精准定位，巧抓细节

精准定位，不必多读

笔者在课堂上反复强调过一个“反常识”的观点：读得越多，错的可能性越大。这句话可以解读为“精准定位，不必多读”，具体意思是说，考生在解题时，回原文精准定位到答案范围之后，只在原文的答案范围内精读即可，不必多读其上下文。这样做的原因是考生阅读的信息越多，接受的干扰信息就越多。下面列举两道真题实例，供考生体会。

例1 Come on—Everybodys doing it. That whispered message， half invitation and half forcing， is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good—drinking， drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club， Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure， in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the world. （选自2012年考研英语阅读真题Text 1）

21. According to the first paragraph， peer pressure often emerges as _____.

A. a supplement to the social cure

B. a stimulus to group dynamics

C. an obstacle to school progress

D. a cause of undesirable behaviors

解析：这道题有很清晰的定位点（first paragraph），考查的是考生在原文中找寻信息的速度和精确性。考生只需要两个步骤就可以完成题目。第一步，寻找包含答案信息的原文句子。题干中的peer pressure和often是考生回原文寻找答案信息的线索，考生需要找到两者都出现的句子。考生很快可以发现，例题所给原文中的划线句子即为包含答案信息的原文句子。第二步，将题干与划线句子对比，进行同义替换：划线句子中的it对应的是题干中的peer pressure，划线句子中的usually对应的是题干中的often，划线句子中的“leads to no good—drinking， drugs and casual sex”对应的则是选项中的a cause of undesirable behaviors，其中leads to与a cause of相对应，no good与undesirable相对应，“drinking， drugs and casual sex”与behaviors相对应。由此考生可以推断出选项D为正确答案。

需要特别强调的是，这道题切不可误认为是 “but之后为答案”类型的题目，如今就转折词之后的内容出题的现象已经变少了。

例2 We are even farther removed from the unfocused newspaper reviews published in England between the turn of the 20th century and the eve of World War II， at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish arts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which it appeared. In those far-off days， it was taken for granted that the critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered. Theirs was a serious business， and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly， like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman， could be trusted to know what they were about. These men believed in journalism as a calling， and were proud to be published in the daily press. “So few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism，” Newman wrote， “that I am tempted to define ‘journalism as ‘a term of contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are.” （选自2010年考研英语阅读真题Text 1）

22. Newspaper reviews in England before World War II are characterized by _____.

A. free themes B. casual style

C. elaborate layout D. radical viewpoints

解析：这道题是2010年考研英语阅读的难题之一。但事实上它并不难，只是很多考生做题的思路存在偏差导致难度加大。大部分考生都是采用常规的解题思路：根据题干中的newspaper reviews、in England和World War II回原文将答案信息定位至例题所给原文的划线句子。但是上述句子很长，因此解题难度很大。其实，题干中还有第四个信息点很多考生没有注意到，那就是characterize这个单词。Characterize这个单词表明这道题目是让考生查找到newspaper reviews的特点。此时，考生就应该想到寻找newspaper reviews的修饰语，因为修饰语就是用于说明中心词的特点。本题中，newspaper reviews的修饰语只有一个单词unfocused，该词说明了newspaper reviews的特点，能解出这道题的也只有这个单词，由此考生可以找到该词的同义替换词组，即选项A （free themes）。

在这道题的解题过程中，笔者并没有翻译句子，只是根据词组结构精确定位到一个表示特征的单词，将它作为答题依据。考生可以观察历年考研英语阅读题目，一般一篇400余词的文章，涉及答案信息的单词不会超过10%。所以，考研阅读的核心不是通读全文，也不是去翻译，而是寻找信息。

利用并列结构解题

在阅读理解题目中，包含答案信息的原文句子可能是由and连接的并列结构。此时，考生要将and当成切割点使用，把其前面、后面的内容看成是各自独立的部分，分开考虑。在答题时，只要选项与其中的一部分内容是同义替换，那该选项就是正确答案。下面列举两道真题实例。

例1 For the past several years， the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called “Ask Marilyn.” People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant， who at age 10 had tested at a mental level of someone about 23 years old； that gave her an IQ of 228—the highest score ever recorded. IQ tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies， to envision paper after it has been folded and cut， and to deduce numerical sequences， among other similar tasks. So it is a bit confusing when vos Savant fields such queries from the average Joe （whose IQ is 100） as， whats the difference between love and fondness？ Or what is the nature of luck and coincidence？ Its not obvious how the capacity to visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions that have eluded some of the best poets and philosophers. （选自2007年考研英语阅读真题Text 2）

