判断代词指代内容题解读

廖仕欢

代词指代题要求考生根据语境判断代词（如it，they，them，this，that等）究竟指代什么，题干中经常有refer to。

从指代内容的位置上看，通常都在前一句中或同一句的前部分，但也有的在它前面几个句子中，很少出现在后面的句子中。

找的方法是由代词的单复数确定指代的名词的单复数，另外还要考虑指人还是指物等。找到指代的内容后把它放在这个代词的位置上，看看这句话是否合理通顺，与前后的内容是否一致，然后再判定它是否为正确答案。

1. 指代内容在同一句中

[例1]（2013辽宁卷D篇·72） Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO，Carl Pearson，decided to build up its market share. He did a survey，which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain，while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.

△What does the underlined word“them”in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A. Customers of Sparrow restaurants

B. Sparrow restaurants

C. Customers of other fast-food chains

D. other fast-food chains

解析：因Sparrow restaurants的消费者对其连锁店持积极的态度，而其他快餐连锁的顾客却不会轻易舍弃他们原来的选择，所以Sparrow才要开发一种新的促销运动。故选D。

2. 指代内容在前一句

[例2]（2013江苏卷D篇·69）Twains racial tone was not perfect. One is left uneasy，for example，by the lengthy passage in his autobiography（自传）about how much he loved what were called“nigger shows”in his youth—mostly with white men performing in black-face—and his delight in getting his mother to laugh at them. Yet there is no reason to think Twain saw the shows as representing reality. His frequent attacks on slavery and prejudice suggest his keen awareness that they did not.

△What does the under lined word“they”in Paragraph 7 refer to？

A. The attacks. B. Slavery and prejudice.

C. White men. D. The shows.

解析：根据前一句的Twain saw the shows as representing reality，和本句中...that they did not，可知they指代the shows。故选D。

3. 指代内容在前两句

[例3]（2013四川卷B篇·36）Two 12-year-old boys，Christian and Jack，rowed out a boat to search for a football. Once theyd rowed beyond the calm waters，a beach umbrella tied to the boat caught the wind and pulled the boat into open water. The pair panicked and tried to row back to shore. But they were no match for it and the boat was out of control.

△What does“it”in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A. The beach. B. The water. C. The boat. D. The wind.

解析：风力把小船吹向开阔的水域，所以两个男孩试图把船划回岸边，但是根本不是风力的对手。故选D。

从指代的内容上看，有的指代一个名词，有的指代一个短语，也有的指代一个句子等。

1. 指代一个名词

[例4]（2015年湖南卷A篇·59）Other road users，including horse riders，manage to obey the rules so why not cyclists？ Its about time they had to be registered and insured，so when they do hit a pedestrian or a vehicle，or cause an accident，at least they can be treated and there might be an opportunity to claim.

△The underlined word“they”in the third letter refers to ___________.

A. accidents B. vehicles C. pedestrian D. cyclists

解析：因they所在句的三个they都是指前句Other road users，including horse riders，manage to obey the rules so why not cyclists？ （连骑马的人都要遵守规矩，为何骑行者不遵守呢？）中的cyclists，故选D。

2. 指代一个短语

[例5]（2015重庆卷D篇·48）Several safari camps operate as the base for this adventure，providing unique rides twice a day to explore deep into the delta. The camps have excellent horses，professional guides and lots of support workers. They have a reputation for providing a great riding experience.

△ What does the underlined word“They”refer to？

A. Flooded waters B. Wildlife journey

C. Safari camps D. Unique rides

解析：前两句列举了safari camps的种种好处，从而说明它们拥有很好的名声，所以They指代的是safari camps，故选C。

3. 指代两个短语

[例6]（2013广东卷B篇·32） However， to succeed in life，one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical. And，in addition to that，in order to get really good at something，one needs to spend at least 10，000 hours studying and practicing. To become great at certain things，itll require even more time，time that most people wont put in.

△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：根据前面句，可知此处it指代的是set a goal and then gradually make it more practical。故选B。

4. 指代一个句子

[例7]（2014湖北卷E篇·67）For most city people，the elevator is an unremarkable machine that inspires none of the enthusiasm or interest that Americans afford trains，jets，and even bicycles. Dr. Christopher Wilk is a member of a small group of elevator experts who consider this a misunderstanding. Without the elevator，they point out，there could be no downtown skyscrapers or tall buildings，and city life as we know it would be impossible.

△What does the underlined word“this”in Paragraph 1 refer to？

A. The general view of elevators.

B. The particular interests of experts.

C. The desire for a remarkable machine.

D. The enthusiasm for transport vehicles.

解析：文章第一句就说了城市里的人对电梯的看法，觉得它不像火车、飞机一样带来的热忱和兴趣，而一个小电梯公司的成员Dr. Christopher Wilk认为这个看法是一个误解，故选A。

5. 指两三个句子

[例8]（2014年辽宁卷C篇·31）Simard talks about “mother trees”，usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend. She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation，transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down “mother trees”with no awareness of these highly complex“tree societies”or the networks on which they feed，we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest.“We didnt take any notice of it”Simard says sadly.“Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying，but we never give them chance.”If we could put across the message to the forestry industry，we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.

