GRE快速阅读大法
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GRE快速阅读大法
1、时间约束
在GRE阅读中,一篇长文章大致需要在4分钟之内看完。而且GRE文章涉猎极其广泛,再加上其特有的长难句,因此考生在读文章时必然感觉晦涩难懂。
至此读者不禁要问,如想要在短时间内看完文章,是不是只要在提高速度下功夫,即在语言层面做些工作就可以了呢?
在回答这个问题之前,我们先来看一下作为母语是英语的美国人来说,他们读GRE文章是不是没有问题呢?
笔者自己发现美国人读GRE阅读文章也有与中国考生同样的感觉:文章晦涩难懂,做题时间不够等。原因何在?原因在于美国长期以来实行放任教育体制,言外之意,美国主流的教育观念是不强调美国学生必须要知道一些基本的自然科学的常识,不管他们想不想知道。所以,很多美国学生的地理和数学知识匮乏到令人惊讶的程度也就容易理解了。因此,尽管美国人在考GRE时占尽了母语的优势,但与像TOEFL那样的语言考试迥异的是G式阅读不是纯粹的语言测试,所以土生土长的美国人也发现他们也无法轻而易举地在如此短的时间内读完文章并做完题目。
那么,试想连他们都感觉吃力,又怎么能指望中国学在紧张而短暂的4分钟内,把一篇文章如学术研究般的字斟句酌,领会深意,甚至做一番英译汉的工作呢?因此,符合GRE的快速阅读势在必行!
2、GRE阅读所考察的能力
事实上,G式阅读考查的是实际思维能力,
而并非仅仅停留在一些语言层面的内容如庞大的词汇量对以及全文进行逐字逐句地把握等。拿词汇来说,中国考生只要具备了托福的词汇量就可以在GRE阅读中取得好成绩,。我想很多中国GRE考生的单词量绝不止六七千,可阅读确实其中相对薄弱的环节。
不难看出,考生用传统的阅读思维来应对G式阅读是其中最重要的原因。而传统阅读方法中处于核心地位的就是文章逐字逐句地研读并翻译,希望尽量做到全文理解,然后再去做题,而这种方法恰恰不适合GRE阅读。GRE阅读就是要求在全文所传递出来的海量的信息中迅速找出相关的重点信息来解题,没有有效的快速阅读是不可想象的。
实际上,GRE阅读这种抓大放小,快速阅读的考查重点是与整个GRE考试的考查重点是完全吻合的。因为GRE语文部分,乃至GRE考试实际上都不单纯为考英语而考英语,而是考查考生是否具备将来成为一个商业领导者或研究生所需要的阅读能力以及思维方式。所以GRE阅读就是以高难的英语为载体,通过考查考生是否具有根据文章后面的题目在文章中寻找相关信息的能力,来间接考查考生是否具备从未来工作中那浩如烟海的信息海洋中抽取关键信息的能力。
此处的关键信息,简单地说,就是我们在看完一篇文章后,我们所明白的无非是:诸如有一种什么动物,名字不知道,第一个字母是t。
有一些科学家对此种动物很感兴趣,于是抓了一只t来研究并在研究结束后提出了一种假说。后来把t放归自然,当然安装了跟踪装置,数月后,研究者再次将t带回实验室,根据跟踪装置的报道,证明他们最初的假说是完全正确的。
其实,考生只需先看懂这些就足够了。考生只需在考试中,将一切人物、地点、器具、物质都转化为一个字母或代号,一切细微的感觉都概括为或正或负的评价(顶多是有保留的或正或负的态度),至于作者使用了哪些论据,经历了哪些论证过程,最后又如何推出自己的精辟论点,考生实在是没那么多时间去顾及了。也就是说,考生必须看懂的内容:
※ 作者在说什么内容以及这些内容有什么中心事物和人的代表
※ 作者对他们态度如何(正评价或负评价)
※ 作者在论证出自己的正或负态度过程中曾举过什么重点例子以及作者是否表示出了一些极端的评价,如最好、唯一之类。
3、快速阅读的误区
由于G式阅读其本身的特殊性和快速阅读的特殊要求,很多考生在学习使用快速阅读技巧的时候表现出诸多的误区,下面试举几例:
※ 盲目求快而忽略了文章中主要的信息
有些考生片面理解了GRE阅读中的快速阅读,认为快速阅读仅仅指的就是提高单位时间内容阅读单词的数量,所以在阅读实践中盲目提速。导致文章中重要的主干内容被忽略。如下例:
有些考生在处理上一段的时候以极快的速度从头念到尾,却没有区分关键信息和非关键信息。将黄色区域等同于粉红色区域。其实,粉红色区域的“as a consequence”说明该句的重要性将大大超过黄色区域中的句子。因为从逻辑角度来说,As a consequence是表示“前因后果”,而从逻辑上说,结果比原因更重要,所以正确的阅读方法应为迅速通过黄色区域,在粉红色区域细细研读。
※ 在阅读时缩手缩脚,不敢舍弃
有的考生在备考时也基本认同了快速阅读方法的合理性,可在实际阅读文章的过程中还是缩手缩脚,不敢快速阅读一些细节。仍然是上述例子。
有些考生把黄色区域中的文字也好好地研读了一番,甚至试图记下每一年发生的大事件。将大量时间花在细节上,最终导致没有时间去思考该这部分内容是否值得他这样去细细品味。
※ 在阅读时颠倒阅读重点
在把握GRE文章时首先应读出其逻辑层次,其中包括套路,各段段意,各段之间的逻辑关系以及主题句。其次,需注意文章中的一些重点语言现象,如GRE强转折,强因果和强对比等词所在的句子。同时在看文章时对一些重要的细节要记住它们大致的位置。最后在做题的时候对一些与题目相关的细节进行仔细的研读。因此,阅读GRE文章的优先顺序如下:
以上步骤的优先级(priority)依次递减。而很多考生的误区在于认为读GRE文章就是去读一些文章中的细节,而忽视了对文章整体的把握。由于在细节上花的时间太多,没有时间去思考诸如本篇文章的套路,主题句等问题。所以概括说来,很多同学读G式阅读文章刚好“本末倒置”。
新GRE逻辑阅读
1. The painter Peter Brandon never dated his works, and their chronology is only now beginning to take shape in the critical literature. A recent dating of a Brandon self-portrait to 1930 is surely wrong. Brandon was 63 years old in 1930, yet the painting shows a young, dark-haired man-obviously Brandon, but clearly not a man of 63.
Which of the following, if justifiably assumed, allows the conclusion to be properly drawn?
(A) There is no securely dated self-portrait of Brandon that he painted when he was significantly younger than 63.
(B) In refraining from dating his works, Brandon intended to steer critical discussion of them away from considerations of chronology.
(C) Until recently, there was very little critical literature on the works of Brandon.
