名师：09考研英语阅读理解及作文点题中

名师：09考研英语阅读理解及作文点题中（通用2篇）

篇1：名师：09考研英语阅读理解及作文点题中

名师：09考研英语阅读理解及作文点题(上)

Text 1

While still catching-up to men in some spheres of modern life, women appear to be way ahead in at least one undesirable category. Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men, according to Dr. Yehuda, chief psychiatrist at New York’s Veteran’s Administration Hospital.

Studies of both animals and humans have shown that sex hormones somehow affects the stress response, causing females under stress to produce more of the trigger chemicals than do males under the same conditions. In several of the studies, when stressed-out female rats had their ovaries (the female reproductive organs) removed, their chemical responses became equal to those of the males.

Adding to a woman’s increased dose of stress chemicals, are her increased opportunities for stress. It’s not necessarily that women don’t cope as well. It’s just that they have so much more to cope with, says Dr. Yehuda. Their capacity for tolerating stress may even be greater than men’s, she observes, It’s just that they’re dealing with so many more things that they become worn out from it more visibly and sooner.

Dr. Yehuda notes another difference between the sexes. I think that the kinds of things that women are exposed to tend to be in more of a chronic or repeated nature. Men go to war and are exposed to combat stress. Men are exposed to more acts of random physical violence. The kinds of interpersonal violence that women are exposed to tend to be in domestic situations, by, unfortunately, parents or other family numbers, and they tend not to be one-shot deals. The wear-and-tear that comes from these longer relationships can be quite devastating.

Adeline Alvarez married at 18 and gave birth to a son, but had determined to finish college. I struggled a lot to get the college degree. I was living in so much frustration that that was my escape, to go to school, and get ahead and do better. Later her marriage ended and she became a single mother. It’s the hardest thing to take care of a teenager, have a job, pay the rent, pay the car payment, and pay the debt. I lived from paycheck to paycheck.

Not everyone experiences the kinds of severe chronic stresses Alvarez describes. But most women today are coping with a lot of obligations, with few breaks, and feeling the strain. Alvarez’s experience demonstrates the importance of finding ways to diffuse stress before it threatens your health and your ability to function.

21. Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs?

[A] Women are biologically more vulnerable to stress.

[B] Women are still suffering much stress caused by men.

[C] Women are more experienced than men in coping with stress.

[D] Men and women show different inclinations when faced with stress.

22. Dr. Yehuda’s research suggests that women

[A] need extra doses of chemicals to handle stress.[B] have limited capacity for tolerating stress.

[C] are more capable of avoiding stress.[D] are exposed to more stress.

23. According to Paragraph 4, the stress women confront tends to be

[A] domestic and temporary.[B] irregular and violent.

[C] durable and frequent.[D] trivial and random.

24. The sentence “I lived from paycheck to paycheck.” (Line 6, Para. 5) shows that

[A] Alvarez cared about nothing but making money.

[B] Alvarez’s salary barely covered her household expenses.

[C] Alvarez got paychecks from different jobs.

[D] Alvarez paid practically everything by check.

25. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

[A] Strain of Stress: No Way Out?[B] Responses to Stress: Gender Difference

[C] Stress Analysis: What Chemicals Say[D] Gender Inequality: Women Under Stress

Text 2

It used to be so straightforward. A team of researchers working together in the laboratory would submit the results of their research to a journal. A journal editor would then remove the authors names and affiliations from the paper and send it to their peers for review. Depending on the comments received, the editor would accept the paper for publication or decline it. Copyright rested with the journal publisher, and researchers seeking knowledge of the results would have to subscribe to the journal.

No longer. The Internet and pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why commercial publishers are making money from government-funded research by restricting access to it―is making access to scientific results a reality. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has just issued a report describing the far-reaching consequences of this. The report, by John Houghton of Victoria University in Australia and Graham Vickery of the OECD, makes heavy reading for publishers who have, so far, made handsome profits. But it goes further than that. It signals a change in what has, until now, been a key element of scientific endeavor.

The value of knowledge and the return on the public investment in research depends, in part, upon wide distribution and ready access. It is big business. In America, the core scientific publishing market is estimated at between $7 billion and $11 billion. The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers says that there are more than 2,000 publishers worldwide specializing in these subjects. They publish more than 1.2 million articles each year in some 16,000 journals.

This is now changing. According to the OECD report, some 75% of scholarly journals are now online. Entirely new business models are emerging; three main ones were identified by the report’s authors. There is the so-called big deal, where institutional subscribers pay for access to a collection of online journal titles through site-licensing agreements. There is open-access publishing, typically supported by asking the author (or his employer) to pay for the paper to be published. Finally, there are open-access archives, where organizations such as universities or international laboratories support institutional repositories. Other models exist that are hybrids of these three, such as delayed open-access, where journals allow only subscribers to read a paper for the first six months, before making it freely available to everyone who wishes to see it. All this could change the traditional form of the peer-review process, at least for the publication of papers.

