托福閱讀插入題的完整解析

　　▇The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are general the dominant type of natural vegetation. ▇The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil.▇ This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion. ▇

　　Look at the four squares ▇ that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(選自O(shè)fficial Guide P73)

　　按照ETS官方指南上的解析，這類題型重點考查英文句子間的邏輯語義關(guān)系，即英文中句子與句子是如何銜接在一起的。所以，只要掌握了英語句子間的銜接手法(cohesive devices)，這種問題便可迎刃而解。

　　那么，英文句子有哪些銜接手法呢?

　　主要分為以下四種。

　　1. 代詞(Pronouns)

　　具體包括人稱代詞、指示代詞和關(guān)系代詞等(personal, demonstrative, relative, etc)。在上下句的關(guān)聯(lián)中，代詞是最為緊密的一類詞。當(dāng)作者再次談及上句相關(guān)話題時，為了避免重復(fù)，遵循語言學(xué)的最簡單化原理，作者會用代詞指代該話題詞。例如，

　　Speaking a foreign language is an enormous asset in the modern world. This is why so many junior high schools are now offering language classes。

　　Today's teachers are faced with a stark choice. They must decide whether to teach in a way that helps student pass standardized exams or teach in a way that actually helps students learn。

　　2. 定冠詞the + 名詞(specific articles+nouns)

　　名詞所指對象第一次出現(xiàn)時，用不定冠詞a連接，當(dāng)后句再次提及該名詞對象時，為了表示它和前一句名詞是同一關(guān)系，會用定冠詞the引出。例如，

　　A woman is walking into our classroom. The woman is our teacher。

　　3. 重復(fù)話題詞或同義近義改寫(Repetition, synonym, or slight variation of a word)

　　上下句的銜接也可以通過重復(fù)話題詞實現(xiàn)，或者是對該話題詞進行相關(guān)改寫。例如，

　　To foster healthy relationships between children in a classroom, teachers should provide time for games and fun activities. Having healthy relationships with their peers helps children gain confidence useful in other parts of their lives. (重復(fù)話題詞)

　　Before choosing a public or private school for their children, parents should take into account the cost. The price of a private school is usually much higher than that of a public school. (話題詞同義改寫)

　　4. 過渡性詞和詞組(Transitional phrases/transitional adverbs)

　　上面講到的三種句間關(guān)系屬于隱性關(guān)系。隱性關(guān)系通過上下句的語義關(guān)系體現(xiàn)?，F(xiàn)在，我們要講的是句子間的顯性關(guān)系，即通過明顯的邏輯連詞或副詞來體現(xiàn)句間關(guān)系。這些顯性關(guān)系詞包括以下類別。

　　4.1 時間關(guān)系

　　then, next, later, finally, etc。

　　4.2 因果關(guān)系

　　therefore, consequently, as a result, etc。

　　4.3 轉(zhuǎn)折關(guān)系

　　however, but, yet, nevertheless, on the other hand, etc。

　　4.4 解釋關(guān)系

　　that is, in other words, etc。

　　4.5 舉例關(guān)系

　　for instance, for example

　　例如，Peers and older siblings have a major influence on how school children behave. For instance, young children often repeat bad words they hear from their friends or brothers and sisters。

　　有了上面的理論鋪墊，我們再來看小插題就容易得多了!

　　例如，前面給出的那道例題，

　　▇The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are general the dominant type of natural vegetation. ▇The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil.▇ This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion. ▇

　　Look at the four squares ▇ that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　我們先讀給出的這句話--This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing. 這個句子使用的銜接手法(cohesive device)屬于代詞指代前文話題詞。this后面的名詞economic reliance on livestock一定在上一句里出現(xiàn)。于是，搜索段落，答案鎖定在第二個方框前的那一句The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are general the dominant type of natural vegetation。這句話與被插入的句子話題一致，都是在講"經(jīng)濟上依賴牲口"這件事，所以應(yīng)插入第二個方框。

　　同理，以下考題，請考生自測。答案見文末。

　　Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. ▇How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? ▇Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans。

　　▇Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. ▇ In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossils whale。

　　Look at the four squares ▇ that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This is a question that has puzzled scientists for ages。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(選自O(shè)fficial Guide P64)

　　Paragraph 3: ■Exhibitors, however, wanted to maximize their profits, which they could do more readily by projecting a handful of films to hundreds of customers at a time (rather than one at a time) and by charging 25 to 50 cents admission. ■About a year after the opening of the first Kinetoscope parlor in 1894, showmen such as Louis and Auguste Lumiere, Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins, and Orville and Woodville Latham (with the assistance of Edison's former assistant, William Dickson) perfected projection devices. ■These early projection devices were used in vaudeville theaters, legitimate theaters, local town halls, makeshift storefront theaters, fairgrounds, and amusement parks to show films to a mass audience.■

　　Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　When this widespread use of projection technology began to hurt his Kinetoscope business, Edison acquired a projector developed by Armat and introduced it as "Edison's latest marvel, the Vitascope."

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(選自O(shè)fficial Guide P84)

　　Before 1815 manufacturing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans. ■As master craft workers, they imparted the knowledge of their trades to apprentices and journeymen. ■In addition, women often worked in their homes part-time, making finished articles from raw material supplied by merchant capitalists. ■After 181 5 this older form of manufacturing began to give way to factories with machinery tended by unskilled or semiskilled laborers. ■Cheap transportation networks, the rise of cities, and the availability of capital and credit all stimulated the shift to factory production。

　　Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　This new form of manufacturing depended on the movement of goods to distant locations and a centralized source of laborers。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　(選自O(shè)fficial Guide P105)

　　Paragraph 6: ■Because they are always swimming, tunas simply have to open their mouths and water is forced in and over their gills. ■Accordingly, they have lost most of the muscles that other fishes use to suck in water and push it past the gills. ■In fact, tunas must swim to breathe. ■They must also keep swimming to keep from sinking, since most have largely or completely lost the swim bladder, the gas-filled sac that helps most other fish remain buoyant。

　　11. Look at the four squares [■l that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage。

　　Consequently, tunas do not need to suck in water。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　參考答案：2B，4D，4D，2B

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