句子插入题的解题方法

句子插入题是新托福考试阅读中的一种新题型，目的在于考查考生对句意的理解以及对句子之间的语义逻辑关系的把握，看考生是否理解各句之间的关系。

　　这类题型的识别比较简单，只要看到要求把句子插入到四个小黑方块的某个位置的就是该题型。解这种题型一定要把握好一个原则就是：要插入的题干句子一定是个冗余信息，可有可无，但要插错位置就一定会影响原句子间的逻辑关系。因此，做这类题型不需要对文章全文的通篇把握，只需仔细阅读要插入句子的段落即可。

　　下面介绍两种解题技巧：

一、首位衔接法：

　　首先，认真阅读要插入的句子，找出题干句子中的关键词。所谓关键词一般是名词或代词，在句子中做主语或宾语，一般指代插入句子的前面或后面那个句子中的某个相同名词或同义词，即同义词复现原则。然后，将句子插入该位置，认真阅读题干句子是否和前后句子在语义逻辑上相符合。

　　看下面一个例子：

　　Look at the four squares, ■that indicates where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

题干：Contingencies are events that might affect what you plan to do, but rarely are out of your control.

　　Even the best plans are rarely carried out without some problems. Good managers learn to deal with problems as they come up. ■ They make decisions as they are needed and adjust plans when necessary. Flexible plans allow for several contingencies.  ■ For example, rain is a contingency that might affect the success of an outdoor event. ■ Trying to move indoors at the last minute could be a disaster. ■ Therefore, your plan should include a “rain plan.”

　　让我们先认真阅读题干句子，不难看出此句中的关键词是contingency 而且，这个句子是对这个词汇的一个解释或定义，在仔细阅读带黑框的文章段落，会注意到在第二个黑框前面的句子中首次提到了contingencies一词，在看第二个黑框后面则是举例说明，如果把句子插在第二个方框的位置，就可以看出，这样即符合了我们所说的同义词复现原则，也符合了“第一次出现→定义→举例说明”的逻辑原则。

题干：This irritation is caused by viruses or bacteria, exposure to tobacco smoke, or air pollution.

　　Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes in the lungs. ■ It often appears after a cold or an upper respiratory infection that does not heal completely. It also may accompany childhood infections such as measles, whooping cough, and typhoid fever. ■The inflamed bronchial tubes secrete a sticky mucus called sputum. It is difficult for the tiny hairs on the bronchi to clear out this sputum. ■ The cough that comes with bronchitis is the body’s attempt to eliminate it. ■ Other symptoms include discomfort or tightness in the chest, low fever, sore throat, and sometimes wheezing. Severe cases of bronchitis may lead to pneumonia.

从这一题不难看出，题干中的关键词irritation，虽然没有在文章中找到同样的词汇，但在文章中第一句中很容易找到一个同义词inflammation，这也同样符合我们所说的同义词复现原则，所以第一个方框就是插入句子的位置。

二、把握句子逻辑关系，充分利用过渡词和代词，迅速确定上下文语义逻辑关系。

　　1. 指代关系：常见的过渡词有定冠词the，指示代词this, that, these, those, 人称代词 they, she, he, 或it ，还有 their, such, another等 。

看下面一个例子：

题干：Most of them like to talk, especially in front of a group.

Kindergarteners are quite skillful with language. ■ Providing a “sharing time” gives children a natural opportunity for talking. However, many will need help in becoming good listeners. ■  Some sort of rotation scheme is usually necessary to divide talking opportunities between the talkative and silent extremes. ■  Teachers can provide activities or experiences for less confident children to talk about, such as a field trip, a book, or a film. ■

　　从题干中我们不难看出代词them明显是指代 文章中的kindergarteners,  题干句中的关键词in front of a group, 可以和第一个黑框后面的句子中“sharing time”是指同样的意思，所以，第一个黑框就是句子插入的位置。

2. 转折关系：过渡词有although, conversely, however, in contrast, instead, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, unlike, whereas, while等。

　例如：

　题干：However, the ground surface is spongy and wet to the touch.

