六级阅读理解题型分析
决定阅读理解难度的另一个因素是错误选项的错误程度。如果错误很明显,一看就明白,那么它的难度就小;但是如果它的内容在文章中出现过,并与题干的问题有一定的关联,那么它就会对正确答案形成一定的干扰。六级考试中的错误选项多是这样的选项,它们都不可能被简单地排除。可以说它们不是错误选项,而是“干扰项”。它可能诱使考生作出错误的选择。如果考生基础不扎实,或者审题不仔细,那就可能选择错误的答案。
按《大学英语六级考试大纲》的要求,考生需要掌握5500个词汇。但是解答阅读理解题目要求考生必须全面灵活地掌握这些词汇。英语中一词多义的现象,词性转换的现象非常多。如bar可能是“酒吧”,可能是“一块”巧克力,可能是“铁窗”、“监狱”,也可能是“沙洲”,或者“法庭”,或者一“小节”乐曲。同样channel 可能是名词,意思是“频道”,或者“海峡”,但它也可能是动词,意思是“开辟(道路)”,或者“引导”。在2001年的六级考试中,condition被用作了动词,意思不是“条件”,而是“使……适应”。
The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the richer—who speak English. (Passage One)
同样,afford一词的通常意思是“买得起”,而在2001年的六级考试中它的意思却是“给予”。
... his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries of domesticity and time and concentration, that surround the classic act of reading. (Passage Three)
这种情况要求考生必须全面灵活地掌握英语词汇,而不是死记硬背。六级考试大纲对语法范围只作了粗略的限定,但却包括了几乎所有的语法现象。它的阅读理解材料都来自英文原文,它所涉及的语法现象多种多样,不可能局限在某个范围,只要英语中有的语法现象,它都有可能出现。2001年六级考试中有如下一些句子:
Wearing heels also creates the threat of getting a heel caught in a sidewalk crack or a sewer-grate and being thrown to the ground — possibly breaking a nose, back , or neck. (Passage Two) My own worry today is less that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-class reader... (Passage Three)
The issue of whether life ever existed on the planet, and whether it persists to this day, has been highlighted by mounting evidence that the red planet had abundant stable, liquid water and by the continuing controversy over suggestions that bacterial fossils rode to the earth on a meteorite from Mars. (Passage Four)
第1句中使用了“动名词”短语作主语和介词宾语;第2句中使用了“比较级”的特殊用法,即不表示“谁比谁好”,而表示“不是…而是";第3句使用了“名词性从句”作介词宾语,也使用了“同位语从句”。除“虚拟语气”以外,几乎所有较难的语法现象都已在此出现。因此要对付六级考试必须掌握所有语法知识。
大学英语六级考试的阅读理解的测试类型主要可以划分为两大类:全文理解和局部理解。顾名思义,前者需要阅读全文才能回答;后者可以从局部寻找答案。但准确地说,所有题目在一定程度都要依赖对全文的理解,所以,对全文思想的把握在解所有题目时都是必要的。下面我们以图表形式来看看阅读理解的题目类型和提问形式。
全文理解
测试重点:提问方式
1)文章语气 The author's presentation is ...
2)中心思想 The passage tells us that ... Which of the following may be the title of the passage?
3)中心议题 The passage is mainly about ... The author's chief argument is ...
4)作者意图/感受About...the author feels... The author's intention is ...
局部理解
1)关键词/难句 By ..., the author probably means ... The author uses the expression to ...
2)因果关系 ...because... The reason is that ...
3)比喻/例证内容 The author uses the example to ... By..., the author probably means ...
4)事实/真伪判断 The author's biggest concern is ... The article's chief argument is ...
5)现象的性质 The picture..., drawn by the author, is...
6)推论/暗示 It can be inferred from ... that ...
下面我们根据以上这些题目类型来分析一下2001年大学英语六级考试的阅读理解试题。
21. It can be inferred that Americans being approached to closely by Middle Easterners would most probably________.
A. stand still B. step forward
C. jump aside D. draw back
此题是我们所提到的“推论/暗示”题,它要求考生根据文章的信息推断选项的对错。Passage One文中说“拉美和中东人喜欢靠得很近、相互依偎,这会使美国人感到不自在。”由此推论,美国人不喜欢与人有身体接触,或者当此种事情发生时他们会作出向后退的反应。因此答案是D.draw back (退缩)。
22. The author gives many examples to criticize Americans for their________.
A. cultural self-centredness
B. casual manners
C. indifference towards foreign visitors
D. arrogance towards other cultures
此题是我们所说的“例证内容”题,它要求考生判断例子要说明什么问题。文章所举的例子有二战后美国人给他们在德国的驻军寄包裹并在上面注明是Gift,但并不理会此词在德文中是“毒药”的意思。美国没有外语标牌,没有外语导游,没有外语菜单,以及会外语的服务员和警察。归纳这些例子,它们所要说明的是“美国人处处要求别人懂他们的语言,总是以自我为中心。”所以A. cultural self-centredness(文化上的自我中心观念)自然就成为此题的答案。
25. The author's intention in writing this article is to make Americans realize that________.
A. it is dangerous to ignore their foreign friends
B. it is important to maintain their leading role in world affairs
C. it is necessary to use
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