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抓住“体、线、词” 突破主旨大意题

2019-01-10辽宁

教学考试(高考英语) 2019年4期

辽宁

主旨大意题是历年高考英语阅读理解中的难题,学生应试时失分率较高。《高考文科试题分析(2019年版)》提到:“阅读理解部分考查考生的阅读理解能力,即对文章的整体和局部信息的理解和把握的能力。整体指的是文章的主旨要义、作者的观点态度或意图、上下文的逻辑关系等。”《考试说明》提到:“每篇文章都会有一个主旨要义。有时从文章的第一个段落,甚至第一个句子即可得出文章的主旨要义,从这一段或这个句子读者会知道文章描述的是谁或什么(即文章的主题),亦会了解作者希望读者了解主题方面的哪些内容。有时,作者没有明示文章的主旨要义,需要读者从文章的字里行间进行归纳和概括。”

因此,根据对《高考文科试题分析(2019年版)》和《考试说明》的理解,我们会发现,主旨大意题是对学生整体理解和归纳总结能力的考查。主旨大意题具体可以分为文章大意、段落大意和标题归纳三类题型。2018年的三套英语全国卷共考查了6道主旨大意题,包括2道文章主旨大意题、1道段落主旨大意题和3道标题归纳题。下面笔者结合部分真题范例来具体阐述如何通过抓住“体、线、词”来突破主旨大意题,从而实现阅读满分的目标。

策略一:辨体裁、析结构,确定主旨句

众所周知,突破阅读主旨大意题的关键是找出文章的主旨句,而主旨句在文章中的位置是由文章的体裁决定的。在记叙文中,主旨句通常在首段,开门见山;也可在尾段,升华主题。在说明文和议论文中,主旨句通常位于首段。据有关统计数据表明,60% ~90%的英语议论文和说明文的主旨句都位于首段。这样的写作手法也称作演绎型写法,即先提出观点,再通过列举事实、讲道理来阐述自己的观点。主旨句也可位于末段,即先分析,后做结论的手法,这样的写作手法称作归纳型写法。个别文章主旨句位于中间段落,通常在第二段或第三段。这样的文章,通常在第一段提出问题或现象,讲故事、举例子,通过细节来引出主旨,因此主旨句多在下一段。这样的写作手法属于次要—主要—次要的写作类型。因此,要想准确地把握文章的主旨大意,首先要明确文章的体裁、结构和写作手法,从而快速地定位主旨句。

1.开门见山。主旨句位于首段。文章多为总—分或总—分—总结构。这样的文章体裁多为说明文或议论文,先开门见山地提出作者的观点,中间有几个分论点,结尾总结论点或无总结段。如:

题例1(2018年全国卷Ⅲ,第35题):

Adults understand what it feels like to be flooded with objects.Why do we often assume that more is more when it comes to kids and their belongings? The good news is that I can help my own kids learn earlier than I did how to live more with less.

35.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Take It or Leave It

B.A Lesson from Kids

C.Live More with Less

D.The Pleasure of Giving

这篇文章体裁为议论文,属于总—分—总结构。第一段提出论点:“...how to live more with less.”;第二、三段阐述了两个方法;第四段得出结论:“...find joy in a single object...”。因此,可以判断出主旨句位于首段,即第一段的最后一句。从而得出标题取自主题句的关键词:“live more with less”,所以答案为C。

2.首尾呼应。主旨句在首段或尾段。文章结构属于总—分—总,即首段提出观点,尾段重申观点。如:

题例2(2018年全国卷Ⅰ,第31题):

Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going....

Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number.In recent centuries, ...in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear,...

At present, the world has about 6 800 languages....

Already well over 400 of the total of 6 800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left....

31.What is the main idea of the text?

A.New languages will be created.

B.People's lifestyles are re flected in languages.

C.Human development results in fewer languages.

D.Geography determines language evolution.

这篇文章体裁为说明文,介绍了全球语言的发展,是典型的以时间顺序展开的文章。第一段介绍了数千年前的语言种类,第二段分析了之后语言消失的原因,第三、四段介绍了如今语言的状况。通过分析结构,我们发现主旨句是首段和尾段的第一句话,即人类的发展是语言种类日渐减少的原因,所以答案为C。

3.层次分明。当我们找到主旨句所在段落后,还需要明确主旨句在段落中的位置,这时候分析段落中句子间的层次就尤为重要。如:

题例3(2018年全国卷Ⅲ,第27题):

Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river.People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade.New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River.Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million.But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time.Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight.In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness (荒野).But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later,it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of 30 000.

27.What is the text mainly about?

