托福阅读:被否定事实信息题安排得明明白白?是时候向只能看整段说不了,托福阅读的否定事实信息题,或称为排除题,有非常明显的标志,就是题干中大写的NOT或EXCEPT。很多同学看到这类题型时,就认为只能“用排除法,读完整段,一个个选项排除”。可是阅读的完成时间如此紧张,要读完整段再去排除,显然会花费大量时间。今天我就来告诉大家,我们完全可以利用解题技巧,告别“只能读整段”的解题思路。
题干线索
托福阅读中的否定事实信息题有一个特征,就是答案往往出现在题干关键词后面,因此找到了题干的关键词,就可以优先看关键词所在的句子以及后面的句子。所以,定位这一技巧并不是只有在事实信息题中才能用,否定事实信息题当中也是可以使用的。
我们以TPO 8 The Rise of Teotihuacán的第2题为例。先来看题干:
In paragraph 1, each of the following is mentioned as a feature of the city of Teotihuacán between A.D. 150 and 700 EXCEPT
眼尖的同学可能一眼就看到了题干当中的时间线索。在托福阅读当中,时间线索是非常有利于定位的,因为数字在篇章中非常易于寻找,因此我们可以结合题干中的时间线索进行定位。
下面我们来看原文:
The city of Teotihuacán, which lay about 50 kilometers northeast of modern-day Mexico City, began its growth by 200-100 B.C.At its height, between about A.D. 150 and 700, it probably had a population of more than 125,000 people and covered at least 20 square kilometers.It had over 2,000 apartment complexes, a great market, a large number of industrial workshops, an administrative center, a number of massive religious edifices, and a regulargrid pattern of streets and buildings.Clearly, much planning and central control were involved in the expansion and ordering of this great metropolis.
大家是不是马上就能找到A.D. 150 and 700这个时间线索呢?找到了这个线索,就可以从关键词所在的句子开始看起,再结合选项,就可以马上找到答案了。
二、选项线索
选项可以说是否定事实信息题的灵魂所在。掌握了通过选项来快速解题的方法,就可以尽量避免阅读整段,并且更快速地找到答案。在否定事实信息题中,我推荐大家先读选项,理解每个选项的核心信息。先读选项有以下两个优点:
(1)熟悉选项内容,避免阅读整段:先读选项显著的优点就是避免阅读整段。由于正确答案所在的位置是不可预测的,因此先熟悉选项就能帮助大家提前了解文章内容。如果答案出现在前半段或是中间部分,那么大家就不需要读完整段了,这显然比读完整段再去看选项要省时省力。
这里我们同样以上述TPO 8 The Rise of Teotihuacán的第2题为例。我们来看选项:
A.regularly arranged streets
B.several administrative centers spread across the city
C.many manufacturing workshops
D.apartment complexes
选项并不长,内容也很清楚,因此我们很快能够确认四个选项的核心信息,明白要在原文中找到street, administrative center, workshops和apartment这些信息。再来看原文,从我们刚才找到的题干关键词A.D. 150 and 700开始,向后看:
The city of Teotihuacán, which lay about 50 kilometers northeast of modern-day Mexico City, began its growth by 200-100 B.C.At its height, between about A.D. 150 and 700, it probably had a population of more than 125,000 people and covered at least 20 square kilometers.It had over 2,000 apartment complexes, a great market, a large number of industrial workshops, an administrative center, a number of massive religious edifices, and a regulargrid pattern of streets and buildings.Clearly, much planning and central control were involved in the expansion and ordering of this great metropolis.
相信同学们很快能够找到题干关键词后方的“It had ...”句,找到D选项中的apartment complexes,C选项的workshops,B选项的administrative center,以及A选项的streets,再通过administrative center的数量不同来选到正确答案B选项。通过题干定位和先读选项,我们并不需要读完整段,只要阅读段中的两个句子就能够完成解题。
(2)选项关键词定位:如果选项中出现比较有利于定位的关键词,比如时间线索,以及大写的人名、地名、专有名词,我们也可以利用选项来进行定位,节省阅读时间。
这里我们以TPO 5 The Origin of the Pacific Island People的第1题为例。先看题干和选项:
According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true statements about Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia EXCEPT:
A.Collectively, these regions are traditionally known as Oceania.
