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GRE阅读特点及题型解析

GRE阅读有如下几个特点：

一、文章要求需有适合研究生层面的所谓强度(tension)，这种强

度通过三个方面来实现，一是基本不采用线性(linear)文章，多数文

章蜿蜒曲折，体现出GRE人文社科类文章所有传到的世界本就是二律

背反的哲学本质。

二、文章体裁固定，ETS在筛选文章的过程中用一个软件对文章体裁实行严格的限制，只要四类文章，Physical Science (自然科学)、Biological Science(生物科学)、Arts(艺术)、Humanities(人文科学)。GRE文章体裁的固定性为考生的复习框定了范围，在有经验的老

师的指导下学生能够减少复习的盲目性，提升复习效率。

三、GRE文章追求水准的公平性(fairness)。公平性是ETS这样一家第三方机构生存的基础。所以决定了GRE的文章的客观公正性，文

章不可能出现极端的观点，非黑即白的阐释，体现出美国研究生院要

求学生具备最基本的批判性思维(critical thinking)的水平要求标准。作者将在未来的12期GRE阅读题型系列解析中深入分析GRE阅读出题

思路和攻克这个部分的方法和建议。

本期我们从第一种题型主旨题开始说起。

一篇文章拿出来对考生实行测试大概要从三个方面实行测试：一、考察考生对文章大逻辑的把握水平;二、考察考生对文章小逻辑的把握

水平;三、考察考生对细节的精确定位与同义替换的水平。而我们今天

要讨论的就是第一种：对文章大逻辑的考察题型--- 主旨题。

(一)、主旨题分类：

主旨题主要是考察考生对于文章大逻辑把握的水平。细分起来，

主旨题分为三种：内容性主旨题、架构性主旨题、其他主旨题。

(二)、主旨题常见问法：

The primary purpose of the passage is to… (内容性主旨题)

The author is primarily concerned with… (内容性主旨题)

Which of the following best states the central idea of

the passage? (内容性主旨题)

Which of the following statements best describes the organization of… (架构性主旨题)

Which of the following is the most accurate description

of the organization of…? (架构性主旨题)

Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage? (其他主旨题—文章标题题)

The passage would be most likely to appear as a part of… (其他主旨题--文章段落、句子作用题)

(三)、解题思路：

解决主旨题有两大思路：从文章入手和从题目选项入手。

a)从文章入手指的是着重分析文章段落的首句(Topic Sentence)，因为往往准确选项都是TS的改写。分析的时候有一点要注意的是GRE

文章多数TS并不是每段的最后一句话，而是文章的第一句。这个跟西

方人写文章要求的PIE 结构(point，illustrate，explain)相关系。

中文更喜欢压轴(end weight)，因为受到中文文章写法的影响，考生

多数用中文的思维去阅读英文的文章，当然不得要领了。故而作者在

讲授GRE阅读过程中首先是从中西文章写作思路异同的角度改变学生

不恰当的阅读方法入手，以先见森林后见树木的方法迅速从战略和战

术层面提升考生的水平。

我们来看一个内容型主旨题：

A mysterious phenomenon is the ability of over-water migrants to travel on course. Birds, bees, and other species can keep track of time without any sensory cues from the outside world, and such “biological clocks” clearly contribute to their “compass sense.” For example, they can use the position of the Sun or stars, along with the time of day, to find north. But compass sense alone cannot explain how birds navigate the ocean： after a flock traveling east is blown far south by a storm, it will assume the proper northeasterly course to compensate. Perhaps, some scientists thought, migrants determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would demand of the animals a fantastic map sense. Researchers now know that some species have a magnetic sense, which might allow migrants to determine their geographic location by detecting variations in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field.

1. The main idea of the passage is that

(A) migration over land requires a simpler explanation than migration over water does

(B) the means by which animals migrate over water are complex and only partly understood

(D) knowledge of geographic location is essential to migrants with little or no compass sense

(E) explanations of how animals migrate tend to replace, rather than build on, one another