A.The rise and fall of a city.

B.The gold rush in Canada.

C.Journeys into the wilderness.

D.Tourism in Dawson.

这篇文章体裁为说明文,文章的结构为总—分结构,因此我们可以初步判断主旨句位于首段。接下来,我们要分析首段的结构和层次。首段共有8句话,第一句话介绍了城市选择地理位置是有原因的;第二句话介绍了人们定居一个城市的原因;第三、四句话以纽约为例讲述了城市发展和地理位置之间的联系;第五、六句话介绍了不同的城市发展速度不同,有的很快;第七、八句话又以加拿大的道森市为例进行了阐述。我们可以发现,这个段落是按照总—分的写作手法来展开的,先说明城市发展和地理位置有关的事实,并通过两个例子来具体阐述地理位置对城市发展的影响。因此,我们可以断定,第一句是这个段落的主旨句。又因为文章是总—分结构,因此首段的第一句是全文的主旨句,所以答案为A。

策略二:抓主线、理层次,定标题

说明文、议论文和记叙文都会考查标题归纳题。《考试说明》提到:“有时,作者没有明示文章的主旨要义,需要读者从文章的字里行间进行归纳和概括。”因此,高考阅读理解多会设置1道标题归纳题来考查学生的归纳概括能力。如何选出最佳的标题呢?我们可以通过抓住文章的主线、分析段落之间的层次,确定文章的标题。有四种常见的技巧:(1)关键词复现;(2)主题句定位;(3)细节串主线;(4)题干反推法。 如:

题例4(2018年全国卷Ⅰ,第27题):

Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid is used to grilling guests on the sofa every morning, but she is cooking up a storm in her latest role — showing families how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals on a tight budget.

In Save Money: Good Food, she visits a different home each week and with the help of chef Matt Tebbutt offers top tips on how to reduce food waste, while preparing recipes for under £ 5 per family a day....

“...Everybody can buy takeaway food, but sometimes we're not aware how cheaply we can make this food ourselves.”

...

...In tonight's Easter special they come to the aid of a family in need of some delicious inspiration on a budget.The team transforms the family's long weekend of celebration with less expensive but still tasty recipes.

27.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Keeping Fit by Eating Smart

B.Balancing Our Daily Diet

C.Making Yourself a Perfect Chef

D.Cooking Well for Less

这篇文章体裁为记叙文,画线部分为贯穿主线的细节和关键词。通过抓住饮食与预算这条主线,并根据例子层层深入分析,可以得出全篇主旨为如何花较少的钱做出美味的食物,所以答案为D。

策略三:析选项、明标志词,找出同义项

在做阅读试题的过程中,很多学生会出现这样的问题,即虽然能够找出主旨句,可是题却做错了。那么,问题出现在哪里呢?根据笔者多年的教学经验,多是因为学生没有正确地分析选项。那么,如何有效地分析选项从而得出正确答案呢?如:

题例5(2018年全国卷Ⅱ,第32题):

We've all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

32.What phenomenon is described in thefirst paragraph?

A.Addiction to smartphones.

B.Inappropriate behaviours in public places.

C.Absence of communication between strangers.

D.Impatience with slow service.

首先,画出主旨句和每个选项的中心词。上文画线部分是四个选项的中心词。通过对选项的分析找出中心词(多为名词或名词短语),然后将其与主旨句进行比较,找出同义项。本段的主旨句中核心词汇为 “we, people,smartphones, uncomfortable silence”。A选项只提到部分原因,不完整;B选项“不恰当的公众行为”,与文章阐明的玩手机或沉默不符;D选项中的服务慢,文章没有提到;C选项中的缺乏交流等同于沉默和玩手机,所以答案为C。

其次,标志词多为表示转折或总结的连词、副词或短语,如but, however, yet, instead, in fact, while, although等。段落的展开方式通常是前半部分阐述一种观点,这些标志词的后面才是作者的观点。因此,抓住标志词,才能抓住文章的主旨句或明确作者的观点。如:

题例6(2018年北京卷,阅读理解D):

The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist's dream, years away from materializing in the real world....But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities,for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.

本段一共8句话,介绍了无人驾驶机器人汽车将成为现实。第八句话即最后一句中有标志词But,因此确定此句为本段的主旨句。该句表明了作者的观点:无人驾驶对我们将来的交通系统及城市的改变,取决于政策制定者如何规划和管理这项科技。

总之,只有抓住“体—体裁、线—主线、词—关键词”,并分析文章或段落的结构及选项的关键词,才能准确地把握主旨大意和段落大意,从而准确归纳概括文章的主旨。