26. In the first paragraph, the author discusses

[A] the background information of journal editing.

[B] the publication routine of laboratory reports.

[C] the relations of authors with journal publishers.

[D] the traditional process of journal publication.

27. Which of the following is true of the OECD report?

[A] It criticizes government-funded research.

[B] It introduces an effective means of publication.

[C] It upsets profit-making journal publishers.

[D] It benefits scientific research considerably.

28. According to the text, online publication is significant in that

[A] it provides an easier access to scientific results.

[B] it brings huge profits to scientific researchers.

[C] it emphasizes the crucial role of scientific knowledge.

[D] it facilitates public investment in scientific research.

29. With the open-access publishing model, the author of a paper is required to

[A] cover the cost of its publication. [B] subscribe to the journal publishing it.

[C] allow other online journals to use it freely.[D] complete the peer-review before submission.

30. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

[A] The Internet is posing a threat to publi

篇2：英语阅读理解中的语用失误及对策

近年来中学外语教学界已达成一项共识, 教师不仅要教给学生英语语言知识, 还要教给学生英语语用知识。语用知识包括语言语用知识和社交语用知识。语言的语用知识指的是语篇上下文构成的语境, 社交语用知识则包括与语言交际有关的社会及文化背景知识、百科知识以及语言交际发生时的外部情景知识 (何自然, 陈新仁:2004:219) 。[1]当学生缺乏必要的语用知识时, 不仅会在语言表达方面出现失误, 说出不得体的句子, 在语言理解方面也会出现失误, 无法准确、全面地理解书面语言或口头语言。这样的失误就叫语用失误。也就是说, 语用知识不仅会影响学生的语言表达能力, 也会影响学生的阅读理解能力。

从认知心理学的观点来看, 阅读即是对书面材料的信息进行加工。不论是母语阅读还是外语阅读, 这一过程都可分为五个基本的环节, 即:语言信息的输入、传递、信息的浅层次加工与短时储存、信息的深层次加工与长时储存、信息的输出与文意重建。语言信息的输入与传递, 是指阅读者对纸面文字符号进行扫描、吸收并向大脑传输的过程。语言的浅层次加工是阅读者利用头脑中已有的背景知识和上下文信息对语言信息进行加工, 并通过句法分析理解其表层语义的过程。信息的深层次加工与长时储存, 是指大脑借助背景知识和既存的阅读信息对词语或句子的表层语义进行重新编码, 并理解其深层次含义的过程。信息的输出与文意重建是指在局部信息解码的基础上, 阅读者对课文文意进行重构与输出的过程, 这是阅读理解的最高级阶段 (陈光伟, 1999) 。[2]

在这五个阅读的基本环节中, 后三个环节在运行时, 都需要背景知识系统的支撑。而背景知识可以分为两类, 一类是关于英语词汇、语法、句子结构和段落衔接等语言学方面的知识;另一类是与阅读材料有关的专业知识、文化背景知识、上下文形成的语境和其他的百科知识, 多涉及到语用学知识。英语阅读理解中的失误不仅是由英语语言知识的缺乏造成的, 也与语用知识的缺乏有着不可分割的关系, 有相当多的理解失误属于语用失误。

二、英语阅读理解中常见的语用失误

(一) 在阅读信息的浅层次加工阶段

在阅读信息的浅层次加工阶段, 英语词汇和语法等语言学知识起着最重要的作用, 但语用知识也起着不可忽略的作用。这主要由于语境 (包括语言语境和非语言语境) 知识可以在很大程度上帮助读者识别词义及排除歧义。

我们在阅读英语材料的过程中经常会遇到生词, 需要猜测词义, 而猜测词义除了可依靠构词法的知识外, 主要还要依靠上下文的背景知识和其他与阅读内容有关的百科知识。例如:

(1) Please take me to a distant land where I can find the animal that gave fur to make this sweater.[3]

(2) Many animals have disappeared during the long history of the earth.The most famous of these animals are dinosaurs.[3]

以上两例均出自高一英语教材, 学生之所以能够猜出“fur”和“dinosaur”的意思, 除了依靠了上下文提供的背景信息, 同时也在很大程度上依靠了他们的百科知识。比如, 在例 (1) 中, 由于大家都知道毛衣 (sweater) 是由毛线编织而成的, 所以很容易就可以猜出“fur”的意思应是“动物的皮毛”。而要准确猜出例 (2) 中的“dinosaurs”的意思, 则需要学生具备一定的地理和生物常识 (知道恐龙是地球上最早灭绝的动物) 。假如学生不具备这一常识, 就很难准确猜出“dinosaurs”这个单词的意思。

