托福考试的阅读部分，一共涉及到十种题型。其中包括：词汇层面的如词汇题；句子层面的如句子简化题；段落层面如事实细节题；还有全文层面的如小结题。其中，最容易让同学们产生困扰的就是段落层面的几个题型。他们的出题方式比较多样化，而且出现的概率也很大。所以，无论从得分角度，还是从提高阅读能力的角度，都对同学们非常重要。本文将针对这类型中的三个题型（事实信息题、推断题、修辞目的题）进行讲解，希望对同学们有所帮助。
事实信息题、推断题、修辞目的题，这三个题型在解题通常会涉及几种不同的范围，例如，答案可能仅根据一句话就能得到，也可能要连续理解几句话或是一整段话，笔者下面用几个例题来阐述这几种情况该如何解题。
1 事实信息题
1.1 根据一句话解题
例Regarding the appearance of celebrities in advertisements that do not involvehost selling, the evidence is mixed. Researcher Charles Atkin found thatchildren believe that the characters used to advertise breakfast cereals areknowledgeable about cereals, and children accept such characters as crediblesources of nutritional information. This finding was even more marked for heavyviewers of television. In addition, children feel validated in their choice ofa product when a celebrity endorses that product. A study of children in HongKong, however, found that the presence of celebrities in advertisements couldnegatively affect the children’sperceptions of a product if the children did not like the celebrity inquestion.
According to this paragraph, what did a study of children in Hong Kongshow about the use of celebrities in advertisements aimed at children?
A It is most effective withchildren who watch a lot of television.
B It has little effect if thecelebrities are not familiar to most children.
C It is more effective inmarketing cereals and food products than in marketing other kinds of products.
D It can have a negative effect if the celebrities are not popular withchildren
此题可以直接根据“Hong Kong”这个非常明显的地名回文中定位至最后一句话，然后可以根据这句话内容轻松地选出D选项。
1.2 根据多句话解题
例Modernattitudes to Roman civilization range from the infinitely impressed to thethorough disgusted. As always, there are the power worshippers, especiallyamong historians, who are predisposed to admire whatever is strong, who feelmore attracted to the might of Rome than to the subtlety of Greece. At the sametime, there is a solid body of opinion that dislikes Rome. For many, Rome is atbest the imitator and the continuator of Greece on a larger scale. Greekcivilization had quality; Rome, mere quantity. Greece was the inventor; Rome,the research and development division. Such indeed was the opinion of some ofthe more intellectual Romans.”had the Greeks held novelty in such disdain as we,” asked Horace in his Epistle, “what work of ancient date would nowexist?”
This paragraph indicates that somehistorians admire Roman civilization because of
A the diversity of cultures withinRoman society
B its strength
C its innovative nature
D the large body of literature that itdeveloped
此题可以通过题目中的“Romancivilization”定位至第一句话。但遗憾的是，并没有我们要找的答案，第一句中并没有说为什么somehistorians会admireRoman civilization，所以我们只好向下看一句，看到了“powerworshippers”，太好了！这个词正是“admire”的同义替换，答案当然就在这一句，根据这句话的意思，可以明确答案是B选项。我们在托福阅读中，会遇到这类只看一句话没办法得到答案的题目，同学们要注意在上下句中再搜索一下，方能得到答案。
1.3 根据整段话解题
例Sociologistshave built on the distinction between expressive and instrumental ties todistinguish between two types of groups: primary and secondary. A primary groupinvolves two or more people who enjoy a direct, intimate, cohesive relationshipwith one another. Expressive ties predominate in primary groups; we view thepeople as ends in themselves and valuable in their own right. A secondary groupentails two or more people who are involved in an impersonal relationship andhave come together for a specific, practical purpose. Instrumental tiespredominate in secondary groups; we perceive people as means to ends ratherthan as ends in their own right. Sometimes primary group relationships evolveout of secondary group relationships. This happens in many work settings.
According to this paragraph, what dosociologists see as the main difference between primary and secondary groups?
A Primary groups consist of peopleworking together, while secondary groups exist outside of work settings.
B In primary groups people are seen asmeans, while in secondary groups people are seen as ends.
C Primary groups involve personalrelationships, while secondary groups are mainly practical in purpose.
D Primary groups are generally small,while secondary groups often contain more than two people.
此题根据题目中的几个关键词，可以明确定位于第一句话，但是第一句话只说了有这样的两种分类，没有提到题目中要求我们找到的“maindifference”，所以还要继续向下看。通过第一句，我们已经可以判断出来本段是总分结构，下面分别介绍“primaryand secondary”，而且这个介绍分布于整个段落，所以我们必须把整个段落全部读完才能找到此题目的答案，应该选的是C选项。这类题目难度最大，但是出现的概率很低，所以同学们也不要担心。只要大家对段落的结构能够快速把握，也是可以很快解题的。
2推断题
2.1 根据一句话解题
例 Rainfall is not completely absent indesert areas, but it is highly variable. An annual rainfall of four inches isoften used to define the limits of a desert. The impact of rainfall upon thesurface water and groundwater resources of the desert is greatly influenced bylandforms. Flats and depressions where water can collect are common features,but they make up only a small part of the landscape.
