高考英语阅读理解主旨题解题策略

黄连英

在全国及各省市高考英语试卷中，阅读理解的分值普遍为40分，是占分比例最大的一道题，因此它的重要性不言而喻。同时，为了增加阅读理解题的区分度，拉开差距，近年高考阅读题中主旨题明显增加。该类试题不仅考查考生略读文章、领会大意的能力，也对考生的归纳、概括能力提出了较高的要求。从高考阅卷结果来看，许多考生在阅读理解题中失分较多，尤其是主旨题。因此，提高考生把握主旨大意的能力显得尤为重要。一般情况下，主旨题包含六种变体。笔者着重探讨这六种变体及解题策略，以期为教师在进行高考阅读复习教学时提供借鉴。

一、中心大意题

文章的中心大意往往是由文章体裁所决定。议论文主要是论述作者的某个观点，往往采用总—分—总的结构：第一段提出论点，然后是论据部分，最后一段得出结论（论点的重申），所以主题句常在第一段或最后一段;说明文则是说明一个事物的用途或制作过程，主题句一般在首段;而新闻报道是报道一个人物事迹或重大事件，文章常采用倒三角形的写法，主题句常出现在首段首句;记叙文一般没有明显的主题句，需要根据文中叙述的内容和线索来概括文章大意，但是如果文章末段出现说理性的句子，则这个句子一般常为主题句。

中心大意题常见的提问方式有下列几种：1. What is the authors main point？   2. Which of the following best expresses the main idea？ 3. The main idea/theme of this passage is ______. 4. Which of the following best states the theme of the passage？

例1：（2014年山东卷C篇） Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1742 to African American parents who were slaves. At the age of six months she was acquired， along with her sister， by John Ashley， a wealthy Massachusetts slaveholder. She became known as “Mumbet” or “Mum Bett.”

For nearly 30 years， Mumbet served the Ashley family. One day， Ashleys wife tried to strike Mumbets sister with a spade. Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Furious， she left the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to make her return， Mumbet consulted a lawyer， Theodore Sedgewick. With his help， Mumbet sued（起诉） for her freedom.

While serving the Ashleys， Mumbet had listened to many discussions of the new Massachusetts constitution. If the constitution said that all people were free and equal， then she thought it should apply to her. Eventually， Mumbet won her freedom—the first slave in Massachusetts to do so under the new constitution.

Strangely enough， after the trial， the Ashleys asked Mumbet to come back and work for them as a paid employee. She declined and instead went to work for Segdewick. Mumbet died in 1829， but her legacy lived on in her many descendants（后裔）. One of her great-grandchildren was W. E. B. Du Bois， one of the founders of the NAACP， and an important writer and spokesperson for African American civil rights.

Mumbets tombstone still stands in the Massachusetts cemetery where she was buried. It reads， in part： “She was born a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years. She could neither read nor write， yet in her own sphere she had no superior or equal.”

55. What is the test mainly about？

A. A story of a famous writer and spokesperson.endprint

B. The friendship between a lawyer and a slave.

C. The life of a brave African American woman.

D. A trial that shocked the whole world.

【解析】答案为C。这是一篇记叙文，文章介绍了一位勇敢的美国黑人妇女奴隶为了维护自己的自由权利而和奴隶主斗争的故事，故选C。

二、写作目的题

写作目的阐述文章为何要表达这个中心思想，即作者为何写这篇文章。不同的文体写作目的也不同。广告的写作目的或是推销某种产品或某种服务;说明文的写作目的是向人们展示某物的用途或制作过程;研究报告的写作目的是向人们展示某种研究过程和结果;议论文的写作目的是论述一个道理或表述一个观点;记叙文的写作目的是为了向人们分享经历、叙述一件事情或表达感情等。写作目的题常用的提问形式有：What is the purpose of this text？ Whats the authors purpose in writing the passage？

例2：（2014年重庆卷B篇） There have always been a lot of commonly believed but false ideas about being fat and doing exercise. Some people believe that they cant help putting on weight as they get older， while others hold that if they stop exercising， their muscles will turn into fat. Here are some more myths：

Ill never lose weight—I come from a fat family

Wrong！ While we cant change the body type we are born with， we cant blame our genes for making us fat. Theres plenty of evidence that fatness runs in families， and the main reason is that they share the same habit of eating too much and exercise too little.

I am fat because I burn calories slowly

Wrong！ Fatness is not caused by a slow metabolism（新陈代谢）. In fact， although fat people consume more energy than slim people， they also fail to realize how much they eat！ Keeping a diary can help you work out your daily food intake more accurately.

Exercise is boring

Wrong！ Anything will become boring if you do it repetitively. The key is to develop a balanced and varied program thats fun as well as progressive. If you enjoy a Sunday walk， take a different route. If you do yoga， try a tai chi class. If you like swimming， set yourself a distance or time challenge.

