新托福阅读文章结构解析.pdf

新托福阅读文章结构解析新托福阅读文章结构解析 可以说 ， 理解词句是任何一项英语类考试的基础 ， 但针对托福考试阅读部分 ，ETS 在 新托福考试官方指南 中明确指出，阅读文章摘录于大学成都的教科书，一般是对某一学科或主题的介绍性内容，主要目的是评估考生对“学术性文章”的理解程度。根据 ETS 的考察目的我们可以看出，托福阅读考试绝不是单单的对词句理解能力的考察，同时也要考察考生对学术文章结构框架的理解。 文中举例均选自新托福考试官方指南 一、学术性文章成分一、学术性文章成分 学术性文章中一般包含有以下内容： 1. Topic: 文章标题，即文章主要论述的对象。 2. Aspect: 作者围绕文章标题 Topic 进一步阐述的方面。 3. Attitude: 作者态度。 注意：Topic, Aspect 和 Attitude 均为单词或短语，一般不是句子。 4. Main Idea (MI): 主要思想，分为段落层面 Main Idea 和篇章层面 Main Idea。 Main Idea 分为显性和隐性。 显性的 Main Idea: 作者在文章中明确给出表达主要思想的概括性句子。 隐性的 Main Idea: 作者在文章中未给出表达主要思想的概括性句子，需要考生根据文 中信息总结得出。 5. Thesis Statement (ThS): 涵盖 Topic 的篇章主题句 ，显性篇章层面 Main Idea。 6. Topic Sentence (TS): 涵盖某一 Aspect 的一段或某几段主题句，显性段落层面 Main Idea。 注意：在Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary中，Topic Sentence 的解释为：a sentence that states the main thought of a paragraph or of a larger unit of discourse and is usually placed at or near the beginning。 从该定义中可以看出：(1) 一个段落中最多只有 1 个 TS; (2) TS 也可作为多段概述性内容 7. Detail (D): 细节 Detail 分为：Major Detail(MaD)和 Minor Detail (MiD) 二、句间关系二、句间关系 为了清晰的把握学术性的结构框架，考生首先应该具备分清句子与句子之间关系的能力。 托福文章中句子之间的关系从逻辑和段落结构角度总的来看，重点需要考生把握并列关系，概述与详述（或抽象与具体）关系，转折关系，以及因果关系。其中在把握文章结构与理解文章主要观点当中，以前三者最重要。 可以从句子的两个方面来判断句子之间的关系：1. 主要意思方面；2. 关联词 1. 1. 并列关系并列关系 并列关系的两句话主要意思方面不同，并且有时会有表示并列的关联词出现。如例 1： 例例 1 1 ：1Most investigators concur that certain facial expressions suggest the same emotions in all people. 2Moreover, people in diverse cultures recognize the emotions manifested by the facial expressions. 解析：解析： 句 1 主要意思方面：调查者认同面部表情表明情感。 句 2 主要意思方面：人们识别表情表达出的情感。 句 1 与句 2 意思方面不同，并用 moreover 关联。 注意：注意：并非所有并列关系的两个句子都有关联词出现，只要意思方面不同即为并列关系，如例 2。 例例2 2 ：1Tunas, mackerels, and billfishes have made streamlining into an art form. 2Their bodies are sleek and compact. 句 1 意思方面：流线成为艺术形式。 句 2 意思方面：身体光滑简洁。 意思方面不同，无关联词，仍为并列关系。 常见表并列关系的关联词有：and, furthermore, in addition, additionally, similarly, likewise, as well as, besides, also, moreover, even 等。 2. 2. 概述与详述（抽象与具体）关系概述与详述（抽象与具体）关系 概述与详述（抽象与具体）关系的两句话意思方面相同，但前后两句是概述与详述的关系，或抽象与具体的关系。 一般概述性或抽象内容涵盖内容广，但已引起歧义，可以让人们不禁问出how, what, why 等问题。详述性或具体的句子相对于概述性或抽象句子具体且明确如例 3，例 4。 例例 3 3：1Perhaps most important of all to these and other fast swimmers is their ability to sense and make use of swirls and eddies (circular currents) in the water. 2They can glide past eddies that would slow them down and then gain extra thrust by pushing off the eddies. 解析：解析： 句 1 与句 2 的意思方面均为 swimmers 运用 swirls and eddies，但句 1 概述地描述为：sense and make use of, 句 2 出现具体动作描述 glide past.and then gain extra thrust. 例例 4 4：1Loie Fuller was an important and innovative dancer.2Fuller devised a type of dance that focused on the shifting play of lights and colors on the voluminous skirts or draperies she wore, which she kept in constant motion principally through movements of her arms, sometimes extended with wands concealed under her costumes. 解析：解析：句 1 中出现形容词 important and innovative。 句 2 通过具体事例 devise a type of dance 体现出形容词 innovative。 注意：注意：考生应锻炼在阅读的同时就可以感受出句中概述性内容能力。 以下形式常常可表示概述或抽象内容： (1)名词复数: causes, effects, adaptations, aspects, benefits 等； (2)动词: benefit, develop, improve, evolve 等动词； (3)形 容 词 : important, innovative, great, intense, attractive, despondent 等； (4)副词: successfully, hard, bravely, carefully 等（往往与动词搭配）。 3. 3. 转折关系转折关系 转折关系的两句话总的来说一般用表示转折关系的关联词连接，意思方面来看有两种关系，(1) 意思的方面相同但意思相反，如例 5; (2) 意思的方面不同，如例 6。 例例 5 5：1It might be that a “stiff” lip suppresses emotional response - as long as the lip is not quivering with fear or tension. 2But when the emotion that leads to stiffening the lip is more intense, and involves strong muscle tension, facial feedback may heighten emotional response. 解析：解析： 句 1：a stiff lip suppresses emotional response 句 2：导致 stiffening the lip 的情感更加强烈时，facial feedback heighten emotional response。 例例 6 6：1The whale retained a tail and lacked a fluke, the major means of locomotion in modern cetaceans. 2The structure of the backbone shows, however, that Ambulocetus swam like modern whales by moving the rear portion of its body up and down, even though a fluke was missing. 解析：解析： 句 1：鲸鱼保留尾巴，缺少现代鲸主要的推进工具：尾片。 句 2：背骨结构表明 Ambulocetus 与现代鲸游泳一样。 句 1 与句 2 意思方面不同，但用关联词 however 连接，仍未转折关系。 常见转折关系关联词：but, yet, however, though, conversely, in contrast, contrast to, on the contrary 等表示转折，相反的词或短语 4. 4. 因果关系因果关系 因果关系的典型特征：出现因果关联词 例例 7 7：1Feeding, courtship, reproduction, and even rest are carried out while in constant motion. 2As a result, practically every aspect of the body form and function of these swimming machines is adapted to enhance their ability to swim 解析：解析： 句 1：摄食，求爱，繁殖，并且甚至休息都是在恒常的运动中进行。 句 2：游泳及其身体形式和功能的每个方面都适于提升游泳能力。 句 2 用 as a result 引导，作者认为句 1 为句 2 成因。 常见因果关系关联词 ： as a result, therefore, thus, as a consequence, consequently, so, hence 等 三、段落结构三、段落结构 在托福文章的段落内部，句子和句子并非出于同一个层次，因此需要运用以上讲解的句间关系，辨析段落中句子的地位。 对于单独的一个段落，不考察在文章中的地位 （或与其他段落的段落关系）时，段落内部主要有 Main Idea 及 Detail。 1. 1. 显性显性 Main IdeaMain Idea 及及 Topic SentenceTopic Sentence 的位置的位置 Main Idea 显性时，则会明确出现一句能够概括段落主要思想的句子，即Topic Sentence。如例 8： 例例 8 8：1There are adaptations that increase the amount of forward thrust as well as those that reduce drag. 2Again, these fishes are the envy of engineers. 3Their high, narrow tails with swept-back tips are almost perfectly adapted to provide propulsion with the least possible effort. 4Perhaps most important of all to these and other fast swimmers is their ability to sense and make use of swirls and eddies (circular currents) in the water. 5They can glide past eddies that would slow them down and then gain extra thrust by pushing off the eddies. 6Scientists and engineers are beginning to study this ability of fishes in the hope of designing more efficient propulsion systems for ships. 解析：解析： 句 1：许多 adaptations 增加向前推进力的量 句 2：工程师嫉妒这些鱼 句 3：尾巴几乎是完美的适于提供推进力，用最少可能的功。 句 4：感知并运用水流的能力最重要 句 5：他们滑过水流并从中获得额外推进力 句 6：科学家和工程师研究感知运用水流能力 根据句间关系，可以判断出： 句 1 为本段最概括的句子。因此为显性 MI，即 TS。 句 2 为引用工程师态度（与段落主要内容无直接关系） ，侧面反映 adaptations优越，MaD1。 句 3 与句 1 为概述与详述关系，为第一个 MaD2，意思方面为尾巴。 句 4 与句 3 为并列关系，因此处于同一级别，与句 1 为概述与详述关系，为第二个 MaD3。 句 5 与句 4 为抽象与具体关系，因此为第一个 MiD1。 句 6 与句 5 为并列关系，与句 4 为抽象与具体关系（科学家与工程师都在研究这一能力，反映出该能力的 important 含义） ，因此为第二个 MiD2。 因此段落共分 3 个层次。 第 1 层次：TS(句 1)； 第 2 层次：MaD1(句 2), MaD2(句 3), MaD3(句 4)； 第 3 层次：MiD1(句 5), MiD2(句 6)。 值得注意的是：TS 大多数出现在段首，如例 8。但并非一定在段首，常在段中及段末出现。 下面举出两个在段中和段末的情况。 TSTS 在段中在段中 这种情况对于考生来说最难识别。在段中时，作者先给出介绍性内容，后给出 TS。如例 9。 例例 9 9：1Psychological researchers generally recognize that facial expressions reflect emotional states. 2In fact, various emotional states give rise to certain patterns of electrical activity in the facial muscles and in the brain. 3The facial-feedback hypothesis argues, however, that the causal relationship between emotions and facial expressions can also work in the opposite direction. 