托福閱讀段落分析

一、實例分析

TPO4 Cave Art in Europe 第4段

第 一句：

The particular symbolic significance of the cave paintings in southwestern France is more explicitly revealed, perhaps, by the results of a study conducted by researchers Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson.

關(guān)鍵句，研究者研究的結(jié)果清晰地表明了法國西南部巖洞畫的特殊象征意義；

第二句：

The data they present suggest that the animals portrayed in the cave paintings were mostly the ones that the painters preferred for meat and for materials such as hides.

呈現(xiàn)事實，用研究數(shù)據(jù)表明繪畫者喜歡吃的動物或者來做獸皮的動物就是巖洞畫中常被繪畫的動物。

第三句：

For example, wild cattle (bovines) and horses are portrayed more often than we would expect by chance, probably because they were larger and heavier (meatier) than other

animals in the environment.對事實舉例證明，進一步論證第二句的事實。

第四句：

In addition, the paintings mostly portray animals that the painters may have feared the most because of their size, speed, natural weapons such as tusks and horns, and the unpredictability of their behavior.

首先用in addition表示與前面某句話的并列，同樣，與第二句一樣是對事實的呈現(xiàn)。

第五句：That is, mammoths, bovines, and horses are portrayed more often than deer and reindeer.

具體例子來證明第四句的事實。

第六句：

Thus, the paintings are consistent with the idea that the art is related to the importance of hunting in the economy of Upper Paleolithic people.

關(guān)聯(lián)詞thus表示這是一個結(jié)果或者總結(jié)，表明巖洞藝術(shù)與打獵的重要性有關(guān)，也是對以上句子第二句至第五句的總結(jié)。

第七句：

Consistent with this idea, according to the investigators, is the fact that the art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic also seems to reflect how people got their food.

Consistent with表明與前一句是并列關(guān)系，該句內(nèi)容說明舊石器時代晚期的文化期的藝術(shù)也反映了人們?nèi)绾蔚玫绞澄?

第八句：

But in that period, when getting food no longer depended on hunting large game animals (because they were becoming extinct), the art ceased to focus on portrayals of animals.

關(guān)聯(lián)詞but表示轉(zhuǎn)折，句子內(nèi)容陳述了另一個事實。

在段落總結(jié)后，大家可以明確段落的基本結(jié)構(gòu)，三大部分：

第 一部分：主旨句，明確整段主題第二部分：擺事實，舉例子（可能是多個并列的事實以及例子）第三部分：總結(jié)句，再次點明主旨。

二、規(guī)律探討

1. 在學(xué)術(shù)性文章中，一般需要具備三個組成部分：

(1)Topic 話題：即文章的主角是什么。比如講解某個科學(xué)理論、研究某種社會現(xiàn)象，探討某個歷史事件;

在托福文章中，這種導(dǎo)入性信息往往出現(xiàn)在篇首位置?？忌梢愿鶕?jù)篇首段信息對整篇文章所要討論的核心內(nèi)容有所了解;

(2)Aspects 方面：即將篇首的話題延伸拓展為若干個方面進行闡述說明。若話題為某個科學(xué)論點，則方面可能分為若干個支持論據(jù);若話題為某種自然現(xiàn)象，則方面可能分為若干個內(nèi)外成因;若話題為某個歷史事件，則方面為幾段發(fā)展時期;

在托福閱讀文章中，往往依照各個方面之間的層次關(guān)系，將各個方面拆分為若干個獨立的自然段落，共同組成行文主體;

(3)Attitude態(tài)度：即文章的作者對于所討論話題持怎樣的態(tài)度?；蚴欠e極肯定，或是消極否定，或是保持中立。在托福閱讀文章中，態(tài)度往往是被較多的淡化甚至有可能省略不提。

Topic話題+ Aspects方面+ Attitude態(tài)度，這三要素加起來就是標準學(xué)術(shù)論文體的“T+A+A篇章結(jié)構(gòu)”。托福文章大都遵循這種結(jié)構(gòu)，考生通過篇首段落信息來把控整個文章話題及大致討論方向，再抓住文章的各個段落主旨，便可洞悉整個文章脈絡(luò)和邏輯結(jié)構(gòu)。

2. 學(xué)術(shù)性文章的自然段落，一般需要具備兩個組成部分：

(1) Topic Sentence 主旨句：表達段落的主旨，即本段想要表達的核心內(nèi)容是什么;

(2) Detail 細節(jié)：為了詳細說明段落中心含義，所羅列的相關(guān)支持內(nèi)容，即本段通過哪些例證來闡明主旨句。

Topic Sentence主旨句+ Detail細節(jié)，這兩個要素加起來就是標準學(xué)術(shù)論文體的“TS+D段落結(jié)構(gòu)”。托福文章段落大都遵循這種結(jié)構(gòu)，考生通過段落主旨句就可以把握該段的中心含義。

當(dāng)考生們了解了這種TAA篇章結(jié)構(gòu)(Topic話題+ Aspects方面+ Attitude態(tài)度)和TS+D段落結(jié)構(gòu)(Topic Sentence主旨句+ Detail細節(jié))的行文規(guī)律后，對文章框架的把握就會做到心里有數(shù)，更有利于提高閱讀速度和定位有效信息的準確度。

三、段內(nèi)結(jié)構(gòu)子類別

TPO26-1 Energy and the Industrial Revolution

一 讓步式段落

Paragraph 1: For years historians have sought to identify crucial elements in the eighteenth-century rise in industry, technology, and economic power known as the Industrial Revolution, and many give prominence to the problem of energy. Until the eighteenth century, people relied on energy derived from plants as well as animal and human muscle to provide power. Increased efficiency in the use of water and wind helped with such tasks as pumping, milling, or sailing. However, by the eighteenth century, Great Britain in particular was experiencing an energy shortage. Wood, the primary source of heat for homes and industries and also used in the iron industry as processed charcoal, was diminishing in supply. Great Britain had large amounts of coal; however, there were not yet efficient means by which to produce mechanical energy or to power machinery. This was to occur with progress in the development of the steam engine. 

二 總分式段落

Paragraph 2: In the late 1700s James Watt designed an efficient and commercially viable steam engine that was soon applied to a variety of industrial uses as it became cheaper to use. The engine helped solve the problem of draining coal mines of groundwater and increased the production of coal needed to power steam engines elsewhere. A rotary engine attached to the steam engine enabled shafts to be turned and machines to be driven, resulting in mills using steam power to spin and weave cotton. Since the steam engine was fired by coal, the large mills did not need to be located by rivers, as had mills that used water- driven machines. The shift to increased mechanization in cotton production is apparent in the import of raw cotton and the sale of cotton goods. Between 1760 and 1850, the amount of raw cotton imported increased 230 times. Production of British cotton goods increased sixtyfold, and cotton cloth became Great Britain’s most important product, accounting for one-half of all exports. The success of the steam engine resulted in increased demands for coal, and the consequent increase in coal production was made possible as the steam-powered pumps drained water from the ever-deeper coal seams found below the water table. 

三 并列式段落

Paragraph 4: Steam power and iron combined to revolutionize transport, which in turn had further implications. Improvements in road construction and sailing had occurred, but shipping heavy freight over land remained expensive, even with the use of rivers and canals wherever possible. Parallel rails had long been used in mining operations to move bigger loads, but horses were still the primary source of power. However, the arrival of the steam engine initiated a complete transformation in rail transportation, entrenching and expanding the Industrial Revolution. As transportation improved, distant and larger markets within the nation could be reached, thereby encouraging the development of larger factories to keep pace with increasing sales. Greater productivity and rising demands provided entrepreneurs with profits that could be reinvested to take advantage of new technologies to further expand capacity, or to seek alternative investment opportunities. Also, the availability of jobs in railway construction attracted many rural laborers accustomed to seasonal and temporary employment. When the work was completed, many moved to other construction jobs or to factory work in cities and towns, where they became part of an expanding working class.