托福閱讀之代詞的應(yīng)用

　　代詞，往往是我們英語學(xué)習(xí)中最容易忽視的一類單詞，因為它們本身并沒有太多色彩，太多意義。但是代詞的正確使用會讓我們的英語表達更加地道，在英語寫作方面，它們也讓我們的句子結(jié)構(gòu)更加緊湊。

　　在托福閱讀中，指代題雖然題量不大，但是除了指代題之外，事實信息題、句子插入題以及推斷題的很多考點就是清楚地知道代詞的指代。如果我們準確領(lǐng)悟代詞的指代，很多題目都可以迎刃而解。

　　下面將從指代題、事實信息題和推斷題入手，逐一分析代詞指代的重要性。

　　1、指代題

　　例題1：

　　Paragraph 3: At the upper timberline the trees begin to become twisted and deformed. This is particularly true for trees in the middle and upper latitudes, which tend to attain greater heights on ridges, whereas in the tropics the trees reach their greater heights in the valleys. This is because middle- and upper- latitude timberlines are strongly influenced by the duration and depth of the snow cover. As the snow is deeper and lasts longer in the valleys, trees tend to attain greater heights on the ridges, even though they are more exposed to high-velocity winds and poor, thin soils there. In the tropics, the valleys appear to be more favorable because they are less prone to dry out, they have less frost, and they have deeper soils.

　　The word they in the passage refers to

　　○valleys

　　○trees

　　○heights

　　○ridges

　　首先，在考察指代題時，代詞“they”在題干中打上陰影，并且原文中代詞“they”也打上了陰影，所以指代題不需要定位。

　　其次，在解答指代題時，我們只需要看兩句話，一是代詞所在的這句，二是前面一句。以這道題為例，我們這句話是由since引導(dǎo)的原因狀語從句，主句的主語是trees, 然后trees所在的這句話又接了個even though引導(dǎo)的讓步狀語從句，而從句中的主語是代詞，很明顯它指代的就是主句中的主語，所以答案是“trees”。所以我們得出了一條規(guī)律：在主從復(fù)合句中，主語應(yīng)該是一致的。

　　例題2：

　　Paragraph 6: Workers were united in resenting the industrial system and their loss of status, but they were divided by ethnic and racial antagonisms, gender, conflicting religious perspectives, occupational differences, political party loyalties, and disagreements over tactics. For them, the factory and industrialism were not agents of opportunity but reminders of their loss of independence and a measure of control over their lives. As United States society became more specialized and differentiated, greater extremes of wealth began to appear. And as the new markets created fortunes for the few, the factory system lowered the wages of workers by dividing labor into smaller, less skilled tasks.

　　The word them in the passage refers to

　　○workers

　　○political party loyalties

　　○disagreements over tactics

　　○agents of opportunity

　　拿到這道題，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)代詞“them”在這句話的句首，for them對他們來說，所以這道題的指代在上一句中。我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，上一句話中出現(xiàn)了大量的名詞短語的并列，而選項中B和C在原文中是以并列形式出現(xiàn)的，表明重要性一致，所以優(yōu)先排除這兩個選項，那么上句話中唯一提到的名詞又在選項中出現(xiàn)的，只有A。

　　提醒廣大托兒們，當兩個選項在文中是以并列或列舉形式出現(xiàn)，那么我們首先先排除這兩個選項。

　　2、事實信息題

　　例題1：

　　Paragraph 3: The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death of injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals.

　　According to paragraph 3, scholars explained chips in the painted figures of animals by proposing that

　　○Upper Paleolithic artists used marks to record the animals they had seen

　　○the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals for hunting

　　○the artists had removed rough spots on the cave walls

　　○Upper Paleolithic people used the paintings to increase their luck at hunting

　　事實信息題主要考察的就是準確定位和同義轉(zhuǎn)換的能力，所以只需要帶著題干中的信息到文章定位，閱讀相關(guān)的一兩句話，找到同義改寫，即能選出答案。但是對眾多考生來說，準確定位不難，但是到底我們應(yīng)該閱讀定位信息的什么地方，前面還是后面，亦或是該句本身?

　　首先，題干中的名詞：chips是解題關(guān)鍵，到文中定位到第七行倒數(shù)第二個單詞，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)這句話的主語是this theory, 所以chips想要提出的理論，應(yīng)該在上句話中。往前看一句，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)該句的主語是another explanation, 很明顯這是段落的分論點二，所以答案就是這一句，畫動物的理由是improve their luck at hunting, 選項D最好地表達了這個概念。

　　3、推斷題

　　推斷題一直都被很多學(xué)生“嫌棄”，因為它太難了，正確率總是提不上來，要不就是不知道怎么推斷，要不就是過度臆想，反正就是想不通答案的來源。而今天朗閣海外考試研究中心的專家們將從代詞指代的角度幫助大家解決推斷題。

　　例題1：

　　Paragraph 1: When it comes to physiology, the leatherback turtle is, in some ways, more like a reptilian whale than a turtle. It swims farther into the cold of the northern and southern oceans than any other sea turtle, and it deals with the chilly waters in a way unique among reptiles.

　　What can be inferred about whales from paragraph 1?

　　○They are considered by some to be reptiles.

　　○Their bodies are built in a way that helps them manage extremely cold temperatures.

　　○They are distantly related to leatherback turtles.

　　○They can swim farther than leatherback turtles.

　　首先：題干中出現(xiàn)“infer”、“imply”和“indicate”表明它是推斷題，顧名思義，推斷題的答案文中沒有明確給出，但是答案一定基于原文，一定是原文的合理推斷，不能妄自聯(lián)想和猜想。我們通過題干中的唯一名詞“whale”定位，發(fā)現(xiàn)它在第二行，我們很快也發(fā)現(xiàn)這句話的主語是：leatherback turtle, whale只是和它有類比關(guān)系，他們很相像，因為文中出現(xiàn)了“the leatherback turtle is more like a reptilian whale.” 緊接著我們看到下一句：it swims farther into the cold of the northern and southern oceans, 這句話中出現(xiàn)代詞it, 很明顯指代的是上句話中：leatherback turtle, 但是turtle和whale是類比關(guān)系，所以turtle能做的事，whale也可以，所以答案和在冰冷的海水中可以游得很遠有關(guān)，所以答案是B。

　　通過上述三個題型的講解，我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)很多托福閱讀的題型的解題方法都離不開代詞的指代，這就要求我們以后在閱讀文章時，多問問自己這些代詞的指代，加以時日的練習(xí)，我們一定能在托福閱讀的題型解法上有突飛猛進的進步。