编写说明

托福作为一个语言考试，本身不会像GRE或者SAT那样，过于注重考查逻辑。比如说现在的GRE或者SAT考试，和托福一样，也有词汇题目，但题目中考查的词汇往往不会是选项里表面的同义词的意思，而需要通过推理得出。但托福就不同，作为一个语言考试，大多数情况下，词汇题目，甚至其他的题目，都可以通过词汇直接的同义词或者英文释义得出答案。而在新托福阅读中，词汇题目所占的比例非常高，词汇题目的正确与否直接关系到考生的托福成绩。这也是笔者在编写本书时特别强调同义词的地位的原因。

这里笔者将随机抽取一些新托福真题的题目来说明：

阅读真题文章（节选）：The most widely-accepted theory, championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisions theater as emerging out of myth and ritual.

例题1：The word “championed” in the passage is closest in meaning to .

A. changed

B. debated

C. created

D. supported

分析：这道题问championed在文章里和哪一个单词意思最接近。一般来说，考生背诵的champion的意思是“冠军”，但在这里，champion为动词，而且根据文章的意思，应该选D。但考生如果在备考期间，背的词汇书是根据考试考点出发，那么应该给出该词的同义词support，而不是仅仅让考生去背“冠军；支持”这些中文释义。因此，本书在编写的时候，尤其注重结合新托福考试的本质，提供常考词汇的同义词。事实上，背下一个词汇的中文释义基本可以说不是在学英语这个语言本身，而是在学习翻译。该题答案是 supported 。

本书给出的释义如下：

champion [ 'tʃæmpɪən ] v. 支持，拥护to act as militant supporter of; uphold ; advocate

【近】 back , endorse , support

因此，在备考期间，如果考生注重背了书中给出该词的英文释义的近义词部分，即可快速选出正确答案。

阅读真题文章（节选）：Having little understanding of natural causes, it attributes both desirable and undesirable occurrences to supernatural or magical forces, and it searches for means to win the favor of these forces.

例题2：The word “attributes” in the passage is closest in meaning to .

A. ascribes

B. leaves

C. limits

D. contrasts

该题答案是第一个ascribes。本书给出的释义如下：

attribute [ ə'trɪbju:t ] v. 归于，属于to relate to a particular cause or source； ascribe

【近】 accredit, ascribe

因此，在备考期间，如果考生注重背了书中给出该词的英文释义的加粗并且有下划线的部分，即可快速选出正确答案。

阅读真题文章（节选）：But neither the human imitative instinct nor a penchant for fantasy by itself leads to an autonomous theater.

例题3：The word “penchant” in the passage is closest in meaning to .

A. compromise

B. inclination

C. tradition

D. respect

该题答案是第二个inclination。本书给出的释义如下：

penchant [ 'pentʃənt ] n. 倾向，嗜好a definite liking; a strong inclination

【近】 proclivity , propensity , tendency

因此，在备考期间，如果考生注重背了书中给出的该词英文释义的加粗并且有下划线的部分，即可快速选出正确答案。

认真阅读本书的考生应该不难发现，基本上所有的TPO阅读词汇题目都可以通过本书的英文释义中加粗并且画横线部分（该词的考点）或者同义词快速得出答案。那么该书是否可以同样快速解决其他题目？答案是肯定的！

1. EXCEPT 题目

阅读真题文章（节选）：In addition to exploring the possible antecedents of the theater, scholars have also theorized about the motives that led people to develop the theater. Why did the theater develop, and why was it valued after it ceased to fulfill the function of ritual? Most answers fall back on the theories about the human mind and basic human needs. One , set forth by Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., sees humans as naturally imitative —as taking pleasure in imitating persons, things, and actions and in seeing such imitations. Another , advanced in the twentieth century, suggests that humans have a gift for fantasy , through which they seek to reshape reality into more satisfying forms than those encountered in daily life. Thus, fantasy or fiction (of which drama is one form) permits people to objectify their anxieties and fears , confront them, and fulfill their hopes in fiction if not fact. The theater, then, is one tool whereby people define and understand their world or escape from unpleasant realities.

All of the following are mentioned in Paragraph 5 as possible reasons that led societies to develop the theater EXCEPT:

A. The theater allows people to face what they are afraid of.

B. The theater gives an opportunity to imagine a better reality.

C. The theater is a way to enjoy imitating other people.

D. The theater provides people the opportunity to better understand the human mind.

分析：该题问在第5段中提到的可能导致社会去发展theater的reasons是什么？

注意题目 reasons that led societies to develop theater等于文章里面的 motives that led people to develop theater。因此，定位到文章相对应的地方，即可知道第一个motive应该是关键词 imitative ；第二个motive的关键词应该是 fantasy 。但如果考生在备考新托福期间，背fantasy的释义为“幻想”，基本对做题是没有太大的帮助的，考生应该清楚fantasy的释义为an imagined event or sequence of mental images，那么就可以快速地识别选项The theater gives an opportunity to imagine a better reality中的imagine对应文章里面的fantasy，即可快速排除该选项。

