文章结构题的解题方法

所谓文章结构题,就是指那些针对文章的整体篇章结构或某一段落的发展层次所设置的问题。这类题主要考查同学们在理解全文的基础上对文章所描述事件的发展顺序、所说明事物的结构层次或在论述观点过程中使用的论证方法进行推测、归纳和总结的能力。与主旨大意题和细节理解题考查学生对篇章内容理解能力不同的是,文章结构题主要考查学生对阅读材料的篇章结构和发展脉络的宏观把握。在高考题中,这是一种较为新颖的考查方式,这一期,就给同学们讲讲文章结构题的解题方法。

一、文章结构题的题干表现形式

1. What is the right order of the steps in doing …?

2. The second paragraph is developed by.

3. How is the passage mainly developed?

4. The author answers the question raised in the first paragraph with.

5. Which of the following picture shows the structure of the passage?

6. In the next part, the author would most probably discuss with you ______.

二、文章结构题的解答

文章结构题的考查对象无非是整个篇章或是其中的某个段落,在解答此类题之前,有必要对全篇或考查的段落进行通读,了解其大意。由于题目提问方式较为单一,无非是文章、段落的发展方法,因此解题的关键在于找出篇章、段落中表示层次发展的关键词,如表示时间的关联词、表示方位的关联词、表示因果关系的关联词和表示对比比较的关联词等等。另外,此类题型最为常见的考法之一就是,根据整篇文章的叙述发展或论证的步骤过程,推测出作者接下来要叙述的事件或将要发表的观点。此时,同学们要在正确理解篇章内容基础上对文章的发展作出合理的推断。这些推断往往不是凭空臆断,而是会在上文中给出一定提示,或是所说明的两个人或事物的另一个,或是两种截然不同的观点的另一方面,作者总会给读者最充分的证据对文章结构作出合理的推断。下面我们以高考题为例总结一些文章结构题的解答技巧。

【例1】

Armstrong showed a great talent (天赋) for music when he was taught to play the cornet (短号) at a boy’s home. In his late teens, Armstrong began to live the life of a musician. He played in parades, clubs, and on the steamboats that traveled on the Mississippi River. At that time, New Orleans was famous for the new music of jazz and was home to many great musicians. Armstrong learned from the older musicians and soon became respected as their equal.

The third paragraph is developed.

A. by space B. by examples C. by time D. by comparison

【解 析】

题目问节选段落所描述事件的说明方法。A. 按空间顺序;B. 举例说明;C. 按时间顺序;D. 比较说明。此题需要从文章的细节理解着手。节选段落描写了Armstrong的学艺历程。从“at a boy’s home”和“In his late teens”,我们可以得知节选部分的情节发展方式是按照时间顺序进行的。答案为C。

【例2】

How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?

In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.

Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across sandy surfaces. They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks (象牙), and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.

Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families, They drink only every 3-4 days, and can store water in a“bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders-they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus maintain what little food sources are available. Yong elephants may even eat the dung (粪便)of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.

During drought they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine (尿液) to make them muddy!

As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.

The author answers the question raised in the first paragraph with.

A. stories and explanationB. facts and descriptions

C. examples and conclusion D. evidence and argument

【解 析】

题目问作者对于文首提出的问题是如何进行解答的。此题需要通读全文了解文章大意后才可做出解答。从全文来看,第一段提出了沙漠象如何在恶劣的环境中生存的疑问。接下来,作者一方面对沙漠象的生理构造进行了解释,另一方面也对沙漠象的生活习性进行说明。A. 故事与解释;B. 事实与描述;C. 举例与总结;D. 证据与论证。比较四个选项可知,作者并没有给我们讲什么故事,A选项排除;也没有通过例子得出什么结论,C选项排除;只是用一种说明文的方式介绍了沙漠象的特点,没有明确主张哪种观点,因此D选项也排除。答案为B。

【例 3】

What time is it? Most people are pretty accurate in their answer. And if you don’t know for sure, it’s very likely that you can find out. There may be a watch on your wrist; there may be a clock on the wall, desk, or computer screen; or maybe you’re riding in a car that has a clock in the dashboard(仪表板).

Even if you don’t have a timepiece of some sort nearby, your body keeps its own beat. Humans have an internal clock that regulates(调节) the beating of our heart, the pace of our breathing, the discharge(排出) of chemicals within our bloodstream, and many other bodily functions.

Time is something from which we can’t escape. Even if we ignore it, it’s still going by, ticking away, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour. So the main issue in using your time well is, “Who’s in charge?” We can allow time to slip by and let it be our enemy. Or we can take control of it and make it our ally.

By taking control of how you spend your time, you’ll increase your chances of becoming a more successful student. Perhaps more importantly, the better you are at managing the time you devote to your studies, the more time you will have to spend on your outside interests.

The aim of time management is not to schedule every moment so we become slaves of a timetable that governs every waking moment of the day. Instead, the aim is to permit us to make informed choices as to how we use our time. Rather than letting the day go by, largely without our awareness, what we are going to discuss next can make us better able to control time for our own purposes.

In the next part, the author would most probably discuss with you ______.

A. how to keep up with the times B. how to make up for lost time

C. how to have a good time D. how to make good use of time

【解 析】

题目问作者接下来可能要讨论的部分是什么。我们只有掌握了全篇文章内容才能做出正确的判断。通读全文,我们不难发现文章主要讨论的是时间管理。首先作者说明了时间在我们生活中各种各样的表现形式,然后说明合理利用时间的重要性,最后作者提出不能做时间的奴隶而应该主动把握时间,因此我们可以推断作者接下来要说的应该是如何充分利用时间。另外我们还能根据文章最后一段中作者所给的提示做出正确的选择:D项中的“make good use of”对应文中“better able to control time”。答案为D。

【后 记】

从上面的例文分析可以看出,文章结构题的出现使同学们从单纯的词句阅读转为更注重整个篇章的脉络结构,从而能更好地理解文章的主旨大意。解答这类题的要点是“抓大放小”“以小(细节)推大(结构)”。解题过程可能涉及以前练习过的细节理解和推理判断的能力,但仅仅有这几个技巧还是不够的。同学们还应该结合写作技能,注意在写作中合理安排文章结构,同时在阅读时能将文章框架进行拆分、组合,毕竟分析文章结构的过程也是解读作者写作构思的过程,可见阅读水平与写作技能也有着密切的相关性。