26. Which of the following may be required in an intelligence test？

A. Answering philosophical questions.

B. Folding or cutting paper into different shapes.

C. Telling the differences between certain concepts.

D. Choosing words or graphs similar to the given ones.

解析：考生可以将题干中的intelligence test和require作为定位词回原文查找含有答案信息的句子，由此考生可以定位到例题所给原文的划线句子。这个句子含有and连接的并列结构，有如下三个并列成分：to complete verbal and visual analogies、to envision paper after it has been folded and cut、to deduce numerical sequences。也就是说，智商测试要求被测试者完成三项任务：完成文字和图像上的类比、想象出纸张被折叠和剪切之后的形状以及推断数字的顺序。选项中只需要与其中一项任务是同义替换即可。阅读选项，考生可以发现选项D的内容choosing words or graphs similar to the given ones是对第一个并列成分to complete verbal and visual analogies的同义替换，由此考生得出本题的正确答案为选项D。

例2 But on the general effectiveness of the social cure， Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as its presented here is that it doesnt work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed. （选自2012年考研英语阅读真题Text 1）

23. In the authors view， Rosenbergs book fails to ____.

A.adequately probe social and biological factors

B.effectively evade the flaws of the social cure

C.illustrate the functions of state funding

D.produce a long-lasting social effect

解析：考生首先可根据题干中的authors view、Rosenbergs book和fails to这三个关键词（组）将答案信息定位至例题所给原文的划线部分。考生可以发现，这个划线句子用and连接了两个并列成分：too much irrelevant detail和not enough exploration of the social and biological factors。正确选项只需与其中一个并列成分存在同义替换关系即可。通过比对选项与划线句子，考生可以发现选项A为正确答案。其中，题干中的Rosenbergs book对应的是原文的Join the Club，题干中的fails to对应原文中的not，选项adequately probe social and biological factors对应的则是and之后的并列成分enough exploration of the social and biological factors。

利用“选项与原文并列成分中的一部分内容同义替换即可”这个思路，考生可以减少精读的内容，并能精确定位到答案信息的核心部分。

利用时态解题

从理论上讲，英语中有16种时态，有些题目考生可以根据时态的不同迅速定位到含有答案信息的原文句子。以下面一道题为例。

例 Of all the components of a good nights sleep， dreams seem to be least within our control. In dreams， a window opens into a world where logic is suspended and dead people speak. A century ago， Freud formulated his revolutionary theory that dreams were the disguised shadows of our unconscious desires and fears； by the late 1970s， neurologists had switched to thinking of them as just “mental noise” —the random byproducts of the neural-repair work that goes on during sleep. Now researchers suspect that dreams are part of the minds emotional thermostat， regulating moods while the brain is “off-line.” And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control， to help us sleep and feel better. “Its your dream，” says Rosalind Cartwright， chair of psychology at Chicagos Medical Center. “If you dont like it， change it.” （选自2005年考研英语阅读真题Text 3）

31. Researchers have come to believe that dreams ____.

A. can be modified in their courses

B. are susceptible to emotional changes

C. reflect our innermost desires and fears

D. are a random outcome of neural repairs

解析：这道题根据上述段落出题。这一段讲述了三个不同时代的研究者对梦的解释：一个世纪之前的弗洛伊德、20世纪70年代晚期的神经学家和当下的研究者。考生解答该题时，首先需要通过题干中的时态判断题目具体问的是哪个时代的研究者观点。题干使用了现在完成时have come to believe，暗示了题干的研究者应该是指当代的研究者，由此考生可以将答案范围缩小到本段的后半部分，即now之后的部分。根据划定答案范围中的句子“And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control， to help us sleep and feel better”（其中，一个主要权威人士声称，这些强有力的精神活动不仅可以得到控制，而且可以通过有意识的控制来帮助我们改善睡眠，使我们感觉更舒适），考生可以发现选项A符合这个意思，是正确答案。

综上所述，笔者提醒考生在考研英语阅读理解备考和实战过程中注意以下三点。

第一，在做阅读理解题时，考生并非“读得越多，选得越对”，正确的观念应该是“读得越精，选得越对”。考生应充分利用题干的信息精准定位到含有答案信息的原文句子，然后通过精读这些句子来选择答案。

第二，考生千万别把大量的时间放在翻译原文句子上。笔者在培训的过程中发现，很多考生力求把定位到的原文句子翻译出来，其实这样做对解题意义不大，考生只需要把重要信息提炼出来就能解题了。

第三，考生除了要学会定位，还需要掌握好词汇。定位法可以帮助考生节省做题时间，但是考生如果要透彻理解定位到的句子并准确替换出正确答案，就必须有扎实的词汇基础。所以在备考阶段，考生需要巩固自己的单词量，以求达到技巧和实力并行。

王双林，北京新东方学校国内考试部教师，教授考研阅读等课程。本科毕业于上海外国语大学，硕士与博士研究生阶段就读于中国人民大学。