愛薇塔樂學英文

正逆思維解決託福閱讀推斷題

摘要：託福閱讀推斷題是讓你從這個軸上的某一個點去推測，平面圖形，無非就兩個方向，順著軸發展的方向或者逆著軸發展的方向，也就是我們接下來要說的正向和逆向思維去解決託福閱讀推斷題。

託福閱讀十種題型，問學生覺得哪種題型最難，什麼答案都有，十種占全了，每個人都有每個人的弱項，所以難易有別，但居多的是文章小結題和推斷題，一個是到最後沒時間好好斟酌了，一個是摸不到頭腦該選哪一個，其實，推斷題沒有想像中的那麼難，因為託福文章有很清晰的邏輯架構，T(topic)+A(aspect)+A(attitude)的篇章結構和TS(topic sentence)+D(detail)的段落結構是幾乎每節課我都會提到的，只有明白了文章的寫作思路才能更好更快的做對題目，作者必定是按著一定的行文順序編排段落的，如果畫一個水準軸作為事件發展的順序，推斷題是讓你從這個軸上的某一個點去推測，平面圖形，無非就兩個方向，順著軸發展的方向或者逆著軸發展的方向，也就是我們接下來要說的正向和逆向思維去解決推斷題。

　　OG上將推斷題定義為檢查考生對文章中強烈建議但絕不明說觀點(strongly implied but not explicitly stated in the text)的理解程度，屬於理解性題目，題目要求如下：

　　Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about X?

　　According to paragraph 5, what does the author imply about X ?

　　Paragraph 1 suggests which of the following about X?

　　According to paragraph 3, what do Y indicate about X?

　　題幹中有出現infer, imply, indicate或suggest這四個單詞，我們就判定一個題目為推斷題，那推斷題如何解答呢?

　　第一步，判斷題型。我們拿到題目，看到上面四個單詞中的任何一個，心中就想著這是推斷題，推斷題的做題忠旨是文章中強烈建議但未明說的。

　　第二步，審清題幹。明白題目是要我們根據哪段進行推測，推測關於什麼的。

　　第三步，原文定位。根據題幹中我們找到的資訊點，回到原文定位，找到相關句。

　　第四步，推測+判斷。根據相關句進行正向或逆向的推理，最後擇優而選，確定答案。

　　前三步，可以借用做事實資訊題的方法來做，最後一步的推測，相對于正向推理，逆向推理對同學們簡單一些，回到原文中定位，發現相關句中存在著對比或轉折的，直接否定前者，得出答案，例如TPO2中的The Origins of Cetaceans 的第2題，讓你推測關於early sea otters的，回到原文中定位，你會發現，關鍵句中存在著一個unlike，說不像sea otters，想像一下早期鯨類比較困難(not easy=difficult)，那我們逆推一下，不就是說想像早期sea otters長什麼樣比較容易，正確答案中出現了not difficult，所以這道題很簡單，當然ETS不會一直都出這麼簡單的推斷題，只是給大家一個答題的方向，另外，ETS經常會在有時間對比處出推斷題，這時候我們逆向推理就可以得出正確答案，下面看一個例題：

　　3. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about canal building?

　　○ Canals were built primarily in the south of England rather than in other regions.

　　○ Canal building decreased after the steam locomotive was invented.

　　○ Canal building made it difficult to study rock strata which often became damaged in the process.

　　○ Canal builders hired surveyors like Smith to examine exposed rock strata.

　　Paragraph 2: This was before the steam locomotive, and canal building was at its height. The companies building the canals to transport coal needed surveyors to help them find the coal deposits worth mining as well as to determine the best courses for the canals. This job gave Smith an opportunity to study the fresh rock outcrops created by the newly dug canal. He later worked on similar jobs across the length and breadth of England, all the while studying the newly revealed strata and collecting all the fossils he could find. Smith used mail coaches to travel as much as 10,000 miles per year. In 1815 he published the first modern geological map, "A Map of the Strata of England and Wales with a Part of Scotland," a map so meticulously researched that it can still be used today.

