配对题就是要求将“题干”与“选项”进行配对,考题要求中会对“题干”和“选项”之间的对应关系做出描述。
这种题型有三个明显特征:
(1)对应关系比较多。通常情况下,配对题中涉及的对应关系比较多,我们对 Cambridge IELTS 3 至 Cambridge IELTS 10 中所有配对题进行了统计归纳,从中可以看出,这些考题中的对应关系主要可以归纳为以下三类:
A类 把题干描述的信息和所属段落配对。
B类 把题干描述的内容和选项中的人物、国家(城市)、时间或其他特征配对。
C类 从选项中选出一个放在题干后面,以完成给出的句子。
(2)A类和B类不遵循“顺序原则”,也就是说考题顺序与考题对应的答案信息在原文中出现的顺序并不一致。C类遵循“顺序原则”,即考题顺序与考题对应的答案信息在原文中出现的顺序一致。
(3)有的选项可以多次使用。 考生注意,在 Cambridge IELTS 3 至 Cambridge IELTS 10 的所有配对题中,有超过1/4的考题要求中出现了这样一句话:NB . You may use any letter more than once. (此处的NB是“提请注意”的意思。)这句话表明,可能会有2个(最多2个)考题的答案会是同一个选项。所以,考生在做题前一定要注意这一点,弄清选项是否可以多次使用。如果没有NB的字样,某个选项一般不会被多次使用。
在 Cambridge IELTS 3 至 Cambridge IELTS 10 的1 280道A类阅读考题中,有261道是配对题,占全部考题超过1/5的比例。在这些题目中,不同种类的对应关系所占的题数各不相同,列表如下:
(1)浏览考题要求。 即快速看清题干和选项之间属于A、B、C三种对应关系中的哪一种以及选项是否可以重复使用。
(2)选择关键词。(A类——题干;B类——题干或选项;C类——题干。) 即如果对应关系是A类,由于考题中没有选项列表,所以要从题干中选择关键词来定位答案;如果对应关系是C类,由于这类对应关系遵循“顺序原则”,所以也要从题干中选择关键词来定位答案;如果对应关系是B类,由于这类对应关系中有选项列表,并且不遵循“顺序原则”,所以要快速浏览题干和选项,权衡题干和选项哪一方更具特点,也就是看题干和选项哪个数量比较少、较为简单易懂或有显著定位关键词,以便回原文定位答案信息时,选择最具特点的一方作为定位答案的关键词。
(3)快速定位并答题。即带着关键词浏览全文,在每一处关键词出现的地方做出标记,并通过比对原文与题干和选项中所共有的“关键词”或其“同义词”来认定答案。其实这一步也就是通过查找关键词来选出正确答案,因而不必将整个定位句都翻译出来。
You should spend about 13 minutes on Questions 14-21 , which are based on Reading Passage 2 on the following pages.
Venus in transit
June 2004 saw the first passage, known as a ‘transit’ of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun in 122 years. Transits have helped shape our view of the whole Universe, as Heather Cooper and Nigel Henbest explain.
A On 8 June 2004 , more than half the population of the world were treated to a rare astronomical event . For over six hours, the planet Venus steadily inched its way over the surface of the Sun. This ‘transit’ of Venus was the first since 6 December 1882. On that occasion, the American astronomer Professor Simon Newcomb led a party to South Africa to observe the event. They were based at a girls’ school, where—it is alleged—the combined forces of three schoolmistresses outperformed the professionals with the accuracy of their observations.
B For centuries, transits of Venus have drawn explorers and astronomers alike to the four corners of the globe . And you can put it all down to the extraordinary polymath Edmond Halley. In November 1677, Halley observed a transit of the innermost planet, Mercury, from the desolate island of St Helena in the South Pacific. He realised that, from different latitudes, the passage of the planet across the Sun’s disc would appear to differ. By timing the transit from two widely-separated locations,teams of astronomers could calculate the parallax angle—the apparent difference in position of an astronomical body due to a difference in the observer’s position.Calculating this angle would allow astronomers to measure what was then the ultimate goal: the distance of the Earth from the Sun. This distance is known as the‘astronomical unit’ or AU.
