出版这本书有两个目的:第一,帮助你提高SAT阅读的能力;第二,帮助你更好地应对在美国大学即将面临的阅读境况。很多同学会掩面惊呼,提高SAT阅读能力尚可理解,但说到能有助于应对在美国大学遇到的阅读问题,有点言过其实吧!
然而并不是这样,请允许笔者做一下解释。之所以这么说,实在是搭了SAT这个考试的快车。和标准化考试打了这么多年交道,毫不夸张地说,笔者深深陶醉于SAT阅读设计的精妙,它完美地体现了积极阅读、批判性阅读的精髓所在。作为权威的美国大学考试,其阅读部分势必要展现出美国大学的真实阅读水平。本书通过剥茧抽丝的细密解读,揭示了SAT阅读中的能力点,必会对广大应试者大有裨益,帮助大家更好地应对未来在美国大学繁重的阅读挑战。
那么,应对SAT阅读需要我们具备什么能力?它和我们之前所进行的阅读一样吗?
如果你之前的阅读仅限于教科书、杂志、娱乐性的文学读物,或涉及过托福阅读的话,不难发现,SAT阅读可能会让你有点不适应。我们不妨通过几个小例子来直观地感受一下,SAT阅读可能需要我们跨越哪些能力障碍。
比如,看一下下面的段落:
Paradoxically, although amphibians have proven themselves to be survivors in the past, there are reasons for thinking that they might be vulnerable to current environmental challenges and, hence, serve as multipurpose sentinels of
environmental health. The typical life cycle of a frog involves aquatic development of eggs and larvae and terrestrial activity as adults, thus exposing them to a wide range of environments.
该段落中的两句话,哪句是作者的观点,哪句是作者在陈述一个事实?其实,在第一句话中,paradoxically there are reasons for thinking might都是体现作者在进行思考时说出的话,因此这句话应是作者的观点;第二句话使用的动词都是陈述事实状态的一般现在时,表明此句是在陈述事实。
能够区分陈述事实和表达观点,是我们在SAT阅读中要掌握的必备能力。
此外,作者为什么要写第二句话?细读两句话的意思,前者说的是两栖动物受到环境的危害,后者说的是两栖动物要面临一系列的环境,由此可见,后者其实是针对前者的信息给出了一个解释。作者为了强调观点(第一句话),给出了事实支撑(第二句话)。
培养考生从作者角度分析写作思路的能力(reading rhetorically),也是我们在SAT阅读中要跨越的障碍之一。
我们不妨尝试解决下面这个简单的问题:
The field research requires the scientists to sift through thousands of antiquatedartifacts a day,enduring the the heat and odor.
The author implies that...
A. The scientist have a high degree of scientific devotion
B. The task in question is physically demanding
阅后,不知读者会作何选择。原文提到科学家一天要筛选几千件文物,并且要忍受高温和异味,读者会说哇,科学家好辛苦,若缺乏对科学的执着和奉献精神怎么能坚持下来呢?A选项的devotion不就是奉献精神的意思吗?那是不是就应该选A?
