哈佛大学硕士、剑桥大学硕士 ,新航道国际教育集团副总裁,美国本科升学资深顾问,中国新SAT掌门人,被学生称为“李赛达”(“赛达”为SAT的音译);英语副教授,1998年被评为北京市优秀青年骨干教师。主讲SAT全科、AP US History、TOEFL全科、GRE全科课程。 出版了大量SAT、托福、GRE等方面的备考书籍。
二、原则笔记法
笔记内容
在新托福考试中,几乎每个部分都有做笔记的需要,但是阅读部分是否做笔记因人而异。阅读部分的笔记主要用于回答文章的最后一个问题,因此笔记要有针对性,不可过多。有的考生为了使阅读笔记有针对性,一开始就利用图标Next 直接看最后一题,然后根据最后一题确定笔记的内容,道理是一样的。笔记的主要内容是记录核心词。具体而言,包括:
贯穿全文的核心词
段落核心词
例子的核心词
对比或分类所涉及的几个方面以及各自的主要特征
其他可以做笔记的内容还有:
时间、数字(记录时间以及所对应的事件,一般记为数字)
人名、地名与专有名词(一般记为单词首字母)
对于答案对应点也可以做一些简要的笔记。答案对应点,也叫出题原则,就是经常被考到的一些语言现象,阅读原文或寻找答案时对它们要重点关注。托福阅读中涉及的出题原则主要包括下列几类:段落首末句、举例、转折、列举、比较、因果等。查找上述语言现象的方法是:首先根据问题中的线索,如段落序号或关键词,圈定答案可能出现的区域,在此区域中搜索出题原则,有出题原则的地方通常就是答案所对应的地方。
首末句原则
段落首末句点明段落主题,是设置问题的主要地方之一。例如,下面的两道题1与2分别对应原文的首句与末句。
In seeking to describe the origins of theater, one must rely primarily on speculation,
since there is little concrete evidence on which to draw. 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. The process perceived by these anthropologists may be summarized briefly. During the early stages of its development, a society becomes aware of forces that appear to influence or control its food supply and well-being. 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. Perceiving an apparent connection between certain actions performed by the group and the result it desires, the group repeats, refines and formalizes those actions into fixed ceremonies, or rituals. TPO 01
1. According to paragraph 1, theories of the origins of theater
A. are mainly hypothetical
B. are well supported by factual evidence
C. have rarely been agreed upon by anthropologists
D. were expressed in the early stages of theater’s development
2. According to paragraph 1, why did some societies develop and repeat ceremonial
actions?
A. To establish a positive connection between the members of the society
B. To help society members better understand the forces controlling their food supply
C. To distinguish their beliefs from those of other societies
D. To increase the society’s prosperity
举例原则
举例这一考试原则通常在原文有标志词提示,包括for example, for instance, such as 等,以for example 为最常见。这一考试原则的典型结构是“概述+ for example”。例如,
One of the most mystifying characteristics of the paintings is their location. Other rock
paintings— for example, those of Bushmen in South Africa—are situated either close to cave
entrances or entirely in the open. Cave paintings in France and Spain, however, are in recesses and caverns far away from initial cave entrances.( 托福阅读样题)
Why does the author mention Bushmen in South Africa?
有时,原文举例或进行细节说明时并无for example 一类的标志词,但是只要是举例说明论点的情况,就可以应用这一考试原则。例如,
One of the most mystifying characteristics of the paintings is their location. Other rock
paintings— for example, those of Bushmen in South Africa—are situated either close to cave
entrances or entirely in the open. Cave paintings in France and Spain, however, are in recesses and caverns far away from initial cave entrances.( 托福阅读样题)
Why does the author mention Bushmen in South Africa?
有时,原文举例或进行细节说明时并无for example 一类的标志词,但是只要是举例说明论点的情况,就可以应用这一考试原则。
转折原则
转折表示文章的论述方向发生了改变。 转折如果出现在文章开头,可能涉及文章主题;转折出现在段落的首尾时,说明段落之间的关系;转折出现在文章中间时,可能仅仅涉及两个句子之间简单的对比关系。对于文章开头以及段落首尾的转折要重点关注。表示转折的标志词主要有but, however, yet, nevertheless, in fact, indeed, actually, practically, virtually, on the other hand 等。例如,
In The Golden Bough, his classic catalog of mythologies, Sir James George Frazer extensively documents the significance of trees in world religion. His chapters on tree spirits roam from Northern Europe to the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the United States to the islands of the Pacific. Despite the lack of contact among these regions, the veneration of trees united them. The woods that covered large areas of Europe and North America, in particular, were difficult to penetrate and dangerous to cross. It was not a great mental leap for people to see the trees that populated them as embodiments of the natural forces that governed their lives.
What did the peoples of Europe and North America link trees to?
又如,
However, by the eighteenth century, Great Britain in particular was experiencing an energy shortage. Wood, the primary source of heat for homes and industries and also used in the iron industry as processed charcoal, was diminishing in supply. Great Britain had large amounts of coal; however, there were not yet efficient means by which to produce mechanical energy or to power machinery. Passage 1, TPO 26
1. Why does the author provide the information that “Great Britain had large amounts
of coal” ?
A. To reject the claim that Britain was facing an energy shortage in the eighteenth century
B. To explain why coal rather than other energy resources became the primary source of
heat for homes and industries in eighteenth-century Britain
C. To indicate that Britain’s energy shortage was not the result of a lack of fuel
D. To explain why coal mining became an important industry in nineteenth-century Britain
列举原则
一般来说,列举是指连续出现3 项内容。不过有些列举不是连续的,需要查读原文并与选项
一一进行比较。对于连续性的列举,通常要加以注意,因为它可能对应EXCEPT 列举题。列举的
主要形式包括下列几种:
名词列举
句子式列举
分散式列举
对应式列举
所谓名词列举,就是文中连续出现3 个以上的名词、动名词、名词词组等。所谓句子式列举,
就是指列举以3 个以上连续句的形式出现。而分散式列举,就是指EXCEPT 列举题所对应的原文
不在一处,而在一段各处甚至全文各处。最后一种列举形式——对应式列举,是指作者在对比两
个事物时,分别提到双方的特点,而问题问一方不具备什么特点,答案是一方不具备与之构成对
比的另一方的特点。例如,
Western grasses were not succulent like the cultivated eastern grasses, but had short, firm stems.
Which of the following was NOT mentioned as a feature of western grasses?
很明显,western grasses 与eastern grasses 构成对比,因此这是一个对应式列举。
下面再举一个名词列举的例子。
The Sun is separated into five layers or zones. Beginning at the outside and going down
into the Sun, the zones are the corona, chromosphere, photo-sphere, convection zone, and last the core. The first three zones are considered as the Sun’s atmosphere.
在上述段落中,作者连续列举了太阳的五层结构,并指出太阳的大气层只包含前3 层。这种连续列举最适合出EXCEPT 列举题:All of the following are part of the Sun’s layers EXCEPT。
比较原则
例如,
No creature in the sea is more peculiar than the sea cucumber. All living creatures,
particularly human beings, have their oddities, but everything about the small sea cucumber
seems bizarre.
上面段落中的more peculiar 是比较级,对应一道题:
How does the sea cucumber compare with other sea creatures?
最高级的主要形式有:most, least, 形容词或副词后加est 或前面加most。
例如,
But the most remarkable thing about the sea cucumber is its self-defense mechanism. Its
chief enemies are fish and crabs; when attacked, it ejects all its internal organs into the water.
上面段落中的most remarkable 是最高级,也对应一道题: