英語四級考試快速閱讀兩大技巧

　　快速閱讀從2006年6月份首次出現(xiàn)到現(xiàn)在，題型的難度一直在穩(wěn)步遞增，其中也包含了題型的改變(自2007年12月份起將判斷題改為選擇題)。這既折射出了命題者對該部分題型命制的探索與不斷創(chuàng)新，也反映出了命題者在反復調(diào)整題型的難度系數(shù)，想要給該部分尋找到一個合適的分量。這種嘗試既有成功，但也有欠考慮之處�？忌�普遍反映快速閱讀難度過大，個別題目超出了四級甚至是六級考試大綱的要求。下面，將結合真題為各位考生揭開快速閱讀解題的神秘面紗：

　　兩大基本考點——skimming和scanning

　　其實“快速閱讀”這個稱謂是對這部分題型名稱的一種誤解，甚或說是一種誤譯。實際上試題冊上所給的題型英文名稱是Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)——閱讀理解(略讀與跳讀)。不少考生正是由于受到所謂“快速”兩字的誤導，以為單純求快就可以萬事大吉，殊不知這其中是另有“隱情”。

　　Skimming——略讀

　　略讀，顧名思義就是要求考生在較短時間內(nèi)把握住文章某個段落的主題思想。我們首先來看一下2010年6月份快速閱讀第一題：

　　1. What eventually made Carla Toebe realize she was spending too much time on the Internet?

　　A) Her daughter's repeated complaints.

　　B) Fatigue resulting from lack of sleep.

　　C) The poorly managed state of her house.

　　D) The high financial costs adding up.

　　一般來說快速閱讀的第一題往往是針對文章的開頭部分。以該題為例，基本上所有考生都能夠定位到第一段�？墒堑谝欢蔚降讘�該怎么讀就成了個大問題。

　　A few months ago, it wasn't unusual for 47-year-old Carla Toebe to spend 15 hours per day online. She'd wake up early, turn on her laptop and chat on Internet dating sites and instant-messaging programs – leaving her bed for only brief intervals. Her household bills piled up, along with the dishes and dirty laundry, but it took near-constant complaints from her four daughters before she realized she had a problem.

　　誠然，從頭到尾“快速”讀完確實是個辦法——而且也是絕大多數(shù)考生使用的辦法，但這樣做完全失去了skimming的意義。換個角度來說，如果每個題目都像這樣把段落讀完，那么十道題加在一起所積累的閱讀量勢必將超過15分鐘的大限。其實大部分文章的段落重點或者說中心都集中在首末句上。略讀所要考察的就是考生是否敢于大膽抓住首末句，拋去段落中間的無效部分，從而迅速找到答案。以本題而言，該段最后一句，尤其是but之后的“it took near-constant complaints from her four daughters before she realized she had a problem”(直到她的四個女兒開始不斷發(fā)出抱怨的時候她在開始意識到自己出問題了)就是答案所在位置。故而選擇A選項。

　　再看2009年6月的快速閱讀第六題：

　　6. What did Dale think of Mindsets LLC’s workshop?

　　A) It was well-intentioned but poorly conducted.

　　B) It tapped into the executives’ full potential.

　　C) It helped him make fair decisions.

　　D) It met participants’ diverse needs.

　　這道題在當年得分率非常低。原因就在于這道題對應的可能段落有兩段而不是一段(省略號表示段落略去部分，下文同此例)：

　　“I had a management position open in my department ;and the two finalists were a man and a woman . Had I not attended this workshop , I would have automatically assumed the man was the best candidate because the position required quite a bit of extensive travel . …”Dale’s assumptions are another example of the well-intentioned but incorrect thinking that limits an organization’s ability to tap into the full potential of a diverse workforce .

　　“I learned from the class that instead of imposing my gender biases into the situation , I needed to present the full range of duties, responsibilities and expectations to all candidates and allow them to make an informed decision .” Dale credits the workshop , “because it helped me make decisions based on fairness .”