注意,如果觉得A有道理的话,你已经不自觉地踩入了一片SAT阅读中的雷区,即对信息的主观解读。文章并没有提到科学家们的辛苦动机,我们就要避免进行主观解读,尽管这个解读合情合理;反观B选项,原文的描述确实透露出这些科学家很辛苦,physically demanding表示对体能要求高,这恰恰是对身体辛苦的同义替换,也是文章提及的,遂为正确答案。
所以,分清我们对文章的主观解读和文章客观提到的内容,也是在SAT阅读中要跨越的又一障碍。
如果你对以上几个问题并未感到困扰,恭喜你,你已经具备应对SAT阅读的基础素质。如果你对这些问题尚感陌生,那么就要做好心理准备,类似这样的能力障碍还有很多,上述绝不是全部。希望广大读者通过对本书的逐层分解,能够对SAT阅读中所需要具备的各项能力,有一个更深刻的认识。
本书共分为三部分:第一部分,将从文章策略和题目策略两方面宏观探讨SAT文章的一般性处理方法;第二部分,我们会按照题型进行分类,通过讨论每种题型的处理方式来围观探讨SAT阅读的应对策略;而在本书的第三部分,我们会从文章体裁和形式的维度,分别探讨科技文、小说、历史文和长对比文章的处理方法。
※ 特别提示: 由于新SAT的题目有限,所以本书会选择一部分来自老SAT但是符合新SAT出题思路的例题,这些题目会有5个选项而不是4个,望读者注意。
来看下面一个例子:
Theres a certain way jazz musicians from the 1930s pose for photographs, halfturned to face the camera, symmetrically arrayed around the bandleader, who can be identified by his regal smile and proximity to the microphone. Publicity stills of the period were the equivalent of English court paintings, hackwork intended to exalt their subjects and attract admiration to their finery. Band-leaders often took titles borrowed from the aristocracy: Duke Ellington, Count Basic, Earl Hines... well,Earl was actually the mans given name, but he lived up to it in a way no modem celebrity could approach. Theres a picture of Hines with his band on the stage at the Pearl Theater in Philadelphia, exuding swank. Their suit pants, which bear stripes of black satin down the seams, break perfectly over their gleaming shoes;their jacket lapels have the span of a Madagascar fruit bat; their hair is slicked. They were on top of their world. The year was 1932, and about one in four Americans was out of work.
The author mentions the given name lines 9-10 in order to
A. characterize the appearance of English court paintings.
B. praise Earl Hines for his elegance and style.
C. promote a particular type of music.
D. criticize the practice of borrowing titles from the aristocracy.
E. indicate an exception to a common occurrence.
题干透露出一个重要的信息,in order to表明这是一道修辞题,即考察作者为什么要提到一个事物。在判断题型后,我们马上要在脑中制定一个策略:只看这个事物本身是没用的,必须考虑该事物和前后文的关系。具体到这道题,我们做出的判断是:只考虑given name这个信息本身是没有用的,必须要考虑given name的相关信息与前后文的关系。given name的上一句,作者提到Band-leaders often took titles borrowed from the aristocracy,表示乐队的头目通常会从贵族中选择自己的头衔;而这个given name指的Earl,其字面意思是伯爵,实际并非头衔,而是这个人的本名。可以看出,given name这个信息其实是对前文所描述的一种行为惯例的例外。因此,这道题的正确答案为E选项,indicate an exception to a common occurrence。
在之后的章节,我们会更加详细地探讨不同题型的题干具备何种特点可供考生识别,并进一步做出解题的策略。
同义替换是SAT正确答案中最基本也是最常见的答案转化方式,如:
原文:Jacks experiment yielded little evidence for Toms hypothesis
题干:The information indicates that
答案:Jack found Toms idea in lack of support
在这个例子中,little evidence被同义转化为lack of support,hypothesis被转化成了idea.
当然,很多时候同义替换并不是简单地为原文中的词语找一个同义词。同义替换的本质是用不同的方式来叙述同一个意思,因此,高级的同义替换可能会体现为文字表达脱胎换骨的转变,如This is my first class in this school转变为I havent taken a class in this school before(同样是表达这是第一节课);Sara is the smartest girl in the class转变为No girl in the class is intellectually superior to Sara(同样是表达Sara最聪明)Lily filled her new novel with imagination转化为Lily created in her new fictional work a world beyond reality(同样表达小说充满想象力)。
具体事物 抽象表述
Father Relative
Red Color
SAT Assessment
Michael Jackson legendary figure
cooking pastime
failed test an undesirable situation
beaten up in front of your classmates humiliating experience
如果原文是Beyond the weekly seminar on poetry, Bill also committed his leisure time to swimming, gardening and social work. 选项可能会变成Bill was occupied in a variety of ways. 如果原文是Tom just pulled an all-nighter with his party pals and he woke up with unbearable hangover the next morning. 选项可能变成Tom underwent an painful experience after a stimulating one. 或进一步抽象化,就可能变形为Tom experienced a change in his mental state.