阅读是GRE考试中所占比重大、花费时间多、又很容易失分的一个题型,许多考生在复习阅读时都投入了大量精力,可结果还是不尽如人意。阅读考查的范围非常广,不像填空、类比和反义那样注重基础和词汇量,而GRE阅读又与其他考试中的阅读有很大区别,所以在技巧方法上也要区分对待。GRE阅读中多见长句,对理解造成很大障碍,然而这一大特点也促使形成了解决GRE阅读的一个制胜法宝——从原文中来,到原文中去。因为长句具有较高的难度,所以出题者会把很大的精力放在对句子本身的理解上,而不像其他考试中的阅读那样主要侧重对文章内容的理解。在实际解题过程中,我们如果真正理解并掌握了这一点,就能提高做题速度和准确性,因为实实在在能从原文中找到证据的答案必定是正确答案。/ O. l Y2 V% Q/ d( s4 G( }% |
+ E2 z1 ?; p: g" n0 N虽然答案是绝对忠于原文的,但它的出现往往都披着迷惑人的外衣,同时其他四个似是而非的选项也会对考生进行干扰。对原文中句子变形的方法多种多样,变形后的句子所使用的句式和词组搭配常常不同于原句,一般会是对原句的解释和概括,但基本框架不变。一旦正确掌握了原句的复杂结构,选择出正确答案就不会困难了。以下几个例子都来自考生容易选错的题目:. i5 J; w7 b7 \, t; ^! j: @, P' e
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Eg1. According to the passage, random failures in automatic control systems are "not merely trivial aberrations" because
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3 l/ K t. a4 v7 Z0 |! L) Y(A) Automatic control systems are designed by engineers who have little practical experience in the field
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) k* B; I* y- Z% U: T' s(B) The failures are characteristic of systems designed by engineers relying too heavily on concepts in mathematics
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( \5 h5 A1 \$ B# e {% F2 o! O8 z5 s( s(C) The failures occur too often to be taken lightly
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9 s7 J6 h, S5 {# L+ d(D) Designers of automatic control systems have too little training in the analysis of mechanical difficulties 8 r+ M0 ~- V* ]& F2 }8 C9 i
7 i V* U! B o5 `(E) Designers of automatic control systems need more help from scientists who have a better understanding of the analytical problems to be solved before such systems can work efficiently
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本题在原文中的定位为:Absurd random failures that plague automatic control systems are not merely trivial aberrations; they are a reflection of the chaos that results when design is assumed to be primarily a problem in mathematics. 这个句子中间用分号隔开,分号前的部分对应着题干中的问题,分号后即是对前半句的解释,也就是说这个句子本身就是一问一答型,答案就是后半句话,在选择答案时我们只要看哪个选项是对这句话的变形即可。注意这半句话中chaos是一个关键词,that 引导定语从句,而这个定语从句中又有一个关键短语:result in,这个短语是表示结果的,然后看它的宾语是mathematics,而这个名词是不能被替换掉的,直接从五个选项中挑选,只有B说出了mathematics,无疑这就是正确答案了。解答本题时能看出mathematics这一重心之后,根本不需要自己进行任何总结和概括,看出哪个选项是对原句的变形就全部搞定了。我们再仔细看一下B答案,其中rely heavily on代替了原句中的chaos result in,而意义与先前保持一致。3 M& r1 K B: h$ h/ J7 i N2 x) r
: Q2 p* m* ^$ v( OEg2. According to the passage, certain serious contemporary photographers expressly make which of the following claims about their photographs? & K" m" M5 k, v: v& a8 l
7 f. m8 n! g( [& n( Q' x(A)Their photographs could be created by almost anyone who had a camera and the time to devote to the activity.2 S$ W: `3 ~9 p- t( l
" ~4 Z; _( E3 K* r2 {$ l H9 U(B)Their photographs are not examples of art but are examples of the photographers' impartial observation of the world.
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) ?( Y( Z3 ^, J* Z(C)Their photographs are important because of their subjects but not because of the responses they evoke in viewers. ) J' [% ^2 e& _& j
5 ~/ x# F, A$ W+ f ] _" a F0 I(D)Their photographs exhibit the same ageless principles of form and shading that have been used in painting.
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7 x, I/ n: ?8 H(E) Their photographs represent a conscious glorification of the mechanical aspects of twentieth-century life.
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本题在原文中的定位为:Serious photographers variously claim to be finding, recording, impartially observing, witnessing events, exploring themselves—anything but making works of art. 注意anything but 是“决不”的意思,B答案就是对这句话的变形,只不过是把原文中所列出的几种形式用examples概括罢了。在这个例子中还要注意的是原句中的anything but注定了其变形应该表示否定,按照这种理解很容易选出正确答案。0 v7 {/ H4 W7 `" G1 I/ O( q
( P* `% k& O- g9 B4 h' ^; l% lEg3. According to the passage, what did Hargrave and Green do in the laboratory? 2 X4 |" n+ |; g* C
, M; s% r8 |9 p$ l4 E4 ?$ p$ X9 F(A) They compared the grazing rates of individual zooplankton species in the laboratory with the natural grazing rates of these species.: }5 H# x( k8 K
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(B) They hypothesized about the population density of grazers in natural habitats by using data concerning the population density of grazers in the laboratory. |