托福阅读之句子插入题详解

 句子插入题是托福阅读中的一道必考题型，题量不多，每篇文章中出现一道。句子插入题是给出一句话让我们来判断这句话应该加入1-2个段落中的四个黑方块的哪个部分，用鼠标点击所选的黑色方块即可。做这类题目的关键首先是理解待插入的句子，寻找其中的衔接词，分析这个句子的特点和其在文中的作用，然后把这个句子带入原文中检验其是否合适。下面朗阁海外考试研究中心的专家将就句子插入题的解题步骤做出详细的说明。

一、解题步骤与解题要点

Ø  阅读并分析待插入的句子，找出其中的线索词；

Ø  从第一个小黑方块前一句开始读，逐一代入进行验证；

Ø  插入句必须满足前后两条线索，先前再后。（先用前线索再看后线索）

从此步骤中可以看出掌握线索词是解答此题的关键，那么线索词都有哪些？主要有两大类，指代线索和逻辑线索。

1. 指代线索

(1). 指代词(they, it, them)必然有所指代；指代词(this, these, their, other, another, such)后面若有名词短语，则向前寻找此名词短语或其同义改写。

例题1:

Paragraph 4: Regularly flowing rivers and streams that originate within arid lands are known as "endogenous." These are generally fed by groundwater springs, and many issue from limestone massifs, such as the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Basaltic rocks also support springs, notably at the Jabal Al-Arab on the Jordan-Syria border. ■Endogenous rivers often do not reach the sea but drain into inland basins, where the water evaporates or is lost in the ground. ■Most desert streambeds are normally dry, but they occasionally receive large flows of water and sediment. ■

Paragraph 5: Deserts contain large amounts of groundwater when compared to the amounts they hold in surface stores such as lakes and rivers. ■But only a small fraction of groundwater enters the hydrological cycle—feeding the flows of streams, maintaining lake levels, and being recharged (or refilled) through surface flows and rainwater. (TPO 16 Water in the Desert)

12. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

These sudden floods provide important water supplies but can also be highly destructive.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：

1. 分析黑体句，找到其中的线索词即为these sudden floods, 则要插入的方块前面必定要出现名词短语sudden floods或是其同义改写。

2. 从第一个小黑方块前一句开始读，寻找与线索词相吻合的信息。

3. 在第三个方块前面出现了large flows of water and sediment（巨大的水流和沉积物），即为sudden floods的同义替换，所以答案应当是第三个黑方块的位置。

例题2:

Paragraph 4: One of the outer planets, Saturn, has a density of only 0.7 that of water, which means that Saturn would float in water. Variations in the composition of the planets are largely responsible for the density differences. ■The substances that make up both groups of planets are divided into three groups—gases, rocks, and ices—based on their melting points. ■The terrestrial planets are mostly rocks: dense rocky and metallic material, with minor amounts of gases. ■The Jovian planets, on the other hand, contain a large percentage of the gases hydrogen and helium, with varying amounts of ices: mostly water, ammonia, and methane ices. ■ (TPO 16 Planets in Our Solar System)

12. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

This explains their relatively low densities.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：首先分析待插入的句子，涉及两个指代词，this和their, 根据这两个指代词则能够推出前文一定要讲到某些密度较低的行星（即their所指代的），并且前面还要给出密度低的原因（即this所指代的）。然后阅读段落，发现段落中首先提到行星构成成分的不同会导致密度的差异，然后讲到类地行星(terrestrial planets)主要由密度大的石头组成，然后提到类木行星(Jovian planets)是由大量的气体组成的，所以正确答案应是第四个黑方块的位置。

(2). 定冠词the+名词，用于重复上文提到的事物

例题1:

Paragraph 3: Film analysis of the infant's responses, heart and respiration rate monitors, and nonnutritive sucking devices are used as effective tools in understanding infant perception. ■Film analysis permits researchers to carefully study the infant's responses over and over and in slow motion. ■Precise measurements can be made of the length and frequency of the infant's attention between two stimuli. ■Heart and respiration monitors provide the investigator with the number of heartbeats or breaths taken when a new stimulus is presented. ■Numerical increases are used as quantifiable indicators of heightened interest in the new stimulus. Increases in nonnutritive sucking were first used as an assessment measure by researchers in 1969.