(D) Brandon at age 63 would not have portrayed himself in a painting as he had looked when he was a young man.
(E) Brandon painted several self-portraits that showed him as a man past the age of 60.
2. Dance critic from Europe: The improved quality of ballet in the United States is the result of more Europeans' teaching ballet in the United States than ever before. I know the proportion of teachers who were born and trained in Europe has gone up among ballet teachers in the United States, because last year, on my trip to New York, more of the ballet teachers I met were from Europe-born and trained there -than ever before.
Which of the following identifies a questionable assumption made by the dance critic's reasoning?
(A) The argument overlooks the possibility that some ballet teachers in the United States could have been born in Europe but trained in the United States.
(B) The argument assumes that the ballet teachers whom the critic met last year on the critic's trip to New York were a generally typical group of such teachers.
(C) The argument assumes that the teaching of ballet in the United States is superior to the teaching of ballet in Europe
(D) Other possible reasons for the improved mental attitudes of United States dancers are not examined.
(E) The argument assumes that dancers born and trained in Europe are typically more talented than dancers born and trained in the United States.
3.Mayor Four years ago when we reorganized the city police department in order to save money, critics claimed that the reorganization would make the police less responsive to citizens and would thus lead to more crime. The police have compiled theft statistics from the years following the reorganization that show that the critics were wrong. There was an overall decrease in reports of thefts of all kinds, including small thefts.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously challenges the mayor's argument?
(A) When city police are perceived as unresponsive, victims of theft are less likely to report thefts to the police.
(B) The mayor's critics generally agree that police statistics concerning crime reports provide the most reliable available data on crime rates.
(C) In other cities where police departments have been similarly reorganized, the numbers of reported thefts have generally risen following reorganization.
(D) The mayor's reorganization of the police department failed to save as much money as it was intended to save.
(E) During the four years immediately preceding the reorganization, reports of all types of theft had been rising steadily in comparison to reports of other crimes.
4. It takes a particular talent to be a successful business manager. Business courses can help people to solve management problems, but such courses can do so only for those people with managerial talent. Such people should take business courses to acquire ideas that they can subsequently use to good advantage if management problems happen to arise.
If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true on the basis of them?
(A) People who are helped by business courses in solving management problems also have managerial talent.