C Halley was aware that the AU was one of the most fundamental of all astronomical measurements. Johannes Kepler, in the early 17th century had shown that the distances of the planets from the Sun governed their orbital speeds, which were easily measurable. But no-one had found a way to calculate accurate distances to the planets from the Earth. The goal was to measure the AU; then, knowing the orbital speeds of all the other planets round the Sun, the scale of the Solar System would fall into place. However, Halley realised that Mercury was so far away that its parallax angle would be very difficult to determine. As Venus was closer to the Earth, its parallax angle would be larger, and Halley worked out that by using Venus it would be possible to measure the Sun’s distance to 1 part in 500. But there was a problem:transits of Venus, unlike those of Mercury, are rare, occurring in pairs roughly eight years apart every hundred or so years. Nevertheless , he accurately predicted that Venus would cross the face of the Sun in both 1761 and 1769—though he didn’t survive to see either.
D Inspired by Halley’s suggestion of a way to pin down the scale of the Solar System,teams of British and French astronomers set out on expeditions to places as diverse as India and Siberia. But things weren’t helped by Britain and France being at war . The person who deserves most sympathy is the French astronomer Guillaume Le Gentil. He was thwarted by the fact that the British were besieging his observation site at Pondicherry in India. Fleeing on a French warship crossing the Indian Ocean,Le Gentil saw a wonderful transit—but the ship’s pitching and rolling ruled out any attempt at making accurate observations. Undaunted, he remained south of the equator, keeping himself busy by studying the islands of Mauritius and Madagascar before setting off to observe the next transit in the Philippines. Ironically after travelling nearly 50,000 kilometres, his view was clouded out at the last moment, a very dispiriting experience.
E While the early transit timings were as precise as instruments would allow, the measurements were dogged by the ‘black drop’ effect . When Venus begins to cross the Sun’s disc, it looks smeared not circular—which makes it difficult to establish timings. This is due to diffraction of light. The second problem is that Venus exhibits a halo of light when it is seen just outside the Sun’s disc. While this showed astronomers that Venus was surrounded by a thick layer of gases refracting sunlight around it, both effects made it impossible to obtain accurate timings.
F But astronomers laboured hard to analyse the results of these expeditions to observe Venus transits. Johann Franz Encke, Director of the Berlin Observatory, finally determined a value for the AU based on all these parallax measurements: l53, 340, 000 km. Reasonably accurate for the time, that is quite close to today’s value of 149, 597, 870 km, determined by radar, which has now superseded transits and all other methods in accuracy. The AU is a cosmic measuring rod, and the basis of how we scale the Universe today. The parallax principle can be extended to measure the distances to the stars. If we look at a star in January—when Earth is at one point in its orbit—it will seem to be in a different position from where it appears six months later. Knowing the width of Earth’s orbit, the parallax shift lets astronomers calculate the distance.
G June 2004’s transit of Venus was thus more of an astronomical spectacle than a scientifically important event. But such transits have paved the way for what might prove to be one of the most vital breakthroughs in the cosmos— detecting Earthsized planets orbiting other stars.
以上画出的主题句关键词共45个,下面我们根据各个题目和这些主题句关键词来定位答案。
Questions 14-17
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G , in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.
浏览题目要求后,可知“题干”和“选项(段落)”之间的对应关系属于A类,即把题干描述的信息和所属段落配对,这类配对题不遵循顺序原则,并且由于考题中没有选项列表,所以要从题干中选择关键词来定位答案。
14 examples of different ways in which the parallax principle has been applied
答案:F
定位: 根据题干中的关键词parallax principle定位到F段第七行:The parallax principle can be extended to measure the distances to the stars.
解析: 题干中的关键词parallax principle在定位句中重现,定位句中的measure…distances(计算距离)就是应用视差原理的例子,定位句出现在F段,答案就是F。
15 a description of an event which prevented a transit observation
答案:D
定位: 题干中的关键词event和D段主题句中的war对应,主题句就是定位句: But things weren’t helped by Britain and France being at war .
解析: 题干中的event…prevented…observation和定位句中的weren’t helped…war对应,定位句出现在D段,答案就是D。
16 a statement about potential future discoveries leading on from transit observations
答案:G
定位: 根据题干中的关键词potential future discoveries定位到G段主题句: But such transits have paved the way for what might prove to be one of the most vital breakthroughs in the cosmos— detecting Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars.
解析: 题干中的potential future discoveries和定位句中的paved…way…might…detecting…planets对应,定位句出现在G段,答案就是G。
17 a description of physical states connected with Venus which early astronomical instruments failed to overcome
答案:E
定位: 根据题干中的关键词early,instruments定位到E段主题句:While the early transit timings were as precise as instruments would allow, the measurements were dogged by the ‘black drop’ effect .
