates based on rates of evolution were difficult, and not only because of missing parts in the fossil record. Rates of evolution for many orders of plants and animals were not well understood.

It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that Charles Lyell based his study of the marine mollusk fossils on which of the following assumptions

A. The Tertiary Period was separated into divisions of time that were equal in length.

B. Mollusks lived under rocks in the sea during the Tertiary period.

C. Evolution of mollusks proceeded at a uniform rate over time.

D. Mollusks have evolved less rapidly with the passing of time.

第三例（第三层能力）：

Branches are shed for reasons other than lack of light. In dry parts of the world, it is common for trees and shrubs to lose smaller branches to save water. Small branches have the thinnest bark (the protective outer covering of a tree) and greatest surface area and thus are the source of most water loss once the leaves have been lost. The creosote bush of United States deserts self-prunes, or removes parts of itself, in the face of extreme heat or drought, starting from the highest and most exposed twigs and working downward to bigger and bigger branches; it’s a desperate act because if the creosote bush loses too much wood, it dies. Shedding branches can also be useful for self-propagation. Most poplar trees and willow trees characteristic of waterways will readily drop branches, which take root when washed up on muddy banks further downstream.

According to paragraph 2, what is true of the creosote bush of United States deserts?

A. It tends to grow small branches during dry parts of the year.

B. It loses more water through its bark than through its leaves.

C. It loses its lower branches only after losing upper ones.

D. It sheds branches for the purpose of propagating itself.

答案和解析：

A。

【提醒】这句话就是一个IF条件句，如果简化为if X, Y-如果X，则Y的话，则X对应的是If a branch is not producing enough carbohydrate to cover its own running costs—i.e., it needs to be subsidized by other branches because, for example, it is being shaded and receives little light—，即破折号前后是对a branch is not producing enough carbohydrate to cover its own running costs的进一步解释，而不是讲满足条件后发生的结果（何况IF后面是现在时的话，结果的分句要用将来时will，而不可能用needs），i.e.也表明是解释，Y才是讲的结果，在这句话中是it will usually be got rid of，有同学读不清楚这一点。

注：托福里很多句子简化题，原句讲了两点，两点可能是并列，对比，因果，条件，转折等关系。这里可以分为两种情况，此处不再赘述，真题班课上有详细讲解

If a branch is not producing enough carbohydrate to cover its own running costs，如果一个branch所产生的碳水化合物不够自己所用的话，之后的i.e.有的同学可能不太熟悉，它是that is的拉丁语缩写，表示进一步的解释说明。it needs to be subsidized by other branches和前面的小分句几乎说的是一个意思，而之后的for example是举的营养上“入不敷出”的枝干的情况之一，后面的例子是一个补充的信息，举了一种入不敷出的情况而已（还可以有其他情况，其中的一种情况并非核心信息）。所以其实破折号中间的内容其实可以不看，整个像表达的核心信息是If a branch is not producing enough carbohydrate to cover its own running costs, it will usually be got rid of.，即入不敷出的branch会被脱落掉。A符合这个核心意思的，A tree will usually shed branches that use more carbohydrate than they produce.，虽然这句话以树为主语，原句以branch为主语，但核心意思上完全一致。B和D完全没有这层意思，而且甚至连脱落掉这层意思都完全没有体现，没有如get rid of, shed, drop, abandon等这类单词或短语。C与原句相比，许多地方信息不一致，比如C说其他branch不够补贴入不敷出的枝干时会被drop掉。而根据原句，只要入不敷出就会被脱落。

2.C。

答案：C。此题其实比较简单，做错的同学读文章还是在一句一句的读，看不出来句子联系起来所表达的含义，第一句说Geologists对那些 natural processes感兴趣：（1）匀速进行-that continue at a constant rate；和（2）有有形记录可以用于研究的-that also leave some sort of tangible record in the rocks。之后说Evolution is one such process,，既然这里说了SUCH，那么很明显Evolution是满足前面这两个条件的，这也是后面用生物进化方法研究地球年龄的要求。很显然为C，uniform rate在这里也是表示匀速。

3.C。

此段结构很清晰，第一句说Branches are shed for reasons other than lack of light.，后面讲了两个reasons（也可以看做两个分论点），两个理由的总起句分别分别为In dry parts of the world, it is common for trees and shrubs to lose smaller branches to save water-即（1）为了节水脱落branches和Shedding branches can also be useful for self-propagation-为了（2）为了繁殖而脱落叶子。每个理由（分论点）下有各自的论据，如举例，解释等。

此题对应的句子The creosote bush of United States deserts self-prunes, or removes parts of itself, in the face of extreme heat or drought, starting from the highest and most exposed twigs and working downward to bigger and bigger branches; 为说明树可能为了节水而脱离branches所举的一个例子。

starting from the highest and most exposed twigs and working downward to bigger and bigger branches，描述了掉落branches时从上到下的顺序，而It loses its lower branches only after losing upper ones.就是对这种顺序的另外一种表述方式，实质意思相同。

如果你喜欢本文，可以分享至朋友圈或托福群，本文阅读量满2000后将会陆续撰写“一篇文章看清你托福听力/口语/写作的所有问题”