大學聯考英語閱讀篇章結構解題技巧

篇章結構題解題技巧

對《考試大綱》中提出的理解文章的基本結構的要求，往往通過篇章結構題來考查。考生要學會把握文章的脈絡，理解段落層次之間的關係，弄清作者的寫作方法。英語的文章講究使用主題段和主題句。主題段通常在文章的開頭，簡要概括文章的中心思想，主題句根據段落的寫作手法的不同可能在段落的開頭，也可能出現在段落的中間或末尾。段與段之間常用詞語連線，承上啟下，使文章行文連貫，邏輯嚴密。為突出主題作者可能採用不同的寫作手法來組織文章，通過舉例、比較、類比等手法來透徹闡明主題觀點。大學聯考對這類題型的考查主要體現在以下幾個方面：

1． 確定指代關係。最常見的提問方式是：The underlined word “they/it/…” in paragraph… refers to… …

2． 對句子意義或作用的理解。最常見的提問方式是：The sentence “… …” in paragraph … means ….; The example of … … in para… used to illustrate/show … ….

3． 對段落大意或段落作用的理解。最常見的提問方式是：The last paragraph mainly tell us that … …; The purpose of writing Paragraph … is …. ….

4． 對文章組織結構的理解。最常見的提問方式是：How is the passage organized?；Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?

在上述幾類題會考生感覺難做的題是第四類, 這類題是近兩年來出現的主要考查議論文結構的命題新方式,且逐步得到語言教育專家們的認可。並逐步推廣到對其他文體結構的考查。分析這一類的題我們看出：對文章組織結構的考查不外乎兩個層次。一是按段落的組織方法理解文章的結構，一是按寫作方法（論證方法）理解文章的結構。

首先，看看這樣考查從段落層次理解文章的結構。這類題經常用到的提問方式是：Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage? 常見的段落結構有如下幾種情況：

圖1表明：①（Paragraph 1）是主題段（提出論題或論點），②、③段是就同一論據或者問題的同一方面作論述，④用另一論據材料或者從問題的另一方面論述，⑤段是結論段或者是用來重述論題、強調論點的段落。同樣我們很容易理解圖2、3、4所示的'段落結構的意義。

下面具體看看05年江蘇卷E篇：

The twentieth century saw greater changes than any century before changes for the better, changes for the worse, changes that brought a lot of benefits to human beings, changes that put man in danger things caused the changes, but, in my opinion, the most important was the progress in science.

Scientific research in physics and biology has vastly broadened our views. It has given us a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter and of the universe, it has brought us a better understanding of the nature of life and of its continuous development. Technology in the application of science has made big advances that have benefited us in nearly every part of life.

The continuation of such activities in the twenty-first century will result in even greater advantages to human beings: in pure science—a wider and deeper knowledge in all fields of learning; in applied science—a more reasonable sharing of material benefits, and better protection of the environment.

Sadly, however, there is another side to the picture. The creativity of science has been employed in doing damage to mankind. The application of science and technology to the development and production of weapons of mass destruction has created a real danger to the continued existence of the human race on this planet. We have seen this happen in the case of nuclear weapons, Although their actual use has so far occurred only in the Second World War, the number of nuclear weapons that were produced and made ready for use was so large that if the weapons had actually been used, the result could have been the ruin of the human race, as well as of many kinds of animals.

William Shakespeare said. “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn（紗線）, good and ill together. “The above brief review of the application of only one part of human activities—science seems to prove what Shakespeare said. But does it have to be so? Must the ill always go together with the good? Are we biologically programmed for war?

72．Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?

理解文章段落結構，我們很容易找到答案A。

接下來再來看看這樣從論證方法上考查對議論文結構的理解。掌握了議論文常見的寫作方法，我們不難理解議論文的論證過程。從論證方法上講，常見的議論文結構有以下兩類：

一、Put forward a question →Analyze the question → Solve the question 這就是“提出問題、分析問題、解決問題”的過程；二、Argument/idea → Evidence → conclusion/ restating the idea

這就是“由論點到論據到結論或者強調論點”的過程。

對說明文、夾敘夾議類文章結構的理解，只要我們弄清段落意義和段落之間的關係，很容易理解其結構。看看下面的例題我們也許會得到一些啟發。

例1：

I receive a lot of emails every time a column is published in 21st Century. The majority of questions I get are like this: “My English is still very poor, could you please give me some advice?” Since this kind of question is so big and so vague, any answers will be too broad or too general. In fact, asking questions is an art that needs training and practice in itself. And I would like to offer the following tips:

Always contextualize your question. If you really want to ask for advice on something, you need to provide a brief description of how you came up with the question and how you can benefit from asking it. For instance, if you need to improve your English, you need to state the skill area you are in the greatest need of improving, and what difficulties you encounter that cause you so many problems

The second piece of advice is that your question should be focused and specific. By that I mean that you might have a lot of questions, but choose the one that is most important and at the same time the least complicated.

