任何一篇文章都是围绕某一个中心思想逐步展开的，也就是说，每篇文章都有主旨要义。英语文章大多有主题段和段落主题句。阅读中，抓住了主题句就抓住了文章的灵魂。 高考阅读理解中的主旨大意题(main idea, main theme, mainly about)、给文章选标题(title)、推断作者的写作目的(purpose, intend to)等题型，直接要求我们把握主旨要义。事实上，把握了文章的主旨对解答其他类型的阅读题也非常有帮助。完形填空和语法填空也需要我们把握文章的主旨要义。因此，学会快速把握文章的主旨要义非常重要。 抓主旨要义有两条思路
要快速抓住文章的主旨要义就得采用略读法。略读就是重点看首尾段和每段的首尾句，迅速找出主题句，若有小标题的要特别留意。 主题句在哪里？ 1.文体判断法 (1) 议论文的主题句通常在文首，有的在文尾，也有的首尾呼应。 (2) 资讯报道的主题句就是导语，即文章的首句。 (3) 有关反科学实验或调研结果的报道或科普类说明文，其内容主要包括“科研实验结果+实验研究过程”两大部分，文章主旨就是科研结果，因此主题句通常在文首，且常伴有according to a study,
a study showed/proved, this is suggested by the results of new research on, scientists recently reported, a study claimed等。
(4)纯记叙文通常没有主题句，需要读者自己领悟，从中归纳提炼；但有的在文尾作者会发 表感慨、感悟或就此发表议论，主旨也就在此；还有的先发表某种议论或感慨再讲一个故事或经历，主旨就在文首。
(5)有的议论文或说明文，作者首先是描述一种现象或讲述一个故事，为将要说明的事或表达某人观点打下铺垫或提供背景，然后用this /that is….等承上启下的句子来点明文章要阐述的观点或主题，随后再进一步展开。主题句就出现在文章的中部。
2.词句提醒法 (1)有but，however, in fact等语意转折的地方，其后通常是作者要表达的观点，即主题句。 (2)作者表述观点之后通常会有for example来佐证，也就是说，在举例之前即为作者要表达的观点。 (3)若是以问句开头的文章，其答句很可能就是文章的主题句，要着重理解。 (4)在每个段落中或多个段落中反复出现的词语，很可能就是体现文章主旨的关键词，抓住了这样的关键词也就抓住了文章的主旨。
经典例题
Now，it’s important for the managers in a company to understand what their customers want if they are going to develop effective marketing strategies (策略)．There are various ways of doing this．One way at supermarkets，for example，is to interview customers while they’re doing their shopping．They can be asked what they prefer to buy and then the results of the research can be studied．This provides information on which to base future marketing strategies．
It’s also quite normal for top managers from department stores to spend a day or two each month visiting stores and mixing freely with the public，as if they were ordinary customers，to get an idea of how customers act．
Another way to get information from customers is to give them something…it also allows the managers to get a feel for where to attract customers and which age-groups to attract．
Another strategy used at some well-known parks such as Disneyland is for top managers to spend at least one day in their work… ◇ The main idea of the text is _____．
A．how to do market research B．how to develop marketing strategies C．how to find out customers’ social needs D．how to encourage customers to spend more money A 解析：A
主题句是第一段前两句。第 二句“做这件事有各种不同的方法”，“做这件事”是做哪件事?就是第一句的to understand what their customers want (了解顾客需要)，可见本文主要讲如何做市场调查，另外下面的例子interview customers等可进一步证实，答案为A。
1. Paragraph 1 mainly talks about ________.
A. the reasons for success
B. the meaning of success C. the standards of success
D. the importance of success
即学即用 A 解析：A
段意归纳题。文中的“运气”“天赋”“家庭环境”等都是指成功的条件或理由，故选A。本段中并没有讲什么是成功，排除选项B(成功的含义)和C(成功的标准)；也没讲成功对人生有哪些重要性，也容易排除选项D。本段中，I’m not going to say luck, talent, and circumstances don’t come into play because they do意为：“我并不是说运气、天赋、环境不起作用，因为它们是有起作用的。”
2. In Paragraph 2, the underlined word “that” refers to ______. A. being good at something
B. setting a practical goal C. putting in more time
D. succeeding in life 解析：B
代词指代题。代词是意义衔接的手段之一，此处的代词that替代前句中的set a goal and then gradually make it more practical，故选B。
B 3. Successful people suggest doing what one loves because ______.
A. work makes one feel pain
B. one tends to enjoy his work C. one gives up his work easily
D. it takes a lot of time to succeed D 解析：D
细节理解题。题眼出现在第三段第一句This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love.但其中的this就是指代上文的内容，即第二段的最后两句话的内容one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practicing. To become great at certain things, it’ll require even more time, time that most people won’t put in，这两句就告诉我们，要成功需要花费大量的时间。
4. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
A. Successful people like to show their great skills. B. People sometimes succeed without luck or talent. C. People need to achieve success at the cost of life. D. It helps to think that luck or talent leads to success.
B 解析：B
推理判断题。由第四段最后一句It’s sometimes easy to think …but… there’s a huge chance that you’re wrong anyway(很有可能你错了)可知，选B。顺便说说，对比选项C与they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost，选项C夸大了事实。
5. What is the main theme of the passage?
A. Having a goal is vital to success. B. Being good is different from being great. C. One cannot succeed without time and practice. D. Luck, talent and family help to achieve success.
C 解析：C 主旨归纳题。本文主题句在最后一段第一句，即Whatever you do, if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out, almost to the point of addiction, and over a long period of time，再结合以However开头的第二段，可知本文的主题思想是不花时间和实践是不可能取得成功的。