Which of the following statementsabout annual rainfall can be inferred from this paragraph
A Flatdesert areas receive more annual rainfall than desert areas with mountains
B Areas that receive more than fourinches of rain per year are not considered deserts.
C Manyareas receive less than four inches of annual rainfall, but only a few aredeserts
D Annualrainfall has no impact on the groundwater resources of desert areas.
此题解法和前面例题1.1很类似，可以根据题目中的关键词“annualrainfall”回文中定位至第二句，读懂该句的意思是“以年降雨量四英寸定义沙漠的限制”。请大家注意，这道题是一个推断题，所以答案必定是根据这句话经推断得到的。据此推断，如果某地区降雨量超过四英寸就不认为是沙漠了；反之，则相反。所以根据我们推断之后的意思，可以选择答案B选项。
2.2 根据多句话解题
例 Only recently have investigatorsconsidered using these plants to clean up soil and waste sites that have beencontaminated by toxic levels of heavy metals –an environmentally friendly approach known as phytoremediation. This scenariobegins with the planting of hyper accumulating species in the target area, suchas an abandoned mine or an irrigation pond contaminated by runoff. Toxicminerals would first be absorbed by roots but later relocated to the stem andleaves. A harvest of the shoots would remove the toxic compounds off site to beburned or composted to recover the metal for industrial uses. After severalyears of cultivation and harvest, the site would be restored at a cost muchlower than the price of excavation and reburial, the standard practice forremediation of contaminated soils.
It can be inferred from this paragraph that compared withstandard practices for remediation of contaminated soils, phytoremediation
A does not allow for the use of theremoved minerals for industrial purposes.
B can be faster to implement
C is equally friendly to theenvironment
D is less suitable for soils that needto be used within a short period of time.
此题同样需要根据题目中给的信息回文中先定位。我们发现“phytoremediation”出现在第一句的结尾处，那么，关于它的描述只能往后看；再根据题目中另一个关键词“standardpractices for remediation of contaminated soils”定位至最后一句话，我们就可以重点读这句话，这句话大概的意思是经过几年的播种和收割，这个地区的土壤情况可以恢复，也就是说不能短期内马上恢复，所以答案应该选D选项。这类型题目，毫无疑问通过一句话是没办法得到答案的，需要针对题目中的内容进行分析定位，找到相关内容后，千万别忘了！还要做一个推断的工作。
2.3 根据整段话解题
例Several skeletons of another earlywhale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and nowexposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12million years after Pakicetus. Many incomplete skeletons were found but theyincluded, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a complete hind leg thatfeatures a foot with three tiny toes. Such legs would have been far too smallto have supported the 50-foot-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus wasundoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial,hind legs.
It can be inferred that Basilosaurus bred and gave birthin which of the following locations
A On land
B Both on land and at sea
C In shallow water
D In a marine environment
此题题目中比较有效的信息只有“Basilosaurus”，所以根据它回文中进行定位。在第一句、倒数第二句、倒数第一句可以找到……怎么办，别太懒了亲，老老实实把一整段读完吧。读到第三句，发现这个Basilosaurus脚趾头很少很小，第四句发现这个小脚不能支撑Basilosaurus庞大的身躯，第五句知道了Basilosaurus们是彻头彻尾的海洋性生物。哈哈！结果出来了！既然吃喝拉撒都在海里，那么题目中问的“bredand gave birth”的“locations”只能在海里了，此题选D选项。
3. 修辞目的题
鉴于这道题很多同学不太熟悉，笔者先介绍下什么是修辞目的题。修辞目的题主要考察的是对作者在文章中使用某个词语、句子、或者段落的目的。它常见的提问方式是：“why does the author mention XX? (作者为什么提到XX？)”或者“How is paragraph X organized？(第X段的组织结构是什么?)”。这类题型的解题关键是在阅读段落的过程中，要掌握作者的写作意图，站在作者的角度思考问题。作者使用一个这个词语或者段落，归根到底就是使用一个具体的例子来支撑这一段的主要观点，所以正确答案一定是对观点句的同义替换。而对于段落目的的考察，其实也是对该段落的主旨的考察。下面，笔者根据对某个词语、句子、或者段落的目的的考察进行题目分析。
3.1 作者使用某个词语的目的：
例Scientistshave known for some time that certain plants, called hyper accumulators, canconcentrate minerals at levels a hundredfold or greater than normal. A surveyof known hyper accumulators identified that 75 percent of them amassed nickel,cobalt, copper, zinc, manganese, lead, and cadmium are other minerals ofchoice. Hyper accumulators run the entire range of the plant world. They may beherbs, shrubs, or trees. Many members of the mustard family, spurgefamily, legume family, and grass family are top hyper accumulators. Many arefound in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, where accumulation ofhigh concentrations of metals may afford some protection against plant-eatinginsects and microbial pathogens.
