一文搞定 | 托福阅读十大题型之一的句子插入题
句子插入题(Insert Text Questions)是托福阅读考试必考题型,出现在每一篇文章倒数第二题,大部分考生在做此题时遇到模棱两可的答案情况较多,容易选错。针对这个问题,具体分析句子插入题的考试特点及解题技巧!
出题形式:
作为托福阅读十大题型之一,句子插入题一般每篇文章会出现一个。句子插入题题目形式固定,一般表现为如下形式:
Look at the four squares ■ that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing.
Where does the sentence best fit?
■The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation. ■The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil.
■This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion.
可以看到,在句子插入题中,会给出一段文字,文字里有四个小黑框,然后会给出一个加粗的句子,问这个加粗的句子放入到四个小黑框的哪一个是最合适的。不少同学由于以前没有接触过类似的题型,觉得句子插入题很棘手。其实只要我们掌握正确的解题思路,句子插入题是可以又快又准确地完成的。
解题思路:
一、代词提示
首先我们来看代词提示。如果插入句中出现代词,如 this,these,they, such 等,那么插入句的前一句话一定会出现代词指代的内容。在给定文段中找到包含相应指代内容的句子,再把插入句放在该句子后即可。我们来看一个中文例子:
插入句:这是一个困扰了科学家很久的问题
在这个插入句中,我们可以发现一个指代内容,即“这个问题”,那我们就可以推断这个句子的前面一句话一定说了一个问题,所以我们只需要看文段中哪一句话在描述问题,然后把插入句放到描述问题的那一句话后面就可。带着这种思路,我们来看一个 OG 中的例子:
■The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation.
■The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil.
■This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion.
■This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing.
在插入句中,我们可以看到指代内容“This economic reliance on livestock”,即“这个对于牲畜的经济依赖”,那么可以推断在这句话的前一句话一定提到了对牲畜的经济依赖的内容,所以我们回到文段中去找哪一句话提到了“对牲畜的经济依赖”。
✅第一个小黑框的前面什么都没有,所以我们可以不用看它了。
✅第二个小黑框前面的内容是“在半干旱地区,饲养牲畜是主要的经济活动”,既然是主要的经济活动,那就是说当地发展、挣钱、养家糊口都来源于饲养牲畜,也就是对牲畜形成了经济依赖,因此插入句可以放到这句话后面,即第二个小黑框的位置。当然,这道题到这还没做完,我们要把其它选项也都分析一遍,才能保证做题百分之百的正确率。
✅第三个小黑框前面的内容是“过渡放牧的后果有植被的减少、土壤的践踏和粉碎”,这句话描述的是过度放牧的后果,没有提到任何“对牲畜的经济依赖”的内容,所以不能把插入句放到它的后面。
✅第四个小黑框前面的内容是“这通常会伴随着土壤的干燥和侵蚀的加剧”,也没提到任何“对牲畜的经济依赖”的内容,所以插入句不能放在它的后面。
因此,经过我们的推断和分析,插入句应该放在文段中第二个小黑框的位置。
二、逻辑提示
除了通过代词进行语境推断,我们还可以通过插入句中出现的逻辑关系词~
常见的逻辑有因果,转折,递进等,如 therefore,however 等,来推测插入句前后可能的语境。(例如,如果我们的待插入句子是“因此,他决定发奋学习”,那么我们根据逻辑关系词“因此”就能推断出这句话的前一句一定说了他决定发奋学习的原因。)
接下来要做的就是回到文段中,看哪一句话在叙述他决定发奋学习的原因即可。看完了中文例子,我们来分析一下 OG 中利用逻辑关系解题的例子:
■Because they are always swimming, tunas simply have to open their mouths and water is forced in and over their gills.
■Accordingly, they have lost most of the muscles that other fishes use to suck in water and push it past the gills.
■In fact, tunas must swim to breathe.
■They must also keep swimming to keep from sinking, since most have largely or completely lost the swim bladder, the gas-filled sac that helps most other fish remain buoyant.
Consequently, tunas do not need to suck in water.
我们可以看到在插入句出现了 consequently 这一表示因果关系的逻辑连接词,既然插入句说“因此,tunas 不用吸水”,那么插入句的前一句一定在说 tunas 不用吸水的原因。
回到原文依次看四个小黑框前面的内容,我们发现只有第二个小黑框前面的一句话谈到了相关内容:“因为 tunas 一直在游泳,所以他们只需要张开嘴水就会到它们的嘴里来”。既然水会自动到嘴里来,那么 tunas 当然不用自己吸水,所以这一句话就是 tunas 不用吸水的原因,插入句放到第二个小黑框是合适的。其它三个小黑框前面的句子均没有谈到 tunas 吸水的相关内容。
三.词重复适用
这种衔接方法简单粗暴明了,无需花费大量脑细胞,完全是送分题。后面一个句子里重复使用前面句子提到的同一个词(通常是名词),使用此方法,我们可以清楚知道作者仍然在谈论同一主题,因为前后句子在意义上关系密切,互相连贯。
Their competition and collaboration were creating the broadcasting industry in the United States, beginning with the introduction of commercial radio programming in the early 1920s.
■With financial assets considerably greater than those in the motion picture industry, and perhaps a wider vision of the relationships among entertainment and communications media, they revitalized research into recording sound for motion pictures.
■In 1929 the United States motion picture industry released more than 300 sound films—a rough figure, since a number were silent films with music tracks, or films prepared in dual versions, to take account of the many cinemas not yet wired for sound.
■At the production level, in the United States the conversion was virtually complete by 1930.
■In Europe it took a little longer, mainly because there were more small producers for whom the costs of sound were prohibitive…
Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
When this research resulted in the development of vastly improved sound techniques, film studios became convinced of the importance of converting to sound.
前面一句话已经提及到了research, 第二次出现用this research, 所以答案选第二个选项。
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