(B) People who are already skilled at solving management problems are unlikely to benefit from business courses.
(C) Most ideas that are used successfully in solving management problems are those acquired in business courses.
(D) People who lack managerial talent are more likely to take business courses than are people who have managerial talent.
(E) Those people who have never taken business courses are unable to solve management problems when such problems arise.
5. When a driver is suspected of having had too much to drink, testing the driver's ability to walk a straight line gives a more reliable indication of fitness to drive than does testing the driver's blood-alcohol level.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the claim made in the statement above?
(A) Not all observers will agree whether or not an individual has succeeded in walking a straight line.
(B) Because of genetic differences and variations in acquired tolerance to alcohol, some individuals suffer more serious motor impairment from a given high blood-alcohol level than do others.
(C) Tests designed to measure blood-alcohol levels are accurate, inexpensive, and easy to administer.
(D) More than half the drivers involved in fatal accidents have blood-alcohol levels that exceed the legal limit, whereas in less-serious accidents the proportion of legally intoxicated drivers is lower.
(E) Some individuals with high blood-alcohol levels are capable of walking a straight line but are not capable of driving safely.
6. That sales can be increased by the presence of sunlight within a store has been shown by the experience of the only Savefast department store with a large skylight. The skylight allows sunlight into half of the store, reducing the need for artificial light. The rest of the store uses only artificial light. Since the store opened two years ago, the departments on the sunlit side have had substantially higher sales than the other departments.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
(A) On particularly cloudy days, more artificial light is used to illuminate the part of the store under the skylight.
(B) When the store is open at night, the departments in the part of the store under the skylight have sales that are no higher than those of other departments.
(C) Many customers purchase items from departments in both parts of the store on a single shopping trip.
(D) Besides the skylight, there are several significant architectural differences between the two parts of the store.
(E) The departments in the part of the store under the skylight are the departments that generally have the highest sales in other stores in the Savefast chain.
7. To protect beachfront buildings from ocean storms, ocean resorts have built massive seawalls between beaches and the buildings. Not only do the seawalls block off some buildings' ocean view, but the beaches themselves become ever narrower, because sand can no longer creep inland as storms erode it at the water's edge. If the information is correct, which of the following conclusions is most strongly supported on the basis of it?
(A) Since the ferocity of ocean storms is increasing, increasingly high seawalls must be built between beaches and beachfront property.
(B) Even when beaches are heavily used by people, they are necessary to the survival of the many wild species that use them.
(C) Seawalls constructed to protect beachfront buildings will not themselves eventually be damaged by storms and will not require, if they are to protect the buildings, expensive repair or replacement.
(D) The conservation of beaches for future generations should be the overriding goal of shore management at ocean coasts.
(E) Trying to protect beachfront buildings by constructing seawalls is counterproductive in the long run for an oceanfront community wishing to maintain itself as a beach resort.
8. A study found that 70 percent of children surveyed in 1970 had at one time had cavities, whereas only 50 percent of those surveyed in 1985 had ever had cavities. The researchers concluded that the level of dental disease in children had declined between 1970 and 1985. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously undermine the researchers' conclusion presented above?
(A) Cavities are the most common kind of dental disease to which children are subject.
(B) The children surveyed came from a broad variety of income backgrounds.
(C) The children surveyed were selected from among students of teachers cooperating with the researchers.
(D) The accuracy of cavity detection techniques has improved dramatically since 1970.
(E) The children surveyed in 1985 were younger on average than those surveyed in 1970.
9. David: Since attempting to preserve every species that is currently endangered is prohibitively expensive, the endangered species whose value to humanity is the greatest should be accorded the highest priority for preservation. Karen: Such a policy would he unsound because it is impossible to predict the future value of a species, nor is it always possible to assess the present value of species whose contributions to humanity, though significant, are indirect.
Which of the following is the main point of Karen's reply to David?
(A) Although it would be desirable to preserve all endangered species, doing so is not economically feasible.
(B) Even if the value to humanity of a given species is known, that value should not be a factor in any decision on whether to expend effort to preserve that species.
(C) Species whose contributions to humanity are direct should have a higher priority for preservation efforts than species whose contributions to humanity are only indirect.
(D)Since the methods for deciding which species have the most value to humanity are imperfect, informed decisions cannot be made on the basis of the assessment of such value.
(E) The preservation of endangered species whose value to humanity can be reliably predicted is more important than the preservation of species whose value for humanity is unpredictable.
10. Roger: Reading a lot as a child causes
nearsightedness-difficulty seeing things at a distance.
