上海新東方學(xué)校考研閱讀理解主講老師 樂(lè)柯健

2006年研究生入學(xué)考試已經(jīng)偃旗息鼓。 然而英語(yǔ)作為一門(mén)公共課，又是考研的重中之重。因此它的試題廣受關(guān)注，下面筆者就閱讀理解的Part A和Part B部分做一個(gè)評(píng)析。

首先就Part A部分而言

由于這是一個(gè)大家非常熟悉的題型，也連著考了10幾年，命題專(zhuān)家都有豐富的經(jīng)驗(yàn)來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)她，因此每次考試最穩(wěn)定就是四選一的閱讀理解題。具體體現(xiàn)在以下幾個(gè)方面：

1)從選材來(lái)看，四篇文章還是以秉承了歷年的傳統(tǒng)，以社會(huì)科學(xué)和人文科學(xué)的題材為主，而且近幾年越來(lái)越重視對(duì)于人文科學(xué)的考察。今年也不例外，一共考察了兩篇。(第一篇講述美國(guó)文化的相互交流問(wèn)題；第四篇講述了藝術(shù)的形式以及起各種表現(xiàn)形式上橫向和縱向的比較)由于我們眾多考生對(duì)于西方文化歷史文學(xué)的背景知識(shí)知之甚少，因此造成了很大閱讀上的障礙。這也就要求我們平時(shí)要多注重閱讀一些英美文化歷史方面的書(shū)籍(即使是中文版的也可以)，積累一點(diǎn)背景知識(shí)，這樣在考場(chǎng)中就能臨危不亂了。

2)從文章的難易程度而言，和歷年相似。文章的難度仍然是遞進(jìn)式的。第一、第二和第三篇相對(duì)比較簡(jiǎn)單，只有第四篇有一定的難度。關(guān)鍵還是文章討論的主題是很抽象的，也是我們考生不熟悉的。

3)命題的風(fēng)格、誘惑手段和解題思路也和去年一致。去年的命題和前兩年有明顯不同，大量考察了推理和判斷題，今年仍然是以推理判斷和細(xì)節(jié)事實(shí)題為主，這兩種題型一共考了14題。但是今年的推理判斷題還是有所改變的，歷年的推理判斷在題干上沒(méi)有明確的定位信息，這給我們返回原文時(shí)造成了很大的困難，但在今年的考試中即使有“infer, imply, suggest”這些推理題的標(biāo)志詞，題干中也還會(huì)包含大量的時(shí)間數(shù)字地點(diǎn)，幫助我們縮小定位的范圍，快速正確的定位到原文中去。

4)由于我們所考的文章絕大部分選自西方的報(bào)刊雜志，而新聞?dòng)浾邞T用“引用”的方法。但是考研和 四六級(jí)不同，四六級(jí)相對(duì)簡(jiǎn)單(通常大眾觀點(diǎn)都是錯(cuò)誤的，專(zhuān)家學(xué)者的觀點(diǎn)都是正確的)；考研的文章則經(jīng)常喜歡正反交替舉例，先說(shuō)作者認(rèn)同的，然后又是作者要批判的，再是論證作者觀點(diǎn)的。這樣一來(lái)給考生在閱讀中造成很大的障礙，經(jīng)常會(huì)混淆作者的觀點(diǎn)，因此很難。正因?yàn)殡y，我們命題專(zhuān)家就非常青睞命類(lèi)似的題目，這兩年這種題目每次都有，而且得分率也很低，今年的第三篇也考到了。因此需要我們的考生平時(shí)閱讀時(shí)要多注重對(duì)于作者態(tài)度的把握。

下面就本次考試的第一篇文章做一個(gè)分析。

Text 1

In spite of “endless talk of difference,” American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. This is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of consumption “l(fā)aunched by the 19th –century department stores that offered ‘vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite.” these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act.” The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.

Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today’s immigration is neither at unprecedented level nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation------language, home ownership and intermarriage.

The 1990 Census revealed that “a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English “well” or “very well” after ten years of residence.” The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. “By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families.” Hence the description of America as a graveyard” for language. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrive before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.

Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics “have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S-born whites and blacks.” By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.

Rodriguez note that children in remote villages around world are fans of superstars like Amold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet “some Americans fear that immigrant living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation’s assimilative power.”

Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America’s turbulent past, today’s social induces suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.

21.The word “homogenizing” (Line 2, Paragraph 1) most probably means

A. identifying B. associating C. assimilating D. monopolizing

22. According to the author, the department stores of the 19th century

A. played a role in the spread of popular culture.

B. became intimate shops for common consumers.

C. satisfied the needs of a knowledgeable elite.

D. owed its emergence to the culture of consumption.

23. The text suggests that immigrants now in the U.S.

A. are resistant to homogenization.

B. exert a great influence on American culture.

C. are hardly a threat to the common culture.

D. constitute the majority of the population.

24. Why are Amold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks mentioned in Paragraph 5?

A. To prove their popularity around the world.

B. To reveal the public’s fear of immigrants.

C. To give examples of successful immigrants.

D. To show the powerful influence of American culture.

25. In the author’s opinion, the absorption of immigrants into American society is

A. rewarding

B. successful

C. fruitless

D. harmful

首先21題是一道詞義題。 返回原文第一句找到“homogenizing”，這句話(huà)以“in spite of”開(kāi)頭，表征一種讓步，換而言之，“homogenizing”應(yīng)該和前文中的“difference”形成強(qiáng)對(duì)比；另外在后半句的解釋中又出現(xiàn)了“uniformity”，必然是“homogenizing”的同義替換。通過(guò)上下文我們就能知道“homogenizing”應(yīng)該是同化，一致的意思。當(dāng)然只有選C。

