7选5题型之所以难主要有几个原因:第一,该题型主要考查考生的逻辑能力,包括整篇语言逻辑和句与句之间上下文逻辑关系的判断。而这往往是熟悉了中文行文逻辑的中国考生所缺少的能力。第二,备选答案中含有两个干扰选项,这两个干扰选项在表面上看往往与正确答案有一定的相关性,这给考生解题带来很大的困难。第三,文章篇幅较长,解题时间有限(建议在25分钟之内解题),选错一题甚至可以造成两题出错。
由于该题型在考研英语中出现不久,大纲样题加真题一共只有三套,考生很难找到高质量的模拟题来训练,也很难从有限的真题中总结解题技巧和出题规律。幸运的是这种题目很早就出现在BEC(剑桥商务英语证书)阅读的第二部分,虽然考研英语不会涉及太多的商务专业知识,但这两种题型出题的思路和解题规律有极大的相似性。
在考研的现场如果考生用大量的时间来彻底读懂文章的意思其实是不现实的,也是没有必要的,正确的解题思路分为两步:
(1) 跳过空格快速通读全篇,了解文章大意。
(2) 精读空格前后两句,利用各种衔接手段选择正确的选项填入空格。
解题的关键是能娴熟地利用各种衔接手段。衔接手段分为三种:词汇衔接、逻辑衔接、结构衔接。
一.词汇衔接又可以具体分为三种:
代词、同义词/近义词、上下义词/同一范畴词对应关系。
1. 代词
英语表达中的代词出现的频率极高,代词的作用是指代前面提及的名词或形容词概念,巧妙利用这样的指代关系和根据代词的单复数差异可以准确而快速地解题。
例题:…The new design was well received by the reception staff of the hotel chain._________
正确选项句子为:They all believe that its introduction has led to a modern , more professional corporate image and greater confidence among them.
例题分析:选项中的they是一个复数人数主格代词,对应空格前句中的staff。staff是一个集合名词(全体员工),是个复数概念。代词中有一类叫不定代词,常见的有:one, everyone, everybody, each, both, all, many, these, this等,特别要注意它们所指代的名词概念的单复数性质,考生如果对此比较敏感,对解题有很大的帮助。
例题:It is important, therefore, that we should know what people using our stores want of us.__________ During the past two years, we have been working hard to improve the standard of our products in both these areas.
正确选项句子为:Research commissioned by the company shows that, above all else, customers expect fashion and value.
例题分析:空格后的句末in both these areas中both这个不定代词提示考生空格中一定出现两个并列的名词概念,即fashion and value。当然该题也可通过同义词对应解题:选项中的expect对应空格前的want,表“需求”。
2. 同义词/近义词
英语前言后语之间往往有同义词、近义词、近义表达语甚至相同词汇的重复使用,这是我们解题的一个很好的判断线索。其实就其本质而言,上文讲的代词和下文将涉及的上下义词和同一范畴词都是特殊的同义/近义词。
例题:Laura Ashley made a fortune by looking back to past centuries, searching for old designs to decorate a variety of clothes and household furnishings. _____.
正确的选项是:These traditional products created a huge wave of demand from the States and elsewhere.
例题分析:空格前句中的old和选项中的traditional是近义词,是很明显的同义对应关系。
例题:A Norwegian company, Cortex, has patented a cork, made from man-made materials which it claims is superior to the real thing. ________.
正确的选项是:I hope to be making 200million of its synthetic corks a year by the end of the decade.
例题分析:选项中的synthetic,是“人工合成的、人造的”,是前句中man-made的同义词。笔者特别查阅了高等教育出版社出的《大学英语教学大纲词汇表》,synthetic是个四级词汇,但在新东方的BEC和考研阅读课上,笔者竟惊讶地发现很多大学生朋友是不认识这个低层词汇的。在此,不得不提醒广大考生:对大纲词汇全面而熟练的掌握是高效解答这种题型的根本保证。
有的时候,如果选项中出现空格前后句里相同的词汇,尤其是实词(特别是名词),这往往是很好的提示。这就是所谓的同词重复现象。
例题:These days, Dan Baird runs Front Line Developments, his own computer games business, and has just sold his latest game to the American software giant. _______.“The computer game is now a totally accepted means of entertainment”, she says.
正确的选项是:She thinks that a lot of people feel that computer games are just a passing fad, but her view is that they are not.
例题分析:空格前后句都出现了computer game,在读选项的时候很容易注意到这个同词重复的解题线索。
3. 上下义词/同一范畴词
什么是上下义词和同一范畴词?举个例子读者就明白了。Fruit和apple之间就是上下义词,因为前者包含了后者,或可以说后者是前者的一个子集。Apple和orange之间则是同一范畴的关系,都属于fruit。利用前后句中这样的特殊的同义关系常常可以很轻松地解题。
例题:A recently study by American management institute shows that the processing of documents takes up 60% of office works’ time, 40% of labor costs and up to 10% of business income. ______.
