托福阅读如何读懂三种题型的长难句

来源：朗阁海外考试研究中心

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发布日期：2015-06-04 09:48

摘要：如果把托福的文章比喻成一座建筑物，“词汇”便是“砖块”，“句子”便是“梁柱”。对于一座建筑物而言少了一两块砖块并不会造成其倒塌，那么对于一篇文章而言某些单词没看懂也并不影响对于整个篇章的理解；而作为建筑物的支撑部分，梁柱却会影响该建筑物的稳

如果把托福的文章比喻成一座建筑物，“词汇”便是“砖块”，“句子”便是“梁柱”。对于一座建筑物而言少了一两块砖块并不会造成其倒塌，那么对于一篇文章而言某些单词没看懂也并不影响对于整个篇章的理解；而作为建筑物的支撑部分，梁柱却会影响该建筑物的稳定性，那么被比作梁柱的句子对于理解一篇文章而言是至关重要的，无法理解长难句会让考生首先降低阅读速度，其次影响篇章理解，最后最致命的影响是相关题型的解决----“句子简化题”，“事实信息题”，“推理题”，因为这三种题型都是在直接或间接地考察学生对于长难句的理解能力。本文中笔者将从这三种题型的角度讨论如何解读长难句。

“句子简化题”中的长难句----“先见森林，后见树木”
“森林”代表的是该句话的“结构”，“先见森林”即考生首先应该关注的是该句话最核心的主干；“树木”代表的是该句话具体的“词汇”，那么“后见树木”指考生应该在了解主干之后才关注词汇，并且只是一些key words.

<1> 因果结构
例题1 (OG: Desert Formation)：
The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process.

10. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. Desertification is a significant problem because it is so hard to reverse and affects large areas of land and great numbers of people.
B. Slowing down the process of desertification is difficult because of population growth that has spread over large areas of land.
C. The spread of deserts is considered a very serious problem that can be solved only if large numbers of people in various countries are involved in the effort.
D. Desertification is extremely hard to reverse unless the population is reduced in the vast areas affected.

解题步骤：
1. 观察题干，发现表示隐形因果的短语result from
2. 浏览选项，发现A和B选项含有因果关系
3. 分析原句：原句中“因”：1). 大量受到影响的土地vast areas of land; 2). 大量受到影响的人口tremendous numbers of people; 3). 很难去减慢或者颠覆沙漠化过程reverse or slow the process; 原句中“果”：沙漠化是一个严重serious的问题；分析A选项：“因”：1). reverse process; 2). affect large areas of land; 3). affect great numbers of people; “果”：沙漠化是一个significant的问题

<2> 让步转折结构
例题2 (TPO 17: Animal Signals in the Rain Forest)：
In the green-to yellow lighting conditions of the lowest levels of the forest, yellow and green would be the brightest colors, but when an animal is signaling, these colors would not be very visible if the animal was sitting in an area with a yellowish or greenish background.

7. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. When an animal is signaling in an area with green-to yellow lighting condition, its signal will not be visible if the background is brightly lit.
B. In the lowest levels of the forest, an animal's signals are not easily seen unless there is a yellowish or greenish background.
C. In the green-to-yellow lighting conditions at the lowest levels of the forest, only signals that are themselves green or yellow will be bright enough to be seen in most areas.
D. Although green and yellow would be the brightest colors near the forest floor, these colors would make poor signals whenever the forest background was also in the green-to-yellow range.

解题步骤：
1. 分析题干，发现表转折的逻辑关系词but; 前半句“yellow and green会是最亮的颜色在低层森林中”；后半句“但是如果动物所处的background是yellow or greenish, 那么动物发出该种颜色的信号将不明显”
2. 分析选项：只有D选项含有表让步转折的逻辑词although, 进而分析句意：前半句：“虽然green and yellow在森林底层颜色最亮”；后半句：“在环境也是green to yellow的情况下，这些颜色将是poor signals”
3. 原句与选项在句子的结构上符合：转折结构；在语义上符合：lowest level of the forest = forest floor, Not very visible = poor signals

<3> 比较结构
例题3 (TPO 17: Animal Signals in the Rain Forest)：
In the second case, pollinators (insects, birds) obtain food from the flowering plant, and the plant has its pollen distributed and seeds dispersed much more efficiently than they would be if they were carried by the wind only.

9. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. The relationship between flowering plants and pollinators provides pollinators with food and flowers with efficient reproduction.
B. In some cases birds obtain food from the seeds that are dispersed in the wind.
C. The wind not only helps the flowers distribute their seeds but enables birds to find more food.
D. Animals and insects are more effective in distributing pollen and seeds than the wind.

解题步骤：
1. 分析原句，原句主要讲pollinator (insects & birds); plant; wind这三者之间的关系：具体来看是在比较对于plant来说，pollinator (insects & birds)要比wind more efficiently地帮助其distribute pollen and disperse seeds, 属于典型的比较关系
2. 分析选项，首先只有D选项含有比较关系，具体来看：animals & insects要比wind more effectively地去distribute pollen and seeds
3. 原句与选项在句子的结构上符合比较结构，语义上符合

事实信息题中的长难句----“众里寻他千百度，所考信息在一处”

与句子简化题中所考的长难句不同（主要考察考生是否能把握住句子的主干信息），事实信息题的出题点针对的有可能只是该长难句的某一处细节信息。因此，考生针对这两种不同的题型，解读长难句的视角也应该有所不同。

例题1 (OG: Desert Formation)：
These regions are especially likely to have periods of severe dryness, so that crop failures are common. Since the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of the natural vegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover and susceptible to wind and water erosion.

