托福阅读事实信息题考点解析及应对策略-广州智美教育 徐露露
　　在托福阅读的十大题型中，事实信息题和词汇题是占据比重两种题型。针对每篇阅读而言，前者要考察3-5题，而后者更是每篇要考察4-6题。就每篇阅读14道题而言，这两种题型就占据了大半壁江山。因此，可以毫不夸张地说，得词汇题和事实信息题的考生可以得托福阅读！下面就让广州智美教育老师带大家看一看事实信息题的考点以及相应的应对策略。
　　<1>提问方式 　　 to Paragraph…, which of the following is true about X? 　　 to Paragraph…, how / what / why…? 　　… / The passage supports which of the following statements about X? 　　广州智美教育的专家认为带有提问方式的题型可以总结为以下几个特点: 　　a.该题型属于细节类题型，并且在大部分情况下题干中会出现一个明确的细节定位词───X。 　　b.该题型是对细节信息的正面提问（由题干中true / support可知），这一点与否定事实信息题相反。 　　c.该题型疑问部分一般由特殊疑问词:which / how / what / why… 引导，可以得出该题型可以就某细节信息的具体“特性、原因、方式等”进行发问。
　　<2>解题步骤:
　　第一步:读题干，划出定位词。 　　定位词特点: 　　a.在提问方式1和3当中就是X所代表的部分。 　　b.在提问方式2中比较复杂，一般是寻找该句中的名词部分，多数充当句中的主语或宾语。 　　c.定位词有可能是原文原词或者近义词。 　　例题: 　　1. According to paragraph 6, which of the following statements about aquifers in deserts is true? (TPO 12 Water in the Desert) 　　本题干的定位词即aquifers, 符合提问方式1。 　　2. According to paragraph 7, why would a social group use shunning? (TPO 13 Types of Social Groups) 　　本题干的定位词即shunning, 符合提问方式2。 　　3. Paragraph 1 supports which of the following statements about painting in Europe? (TPO 4 Cave Art in Europe) 　　本题干的定位词即是painting in Europe, 符合提问方式3。
　　第二步:根据定位词回原文进行定位。 　　注意: 　　1.若定位词非原文原词，在定位过程中要对其在原文中的同义替换词敏感。 　　2.若定位词在原文中出现若干次，要关注所有出现过的地方。 　　例题: 　　Paragraph 3: The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing. (TPO 4: Cave Art in Europe) 　　According to paragraph 3, scholars explained chips in the painted figures of animals by proposing that______ 　　○ Upper Paleolithic artists used marks to record the animals they had seen. 　　○ The paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals for hunting. 　　○ The artists had removed rough spots on the cave walls. 　　○ Upper Paleolithic people used the paintings to increase their luck at hunting.
　　解题步骤: 　　1.读题干，找出定位词chips 　　2.根据定位词回原文进行定位，发现在原文中只有一处出现了chips的原词。那么暂且将答案锁定在该句。 　　Paragraph 6: All this applies, of course, only to an adult leatherback. Hatchlings are simply too small to conserve body heat, even with insulation and countercurrent exchange systems. We do not know how old, or how large, a leatherback has to be before it can switch from a cold-blooded to a warm-blooded mode of life. Leatherbacks reach their immense size in a much shorter time than it takes other sea turtles to grow. Perhaps their rush to adulthood is driven by a simple need to keep warm. (TPO 15: A Warm-blooded Turtle) 　　11. According to paragraph 6, which of the following statements is most accurate about young leatherback turtles? 　　○ They lack the countercurrent exchange systems that develop in adulthood. 　　○ Their rate of growth is slower than that of other sea turtles. 　　○ They lose heat easily even with insulation and countercurrent exchange systems. 　　○ They switch between cold-blooded and warm-blooded modes throughout their hatchling stage
　　解题步骤: 　　1. 读题干，划出定位词young leatherback turtles 　　2. 根据定位词回原文进行定位，在原文中并不能找到原文原词。因此，考虑有可能是近义词，进而发现young leatherback turtles的同义替换词hatchlings。 　　（点评:该题的难点就在于定位，考生必须要对同义替换词非常熟悉） 　　Paragraph 6: Groundwater is stored in the pore spaces and joints of rocks and unconsolidated (unsolidified) sediments or in the openings widened through fractures and weathering. The water-saturated rock or sediment is known as an "aquifer". Because they are porous, sedimentary rocks, such as sandstones and conglomerates, are important potential sources of groundwater. Large quantities of water may also be stored in lime stones when joints and cracks have been enlarged to form cavities. Most limestone and sandstone aquifers are deep and extensive but may contain ground waters that are not being recharged. Most shallow aquifers in sand and gravel deposits produce lower yields, but they can be rapidly recharged. Some deep aquifers are known as "fossil waters. The term "fossil" describes water that has been present for several thousand years. These aquifers became saturated more than 10,000 years ago and are no longer being recharged. (TPO 12: Water in the Desert) 　　8. According to paragraph 6, which of the following statements about aquifers in deserts is true? 　　○ Water from limestone and sandstone aquifers is generally better to drink than water from sand and gravel aquifers 　　○ Sand and gravel aquifers tend to contain less groundwater than limestone or sandstone aquifers 　　○ Groundwater in deep aquifers is more likely to be recharged than groundwater in shallow aquifers 　　○ Sedimentary rocks, because they are porous, are not capable of storing large amounts of groundwater
