由写作方法谈主旨大意题的解法

程小明

迅速解答阅读理解中的主旨大意题,需要快速了解作者的写作方法,理清文章结构,根据不同情况找到主题句或归纳主旨,从而选出正确答案。作者表现主旨的方式主要有以下五种:

一、正三解形写作法

即中心主题句出现在文章开头第一、二句。开门见山,提出主题,随之用细节来解释、支撑或发展主题句所表达的主题思想,即先概述,随后辅以细说、分析。这是英语中最常见的演绎法式写作方式,即由一般到特殊,先提出观点,后举例论证,主题句则出现在段首的写作方法。

新闻报道通常就采用这种写法。新闻报道的首句通常称为“新闻导语”,“导语”实际上就是主题句,是对全文内容的高度概括。大意题、标题一般可在第一句话找到答题依据。例:

[2009年山东卷D篇]An increase in students applying to study economics at university is being attributed to (归因于)the global economic crisis awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financial system works.

Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were also up.

Professor John Beath, the president of the society and a leading lecturer at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures,which are open to students from all departments,were drawing crowds of 400, rather than the usual 250.

“There are a large number of students who are not economics majors, who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to relate my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasnt traditionally done.” He said.

University applications rose 7% last year, but there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with peoples renewed interest in careers in the pubic sector(部门), which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.

A recent study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial matters, and almost half said their children had asked them what was going on, although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.

Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: “Its possible that one good thing to arise from the downturn will be a generation thats financially wiser and better equipped to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty.”

75. Whats the main idea of the text?

A. Universities have received more applications.

B. Economics is attracting an increasing numbers students.

C. College students benefit a lot from economic uncertainty.

D. Parents are concerned with childrens subject selection.

本文第一段提到全球性的金融危机使公众想更多地了解有关经济体系方面的一些问题,所以更多的学生申请经济学专业,本文正是对此展开讨论的。故选B。

二、倒三角形写作法

即主题句出现在文尾,即先表述事实细节或交代论据,然后在结尾点出结论,也就是遵循从个别到一般、由特殊到普遍的写作思路。

[2009全国卷一A 篇]I suddenly heard an elephant crying as though frightened. Looking down, I immediately recognized that something was wrong, and ran down to the edge of the near bank. There I saw Ma Shwe with her three-month-old calf struggling in the fast-rising water, and it was a life-and-death struggle. Her calf was floating and screaming with fear. Ma Shwe was as near to the far bank as she could get, holding her whole body against the rushing water, and keeping the calf pressed against her huge body. Every now and then the rushing water would sweep the calf away.

There was a sudden rise in the water and the calf was washed clean over the mothers body and was gone. Ma Shwe turned quickly to reach it and pressed the calf with her head and trunk(象鼻) against the rocky bank. Then with a huge effort, she picked it up in her trunk and tried until she was able to place it on a narrow shelf of rock.

Just at this moment, she fell back into the river. If she were carried down, it would be certain death. I knew, as well as she did, that there was one spot (地点) where she could get up the bank, but it was on the other side from where she had put her calf.

While I was wondering what I could do next,I heard the sound of a mothers love.Ma Shwe had crossed the river and got up the bank and was making her way back as fast as she could,roaring(吼叫)all the time,but to her calf it was music.

59. What can be the best title for the text?

A. A Mothers Love

B. A Brave Act

C. A Deadly River

D. A Matter of Life and Death

全文讲述了一头母象不顾自身的安危营救一头小象的经过,赞美了母爱的力量。最后一段中的 “I heard the sound of a mothers love”一句揭示了主题,因此A作为标题非常贴切。

三、圆形写作法

即首尾呼应的写作方法。为突出主题,作者先提出主题,结尾时再次点出主题,这种首尾呼应的写作方式也较为多见。通常,前后表述主题的句子不是简单的重复,后面的往往有进一步的引申或发展的意味。

[2009年北京卷 D篇]When students and parents are asked to rate subjects according to their importance, the arts are unavoidably at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is viewed as mere entertainment, but certainly not an education priority(优先). This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is beneficial and important for all students.

Music tells us who we are. Because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it reflects their thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as does a Schubert song. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity as a society.

Music provides a kind of perception(感知)that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts explore the emotive(情感的)meaning of the same phenomenon. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason: No one way can get it all.

The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings “talk” to each other. They are the language of civilization through which we express our fears, our curiosities, our hungers, our discoveries, our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children access to an important way of expressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses.

Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human. The arts do. Music is an important way we express human suffering, celebration, the meaning and value of peace and love.

So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize.

71. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Music education deserves more attention.

