GRE阅读题型解析之主旨题

阅读是GRE general test中最令考生头疼的一类题目了，同时也是得分率最低的一题。其特点是“时间紧，任务重”。考生需在12~15分钟内完成近2,000字的阅读以及相应的11道题目，并且所涉及的文章大多是生涩难懂的具有一定专业性的学术性文章。因此，对于大多数的考生而言，了解阅读的各种题型，并且了解各个题型的出题方式及应试方法是拿下GRE阅读的唯一途径。在各类题型中，主旨题是出现频率最高的一类题目，每篇文章后面都会有至少一道这样养的题目。相对于同样是必考的细节题和推断题来说，主旨题应该是较为容易拿分的，下面笔者就针对主旨题进行一些分析。

（一）、主旨题分类：

主旨题主要是考察考生对于文章的宏观把握的能力。细分起来，主旨题分为四种：目的性主旨题、写法性主旨题、标题题和变相主旨题。

（二）、主旨题常见问法：

The primary purpose of the passage is to… (目的性主旨题)

The author is primarily concerned with… (目的性主旨题)

Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage? （目的性主旨题）

… best describes the organization of… （写法性主旨题）

Which of the following is the most accurate description of the organization of…? （写法性主旨题）

In developing the main idea of the passage, the author dose which of the following? （写法性主旨题）

Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage? （标题题）

The passage would be most likely to appear as a part of… （变相主题题）

（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），因为往往正确选项都是TS的改写。分析的时候有一点要注意的，那就是TS并不绝对是每段的最后一句话，而有可能是文章的第二句甚至是第三句话。

Example：

Because of its accuracy in outlining the Earth’s subsurface, the seismic-reflection method remains the most important tool in the search for petroleum reserves. In field practice, a subsurface is mapped by arranging a series of wave-train sources, such as small dynamite explosions, in a grid pattern. As each source is activated, it generates a wave train that moves downward at a speed determined uniquely by the rock’s elastic characteristics. As rock interfaces are crossed, the elastic characteristics encountered generally change abruptly, which causes part of the energy to be reflected back to the surface, where it is recorded by seismic instruments. The seismic records must be processed to correct for positional differences between the source and the receiver, for unrelated wave trains, and for multiple reflections from the rock interfaces. Then the data acquired at each of the specific source locations are combined to generate a physical profile of the subsurface, which can eventually be used to select targets for drilling.

Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

(A)A method is criticized, and an alternative is suggested.

(B)An illustration is examined, and some errors are exposed.

(C)An assertion is made, and a procedure is outlined.

(D)A series of examples is presented, and a conclusion is drawn.

(E)A hypothesis is advanced, and supporting evidence is supplied.

分析：作者在文章的第一句话(TS)中就提出了自己的观点：Because of its accuracy in outlining the Earth’s subsurface, the seismic-reflection method remains the most important tool in the search for petroleum reserves.在理解了这句话后，我们排查五个选项，发现C选项是唯一对TS的解释，所以是正确选项。

b)从题目选项入手指的是重点分析5个待选的选项，对于主旨题来说，正确的选项都是对于文章的概括或者是对于背景的交代，所以我们可以大胆地剔除那些包含具体事物描述或叙述的选项。但是需要强调的是，这思路并不能保证我们做对每一道主旨题，而是能够加快我们解题速度的一种方法。因此就不再举例说明了。

总的说来，主旨题是GRE阅读各类题目中最简单的一种题型了，只要能够很好地理解段落的Topic Sentence并能准确把握段落大意，一般这类题目的分数都能够得到。