托福阅读事实信息题题型解析-朗阁托福培训中心

　　托福阅读事实信息题题型解析-朗阁托福培训中心托福阅读事实信息题题型解析

　　朗阁海外考试研究中心 王上

　　说到事实信息题，可能绝大部分的托儿们都会摇头，这种题的错误率太高了，错误高的原因之一：根据最新版本的托福官方指南（Official Guide），每篇文章有3-6题事实信息题（Factual Information Questions），换言之，一篇文章一共14道题，事实信息题能占到所有题型的三分之一，所以错题中有它也不足为其；其次，这个题型考查的内容很纯粹，就是定位（找到与题干相符的句子），句子理解（定位句很有可能是个长达5行，句式相当复杂的句子），与选项做匹配（找出与原文同义表达的正确选项）。正是因为它的纯粹难倒了一大批想要找捷径做题的托儿们，ETS在设置干扰选项的时候下了非常大的功夫，当我们在做错题分析时时常发现，这题做错了并不是这个句子读不懂，而是那2%-5%的细节理解的原文有偏差，所以选错了答案，当然，你要是做题采用幻想，臆想，联想实际，结合common sense出错率会加倍。

　　下面我们先来阅读一下事实信息题的题目要求：

　　According to the paragraph, which of the following is true of X?

　　According to the paragraph, X did Y because.....?

　　According to the paragraph, X occurred because.....?

　　The author’s description of X mentions which of the following?

　　根据OG给出的题目要求，我们不难发现，只要我们通过题干的X, Y到相关段落中找出与题干相关的句子即可。但是，注意了，但是后面都是重点呢，ETS出题并不是想要我们不费吹灰之力就找到答案的，所以如果他想让我们找不到怎么办呢？答案也很简单，换词啊，如果题干给的是X, 那么我可以改变X的词性吧，词性改了还是轻松找到啊，那么我可以给X的同义词吧，所以说事实信息题想要做好做对，其实基石还是单词的同义改写。

　　我们先来看TPO 19 Fossil Preservation这道事实信息题吧：

　　Paragraph 7:The probability that actual remains of soft tissue will be preserved is improved if the organism dies in an environment of rapid deposition and oxygen deprivation. Under such conditions, the destructive effects of bacteria are diminished. The Middle Eocene Messel Shale (from about 48 million years ago) of Germany accumulated in such an environment. The shale was deposited in an oxygen-deficient lake where lethal gases sometimes bubbled up and killed animals. Their remains accumulated on the floor of the lake and were then covered by clay and silt. Among the superbly preserved Messel fossils are insects with iridescent exoskeletons (hard outer coverings), frogs with skin and blood vessels intact, and even entire small mammals with preserved fur and soft tissue.

　　ØAccording to paragraph 7, how do environments containing oxygen affect fossil preservation?

　　O They increase the probability that soft-tissued organisms will become fossils.

　　O They lead to more bacteria production.

　　O They slow the rate at which clay and silt are deposited.

　　O They reduce the chance that animal remains will be preserved.

　　题干中除了标题词主题词fossil preservation之外，还有environments containing oxygen, 所以我们带着这三个字从这段开头读起，找到与题干有关的地方，很快在段落的第二行我们发现了environment和oxygen, 但是没有看到contain, 因为contain是动词，所以它被同义改写也是很正常的，环境中包含氧，原文中什么在修饰氧气呢，是deprivation,这个词很多考生都不认识，没关系，我们再接着往下看，这段第四句话再一次出现oxygen-deficient environment, 这次换了个词，聪明的考生一定发现虽然单词不一样，但是不变的是-de这个否定前缀啊，说明就是缺氧的环境呢。除此之外，这篇文章讲的是生物化石的保存保护，当然是在无氧的环境啦。所以，答案就是第一句话了。

　　第一句话是if引导的条件状语从句，如果有机物死在无氧和快速沉淀的环境中，然后主句的主语是probability, 谓语动词是is improved, 可能性是被改善的，换言之，如果死在有氧的环境中，可能性是降低的，所以答案是D。D选项中的the chance是probability的同义词，reduce是improve的反义词，因为题干说有氧，而文章说无氧。我们再来看下A选项，they increase the probability that..., 这和第一句话简直一摸一样，选A的同学一定是没有发现题干与原文说的是相反的含义，还是败在词汇量上了。

　　我们再来看下B选项，B选项中有个专有名词bacteria（细菌），它出现在第二句话中，第二句话中既没有environment也没有oxygen, 它和题干有关么？细心的同学发现，前两句话的衔接用了under such conditions, such这个代词就告诉我们环境条件一样，仍然是无氧的条件，bacteria are diminished细菌在减少，那么在有氧的条件，细菌就是在增多啊，B选项说的是对的啊，为什么不选B呢？笔者在本文一开始的时候就说了，我们题目时常做错并不是因为没读懂，而是各种粗心，各种不够细致导致的，我们再来看一下原句：Under such conditions, the destructive effects of bacteria are diminished. 做错的同学们，你们是不是漏了destructive effects, 细菌的破坏性的影响力在减少，所以加否定的话也是细菌的破坏性的影响力在增多，细菌本身多了还是少了，文章中并没有说，所以选项B不对。

　　最后再来看下选项C, C选项中也出现了专有名词clay and silt, 它出现在这段的倒数第二句。首先，它离本题的正确定位点有点远，其次，这句话说的是Their remains accumulated on the floor of the lake and were then covered by clay and silt.他们的残骸积累在湖底并且被clay和silt覆盖，并没有提到C选项的rate, 所以C不对。

