任何的语言类考试中，阅读理解的题目都是以文章为主的，托福也不例外。不过，很多考生把过的精力放在题目上，而忽视了阅读文章内在的逻辑联系，这当然和官方没有详细的说明以及同学们接触逻辑思维较少有关系。有些文章内在的逻辑关系值得关注，因为这些逻辑限制了出题人的思路，同时对解题有莫大帮助。
这里所谈到的逻辑，就是文章中词与词，句与句，及段与段之间的关系。这些关系把文章中的信息有机的联系在一起，而出题人就会根据这些关系出题目及设置选项。如Rhetorical Purpose（修辞目的）这种题型中的举例论证题，考察的就是文章中的总分关系。总体来讲，文章中最主要的两种关系分别是：并列和总分。并列就像是左手和右手的关系，而总分就像身体和双手的关系。两种逻辑有着不同的用法。
首先是并列。当文中的若干成分是并列关系，就会形成相似关系，不管是从语义还是形式的角度。如：
Billsof exchange, which had their origins in medieval Italy, were promissory notes(written promises to pay a specified amount of money by a certain date) thatcould be sold to third parties. In this way, they provided credit. ■Atmid-century, an Antwerp financier only slightly exaggerated when he claimed,“0ne can no more trade without bills of exchange than sail without water."■Merchantsno longer had to carry gold and silver over long, dangerous journeys. ■AnAmsterdam merchant purchasing soap from a merchant in Marseille could go to anexchanger and pay the exchanger the equivalent sum in guilders, the Dutchcurrency. ■Theexchanger would then send a bill of exchange to a colleague in Marseille,authorizing the colleague to pay the Marseille merchant in the merchant's owncurrency after the actual exchange of goods had taken place.
13. Look at thefour squares [■] that indicate where the following sentencecould be added to the passage.
They could also avoid having to identify and assess the value of a widevariety of coins issued in many different places.
Where would the sentence best fit?
这是一道插入文本题，最终把黑体的句子插入到文中的第三个空格，理由是：黑体的句子中出现了also，该词表示并列关系，也就是当把该句子插入在某个位置是合适的，该句话和前面句子是并列关系，会出现形式上的相似性。该句的They对应了前面的Merchants，avoid对应了no longer（都表示否定的语义），having to对应了前面的had to，有着极大的相似甚至是对称性。
其次是总分关系。作者在构建文章时，不同句子的地位是不一样的。有的句子可以充当主题，而有的句子只能充当细节。文中的细节就是用来支持主题的。因此我们可以把“主题-细节”关系看作“总-分”关系。如文章中经常出现的举例论证。如：
Very often such statues were enclosed inrectangular shrines or wall niches whose only opening was at the front, makingit natural for the statue to display frontality. Other statues were designed tobe placed within an architectural setting, for instance, in front of the monumentalentrance gateways to temples known as pylons, or in pillared courts, where they wouldbe placed against or between pillars: their frontality worked perfectly withinthe architectural context.
6. The author mentions “an architectural setting” in the passage in order to
A. suggest that architecture was as important assculpture to Egyptian artists
B.offer a furtherexplanation for the frontal pose of Egyptian statues
C. explain how the display of statues replacedother forms of architectural decoration
D.illustrate thereligious function of Egyptian statues
本题考查的是an architectural setting在文中的作用。文中在其附近出现了明显的举例逻辑词：for instance，于是就能判断该信息为例子，那么它的作用就是用来说明前面的观点。于是本题目的正确答案对应的就是例子前面的那句话，即“Very often such statues…”，进而得出正确答案为B.
由于这种逻辑关系是构建文章的必要组成，所以它不仅适合于托福考试，还适合所有的国外其他考试（如GRE，GMAT，SAT，IELTS等）以及国内的英语考试（如考研英语等）。再把握一些逻辑的基础上，考生就可以很从容的应对一些涉及到逻辑的题目。
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