Third, you can practise asking one question in multiple ways. For instance, if you are interested in knowing how you can boost your confidence in speaking, you might consider asking: “I often feel nervous before I ask a question, how can I overcome my anxiety?” “Could you share with me your experience of speaking in front of others?”

Of course, the best way to ask good questions is through the practice of questioning. I highly encourage you to seek opportunities to ask questions. It takes time to be a really good questioner.

How is the text organized?

A．Topic---argument----description

B．Opinion—discussion---explanation

C．Main idea---comparison--- supporting examples

D．Topic ----argument----conclusion

解析：文章一開始就提出本文要講的中心, 然後進行論述, 最後得出結論。由此,我們不難得出答案是D。

例2：

（05 浙江卷 C 篇）

In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.

First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.

I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $ 100 a week.

But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.

I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.

52．How is the text organized?

A．Topic—Argument—Explanation

B．Opinion—Discussion—Description

C．Main idea—Comparison—Supporting examples

D．Introduction—Supporting examples—Conclusion

解析：這道題考查考生對文章組織結構的理解，把握了文章的脈絡，我們不難得出答案：D。

2007年廣東大學聯考英語試題題型（討論稿）中提出把篇章結構作為專門的一節來考查：要求把標有A-F的句子或段落插入到文章中標記的適當位置，使文章意義完整，結構連貫。

做好這一類題，要先理解全文的意義和結構，然後理解段落的意義和結構，分析句與句之間的關係，句與段落的關係。一般說來，文章中空格的地方主要是三類的句子或者段落：一是段落的主題句；二是和段落主題密切相關的細節句；三是段落或句子之間的過渡句/段。所以學會了分析句與句、句與段、段與段之間的關係做這類題並不難。下面我們來具體看一個例題：

閱讀下面短文，請將標有A-F的句子或段落插入到文章中標號為71-75的合適位置，使文章意義完整，結構連貫；其中一個段落或句子是多餘的。

Some twenty years ago, the performance of girls and boys in class was compared. 71 Now, the situation is reversed (顛倒) with girls consistently doing better than boys.

72 John Dunsford, leader of the association of head teachers of secondary schools, says that the academic failure of boys is a problem which had its roots in society rather than the classroom. Girls, more than boys, see education as a passport to a good job. On the other hand, according to Penny Lewis, a head teacher, young men lack confidence, which they hide with a show of bravado (逞能). They’re uncertain about their place in society. 73

Moreover, boys may learn in a different way from girls, preferring small amounts of work with immediate headlines rather than large projects stretching (延續) into the distance. And education is not seen as “cool”. 74

This is not just a problem in Britain. In a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and UNESCO, girls did better than boys at reading at the age of 15 in all 45 countries. The UK ranks ninth out of the 45 countries for reading despite the fact that pupils in the UK spend less time reading than in most other countries. 75

A. So, what has gone wrong with the boys, and what can be done about it?

B. Interestingly, the study suggested that British children read for pleasure more often than those in other countries.

C. Boys scored better in exams, so various measures were introduced to improve the performance of girls, including having single sex girl-only classes.

D. This study can offer a great help to teachers and school leaders in terms of proper education to different people.

E. Some boys grow up in families where there is no male role model to follow.

F. As one contributoe to a BBC website put it, “Girls achieve more at school because they are watching the future while the boys are watching the girls.”

