新东方学校考研英语阅读名师 陈艳丽

　　在新东方教授考研英语阅读课至今已有几个年头，其间通过学生不间断的来信，以及笔者对考研班学员课堂内外的考研历程有意识的关注，一路上，分享着成功考研人的喜悦，却也目睹了许多考研落空者的绝望。而后者，则尤其令人痛心！因此，在这里，很想对所有考研人进一言：考研失败绝非偶然！那么，是什么导致了部分人考研梦想的破灭？笔者认为：原因无外乎心态、计划性和方法等三个方面。下文就所述三方面逐一进行剖析，希冀对未来考研人有所助益：

　　一、心态：

　　笔者看来，考研落空的人，仅从心态的角度，往往可以归纳为以下几大门派：

　　不难看出，无论上述哪类考生，对考研这一严肃的主题缺乏的恰恰是认真的态度。而缺

　　乏正确心态的支撑，从一开始或许便埋下了失败的祸根。相反，只有真正倾听内心深处的声音，决意考研并积极付诸行动的人才拥有致胜的前提和基础。

　　二、计划：

　　古语有云：凡事预则立，不预则废。有了良好的心态，成功考研还需要详尽的学习计划

　　去保证。事实上，就考研英语阅读部分的复习而言，寒假班和春季班被学生问到最多的问题就是：如何合理分配时间？如何有效使用历年真题？笔者的建议如下：

　　当然，在制订计划的过程中，同学们还要结合自身的客观条件，综合考虑专业课及其他

　　公共课的时间分配。曾看到有一部分同学英语获得了高分，却因为专业课不及格而落选，最终愿望落空、遗恨绵绵！

　　而计划一旦制订下来，就要雷打不动地贯彻执行。很多同学之所以考试失利，首先就是因为对自己的总体复习缺乏合理规划，其次，往往有了计划却不能够坚持，三天打鱼两天晒网，不是“立恒志”，而是“恒立志”。

　　三、方法：

　　考研英语长期以来被视为国内考试中最具杀伤力的考试，其难度从近年来考研英语的平均分——2005年49分、2006年47分、2007年也仅在50分左右徘徊的事实亦可见一斑。而2005年新增加的新题型部分(近年来平均分一直徘徊在4分)，更是令众多考生望而生畏。

　　但是，任何一门考试都有其规律性，考研英语也不例外。广大考生必须深刻理解教师在课堂上对考试规律和考点的剖析和总结，只有做到对这门考试本身的特点和规律非常了解，并从实力和技巧两方面去准备，才能取得理想成绩。而不是盲目地题海战术，舍本逐末。

　　在此，谨以考研新题型为例，简要介绍如何利用传统阅读即PART A中的方法去破解貌似新颖的PART B“新题型”？

　　考研英语阅读部分增设的“新题型”，旨在“考查考生对诸如连贯性、一致性等语段特征及文章结构的理解”，题量设置为5道题目，总分值为10分。根据《大纲》，考研新题型共有三种备选形式。在这里，仅就2005年、2006年连续出现的“七选五”或称之为“完形填段”，也是众多考生公认最难的一种进行解析。

　　实际上，“七选五”题型是把一篇完整的文章中的五个段落“挖”出来，要求考生将其合理“归位”，为了提高难度，额外增加了两个混淆选择加以迷惑。考生怎样才能把看似七零八落的段落重新合理归位呢？总的来讲，必须从上下文内容的连贯性、逻辑的一致性两方面入手，大胆假设、小心求证，以期一一破解。

　　就以下面的这篇大纲样题为例：

　　Long before Man lived on the Earth, there were fishes, reptiles, birds, insects, and some mammals. Although some of these animals were ancestors of kinds living today, others are now extinct, that is, they have no descendants alive now. 41)_ ____.

　　Very occasionally the rocks show impression of skin, so that, apart from color, we can build up a reasonably accurate picture of an animal that died millions of years ago. The kind of rock in which the remains are found tells us much about the nature of the original land, often of the plants that grew on it, and even of its climate.

　　42)____ _. Nearly all of the fossils that we know were preserved in rocks formed by water action, and most of these are of animals that lived in or near water. Thus it follows that there must be many kinds of mammals, birds, and insects of which we know nothing.

　　43)____ _. There are also crab-like creatures, whose bodies were covered with a horny substance. The body segments each had two pairs of legs, one pair for walking on the sandy bottom, the other for swimming. The head was a kind of shield with a pair of compound eyes, often with thousands of lenses. They were usually an inch or two long but some were 2 feet.

　　44)__ ___. Of these, the ammonites are very interesting and important. They have a shell composed of many chambers, each representing a temporary home of the animal. As the young grew larger it grew a new chamber and sealed off the previous one. Thousands of these can be seen in the rocks on the Dorset Coast.

　　45)_ ____. About 75 million years ago the Age of Reptiles was over and most of the groups died out. The mammals quickly developed, and we can trace the evolution of many familiar animals such as the elephant and horse. Many of the later mammals, though now extinct, were known to primitive man and were featured by him in cave paintings and on bone carvings.

　　[A] The shellfish have a long history in the rock and many different kinds are known.

　　[B] Nevertheless, we know a great deal about many of them because their bones and shells have been preserved in the rocks as fossils. From them we can tell their size and shape, how they walked, the kind of food they ate.

　　[C] The first animals with true backbones were the fishes, first known in the rocks of 375 million years ago. About 300 million years ago the amphibians, the animals able to live both on land and in water, appeared. They were giant, sometimes 8 feet long, and many of them lived in the swampy pools in which our coal seam, or layer, or formed. The amphibians gave rise to the reptiles and for nearly 150 million years these were the principal forms of life on land, in the sea, and in the air.

　　[D] The best index fossils tend to be marine creatures. These animals evolved rapidly and spread over large areas of the world.

　　[E] The earliest animals whose remains have been found were all very simple kinds and lived in the sea. Later forms are more complex, and among these are the sea-lilies, relations of the starfishes, which had long arms and were attached by a long stalk to the sea bed, or to rocks.

　　[F] When an animal dies, the body, its bones, or shell, may often be carried away by streams into lakes or the sea and there get covered up by mud. If the animal lived in the sea its body would probably sink and be covered with mud. More and more mud would fall upon it until the bones or shell become embedded and preserved.

　　[G] Many factors can influence how fossils are preserved in rocks. Remains of an organism may be replaced by minerals, dissolved by an acidic solution to leave only their impression, or simply reduced to a more stable form.

　　我们一起来分析41题的做法，按照PART A部分的阅读方法，通过阅读该空缺前面的段落，我们能够抓住的重要信息是：Although some of these animals were ancestors of kinds living today, others are now extinct. 同理，空缺之后的段落告诉我们的重要信息是：Very occasionally the rocks show impression of skin, so that, apart from color, we can build up a reasonably accurate picture of an animal that died millions of years ago.

　　对比空缺前后的两个重要信息之后不难发现，extinct和a reasonably accurate构成了一对矛盾，要解决这一矛盾，我们可以大胆假设：在空缺的段落处必然发生过一次转折，否则，文章内容的连贯性和逻辑性就无法保证。基于这一假设，我们去逐一浏览选项，会迅速定位到B项一个明确的标志词Nevertheless，恰好传递了“强转折”的逻辑意味。将B项带回原文通读，发现其无论是内容还是逻辑上都符合行文的要求。因此可断定为正确项。

　　当然，对文章的逻辑性不够敏感的学生，还可以通过内容的词汇线索着手。如前所述，通过对比空缺前后的段落我们发现extinct和a reasonably accurate构成了一对矛盾，进一步研读空缺后面的段落，结合该段主题句，遵循中心词汇重现原则，不难定位到该段的关键词rock。据此我们可以大胆假设：在空缺的段落处也必然出现过rock这一名词，而且段落内容与本段具有前后关联性。基于这一假设，及带回原文通读，也可以最终确定正确项为B。

　　同理，通过对各空缺前后段落的研读及内容、逻辑关系特征词的寻找，进而与选项相关特征词加以匹配，42到45题可逐一破解。在这里因篇幅所限，不再一一展开。

　　从上面的分析不难看出，“七选五”题型不仅考查学生宏观上把握文章主要内容的能力，比如对段落主题句的把握，同时也考查重点细节的处理能力，比如转折词、关键词的把握。而这与PART A部分的考查目的本质上是一致的。再看1994年的一篇文章：

　　One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us, the "cashless society" is not on the horizon — it's already here.

　　While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.

　　Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.

　　58. What is this passage mainly about?

　　[A] Approaches to the commercial use of computers.

　　[B] Conveniences brought about by computers in business.

　　[C] Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.

　　[D] Advantages of credit cards in business.

　　这是一道主旨题，归纳段落主题句不难得出正确答案。而做题的关键正如《大纲解析》所说的对“那些出现频率最高的词或短语”或者“隐性路标词”的把握，即留意到本文中的conveniences，advantages，better and more efficient services等一串词，联想到“关键词同义替换”，就不难找到conveniences所对应的正确答案。

　　事实上，再三强调《大纲》及《大纲解析》作为考研英语最高纲领性文件的重要性都不为过。凡认真研究过《大纲解析》的人就会发现，对文章主要内容以及重点细节的把握，其中是有非常到位的阐释的。其针对传统PART A部分“如何抓住重要信息”提出的阅读策略概括起来有三点：第一、注意那些出现频率最高的词或短语(如前所述：rock这个词)；第二、善于判定各段的主题句(如前所述：Although some of these animals were ancestors of kinds living today, others are now extinct 以及Very occasionally the rocks show impression of skin, so that, apart from color, we can build up a reasonably accurate picture of an animal that died millions of years ago)；第三、浏览中总结全文的主题。而其针对新题型所提出的阅读策略为：通过文章中“显性”(如前所述的Nevertheless类路标词)以及“隐性”(如前所述：rock这个词)标志词去把握文章内容和理顺逻辑结构。

　　在考研英语真题中这样的实例比比皆是，也再次证明阅读的所谓“新题型”，其考查的实质与PART A部分的老题型如出一辙。同学们所要做的，就是做个有心人，把课堂上所讲的方法结合真题强化训练，切实掌握，并在此基础上举一反三。

　　总而言之，成功考研取决于正确的心态、详尽切实的计划和对考试规律深刻洞察之上的正确学习方法。而考研失败也绝非偶然！