正确的选项是:These figures are hardly surprising since documents convey nine-tenths of all information.
例题分析:选项中的these figures 提示我们前句一定出现了大于等于三个数字,figure/number/ data等都是表示“数字、数据”的意思,空格前面出现了三个百分数,属于数字的一种,是上下义词的关系。
例题:Certain key products have been subject to a thorough review, most notably menswear, where significant advances have been made in product design and manufacture. ____________.All of these have reported an increase in market share.
正确的选项是:Other areas where product innovation has been particularly effective are in lingerie, gifts and home ware.
例题分析:空格后句开头的all of these 提示我们空格里面肯定出现大于等于三个并列的名词概念,正是选项中的lingerie(女士内衣), gifts(礼品)and home ware(家居用品),这三个名词与前句中的menswear(男士服装)属于同一范畴类的事物,都是百货商店中的常见商品类别。从这道例题我们还能得出这样一个有用的结论:很多题目的衔接可能不止一个,我们可以从不同的角度来解题或对答案进行验证。
二.逻辑衔接根据前后句之间的逻辑关系又细分为:解释关系、例证关系、因果关系、顺逆关系。
1. 解释关系
前后句之间含有解释的逻辑关系,这样的逻辑关系是很隐蔽的。
例题:By 1995, the year she died, the business had grown so much that she had decided to remain involved only in the area of design. ______.
正确选项:the creative side of things was what she had always enjoyed most.
例题分析:design这个词的中文意思肯定是所有新东方读者熟知的,但笔者如果提个问题,不知道有多少读者能回答出来:What is the essential quality(nature) of a successful designer? ---一个成功的设计师的基本素质是什么?究竟怎样的人可以被称之为设计师?答案是:He or she must have original mind. ---必须具有创新思维。选项中的the creative side of things是对前句中the area of design的最好解释。其实任何语言学习的最高境界就是对语言所表达的思想的精确理解,而不是表面的语言现象。笔者留一个简单的问题给读者思考:who can be called entrepreneurs(企业家)?
2. 例证关系
前后句的某句是为了证明另一句而举的例子。例证的形式多样,但就其本质而言无非是思维上的形象(例子、类比等)和抽象(观点)的辩证关系,用到的思维过程无非就是基本的归纳(从形象到抽象)和推理(从抽象到形象)。
例题:Manager should provide regular feedback to their staff.______.
正确选项:For example, when good work has been done it must be praised.
例题分析:选项是对前句举了一个十分明显的例子。
3. 因果关系
前后句的逻辑是因果关系,常见的逻辑表达有:because, for, since, as, the reason is that,result in/ from, be due to, be attributed to 等等。还有一些表示因果逻辑关系的表达是比较隐蔽的,如:underlie(前者构成后者的基础,实际是前者是因,后者是果),再如:in response to(前者作为后者的回应,即后者是因,前者是果)。希望考生在平日英语学习中多作总结,这对考研的各个部分的解题都有好处。
例题:There is no doubt that, in an increasingly competitive trading environment, we are better equipped than ever to compete and to win and we feel increasingly optimistic.______.
正确选项:This is due to our now having a clear strategy with a focus on the customer, product improvement and store refurbishment.
例题分析:选项句中有一个非常重要的形容词clear,这个词足以说明该公司的strategy(战略)是正确的,一家公司有着清晰而正确的战略思想当然会使其蒸蒸日上。空格前面一句正是讲的该公司踌躇满志,十分乐观。空格句开头的this is due to 反映出这样的因果逻辑关系。
4. 顺逆关系
英语行文中后句对前句不是顺承逻辑关系就是逆转逻辑关系,这是显然的常识。如果空格前后两句话之间是逻辑上的逆转,则空格处很有可能是个转折逻辑的句子。
例题:Company both large and small have spend large sums of money on improving office computer facilities._______. It seems that business have failed to apply the developments in technology to greater effect.
正确选项: However, this enormous investment has not improved productivity as expected.
例题分析:空格前句作者如果不是正面也至少可以说是中性的描述:公司无论大小都在改进自己的办公室的硬件方面不惜血本投资。空格后面的一句中有一个鲜明表示负面评价的词汇:fail to。如果没有空格中的这句话,前后两句的逻辑出现了断层(logical gap)。所以考生可以在备选项中搜寻转折逻辑的各种表达法,很快就能找出正确的选项。
5. 总分结构关系
英语文章绝大多数都是总分结构,无论是全篇的逻辑,还是每一个独立的意群(一般以自然段的形式出现)的逻辑都是总分结构。利用总句和分句中可能存在的上述的各种衔接关系可以迅速地解题。由于篇幅有限,这里就不举例说明了。
下面让我们来用上述总结的方法巧解2006年真题。
41题解析
原题空格前后两句:For Williams, these activities become what he calls “electronic heroin”. (41) __________. In 1997 he lost $21,000 to one slot machine in two days. In March 1997 he lost $72,186.
