GRE考试：GRE语文阅读理解全面解析

美国教育考试服务中心(ETS)将在2011年8月推出新的美国研究生院入学考试(GRE)。新的考试在老 GRE的考试内容、考试形式和计分方法上进行了变化。无疑，这一考试的变革将会深刻地影响国内莘莘学子的海外求学准备历程。而语文部分将依然是中国考生的软肋。按照ETS官方的讲法：“(新GRE考试将会)减少对于单词意涵背记的孤立考察(如取消类比和反义试题)，更加突出基于语境的理解能力的考察(如增加阅读理解题目)。”以期更加深入并且真实地反映考生的高级认知能力。具体说来，这些能力包括：

· 分析一段论述文字并推导结论;根据不完全的数据做推导;识别作者的前提/假设条件和视角; 理解语言文字的多层次含义，包括字面意涵，修辞意涵和作者目的等

· 挑选重要观点，区别主要论述和次要/相关论述;总结全文;理解文章结构

· 理解词，句和段落篇章的意涵;理解不同词和概念间的关系等。

那么，发生在新GRE考试语文部分的具体变化主要有哪些呢?随之而来的准备重点的变化究竟是什么呢?我们首先来看看从解题的时间要求上新GRE考试将带给我们怎样的变化(请见表1)。

仅从表面上看来新GRE考试似乎给了考生更多的解题时间，这一变化会让粗心大意者欣喜不已。这一理解偏差的根本原因在于没有同时考察GRE题型的显著变化。让我们再来看看老GRE考试语文部分中的题型分布(请见表2)。

从表2中我们可以看到，老GRE考试语文部分中阅读理解和句子填空试题仅占语文考试题目比重的不到二分之一 (18/38)，而新GRE考试则主要由这两部分试题组成。这表明，我们再也不能仅仅通过勤奋地背记单词而取得考试的优胜;想要在新GRE考试中获得相对优势就必须夯实自己的“实力”。这个“实力”就是在更广泛语篇中参透作者字里行间的意义。换句话说，就是新GRE考试语文部分成倍地增加了英文语篇的阅读量，变相缩短了考试时间，实际上增加了考试难度。这将使绝大部分中国大陆考生不堪重负，甚至丧失已有的竞争优势。

面对这种情况，我们唯有两条解决策略。一是在新GRE考试登陆中国大陆地区之前参加老GRE考试;二是认真分析新GRE的变化规律并且切实提高自己的学术文章阅读水平。 笔者将着力谈及新GRE考试阅读理解部分的题型，以期对各位考生有所启发。新GRE考试阅读理解部分有三种题型组成(请见上页表3)。

下面，我们举一个ETS官方样题题目来分析。

Sample questions 1 to 3 below are based on this passage:

Policymakers must confront the dilemma that fossil fuels continue to be an indispensable source of energy even though burning them produces atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide that increase the likelihood of potentially disastrous global climate change. Currently, technology that would capture carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and sequester it harmlessly underground or undersea instead of releasing it into the atmosphere might double the cost of generating electricity. But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution, delivered prices will rise less, by no more than 50 percent. Research into better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide will undoubtedly lead to lowered costs.

(第一种题型：多项选择题I)

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One Answer Choice

1. The passage implies which of the following about the current cost of generating electricity?

A. It is higher than it would be if better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide were available.

B. It is somewhat less than the cost of electricity transmission and distribution.

C. It constitutes at most half of the delivered price of electricity.

D. It is dwelt on by policymakers to the exclusion of other costs associated with electricity delivery.

E. It is not fully recovered by the prices charged directly to electricity consumers.

Answer: C

解析：首先，我们需要找到题干文句中的定位关键词 “(the current cost of generating electricity)”。之后，将这个关键词定位到文章中去，发现这组定位词出现在文章当中的第二句话当中：“Currently, technology that would capture carbon dioxide emitted by power plants and sequester it harmlessly underground or undersea instead of releasing it into the atmosphere might double( the cost of generating electricity).”我们发现文章的下一句话当中出现了这样的比例关系。“But because( sequestration) does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution, delivered prices will rise less, (by no more than 50 percent).”这说明“sequestration”所占的比重不超过总费用的二分之一。既然只有“发电”和“减排”两个过程。那么，发电的花费当然是最多只能占到二分之一了。答案C所说正是：“It constitutes( at most half of the delivered price of electricity).”故选。通过这道题目，我们发现ETS在新GRE考试中沿用了老GRE考试的解题套路。

(第二种题型：多项选择题II)

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One or More Answer Choices

Consider each of the three choices separately and select all that apply.

2. The passage suggests that extensive use of sequestration would, over time, have which of the following consequences?

A. The burning of fossil fuels would eventually cease to produce atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide.

