句子插入题(InsertText Questions)是托福阅读部分的必考题型,每篇文章后都会有一个该题型;且出题位置固定,为倒数第二道题。该题型的还有一个特征就是固定题干,如下:
Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can beadded to the passage.
【... 】
Where would the sentence best fit?
文章中会出现四个黑色的方框,要求考生将所给句子插入这四个位置中合适的一个位置。在考试时,只要双击选定的黑色方框即可。这种题型重点考察考生对原文中的上下文语境和句子之间关系的把握。因此,解决这种题型的关键在于仔细阅读待插入句子,从中提取能够承上启下的线索词;然后,根据线索词对上线文作出预测;最后,回到原文读预测内容,并根据原文本身句子间连接的紧密度进行排除即可。
掌握句子与句子之间的关联方法是句子插入题的关键
1、形式上的关联:主要为逻辑词(因果、转折、递进等)和指代词;
2、语义上的关联:重复的概念;
下面来看一道例题:Whatdo you remember about your life before you were three? ■Few people can remember anything that happened to them in their earlyyears.■Adults' memories of the next few years also tend to be scanty.■Most people remember only a few events--usually ones that weremeaningful and distinctive,such as beinghospitalized or a sibling’ s birth. ■
Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can beadded to the passage.
Other importantoccasions are school graduations and weddings.
Where would the sentence best fit?
解析:仔细阅读所给句子,从中提取线索词;该句表示其它的重要事件包括毕业和结婚,句中主语other important occasions出现了other这个指示代词,因此,我们可以预测前文一定出现过某些事件。接下来,我们回到原文中至少从第一个黑方框前一句话开始阅读,在原文中寻找预测的内容。在文章中的最后一句,说大多数人仅仅记得一些事件(a few events),即那些有意义的和独特的,例如住院或者兄弟姐妹的出生。因此,other important occasions应该放在a few events之后,所以待插入句子只能放在最后的位置。
在以上内容中,我们了解了句子插入题(Insert Text Questions)主要考察的是句子与句子之间的关联方式,并且分析了一道例题。这一章,我们继续来分析一道例题,然后再来研究一下这种题型的出题原理。
【例】Extinct but already fully marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. ■How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? ■Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans. ■Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. ■In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossil whale.
Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.
This is a question that has puzzled scientists for ages.
Where would the sentence best fit?
解析:在被插入句子中提到this is a question,说明前文一定有提到过某个问题;带着这个预测信息回到原文中发现,第一个黑方框后面即是一个疑问句:How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged?(走路的哺乳动物和游泳的鲸鱼之间的差异是如何过渡的?),所以把被插入句子放在第二个黑方框的位置,补充说明这个问题是一个困扰了科学家很多年的问题;因此正确答案为第二个黑方框。
根据上一章中的考点和两道例题来看:首先,句子插入题只出现在倒数第二道题的位置,在这道题之前我们已经完成了至少10道题,而这道题需要我们插一句话到文章中;这就意味着这句话一定不能够改变原文本来的内容和意思;另外,我们可以猜测需要被插入的句子应该是原文中本来存在的,而非出题者写的;因此,这种原文本身存在的,去掉又不会影响原文意思的句子,一定是文章中不重要的句子。而什么样的句子在文章中不重要呢?一般来说,或者承接前文继续解释说明,或者引出后文,或者承上启下的过渡句。因此,句子插入题只需去找该句子和前后文的重复即可。