正确选项:(C)By the time he had lost $5,000, he said to himself that if he could get back to even, he would quit, one night he won $5,500, but he did not quit.
分析:这是五题中最简单的一道。选项中的$5,000和$5,500与空格中的$21,000和$72,186都是金钱数字,属于同一范畴概念,由于其它选项中没有任何数字,考生应该很快能看出这个答案。另一层对应是逻辑上的,空格所在的选项句和空格后面的一句其实是用具体的事实数据在描述David Williams的赌瘾越来越大,这正是空格前句中“electronic heroin”(电子海洛因)的解释,属于我们前面总结的解释型逻辑关系。
42题解析
原题空格前后两句:Noting the “medical /psychological” nature of problem gambling behavior, the letter said that before being readmitted to the casino he would have to present medical / psychological information demonstrating that patronizing the casino would pose no threat to his safety or well-being. (42)________.The Wall Street Journal reports that the casino has 20 signs warning, “enjoy the fun and always bet with your head, not over it.”
正确选项:(A)Although no such evidence was presented, the casino’s marketing department continued to pepper him with mailings. And he entered the casino and used his Fun Card without being detected.
分析:空格前面一句中的letter一词和选项中的mailings是同义词对应。第二层对应也是同义词的对应:空格前句中的patronizing the casino(光顾赌场)和选项中entered the casino(进入赌场)其实是相同的意思。
43题解析
原题空格前后两句:Nevertheless Williams’s suit charged that the casino, knowing he was “helplessly addicted to gambling”, intentionally worked to “lure” him to “engage in conduct against his will” well. (43)_______.The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders says “pathological gambling” involves persistent, recurring and uncontrollable pursuit loss of money than of the thrill of taking risks in quest of a windfall.
正确选项:(B) It is unclear what luring was required, given his compulsive behavior. And in what sense was his will operative?
分析:这道题是很明显的同词重复现象:lure和will的重复出现。
44题解析
原题空格前后两句:The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders says “pathological gambling” involves persistent, recurring and uncontrollable pursuit loss of money than of the thrill of taking risks in quest of a windfall. (44) . Pushed by science, or what claims to be science, society is reclassifying what once were considered character flaws or moral failings as personality disorders akin to physical disabilities.
正确选项:(F) It is worrisome that society is medicalizing more and more behavioral problems, often defining as addictions what earlier, sterner generations explained as weakness of will.
分析:此题有多层的对应关系。第一层对应为:空格前句的diagnostic(诊断上的),选项中的medicalize(医学化)以及空格后面的physical(身体上的)虽然不是近义词或同义词,但很明显它们属于同一范畴,属于医学范畴,因此是同一范畴词汇对应;第二层对应为:选项中的defining as(注意选项中有倒装结构,原结构应该是define…as…)与空格后的reclassifying…as…是近义词表达法,都是表示“归类为,定义为”;第三层对应为:选项中的weakness of will (意志上的弱点)和空格后句中的character flaws(性格的缺陷)是上下义词的关系,前者属于后者。
45题解析
原题空格前后两句:Pushed by science, or what claims to be science, society is reclassifying what once were considered character flaws or moral failings as personality disorders akin to physical disabilities. (45)___________. Forty-four states have lotteries, 29 have casinos, and most of these states are to varying degrees dependent on---you might say addicted to---revenues from wagering.
正确选项:(D) Gambling has been a common feature of American life forever, but for a long time it was broadly considered a sin, or a social disease. Now it is a social policy: the most important and aggressive promoter of gambling in America is the government.
分析:此题有两层对应。第一层对应是:空格后面的“Forty-four states have lotteries, 29 have casinos, and most of these states are to varying degrees dependent on---you might say addicted to---revenues from wagering.”(44个州发行各种彩票,29个州开设赌场,大多数州在不同程度上依赖于赌场收入)是以具体的例子来说明选项中的“ Gambling has been a common feature of American life forever”(赌博已经成为美国生活中的一个司空见惯的现象),是上文总结的例证逻辑关系。第二层对应是:空格后句中的revenues(收入)一词是个专业术语,特别指国家政府的财政收入。它与空格后的government属于同一范畴词汇对应关系。
从上面的分析我们不难看出2006年的考研七选五真题解题基本都是词汇上的对应关系,其难度远不如BEC的真题,考生只要能熟练掌握上文总结的方法,多做习题,一定能在考试中从容对应,考出理想的成绩。 |