托福歷史類文章結(jié)構(gòu)及其文章摘要題的解題思路

　　眾所周知，“生物+歷史+地質(zhì)地理”題材的文章構(gòu)成了我們托福閱讀考試中雷打不動的的三個板塊。如果將托福閱讀中的純粹歷史事件類和考古類文章合并在一起作為“大歷史類”來看的話，那么這類題材無疑是托福閱讀各學(xué)科背景中占比第二大的類型，僅此于生物類文章。

　　歷史類文章的組織結(jié)構(gòu)相較于其他題材的文章而言可以說是比較豐富的，大體可以分為以下四類：

　　(一)按時間順序或歷史事物發(fā)展的自然順序來進行記敘

　　談到歷史類文章，那么自然是與“時間”這個概念脫不開干系的。類的歷史文章就是如此，它并非按托福文章常見的總分或總分總結(jié)構(gòu)進行布局，而是按歷史事物的產(chǎn)生，發(fā)展，成熟，高潮甚至衰落等各個階段向前推進。這類文章看似行文松散，實則是形散而神不散，全文以“時間順序”這個縱軸貫穿始終。

　　例如TPO29-01這篇文章：“ The History of Waterpower 水利的歷史”，這篇文章共七段，開篇首段并沒像大多數(shù)文章那樣采用Introduction引入段，而是直截了當，開門見山地指出至少在公元前5世紀，“水輪water wheel”就已作為最早的水利應(yīng)用裝置出現(xiàn)并投入使用，即“a waterwheel that raised water for irrigation in attached jars. The device appears to have evolved no later than the fifth century B.C., perhaps independently in different regions of the Middle and Far East”。

　　接下來的六段，作者根據(jù)時間的推移，按順序描述了水利應(yīng)用技術(shù)及裝置發(fā)展演進的過程，包括：最早的水車在公元前1，2世紀在不同的地域先后產(chǎn)生了，“The earliest waterpower mills were probably vertical-axis mills for grinding corn, known as Norse or Greek mills, which seem to have appeared during the first or second century B.C. in the Middle East and a few centuries later in Scandinavia;

　　水車應(yīng)用并不僅僅局限于農(nóng)業(yè)，而是在不同產(chǎn)業(yè)均有使用，“Raising water and grinding corn were by no means the only uses of the waterpower mill, and during the following centuries, the applications of waterpower kept pace with the developing technologies of mining, iron working, paper making, and the wool and cotton industries”;

　　進入蒸汽時代后水利應(yīng)用前景一度暗淡，然而在一個世紀后又再現(xiàn)了繁榮，“The coal-fired steam engine was taking over, and the waterwheel was fast becoming obsolete. However, a century later the picture was completely different”;

　　隨后1832年法拉利發(fā)現(xiàn)電磁感應(yīng)現(xiàn)象，電動渦輪機相繼成功問世，“In 1832, the year of Michael Faraday’s discovery that a changing magnetic field produces an electric field, a young French engineer patented a new and more efficient waterwheel and his device was the first successful water turbine”;

　　文章最后描述了1881年世界個公用事業(yè)發(fā)電廠使用的正是水利發(fā)電，之后則因河水水量波動變化不可靠很快被蒸汽動力所取代，“In 1881, the Godalming power station in Surrey, England, on the banks of the Wey River, created the world’s first public electricity supply. The power source of this most modern technology was a traditional waterwheel. Unfortunately this early plant experienced the problem common to many forms of renewable energy: the flow in the Wey River was unreliable, and the waterwheel was soon replaced by a steam engine.”

　　不難看出，類歷史文章的結(jié)構(gòu)是按時間的縱軸順序來組織的，那么文章摘要題通常會要求考生能在描寫的各歷史階段中分辨與挑選出有劃時代意義的,或期間內(nèi)產(chǎn)生了變化發(fā)展的那幾個時間階段。我們將其做概括總結(jié)后，一般就是六選三所要求的選項。但這種文章因為并非總分或總分總結(jié)構(gòu)，所以容易偏重對細節(jié)的描寫和考察，六選三題從正面直接選有時顯得不容易分辨，這時需配合從反面排除錯誤選項的技巧來做。

　　(二)按歷史人物或歷史事件所帶來的結(jié)果或影響進行描述

　　人類波瀾壯闊的歷史畫卷往往是在那些燦若星辰的歷史人物引領(lǐng)下描繪而就的，或是由那些能夠產(chǎn)生重大沖擊或具劃時代意義的歷史事件像珍珠般貫穿而成的。這些偉大的人物和歷史事件必然會給人類歷史留下重大而深遠的影響或和結(jié)果，第二類歷史文章就是按照這些影響和結(jié)果來進行分類描述的。

