如何讀懂托福閱讀長難句

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朗閣海外考試研究中心 徐露露

如果把托福的文章比喻成一座建築物，「辭彙」便是「磚塊」，「句子」便是「樑柱」。對於一座建築物而言少了一兩塊磚塊並不會造成其倒塌，那麼對於一篇文章而言某些單詞沒看懂也並不影響對於整個篇章的理解；而作為建築物的支撐部分，樑柱卻會影響該建築物的穩定性，那麼被比作樑柱的句子對於理解一篇文章而言是至關重要的，無法理解長難句會讓考生首先降低閱讀速度，其次影響篇章理解，最後最致命的影響是相關題型的解決----「句子簡化題」，「事實信息題」，「推理題」，因為這三種題型都是在直接或間接地考察學生對於長難句的理解能力。本文中筆者將從這三種題型的角度討論如何解讀長難句。

「句子簡化題」中的長難句----「先見森林，後見樹木」

「森林」代表的是該句話的「結構」，「先見森林」即考生首先應該關注的是該句話最核心的主幹；「樹木」代表的是該句話具體的「辭彙」，那麼「後見樹木」指考生應該在了解主幹之後才關注辭彙，並且只是一些key words.

<1> 因果結構

例題1 (OG: Desert Formation)：

Theextreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land andthe tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficultyof reversing or even slowing the process.

10. Which of the sentences below best expresses theessential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices changethe meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Desertification is a significant problem because it isso hard to reverse and affects large areas of land and great numbers of people.

B. Slowing down the process of desertification isdifficult because of population growth that has spread over large areas ofland.

C. The spread of deserts is considered a very seriousproblem that can be solved only if large numbers of people in various countriesare involved in the effort.

D. Desertification is extremely hard to reverse unlessthe population is reduced in the vast areas affected.

解題步驟：

1. 觀察題干，發現表示隱形因果的短語result from

2. 瀏覽選項，發現A和B選項含有因果關係

3. 分析原句：原句中「因」：1). 大量受到影響的土地vast areas of land; 2). 大量受到影響的人口tremendous numbers of people; 3). 很難去減慢或者顛覆沙漠化過程reverse or slow the process; 原句中「果」：沙漠化是一個嚴重serious的問題；分析A選項：「因」：1). reverse process; 2). affect large areas of land; 3).affect great numbers of people; 「果」：沙漠化是一個significant的問題

<2> 讓步轉折結構

例題2 (TPO 17: Animal Signals in the Rain Forest)：

In thegreen-to yellow lighting conditions of the lowest levels of the forest, yellowand green would be the brightest colors, but when an animal is signaling, thesecolors would not be very visible if the animal was sitting in an area with ayellowish or greenish background.

7. Which of the sentences below best expresses theessential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices changethe meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. When an animal is signaling in an area with green-toyellow lighting condition, its signal will not be visible if the background isbrightly lit.

B. In the lowest levels of the forest, an animalssignals are not easily seen unless there is a yellowish or greenish background.

C. In the green-to-yellow lighting conditions at thelowest levels of the forest, only signals that are themselves green or yellowwill be bright enough to be seen in most areas.

D. Although green and yellow would be the brightestcolors near the forest floor, these colors would make poor signals whenever theforest background was also in the green-to-yellow range.

解題步驟：

1. 分析題干，發現表轉折的邏輯關係詞but; 前半句「yellow and green會是最亮的顏色在低層森林中」；後半句「但是如果動物所處的background是yellow or greenish, 那麼動物發出該種顏色的信號將不明顯」

2. 分析選項：只有D選項含有表讓步轉折的邏輯詞although, 進而分析句意：前半句：「雖然green and yellow在森林底層顏色最亮」；後半句：「在環境也是green to yellow的情況下，這些顏色將是poor signals」

3. 原句與選項在句子的結構上符合：轉折結構；在語義上符合：lowest level of the forest = forest floor, Notvery visible = poor signals

<3> 比較結構

例題3 (TPO 17: Animal Signals in the Rain Forest)：

In thesecond case, pollinators (insects, birds) obtain food from the flowering plant,and the plant has its pollen distributed and seeds dispersed much moreefficiently than they would be if they were carried by the wind only.

9. Which of the sentences below best expresses theessential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices changethe meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. The relationship between flowering plants andpollinators provides pollinators with food and flowers with efficientreproduction.

B. In some cases birds obtain food from the seeds thatare dispersed in the wind.

C. The wind not only helps the flowers distribute theirseeds but enables birds to find more food.

D. Animals and insects are more effective in distributingpollen and seeds than the wind.

解題步驟：

1. 分析原句，原句主要講pollinator (insects & birds); plant; wind這三者之間的關係：具體來看是在比較對於plant來說，pollinator (insects & birds)要比wind more efficiently地幫助其distribute pollen and disperse seeds, 屬於典型的比較關係

2. 分析選項，首先只有D選項含有比較關係，具體來看：animals & insects要比wind more effectively地去distribute pollen and seeds

3. 原句與選項在句子的結構上符合比較結構，語義上符合

事實信息題中的長難句----「眾里尋他千百度，所考信息在一處」

與句子簡化題中所考的長難句不同（主要考察考生是否能把握住句子的主幹信息），事實信息題的出題點針對的有可能只是該長難句的某一處細節信息。因此，考生針對這兩種不同的題型，解讀長難句的視角也應該有所不同。

例題1 (OG: Desert Formation)：

These regions are especially likely to have periods ofsevere dryness, so that crop failures are common. Since the raising of mostcrops necessitates the prior removal of the natural vegetation, crop failuresleave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover and susceptible to windand water erosion.