B.These islands of Micronesia are small and spread out.
C.Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand mark the boundaries of Polynesia.
D.Melanesia is situated to the north of Micronesia.
看到这样的题干和选项,可能很多同学会觉得,我都看到了什么啊?但这样的题干和选项其实反而有利于我们通过关键词定位来找到答案。选项A的Oceania,选项B的Micronesia,选项C的Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand,以及选项D的Melanesia和Micronesia都是专有名词,不会出现同义置换的情况,因此可以利用这些专有名词作为关键词进行定位。下面我们来看原文,并且逐一用选项的关键词进行定位:
The greaterPacificregion, traditionally calledOceania, consists of three cultural areas: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.Melanesia, in the southwestPacific, contains the large islands of NewGuinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia.Micronesia, the area north of Melanesia, consists primarily of smallscatteredislands.Polynesia is the centralPacificarea in the great triangle defined by Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand.Before the arrival of Europeans, the islands in the two largest cultural areas, Polynesia and Micronesia, together contained a population estimated at 700,000.
选项A的关键词Oceania出现的句,内容也与A选项呼应,排除A选项。选项B的关键词Micronesia出现多次,我们按照原文中的顺序一个个看。由于句已经看过,因此先看Micronesia第二次出现的第三句”Micronesia, the area north of Melanesia”。这里我们恰好看到了D选项中的north,但是这一句能够和选项对应吗?眼尖的同学可能看出来了,选项将原文的Melanesia和Micronesia换了位置,而north没有变,因此D选项的内容与原文刚好相反,就是我们要找的答案。本题根据定位技巧,同样是看了段落当中的两句就完成了解题。
相信大家通过这两道例题,可以看到提前熟悉选项在这类题型当中的重要作用。在熟悉了这类题型之后,大家还可以在看完选项之后,预测原文中会如何进行同义置换,这样会更有利于大家快速解题。
三、原文线索
上面我们了解了题干和选项中的线索,而原文中同样也有可以帮助我们解题的线索。否定事实信息题当中经常会问影响某事物的因素(factor),某个现象产生的原因(cause),或某事物导致的结果(consequence),而这类信息可能会有一些提示词来帮助我们解题。
(1)列举:include, involve
以TPO 10 Variation in the Climate的第8题为例:
All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 5 as natural causes of climate change EXCEPT
A.atmospheric changes
B.the slow movement of landmasses
C.fluctuations in the amount of ice and snow
D.changes in ocean activity
To the extent that thecoverageof the global climate from these records can provide a measure of its truevariability, it should at leastindicatehow all the natural causes of climate change have combined.These include thechaoticfluctuations of the atmosphere, the slower but equallyerraticbehavior of the oceans, changes in the land surfaces, and the extent of ice and snow.Also included will be any variations that have arisen from volcanic activity, solar activity, and, possibly, human activities.

本题题干问的是气候变化的原因(cause),选项都比较短,而原文中用“These include ...” 列举了所有的cause,其中一个与选项不同。因此,如果大家在读原文的过程中遇到了include和involve这样提示列举的词,可以重点看,很有可能后面就是答案所在的部分了。另外,一些标点符号,比如连续的多个逗号或分号,以及冒号,都是在暗示我们“这里有列举,快来这里找答案”。
(2)序数词
这类情况虽然少见,但如果原文中有First, Second,Finally这类序数词,就是明摆着告诉大家,一点点看下去就能找出答案。
比如TPO 4 Deer Populations of the Puget Sound的第12题,目标段落中就用了“First ... Second ... But the most profound reason”这样的明显提示。
因此,如果大家在看原文的过程中遇到列举的提示词,连续逗号/分号这样的标点符号提示,和序数词提示,记得要重点看哦。
以上就是为大家总结的一些托福阅读否定事实信息题的解题技巧。希望大家能够用上这些解题技巧,以后在遇到这类题型时能够游刃有余,用闪电的速度完成解题。