唐僧说学校是不图赚钱的,白痴是不能当教授的,卖狗肉是不能挂羊头的;专家说标题配对题的难度不是吹的。若要在雅思各题型中按照难度系数进行排名,标题配对题无疑摘得头魁。
实际上,这一在雅思题型难度系数中夺得头魁的题型并没有考生们所想象的那么恐怖,应对这种题型,考生们要做的首先就是“知己知彼,百战不殆”,也就是说考生们首先要了解这种题型的特点。
这种题型的典型特点就是题目通常放在文章前面,而且答案不会重复使用,所以考生们在考试时首先要看题目中是否给出例子,若给出例子,则要把例子中所用过的答案划掉,因为它不会再被用到;而且这一特点决定这种题目总是一错错一双。另外这种题型主要考查考生们根据上下文猜出某些词句大意,弄清句子之间的逻辑关系,正确理解文章,把握段落大意和主旨的能力。
因此考生们要做的就是运用专家所讲过的“无词阅读法”, 在做题时先读懂段落的第一、二句,然后略读其他句子,弄清句子之间的逻辑关系,从而非常轻松地得出段落大意。而句子之间的逻辑关系一共有以下几种:
☆ 其他句子解释说明第一、二句,即段落为总分式结构,如剑1,Test 4,passage 1的C段(这种情况下,段落大意根据第一、二句归纳即可)
But it is not only in technology and commerce that glass has widened its horizons. The use of glass as art, a tradition going back at least to Roman times, is also booming. Nearly everywhere, it seems, men and women are blowing glass and creating works of art. ‘ I didn’t sell a piece of glass until 1975,’ Dale Chihuly said, smiling, for the 18 years since the end of the dry spell, he has become one of the most financially successful artists of the 20th century. He now has a new commission—a glass sculpture for the headquarters building of a pizza company—for which his fee is half a million dollars。
解题:首先读段落的第一、二句话,考生们会发现第一句实际为一个强调句式,强调“not only in technology and commerce”。我么都知道“not only…but also…”的句式重点要讲的是“but also”后面的内容而非“not only”后的内容,因此运用“无词阅读法”,考生就可以不用关注第一句话的大意了,直接进入第二句话,关注“but also”的内容;第二句话中,也运用无词阅读法,只看主句,考生即可以抓出大意为“玻璃作为艺术的应用也在兴盛”;第三句中的blowing glass,可能考生们陌生,但其并列内容“creating works of art”认识即可,第三句话大意为“男性女性都在创造艺术品”;第四句和第五句我们略读一下即可知道,作者在运用艺术家Dale Chihuly的例子解释说明玻璃在艺术方面应用的兴盛。因此最终我们可以断定此段中第三、四、五句内容是解释说明第一、二句内容的。段落大意根据第一、二句归纳,答案为 i Growth in the market for glass crafts。
☆ 出现转折词或相应表达,把思路逆转,如剑6,Test 2,passage 1的E段(这种情况下,段落大意根据转折后面的内容归纳)
It was once assumed that improvements in telecommunications would lead to more dispersal in the population as people were no longer forced into cities. However, the ISTP team’s research demonstrates that the population and job density of cities rose or remained constant in the 1980s after decades of decline. The explanation for this seems to be that it is valuable to place people working in related fields together. ‘The new world will largely depend on human creativity, and creativity flourishes where people come together face-to-face.’
解题:读此段时,考生会发现在第二句出现however一词,这种情况下,第一句的内容即可以忽略,考生应该直接读第二句及其后面的内容。运用无词阅读法,第二句大意为“人口和工作密度实际上是增长或保持不变的”;第三句话解释说明出现这种情况的原因是把相关领域工作的人放在一起是非常有价值的;第四句话又引用一句话来进一步解释说明。因此我们根据转折厚的内容选出此段大意为 iii The benefits of working together in cities。而陷阱为vi The impact of telecommunications on population distribution。
☆ 附加新的信息,即信息之间为并列关系,如剑1,Test 4,passage 1中的B段(这种情况下,考生需要找信息之间的共同点,段落大意根据共同点得出)
On the horizon are optical computers. These could store programs and process information by means of light—pulses from tiny lasers—rather than electrons. And the pulses would travel over glass fibers, not copper wire. These machines could function hundreds of times faster than today’s electronic computers and hold vastly more information. Today fiber optics are used to obtain a cleaner image of smaller and smaller objects than ever before—even bacterial viruses. A new generation of optical instruments is emerging that can provide detailed imaging of the inner workings of cells. It is the surge in fiber optic use and in liquid crystal displays that has set the U.S. glass industry (a 16 billion dollar business employing some 150,000 workers) to building new plants to meet demand。
解题:考生在运用“无词阅读法”略读此段的过程中会发现第一、二、三和第四句都是关于optical computers的;第五句内容是关于fiber optics的;第六句是关于optical instruments的;第七句是关于fiber optic use and in liquid crystal displays的。显然段落中在不断附加新的信息,寻找信息之间的共同点,我们会发现信息都是和optic有关的,因此答案为viii Exiting innovations in fiber optics,而陷阱为ii Computers and their dependence on glass。
☆ 最后一、二句归纳总结前文,如剑6,Test 4,passage 1中的C段(这种情况下,考生根据最后一、二句话归纳段落大意即可)
解题:运用无词阅读法,略读该段,考生会发现段落的第三句后半部分和第四句,作者用逻辑词so,并采用问句的形式引出结论:so are doctors to blame for the escalating extravagance of pharmaceutical marketing? Or is it the industry’s responsibility to decide the boundaries? 我们在归纳该段的段落大意时,就应该根据第三句so后面的内容来归纳,所以答案选Who is responsible for the increase in promotion? Selling pharmaceuticals is a daily exercise in ethical judgment. Salespeople like Schaefer walk the line between the common practice of buying a prospect’s time with a free meal, and bribing doctors to prescribe their drugs. They work in an industry highly criticized for its sales and marketing practices, but find themselves in the middle of the age-old chicken-or-egg question – business won’t use strategies that don’t work, so are doctors to blame for the escalating extravagance of pharmaceutical marketing? Or is it the industry’s responsibility to decide the boundaries?
考生们需要注意,在雅思考试中,以第三种逻辑关系最为常见,而第四种出现频率最小。