　　讲完这道题我们再来总结一下，事实信息题的正确答案一定基于原文，一定要100%的理解定位句，正确答案与原文要有同义改写，千万不要被选项与原文相同长相的专有名词迷惑了双眼。干扰选项一定在正确定位点周围；干扰选项会保留与文章长相相同的专有名词；干扰选项一定没有正确理解句子，一定加入了无中生有的信息。

　　我们再来看一道OG样题Lascaux Cave Paintings拉斯科岩洞画巩固一下：

　　Paragraph 6 Perhaps so much time has passed that there will never be satisfactory answers to the cave images, but their mystique only adds to their importance. Certainly a great art exists, and by its existence reveals that ancient human beings were not without intelligence, skill, and sensitivity.

　　According to paragraph 6, why might the puzzling questions about the paintings never be answered?

　　O Keeping the paintings a mystery will increase their importance.

　　O The artists hid their tools with great intelligence and skill.

　　O Too many years have gone by since the images were painted.

　　O Answering the questions is not very important to scholars.

　　这道题所对应的段落非常短，定位很容易，想要把这段看懂也不是什么难事，重点是想要把这道题选对就蛮有迷惑性的了。首先，我们通过puzzling questions和never be answered进行定位，在第一行顺利找到对应的句子：there will never be satisfactory answers to the cave images。继续往下读，我们发现这句话的后半句出现了“人见人爱花见花开的but”，看到but脑中就自动浮现“转折之后是重点”这七个大字，所以顺势往后读，their mystique adds to their importance, 所以答案选A。其实在做这道题时，托儿们犯了两个致命的错误。第一，虽然划了定位词，但是忽略了特殊疑问代词why, 这道题问的是为什么得不到解答的原因，所以我们应该在原文中找因果关系词，但是我们并没有在第一句话中看到如because, since, as, for, so, therefore这样常规的因果关系词，我们看到了一个熟悉的句型，so....that（如此…以至于）, so much time has passed that（太长时间过去了，所以得不到令人满意的回答），所以原因与时间有关，答案是C选项，即使文章中如此简单的so much time都要在C选项中换个方法表达：too many years have gone; 第二，草率地认为转折之后是答案。出现转折词，我们知道转折词前后意思相反，托福阅读除了最后一个题型都在考察细节，所以其实答案取决于定位的信息，如果定位的信息在转折词之前，答案就是前面，反之亦然。

　　最后的最后我们来看一道TPO 7 Ancient Rome and Greece古代罗马和希腊：

　　Paragraph 4 Modern attitudes to Roman civilization range from the infinitely impressed to the thorough disgusted. As always, there are the power worshipers, especially among historians, who are predisposed to admire whatever is strong, who feel more attracted to the might of Rome than to the subtlety of Greece. At the same time, there is a solid body of opinion that dislikes Rome. For many, Rome is at best the imitator and the continuator of Greece on a larger scale. Greek civilization had quality; Rome, mere quantity. Greece was the inventor; Rome, the research and development division. Such indeed was the opinion of some of the more intellectual Romans.” had the Greeks held novelty in such disdain as we,” asked Horace in his Epistle, “what work of ancient date would now exist?”

　　According to paragraph 4, intellectual Romans such as Horace held which of the following opinions about their civilization?

　　O Ancient works of Greece held little value in the Roman world.

　　O The Greek civilization had been surpassed by the Romans.

　　O Roman civilization produced little that was original or memorable.

　　O Romans valued certain types of innovations that had been ignored by ancient Greeks.

　　很多学生看到这道题的题干忍不住笑出声来，因为题干出现了久违的人名，肯定很好定位，题干问的是罗马的智者Horace对罗马文明的观点是什么，按照顺序原则，我们在这段的最后一句话找到了Horace这个人，他只说了一句话：Had the Greeks held novelty in such disdain as, what work of ancient date would now exits? 所以，特别好定位的信息题就一定在考察句子理解了，这个句子出现了虚拟语气（对过去的虚拟had held）省略了if, 把助动词had提前，所以这个句子相对来说比较难懂，更糟糕的是句子中夹杂了两个生词，一个是novelty, 一个是disdain, 如果考生们能识别novelty（创新，革新）的话，四个选项瞬间变成两个，剩下C选项（original=novel）, D选项（innovation=novelty),而C和D的主语都是罗马文明，它们意思完全相反，C在创新前面加了little, 而D加了value, 到底是正还是负就必须要看懂那个句子了。第二个生词disdain, 尽管不认识，但是dis这个否定前缀就在告诉我们这个词是负方向的动词，表示蔑视，鄙视。所以句子的完整意思是：如果希腊像我们罗马一样蔑视创新，那么古代的著作还有什么是存在的呢？换言之，希腊以前如果和我们一样不在乎创新，现在什么都没有。所以答案是C。

　　这道题还有一个更加简单的解题方法，虽说简单，这种简单是基于我们熟悉句子与句子的衔接的基础上的，最后一句定位句与上文用了Such indeed was the opinion of some of the more intellectual Romans, 说明这句话的意思上文已经说过了，而且最后一句是罗马的一个智者的观点，在写作中就是引用，引用的目的就是为了证明前方的观点，那么如果你能发现这句话的意思与上文一样，答案选C就很容易了。