解析：這是一篇說明文。首先通讀文章瞭解文章的中心：全文分析當前在學校女生比男生表現好的原因。文章結構簡單明瞭：首先提出問題，然後分析原因。接下來我們來逐段分析：

第一段提出問題，71空後面說“現在情況顛倒過來了：女生比男生好了”，看了這句話，我們肯定能判斷前一句話的大意應該是：先前的情況是男生比女生表現好。那就從選項中去看哪個句子表達的是這個意思。快速瀏覽A-F選項，我們得到答案C。

第二段分析原因。段首的空格72，應該是一個承上啟下的過渡句。瀏覽選項，我們迅速得到答案A。段尾的73空應該是一個細節句，對前一句具體說明，能夠具體說明They’re uncertain about their place in society一句的只有選項E。

第三段進一步分析原因。74空應該是個細節句，詳細闡明男生比女生表現差的原因。這裡我們不難找到答案F。

第四段說明這種現象的普遍存在。段尾的75空是一個接續前句的細節句。瀏覽剩餘的選項，我們很肯定地找到答案B。

【實戰演練練習十三】（05 江西卷 E 篇）

Do you have any strong opinion on co-educational or single-sex schools?

A supporter of co-educational schools would probably say that schools should be like the societies they belong to Hong Kong, men and women mix socially on a day-to-day basis many fields men are even likely to have female bosses. It is, therefore, desirable that boys and girls grow up together, go to school together, and prepare themselves for a society that does not value sexual separation.

Some would go on to argue further that growing up with members of the opposite sex is important for personal development. Regular contact（接觸）can remove the strange ideas about the opposite-sex and lead to more natural relationships. Single-sex conditions are seen as leading to more extreme opinions, and possibly even as encouraging homosexuality（同性戀）, though there is no proof that this is the case.

Those who are against coeducation often also fix their attention on the sexual side. Some parents fear that close contact with members of the opposite sex is dangerous for teenagers. They want their children to be attentive to their studies. Such parents feel uncomfortable with modern ways and the free mixing of the sexes.

A stronger argument comes from research into school results. Girls grow up earlier than

boys ,tend to be more orderly and are likely to be better at languages. In a mixed class ,boys who might do well in a single-sex class become discouraged and take on the rule of troublemaker. Certainly in the UK this situation has greatly alarmed （驚動）the government for it to be encouraging co-educational schools to have some single-sex classes. In the UK the best schools are all single-sex, strongly suggesting that co-education is not the best answer. This may, however, not be as simple as it looks. It may simply be that the famous old schools that attract the best students happen to be single-sex, rather than that being single-sex makes them better schools.

72．In the third paragraph, by saying “though there is no proof that this is the case”, the writer means that .

A．students in single-sex schools will certainly become homosexual

B．students in co-educational schools cannot have extreme opinions

C．students in co-educational schools are likely to be homosexual

D．single-sex school conditions may or may not have effects on the students

【實戰演練練習十四】（04 重慶卷 D 篇）

Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched? You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!

Parapsychologists (靈學家) say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them. To research whether such a “sixth sense”really exists, Robert Baker, a psychologist(心理學家)at the University of Kentucky, performed two experiments.

In the first one, Baker sat behind unknowing people in public places and stared at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes. The subjects（受試者）were eating, drinking, reading，studying, watching TV, or working at a computer. Baker made sure that the people could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods. Later, when he questioned the subjects, almost all of them said they had no sense that someone was staring at them.

For the second experiment, Baker told the subjects that they would be stared at from time to time from behind a two way mirror in a laboratory setting. The people had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren’t. Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at and when they weren’t r found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at than if they had just guessed.

Baker concludes that people do not have the ability to sense when they’re being stared at. If people doubt the outcome of his two experiments, said Baker, “I suggest they repeat the experiments and see for themselves.”

68. The purpose of the two experiments is to .

A. explain when people can have a sixth sense

B. show how people act while being watched in the lab

C. study whether humans can sense when they are stared at

D. prove why humans have a sixth sense

【實戰演練練習十五】

閱讀下面短文，並將文後標有A-F 的句子（或段落）插入文章中標號為71-75的合適位置，使短文結構完整。其中有一個句子（或段落）是多餘的。

She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last forever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.

71

“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years age,” the museum said. 72 .

73 “It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops,” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University, “It’s because direct vision is excellent at picking up detail, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows.”

74 Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519.

In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee, who took it out of the museum hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later.

75

A. Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile.

B. However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile.

C. Visitors have notice the changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state.

D. The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1905, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louvre Museum where it is housed.

E. The picture is now so valuable that no one can tell its exact price. Therefore, many thieves tried to steal it in any way they could think of.

F. During World War II, French did the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces. Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell.