对于托福阅读中常提到的“定位”,我们应该谈些什么

什么题型会使用“定位”?

对于一些在原文没有给出高亮标记的题目,也就是细节题、排除题和推断题(除这三种题型及少量修辞目的题之外,其他题型都会在原文标出对应位置),为了找到题目所对应的文章位置,方便答题,同时减少无关信息的阅读,需要用到一种叫做“定位”的解题思路。本文主要以细节题为例来介绍。

 
 

用定位做题时,我们会遇到这些情况

#情况1:答题句子和题目用词相同,并且仅凭原文一句话,就可以直选答案
第一种情况出现在最简单的题目中。原文答题句子与题目句子所用单词完全相同,我们在寻找时会直接找到,并且仅仅阅读这一句话即可得出正确选项,换句话说,就是不需要读本段其他句子的内容。
 

例题:
Paragraph 1: Two species of deer have been prevalent in the Puget Sound area of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The black-tailed deer, a lowland, west-side cousin of the mule deer of eastern Washington, is now the most common. The other species, the Columbian white-tailed deer, in earlier times was common in the open prairie country; it is now restricted to the low, marshy islands and flood plains along the lower Columbia River.
 
According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true of the white-tailed deer of Puget Sound?
○It is native to lowlands and marshes.
○It is more closely related to the mule deer of eastern Washington than to other types of deer.
○It has replaced the black-tailed deer in the open prairie.
○It no longer lives in a particular type of habitat that it once occupied.

白痴的不能再白痴的一道题目。根据题目所问非常容易就找到本段最后一句话。这个句子论述了此种deer早年生活在open prairie country,现在却仅生活在low marshy islands和flood plains地区,也就是以前和现在居住地产生了差异。答案是D。

 
 

#情况2:原文句子和题目用词相同,但需要阅读定位句的前后句才能得出答案
和情况1相同的是,定位非常简单,直接就能够找到围绕题目论述的句子。但只根据定位到的句子无法直接得出答案,需要读一读前后句子的信息。
 

例题:
Paragraph 4: Waterlogged soils occur in areas that are flat or have poor drainage. These soils usually contain large amounts of clay and easily become water-saturated. Air cannot penetrate between the soil particles, making the soil oxygen-poor. By contrast, dry soils are sandy and porous, their coarse textures permitting water to drain rapidly. Sandy soils are prone to the leaching of nutrients and minerals and so tend to be nutritionally poor. Though most savannas are found on sites with poor soils (because of either moisture conditions or nutrient levels of both), poor soils can and do support lush rain forest.
 
According to paragraph 4, which of the following is true of waterlogged soils?
O Their upper layers are usually sandy and porous.
O They cannot support savannas.
O They contain little oxygen.
O They are prone to the leaching of nutrients and minerals.

题目问“下列哪个关于waterlogged soils是正确的?”,关键词即为waterlogged soils。简单到爆,直接找到第一句话。根据第一句话得到的信息,我们得知关于这种soil的第一个信息点是“此种soil出现在flat或者poor drainage的地区”。但是,并没有选项与之对应,所以无法无法得出答案,只得继续阅读。第二句得到的信息同样无法对应答案。第三句说“空气无法进入这种土壤中,所以这种土壤就比较缺乏oxygen”。根据该内容,C选项的“contain little oxygen”就是正确答案。
 
 
#情况3:原文句子和题目用词相同,但仅仅通过阅读前后句是无法做出来的。

例题:
Paragraph 1: Evolutionary biologists believe that speciation, the formation of a new species, often begins when some kind of physical barrier arises and divides a population of a single species into separate subpopulations. Physical separation between subpopulations promotes the formation of new species because once the members of one subpopulation can no longer mate with members of another subpopulation, they cannot exchange variant genes that arise in one of the subpopulations. In the absence of gene flow between the subpopulations, genetic differences between the groups begin to accumulate. Eventually the subpopulations become so genetically distinct that they cannot interbreed even if the physical barriers between them were removed. At this point the subpopulations have evolved into distinct species. This route to speciation is known as allopatry (“allo-” means “different”, and “patria” means “homeland”).
 
According to paragraph 1, allopatric speciation involves which of the following?
O The division of a population into subspecies
O The reuniting of separated populations after they have become distinct species
O The movement of a population to a new homeland
O The absence of gene flow between subpopulations

我们先把本段内容阅读完,再来讨论这道题目。本段内容描述了物种形成的一种方式:physical barriers形成后,使得一个物种的群体被分割成subpopulations,分割后由于互相之间无法交配,gene之间的差异越来越大,最终成为了即使有交配机会也不会产生后代的新species。这个物种形成的过程就叫allopatry。
回过头再来看这道题,正确答案D对应的信息点出现在段落中间这句话“In the absence of…”。
由于整段都是围绕着allopatric speciation来展开,相当于每句话所包含的信息,都可能成为对应选项的信息。但问题在于,如果用定位的方式,结合这道题题目以及定位到的最后一句话,根本无法判断出这个段落所包含的这种特性。如果按照看前后句的做法来搞,需要倒退这看到倒数第四句才能选出答案。“逆作者而读”,有违天性,还会导致阅读理解的不准确。所以仅仅通过阅读定位句及前后句子的方式,较难准确做出这种题目。
 
对于这种题目,有人提出了另一种解决办法:通过选项,回到原文定位,然后排除错误选项得出答案。我个人认为这种方式有时候并不是特别的靠谱,只能说是给我们完全做不出这道题的时候,提供了一个蒙答案的方向。
首先,对于大部分题目,什么情况需要通过选项定位排除,没有一个明确的标准,至少仅仅通过刚才这道题的题目来看,就不适用。对于这道题,看完问题以及本段最后一句话,我是死活也想不到这一整段话都在说allopatry的。
其二,选项定位排除的方式,其实也需要阅读大量的内容,对于这道题来说,可能是整段话。这种方式会把这段话的信息弄的支离破碎,东看一眼西看一眼,很可能会导致对原文信息的理解也支离破碎。
第三,和情况4类似,很多选项和原文会出现改写,使得我们不能在不阅读其他句子的情况下直接找到原文信息。换句话说,还是得靠读,读了才知道这题应该看哪里。
第四,根据选项定位容易遗忘问题,导致错误地选出那种貌似在原文100%出现、但实际上是无法回答本题题目的选项,这种选项叫做所问非所答。
 

针对第四点,举一个例题:
Paragraph 2: During wakefulness, breathing is controlled by two interacting systems. The first is an automatic, metabolic system whose control is centered in the brain stem. It subconsciously adjusts breathing rate and depth in order to regulate the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2), and the acid-base ratio in the blood. The second system is the voluntary, behavioral system. Its control center is based in the forebrain, and it regulates breathing for use in speech, singing, sighing, and so on. It is capable of ignoring or overriding the automatic, metabolic system and produces an irregular pattern of breathing.
 
According to paragraph 2, all of the following are true of the voluntary breathing system EXCEPT:
○It has its control center in the brain stem.
○It controls breathing for a number of activities during wakefulness.
○It is able to bypass the automatic system.
○It produces an irregular breathing pattern.

对于其中的A选项,如果采用选项定位,同时对题目问题理解不充分或印象不深刻,很容易判断,认为它符合原文。
 
 
#情况4:原文句子和题目并不那么相同
这种情况下,原文和题目出现了同意改写。这种改写可能是换词,也可能是通过字里行间的陈述而表达出来的。出现这种情况时,有难有易。易的时候,会很容易就找出原文定位句。难的时候,读完整段话都找不到与题目有联系的句子。
 

例题:
Paragraph 5: Other respiratory regulating mechanisms apparently cease functioning during sleep. For example, during wakefulness there is an immediate, automatic, adaptive increase in breathing effort when inhaling is made more difficult (such as breathing through a restrictive face mask). This reflexive adjustment is totally absent during NREM sleep. Only after several inadequate breaths under such conditions, resulting in the considerable elevation of carbon dioxide and reduction of oxygen in the blood, is breathing effort adjusted. Finally, the coughing reflex in reaction to irritants in the airway produces not a cough during sleep but a cessation of breathing. If the irritation is severe enough, a sleeping person will arouse, clear the airway, then resume breathing and likely return to sleep.
 
According to paragraph 5, what happens during NREM sleep when inhaling is difficult?
○There is an immediate, automatic, adaptive increase in breathing effort.
○The sleeping person takes several inadequate breaths before the breathing effort is adjusted.
○The coughing reflex causes the breathing effort to adjust.
○The airways become cleared as the blood removes irritants.