Louise: I disagree. Any correlation between near-sightedness and reading results from the fact that children who have trouble seeing things at a distance are likeliest to prefer those activities, such as reading, that involve looking at things close up.
Louise disputes Roger's claim by
(A) demonstrating that an absurd conclusion would follow if Roger's claim were accepted
(B) arguing that what Roger claims to be a cause of a given phenomenon is actually its effect
(C) using an analogy to expose a flaw in Roger's reasoning
(D) pointing out that Roger's claim is self-contradictory
(E) attempting to demonstrate that Roger uses the term“nearsightedness” in an ambiguous way
11. Years ago, consumers in Frieland began paying an energy tax in the form of two Frieland pennies for each unit of energy consumed that came from nonrenewable sources. Following the introduction of this energy tax, there was a steady reduction in the total yearly consumption of energy from nonrenewable sources.
If the statements in the passage are true, then which of the following must on the basis of them be true?
(A) There was a steady decline in the yearly revenues generated by the energy tax in Frieland.
(B) There was a steady decline in the total amount of energy consumed each year in Frieland.
(C)There was a steady increase in the use of renewable energy sources in Frieland
(D) The revenues generated by the energy tax were used to promote the use of energy from renewable sources.
(E) The use of renewable energy sources in Frieland greatly increased relative to the use of nonrenewable energy sources.
12. Despite a dramatic increase in the number of people riding bicycles for recreation in Parkville. a recent report by the Parkville Department of Transportation shows that the number of accidents involving bicycles has decreased for the third consecutive year.
Which of the following, if true during the last three years, best reconciles the apparent discrepancy in the facts above?
(A) The Parkville Department of Recreation confiscated abandoned bicycles and sold them at auction to any interested Parkville residents.
(B) Increased automobile and bus traffic in Parkville has been the leading cause of the most recent increase in automobile accidents.
(C) Because of the local increase in the number of people bicycling for recreation. many out -of -town bicyclists ride in the Parkville area.
(D) The Parkville Police Department enforced traffic rules for bicycle riders much more vigorously and began requiring recreational riders to pass a bicycle safety course.
(E) The Parkville Department of Transportation canceled a program that required all bicycles to be inspected and registered each year.
13. Do strong electric currents, by means of the electromagnetic fields that accompany them, cause cancer in people who live and work nearby? Telephone line workers. who work near such currents every day, can provide a test case. They show elevated levels of brain cancer, therefore, the hypothesis of electromagnetic causation is supported.
Which of the following if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) Burying power lines and other measures to protect the public from such electromagnetic fields would be prohibitively expensive.
(B) Telephone line workers are exposed to levels of chemical solvents high enough to cause brain cancer.
(C) High exposure to strong electromagnetic fields is correlated with a slightly higher-than-normal incidence of childhood leukemia, which is a form of cancer.
(D) Public health officials who found that a group of different illnesses in people living near a power substation could not reliably be attributed to its electromagnetic field were accused of covering up the facts.
(E) Telephone line workers, like most people. have electrical appliances at home, and most electrical appliances, when turned on, are surrounded by and electromagnetic field of some measurable level.
14. Neither the Sami nor the Kephrian delegations attended the international conference. Beforehand. the delegations of Daqua and Kephria. allies whose governments had grievances against Tessia. officially announced that one or both of the two would stay away if the Tessian delegation attended the conference. In response, the Sami delegation officially announced that it would definitely attend if both the Daquan and Kephrian delegations stayed away.
If the statements given are all true and all the delegations adhered to their official announcements. it must also be true that the
(A) Daquan delegation attended the conference
(B) Daquan delegation did not attend the conference
(C) Sami government had no grievance against Tessia
(D) Tessian delegation did not attend the conference
(E) Tessian delegation made no official announcement regarding its attendance at the conference
15. On turning 65 years old, everyone living in the town of Malton becomes eligible to receive a card that guarantees discounts on most goods and services sold in the town. Census records for 1990 show that 2, 450 inhabitants of Malton turned 64 in that year. Yet . in 1991 over 3,000 people applied for and properly received discount cards. So clearly some of Malton's population growth between 1990 and 1992 must be attributable to migration into the city by people in their mid -60's
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) The town of Malton has no complete census records for 1991.
(B) The overall size of the population of Malton grew by over 500 during 1990.
(C) Fewer people applied for and received discount cards in 1991 than did so in 1992.
(D) Among the people 65 years old or older who moved into Malton in 1991. there was no one who did not apply for a discount card .
(E) In general. people who applied for and received discount cards in 1991 first became eligible to do so in that year