一、考纲要求分析与考试重点概述
最近几年，教育部考试中心对《全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语考试大纲》(非英语专业)多次进行了修订，但“英语知识运用”作为研究生入学英语全国统考试卷第一大题，自教育部考试中心2002年修订大纲时将“完形填空”改为此名称后，连续6年没有变化，不仅“考试样题”继续采用2001年考试真题，命题角度和题目难度也基本保持一致。这说明该题型基本符合当前研究生入学选拔考试的要求，是比较成熟的题型。
“英语知识运用”是测试考生综合运用语言能力的客观题。根据考研大纲的规定，考生应在阅读一篇含有20个空、长度为240~280词的短文后，在全面理解文章内容的基础上，从四个供选择的答案中挑选最佳答案填空，使短文的内容和结构完整合理。该项考试目的是考查考生“对不同语境中规范的语言要素（包括词汇、表达方式和结构）的掌握程度，而且还考查考生对语段特征（如连贯性和一致性等）的辨识能力等”。
相对于前些年的“完形填空”考题，近几年的“英语知识运用”题看似容易，但由于命题时更加侧重对语段特征的辨识能力的考查，即加大了测试语篇水平理解题的比例，实际难度并未下降。对语段特征的考查主要体现在辨认短文主题并根据主题及文章逻辑结构（主题展开方式）判断句间关系和选择恰当词汇等；对语法和词汇知识的考查常采用辨认句子结构和辨认词义等方式。
最近几年的命题更着重从语篇把握的角度考查考生的语言能力。相对而言，文章的语言难度显然低于阅读题，甚至低于大纲样题，干扰项也多是常用词汇，而考查对文章主题的理解、特别是上下文衔接的题目则有所增加。从考试结果看，考生总体把握语篇主题和上下文逻辑的能力还有所欠缺，以至于应该答对的题目却出现较多“失误”，需要在考前练习时格外注意。
二、常考要点及解题思路
“英语知识运用”试题的20个空是为了测试考生对“规范的书面语言”的内容和结构的把握而设的，干扰项的设置也考虑了内容和结构两方面的完整性与合理性。因此，解题时也要时时注意把握内容和语言结构这两条主线，充分利用原文其他文字的提示，从理解短文主题及上下文逻辑关系、词汇及语法等多个角度进行判断。一、宏观把握主题
“英语知识运用”题测试的“综合运用语言的能力”首先是阅读能力。短文体裁多是观点鲜明、条理清楚的说明文或议论文，题材则以社科、科普或常识方面的内容居多，近几年以文科内容为主。近几年“英语知识运用”题的短文题材如下：
|
考试年份 |
内容大类 |
主题 |
文体类型 |
|
2007 |
政治问题 |
殖民地国家独立后的改革 |
议论文 |
|
2006 |
社会问题 |
无家可归者 |
议论文 |
|
2005 |
科普 |
人类的嗅觉 |
说明文 |
|
2004 |
社会经济学 |
青少年犯罪 |
议论文 |
|
2003 |
教育 |
青少年活动特点 |
议论文 |
|
2002 |
电信 |
通讯革命的发展进程 |
议论文 |
|
2001 |
传媒 |
新闻立法 |
新闻报导 |
前些年的短文题材也不例外，分别讨论了新的就业形式（1997）、对英国工业革命的看法（1998）、劳动安全措施（1999）和剩余产品与再生产的关系（2000）等问题。
二百多字的短文通常主题明确单一，而正确理解主题对正确理解其他展开句和选择词汇起着关键作用。因此，同做阅读题一样，在解答“英语知识运用”题时也要着眼于作者的观点，切忌把自己的想法强加给作者。
为避免断章取义，应该先尽快通读全文，做到对文章整体有概括的理解。快速阅读短文的另一个作用是在受到选项干扰之前，使原文信息（即作者本意）在头脑中先入为主。虽然短文中有不少人为留出的空白使我们阅读时思路不连贯，但命题时多会在余下的文字中保留足够的信息供我们推测出作者阐述问题的观点、思路，甚至语气、态度。
在阅读时，一定不要忽视短文的第一句。这一句通常是特意留出的完整句子，不容误解。另外，此句常点出本段，甚至是全文的主题，是理解短文的重要线索。
以2005年的短文为例。第一句：The human nose is an underrated tool. 点明全文主题：人们往往低估人类的鼻子作为嗅觉工具的灵敏度。
再如2004年试题第一句：Many theories concerning the causes of juvenile delinquency (crimes committed by young people) focus either on the individual or on society as the major contributing influence. 开门见山地提出文章主题：许多关于青少年犯罪根源的理论从个体或社会方面寻找导致犯罪的主要原因。
有时第一句话虽不是主题句，但往往与主题密切相关，其作用是为主题句作铺垫，引入主题。
试看2006年短文的前三句：The homeless make up a growing percentage of America's population. Indeed，homelessness has reached such proportions that local governments can't possibly cope. To help homeless people toward independence, the federal government must… 第一句“美国人口中无家可归者的比例越来越大”，引出“无家可归者的问题已严重到地方政府无力应对，联邦政府必须采取措施来帮助这些人”的主题。
再看2003年考题的段首句与主题句（第二句）的关系：
Teachers need to be aware of the emotional, intellectual, and physical changes that young adults experience. And they also need to give serious thoughts to how they can best accommodate such changes.
短文第二句的And…also结构表明与前句的语意为递进关系，其主语和从句中两次出现的代词they均指代前句的teachers；谓语重复使用动词need；such changes指段首句明确表述的“年轻人所经受的情感、智力和身体方面的变化”。把两句话联系起来看，本篇短文的主题便非常清楚：成年人/教师应通过组织适应年轻人特点的活动更好地帮助年轻人/学生们成长。
再如2002年试题的前两句：Comparisons were drawn between the development of television in the 20th century and the diffusion of printing in the 15th and 16th centuries. Yet much had happened between.第一句“人们把20世纪的电视的发展情况与15至16世纪的印刷普及相提并论”是为下文作铺垫；转折词Yet表明通讯革命并非始于19世纪，从而引出主题：应当正确地看待通讯革命的过程及其影响。
要想尽快地把握短文原意，还要注意主题的展开方式，即注意短文段落的划分及各段的中心思想。
试以2006年的试题为例。讨论美国无家可归者问题的短文有两个自然段，其段首句分别点出该段的中心思想：美国人口中无家可归者的比例越来越大（The homeless make up a growing percentage of America's population.）和任何单一措施都不能有效地帮助这一群体（Finding ways to assist this growing homeless population has become increasingly difficult.）。作者在分析无家可归者流落街头的多种原因之后引用权威观点提出解决办法，即政府不能只着眼于满足这些人的温饱，需要“总体协调，综合治理（There has to be coordination of programs. What's needed is a package deal.）”，首尾呼应，再次点题。
2004年试题的短文共分四段。第一段段首句（Many theories…focus either on the individual or on society as…）之后的两句（Theories centering on the individual suggest that…Theories focusing on the role of society suggest that …）分别介绍两种理论的内容。其余三段的段首句都明确地阐述了各段的主题：第二段评述关注贫穷家庭导致儿童犯罪的理论（Most theories…have focused on children from disadvantaged families…)；第三段 (以就业为例) 探讨社会结构变化可能是导致青少年犯罪的间接原因 (Changes in the social structure may indirectly affect juvenile crime rates.)；第四段主要讲述社会结构变化的另一个方面：家庭结构的改变 (Families have also experienced changes these years.)。短文结尾提出了其他若干可能导致青少年犯罪的原因 （Other identifiable causes of offensive acts include…），但指出这些理论提出的因果关系还未能确定 (…a direct causal relationship has not yet been established)。
2003年试题共两段，分别说明教师为学生组织活动时要注意的两个主要方面:（1) 提供培养在群体活动中成功地与他人交往的机会以帮助青少年建立自信;（2) 组织多样性的活动以适应青少年兴趣转移快的特点。
除了注意段首句较明确的提示及短文的段落划分外，还可利用文中关键词和词汇的照应关系来尽快把握短文主题。
例如2006年短文讨论帮助无家可归者的问题，除开篇三句连续使用“homeless, homelessness, homeless people”等字样外，全文不断使用“homeless population, homeless individuals, homeless adults”等同义词。此外，表示人数不断增加，问题日益严重的文字也多次出现，如“a growing percentage, this growing homeless population, homelessness has reached such proportions, the number of the homeless will reach nearly 19 million”。同样，表示需要提供帮助的词汇也贯穿全篇，如“To help homeless people, Finding ways to assist …address the many needs of…”等。
2004年探讨青少年犯罪原因的短文中除“理论（theories）”等字样外，还多次出现“青少年犯罪”、“原因”及其同义词、近义词及相关词：juvenile delinquency, commit crimes, criminal behavior, misdeeds, crime rates, offensive acts, criminal act。此外，与“青少年”相关的词汇有：youth, children, families, parents, parental supervision, child等。与“原因”相关的词汇有：causes, contributing influence, to be an influence on…, identifiable causes, affect, lead to, for lack of, resulting, lead…into, tend to increase, a direct causal relationship等。
再如2003年的短文：
Teachers need to be aware of the emotional, intellectual, and physical changes that young adults experience. And they also need to give serious 21 to how they can best 22 such changes. Growing bodies need movement and 23 ， but not just in ways that emphasize competition. 24 they are adjusting to their new bodies and a whole host of new intellectual and emotional challenges, teenagers are especially self-conscious and need the 25 that comes from achieving success and knowing that their accomplishments are 26 by others. However, the typical teenage lifestyle is already filled with so much competition that it would be 27 to plan activities in which there are more winners than losers, 28 , publishing newsletters with many student-written book reviews, 29 student artwork, and sponsoring book discussion clubs. A variety of small clubs can provide 30 opportunities for leadership, as well as for practice in successful 31 dynamics. Making friends is extremely important to teenagers, and many shy students need the 32 of some kind of organization with a supportive adult 33 visible in the background.
In these activities, it is important to remember that young teens have 34 attention spans. A variety of activities should be organized 35 participants can remain active as long as they want and then go on to 36 else without feeling guilty and without letting the other participants 37 . This does not mean that adults must accept irresponsibility. 38 , they can help students acquire a sense of commitment by 39 for roles that are within their 40 and their attention spans and by having clearly stated rules.
作者在短文中多次使用need和important等词汇，还使用了一系列同义词或相关词、反义词或对应词等，如：
（1）teachers—adults;
（2）young adults—typical teenage lifestyle—teenagers—young teens—students;
（3）emotional, intellectual and physical changes—growing bodies—new bodies—new intellectual and emotional challenges;
（4）achieving success—accomplishment—winners—successful;
（5）plan activities—a variety of small clubs—some kind of organization—organization—a variety of activities—organized;
（6）winners—losers 等。
借助这些相关词组成的语意链我们可以更好地把握主题：教师应针对青少年的特点组织活动以帮助学生们成长。
请注意2005年的短文中黑体字和斜体字的提示：
The human nose is an underrated tool. Humans are often thought to be insensitive smellers compared with animals, but this is largely because, unlike animals, we stand upright. This means that our noses are limited to perceiving those smells which float through the air, missing the majority of smells which stick to surfaces. In fact, though, we are extremely sensitive to smells, even if we do not generally realize it. Our noses are capable of detecting human smells even when these are diluted to far below one part in one million.
Strangely, some people find that they can smell one type of flower but not another, whereas others are sensitive to the smells of both flowers. This may be because some people do not have the genes necessary to generate particular smell receptors in the nose. These receptors are the cells which sense smells and send messages to the brain. However, it has been found that even people insensitive to a certain smell at first can suddenly become sensitive to it when exposed to it often enough.
The explanation for insensitivity to smell seems to be that the brain finds it inefficient to keep all smell receptors working all the time but can create new receptors if necessary. This may also explain why we are not usually sensitive to our own smells—we simply do not need to be. We are not aware of the usual smell of our own house, but we notice new smells when we visit someone else's. The brain finds it best to keep smell receptors available for unfamiliar and emergency signals such as the smell of smoke, which might indicate the danger of fire.
本文分析了人们为什么低估人类鼻子作为嗅觉工具的灵敏性，共分三个自然段，除反复出现与“低估人类嗅觉”和“人类实际嗅觉能力”有关的文字外，每段都有表示原因的句型。第一段斜体字 are often thought to be insensitive smellers和 do not generally realize it等指出人们“人类的嗅觉不如动物灵敏”的认识误区。紧接段首句的but this is largely because句型提出产生错误看法的原因：“人类直立行走；”并以表示转折和强调的连接词引入与人们常识不符的事实：“然而，事实上我们的嗅觉是极为灵敏的，即使人们一般都没有意识到这一点。”第二段同样分析为什么有些人似乎对某些气味不够灵敏，做出解释之后同样用事实说明不应低估他们的嗅觉能力，这些人的嗅觉会“突然变得敏感起来”。第三段以The explanation for insensitivity to smell seems to be that…和This may also explain why…等句子进一步解释人类对气味似乎不敏感的原因：“为提高工作效率，人脑不需要让所有嗅觉细胞同时工作。”同样在提出理论之后给出生活中的例子。
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