王長喜大學英語考試四級大課堂（第八講）

(5)上下義概念的考查

　　有些題盡管問題可能問的是含義之類，但其實考查的是同學們對上下義關系的掌握。如：

①M: Let me see.I've printed my family name,first name,date of
birth and address. Anything else?
W: No,that's all right.We'll fill in the rest of it if you just
sign your name at the bottom.
Q: What has the man been doing?
A. Having an interview. B. Filling out a form.
C. Talking with a friend. D. Asking for information.

　　上義詞為概括性詞語，下義詞所表示的則是具體的東西。本題中能夠概括男士所做之事的應該是選項B。
② M:What happened to you? You are so late.
W:The bus I took broke down in front of the hospital and I had
to walk from there.
Q:Why was the woman so late?
A. Something went wrong with the bus.
B. She took somebody to hospital.
C. Something prevented her from catching the bus.
D. She came on foot instead of taking a bus.
Something went wrong 是對the bus break down的概括性表述。
　　對話聽力中其它考查項目，如因果、條件、否定、比較等可參看四六級考試的《聽力分冊》。

2．短文

　　該部分共有短文三篇，設10個小題，重要考查兩方面的內容：

1）對主題的判斷

(1)提問的方式

　　主題題通常以下列方式提問：

What is the main idea/topic of this passage?
What does the passage mainly discuss?
What can we learn from the passage?
What is the passage mainly about?

(2)選項特點

　　主題題的四個選項一般都以短語的方式出現。如：

① A. Two types of only children.
B. Parent's responsibilities.
C. The necessity of family planning.
D. The relationship between parents and children.

② A. Environmental pollution and protection.
B. Taxes and services for the public.
C. Police efforts to protect people.
D. People's attitude toward taxes.

③ A. The difference between classical music and rock music.
B. Why classical music is popular with math students.
C. The effects of music on the results of math tests.
D. How to improve your reasoning activity.

(3)解題技巧

　　對于這類題，同學們在聽的時候應特別注意文章的首句和尾句，首句一般開篇點名主題，而尾句則總結全文，根據這兩句進行推斷一般可以確定文章的主題。如上面②題可根據文章最后一段的尾句解答，請看原文：

　　We use all sort of services without thinking how we get them. But such services cost money. We pay for them through taxes. What would happen if everyone in a city stop paying taxes? The water supply would stop. The street might not be cleaned. There would be no police force to protect people and property.

　　The chief duty of every government is to protect persons and proper-
ty. More than three-fourths of the money spent by our government is used for this purpose. The next largest amount of public money goes to teach and train our citizens. Billions of dollars each year are spent on schools and libraries. Public money is used to pay the teachers and other public officials.

　　Years ago the government made money from the sale of public lands. But most of the best public lands has now been sold. The money raised was used to help pay the cost of government. There are still some public lands that contain oil, coal, gas, and other natural products. They could be sold, but we want to save them for future years. So we all must pay our share for the services that make our lives comfortable.

　　從尾句可以看出文章談論的是人們?yōu)槭裁炊紤�該交稅以使我們的生活更加美好�?

　　再如③題，同學們可以通過文章的開始幾句，找到文章的主題。請看原文：

　　Do you have a tough math test coming up? Then listen to some classical piano music just before the test. You might end up with a higher score.Researchers at a university in California conducted an experiment. They asked a group of college students to listen to some piano music by a famous 18th century composer before taking a math test. They were surprised to find that the students' scores jumped 8 to 9 points. The music seems to excite nerve activities in the brain; similar to the activity that occurs when a person is figuring out a math problem. However, the scientists warn that before you get too excited about applying the method to your math test, you should remember that brain exciting effects last only 10 or 15 minutes. Would rock music work as well as the piano music did? No, the scientists say. In fact, the less complex music might even interfere with the brain's reasoning ability.

　　顯然，黑體部分表明了文章的主題，緊接著的實驗為支撐細節(jié)，用于說明文章的主題。

2） 對具體事實的判斷

(1)提問的方式

　　對細節(jié)的提問通常以wh-question的方式出現，主要針對文章的有關人物、事件、地點、時間、原因、目的、數據等。

如上面兩篇短文的其它幾個問題的選項。

① What's the chief duty of every government?
A. To protect persons and property.
B. To collect taxes.
C. To teach and train citizens.
D. To save natural resources for future use.

② How did the government raise money in the past?
A. By selling services that make life comfortable.
B. By selling land containing oil.
C. By selling public lands.
D. By selling coal and other natural products.

① Why can classical music play a positive role in problem solving?
A. Because it stimulates your nerve activity.
B. Because it keeps you calm.
C. Because it strengthens your memory.
D. Because it improves your problem solving ability.

②What is one of the findings of the research?
A.Piano music could interfere with your reasoning ability.
B.The effects of music do not last long?
C.The more you listen to music,the higher your test scores will be.
D.Music, whether classical or rock, helps improve your memory.

(2)選項特點

　　這種細節(jié)判斷題以辨認題居多。有可能幾個選項在文章中都有所提及，但只要同學們仔細聽，注意分別，就能從原文中找到出處。如上面99年6月的考題，第①題可以在文章找到The chief duty of every government is to protect persons and property，這同樣也是第二段的主題句，是整段要說明的內容。第②題也能從文章找到Years ago the government made money from the sale of public lands.一句為佐證。

　　再如99年1月的考題，①②兩題也都能從文章中找到信息句，如The music seems to excite nerve activities in the brain. 和… you should remember that brain exciting effects last only 10 or 15 minutes.

　　從考查的范圍來看，短文聽力中原因的考查最多，其次是對具體所發(fā)生的事情的判斷，也包括依據事實所做的推理判斷。如99年6月第二篇短文、2000年1月第二篇短文全是原因的考查，一般原因考查題多出現在故事短文中，只要同學們能夠理清故事的來龍去脈，這種原因題就比較簡單。如：

　　When I was at school,my ambition was to be a pilot in the Air Force. But my eyesight wasn't good enough. So I had to give up that idea. I went to university and studied physics. I wanted to stay on there and do research, but my father died at about that time. So I thought I'd better get a job and earn my living. I started working in an engineering firm.

　　I expected to stay in that job for a long time. But then, they appointed a new managing director. I didn't get on with him, so I resigned and applied for a job with another engineering company. I would certainly have accepted the job if they had offered it to me, but on my way to the interview I met a friend who was working for a travel agency. He offered me a job in Spain. And I've always liked Spain, so I took it.

　　I worked in the travel agency for two years and then they wanted to send me to South America. But I had just got married. So I decided to stay here. Then we had a baby and I wasn't earning enough to support the family. So I started giving English lessons at school in the evenings.

I liked the English teaching more than working for the travel agency, and then the owner of the school offered me a full-time job as a teacher. So I resigned from the agency. Two years later, the owner of the school wanted to retire, so he asked me to take over as the director. And here I am.

14. Why did the man give up studying physics?
15. Why did the man resign from the engineering firm?
16. Why did the man take the job at the travel agency?
17. Why did the man start to teach English part time?

　　很顯然本短文要求同學們了解文中的"我"工作變化的原因。但考試時同學們看不到問題，只能看到選項。在這種情況下，同學們應該做的是：

　　注意問題的順序與短文所講故事發(fā)生的時間順序是一致的。
　　一邊聽，一邊判斷選項是否符合事實，在短文中是否提到。
　　最后再聽問題，這時只是驗證一下自己的答案而已。