　　這道題目的要求更高�？忌�不僅要知道重點在兩個段落的首末句上，還需要結合題目所問，對這四個句子孰輕孰重作出預先判斷，然后再進行閱讀。題目問的是Dale對這個研討班的看法。據(jù)此看來一段第一句無效，因其起始部分講到的是Dale在公司的position(職位)。同樣該段末句也無效，Dale’s assumptions——講的是Dale原先的一些錯誤想法和做法。很可惜的是當年不少考生都在這兩個句子上耗費了大量時間，甚至還有個別考生通讀該段，這樣自然是得不償失。

　　再來看下一段的第一句，I learned from the class that instead of imposing my gender biases into the situation(我通過學習知道不能把自己的性別比、偏見帶到工作中去)。這句話有用嗎?顯然也不行。因為它所講到的是Dale在學習班里的收獲。最后一句說道“because it helped me make decisions based on fairness”(因為這個研討班讓我能做出公平的選擇)。讀到這里第六題的`答案也就順理成章的選擇C了。

　　2010年6月第七題：

　　7. Andrew Heidrich now visits websites that discuss online gaming addiction to __________.

　　A) improve his online gaming skills

　　B) curb his desire for online gaming

　　C) show how good he is at online gaming

　　D) exchange online gaming experience

　　這道題和上述第六題頗有些相像。它對應的段落，也就是出現(xiàn)了Heidrich這個人物的段落，同樣也是兩段：

　　Andrew Heidrich, an education network administrator from Sacramento, plays World of Warcraft for about two to four hours every other night, but that's nothing compared with the 40 to 60 hours a week he spent playing online games when he was in college. He cut back only after a full-scale family intervention (干預), in which relatives told him he'd gained weight.

　　"There's this whole culture of competition that sucks people in" with online gaming, said Heidrich, now a father of two. "People do it at the expense of everything that was a constant in their lives." Heidrich now visits websites that discuss gaming addiction regularly "to remind myself to keep my love for online games in check."

　　如果讀者朋友掌握了我們剛才所講的方法自然就會覺得這題就比較輕松了。同樣是抓住兩個段落的四個重點句，然后根據(jù)題干進行判斷。分析過程這里就不再贅述。很明顯第二段最后一句是符合要求的。Heidrich now visits websites that discuss gaming addiction regularly "to remind myself to keep my love for online games in check."(Heidirch現(xiàn)在經(jīng)常瀏覽那些探討網(wǎng)友成癮問題的網(wǎng)站，不時提醒自己克制對網(wǎng)游的喜愛。)所以答案選擇B。

　　通過上面三個例子的分析，我們不難看出四級快速閱讀略讀相對而言是比較容易掌握的。在確定出對應段落后直接分析它的首末句就可以了。只不過個別難題還要求結合題干逐一對照比較分析，在若干個首末句當中挑選出最合適的。還有一點不知道讀者朋友有沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)，實際上，在首句和末句當中最后能夠充當答案的往往還是最后一句。記住這個小規(guī)律了對于提高解題速度也大有幫助。

　　Scanning——跳讀

　　跳讀其實對大家來說就比較熟悉了。首先是找準題干關鍵詞，然后帶入原文定位尋找答案。段落中與關鍵詞無關部分可以一概略去不看。每次快速閱讀考試都有幾個直接定關鍵詞就能得答案的送分題。比如2009年6月份第三題：

　　3. What is becoming essential in the course of economic globalization according to the author?

　　A) Hiring qualified technical and management personnel.

　　B) Increasing understanding of people of other cultures.

　　C) Constantly updating knowledge and equipment.

　　D) Expanding domestic and international markets.

　　題目問在經(jīng)濟全球經(jīng)濟一體化的進程中什么變得非常重要(essential)。本題的關鍵詞為essential，帶入到文章中很快發(fā)現(xiàn)它出現(xiàn)在全文第五段：Many of us have had similar encounters with behaviors we perceive as different. As the world becomes smaller and our workplaces more diverse, it is becoming essential to expand our under-standing of others and to reexamine some of our false assumptions. 題目簡單就簡單在essential之后的部分便是我們要找的內(nèi)容——expand our under-standing of others and to reexamine some of our false assumptions(加深對異域文化的了解，重新審視自己那些不實的假想)，答案選擇B。

　　快速閱讀中的填空題更也幾乎全部依靠跳讀來定位。比如2010年6月第十題：

　　10. Now that she's got a boyfriend, Toebe is no longer crazy about __________.

　　題目的關鍵詞當然是Toebe，再加上這又是最后一題，所以很快判斷出應該到最后一段答案。

　　Since then, Toebe said, she has kept her promise to herself to cut back on her Internet use. "I have a boyfriend now, and I'm not interested in online dating," she said by phone last week. "It's a lot better now."

　　題目橫線之前最后幾個詞是crazy about(癡迷于)。這個詞組沒有在原文出現(xiàn)，不過卻出現(xiàn)了近義詞組interested in，所以在其后的短語online dating就成為了本題的答案。

　　結合剛才兩道題大家應該看到，跳讀的基礎是要找準關鍵詞。一般說來，專有名詞、時間數(shù)字、特殊名詞短語這三類詞匯是最容易被選中作為關鍵詞的，因為它們標記明顯，非常易于辨認。

　　不過近幾年也出現(xiàn)了不少有一定挑戰(zhàn)性的題目。例如2008年6月第二題：

　　2. With the increase in the number of TV channels_________.

　　A) the cost of TV advertising has decreased

　　B) the nuiflber of TV viewers has increased

　　C) advertisers' interest in other media has decreased

　　D) the number of TV ads people can see has increased

　　Television's influence on advertising is fourfold. First, narrowcasting means that television channels are seen by an increasingly narrow segment of the audience. The Golf Channel, for instance, is watched by people who play golf. Home and Garden Television is seen by those interested in household improvement projects. Thus, audiences are smaller and more homogeneous(具有共同特點的) than they have been in the past. Second, there is an increase in the number of television channels available to viewers, and thus, advertisers. This has also resulted in an increase in the sheer number of advertisements to which audiences are exposed. Third, digital recording devices allow audience members more control over which commercials they watch. Fourth, control over programming is being passed from the networks to local cable operators and satellite programmers.

　　在本段中TV channels或者channel這個詞多次出現(xiàn)給考生帶來了不小的挑戰(zhàn)。顯然通讀全段是不現(xiàn)實的。在這里也再次提醒讀者注意，在應試過程中通讀原文是萬萬不可采用的方法，很明顯這樣做也是違背了命題的初衷。比較現(xiàn)實的方法是找到該段中所有出現(xiàn)channel的句子，逐個與題目要求做比較，從而快速判斷。一個個比較下來之后發(fā)現(xiàn)，在second這個詞后面的句子是最符合題意的。“there is an increase in the number of television channels available to viewers, and thus, advertisers”——電視頻道的增加意味著觀眾能看到的廣告數(shù)量增加了。這樣不難看出D為正確答案。

　　細心的讀者可能已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了，無論是skimming還是scanning，都有可能牽涉到一個結合題干事先判斷有效句的問題。而且一旦題目深入到這個層次也就無一例外的成為了該年度考試中的難題。不過這種判斷過程實際也是有規(guī)律可循的——重點考察句子的前半部分，特別是狀語部分。下面以2010年6月份第5題為例加以說明。

　　5. According to Orzack, people who struggle with heavy reliance on the Internet may feel __________.

　　A) discouraged

　　B) pressured

　　C) depressed

　　D) puzzled

　　這道題目的關鍵詞是人名Orzack，對應的段落比較多

　　Excessive Internet use should be defined not by the number of hours spent online but "in terms of losses," said Maressa Orzack, a Harvard University professor. "If it's a loss [where] you're not getting to work, and family relationships are breaking down as a result, then it's too much."

　　Since the early 1990s, several clinics have been established in the U. S. to treat heavy Internet users. They include the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery and the Center for Internet Behavior.

　　The website for Orzack's center lists the following among the psychological symptoms of computer addiction:

　　…

　　Physical symptoms listed include dry eyes, backaches, skipping meals, poor personal hygiene (衛(wèi)生) and sleep disturbances.

　　People who struggle with excessive Internet use maybe depressed or have other mood disorders, Orzack said. When she discusses Internet habits with her patients, they often report that being online offers a "sense of belonging, and escape, excitement [and] fun," she said. "Some people say relief…because they find themselves so relaxed."

　　不少考生看到這兒就覺得無所適從，不知從何讀起，更不知道從何處尋覓答案。首先要記住題目要求——與網(wǎng)絡依賴想抗爭的人會有什么心理反應。循著這個線索逐一比較這幾個段落。首先排除第一段，因為它的開始部分講的是過度沉迷互聯(lián)網(wǎng)——excessive Internet use;第二段起始部分是時間狀語——since the early 1990s，這個也不是題目所涉及的內(nèi)容/同理排除第三段和第四段。一直到第四段第一句終于出現(xiàn)了與題干幾乎完全重合的部分，由此判斷答案必然在該句出現(xiàn)。果不其然，答案就是“People who struggle with excessive Internet use maybe depressed”——與網(wǎng)絡沉迷抗爭的人可能會感覺情緒低落，所以該題答案選擇C。

　　綜上所述，考生們只要牢牢掌握好跳讀與略低兩個基本方法，再勤加訓練就一定能在快速閱讀部分拿到理想的分數(shù)。