　　例如TPO43-01 The Empire of Alexander The Great亞歷山大大帝的帝國，這篇文章是非常典型的總分結(jié)構(gòu)。全文共6段，首段開篇明義總述了亞歷山大大帝通過東征建立了一個的遼闊帝國，隨后施行了一系列改革，給其帝國帶來了幾項影響深遠的后果“consequences”，對應(yīng)首段最后一句總結(jié)句“Alexander’s actions had several important consequences for the region occupied by the empire.”

　　接下來就開始“分“項描述，第2段說明了第1個影響即the first consequence: 希臘文明在中東區(qū)域得以廣泛擴張傳播，對應(yīng)第2段首句中心句”The first of these was the expansion of Greek civilization throughout the Middle East”;

　　第3段和第4段記敘了第2個影響the second consequence，即傳統(tǒng)希臘城邦政體的終結(jié)，以及城邦所代表的一切，對應(yīng)第三段的首句“Second, this internationalism spelled the end of the classical Greek city-state - the unit of government in ancient Greece - and everything it stood for;同時人才發(fā)展模式發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)變，原先為人所重視的“通才”在國際化發(fā)展之后不再適用，逐漸被職業(yè)化的專才所取代，對應(yīng)第四段首句： “This implied that the city-state was based on the idea that citizens were not specialists but had multiple interests and talents — each a so-called jack-of-all-trades who could engage in many areas of life and politics ”;

　　第5段和第6段描述了第3個影響the third consequence: 希臘的哲學(xué)理念與中東世界的宗教思想互相融合，形成了新的文明并擴散到了全世界，對應(yīng)著第5段首句“Third, Greek philosophy was opened up to the philosophy and religion of the East.”以及第6段的最后一句總結(jié)句“The combination of the religious instinct of Asia with the philosophic spirit of Greece spread across the world in the era after Alexander’s death, blending the culture of the Middle East with the culture of Greece”。

　　這種類型的歷史文章其文章摘要題一般比較好預(yù)判，即要求考生能夠概括出文章主要描述的那幾個重要的 consequences 或 effects，如果恰好是三個的話，那么一一對應(yīng)選出來就好，如果consequences或effects多于三個，那么出題者通常會把其中幾個進行兩兩合并，匯總成一個句子;或者是在諸個后果或影響中選擇出三個最重要的，設(shè)置成三個句子作為正確答案。

　　因此這種文章的六選三題，通常從正面來直接選反而比較好選。

　　比如The Empire of Alexander The Great亞歷山大大帝的帝國這篇文章，它的六選三正確答案分別是：

　　B. Increasing urbanization and the elimination of trade barriers meant the end of the Greek city-state and the creation of a much larger political and economic body;

　　D. The expansion of Alexander’s empire led to the diffusion of Greek language, literature, and thought throughout the Middle East;

　　E. The empire saw the birth of a new culture, merging Greek philosophical ideas with the religious spirit of Asia.

　　正好分別對應(yīng)原文所描述的第2，第1和第3個consequence.

　　(三)按照歷史現(xiàn)象或歷史事件背后成因探討進行敘述的文章

　　第三類歷史文章與上述的第二類在結(jié)構(gòu)上非常相似，均是典型的總分或總分總結(jié)構(gòu)。只不過將探究歷史事件的結(jié)果和影響換成了探究歷史事件背后形成的原因。

　　例如TPO49-03 The Background of Industrial Revolution 工業(yè)革命的背景這篇文章，文章共6段，第1段先總述工業(yè)革命由于經(jīng)濟方面的積淀是在歐洲發(fā)端的，“The Industrial Revolution had several roots, one of which was a commercial revolution that, beginning as far back as the sixteenth century, accompanied Europe’s expansion overseas.”然后將話題自然而然地引向了英國，說明工業(yè)革命最初在英國興起絕非偶然，在歐洲取得優(yōu)勢的基礎(chǔ)上，英國的經(jīng)濟體制更加強勁穩(wěn)固，“Europe’s economic institutions, particularly those in England, were strong, had wealth available for new investment, and seemed almost to be waiting for some technological breakthrough that would expand their profit-making potential even more.”