4According to this hypothesis, signals from the facial muscles (feedback) are sent back to emotion centers of the brain, and so a persons facial expression can influence that persons emotional state. 5Consider Darwins words: The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the other hand, the repression, as far as possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions. 6Can smiling give rise to feelings of good will, for example, and frowning to anger? 解析：解析： 句 1：心理研究一般认同面部表情反应情感状态。 句 2：各种情感状态引起面部肌肉和大脑中的某些电活动的形式。 句 3：然而，面部回馈理论认为情感和面部表情的因果关系也可以以反方向进行。 句 4：根据这一理论，来自面部肌肉的信号反馈回大脑情感中心，并且因此一个人的面部表情能影响一个人的情感状态。 句 5：达尔文说：情感的向外信号的自由表达加剧了情感；向外信号尽可能的压抑柔化了情感。 句 6：微笑能引起善意的感受吗？皱眉会引起生气吗？ 根据意思方面，可以判断出句间关系： 句 1 与句 2 意思方面相同，为抽象与具体关系，句 2 为句 1 的“反映”提供解释。 句 3 到句 6 意思方面相同，其中句 3 最具概述性。 因此本段句 3 为 TS，句 1 和句 2 为介绍性内容。 TSTS 在段末。在段末。 段末 TS 一般是对细节的概括性句子，或对某问题的总结，如例 10。 例例 1010：1Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. 2Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. 3This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after Pakicetus. 4Many incomplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a complete hind leg that features a foot with three tiny toes. 5Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-foot-long Basilosaurus on land. 6Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs. 解析：解析： 句 6 相对于其他句子最具有概述性，因此句 6 为 TS。 2. 2. 隐性隐性 Main IdeaMain Idea 当 Main Idea 为隐性时，句中未出现明确的概述性句子（TS）。如例 11。 例例 11：1Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. 2About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edisons former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. 3These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience. 解析： 句 1：放映商想最大化利润。 句 2：showmen 完善 projection devices。 句 3：projection devices 被使用在若干地点。 句 1 与句 2 为并列关系。 句 2 与句 3 为并列关系。 本段未出现概括段落的句子，须考生自己总结。即：projection devices 出现的过程。 四、段间关系四、段间关系 在比对段落关系时，和比较句子关系类似，要从段落最主要的意思方面来判断。 为了通俗易懂，段间关系可分为总分关系（句子之间称为概述与详述或抽象与具体关系），并列关系。 1. 1. 总分关系总分关系 上下两段意思方面相同，相比之下，上一个段落主要内容比下一个段落更具有概括性。 Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossil whale. The fossil was officially named Pakicetus in honor of the country where the discovery was made. Pakicetus was found embedded in rocks formed from river deposits that were 52 million years old. The river that formed these deposits was actually not far from an ancient ocean known as the Tethys Sea. The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an extinct group of an-cestors of modern cetaceans. Although limited to a skull, the Pakicetus fossil provides precious details on the origins of cetaceans. The skull is cetacean-like but its jawbones lack the enlarged space that is filled with fat or oil and used for receiving underwater sound in modern whales. Pakicetus probably detected sound through the ear opening as in land mammals. The skull also lacks a blowhole, another cetacean adaptation for diving. Other features, however, show experts that Pakicetus is a transitional form between a group of extinct flesh-eating mammals, the mesonychids, and cetaceans. It has been suggested that Pakicetus fed on fish in shallow water and was not yet adapted for life in the open ocean. It probably bred and gave birth on land. 解析：解析： 注意：以下分析仅从段落层面角度来看，后文将置于篇章层面来看会出现变化。 段 1 中 首句最具有概述性，并提出：许多令人兴奋的发现允许科学家重建最可能的鲸的起源。 其他句子为对 P 化石发现的背景介绍。 段 2 中 第二句为为本段最概述性内容，表明 P 化石给鲸鱼起源提供许多宝贵细节。 其他句子相对第二句均为细节性内容。 