谈谈主旨大意类阅读理解题的解答技巧

一般说来，文章的主旨大意指的是一篇文章的中心思想或主题。主旨大意类试题主要考查学生正确辨别语篇主题的能力。这种能力要求学生们能够在充分理解语篇大意的基础上，通过概括、演绎、推理等方法来找出语篇的主旨，即文章的中心思想或主题。考生要想解答此类试题最主要的就是要抓住文章的主题句。纵观近几年英语高考试题，我们发现，每套试题的阅读理解题中通常有一到两个主旨大意类题目，而且涉及考查主旨大意的题目一般包括以下几个方面：1.文章标题类；2.段落大意类；3.文章主题类。笔者结合近几年的高考真题，谈谈解答主旨大意类试题的技巧，希望对学生的学习有所帮助。

一、归纳标题类

标题对文章的重要程度就像眼睛对人的重要程度一样。换句话说标题就是文章的点睛之笔。一般说来，语篇的标题必须能够准确地概括整个语篇的主旨或中心内容。此类试题常见的命题形式有以下几种：

1.Which of the following can be/might be the best title for the passage？

2.What can be the best /a suitable title for the text？

3.The suitable/ best /most suitable headline /title of this passage may be __________

【名校联考试题部分内容】

When I was growing up， I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard， but was always very kind.

When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives， he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle： “No pain， no gain”. He hardly watered his new trees， an attitude which flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive.

He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how， if they were not watered， trees would grow deep roots in search of water.

Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then， I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some 25 years ago. They were tall and strong.

I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew， their branches trembled. Adversity seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb’s trees in ways comfort and ease never could.

Every night before I go to bed， I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to encounter hardship. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots， so when the rains fall and the winds blow， we won’t be torn apart.

35. Which of the following is the best title for the article？

A. Deep roots count

B. Prayers for my sons

C. Doctor Gibbs and his trees

D. Trees need no water

【语篇解读】本语篇是一篇记叙文。作者小时候发现他的邻居医生在给病人看病之余，喜欢植树。作者发现他的医生邻居植树与别人植树有所不同：他很少给树浇水。作者向医生请教，医生解释到：如果经常给树浇水，可能会造成根系腐烂，导致树长得矮小，生命力不强。如果不经常给树浇水，树就会把树根扎得很深，从而汲取地下水。后来作者成为父亲后，他把医生的植树哲理应用到教育自己的孩子身上，多让孩子们在成长过程中经历苦难，从而像树一样变得坚强，经受得起风吹雨打等恶劣天气，从而茁壮成长。

【答案详解】 A。此题为主旨大意题，需要选择最佳标题。根据What we need to do is to pray for deep roots及deep roots在文章中多次出现，用它来表明树的成长要扎深根，人们成长要经历风雨，故选项A（深根很重要）为正确答案。

【方法点拨】语篇的标题是对语篇的中心思想或主旨的阐述。文章标题的选项，一般具有“短而精”“概括性强”“醒目”等特点。在解答此类试题时，我们要运用略读法（skimming）了解文章大意，以最快的速度跳跃式地浏览整个语篇，在理解语篇内容的基础上运用归纳、概括等方法对语篇的中心思想或主题进行提炼。

二、段落大意类

英语语篇的每个自然段都有一个中心，我们可以通过找到段落的主题句来确定段落的中心思想。一般来说，每个自然段的主题句多数在段首或者段尾；有时段落主题句也可能出现在段落的中间。对于在语篇中没有写出明显的主题句，这就需要我们根据段落的内容概括出段落的主题句。段落大意类主旨大意题主要命题形式有：

1.The main idea of the third /second paragraph probably is that ____.

2.What does the____ paragraph chiefly talk about？

3.What dose the writer try to express in paragraph 6？

4.Which of the following can best summarize paragraph 2？

5.What can we learn from paragraph 4？

【名校联考题部分内容】

I remember doing the household chores to help my mother when I was nine .I hated changing the vacuum cleaner bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up. Twenty years later， in 1978， with this lifelong dislike of the way the machine worked， I decided to make a bagless one.

