用文体推断法解答主旨题

杨小莲

高考阅读理解中的主旨大意题（main idea，mainly about）、给文章选标题（title）、推断作者的写作目的（purpose，intend to）等题型主要是考查学生在阅读全文的基础上归纳总结文章大意的能力。解答这类题的关键是找准主题句。主题句在哪里？可根据不同文体来找主题句。

一、议论文或说明文

议论文或说明文的主题句一般在文首，但有的在文尾，也有的首尾呼应。

[例1]（2016年全国Ⅰ卷D篇 ）

[说明文]The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful， or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness， or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable； therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap（间隙） with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a persons needs.

Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people， just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore， when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops， what may be implied（暗示） is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures， silence is a call for reflection.

Other cultures may use silence in other ways， particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example， Russian， French， and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic udner discussion. However， Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use， persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect， particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be expericencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patients silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing（治愈） value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

35. What may be the best title for the text？

A. Sound and Silence

B. What It Means to Be Silent

C. Silence to Native Americans

D. Speech Is Silver； Silence Is Gold

解析：本文为说明文，由文章的首句The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups以及第二段和第三段的首句可知文章主要介绍了在不同文化背景下谈话期间沉默的不同含义。故选B项。endprint

二、新闻报道

新闻报道的主题句就是导语，即文章的首句或首段。正文采取倒金字塔形式，最重要事实，次要事实，最次要事实。

[例2]（2017年全国卷C篇）

After years of heated debate， gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year， the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.

Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States， but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s， wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada， where there were fewer humans around.

The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations—major food sources （来源） for the wolf—grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation （植被）， which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves， coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the parks red foxes， and completely drove away the parks beavers.

As early as 1966， biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park. They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.

The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today， the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk， deer， and coyote populations are down， while beavers and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.

28. What is the text mainly about？

A. Wildlife research in the United States.

B. Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area.

C. The conflict between farmers and gray wolves.

D. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park.

解析：本文是报道类文章，主题句就是导语，即首段首句。由After years of heated debate， gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park可知答案是D项。

三、科研报告或调查报告

反映科学实验或调研结果的报道或科普类说明文，其内容主要包括“科研实验结果或调查结果+实验研究过程或调查的具体情况”两大部分，文章主旨就是科研或调查结果，因此主题句通常在首段，且常伴有according to a study，a study showed/proved，this is suggested by the results of new research on，scientists recently reported，a study claimed等。endprint

[例3]（2016年全国丙卷D篇 ）

Bad news sells. If it bleeds， it leads. No news is good news， and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers. But now that information is being spread and monitored （监控） in different ways， researchers are discovering new rules. By tracking peoples e-mails and online posts， scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.

“The‘if it bleeds rule works for mass media，” says Jonah Berger， a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.“They want your eyeballs and dont care how youre feeling. But when you share a story with your friends， you care a lot more how they react. You dont want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer.”

Researchers analyzing word-of-mouth communication—e-mails， Web posts and reviews， face-to-face conversations—found that it tended to be more positive than negative （消极的）， but that didnt necessarily mean people preferred positive news. Was positive news shared more often simply because people experienced more good things than bad things？ To test for that possibility， Dr. Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories： thousands of articles on The New York Timeswebsite. He and a Penn colleague analyzed the“most e-mailed” list for six months. One of his first findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles. He found that science amazed Times readers and made them want to share this positive feeling with others.

Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny， or that inspired negative feelings like anger or anxiety， but not articles that left them merely sad. They needed to be aroused （激发） one way or the other， and they preferred good news to bad. The more positive an article， the more likely it was to be shared， as Dr. Berger explains in his new book， “Contagious： Why Things Catch On.”

35. What can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Sad Stories Travel Far and Wide

B. Online News Attracts More People

C. Reading Habits Change with the Times

D. Good News Beats Bad on Social Networks

解析：由第一段But后，特别是scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories可知，通过追踪人们的邮件和网上的帖子，科学家们发现好消息比灾难性的，令人伤心的消息在网络上传播得更快，影响更深远。故选D项。

四、记叙文

纯记叙文通常没有主题句，需要读者自己领悟，从中归纳提炼；但有的在文尾作者会发表感慨、感悟或就此发表议论，主旨也就在此；还有的先发表某种议论或感慨再讲一个故事或经历，主旨就在文首。endprint

[例4]（2017年全国II卷 B篇 ）

I first met Paul Newman in 1968， when George Roy Hill， the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid， introduced us in New York City. When the studio didnt want me for the film—it wanted somebody as well-known as Paul—he stood up for me. I dont know how many people would have done that； they would have listened to their agents or the studio powers.

The friendship that grew out of the experience of making that film and The Sting four years later had its root in the fact that although there was an age difference， we both came from a tradition of theater and live TV. We were respectful of craft（技艺）and focused on digging into the characters we were going to play. Both of us had the qualities and virtues that are typical of American actors： humorous， aggressive， and making fun of each other—but always with an underlying affection. Those were also at the core （核心） of our relationship off the screen.

We shared the belief that if youre fortunate enough to have success， you should put something back—he with his Newmans Own food and his Hole in the Wall camps for kids who are seriously ill， and me with Sundance and the institute and the festival. Paul and I didnt see each other all that regularly， but sharing that brought us together. We supported each other financially and by showing up at events.

I last saw him a few months ago. Hed been in and out of the hospital. He and I both knew what the deal was， and we didnt talk about it. Ours was a relationship that didnt need a lot of words.

27. What is the authors purpose in writing the text？

A. To show his love of films

B. To remember a friend

C. To introduce a new movie

D. To share his acting experience.

解析：本文是纯记叙文，没有主题句。第一段写作者与Paul初相识，第二段和第三套讲建立长久友谊的原因，第四段谈Paul病逝前作者看望Paul时的情景，全文都是讲作者与Paul的友谊的，可见作者写这篇文章是为了纪念一个朋友。故选B项。

除主旨推断法外，也还有词句提醒法。如：

1. 表转折的词语。有but，however，in fact等语意转折的地方，其后通常是作者要表达的观点，即主题句。

2. 在例证前。作者表述观点之后通常会有for example来佐证，也就是说，在举例之前即为作者要表达的观点。

3. 对开头问句的回答。若是以问句开头的文章，其答句很可能就是文章的主题句，要着重理解。

4. 反复出现的词。在每个段落中或多个段落中反复出现的词语，很可能就是体现文章主旨的关键词，抓住了这样的关键词也就抓住了文章的主旨。

这些方法本文就不举例了，请同学们在平时的阅读中留意。

责任编辑 蒋小青endprint