题目所问内容为“在NREM睡眠过程中,吸气特别困难时会发生什么?”本段第二句话描述了“苏醒时,吸气特别困难的情况下”所发生的内容,但是并未提到NREM sleep的情况。下一句说“在NREM sleep时,这种调节反射是不存在的”,依旧没有出现题目所问内容。紧接着这句话中的一个代词“such conditions”非常关键,三句话连在一起读一下会发现,such conditions指的应该就是“NREM sleep时,inhaling很困难,并且wakefulness时起作用的功能还不好使”的这个状态。所以,很自然的根据这句话就可以选出正确答案B。
 
 

那么,定位到底是个啥?

对于上述的情况1和2,定位是这样子的:根据题目关键词,完全不理解段落其他内容,直接找到出现关键词的句子,并且仅仅阅读本句或围绕的1-2个句子,根据信息得出答案。
对于上述的情况3和4,定位可能是这个样子的:阅读题目,记住题目所问内容,从本段开头或没有读过的位置(因为有可能前几句话在做前面题目的时候阅读过,并且无法用来解答本题)开始阅读,找到能够回答题目的句子(注意可能出现的改写)。不往后文继续阅读,结合已有的文意和选项,选出正确答案。
 
第一种定位方式,相信了解一点托福的大家都能猜到或者听说过,但是局限性很强。局限性体现在不适用所有的题目,并且对文章内容的理解有或多或少的影响。
第二种定位方式,仅仅是一个做题习惯,是给出大家的一点建议,而非一种“方法”。如此简化以至于适用性广泛。不过,没有足够的阅读实力,面对难题有时候也只能说一句你(N)忙(M)吧(B)了。
 
情况1和2对应的简单细节题,在托福阅读中大概占比在60%-70%。对于不追求高分的同学,使用定位法来做题是没问题的。但用了这种方法, 就别总想着什么阅读26+了。
 
 

好好读题!

最后,对于细节题和排除题有一个小小的提醒——一定要仔仔细细读题,并且阅读文章的时候谨记题目。
在上述情况4的例题中,选择了A选项的同学,请谨记此条。
对于仔细读题,我再给大家准备两个例题:

例题1:
Paragraph 2: It is difficult to isolate the factors that led to the next development—the emergence of urban settlements. The earliest, that of Eridu, about 4500 B.C.E., and Uruk, a thousand years later, center on impressive temple complexes built of mud brick. In some way, the elite had associated themselves with the power of the gods. Uruk, for instance, had two patron gods—Anu, the god of the sky and sovereign of all other gods, and Inanna, a goddess of love and war—and there were other patrons of different cities. Human beings were at their mercy. The biblical story of the Flood may originate in Sumer. In the earliest version, the gods destroy the human race because its clamor had been so disturbing to them.
 
According to paragraph 2, Eridu and Uruk are examples of urban settlements that
○ lacked the features usually found in other early urban settlements
○ developed around religious buildings
○ grew much more rapidly than most of the urban settlements found in Sumer
○ were mysteriously destroyed and abandoned
 
 
例题2:
Paragraph 3: Geographic isolation also can proceed slowly, over great spans of time. We find evidence of such extended events in the fossil record, which affords glimpses into the breakup of formerly continuous environments. For example, during past ice ages, glaciers advanced down through North America and Europe and gradually cut off parts of populations from one another. When the glaciers retreated, the separated populations of plants and animals came into contact again. Some groups that had descended from the same parent population were no longer reproductively compatible— they had evolved into separate species. In other groups, however, genetic divergences had not proceeded so far, and the descendants could still interbreed— for them, reproductive isolation was not completed, and so speciation had not occurred.
 
According to paragraph 3, separation of subpopulations by glaciers resulted in speciation in those groups of plants and animals that
O were reproductively isolated even after the glaciers disappeared
O had adjusted to the old conditions caused by the glaciers
O were able to survive being separated from their parent population
O had experienced some genetic divergences from their parent population

答案在本文最后。
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
第一题答案:B
第二题答案:A
对于这两个题目有疑问的同学,欢迎加V咨询:suntong6633

 

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