段 1 与段 2 比较，段 1 更具有概括性。因此两端中 TS 在段 1 中，段 2 第二句为概述性细节 MaD，其余句子均为详述性细节（未进一步分层次）。 2. 2. 并列关系并列关系 上下两段意思方面不同。 Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after Pakicetus. Many incomplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a complete hind leg that features a foot with three tiny toes. Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-foot-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs. An even more exciting find was reported in 1994, also from Pakistan. The now extinct whale Ambulocetus natans (the walking whale that swam) lived in the Tethys Sea 49 million years ago. It lived around 3 million years after Pakicetus but 9 million before Basilosaurus. The fossil luckily includes a good portion of the hind legs. The legs were strong and ended in long feet very much like those of a modern pinniped. The legs were certainly functional both on land and at sea. The whale retained a tail and lacked a fluke, the major means of locomotion in modern cetaceans.The structure of the backbone shows, however, that Ambulocetus swam like modern whales by moving the rear portion of its body up and down, even though a fluke was missing. The large hind legs were used for propulsion in water. On land, where it probably bred and gave birth, Ambulocetus may have moved around very much like a modern sea lion. It was undoubtedly a whale that linked life on land with life at sea 解析：解析： 段 1 中 末句最具概述性，并提出：B 毫无疑问是完全海生的鲸并有不起作用或退化了的后腿。 段 2 中 末句最具概述性，并提出：A 毫无疑问是连接陆地和海洋生命的鲸。 段 1 与段 2 意思方面不同，为并列关系。 五、篇章结构分析五、篇章结构分析 开始阅读文章之前，应先仔细阅读文章标题 Topic。 此外，新托福考试官方指南中的所有文章的最后一道题主要有两种类型：1. 总结题；2. 填表题。在实际考试中，还出现过既没有总结题，也没有填表题的情况。因此，我们按照有无总结题来分类，分为有总结题的文章，和无总结题的文章。 请同学们注意总结题题干第一句话：Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices .意思是：下面给出了文章简短概述的介绍性句子。实际上，这句话为贯穿文章始末的概述性句子！ 若要抓住文章主题，在有总结题的文章中，须同时关注 Topic 和总结题介绍句；在无总结题的文章中只须以 Topic 为主。 以新托福考试官方指南中THE ORIGINS OF CETACEANS为例来分析文章结构。 总结题介绍句为：This passage discusses fossils that help to explain the likely origins of cetaceans-whales, porpoises, and dolphins. 重点内容：化石帮助解释鲸的起源。 THE ORIGINS OF CETACEANSTHE ORIGINS OF CETACEANS It should be obvious that cetaceans-whales, porpoises, and dolphins-are mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their streamlined bodies, the absence of hind legs, and the presence of a fluke1 and blowhole2 cannot disguise their affinities with land dwelling mammals. However, unlike the cases of sea otters and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses, whose limbs are functional both on land and at sea), it is not easy to envision what the first whales looked like. Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans. Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossil whale. The fossil was officially named Pakicetus in honor of the country where the discovery was made. Pakicetus was found embedded in rocks formed from river deposits that were 52 million years old. The river that formed these deposits was actually not far from an ancient ocean known as the Tethys Sea. The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an extinct group of ancestors of modern cetaceans. Although limited to a skull, the Pakicetus fossil provides precious details on the origins of cetaceans. The skull is cetacean-like but its jawbones lack the enlarged space that is filled with fat or oil and used for receiving underwater sound in modern whal