6. According to paragraph 6, which of the following isoften associated with raising crops?

A. Lack of proper irrigation techniques

B. Failure to plant crops suited to the particular area

C. Removal of the original vegetation

D. Excessive use of dried animal waste

解題步驟：

1. 讀題干，找出定位詞raising crops

2. 回原文進行定位，定位到本段第二句since…

3. 分析定位句：「原因狀語從句 + 主句」，瀏覽選項，只有C選項與原句的前半部分意思一致，同義轉換部分：natural vegetation = original vegetation

例題2 (TPO 14: Pastoralism in Ancient InnerEurasia)：

Paragraph 4: Nomadism also subjects pastoralistcommunities to strictrules of portability. If you are constantly on the move, you cannotafford to accumulate large material surpluses. Such rules limit variations inaccumulated material goods between pastoralist households (though they may alsoencourage a taste for portable goods of high value such as silks or jewelry).So, by and large, nomadism implies a high degree of self-sufficiency andinhibits the appearance of an extensive division of labor.

9. According to paragraph 4, the fact that pastoralistcommunities are subject to 「strict rules of portability」 encourages such communities to

A. relocate less frequently than they would otherwise

B. have households that are more or less equal in wealth

C. become self-sufficient in the manufacture of silk andjewelry

D. share large material surpluses with neighboringcommunities

解題步驟：

1. 讀題干，划出定位詞「strict rules of portability」, 發現定位詞是打引號的，所以一定是原文原詞

2. 通過定位詞回原文進行定位，發現定位詞所在句Nomadism also subjects pastoralistcommunities to strictrules of portability.並不能作為本題的答案。因此，該題的難點就在於定位詞不能直接幫助考生解題

3. 仔細閱讀本段第三句話Such rules limit variations in accumulatedmaterial goods between pastoralist households, 考生會發現該句是一個以such + rules打頭的句子，而此處指代的內容即為定位詞「strict rules of portability」, 因此極有可能本句即是答案。本句話討論的是這些rules的影響或者結果，而題目也是在問影響，比較四個選項發現B選項與原句意思符合。同義替換部分為：limit variations in accumulated materialgoods = are more or less equal in wealth

推斷題中的長難句----「從肉體升華到靈魂」

如果說「事實信息題」是在考察學生對於句子字面意思的理解，一種智商的考察，那麼「推斷題」則是在考察學生對於句子引申義的理解，一種智商與情商的雙重考察。考生在應對推斷題中的長難句時需要「基於事實信息，但同時又要超越事實信息」，這是一種從「肉體」到「靈魂」的升華過程。

例題1 (TPO 19: Discovering theIce Age)：

During glaciations,the lighter oxygen-16 has a greater tendency to evaporate from the oceansurface than the heavier oxygen-18 does. Thus, more of the heavy isotope isleft behind in the ocean and absorbed by marine organisms. From this analysisof marine sediments, geologists have learned that there were many shorter, moreregular cycles of glaciation and deglaciation than geologists had recognizedfrom the glacial drift of the continents alone.

1. In can be inferredfrom paragraph 5 that foraminifera fossil shells containing calcite with highpercentages of oxygen-16 were deposited at times when

A. polar ice extendedas far as equatorial regions of land and sea

B. extensiveglaciation was not occurring

C. there were nogreat increases in ocean temperature

D. there was heavysnowfall on continental glaciers

解題步驟：

1. 讀題干找出定位詞oxygen-16,摸清題乾的大意問：在何時fossil會deposited沉澱下去？

2. 根據定位詞回原文進行定位，定位句為Duringglaciations……; 該句從結構上看就是一個比較關係的句子。分析定位句大意：在冰川時代，較輕的oxygen-16會比較重的oxygen-18更有可能從海洋表面浮出。浮出evaporate正好與題干中問的沉澱deposit一次意思相反，進而推斷出時間方面也應該相反，所以想要沉澱deposit必須發生在非冰川期，即glaciationwas not occurring, 所以選B。

此題的做題思路借用了邏輯學中的「排中律」的邏輯，即有A和B兩個要素構成了一個集合，文章告知其中一個要素的情況（比如A），問另外一個要素（比如B）的情況，此時，只要對已知A的情況進行取非即可。

例題2 (TPO 13: Methods ofStudying Infant Perception)：

The second techniquerelies on evoked potentials, which are electrical brain responses that may berelated to a particular stimulus because of where they originate. Changes inthe electrical pattern of the brain indicate that the stimulus is gettingthrough to the infants central nervous system and eliciting some form ofresponse.

11. In paragraph 4,what does the author suggest about the way an infants brain perceives stimuli?

A. Aninfants potential to respond to a stimulus may be related to the size of itsbrain.

B. Changesin the electrical patterns of an infants brain are difficult to detect.

C. Differentareas of an infants brain respond to different types of stimuli.

D. Aninfant is unable to perceive more than one stimulus at a time.

解題步驟：

1. 讀題干，划出定位詞brainperceives stimuli

2. 帶著定位詞回原文進行定位，定位到了brainperceives stimuli的近義詞表達方式electricalbrain responses（此題難點之一：定位）

3. 分析定位詞所在句子electricalbrain responses may be related to a particular stimulus because of where they originate.（此題難點之二：句型）

句意：主句---「大腦電化學反應與某一種刺激有關：

原因狀語---關鍵代詞they需要弄清指代對象，這裡應該是前面的responses,因此狀語部分的意思是「大腦到底和哪一個刺激有關取決於大腦反應來自於大腦的哪一個部分」

綜合兩部分意思----大腦不同部位產生的反應與不同的刺激有關，只有C選項滿足這層意思。

此題的做題思路借用了邏輯學中的「歸納」的邏輯，歸納即一種從specificcases到generalconclusion的過程。