同理，第一个选项The theater allows people to face what they are afraid of中的face，afraid of对应文章中的confront以及fears。这时候考生应该清楚笔者编著本书时，对于confront一词，为何用心良苦地给出释义to face ; to meet, face-to-face encounter ，并且加粗突出face一词。

2. 因果题目

阅读真题文章（节选）On the other hand, air turbulence increases because of the effect of skyscrapers on airflow. Rainfall is also increased in cities. The cause appears to be in part greater turbulence in the urban atmosphere as hot air rises from the built-up surface.

According to Paragraph 5, which of the following is a factor responsible for the greater air turbulence in urban environments?

A. the high speed of the winds traveling above cities

B. the greater rainfall totals recorded in cities

C. attempts to reduce urban air pollution

D. the effects of tall buildings on airflow

分析：通过题目关键词air turbulence定位和factor得知，题目考查原因，因此答案应该是the effect of skyscrapers 。本书给出的意思如下： skyscraper ： n. 摩天大楼a very tall building 。需要提醒的是，并非是笔者故意根据考题而杜撰skyscraper一词的英文释义为a very tall building ，而是该词在笔者选择的字典里就是这个意思。这样说只是想提醒广大考生，备考期间多看词汇的英文释义很重要，而选择一本正确的词汇书更加重要！

3. 修辞目的题目

阅读真题文章（节选） The proportion of empty space in a rock is known as its porosity. But note that porosity is not the same as permeability, which measures the ease with which water can flow through a material；this depends on the sizes of the individual cavities and the crevices linking them.

What is the main purpose of Paragraph 7?

A. To explain why water can flow through rock.

B. To emphasize the large amount of empty space in all rock.

C. To point out that a rock cannot be both porous and permeable.

D. To distinguish between two related properties of rock.

分析：根据题目问第7段的写作目的。通过文章里的第2句But note that porosity is not the same as permeability...出现转折知道该句为这段的主题句，也就是答案所在。该句说porosity和permeability并不是一码事。因此可以知道答案是去区别porosity 和permeability。但如果考生按照传统的备考方式，背下porosity和permeability的中文释义分别为“多孔性”和“渗透性”，基本对考试没有任何帮助，而要清楚porosity为岩石多孔的一种特性（property），英文释义为the state or property of being porous ，而permeability也是岩石的渗透性的一种特性（property），英文释义为 the property or condition of being permeable ，那么不难得出该题答案为最后一个：To distinguish between two related properties of rock。

由于篇幅的问题，这里仅仅提到上面几个例子。事实上，除了上面提到的几种题型，其他考试中基本任何一种题型都可以通过本书达到快速的解题目的。当然，除了可以帮助考生做题外，本书由于是笔者结合自己多年对新托福TPO的熟悉，每一个词汇释义都是基于相应的TPO真题中的精确释义，因此，考生在面对文章某些熟词僻义时，也可以通过本书得到解决，而不是产生误解。例如：

例1：阅读真题文章（节选） One, set forth by Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., sees humans as naturally imitative—as taking pleasure in imitating persons, things, and actions and in seeing such imitations. Another, advanced in the twentieth century, suggests that humans have a gift for fantasy, through which they seek to reshape reality into more satisfying forms than those encountered in daily life.

分析：在该篇文章里，advanced并非是考生平时熟悉的“先进的”的意思，而是动词“提出”的意思，相当于propose或者set forth，考生此时应该清楚，为何该书的释义要给出set forth并且加粗和画横线，因为在文章前一句中也出现了set forth。而熟悉国外的文章的同学应该都清楚，在表达同一个意思或者概念时，作者一般是会强调词汇的多样性的，如果考生在备考时，背一个词汇的时候，熟悉该词的同义词和英文释义，即可做到既可以帮忙理解文章上下文之间的联系，也可以帮助考生准备写作，做到一举多得。

该书中给出的释义：

advance [ əd'væns ] v. 提出 to bring forward for consideration, or acceptance; propose; set forth

例2：阅读真题文章（节选） Under this theory, relating and listening to stories are seen as fundamental human pleasures.

分析：在该篇文章里， relating 并非是考生平时熟悉的“相关的”的意思，而是动词“说”的意思，相当于tell，考生此时应该清楚，为何该书的释义要给出 relating 并且加粗和画横线： relate v. 叙述，说to give an account of; tell 。

总之，本书给出的释义和近义词都是笔者从多年的考试实战经验和一线的教学研究出发而选取和编著的，每一个词的选择，每一个释义、每一个考点意思的加粗和画横线都是根据考生最需要、最迫切和最实用出发编写。希望考生早日获得高分，踏入美利坚的梦想大学。