△The underlined word“it”in the last paragraph refers to

.

A. how“tree societies”work

B. how trees grow old

C. how forestry industry develops

D. how young trees survive

解析：前一段讲述了森林社会里的一种运作方式，即母亲树在死去时会把营养和矿物质等传递给年轻的树木，以帮助他们继续生长，故此it指代的是前面几句话的内容，选A。

即时练习

请根据下列选段给每小题选出最佳选项。

1.（2015浙江卷C篇51）Instead，we are diurnal creatures，with eyes adapted to living in the suns light. This is a basic evolutionary fact，even though most of us dont think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet its the only way to explain what weve done to the night： Weve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.

△What does“it”（Paragraph 1）most probably refer to？

A. The night B. The moon C. The sky D. The planet

2.（2015福建卷B篇·61）Thus，Papa insisted that we learn at least one new thing each day. Though，as children，we thought this was crazy，it would never have occurred to us to deny Papa a request. And dinner time seemed perfect for sharing what we had learned. We would talk about the news of the day；no matter how insignificant，it was never taken lightly. Papa would listen carefully and was ready with some comment，always to the point.

△ The underlined word“it”in the second paragraph refers to“__________”.

A. one new thing B. a request

C. the news D. some comment

3.（2015四川卷E篇·48）“Why dont they just try rolling the things？ A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides”，he realized. That，he notes，should make a block of stone“a lot easier to roll than a square”. So he tried it.

△What does the underlined word“it”in Paragraph 7 refer to？

A. Rolling the blocks with poles attached.

B. Rolling the blocks on wooden wheels.

C. Rolling poles to move the blocks.

D. Rolling the blocks with fat.

4.（2014大纲卷B篇·60）Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However， he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters， such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables（寓言） into cartoon movies.

△What dose the underlined word“They”in the first paragraph refer to？

A. Such wonderful things.

B. Other well-loved characters.

C. Old fables.

D. Cartoon movies.

5.（2014年安徽卷E篇·73）When Masqsood and Iftekhar began to study the problem of all the uncollected rubbish that lay in Dhakas streets， attracting rats and diseases. They discovered that 80% of it was natural waste. So they educated the poor people in the city to compost（把……制成堆粪）this waste. They knew that they would have a market for the end product because local farmers were struggling with chemical fertilisers（化肥） which were expensive and had reduced the natural minerals in the soil over the years. At first， they were refused， but once they were able to persuade them that there was money to be made， the project took off. In 2009 sales were $14，000.

△The underlined word“them”in Paragraph 3 probably refers to“ ”

A. the local farmers B. Masqsood and Iftekhar

C. Drayton and his team D. the poor people in Dhaka

6.（2014湖南卷C篇·67）The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency（效率），which instead focus on architectural and technological developments.

△The underlined word“which”in Paragraph 2 refers to”________.”

A. the ways B. their homes

C.developments D. existing efforts

7.（2014年山东B卷· 47）In those days， you could buy one ticket and sit through two movies. Then， the theater would show the same two movies again. If you wanted to， you could sit through them twice. Most people did not do that， but the manager at our theater. Mr. Bellow did not mind if you did.

That particular day，my brother and I sat through both movies twice， trying to escape the heat. We bought three bags of popcorn and three sodas each. Then，we sat and watched The Music Man followed by The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Wed already seen the second movie once before. It had been at the theater since January，because Mr. Bellow loved anything with John Wayne in it.

△What does the underlined word“it”in Paragraph 3 refer to？

A. The heat B. The theater.

C. The Music Man D. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

答案与解析

1. A 从最后一句Yet its the only way to explain what weve done to the night： Weve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light，我们知道大意如下：那是解释我们对夜晚所做过的事情的唯一的方法：即我们通过往“它”里面增加灯光来改造它从而让它接纳我们，可以知道“它”指代的是“夜晚”。故选A。

2. C 这里的it代指前句We would talk about the news of the day中的the news。句意：我们会谈论一天的新闻，不论重要与否，都不是可以等闲视之的。故选C。

3. A 根据文A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides可知，让石块（blocks）滚动起来更容易的方法是给它装上木棒（wooden poles）来当轮子（wheel）。故选A。

4. B 本句They指代前句的Cinderella and Snow White，而它们是前面other well-loved characters的例子。故选B。

5. D 根据前面的persuade，可以推断them指代的是人。又根据前句的Masqsood and Iftekhar试图说服local farmers来帮助他们发展市场时被拒绝，而只有说服了local farmers之后，他们的项目才得以启动，所以them 指代poor local farmers， 故选D。

6. D 根据定语从句的引导词和先行词的原则，可以确定which指代的是existing efforts。故选C。本题容易错选A。

7. D 根据the second movie可以推断it指代The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance，故选D。

责任编辑 蒋小青