B. Music should be of top education priority.

C. Music is an effective communication tool.

D. Music education makes students more imaginative.

文章开门见山地指出音乐的教育功能和益处被低估,最后一段又重申了音乐教育的重要性,所以本文旨在呼吁人们更多地关注音乐。故选A。

四、菱形写作法

即主题句出现在语篇中间的短文,一般包括三个层次,即引题——点出主题——解释说明。

[2009年陕西卷D篇]Brian arrived at the San Francisco airport two hours before the flight to Paris. He was wearing three shirts, a jacket, two pairs of socks, a pair of shorts, and two pairs of jeans. He was carrying one small backpack, which was very full, but he didnt have any other luggage. Brian needed to meet a man named Tony before he checked in for his flight. He found Tony near the Air France counter. Tony gave him a round-trip ticket and a small package.

“Give this package to Jean-Paul at the airport in Paris. He will have a sign with your name on it. I think you can find him easily ,” Tony said, ”You dont have any luggage, right?”

“Only this backpack,” Brian answered. ”You said I could bring one carry-on bag.”

“Thats right. One carry-on bag is fine. Have a good trip.”

“Thanks.”

Is Brian a criminal(罪犯)? Not at all. He is an air-courier. And he paid only $110 for the round-trip ticket to Paris. Air couriers get cheap airline tickets because they take important packages and papers to foreign countries. Businesses sometimes need to get packages and papers to people in foreign countries by the next day. Often, the only way they can do this is to use an air-courier company. It is not cheap for a business to send a package with an air courier, but it is quick.

Every year about 80,000 people worldwide travel as air couriers. The number of tickets for courier travel is growing by about 10 percent a year. However, air-courier travel isnt for everyone. But if you have very little money, can be flexible(灵活的) about your travel plans, and dont mind wearing the same clothes for a week, it can be a great way to take a vacation!

56. The author of the text mainly______.

A. describes the activities of a law-breaker

B. suggests an ideal way to travel

C. argues against the air-courier travel

D. tells us about a developing business

本文先描述Brian作为投送员的一个小片段引出话题,然后点出主题:是罪犯还是航空投送员?最后解释说明投送员的工作性质、职责和待遇。故选D。

五、正方形写作法

由于文章的体裁不同,或者由于材料是节选的段落,文章的中心主题隐含在全文之中,没有明显的主题句。阅读这样的文章,就要求考生从归纳每段的要点开始,将各要点集中概括,归纳出隐含的主题思想。分析的方法是,先弄清该段落主要讲了哪几个方面的内容,这些内容在逻辑上有什么联系,然后加以归纳形成主题。这就需要考生具有很强的逻辑概括能力。切记要把握好推理范围,防止主观臆断。

[2009 浙江卷D篇]In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh(法老)treated the poor message runner like a prince when he arrived at the palace, if he brought good news. However, if the exhausted runner had the misfortune to bring the pharaoh unhappy news, his head was cut off.

Shades of that spirit spread over todays conversations. Once a friend and I packed up some peanut butter and sandwiches for an outing. As we walked light-heartedly out the door, picnic basket in hand, a smiling neighbor looked up at the sky and said, “Oh boy, bad day for a picnic. The weatherman says its going to rain.”I wanted to strike him on the face with the peanut butter and sandwiches. Not for his stupid weather report, for his smile

Several months ago I was racing to catch a bus. As I breathlessly put my handful of cash across the Greyhound counter, the sales agent said with a broad smile ,“Oh that bus left five minutes ago.”Dreams of head-cutting!

Its not the news that makes someone angry. Its the unsympathetic attitude with which its delivered. Everyone must give bad news from time to time, and winning professionals do it with the proper attitude. A doctor advising a patient that she needs an operation does it in a caring way. A boss informing an employee he didnt get the job takes on a sympathetic tone. Big winners know, when delivering any bad news, they should share the feeling of the receiver.

Unfortunately, many people are not aware of this. When youre tired from a long flight, has a hotel clerk cheerfully said that your room isnt ready yet? When you had your heart set on the toast beef, has your waiter mainly told you that he just served the last piece? It makes you as traveler or diner want to land your fist right on their unsympathetic faces.

Had my neighbor told me of the upcoming rainstorm with sympathy, I would have appreciated his warming .Had the Greyhound salesclerk sympathetically informed me that my bus had already left, I probably would have said, ” Oh, thats all right.Ill catch the next one.” Big winners, when they bear bad news ,deliver bombs with the emotion the bombarded(被轰炸的)person is sure to have.

56. What is the main idea of the text?

A. Delivering bad news properly is important in communication.

B. Helping others sincerely is the key to business success.

C. Receiving bad news requires great courage.

D. Learning ancient traditions can be useful.

本文作者通过故事和自己的亲身经历告诉我们在日常交流中,当向别人传达坏消息时应该委婉地表达出来,以照顾到对方的感受,这在人际交往中非常重要。故选A。

责任编校蒋小青