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

The repetition allows researchers to observe the infant's behavior until they reach agreement about the presence and the degree of the infant's response.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：分析黑体句，找到线索词the repetition, 根据规则前文中应出现repetition这个信息，从第一个小黑方块前一句开始分析，发现第二个黑方块前面出现了…over and over and in slow motion, 识别出是repetition的同义改写，则答案即为第二个小黑方块位置。

例题2:

The universal global warming at the end of the Ice Age had dramatic effects on temperate regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. Ice sheets retreated and sea levels rose. ■The climatic changes in southwestern Asia were more subtle, in that they involved shifts in mountain snow lines, rainfall patterns, and vegetation cover. ■However, these same cycles of change had momentous impacts on the sparse human populations of the region. ■At the end of the Ice Age, no more than a few thousand foragers lived along the eastern Mediterranean coast, in the Jordan and Euphrates valleys. Within 2,000 years, the human population of the region numbered in the tens of thousands, all as a result of village life and farming. ■Thanks to new environmental and archaeological discoveries, we now know something about this remarkable change in local life.

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

One of the major effects was the rapid growth of the human population itself.

Where would the sentence best fit?

Click on a square [■] to insert the sentence in the passage.

解析：分析待插入的句子，可以找到线索词the major effects, 则推出前文中一定要提到effects或其同义替换，本题中还有一个后线索，后面的句子中应该要提到人口的迅速增长这个信息。阅读段落，发现these same cycles of change had momentous impacts on the sparse human populations of the region中impacts即为effects的同义替换，并且第三个黑方块后面的两句话都在详细论述人口从最初的几千人增加到上万人，所以前后都符合线索词，则正确答案为第三个黑方块。

2. 逻辑线索

在逻辑线索中主要会出现以下几种情况：

(1). 插入句中出现表结果的表达：一般可以排除段首位置，注意因果的逻辑关系

表示因果关系的信号词：therefore, thus, accordingly, consequently, hence, so, as a result等。

例题：

Paragraph 3: Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. █This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. █But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. █Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing. █ (TPO 4 Cave Art in Europe)

13. Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

Therefore, if the paintings were connected with hunting, some other explanation is needed.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：阅读黑体句，发现了因果关系词therefore, 从此句意思（因此，如果这些绘画与狩猎有关，那么必定会有其他一些解释）来看，待插入的位置前面应当出现the paintings were connected with hunting这个信息，后面应当出现some other explanation。阅读段落，发现在第三个方块处信息有所转变，其前面在讲岩壁画的主要动机是提高打猎命中率，后面在讲岩壁画或许是出于增加猎物的需求而画的画，所以跟前面的分析相吻合，答案即为第三个黑方块。

(2). 插入句中出现表转折的信号词：插入的句子与前一句话的内容形成转折关系。

标示词：however, but, nevertheless, yet, on the other hand, rather than, instead of等

例题：

Paragraph 5: Children normally desire to vent aggressive impulses on other people, including their parents, because even the most attentive parents cannot gratify all of their demands immediately. ■Yet children, also fearing their parents' punishment and the loss of parental love, come to repress most aggressive impulses. ■The Freudian perspective, in a sense: sees us as "steam engines." ■By holding in rather than venting "steam," we set the stage for future explosions. ■Pent-up aggressive impulses demand outlets. They may be expressed toward parents in indirect ways such as destroying furniture, or they may be expressed toward strangers later in life. (OG Aggression)

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

According to Freud, however, impulses that have been repressed continue to exist and demand expression.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：黑体句中出现了表转折的逻辑关系词however, 此句意思大意为“被压抑的冲动会继续存在并且要求表现出来”。阅读段落，发现第二个黑方块前面一句大意为“儿童由于害怕父母的惩罚和失去父母的爱通常会压抑他们绝大多数的冲动”，看到这句话则可以发现其与待插入的句子句意有转折关系，所以答案即为第二个黑方块。

(3). 举例关系

若出现for example的举例，则找其对应的分论点，插入句放在对应观点之后。

例题1:

Paragraph 7: Although the ecosystem concept was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, it is no longer the dominant paradigm. ■ Gleason's arguments against climax and biome are largely valid against ecosystems as well. ■ Furthermore, the number of interactions is so great that they are difficult to analyze, even with the help of large computers. Finally, younger ecologists have found ecological problems involving behavior and life-history adaptations more attractive than measuring physical constants. ■ Nevertheless, one still speaks of the ecosystem when referring to a local association of animals and plants, usually without paying much attention to the energy aspects. ■ (TPO 19 Succession, Climax, and Ecosystems)

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

They may be more interested in researching, for example, the adaptations that some aquatic animals undergo to survive in dry desert environments.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：黑体句中出现了for example, 则判断出此句为一个举例信息，则需要寻找其所对应的分论点，并且发现人称代词they, 说明前句中要提到一些人方可。阅读段落后发现，第三个空格前出现了相关信息，younger ecologists have found…more attractive可对应信息they may be more interested in researching …, 信息ecological problems involving behavior and life-history adaptations是adaptations that some aquatic animals undergo to survive in dry desert environments的上义信息，则可判断出答案为第三个黑方块。

例题2:

Paragraph 6: Second, primary groups are fundamental because they provide the settings in which we meet most of our personal needs. ■Within them, we experience companionship, love, security, and an overall sense of well-being. ■Not surprisingly, sociologists find that the strength of a group's primary ties has implications for the group's functioning. ■For example, the stronger the primary group ties of a sports team playing together, the better their record is. ■

12. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

People who do not live alone, for example, tend to make healthier life choices and develop fewer pathologies than people who live by themselves.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：分析待插入的句子，我们也看到了for example, 则表明本句是一个举例信息，我们同样要找到其所对应的分论点，然后放在其分论点之后即可。寻找分论点则必须依赖于对句意的理解。待插入句意为“非独居的人倾向于做出更健康的生活选择，并且比起独居的人有着更少的疾病”，我们可以看到本句所表述的大意即为非独居的人会拥有的好处。阅读段落，我们发现第二句话，大意为“在主要群体中，我们会感受到陪伴，爱，安全感还有一种整体的幸福感”，这句话写出了在主要群体中生活的好处，可以充当我们举例信息的论点，则答案即为第二个黑方块。

(4). 并列关系

注意also, again等表示再一次的词汇。

例题：

Less colorful birds and animals that inhabit the rain forest tend to rely on forms of signaling other than the visual, particularly over long distances. ■ The piercing cries of the rhinoceros hornbill characterize the Southeast Asian rain forest, as do the unmistakable calls of the gibbons. ■ In densely wooded environments, sound is the best means of communication over distance because in comparison with light, it travels with little impediment from trees and other vegetation. ■ In forests, visual signals can be seen only at short distances, where they are not obstructed by trees. ■ The male riflebird exploits both of these modes of signaling simultaneously in his courtship display. (TPO 17 Animal Signals in the Rain Forest)

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

There is also the long, rather terrifying call of the male orangutan, which carries over considerable distances to advertise his presence.

Where would the sentence best fit?

解析：分析待插入的句子发现句子中出现了also一词，本句意为“这里也有红毛猩猩的狭长的令人害怕的叫喊声”，通过also一词可以推断出前文也应出现“叫喊声”这一信息。阅读段落，则发现第二句中写到“犀鸟的刺耳的叫喊声给东南亚的热带雨林赋予了特色，就像是长臂猿那明显的叫喊声一样”，本句中提到了犀鸟和长臂猿的叫喊声，所以应放在此句后面，第二个黑方块即为正确答案。

以上即是对托福阅读句子插入题的详细分析，相信考生们掌握了以上的技巧和方法，对句子插入题能有更深入的了解，并且对于此类题目的解题方法也更加得心应手了。