GRE阅读主旨题题型解析

　　GRE阅读主旨题主要是考察考生对于文章大逻辑把握的能力。细分起来，主旨题分为三种：内容性主旨题、架构性主旨题、其他主旨题。

　　GRE阅读有如下几个特点:

　　一、文章要求需有适合研究生层面的所谓强度，这种强度通过三个方面来实现，一是基本不采用线性文章，多数文章蜿蜒曲折，体现出GRE人文社科类文章所有传到的世界本就是二律背反的哲学本质。

　　二、文章体裁固定，ETS在筛选文章的过程中用一个软件对文章体裁进行严格的限制，只要四类文章，Physical Science 、Biological Science、Arts、Humanities。GRE文章体裁的固定性为考生的复习框定了范围，在有经验的老师的指导下学生可以减少复习的盲目性，提高复习效率。

　　三、GRE文章追求最大程度的公平性。公平性是ETS这样一家第三方机构生存的基础。因此决定了GRE的文章的客观公正性，文章不可能出现极端的观点，非黑即白的阐释，体现出美国研究生院要求学生具备最基本的批判性思维的能力要求标准。笔者将在未来的12期GRE阅读题型系列解析中深入分析GRE阅读出题思路和攻克这个部分的方法和建议。

　　本期我们从第一种题型主旨题开始说起。

　　一篇文章拿出来对考生进行测试大概要从三个方面进行测试：一、考察考生对文章大逻辑的把握能力;二、考察考生对文章小逻辑的把握能力;三、考察考生对细节的精确定位与同义替换的能力。而我们今天要讨论的就是第一种：对文章大逻辑的考察题型--- 主旨题。

　　、主旨题分类：

　　主旨题主要是考察考生对于文章大逻辑把握的能力。细分起来，主旨题分为三种：内容性主旨题、架构性主旨题、其他主旨题。

　　、主旨题常见问法：

　　The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　The author is primarily concerned with

　　Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?

　　Which of the following statements best describes the organization of

　　Which of the following is the most accurate description of the organization of?

　　Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage?

　　The passage would be most likely to appear as a part of

　　、解题思路：

　　解决主旨题有两大思路：从文章入手和从题目选项入手。

　　a)从文章入手指的是着重分析文章段落的首句，因为往往正确选项都是TS的改写。分析的时候有一点要注意的是GRE文章多数TS并不是每段的最后一句话，而是文章的第一句。这个跟西方人写文章要求的PIE 结构有关系。中文更喜欢压轴，由于受到中文文章写法的影响，考生多数用中文的思维去阅读英文的文章，当然不得要领了。故而笔者在讲授GRE阅读过程中首先是从中西文章写作思路异同的角度改变学生不恰当的阅读方法入手，以先见森林后见树木的方法迅速从战略和战术层面提高考生的能力。

　　我们来看一个内容型主旨题:

　　A mysterious phenomenon is the ability of over-water migrants to travel on course. Birds, bees, and other species can keep track of time without any sensory cues from the outside world, and such biological clocks clearly contribute to their compass sense. For example, they can use the position of the Sun or stars, along with the time of day, to find north. But compass sense alone cannot explain how birds navigate the ocean: after a flock traveling east is blown far south by a storm, it will assume the proper northeasterly course to compensate. Perhaps, some scientists thought, migrants determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would demand of the animals a fantastic map sense. Researchers now know that some species have a magnetic sense, which might allow migrants to determine their geographic location by detecting variations in the strength of the Earths magnetic field.

　　1. The main idea of the passage is that

　　 migration over land requires a simpler explanation than migration over water does

　　 the means by which animals migrate over water are complex and only partly understood

　　 the ability of migrant animals to keep track of time is related to their magnetic sense

　　 knowledge of geographic location is essential to migrants with little or no compass sense

　　 explanations of how animals migrate tend to replace, rather than build on, one another

　　这种题做题步骤:1. 找TS, 2. 简单浏览一下整个文章 3. 找对TS句的同义替换的句子.按照这样的步骤看第一句话A mysterious phenomenon is the ability of over-water migrants to travel on course. 一个神奇的现象时越水迁徙的动物为什么能一直保持在准确的航线上呢? 原因是.. 不难通过排除法很快的选出B 为正确选项。

　　我们再来看一道结构型的主旨题：

　　Because of its accuracy in outlining the Earths subsurface, the seismic-reflection method remains the most important tool in the search for petroleum reserves. In field practice, a subsurface is mapped by arranging a series of wave-train sources, such as small dynamite explosions, in a grid pattern. As each source is activated, it generates a wave train that moves downward at a speed determined uniquely by the rocks elastic characteristics. As rock interfaces are crossed, the elastic characteristics encountered generally change abruptly, which causes part of the energy to be reflected back to the surface, where it is recorded by seismic instruments. The seismic records must be processed to correct for positional differences between the source and the receiver, for unrelated wave trains, and for multiple reflections from the rock interfaces. Then the data acquired at each of the specific source locations are combined to generate a physical profile of the subsurface, which can eventually be used to select targets for drilling.

　　Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

　　A method is criticized, and an alternative is suggested.

　　An illustration is examined, and some errors are exposed.

　　An assertion is made, and a procedure is outlined.

　　A series of examples is presented, and a conclusion is drawn.

　　A hypothesis is advanced, and supporting evidence is supplied.

　　分析：首先看题干知道这是一道架构性主旨题，这类的解题有三步：一、找TS，二、找文章里主要的逻辑指示词。三、排除。作者在文章的第一句话中就提出了自己的观点：Because of its accuracy in outlining the Earths subsurface, the seismic-reflection method remains the most important tool in the search for petroleum reserves.

　　因为某某方法在搜寻石油存储过程中傲人的准确性使得这种方法依然是目前最重要的一种方法。接下来我们看文章是典型的process型的文章，后面的部分描述了这种方法的操作流程。接下来，我们排查五个选项，发现C选项是唯一对TS和文章后续逻辑的同义替换，所以c 是正确选项。

　　b)从题目选项入手指的是重点分析5个待选的选项，对于主旨题来说，正确的选项都是对于文章的概括或者是对于背景的交代，所以我们可以大胆地剔除那些包含具体事物描述或叙述的选项。但是需要强调的是，这思路并不能保证我们做对每一道主旨题，而是能够加快我们解题速度的一种方法。因此就不再举例说明了。

　　关于其他类型的主旨题，由于在新GRE的阅读考试中出现的频率很低，故而不再赘述，如果考生遇到这类题目，解题的方法一样：找TS, 找逻辑词，排除。

　　总的说来，GRE阅读主旨题是GRE阅读各类题目中比较简单的一种题型，只要能够很好地理解段落的Topic Sentence并能准确把握段落逻辑脉络，一般这类题目的分数都能够得到。