No pain， no gain

Wrong！ Exercise is not meant to hurt. Indeed， pain is your body telling you somethings wrong， and continuing to exercise could lead to serious injury. You may experience mild discomfort as you begin to exercise regularly， but this is your body adapting to the positive changes in your lifestyle and the aches should disappear relatively quickly. If they dont， rest and seek medical advice.

43. What is the purpose of the passage？

A. To declare the importance of keeping fit.

B. To clarify some misconceptions about fatness and exercise.

C. To confirm what has long been believed about keeping fit.

D. To explain some medical facts about being fat and doing exercise.endprint

【解析】答案为B。根据文章第一句话“There have always been a lot of commonly believed but false ideas about being fat and doing exercise”以及该段最后一句“Here are some more myths”可知，作者写这篇文章是为了给读者澄清人们关于运动和肥胖的一些误区，故选B。

三、标题确立题

一般说来，标题具有醒目性、概括性和针对性的特点。醒目性是为了吸引读者的注意力，唤起读者对文章阅读的兴趣;概括性，就是指标题要覆盖文章的主要内容，体现文章的主题;针对性是指标题要直接指向文章的主要特点。标题确立题与中心大意题具有共同之处，当文章主旨是一个短语或一句简洁的话时，我们可把它看作标题。但是文章主旨往往是对作者写作目的或写作内容的归纳，一般不作为文章标题。此外，标题必须反映文章的中心大意，概括性强，表达精确，这就要求选项的归纳要恰如其分，范围合理。标题确立题常用的提问方式有：What would be the best title for the text？ Which is the best title for the passage？

例3：（2014年新课标II A篇） Arriving in Sydney on his own from India， my husband， Rashid， stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.

During the first week of his stay， he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers， including his passport.

He reported the case to the police and then sat there， lost and lonely in a strange city， thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.

Late in the evening， the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husbands name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶） that had been left out on the footpath.

My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out， although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.

That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.

24. Which of the following can be the best title for the text？

A. From India to Australia.

B. Living in a New Country.

C. Turning Trash to Treasure.

D. In Search of New Friends.

【解析】答案为C。本文主要讲述的是作者的丈夫Rashid手提箱中的文件丢失后，被人在垃圾箱中发现并归还给他，找回这些资料对Rashid来说简直如获至宝。因此，C项能很好体现作者要表达的主题。

四、概括段落大意题

要准确概括某段话的大意，务必要知道该段话的逻辑结构。段落如是按总—分顺序组织，首句做总的说明，其他句子对其进行具体论述，这种结构的主题句就在段首;如是按分—总顺序组织，主题句就在段尾;如是按分—总—分的顺序组织，则主题句就在这段话的中间。如是对比各事物，那么它们的共同点或不同点就是该段大意。概括段落大意题常有下列提问方式：What does the author tell us in Para ... ？ The main idea of the ... paragraph probably is ______. Which of the following can best summarize Para ... ？endprint

例4：（2014年四川卷C篇） [Para 8]Truck driver Colm， 35， suffered a mystery allergic reaction on Saturday and was taken to hospital， but was sent home only for it to happen again the next day. The second attack was so serious that his airway swelled， preventing him from breathing， his blood pressure dropped suddenly， and his heart stopped for a moment.

41. What does Paragraph 8 mainly talk about？

A. What Colm suffered.

B. Colms present condition.

C. What caused Colms allergy.

D. Symptoms of Colms allergic reaction.

【解析】答案为A。这一段讲了Clom的两次过敏反应，尤其讲了第二次过敏反应的症状。D有很大迷惑性，但它只提了过敏反应的症状，概括不够，而A（他所遭受的事情）概括较全面，因此选A。

五、文脉结构题

这类题要求考生搞清作者是按什么思路组织文章的。一般来说，议论文是按总—分—总的顺序排列，首段提出论点，然后利用论据进行论证，最后总结全文。说明文和记叙文则可能多是按分—总的顺序排列。新闻报道和研究报告多数也是按总—分—总的结构组织。文脉结构题常用的设问形式有：Which of the following shows the organization/structure of the passage？

例5：（2013年陕西卷C篇） According to sociologists（社会学家）， every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification（阶层）. Class， power and status are important in deciding peoples rank in society.

Class means a persons economic position in society. A commonly used classification is lower class， middle class and upper class. While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined， they do describe societies like the United States quite well. One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class， 46% the middle class， and 1% the upper class. Interestingly， a surgeon earning $500，000 a year and a bus driver earning $50，000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class！

Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people. Obviously， people in positions of great power （such as governors） exercise（行使） big power， but people who take orders from others have less power. Power and class do not always go hand in hand， however. For example， the governor of a state has great power， but he or she may not belong to a corresponding（相应的） economic class. Generally， however， there is a relationship between power and class.  To our knowledge， there arent too many people who arent millionaires in the US Senate！

Status is the honor or respect attached to a persons position in society. It can also be affected by power and class， but not necessarily so. For example， a university professor may have a high status but not belong to a high social class or have a lot of power over others.

56. Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text？endprint