　Bogs are a distinctive type of wetland. ■They appear relatively dry, with only small amounts of shallow water visible. ■The surface material is largely sphagnum moss of other organic matter rather than mineral soil. ■ Bogs are usually characterized by evergreen trees and shrubs and are underlain by deep peat deposits. ■Bogs will develop in former glacial lakes by the gradual accumulation of organic matter falling from beneath a floating mat of vegetation advancing out over the water.

阅读题干，我们很容易就能找出关键中心词是“spongy and wet”，根据题干中的转折词however，我们应该判断在此句义之前应该有一相对应的反义词出现，快速阅读文章很快就会找个“dry”这个对应的反义词，所以，第二个方框就是答案所在的位置。

3. 因果关系：therefore, so, as a result, consequently ，accordingly, otherwise, thus

题干:Thus, the males have a defensive rather than an offensive role.

　　■ As can be seen from this description of the process, it is the female lions rather than the male or males in the pride that take part in the kill. ■ The younger and stronger females are the ones who go on the attack. ■ While the females are on the attack, the males stay behind to protect the rest of the pride from attack by predators such as hyenas. ，■

　　先阅读题干，从过渡词Thus一词可以看出，题干句子是个总结句。二句子中的关键词“defensive , offensive”可以帮助我们很快在文中找到对应的定位信息词“on the attack , protect”，自然而然的这种因果关系就显现出来了，多以句子应该插放在最后一个方框的位置。

4.并列递进关系：furthermore, also, as well, too, in addition, moreover, besides, even, additionally ,first, second, third… not only…but also

例句可以参看蓝色Delta 第144 页第10题，是明显的并列递进关系。

句子插入题(方块题)并不难做，只要有心，注意总结规律，一定能够做好。

                   中心思想题的解题方法

中心思想题是托福考试中唯一带有主观色彩的题型，它考察你对文章大意和总体结构的把握能力。托福阅读涉及的内容非常广泛，天文，地理，文学和人物传记几乎无所不包。那么，是否就没有技巧可谈了吗？绝对不是。文章内容可能千差万别，但文章的写作方式却只有寥寥的两种，即记叙文和议论文。记叙文是对某一件事，某一个现象或者某一个人的描述，即对客观事物的纪录和叙述，其中没有或者几乎没有作者自己的观点。记叙文有时间顺序和空间顺序两种组织形式。而议论文是作者根据某一客观事物或观点发表自己的看法，并用例子或者理由来证明作者自己的观点。
　　在托福阅读中，没有真正的议论文。也就是说，阅读文章基本上都是记叙文，作者并没有试图让你接受他的某一个观点。有的也只是其中某一部分略带有作者的态度或者语气而已。所以中心思想题的正确答案肯定是一件事，一个物，一个人，一个现象或者一个动作，而不会是一个带有观点的结论性的句子。

　　掌握中心思想的技巧在于文章每个段落的第一句。标准化的考试决定了文章组织结构的严谨性，即条理清晰和结构完整。条理清晰表现为写作模式不是时间顺序就是空间顺序，而且承上启下的过渡词汇都出现在每个段落的第一句；结构完整表现为内容的完整性和单一性，即每一篇文章都能向你传达一个而且只有一个有意义的现象或者事件，不会让你读后感觉到不知文章所云为何物。
　　中心思想题的问法千篇一律，不是“What is the main topic of the passage?”，就是“What does the passage mainly discuss?”。现在我们开始看一道中心思想题。

Barbed wire, first patented in the United States in 1867, played an important part in the development of American farming, as it enabled the settlers to make effective fencing to enclose their land and keep cattle away from their crops. This had a considerable effect on cattle ranching, since the herds no longer had unrestricted use of the plans for grazing, and the fencing led to conflict between the farmers and the cattle ranchers.