解析: 题干中的failed to overcome和定位句中的dogged对应,定位句出现在E段,答案就是E。
Questions 18-21
Look at the following statements (Questions 18-21) and the list of people below.
Match each statement with the correct person, A , B , C or D .
Write the correct letter, A , B , C or D , in boxes 18-21 on your answer sheet.
浏览题目要求后,可知“题干”和“选项”之间的对应关系属于B类,即把题干描述的内容和选项中的人物配对,由于这类对应关系中有选项列表,并且“不遵循顺序原则”,浏览题干和选项后,选项中的人名更为显著,所以把选项作为定位答案出处的关键词。
18 He calculated the distance of the Sun from the Earth based on observations of Venus with a fair degree of accuracy.
19 He understood that the distance of the Sun from the Earth could be worked out by comparing observations of a transit.
20 He realised that the time taken by a planet to go round the Sun depends on its distance from the Sun.
21 He witnessed a Venus transit but was unable to make any calculations.
A Edmond Halley
定位: 选项A 中的人名Halley在文章中出现多次。
解析: 由于Halley一词在文章中出现多次,因此我们先看其他三个人名对应的题目,后面三个人名出现次数很少(有两个人名分别只出现一次)。
B Johannes Kepler
定位: 选项B 中的人名Johannes Kepler在文章中只出现一次,那就是在C段第二行: Johannes Kepler , in the early 17th century had shown that the distances of the planets from the Sun governed their orbital speeds , which were easily measurable.
解析: 定位句中的distances…from the Sun在第20题中重现,定位句中的governed…speeds和第20题中的time… depends on对应,第20题的答案就是B。
C Guillaume Le Gentil
定位: 选项C 中的人名Guillaume Le Gentil出现在D段第四行:The person who deserves most sympathy is the French astronomer Guillaume Le Gentil . He was thwarted by the fact that the British were besieging his observation site at Pondicherry in India. Fleeing on a French warship crossing the Indian Ocean, Le Gentil saw a wonderful transit—but the ship’s pitching and rolling ruled out any attempt at making accurate observations .
解析: 定位句中的saw,ruled out any attempt at,observations分别和第21题中的witnessed,unable to,calculations对应,第21题的答案就是C。
D Johann Franz Encke
定位: 选项D 中的人名Johann Franz Encke在文章中只出现一次,那就是在F段第二行: Johann Franz Encke , Director of the Berlin Observatory, finally determined a value for the AU based on all these parallax measurements:l53, 340, 000 km.
解析: 定位句中的determined a value和第18题中的calculated都表示计算出某个数值的意思,第18题的答案就是D。
A Edmond Halley
定位: 选项A 中的关键词Halley在文章中出现多次。
解析: 前面已经确定,B对应20题,C对应21题,D对应18题,考题要求中没有说选项可以重复使用,所以A对应的就是19题。这样就节省了大量的比对时间。
上面的8道考题,定位答案的方法统计如下:
You should spend about 6 minutes on Questions 38-40 , which are based on Reading Passage 3 on the following pages.
A neuroscientist reveals how to think differently
In the last decade a revolution has occurred in the way that scientists think about the brain. We now know that the decisions humans make can be traced to the firing patterns of neurons in specific parts of the brain. These discoveries have led to the field known as neuroeconomics, which studies the brain’s secrets to success in an economic environment that demands innovation and being able to do things differently from competitors. A brain that can do this is an iconoclastic one. Briefly , an iconoclast is a person who does something that others say can’t be done .
This definition implies that iconoclasts are different from other people, but more precisely, it is their brains that are different in three distinct ways: perception, fear response , and social intelligence . Each of these three functions utilises a different circuit in the brain. Naysayers might suggest that the brain is irrelevant, that thinking in an original, even revolutionary, way is more a matter of personality than brain function. But the field of neuroeconomics was born out of the realisation that the physical workings of the brain place limitations on the way we make decisions. By understanding these constraints, we begin to understand why some people march to a different drumbeat.
The first thing to realise is that the brain suffers from limited resources. It has a fixed energy budget, about the same as a 40 watt light bulb, so it has evolved to work as efficiently as possible. This is where most people are impeded from being an iconoclast.For example, when confronted with information streaming from the eyes, the brain will interpret this information in the quickest way possible. Thus it will draw on both past experience and any other source of information, such as what other people say, to make sense of what it is seeing. This happens all the time. The brain takes shortcuts that work so well we are hardly ever aware of them. We think our perceptions of the world are real, but they are only biological and electrical rumblings. Perception is not simply a product of what your eyes or ears transmit to your brain. More than the physical reality of photons or sound waves, perception is a product of the brain .
Perception is central to iconoclasm. Iconoclasts see things differently to other people.Their brains do not fall into efficiency pitfalls as much as the average person’s brain.Iconoclasts, either because they were born that way or through learning, have found ways to work around the perceptual shortcuts that plague most people. Perception is not something that is hardwired into the brain. It is a learned process, which is both a curse and an opportunity for change. The brain faces the fundamental problem of interpreting physical stimuli from the senses. Everything the brain sees, hears, or touches has multiple interpretations. The one that is ultimately chosen is simply the brain’s best theory. In technical terms, these conjectures have their basis in the statistical likelihood of one interpretation over another and are heavily influenced by past experience and,importantly for potential iconoclasts, what other people say.
The best way to see things differently to other people is to bombard the brain with things it has never encountered before. Novelty releases the perceptual process from the chains of past experience and forces the brain to make new judgments. Successful iconoclasts have an extraordinary willingness to be exposed to what is fresh and different.Observation of iconoclasts shows that they embrace novelty while most people avoid things that are different.
The problem with novelty , however, is that it tends to trigger the brain’s fear system . Fear is a major impediment to thinking like an iconoclast and stops the average person in his tracks. There are many types of fear, but the two that inhibit iconoclastic thinking and people generally find difficult to deal with are fear of uncertainty and fear of public ridicule. These may seem like trivial phobias. But fear of public speaking, which everyone must do from time to time, afflicts one-third of the population. This makes it too common to be considered a mental disorder. It is simply a common variant of human nature, one which iconoclasts do not let inhibit their reactions.
Finally, to be successful iconoclasts, individuals must sell their ideas to other people. This is where social intelligence comes in. Social intelligence is the ability to understand and manage people in a business setting. In the last decade there has been an explosion of knowledge about the social brain and how the brain works when groups coordinate decision making. Neuroscience has revealed which brain circuits are responsible for functions like understanding what other people think, empathy, fairness, and social identity. These brain regions play key roles in whether people convince others of their ideas. Perception is important in social cognition too. The perception of someone’s enthusiasm, or reputation, can make or break a deal. Understanding how perception becomes intertwined with social decision making shows why successful iconoclasts are so rare .
Iconoclasts create new opportunities in every area from artistic expression to technology to business. They supply creativity and innovation not easily accomplished by committees. Rules aren’t important to them. Iconoclasts face alienation and failure,but can also be a major asset to any organisation. It is crucial for success in any field to understand how the iconoclastic mind works.
以上画出的主题句关键词共62个,下面我们根据各个题目和这些主题句关键词来定位答案。
Questions 38-40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-E , below.
Write the correct letter, A-E , in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.
38 Thinking like a successful iconoclast is demanding because it
答案:A
定位: 根据题干中的关键词successful iconoclast定位到第七段主题句:Understanding how perception becomes intertwined with social decision making shows why successful iconoclasts are so rare .
解析: 题干中的demanding和定位句中的rare对应,定位句中的perception,social decision making分别和选项A中的perceptual,social intelligence skills对应,答案就是A。
39 The concept of the social brain is useful to iconoclasts because it
答案:B
定位: 根据题干中的关键词social brain定位到第七段第三行:In the last decade there has been an explosion of knowledge about the social brain and how the brain works when groups coordinate decision making .
解析: 题干中的关键词social brain在定位句中重现,定位句中的how the brain works when groups coordinate decision making和选项B中的how groups decide对应,答案就是B。
40 Iconoclasts are generally an asset because their way of thinking
答案:C
定位: 题干中的关键词iconoclasts…asset和第八段主题句中的Iconoclasts…create new opportunities对应,主题句就是定位句: Iconoclasts create new opportunities in every area from artistic expression to technology to business .
解析: 定位句中的every area,artistic expression…technology分别和选项C中的 works in many fields,both artistic and scientific对应,答案就是C。
上面的3道考题,定位答案的方法统计如下: