六级阅读应试技巧(1)

【Abstract】 This paper is an attempt to imply it is not easy to acquire reading comprehension ability and techniques for taking CET-6. In the article here the author mainly analyzes the characteristics of reading comprehension in CET-6 and tells the students how to prepare for CET-6 according to the question type in CET-6 reading comprehension. Those questions can be classified as, according to their functions, overview questions, detail questions, inference questions, vocabulary questions, and attitude and tone questions. This paper will build strategies for reading comprehension in CET-6 according to these question types. The purpose of the paper is to help the students to improve reading comprehension.
【Key Words】 reading comprehension; CET-6; skill; strategy

【摘 要】英语六级考试所应具备的阅读理解能力和应试技巧的培养不是一朝一夕的事。本文着重分析了六级考试阅读的特点,提出了如何根据六级阅读的题型来准备六级英语阅读考试的技巧。六级阅读的题型一般分为五种，分别是主旨大意题，细节题，推论题，猜词题以及作者态度题。本文分别对这五种题型分别加以分析，并提出解决这些问题的一些策略。旨在帮助学生提高阅读水平。
【关键词】 阅读理解；六级；技巧；策略

1. Introduction
College English Test has gained a great achievement in Chinese college English teaching and gives an impersonal evaluation on the college English teaching in China. [1]
In CET-6 there is a section called “Reading Comprehension” which usually consists of several passages followed by a number of objective questions, mostly multiple-choice questions, which are designed to examine test-takers’ reading ability. Those questions can be classified as, according to their functions, overview questions and attitude and tone questions, detail questions, inference questions, vocabulary questions. All the multiple-choice questions follow the same principle that there is one stem (a question or a statement or an incomplete statement) and four “answers”, only one of which is correct.
This article will build strategies for reading comprehension in CET-6 according to the question types.

2. Overview questions
Overviews questions refer to the general questions about the topic, title or main idea of the passage tested.
2.1 Topic
The topic is the subject of a selection. It is a general term that can usually be expressed in a few words. Textbooks typically give the overall topic of each chapter in the title of the chapter; they also provide many topics and subtopics in bold face headings within the chapter. Most magazine and journal articles, as well, give you the topic in the title of the piece. [2]

The typical question forms are:
What is the best title for this passage?
What is mainly discussed in this passage?
What is the topic/subject/title of this passage?
The main topic/subject/title of this passage is…
To find the topic of a selection for which there is no title, ask the simple question, “Who or what is the selection about?’ Ask this question as you read carefully the paragraph that follows.

If two people with sharply different spending styles commit to a relationship, problems usually arise. This is particularly true in a marriage. For example, the conflict of “his” or “her” money may come into play, and whoever earns the larger salary may want to tell the other how to spend. In disagreements over money, the larger earner may think or say, “I earned it and I will spend it”.

What is the topic of the paragraph?
a. conflicting spending styles b. money
c. conflicts about “his” money d. marriage
The answer is a.

2.2. Main idea
A paragraph is a group of sentences about some related subject. Reader often mistakes the topic for the main idea. But the topic is only a part of the author’s idea. The main idea of a paragraph is the combination of the topic and the controlling thought – what the author wants you to know. Readers must know what the main idea of the paragraph is in order to understand the information that they are reading.

The commonest question forms are:
What is the main idea/point of the passage?
What is the author’s main point?
Which of the following best summarizes the author’s main idea?
The main idea/point of the passage is…

2.2.1 Stated main ideas
Often one sentence in the paragraph that tells the reader exactly what the rest of the paragraph deals with and therefore gives the main idea called the topic sentence. In the topic sentence the author is actually saying, “Who or what am I writing about? Here is my point, the reason I wrote this paragraph.” If a paragraph contains a topic sentence, most or all of the rest sentences in the paragraph will support and develop this topic sentence by providing additional and more specific explanation or illustration. So the topic sentence is a general sentence that sums up the central idea of a paragraph and gives the paragraph a purpose and direction. Because the topic sentence tells what the point is, identifying the topic sentence becomes an effective way in finding the main idea of the paragraph. This topic sentence may appear in one of several places.

（1）Topic sentence first
The most common location of the topic sentence is the beginning of the paragraph. It may appear as the very first sentence after an introductory or transitional sentence (one that connects this paragraph to the previous paragraph). In cases with topic sentence first, the author states his or her main idea and then goes on to explain and develop that idea, as in the following paragraph. [3]

American men don’t cry because it’s considered unmasculine to do so. Only sissies cry. Crying is a “weakness” characteristic of the female, and no American male wants to be identified with anything in the least weak or feminine. Crying in our culture is identified with childishness, with weakness and dependence.