　　解析：第一步，我們看到infer判斷為推斷題。第二步，審題得到的資訊點是第2段和canal building。第三步，回到原文定位，相關句為第一句，This was before the steam locomotive, and canal building was at its height.出現了before steam locomotive，有時間對比，canal building was at its height , at one's height處於頂峰。那第四步我們就可以逆向推理到after steam locomotive，canal building 下滑，判定四個選項中只有B符合我們的推測，所以正確選項為B，而ACD都是迷惑你的無關選項。

　　逆推比較好理解，而正推同學們覺得難的原因是不好把握度，很容易加上自己的主觀判斷就推過了，這時候我們可以把它當做事實資訊題去做，因為你要基於原文進行推測，那麼討論的角度和情感色彩要與原文的保持一致，所以做題的另外一條原則是don't contradict with the main idea of the passage，推測的時候我們可以用演繹或者歸納的方法得出正確答案，也可以借用文章主旨和情感態度選出正確答案，看如下例題：

　　10. According to paragraph 4, what do the 2003 Global Surveyor data suggest about Mars?

　　○Ancient oceans on Mars contained only small amounts of carbon.

　　○The climate of Mars may not have been suitable for the formation of large bodies of water.

　　○Liquid water may have existed on some parts of Mars' surface for long periods of time.

　　○The ancient oceans that formed on Mars dried up during periods of cold, dry weather.

　　Paragraph 4: These ideas remain controversial. Proponents point to features such as the terraced "beaches" shown in one image, which could conceivably have been left behind as a lake or ocean evaporated and the shoreline receded. But detractors maintain that the terraces could also have been created by geological activity, perhaps related to the geologic forces that depressed the Northern Hemisphere far below the level of the south, in which case they have nothing whatever to do with Martian water. Furthermore, Mars Global Surveyor data released in 2003 seem to indicate that the Martian surface contains too few carbonate rock layers-layers containing compounds of carbon and oxygen-that should have been formed in abundance in an ancient ocean. Their absence supports the picture of a cold, dry Mars that never experienced the extended mild period required to form lakes and oceans. However, more recent data imply that at least some parts of the planet did in fact experience long periods in the past during which liquid water existed on the surface.

　　解析：根據關鍵字我們定位到文段的中間部分：Mars Global Surveyor data released in 2003 seem to indicate that the Martian surface contains too few carbonate rock layers-layers containing compounds of carbon and oxygen-that should have been formed in abundance in an ancient ocean.這道題可以當做事實資訊題去做，但注意不是原文的簡單重複，suggest 是原文中indicate的同義轉換，我們只要找到what就好了，原文that後面是重點，出現了too few, should have, 情感態度推測一下，持否定態度，也就說說形成 an ancient ocean不太可能，我們看選項，A中說Ancient oceans on Mars contained only small amounts of carbon.主客體與原文矛盾，排除;B選項 The climate of Mars may not have been suitable for the formation of large bodies of water.說不適合形成大量的水，持否定態度，符合原文，保留;C選項Liquid water may have existed on some parts of Mars' surface for long periods of time.相關句中未提及，排除;D選項The ancient oceans that formed on Mars dried up during periods of cold, dry weather. 說的是ancient oceans沒有，而不是原來有後來乾涸了，與原文不符，排除，所以正確答案為B。

　　不管正推還是逆推，關鍵是要基於原文進行推斷，這就是我們要從事件發展這條水準軸上進行推測的原因，不然從一條射線的某點，空間範圍內進行延伸，你會得出無數條直線，判斷我們做的正確與否，關鍵就是能不能在原文中找到相應的依據，希望同學們在做完推斷題的時候回到原文中標出出題依據，逐漸提升自己做題的敏感度和正確率，最後考出好成績。