GRE阅读理解的三种题型透彻分析

　　新GRE考试阅读理解部分有三种题型：

　　Multiple-choice Questions Select One Answer Choice:These are the traditional multiple-choice questions with five answer choices of which the examinee must select one.

　　第一种：多项选择题I

　　Multiple-choice Questions Select One or More Answer Choices:These provide three answer choices and ask the examinee to select all that are correct; one， two or all three of the answer choices may be correct. To gain credit for these questions， the examinee must select all the correct answers， and only those; there is no credit for partially correct answers.

　　第二种：多项选择题II

　　Select-in-Passage:The question asks the examinee to click on the sentence in the passage that meets a certain description. To answer the question， the examinee chooses one of the sentences and clicks on it; clicking anywhere on a sentence will highlight it.

　　第三种：段中点选题

　　下面，我们以ETS官方样题来做以分析。

　　Sample questions 1 to 3 below are based on this passage：

　　Policymakers must confront the dilemma that fossil fuels continue to be an indispensable source of energy even though burning them produces atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide that increase the likelihood of potentially disastrous global climate change. Currently， technology that would capture carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and sequester it harmlessly underground or undersea instead of releasing it into the atmosphere might double the cost of generating electricity. But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution， delivered prices will rise less， by no more than 50 percent. Research into better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide will undoubtedly lead to lowered costs.

　　第一种题型：多项选择题I

　　Sample Multiple-choice Questions Select One Answer Choice

　　1. The passage implies which of the following about the current cost of generating electricity?

　　A. It is higher than it would be if better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide were available.

　　B. It is somewhat less than the cost of electricity transmission and distribution.

　　C. It constitutes at most half of the delivered price of electricity.

　　D. It is dwelt on by policymakers to the exclusion of other costs associated with electricity delivery.

　　E. It is not fully recovered by the prices charged directly to electricity consumers.

　　Answer： C

　　解析：首先，我们需要找到题干文句中的定位关键词 the current cost of generating electricity。之后，将这个关键词定位到文章中去，发现这组定位词出现在文章当中的第二句话当中：Currently， technology that would capture carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and sequester it harmlessly underground or undersea instead of releasing it into the atmosphere might double the cost of generating electricity.我们发现文章的下一句话当中出现了这样的比例关系。But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution， delivered prices will rise less， by no more than 50 percent.这说明sequestration所导致的发电成本所占的比重不超过包括传输在内的总费用的二分之一。既然只有发电和送电两个过程。那么，发电的花费当然是最多只能占到二分之一了。答案C所说正是：It constitutes at most half of the delivered price of electricity.故选。通过这道题目，我们发现ETS在新GRE考试中沿用了传统GRE考试的解题套路。

　　第二种题型：多项选择题II

　　Sample Multiple-choice Questions Select One or More Answer Choices

　　Consider each of the three choices separately and select all that apply.

　　2. The passage suggests that extensive use of sequestration would， over time， have which of the following consequences?

　　A. The burning of fossil fuels would eventually cease to produce atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide.

　　B. The proportion of the delivered price of electricity due to generation would rise and then decline.

　　C. Power plants would consume progressively lower quantities of fossil fuels.

　　Answer： B

　　解析：首先，从文章中可以看出，没有什么方法可以停止大气中二氧化碳的累积，所以A选项中所提到的The burning of fossil fuels would eventually cease to produce atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide.显然是错误的。另外，整个文章中也并没有提供一种方法可以使得电厂可以 减少化石燃料的使用量，所以C选项显然不符合题意。由于文章中的最后二句话中指出：But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution， delivered prices will rise less， by no more than 50 percent. Research into better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide will undoubtedly lead to lowered costs.所以，随着化石燃料使用量的增加，未来可以预期的发电成本将会先增加后减少。应该选择选项B由此可以看出，尽管新GRE考试中出现了新的多项选择题型，但是并没有在实质上改变原有的命题核心思想。即考察考生的对文章事实的理解和推断进一步信息的能力。所以，原有的解题方法的运用不仅是可能的，也是必要的应对新GRE考试的工具。

　　第三种题型：段中点选题

　　Sample Select-in-Passage Question

　　3. Select the sentence that explains why an outcome of sequestration that might have been expected would not occur.

　　Answer：

　　But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution， delivered prices will rise less， by no more than 50 percent.

　　面对这三种全新的题型，考生该具备哪些能力又该如何准备呢?

　　除却传统GRE复习过程中对于语篇结构和句法的把握之外，段中点选题又为我们提出了新的要求。这种题型要求我们准确把握文章中各个句子之间的逻辑关系。由于传统GRE阅读理解考试当中很少涉及此类信息的考察，句际关系就成了多数考生思维上的盲点。

　　事实上，英文作为一种形合的语言，它的起承转合之间经常依赖逻辑关系词的介入和辅助。以第三题为例，此题表面上是考察考生对句子的理解和信息搜索能力，而实际上则是考察问题中所涉及的结论在原文当中是如何被解释的。如果各位能够注意到题干当中的explains why an outcome of sequestration，那么，就可以迅速而直接地定位到原文的表示原因的句式当中。这种why和because之间的微妙对应关系可以泛化到广阔的同类命题当中去。

　　GRE考试2011年8月进行历史上最大的一次改革。从目前ETS提供的样题来分析，取消类比反义大大减少了背单词的压力，但是填空和阅读都加大了理解的难度。考生对于阅读理解的训练必须有更好的准备，要有意识地提高基于阅读的逻辑推理和归纳演绎的能力。