　　從第2段起，文章每一段都闡述了一個或幾個英國特有的，而其他歐洲列強所不具備的獨特優(yōu)勢，其中包括：對外而言，英國處在國際貿(mào)易的十字交叉口，對內(nèi)而言，英國擁有縱橫交錯，運輸成本低廉便利的水道“One was its geographic location at the crossroads of international trade. Internally, Britain was endowed with easily navigable natural waterway, which helped its trade and communication with the world…… it enjoyed a boom in canal building, which helped make its domestic market more accessible”;

　　英國還富含某些歐洲國家所稀缺的煤礦資源，給工廠提供了能源供給且刺激了工業(yè)和消費產(chǎn)品的激增，“Great Britain also had rich deposits of coal that fed the factories springing up in industrial and consumer goods”;大量來自鄉(xiāng)村的高流動性人口為產(chǎn)業(yè)工人提供了充足的來源，“Another advantage was Britain’s large population of rural, agricultural wage earners, as well as cottage workers, who had the potential of being more mobile than peasants of some other countries”;

　　除此之外，英國還擁有更加發(fā)達的銀行和信用系統(tǒng)以及大量企業(yè)家和發(fā)明家等等，“Great Britain’s better-developed banking and credit system also helped speed the industrial progress, as did the fact that it was the home of an impressive array of entrepreneurs and inventors”.

　　那么根據(jù)上文的分析，類似的，我們對此類文章的摘要題也可以提前進行預(yù)判，即六選三大概率會要求我們考生選出文章主要分析的三個或多個成因及因素，這時可能有兩種情況：種是恰好成因有三，那么一一選出即可;第二種是成因大于三個，那么需從諸多成因中選出最重要的那三個，當然更常見的情況是出題者會將其中幾個兩兩合并在一起，最終匯總成為三個句子即是要挑出的三個正確答案。

　　例如 The Background of Industrial Revolution 工業(yè)革命的背景這篇文章的六選三正確答案分別是：

　　A. The expansion of international trade from the sixteenth century on greatly stabilized the European economy;

　　B. Intense consumer activity and sound government institutions enabled mechanized labor to develop in Great Britain

　　E. British entrepreneurs invented a new system of banking that led to rapid economic growth.

　　可以看出，六選三的正確選項就是將文中描述的諸多英國優(yōu)勢因素合并糅雜在了一起。

　　(四)把歷史上地位等同或相似的歷史事物對比著來記述

　　第四種歷史文章通常會把兩個地位相似的歷史事物拿來比照，從多個維度，多個特性出發(fā)進行詳細的類比描述，但文章在兩個描述的客體上會有所偏重，即對比的目的實際上是為了給讀者更加生動透徹地說明其中一個事物的本質(zhì)，特性等。

　　例如TPO07-02 Ancient Rome and Greece 古代羅馬與希臘這篇文章，全文在政治體制，歷史發(fā)展，文化藝術(shù)等多個方面不斷地將古羅馬與古希臘這兩個歐洲文明史上的”雙子星”進行類比，包括，“ Whereas Greece had grown from scores of scattered cities, Rome grew from one single organism. ” 希臘是從二十多個分散的城邦發(fā)展而來，然而羅馬則是從單一的有機體成長起來; “While the Greek world had expanded along the Mediterranean seas lanes, the Roman world was assembled by territorial conquest ”希臘是沿著地中海的海上航線擴張的，而羅馬帝國則是通過陸地領(lǐng)土的占領(lǐng)而壯大 ;“The key to the Greek world lay in its high-powered ships; the key to Roman power lay in its marching legions. “理解希臘世界的關(guān)鍵是其強大的船隊，而理解羅馬的關(guān)鍵則是他們行進的軍團;“The Greeks were wedded to the sea; the Romans, to the land. The Greek was a sailor at heart; the Roman, a landsman.”希臘人緊緊守著海洋，本質(zhì)上是天生的水手，而羅馬人死守著陸地，本質(zhì)上路上的強兵。

　　但需注意的是，全文雖不斷在對二者進行對比，但這種對比是有其偏重性的，即作者想用與希臘種種相異之處來更深刻，更生動地突顯羅馬文明的特點，使讀者能對這種敘述方式感到記憶深刻且耳目一新。

　　那么這種文章的六選三題會偏重于讓考生選擇羅馬與希臘最不同的三個方面，或者此類對比類文章的考察方法也可能會將最后一題設(shè)置成七選五，即表格填寫題，用以考察考生理解，記憶并正確將兩種不同事物的特點進行分類的能力。