B. The proportion of the delivered price of electricity due to generation would rise and then decline.

C. Power plants would consume progressively lower quantities of fossil fuels.

Answer: B

解析：首先，从文章中可以看出，没有什么方法可以“停止”大气中二氧化碳的累积，所以A选项中所提到的 “The burning of fossil fuels would eventually cease to produce atmospheric accumulations of carbon dioxide.”显然是错误的。另外，整个文章中也并没有提供一种方法可以使得电厂可以 “减少化石燃料的使用量”，所以C选项显然不符合题意。由于文章中的最后二句话中指出：“But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution, (delivered prices will rise) less, by no more than 50 percent. Research into better technologies for capturing carbon dioxide will undoubtedly (lead to lowered costs).”所以，随着化石燃料使用量的增加，未来可以预期的发电成本将会先增加后减少。应该选择选项B(The proportion of the delivered price of electricity due to generation would rise and then decline.)由此可以看出，尽管新GRE考试中出现了新的多项选择题型，但是并没有在实质上改变原有的命题核心思想。即考察考生的对文章事实的理解和推断进一步信息的能力。所以，原有的解题方法的运用不仅是可能的，也是必要的应对新GRE考试的工具。

(第三种题型：段中点选题)

Sample Select-in-Passage Question

3. Select the sentence that explains why an outcome of sequestration that might have been expected would not occur.

Answer:

"But because sequestration does not affect the cost of electricity transmission and distribution, delivered prices will rise less, by no more than 50 percent."

面对这三种全新的题型，我们需要具备的能力和准备的方向又该如何呢?除却老GRE复习过程中对于语篇结构和句法的把握之外，段中点选题(Select-in-Passage Question)又为我们提出了新的要求。这种题型要求我们准确把握文章中各个句子之间的逻辑关系。由于老GRE阅读理解考试当中很少涉及此类信息的考察，句际关系就成了多数考生思维上的盲点。事实上，英文作为一种“形合”的语言，它的起承转合之间经常依赖逻辑关系词的介入和辅助。以第三题为例，此题表面上是考察考生对句子的理解和信息搜索能力，而实际上则是考察问题中所涉及的结论在原文当中是如何被解释的。如果各位能够注意到提干当中的 “…explains why an outcome of sequestration…”，那么，就可以迅速而直接地定位到原文的表示原因的句式(…But because sequestration…)当中。这种why和because之间的微妙对应关系可以泛化到广阔的同类命题当中去。笔者对在新GRE考试中可能出现的句际关系做了以下总结(请见表4)，相信这些信号词的总结会给广大考生在应对新GRE考试阅读理解部分时带来帮助。

Sample questions 4 to 6 below are based on this passage:

Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of popular music without imitating it. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the symphonies' sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass's classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.

样题4至6是基于以下这段话的：

在古典音乐创作中使用流行音乐的元素是一种在20世纪60年代已经销声匿迹的做法，作曲家菲利普格拉斯(生于1937)使这种方法得以复兴。他并没有简单地模仿流行音乐却捕捉到了流行音乐的内在气质。格拉斯基于摇滚乐手大卫鲍伊和布赖恩伊诺的流行音乐创作了两部交响乐，但是他们听起来却跟原创作品大相径庭。流行元素并没有在格拉斯的古典音乐中显得格格不入，在他的早期作品和摇滚乐之中就分享了某些和声和节奏。而这种流行元素的使用并没有使格拉斯变成一个流行音乐创作者。他并不是简单地将流行音乐包装成新的版本，借以吸引古典音乐的欣赏者;恰恰相反，他在向那些深深浸淫在摇滚乐中的听众展现古典音乐的高雅艺术之美。

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One Answer Choice

4. The passage addresses which of the following issues (related to Glass's use of popular elements in his classical compositions)?

A. How it is regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics

B. How it has affected the commercial success of Glass's music

C. Whether it has contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular elements in their compositions

D. Whether it has had a detrimental effect on Glass's reputation as a composer of classical music

E. Whether it has caused certain of Glass's works to be derivative in quality

Answer: E

选择题样例 - 选择一个选项

4. 文章在谈到关于格拉斯在创作古典音乐时使用流行元素的问题时?

A. 那些喜欢摇滚甚于古典音乐的听众是如何评价的。

B. 它是怎样对格拉斯的音乐在商业上的成功产生影响的。

C. 它是否将有助于在其它音乐家在创作中使用流行元素这种方式的复兴。

D. 是否对格拉斯作为一个古典音乐作曲家的名声产生不利的影响

E. 是否它已经直接衍生出格拉斯的某些作品。

答：E

Sample Multiple-choice Questions — Select One or More Answer Choices

Consider each of the three choices separately and select all that apply.

5. The passage suggests that Glass's work displays which of the following qualities?

A. A return to the use of popular music in classical compositions

B. An attempt to elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of classical music

C. A long-standing tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles

Answer: A and C

多项选择题目样例 - 选择一个或多个答案

独立地考虑以下三个选项，并选择所有符合题意的选项。

5.文章表明下列的哪个特质在格拉斯的作品之中被展现出来?

A. 在古典音乐创作中流行音乐使用的回归。

B. 试图将摇滚乐提升到一个与古典音乐更加接近的艺术地位上来。

C. 将来自两种截然不同的音乐风格中的元素整合起来的趋势由来已久。

答：A和C

Sample Select-in-Passage Question

6. Select the sentence that distinguishes two ways of integrating rock and classical music.

Answer:

"His music is not a version of popular music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics."

段中点选问题样例

6. 选择一个能将整合摇滚乐和古典音乐的两种方式区分开来的句子。

正确答案：“他并不是简单地将流行音乐包装成新的版本，借以吸引古典音乐的欣赏者;恰恰相反，他在向那些深深浸淫在摇滚乐中的听众展现古典音乐的高雅艺术之美。”