　　Before barbed wire camesintosgeneral use, fencing was often made from serrated wire, which was unsatisfactory because it broke easily when under strain, and could snap in cold weather due to contraction. The first practical machine for producing barbed wire was invented in 1874 by an Illinois farmer, and between then and the end of the century about 400 types of barbed wire were devised, of which only about a dozen were ever put to practical use.

　　Modern barbed wire is made from mild steel high-tensile steel, or aluminum. Mild steel and aluminum barbed wire have two strands twisted together to form a cable which is stronger than single-strand wire and less affected by temperature changes. Single-strand wire, round or oval, is made from high-tensile steel with the barbs crimped or welded on. The steel wires used are galvanized - coated with zinc to make them rustproof. The two wires that make up the line wire or cable are fed separatelysintosa machine at one end. They leave it at the other end twisted-together and barbed. The wire to make the barbs is fedsintosthe machine from the sides and cut to length by knives that cut diagonally through the wire to produce a sharp point. This process continues automatically, and the finished barbed wire is wound onto reels, usually made of wire in length of 400 meters or in weights of up to 50 kilograms.

　　A variation of barbed wire is also used for military purposes. It is formedsintoslong conies or entanglements called concertina wire.

题目：What is the main topic of the passage?
　(A) Cattle ranching in the United States.
  (B) A type of fencing
  (C) Industrial uses of wire

(D) A controversy over land use

我们刚才说过只需解读每段的首句你就能掌握文章的大意。到底是不是真的这么神呢？我们回到原文。
第一段首句的大意是，某种带刺的金属线自引进美国后，对农业起着重要的作用，因为它有效地包圈了土地而避免遭受牛畜的糟踏。
第二段的首句大意是，在此之前用的是锯齿状的篱笆，天气冷的时候就不管用了。
第三段首句的大意是，现在用的金属线是钢或者铝制成的。
第四段首句的大意是，一些带刺的金属线也用在军事方面。

　　就凭这四句话能回答问题吗？我们来看选项。A中说文章是关于美国家畜的农场经营。第一段的首句确实提到家畜，但是后面3段的首句都没提到，所以排除它。选项B说文章在讲一种篱笆防线，我们看到这四句中至少有三句谈到了某种篱笆，所以这个选项应该是正确答案。不过，我们还是先看后面的两个选项。选项C说是金属线的工业用途。这四句确实谈到了金属线的用途，包括农业用途和军事用途，唯独没有谈到工业用途。第四个选项更加离谱，说是关于土地使用的争论。第一段的首句确实谈到了土地，但却无关于土地使用的争论，而且后面三句丝毫没有提到土地使用的争论，甚至连土地都没有。很明显，选项B是正确答案。
    范围，在阅读部分是一个相当重要的概念，特别是对想取得高分的考生来说。为什么呢？想象一下把自己当成TOEFL的出题者。你必须出一些难题。而在4个选项中只有一个正确，其他的都是“垃圾”选项。怎样才能使这些“垃圾”选项迷惑考生呢？利用“范围”来混淆考生便能一举两得：出题者不但能轻易地写出难题来，这些考题还能迷惑很大一部分考生。典型的“垃圾”选项不是范围太宽，太窄就是与文章毫无相关，或者干脆就与正确选项意思完全相反。在这道题中，选项A，C和D不是范围太窄，就是不在范围之内。但是当它利用文章中的某些词汇时，却很容易迷惑考生，如选项A中的Cattle ranching和in the United States，选项C中的uses of wire，选项D中的land。你的做法应该是：选项中出现得越多的原文词汇，你就应该越警惕。事实上，根据历年考题的统计显示，原文词汇出现得最多的那个选项肯定错误。这很容易理解。如果一个英语阅读能力很差而只认识一些单词的考生，让他来做阅读题，你想他会选择哪个或者哪些选项？我们不能十分确定他会选择哪个选项，但他肯定对包含自己认识的词汇的那个选项印象深刻。范围陷阱选项有时可以通过简单的修改成为正确答案，如将C中industrial改成various或者去掉它都可以成为正确答案。