The main idea of this passage is the American men don’t cry because it’s considered unmasculine to do so. It says that the American men consider cry as masculine. All the sentences in the paragraph illustrate that idea by providing many details.

(2) Topic sentence last
The second most likely place for a topic sentence to appear is the end of the paragraph. However, on occasion you may find that it is expressed in the second-to- last sentence, with the last sentence functioning as a restatement or as a transition to connect the paragraph with what follows. When the topic sentence occurs last, you can expect the writer to build a structure of ideas and offer the topic sentence as a concluding statement. Commonly used in argumentative or persuasive writing, this structure uses sentences within the paragraph as building blocks that support the topic sentence. Notice in the following paragraph that the author leads up to the main idea and states it at the end of the paragraph. [4]

Mt. McKinley’s eternal snowcap towers 20.320 feet—the highest point on the North American continent. Wide valleys, worn by such meandering steams as the Kustokwim and the mighty Yukon, are filled with unique and colorful plants and animals. Big game hunting and fishing are unparalleled. Moose, bears, Dall sheep and caribou are plentiful. Arctic grayling, salmon, and spectacular trout abound in lakes and rivers. About 95 percent of Alaska is still public domain, where adventure can be enjoyed on a grand scale. Alaska, home of the Eskimo, Indian and Aleut, remains untamed.

The main idea in the paragraph is Alaska, home of the Eskimo, Indian and Aleut, remains untamed. All the sentences in the paragraph support that idea with details. By stating the main idea at the end, the author summarizes the point of the paragraph.

(3) Topic sentence in the middle
If it is neither first nor last the topic sentence will, of course, appear somewhere in the middle of the paragraph. In this case, the topic sentence splits the paragraph into two parts: those sentences preceding it and those that follow it. The sentences that precede the topic sentence often lead up to or introduce the main idea. At other times, the preceding sentences often lead up or introduce the main idea. At other times, the preceding sentences may function as a transition, connecting the ideas to be expressed in the paragraph with ideas in previous paragraphs. The sentences that follow the topic sentence usually explain, describe, or provide further information about the main idea. Notice the placement of the topic sentence as you read the following paragraph. [5]

There are 74.5 million television sets in the United States, at least one set for 98 percent of all American homes. Forty-eight percent of all U.S. homes have more than one set, and some families even have a set for every person in the house. Yet, despite the fact that the number of sets in the United States has virtually reached a saturation point, the amount of time spent watching television has declined steadily since 1973. Explanations vary from the increasingly poor quality of network shows the rising popularity of home video equipment, but the fact remains that we are owning more sets but enjoying them less.

The main idea of this paragraph is despite the fact that the number of sets in the United States has virtually reached a saturation point, the amount of time spent watching television has declined steadily since 1973.

2.2.2 Implied main ideas
Although most paragraphs do have a topic sentence, some do not. This type of paragraph contains only details or specifics that, taken together, point to the main idea. In paragraphs in which no one sentence clearly expresses the main idea, you must figure it out. Reading a paragraph in which the main idea is unstated is similar to doing a math problem. It is a process of adding up the facts and deciding what they mean together. To solve this math problem you add the numbers and come up with a total sum. [6]

I’d been to Los Angeles before, and I’d even performed inside Pauley Pavilion, the basketball arena where the Olympic Gymnastics events were going to be held. But this time the whole atmosphere was different. The American team was staying in dormitory rooms at University of Southern California with runners and swimmers and fencers and cyclists and thousands of athletes from all over the world. You could walk around the campus and see people from China and Brazil and Romania and dozens of other countries who’d all been working just as long and hard as you had and who had the same dreams. And all of them were on different schedules. Some were competing on the first day; others had to wait more than a week. So the cafeteria and infirmary and game rooms were open around the clock, buses were coming and going at all hours, and there were chain-link fences and security guards everywhere to protect us.

Here are some skills to find out the main idea of this passage.
What’s the topic? The topic is Olympic.
What are these details all making about that topic?
(1) But this time the whole atmosphere was different. And …thousands of athletes from all over the world.
(2) And all of them were on different schedules. And So the cafeteria and infirmary …everywhere to protect us.
We can infer the main idea of this paragraph is “The Olympics created an exciting atmosphere”.