　　解题步骤: 　　1.读题干，找出定位词aquifers in deserts 　　2.根据定位词回原文进行定位，在原文中找到了aquifers的原文原词，但问题是出现了五次。 　　（点评:该题的难点不在于寻找定位词，而在于定位词出现次数过多，因此考生此时需要看的范围非常大，对于考生筛选信息的能力要求比较高。）
　　第三步:比较定位句和选项，筛选出和原文信息匹配的选项。 　　注意: 　　1.大多数情况下答案就在定位词所在的句子里，但有时也有可能位于定位句的上一句或下一句。 　　2.考生只需要核对定位句的信息和选项里的信息是否吻合即可，不需要推理。 　　3.该题型对于考生的长难句分析能力要求比较高，因为往往定位句都是结构上比较复杂的句子。
　　例题: 　　Paragraph 4: Nomadism also subjects pastoralist communities to strict rules of portability. If you are constantly on the move, you cannot afford to accumulate large material surpluses. Such rules limit variations in accumulated material goods between pastoralist households (though they may also encourage a taste for portable goods of high value such as silks or jewelry). So, by and large, nomadism implies a high degree of self-sufficiency and inhibits the appearance of an extensive division of labor. Inequalities of wealth and rank certainly exist, and have probably existed in most pastoralist societies, but except in periods of military conquest, they are normally too slight to generate the stable, hereditary hierarchies that are usually implied by the use of the term class. Inequalities of gender have also existed in pastoralist societies, but they seem to have been softened by the absence of steep hierarchies of wealth in most communities, and also by the requirement that women acquire most of the skills of men, including, often, their military skills. (TPO 14: Pastoralism in Ancient Inner Eurasia) 　　9. According to paragraph 4, the fact that pastoralist communities are subject to “strict rules of portability” encourages such communities to 　　○ relocate less frequently than they would otherwise 　　○ have households that are more or less equal in wealth 　　○ become self-sufficient in the manufacture of silk and jewelry 　　○ share large material surpluses with neighboring communities
　　解题步骤: 　　1.读题干，寻找定位词，即题干部分已经标记阴影的strict rules of portability。 　　2.根据定位词回原文进行定位，很容易发现定位词所在的句子即是第一句。但仔细阅读发现本句话并不是答案。因为题目是想问某个现象的影响，而第一句话只是在描述这个现象。那么只有继续往下看，发现第三句话Such rules limit… 可以推断这里的代词such rules应该指代的定位词strict rules of portability, 而且仔细阅读该句话的意思也是在说明某件事的影响。
　　3.比较定位句与选项: 　　定位句:Such rules limit variations in accumulated material goods between pastoralist households. 大致意思说:“这样的条例会限制不同游牧家庭之间所收集的产品的差别”。 　　选项A谈到relocate定居，不符合该句话；B选项more or less equal in wealth就等同于limit variations in accumulated material goods; C选项self-sufficient自满自足的，不符合原文；D选项share large material surplus共享剩余产品资料，不符合原文。
　　点评: 　　该题的主要难点在于定位词所在句并不是答案，考察考生在更大范围内搜索答案。在考试时间比较紧张的情况之下，非常考察一个考生的沉着冷静。 　　Paragraph 1: Petroleum, consisting of crude oil and natural gas, seems to originate from organic matter in marine sediment. Microscopic organisms settle to the seafloor and accumulate in marine mud. The organic matter may partially decompose, using up the dissolved oxygen in the sediment. As soon as the oxygen is gone, decay stops and the remaining organic matter is preserved. 　　2. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true about petroleum formation? 　　○ Microscopic organisms that live in mud produce crude oil and natural gas. 　　○ Large amounts of oxygen are needed for petroleum formation to begin. 　　○ Petroleum is produced when organic material in sediments combines with decaying marine organisms. 　　○ Petroleum formation appears to begin in marine sediments where organic matter is present.
　　解题步骤: 　　1.读题干，找到定位词petroleum formation; 　　2.根据定位词回原文进行定位，没有发现定位词，并且通段都是在介绍petroleum是如何形成的。所以，此时只能通读整段，结合排除法对选项一一排除。 　　3.选项A微生物microscopic organism能够制造出原油crude oil和天然气，不符合原文。因为根据文章，石油的形成主要来自于有机物organic matter, 而微生物microscopic organism只是起到一个帮助前者分解的作用。因此要排除A。选项B考点词为Large amounts of oxygen, 原文并没有提到具体需要的氧气量。选项C organic material与marine organisms结合形成石油，不符合原文，因为应该是有机物organic matter和微生物microscopic organism结合。选项D符合原文，与原文第一句话Petroleum, consisting of crude oil and natural gas, seems to originate from organic matter in marine sediment的意思符合。其中同义替换部分为originate from = begin。
　　点评: 　　该题的主要难点在于定位词不够specific, 不够独特。当该题型给出的定位词整个通段都在描述相关信息的时候，那么考生极有可能需要通段浏览，且只能用排除法一一进行排除。
　　小结: 　　综上所述，可以言简意赅地说事实信息题主要考察考生的两种能力:定位 & 同义转换。广州智美教育的专家认为考生可以沿着这两个方向去备考，另外建议广大考生先学习词汇题和句子简化题，然后再学习事实信息题。