6. According to paragraph 6, which of the following is often associated with raising crops?
A. Lack of proper irrigation techniques
B. Failure to plant crops suited to the particular area
C. Removal of the original vegetation
D. Excessive use of dried animal waste

解题步骤：
1. 读题干，找出定位词raising crops
2. 回原文进行定位，定位到本段第二句since…
3. 分析定位句：“原因状语从句 + 主句”，浏览选项，只有C选项与原句的前半部分意思一致，同义转换部分：natural vegetation = original vegetation

例题2 (TPO 14: Pastoralism in Ancient Inner Eurasia)：
Paragraph 4: Nomadism also subjects pastoralist communities to strict rules of portability. If you are constantly on the move, you cannot afford to accumulate large material surpluses. Such rules limit variations in accumulated material goods between pastoralist households (though they may also encourage a taste for portable goods of high value such as silks or jewelry). So, by and large, nomadism implies a high degree of self-sufficiency and inhibits the appearance of an extensive division of labor.

9. According to paragraph 4, the fact that pastoralist communities are subject to “strict rules of portability” encourages such communities to
A. relocate less frequently than they would otherwise
B. have households that are more or less equal in wealth
C. become self-sufficient in the manufacture of silk and jewelry
D. share large material surpluses with neighboring communities

解题步骤：
1. 读题干，划出定位词“strict rules of portability”, 发现定位词是打引号的，所以一定是原文原词
2. 通过定位词回原文进行定位，发现定位词所在句Nomadism also subjects pastoralist communities to strict rules of portability.并不能作为本题的答案。因此，该题的难点就在于定位词不能直接帮助考生解题
3. 仔细阅读本段第三句话Such rules limit variations in accumulated material goods between pastoralist households, 考生会发现该句是一个以such + rules打头的句子，而此处指代的内容即为定位词“strict rules of portability”, 因此极有可能本句即是答案。本句话讨论的是这些rules的影响或者结果，而题目也是在问影响，比较四个选项发现B选项与原句意思符合。同义替换部分为：limit variations in accumulated material goods = are more or less equal in wealth

推断题中的长难句----“从肉体升华到灵魂”
如果说“事实信息题”是在考察学生对于句子字面意思的理解，一种智商的考察，那么“推断题”则是在考察学生对于句子引申义的理解，一种智商与情商的双重考察。考生在应对推断题中的长难句时需要“基于事实信息，但同时又要超越事实信息”，这是一种从“肉体”到“灵魂”的升华过程。

例题1 (TPO 19: Discovering the Ice Age)：
During glaciations, the lighter oxygen-16 has a greater tendency to evaporate from the ocean surface than the heavier oxygen-18 does. Thus, more of the heavy isotope is left behind in the ocean and absorbed by marine organisms. From this analysis of marine sediments, geologists have learned that there were many shorter, more regular cycles of glaciation and deglaciation than geologists had recognized from the glacial drift of the continents alone.

1. In can be inferred from paragraph 5 that foraminifera fossil shells containing calcite with high percentages of oxygen-16 were deposited at times when
A. polar ice extended as far as equatorial regions of land and sea
B. extensive glaciation was not occurring
C. there were no great increases in ocean temperature
D. there was heavy snowfall on continental glaciers

解题步骤：
1. 读题干找出定位词oxygen-16, 摸清题干的大意问：在何时fossil会deposited沉淀下去？
2. 根据定位词回原文进行定位，定位句为During glaciations……; 该句从结构上看就是一个比较关系的句子。分析定位句大意：在冰川时代，较轻的oxygen-16会比较重的oxygen-18更有可能从海洋表面浮出。浮出evaporate正好与题干中问的沉淀deposit一次意思相反，进而推断出时间方面也应该相反，所以想要沉淀deposit必须发生在非冰川期，即glaciation was not occurring, 所以选B。

此题的做题思路借用了逻辑学中的“排中律”的逻辑，即有A和B两个要素构成了一个集合，文章告知其中一个要素的情况（比如A），问另外一个要素（比如B）的情况，此时，只要对已知A的情况进行取非即可。

例题2 (TPO 13: Methods of Studying Infant Perception)：
The second technique relies on evoked potentials, which are electrical brain responses that may be related to a particular stimulus because of where they originate. Changes in the electrical pattern of the brain indicate that the stimulus is getting through to the infant's central nervous system and eliciting some form of response.

11. In paragraph 4, what does the author suggest about the way an infant's brain perceives stimuli?
A. An infant's potential to respond to a stimulus may be related to the size of its brain.
B. Changes in the electrical patterns of an infant's brain are difficult to detect.
C. Different areas of an infant's brain respond to different types of stimuli.
D. An infant is unable to perceive more than one stimulus at a time.

解题步骤：
1.   读题干，划出定位词brain perceives stimuli
2. 带着定位词回原文进行定位，定位到了brain perceives stimuli的近义词表达方式electrical brain responses（此题难点之一：定位）
3. 分析定位词所在句子electrical brain responses may be related to a particular stimulus because of where they originate.（此题难点之二：句型）
句意：主句---“大脑电化学反应与某一种刺激有关：
      原因状语---关键代词they需要弄清指代对象，这里应该是前面的responses, 因此状语部分的意思是“大脑到底和哪一个刺激有关取决于大脑反应来自于大脑的哪一个部分”
      综合两部分意思----大脑不同部位产生的反应与不同的刺激有关，只有C选项满足这层意思。

此题的做题思路借用了逻辑学中的“归纳”的逻辑，归纳即一种从specific cases到general conclusion的过程。

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