第22題是一道細(xì)節(jié)事實(shí)題，根據(jù)題干中的19世紀(jì)定位到第一段。B和C明顯與原文相反，而D選項(xiàng)又是我們命題專(zhuān)家慣用的一種誘惑手段---因果顛倒，乍一看都是文中講述過(guò)的，但是他把原因作結(jié)果講了，因此也是錯(cuò)誤的，這需要考生仔細(xì)閱讀選項(xiàng)。因此該題選A。另外根據(jù)我們的解題思路無(wú)法確定就和文章或者段落的主題相聯(lián)系，哪個(gè)最接近，那個(gè)就是正確答案。以本題為例，首段是典型的總分總結(jié)構(gòu)，當(dāng)中舉出商場(chǎng)這個(gè)例子，例子不重要，為了還是說(shuō)明主題美國(guó)文化的特點(diǎn)——同化性。一看選項(xiàng)只有A相關(guān)，當(dāng)然應(yīng)該毫不猶豫的選擇選項(xiàng)A。

第23題是一道推理題，但是題干中有明確的定位信息“immigrants now in the U.S.”，這就降低了難度，快速定位到第二段。選項(xiàng)A與二段第二句“nor resistant to assimilation”明顯相反；選項(xiàng)B與二段首句“not be altogether elevating”相反；文中只講述了三個(gè)同化的標(biāo)志“l(fā)anguage, home ownership and intermarriage.”并沒(méi)有提及人口的問(wèn)題，因此選項(xiàng)D是一個(gè)文中未提及的信息；選項(xiàng)C就是二段首句“but is hardly poisonous.”的同義替換。

第24題是一道細(xì)節(jié)事實(shí)題，但也可以把它看成是一道例證題，“children in remote villages around world are fans of superstars” 說(shuō)明文化已經(jīng)影響到了全世界每一個(gè)偏僻的角落，當(dāng)然D就是正確答案。A選項(xiàng)還是具有一定的誘惑性，但是由于他沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)文章的核心概念“文化”，因此把他排除。B&C明顯與原文相反。

第25題是一道作者態(tài)度題。根據(jù)末段的but，知道作者認(rèn)為是不黑暗，不惡化的，所以應(yīng)該選擇A；黑暗，不惡化不能等同于成功，因此B選項(xiàng)不對(duì)；C和D選項(xiàng)明顯與原文相反，當(dāng)然也把他們排除。

就Part B部分而言

出乎大部分人的意料，仍然考察的是7選5的選擇搭配題?？赡芤?yàn)槿ツ暝摬糠值牡梅致蕦?shí)在是低，所以今年總體考察難度較去年有較大幅度的下降，主要體現(xiàn)在以下幾個(gè)方面：

1)題目選自Newsweek Nov. 25, 2002 一篇名為Electronic Morphine 的文章，文章作者是一名專(zhuān)欄作家George F. Will。 文章寫(xiě)作的方式是典型的西方報(bào)刊體——先舉一個(gè)例子，再?gòu)睦又姓f(shuō)明一個(gè)普遍的社會(huì)現(xiàn)象，最后引出自己的評(píng)論。這種文章的特點(diǎn)是作者舉的例子一般都比較好看懂，但是在后面闡釋作者觀點(diǎn)的時(shí)候就有一定的難度了。由于命題專(zhuān)家在出題時(shí)對(duì)原文進(jìn)行了刪節(jié)，有的地方為了降低難度也進(jìn)行了單詞和句型的簡(jiǎn)化，所以這樣造成了文章整體性有一定的減弱。但是對(duì)于我們眾多考生而言，文章論證的結(jié)構(gòu)是我們熟悉的，文章的題材賭博又是大家熟知的，加之又沒(méi)有很多的超綱詞匯，以及句法結(jié)構(gòu)都進(jìn)行了簡(jiǎn)化，這都大大降低了本部分的難度。

2)7個(gè)選項(xiàng)的長(zhǎng)度大幅度的減少，由去年的294個(gè)單詞縮減為202個(gè)單詞，減少三分之一。該部分的難點(diǎn)就在于一篇文章讀完，很多考生已經(jīng)是筋疲力盡，處于崩潰的邊緣。如果再讀7個(gè)很長(zhǎng)的選項(xiàng)，就超越他們的極限了?，F(xiàn)在選項(xiàng)長(zhǎng)度的大幅度減少，對(duì)于我們無(wú)疑是大幅度的降低了難度。

3)選項(xiàng)設(shè)計(jì)的難度也在下降。如第41題就是一道非常典型的送分題，一看后面跟著一串時(shí)間數(shù)字，馬上就能找到選項(xiàng)C。而且根據(jù)上下文，講述David Williams沉迷于賭博，因此越輸越多，再看我們的選項(xiàng)數(shù)字也正是越變?cè)酱?，?dāng)然這個(gè)選項(xiàng)就是正確答案。

總體看來(lái)，今年的閱讀難度其實(shí)較去年有一定程度的下降，在此預(yù)祝各位考生都能考出自己理想的成績(jī)，明年進(jìn)入自己理想的學(xué)府，繼續(xù)深造。