托福阅读句子简化题解题策略

朱甄雯

句子简化题在每次托福阅读考试中的题量虽然不多，但却令很多考生感到头疼，因为解答该题型常涉及对长难句的理解。下面本文就来分析一下这一题型的特点和解题思路。

选项特征

句子简化题的题干为：“Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence？ Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.”由此，考生可以总结出该类题型的正确和错误选项的特征。题干指出，正确选项应包含高亮部分的句子（以下简称“原句”）的主要信息（essential information）。换句话说，正确选项并不一定要表达原句的所有信息，只要表达出主要信息即可。题干还指出了两类错误选项：一类是在很大程度上改变了原句意思的选项，这种选项的意思通常与原句意思相矛盾；另一类是遗漏了原句主要信息的选项。考生准确理解正确选项与错误选项的特征对解题会有很大帮助。

解题思路

句子简化题可以分为两类：一类是原句不长的题目，一类是原句较长并且结构复杂的题目。针对这两类题目考生可以采取不同的解题思路来解答。

1. 原句不长：同义替换助解题

如果句子简化题的原句不长，此时选项一般是原句的同义替换。考生可以先找出原句中的主要信息，然后再与选项进行对比，对原句主要信息进行同义替换的选项为正确答案。请看下面这道题。

例1 原句：These people （指陪审团成员） are selected at random from the adult population in the same district served by the court concerned. （《新托福考试专项进阶——中级阅读》）

A. The adult population in the same area randomly selects the people on the court.

B. The people on a jury are randomly chosen from the same jurisdiction.

C. The jury is made up of the entire adult population in the same jurisdiction.

D. There is a random selection of courts by the adult population.

解析：这道题目的原句不长，考生便可采用同义替换的原则来解题。考生首先可分析出原句的主要信息有两个：第一个是are selected at random，即“（陪审团成员）是随机被挑选出来的”，第二个是in the same district，即“同一区域内”。正确选项应包含这两个主要信息。考生可以发现，选项B中的are randomly chosen可以和第一个主要信息对应，而选项B中的from the same jurisdiction则和第二个主要信息对应，由此考生可以判断出选项B为正确答案。有些考生可能会有疑问：该选项缺少原句中的adult，可以选吗？这就涉及上文提到的正确选项的特征——包含主要信息而非全部信息。所以，这一点不影响选项B成为正确答案。

2. 原句较长且复杂：逻辑关系助解题

当句子简化题的原句较长且复杂时，这类原句通常包含一个或几个重要的逻辑关系（比如因果、并列、转折关系等）。对于这类题目，考生应首先确定原句中的主要逻辑关系；然后看选项，排除与原句逻辑关系不一致的选项；最后再看剩下的选项哪个与原句的主要信息相符，相符者即为正确答案。

下面我们来看具体的例题。

例2 原句：He refused to develop projection technology， reasoning that if he made and sold projectors， then exhibitors would purchase only one machine—a projector—from him instead of several. （《新托福考试官方指南》Reading Practice Set 3： Early Cinema）

A. Edison was more interested in developing a variety of machines than in developing a technology based on only one.

B. Edison refused to work on projection technology because he did not think exhibitors would replace their projectors with newer machines.

C. Edison did not want to develop projection technology because it limited the number of machines he could sell.

D. Edison would not develop projection technology unless exhibitors agreed to purchase more than one projector from him.

解析：该题的原句较长且复杂，考生应从原句的逻辑关系入手。由原句的reasoning that考生可知，原句的主要逻辑关系是因果关系。然后考生再看选项，只有选项B和C是因果关系，因此考生可以先排除选项A和D。接下来考生可以比较选项B、C的主句是否与原句意思相符。考生可以发现选项B的主句以及选项C的主句跟原句主句意思基本一致。此时考生只能再比较从句了。原句的从句意思是“要是他制作和销售放映机的话，展映方将只会从他手里购得一台放映机而不是多台机器”。换句话说就是“发展放映技术会限制他的机器销售量”，只有选项C的从句符合这个意思，所以正确答案是选项C。

例3 原句：The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected， as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process. （《新托福考试官方指南》Reading Practice Set 2： Desert Formation）

A. Desertification is a significant problem because it is so hard to reverse and affects large areas of land and great numbers of people.

B. Slowing down the process of desertification is difficult because of population growth that has spread over large areas of land.

C. The spread of deserts is considered a very serious problem that can be solved only if large numbers of people in various countries are involved in the effort.

D. Desertification is extremely hard to reverse unless the population is reduced in the vast areas affected.

解析：该题的原句较长，考生应先从逻辑关系入手。句中的results from表明原句的主要逻辑关系为因果关系。接下来考生再看选项。选项C和D的逻辑关系词分别为only if和unless，都属于条件关系，因此这两个选项可先排除。接着，考生再将选项A、B与原句对比。原句陈述的结果是“沙漠化极其严重”，而原因是“影响的区域与人口太大，以及逆转或放慢沙漠化的速度难度巨大”，而选项B的主句“Slowing down the process of desertification is difficult”代表的是结果，与原句表示结果的句子意思不相同，故选项B是错误的。由此考生可以选出正确答案就是选项A。

例4 原句：Apprentices were considered part of the family， and masters were responsible not only for teaching their apprentices a trade but also for providing them some education and for supervising their moral behavior. （《新托福考试官方指南》Reading Practice Set 5： Artisans and Industrialization）

A. Masters demanded moral behavior from apprentices but often treated them irresponsibly.

B. The responsibilities of the master to the apprentice went beyond the teaching of a trade.

C. Masters preferred to maintain the trade within the family by supervising and educating the younger family members.

D. Masters who trained members of their own family as apprentices demanded excellence from them.

解析：原句的主要逻辑关系是并列关系，而选项A中的but是转折关系，所以考生可以先排除选项A。由于选项B、C和D是简单句，并没有逻辑关系词，因此考生只能对比原句与选项的主要信息了。原句的主要信息有两点：一是“（学徒）被看成是家庭成员的一部分”（were considered part of the family）；二是“师傅有责任……”（masters were responsible not only for … but also for … and for …），即教学徒手艺以及教育他们。再对照选项来看，选项B陈述的是师傅的责任，意思是“师傅对学徒的责任要超出教手艺的范围”，与原句的意思相符。而选项C和D都是说“师傅将家庭成员当成学徒”，与原文意思有很大出入。所以本题正确答案为选项B。