Easier said than done， of course. I didn’t realize that I would spend the next five years perfecting my design，a process that resulted in 5，127 different prototypes.… These were tough times， but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.

……

2.What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us？

A. The help from the author’s wife.

B. The financial problems of the family.

C. The tough process of the new invention.

D. The procedures of making a bagless cleaner.

【语篇解读】本文是一篇记叙文，属于“人与自我”的主题，内容为创新意识。语篇讲述了作者发明无袋吸尘器的经历与过程，向我们揭示了“失败是成功之母”的哲理。

【答案详解】本题是主旨大意类试题，属于考查段落大意类的题目。由语篇第二段首句“Easier said than done， of course. ”和最后一句“These were tough times， but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.”可知，本段主要讲作者发明无袋吸尘器的过程中遇到的一些困难。故C项为正确答案。

【方法点拨】解答段落大意类主旨大意题的关键是抓住段落主题句。段落主题句出现在段首或段尾的频率较高，在段首的主题句多为段首的前一两句话；在段尾的主题句多为结论或总结的话。但有时主题句也可能在段落中间，此时前面的话是为了引出主题。

三、文章主题类

每篇文章都有个中心。 找文章的主题句是获取文章中心思想的有效方法。我们知道，语篇的主题句在语篇中起统领全文的作用。主题句一般具有“简洁性”“概括性”的特点。文章主题类主旨大意题的命题形式主要有以下几种：

1.What is the main theme /topic /idea/ of this passage？

2.The passage/text is mainly about________

【名校联考试题部分内容】

Britain’s streets are becoming increasingly crowed with throwaway facemasks and protective gloves ，a survey has found ， and councils warn that they are battling with mountain of personal protective equipment litter.

……

Scientists ， however， have warned that even if masks are dealt with properly ， 124，000 tons single-use facemasks could end up in landfills if people do not switch to reusable coverings.

4.What is the text mainly about？

A. The benefits of wearing facemasks .

B. The way of dealing with rubbish.

C. The problem of handling personal protective equipment litter.

D. The importance of protecting individuals.

【语篇解读】本文为说明文，涉及的是“人与自然”语境下的的保护环境方面的内容。调查发现，英国街道上的一次性口罩和防护手套越来越多，许多地方的议会正在应对堆积如山的个人防护装备垃圾。一些科学家认为使用可重复使用的个人防护装备更好。

【答案详解】本题属于主旨大意类题 。通读整个语篇，我们不难发现，第一段为语篇的主旨段，根据第一段最后一句“and councils warn that they are battling with mountain of personal protective equipment litter. ”可知，语篇的主要内容是处理PPE垃圾的问题，所以答案为C项。

【方法点拨】在语篇中找主题句是归纳中心思想最有效的方法之一。语篇的主题句一般出现在首段或者结尾段，因此在解答此类试题时我们尤其要注意语篇的首段或结尾段。除此之外，任何语篇的中心思想一般会贯穿整个语篇，这就需要学生通读全文并抓住每个自然段或每个层次的主要含义，并对从语篇中获取的信息进行加工提炼。通过对语篇的分析，把握语篇内部的逻辑关系，将每段的主题贯穿起来从而快速准确地找出语篇的中心思想。

总之，阅读理解题中的主旨大意类题考查的是对文章内容的深层次理解。它要求学生在充分理解全文的前提下，对整篇文章的主旨大意有一个较为清晰的认知。主旨大意类试题既考查了学生们的阅读理解能力又考查他们的深层次推理和概括能力。要想在此类试题上获得高分，学生要能很好地运用概括、判断、归纳以及推理等逻辑方法来解题。此外，弄清文章的体裁也有助于总结出语篇主题。对于不同体裁的语篇，我们要根据语篇体裁的特点，运用不同的方法快速准确理解语篇的中心思想。