3. Detail questions
The first step in reading for specific information is to look for the main idea. In a one-paragraph selection, you add up all the sentences to find the main idea. In a longer work, you add up the main ideas of the various paragraphs in order to figure out the main idea of the whole selection.
But the main idea does not give you all the information you need. Facts and details appear within the paragraphs you read and help develop the main ideas of the paragraphs. These facts and details may paint a more complete picture, may give examples to help you understand the ideas better, may prove a point, or may show how the idea relates to other ideas. Detail questions are to ask about explicit facts and details given in the passage.

Here are some common question forms:
Who/What/When/Where/How…?
How many/how much…?
Which of the following is the reason for…?
On what is the…based?
According to the passage/the author…?

3.1 Find out the answer according to the question
To answer the detail questions we have to locate and identify the information that the questions are asked about. It is a common way to answer the question.
(1) Focus on one or two keywords as you read the stem of each question. Lock these words in your mind.
(2) Scan the passage looking for the key words or their synonyms. Look only for these words. Do not try to read every word of the passage.
(3) When you find the key words in the passage, carefully read the sentence in which they occur. You may have to read the sentence preceding or following that sentence as well.
(4) Compare the information you read with the four answer choices. [7]

Example:
The agricultural revolution in the nineteenth century involved two things: the invention of laborsaving machinery naturally appeared first where labor was scare. “In Europe,” said Thomas Jefferson, “the object is to make the most of their land, labor being abundant; here it is to make the most of our labor land being abundant.” It was in the United States, therefore, that the great advances in nineteenth-century agricultural machinery first came.
At the opening of the century, with the exception of a crude plow, farmers could have carried practically all of the existing agricultural implements on their backs; by 1860, most of the machinery in use today had been designed in an early form. The most important of the early inventions was the iron plow. As early as 1790 Charles Newbold of New Jersey had been working on the idea of a cast-iron plow and spends his entire fortune in introducing his invention. The farmers, however, were not interested in it, claiming that iron poisoned the soil and made the weeds grow. Nevertheless, many people devoted their attention to the plow, until in 1868 James Oliver of South Bend, Indiana, turned out the first chilled-steel plow.

(1) When was the iron plow invented?
A, In 1790 B, In the early 1800’s C, In 1860 D, In the early 1900’s
The answer is A.
(2) Why did farmers reject Newbold’s plow?
A. Their horses were frightened by it. B. They preferred lighter tools.
C. It was too expensive. D. They thought it would ruin the land.
The answer is D.

3.2 Find out the answer according to the transition words
Have you ever tried to find your way to an unfamiliar place without any road signs to guide you? Do you remember your relief when you discovered one signpost and then another and finally realized you were being led in the right direction? Like road signs, transitions in written materials can help you find your way to a writer’s meaning. Transitions are linking words or phrases writers use to lead the reader from one idea to another. If you get in the habit of recognizing transitions, you will see that they often guide you through a paragraph, helping you read it more easily. [8]

Common Transition:
Type of Transition Example What They Tell the Reader
Time-Sequence First, later, next, finally The author is arranging ideas in the order in which they happen.
Example For example, for instance, to illustrate, such as An example will follow.
Enumeration First, second, third, last, another, next The author is making or identifying each major point. (Sometimes these may be used to suggest order of importance.)
Continuation Also, in addition, and, further, another The author is continuing with the same idea and is going to provide additional information.
Contrast On the other hand, in contrast, however The author is switching to a different, opposite or contrasting idea than previously discussed.
Comparison Like, likewise, similarly The writer will show how the previous idea is similar to what follow.
Cause-Effect Because, thus therefore, since, consequently The writer will show a connection between two or more things, how one thing caused another, or how something happened as a result of something else.
[9]

Example:
(1) Cars and trucks are not designed randomly. They are designed inpidually for specific purposes. For instance…

example of cars or trucks created for specific purpose

(2 ) Most mail order businesses are reliable and honest. However…
information that suggests some mail order businesses are not honest and reliable

(3) Taking medication can have an effect on your hormonal balance. Consequently…
what happens when your hormonal balance is affected or how you should take medication carefully

(4) There are a number of things you can do to prevent a home burglary. First…
one suggestion for preventing a home burglary

(5) To select the presidential candidate you will vote for, you should examine his or her philosophy of government. Next…
the next step in choosing a candidate you will vote for

3.3 Find out the answer according to the structure of the article

↗supporting details
↗sub-main idea
Main idea
↖sub-main idea
↖supporting details
We can use the relation between the main idea and details to find the explicit details. [10]