专八阅读答题时间为45分钟,平均每篇文章1000词左右,每篇的答题时间最多15分钟,做题时间非常紧张,所以不必把文章全部通读一遍再做题。需要注意的是,由于简答题也是根据这3篇文章的内容命制的,因此,考生每做完一篇阅读的选择题后,应立刻做后面相应的简答题,以保证答题效率。
专八阅读的答题流程可以遵循以下4步,具体为:
首先浏览全文,把握文章的主旨和框架结构。浏览全文时,速度要快,可以只读文章的首尾段和各段的首尾句。段落的中心意思一般出现在首句,还有可能在末句重复,故这两个地方一定要重点阅读。
为了阅读文章时更有针对性,考生可先浏览题目,弄清楚题干问的是什么,然后扫读全文,查找相关线索。考生可在文章中标出问题中的信息词,便于做题时快速找到答案出处,并保证答案的准确性和完整性。关于信息词,首先要选那些有特征的词汇,例如数字、专有名词等;如果没有这类词汇,则选择那些难以替换的词,这样可以回原文根据原词进行定位。
专八阅读的选择题和简答题题序一般是按照行文顺序设置的。为了节省时间,建议考生做一题看一题。
在题干或者选项中标出信息词后,有针对性地扫读文章,定位到具体段落的具体句子,一般会在该句或者该句的相邻句子里找到正确答案。
做选择题时,定位之后要认真研读原文中的句子,同时结合前文“第二章 阅读备考技能提升——四 辨识选项,解答题目”中提到的正确、错误选项的特征准确判断,进行选择。
(3) Benjamin Lee Whorf, an American linguist who died in 1941, held that each language encodes a worldview that significantly influences its speakers. Often called“Whorfianism”, this idea has its sceptics, but there are still good reasons to believe language shapes thought.
(4) This influence is not necessarily linked to the vocabulary or grammar of a second language. Significantly, most people are not symmetrically bilingual. Many have learned one language at home from parents, and another later in life, usually at school. So bilinguals usually have different strengths and weaknesses in their different languages—and they are not always best in their first language. For example, when tested in a foreign language, people are less likely to fall into a cognitive trap (answering a test question with an obvious-seeming but wrong answer) than when tested in their native language. In part this is because working in a second language slows down the thinking. No wonder people feel different when speaking them. And no wonder they feel looser, more spontaneous, perhaps more assertive or funnier or blunter, in the language they were reared in from childhood. (2018年真题)
17. According to the passage, that language influences thought may be related to _____.
A. the vocabulary of a second language
B. the grammar of a second language
C. the improved test performance in a second language
D. the slowdown of thinking in a second language
分析 首先阅读题干,根据关键词language influences thought定位到文章第三段最后一句中的there are still good reasons to believe language shapes thought,再根据题干关键词may be related to定位到第四段,第四段整段都在阐述语言能够影响思维可能与什么相关。
然后用下划线标出每个选项中的关键词,A中的vocabulary,B中的grammar,C中的improved test performance,D中的slowdown of thinking,回原文定位到具体句子。
第四段首句指出,这种影响(语言对思维的影响)与第二语言的词汇和语法并没有关联,故排除A和B。第二句提出了与这种影响有关的因素:值得注意的是,大多数人并不是平衡的双语者,接下来第三、四句对这个因素进行进一步的阐释,第五句则举例论证,人们在用第二语言进行考试时,反而不容易落入一些出题人设置的陷阱,紧接着第六句指出原因,使用第二语言会让人们放缓思维速度。使用第二语言会让人们放缓思维速度即为不平衡的双语者表现出来的一个特征,与“语言能够影响思维”有关,故选D。使用第二语言进行的考试表现是否有进步,原文未提及,故排除C。
做简答题时,其答案形式要根据问题的提问方式来确定。一般情况下,如:
► 以What提问,则可用名词或名词性短语、从句等作答。
► 以Why提问,一般用Because从句或Because of介词短语等回答(也可以省略Because 或Because of)。
► 以How提问,则多用By等引导的介词短语回答,也可以用完整的句子回答。
► 以Mention/Write down TWO/THREE characteristics/features...作为题干,则可用名词或名词性短语等作答。
► 以Explain the meaning of“...”according to the context(Para. X)作为题干,则根据双引号里的内容来确定答案形式,如果双引号里的内容是名词短语,则答案也用名词短语,如果双引号里的内容是一个完整的句子,则答案也用一个完整的句子。
► 有的题干则明确指出,Select and write down TWO/THREE words or phrases in Para. X,则从所指定的段落选择原词作答。
总之,简答题的答案要简洁、准确、全面、概括性强。若归纳总结的答案超过了10个单词,可以用代词、短语进行同义替换。
(12) A national service program would also help overcome two damaging perceptions held by America's disaffected youth: that society just doesn't care about minority youngsters and that one's personal best efforts will not be rewarded in our discriminatory job market. Harvard professor Robert Reich's research has shown that urban social ills are so pervasive that the upper 20 percent of Americans—that“fortunate fifth”as he calls them—have decided quietly to“secede”from the bottom four-fifths, and the lowest fifth in particular. We cannot accept such estrangement on a permanent basis. And what better way to answer skeptics from any group than by certifying the technical skills of graduates from a national service training program? (2017年真题)
32. What do Robert Reich's findings imply (Para. 12)?
分析 首先浏览题目,找出题干中的关键词。题目问:“在第十二段中,罗伯特·赖克的发现意味着什么?”题干中的关键信息词为Robert Reich's findings。根据Robert Reich将答案定位到文章第十二段第二句。本句意为:哈佛大学教授罗伯特·赖克的研究发现,城市社会弊病是如此普遍,以至于处于上层的20%的美国人——他称之为“幸运的五分之一”——已经悄然决定“脱离”底层的五分之四,特别是最底层的五分之一。作者还在随后一句提到,我们不能永远接受这种疏离。由此可知,这个研究显示,在美国,社会的贫富阶层之间已经产生了明显的疏离,故答案可总结为:There is estrangement/alienation/separation/split between the rich and the poor. / Estrangement/Alienation exists in American social classes.