Why does theauthor mention herbs, shrubs, and trees?
A. To provide examples of plant types thatcannot tolerate high levels of harmful minerals.
B. To show why so many plants are hyperaccumulators.
C. To help explain why hyper accumulators canbe found in so many different places.
D. To emphasize that hyper accumulators occurin a wide range of plant types.
此题出题者已经帮我们定位了好了，我们只需根据题目中画线部分直接找到所在位置即可。既然这几个画线的小东西是一个具体例子，那么它出现的目的自然是支撑观点的。观点在哪里呢？自然是前一句，为什么呢？因为画线部分前面出现They，说明这句话是承接上一句说的，我们就来看看前一句。根据前一句“Hyper accumulators run the entire range of the plantworld.”的意思，我们可以直接选择D选项。
3.2 作者使用某个句子的目的：
例It would appear that the instability of the climaticconditions led populations that had originally been nomadic to settle down anddevelop a sedentary style of life, which led in turn to population growth andto the need to increase the amount of food available. Farming originated inthese conditions. Later on, it became very difficult to change because of thesignificant expansion of these populations. It could be argued, however, thatthese conditions are not sufficient to explain the origins of agriculture. Earthhad experienced previous periods of climatic change, and yet agriculture hadnot been developed.
Why does theauthor state that "Earth had experienced previous periods of climaticchange, and yet agriculture had not been developed”?
A. Tosuggest that climate change had occurred long before the development ofagriculture
B.To argue that climate change does not properly explain why agriculturedeveloped
C.To challenge the assumption that agriculture developed only in some parts ofthe world
D. To question the claim that climate changeoccurred at the time when agriculture developed
此题做法和前一题一样，文中同样帮我们锁定好题目中的信息了。那么，答案无疑是前一句了。这又是为什么呢？因为前一句中出现了“however”，出现在转折词后面的例子当然也只能支撑它后面的观点。所以，读一下前一句，答案果断选B选项。同学们是否发现，其实使用某个词或者某个句子的解法是很类似的，也可以把这两个类型归位一类。我们下面一起来看一种比较特殊的修辞目的题。
3.3 作者使用某个段落的目的：
例The burningof fuel, such as by cars, is not the only source of this increased heat. Two other factorscontribute to the higher overall temperature in cities.The first is the heat capacity of the materials that constitute the city, which istypically dominated by concrete and asphalt. During the day, heat from the Suncan be conducted into these materials and stored — to be released at night. Butin the countryside materials have a significantly lower heat capacity because avegetative blanket prevents heat from easily flowing into and out of theground. The second factor is that radiant heat coming into the city from the Sun is trapped in twoways: (1) by acontinuing series of reflection among the numerous vertical surfaces thatbuildings present and (2) by the dust dome, the cloudlike layer of polluted air that most citiesproduce. Shortwave radiation from the Sun passes through the pollution domemore easily than outgoing longwave radiation does; the latter is absorbed bythe gaseous pollutants of the dome and reradiated back to the urban surface.
How isparagraph 3 organized?
A. It describes two factors that contribute tothe increased heat of cities and then provides two causes for the secondfactor.
B. It describes two causes discovered in anearly analysis of the increased heat of cities.
C. It describes two factors that contribute tothe increased heat of cities and two other factors that work against it.
D. It describes two well-established causes ofthe increased heat of cities and other two whose roles are less wellunderstood.
此题中问的是，第三段是如何组织的，也就是说，它的结构是怎么样的，我们也可以把它理解成为“第三段写的啥？存在的意义何在？”。怎么解决这类题呢？既然问的是结构，那自然要找主旨句，找到之后可以继续寻找有没有段落结构的提示词，比如first,second之类。我们一起来找一下，首先主旨句，我们读了第一句，它说燃料的燃烧并不是城市温度升高的唯一来源。后面第二句马上说有两个因素对城市温度升高做贡献了。再往后看，一个first，一个second，太好了！！这样一来，结构非常清楚。别急，再往后面看看，second里面还有(1)和(2)两个小东西，读一下发现是并列支撑second的（请注意段落中红绿色部分）。答案太明显了，A选项！
最后咱们来总结一下，在这篇文章中，笔者利用9道例题阐述了段落部分的三个题型（事实信息题、推断题、修辞目的题）的不同的解题方法。请同学们在以后做托福阅读中，根据不同的题目要求，针对不同的定位阅读范围进行解题。祝大家早日实现心中理想！
谢姝琦老师简介：美国名校毕业的动植物学专家，被学生尊称为“兽医”。同时由于对托福考试理解研究极为深刻，所以在给学生的宠物狗/猫看病的同时，培养出数位托福阅读满分得主。深受学生喜爱，请大家暑假班关注谢老师的精彩发挥！
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