托福阅读：修辞目的题的解法

看到标题，有些同学的问题就来了。在托福阅读中，什么是修辞目的题?修辞目的题该如何解决呢?今天，小编就带大家来复习一下这些托福阅读的知识点。

托福阅读：修辞目的题的解法

本质上讲：对作者意图的提问

形式上讲：

Why does the author mention/discuss …?

The author mentions/discusses … in order to ______.

The author uses … as an example of_____.

等等

做这类题目时有些同学往往会出现黑人问号，我怎么知道作者怎么想的!

其实，这类题目和托福其他题目一样，都是有套路的。至少，托福阅读里的修辞目的题是不会要求考生们对锅里的鱼眼里“诡异的光”进行理解的。

言归正传，那么做这类题目的套路究竟是什么呢?

首先我们要知道托福文章结构有一个规律，就是claim(观点)+detail(s)，换句话说就是给出一个观点，然后用一个或者若干个细节或者例子来支撑前面的观点。

不论是从文章整体架构，段落结构，还是更微观的行文结构来看，一般来说这个规律都成立。而修辞目的题实质上就是出题人把一个detail拎出来问你，作者为什么要提到这个detail。到这里，问题的关键就变成了找到这个detail对应的claim究竟在哪里。

最简单的模型就是，claim后面就一个detail支撑，这种情况下，自然detail前面紧挨着的那句话就是作者的观点，即提到这个detail的目的是为了说明前面的这个观点。

然而有时候，作者会用不止一个detail来支撑最前面的claim，模型视图如下

Claim+ detail 1 + detail 2 + detail 3

这种时候，如果出题人把detail 3拎出来问你它的目的，显然答案就不是为了支持紧挨着它的前面那句话了，而应该是遥相支持前面的前面的前面的那个claim。

根据以上原理，我们总结出了一个做题步骤，帮助大家高效地找到这个claim。

简言之，

1. 找出题目中的关键词

2. 用关键词定位原文

3. 按照原句 -- 前面1~2句 -- 段落第一句的顺序找到claim

4. 根据原文claim找到对应选项

可以看出，步骤1和2是在文章中找到题目里提到的detail的位置，当然，如果文中已经给你highligh出来了的话这两个步骤就省掉了

而步骤3才是在找claim

下面，我们来进行一个实操应用：

In paragraph 1, what is the author's purpose in providing examples of how organisms are destroyed?

○To emphasize how surprising it is that so many fossils exist

○To introduce a new geologic theory of fossil preservation

○To explain why the fossil record until now has remained incomplete

○To compare how fossils form on land and in water

很明显，这道题需要我们自己去找到detail的位置，所以我们要从第1个步骤开始做起：找出题目中的关键词

examples of how organisms are destroyed(生物被摧毁的例子)

第2步，我们要拿着关键词到段落里面去找detail对应的原句，即哪里有提到生物被摧毁的例子

Paragraph 1: When one considers the many ways by which organisms are completely destroyed after death, it is remarkable that fossils are as common as they are. Attack by scavengers and bacteria, chemical decay, and destruction by erosion and other geologic agencies make the odds against preservation very high. However, the chances of escaping complete destruction are vastly improved if the organism happens to have a mineralized skeleton and dies in a place where it can be quickly buried by sediment. Both of these conditions are often found on the ocean floors, where shelled invertebrates (organisms without spines) flourish and are covered by the continuous rain of sedimentary particles. Although most fossils are found in marine sedimentary rocks, they also are found in terrestrial deposits left by streams and lakes. On occasion, animals and plants have been preserved after becoming immersed in tar or quicksand, trapped in ice or lava flows, or engulfed by rapid falls of volcanic ash.

我们看下来后会发现有且仅有红色部分是一些摧毁生物的具体例子，清道夫、细菌、化学侵蚀等等，至此我们完成了第2步，定位出了detail对应的原句。

第3步，到这句话的前面找它对应的claim，这道题里，它前面只有一句话，那让我们来验证一下这是不是这个detail所支撑的观点呢?

When one considers the many ways by which organisms are completely destroyed after death, it is remarkable that fossils are as common as they are.

(当一个人知道生物死后会被如此多的方式所完全分解毁灭，那他就会感叹世界上化石如此普遍有多不可思议)

看起来逻辑上可以成为生物被摧毁的例子所支撑的对象吧

那我们现在来做第4步，根据找出来的claim去选出最接近的选项

In paragraph 1, what is the author's purpose in providing examples of how organisms are destroyed?

○To emphasize how surprising it is that so many fossils exist

○To introduce a new geologic theory of fossil preservation

○To explain why the fossil record until now has remained incomplete

○To compare how fossils form on land and in water

选项1是不是就是我们找出来的claim的同义复述呀?答案就是它了!

All in all，只要把握好题型背后的原理，妈妈再也不用担心你做不好修辞目的题了!

托福阅读考试举例解析：修辞目的题

托福阅读的十种题型中，修辞目的题，跟其他题型不相比，别具一格。托福阅读考试中修辞目的题注重考察单词，短语或是句子在句子之内或句子之间起到的作用和逻辑。这要求大家在阅读中，要有意识地注意句子之间的逻辑关系以及段落的结构。

此次目的题参考的内容基本可以分为三类，其一，作者在句中提到一些单词或短语或是句子是为了举例说明之前的相关信息点，辅助读者更好地理解原文的信息。其二，作者提供相关信息目的在于解释说明某一现象或是事件，本质与举例说明较为类似，也是为了帮助读者更好地理解信息，其三，作者在提出某些重要的观点时，为了突出个别的信息点，而引入一些单词短语或句子，目的是为了强度。基于对修辞目的题作者写作目的本身的分析和理解，我们可以更好地解决相关题目。以下以第一种举例说明的情况为例，重点讲解如何解决此类题目。

我们来看一道题，此题出自TPO14--children and advertising中的第10题，题干问why does the author mention a show about a cartoon lion in which an advertisement appears featuring the same lion character?根据题干关键词定位到文中对应的句子，Host selling occurs, for example, when a children's show about a cartoon lion contains an ad in which the same lion promotes a breakfast cereal.读完句子看到句中的插入短语for example，知道此句式为例子，属于举例说明，我们都知道例子是用来证明之前的信息，所以向前反推，看到紧接其前这样的内容In the recent past, the role of celebrities in advertising to children has often been conflated with the concept of host selling. Host selling involves blending advertisements with regular programming in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish one from the other.这两句第一句解释了host selling，第二句提到host selling的影响，所以得知紧接其后的句子是为了例证这两点信息，即host selling的概念以及它产生的影响。得出正确选项To help explain what is meant by the term "host selling" and why it can be misleading to children。

再比如TPO16中trade and the ancient middle east一文中第12题考到In paragraph 5, why does the author mention the new trade route opened up by Vasco da Gama's fifteenth century voyage around Africa?根据题干关键词定位到原文句子：as occurred when European seafarers circumvented Middle Eastern merchants after Vasco da Gama's voyage around Africa in the late fifteenth century opened up a southern route.读句子as表示正如…得知此处为举例说明，例证之前的信息，看到前半句since the development of new international trade routes could undermine the monetary base and erode state power。得知提到Vasco da Gama's fifteenth century voyage around Africa目的是为了证明新的国际贸易路线的发展可能破坏货币基础并且侵蚀国家权力。得出答案为To present an instance in which Middle Eastern states lost money and power because of their reliance on long-distance trade。

再如TPO25 The surface of mars一文中的第6题In paragraph 3, why does the author compare Maxwell Mons on Venus to the Hawaiian shield volcanoes on Earth?根据题干关键词定位到原文句子It is no accident that Maxwell Mons on Venus and the Hawaiian shield volcanoes on Earth rise to about the same height (about 10 kilometers) above their respective bases-Earth and Venus has similar surface gravity.通过句中短语It is no accident that得知此处为举例论证，所以向前看，紧接其前的句子为The lower the gravity, the lesser the weight and the greater the height of the mountain.可知原文想要阐述的信息是地心引力和山脉高度直接的关系，而且地心引力越低则重量越低，随之山的高度越高，所以紧接其后比较Maxwell Mons on Venus 和the Hawaiian shield volcanoes on Earth完全是为了论证这个信息，由此容易选得正确选项为To help explain the relationship between surface gravity and volcano height。

修辞目的题中，举例论证是常考点，常见的表示举例的提示性的单词或短语有：for example/for instance/such as/as/as a example of/one of…/this is the case…等。如果题干中关键词对应原文的句子里有相关的表示例证的单词，短语出现，则向前看前面的句子，答案也就随之浮现出来。所以在平时的阅读练习中，大家一定要注意句子之间逻辑关系，句与句之间不是互相独立的，而是紧密联系，互相支撑，构建段落，甚至是全文。

托福阅读修辞目的题之特殊题型趋势解析

修辞目的题，是我们常见的一道题目。众所周知，是寻找所提及的片段在文章当中的地位，也就是如何反对或者支持某一个主旨。今天我们一起说一下几个比较抽象的修辞目的题的发展趋势：暗修辞目的题型和段落结构题型。希望大家在做题目的时候能够及时确认题型并且针对题型迅速给出处理办法。

(一) 类细节题目

TPO 27 Crafts in the Ancient near East

Paragraph 4: Objects themselves suggest that they were the work of skilled professionals. In the late Uruk period (3500-3100 B.C.E.), there first appeared a type of object that remained characteristic for Mesopotamia throughout its entire history: the cylinder seal.

This was a small cylinder, usually no more than 3 centimeters high and 2 centimeters in diameter, of shell, bone, faience ( a glassy type of stoneware), or various types of stones, on which a scene was carved into the surface.

11. Paragraph 4 suggests which of the following about the significance of Mesopotamian cylinder seals?

○ They were designed more for home than for legal use

○ They demonstrate that their creators were professionals

○ They were the first example of seals made from materials other than stone

○ They were the first example of carved seals

这个题乍一看是一个细节题，问的是M的重要性，定位原文，并没有关于它很重要的表述;实质上这属于一个修辞目的题，问的是例子存在的价值：支持主旨：这样我们向前找主旨，主旨在段首，关键词是were the work of skilled professionals，也就是技术问题：因此定位答案B.通过这个题目，我们知道，问例子的重要性的，除非原文有专门表达，否则就要考虑修辞目的题。

(二)结构类题目变体：

以往见到的是：what is the structure of paragraph_? 或者是 What is the purpose of paragraph 3? 再或者是 How does paragraph _ relate to _? 根据结构的读法，我们基本就能确定结构的发展方向。现在我们看一个这样问的题目:

TPO27 The Formation of Volcanic Islands

Paragraph 3：How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer. Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii Islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probably older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics, Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today’s most northwest island would have been the first to form.

6. In paragraph 3, what is the relationship between the scientific contribution of James Daly and Tuzo Wilson?

○ Wilson provided an explanation for the observations made by Daly

○ Wilson challenged the theory proposed by Daly

○ Wilson found numerous examples of island chains that supported Daly’s theory

○ Wilson popularized the explanation of volcanic island formation formulated by Daly

乍一看，这是一个细节题，尤其像关系类细节题。但是定位读完之后，相关专家JD 的理论是“island 分享同样板块并且…因此 更老older…。”专家TW说 this age progression could result ,也就是说这个过程是可以出现的，明显是支持并进一步说明了前边专家的理论。因此关系它们的关系实质是一种支持，是个结构题，正确答案A. 进一步解释。专家W没有用例子证明，无例子一类词汇，排除C;原文没有说理论一有什么weakness之类的缺陷词汇,排除B。原文也没有说他如何普及之前的学说，排除D。

新题中出现了较多段落与细节相互依存的题目，在此不一一详述，希望大家在做题时密切注意段落结构，宏观考虑，才能及时辨认题目类型，准确预测大致答案。

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