此外, 自然语言中充满了大量的歧义现象, 要准确把握语句的表层意义, 我们就必须能够排除歧义, 这同样离不开语用知识。比如:

(3) In April 1945, I heard something explode at midnight.I got up and ran outside.The sound came from a mine that hadn’t been used for a long time.[3]

“mine”是一个多义词, 作为代词, 它的意思是“我的”, 这也是它最常用的意思。但同时它也可以作为名词, 意思是“矿井”“地雷”。只有依靠它的上下文语境和相关百科知识, 我们才能确定, 它在这句话中的意思是“矿井”, 而不是“我的”或“地雷”。如果我们没有读懂它的上下文或不具备相关百科知识, 会在理解上出现语用失误。

另外, 语法结构也会引起歧义 (syntactic ambiguity) , 而语法歧义的排除同样也需要语用知识。比如:

(4) Some foreign tourists have found drinking water a problem.

如果脱离了上下文, 这句话可以有两种解释, 一种是:一些外国的旅游者发现供饮用的水有问题, 即把“drinking”作为定语来理解。另一种理解是:一些外国的旅游者发现在当地喝水成了一个问题, 即把“drinking”作为宾语来理解。而要消除它的歧义, 必须要依赖相关的语用知识, 包括上下文语境和情景语境来判断。

(二) 在阅读信息的深层次加工阶段

在对阅读信息进行深层次加工的阶段, 语用知识也起了相当重要的作用。通过对阅读信息的浅层次加工, 阅读者可以理解词汇和句子的表层意义, 而欲理解其深层次含义, 则须对其做进一步加工。对阅读信息的深层次加工包括:确定所指 (包括代词和名词性短语的所指) 、确定作者的意图和言外之意、识别修辞手段及其含义、补全缺省环节等。而要准确推导出语句的深层次含义, 需要以下三方面信息的支持:第一, 浅层次加工并短时储存过的信息, 即语句的表层意义。第二, 背景知识系统 (专业知识、文化背景知识、世界常识等) 。第三, 阅读者对已阅读过的材料形成的语境认知背景 (董基凤, 1992) 。[4]

这其中, 第二和第三都属于语用层面的知识, 如果这两方面的知识缺乏, 阅读者就难以建立起高效、易提取的背景加工信息系统。在推导阅读信息的深层次含义时, 可能在以下几方面出现失误:

1. 确定所指

我们在阅读中会遇到大量的代词, 但要理解其具体的含义, 我们必须弄清楚代词的具体所指, 而要准确确定语篇中的代词所指, 仅仅依靠代词与其先行词在语法特征上的一致性是远远不够的, 还必须依赖有关的语用知识。我们来看下面这段文字:

(5) My grapefruit tree, grown from seed, was one year old when it produced one blossom.It is really important for me to know whether it is possible for it to be fertilized with its own pollen and produce fruit, however small, even though the tree is so young.[5]

这段文字出自为高一学生设计的一篇英语阅读文章, 文后有一道阅读理解题目:

The underlined word“it”refers to_______.

A.pollenB.blossom

C.seedD.tree

要确定“it”在这里的具体所指, 我们除了要结合上下文语境知识, 还需要具备相关的实践知识, 即:花朵被授粉以后可以结出果实, 根据这一常识, 我们才能最终确定“it”所指的是“blossom”, 而不是“tree”“pollen”或“seed”。相反, 如果阅读者没有读懂上下文的信息, 或者缺乏相关的世界知识, 就不能确定这一代词指的是什么。

2. 推导作者的言外之义

笔者曾让学生阅读过一篇讲美国人热衷于追赶社会潮流的文章。文章的结尾是这样一段话:

(6) And there are Joneses in every city in the world.But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses, Mr Joneses always seems to be ahead.[5]

笔者就这段话的言外之意对学生进行了提问, 发现大多数学生都只能解释出它的字面意义, 而不知道这段话的言外之意是什么, 只有少数学生回答出了这个问题。因为这部分学生知道“keep up with Joneses”这一英语习语的典故。这一习语起源于由美国漫画家Arthur R.Momand于1913年创作的连环漫画, 该漫画描绘了一个处处与周围邻居攀比的滑稽形象。在漫画中Momand首先使用了这一短语, 用它来表示“赶时髦, 与周围人比阔气”的意思。有了这一文化背景知识, 我们就不难推导出, 这段话的言外之意是:世界上每个城市都有引领时尚者, 但是如果一个人总是努力追赶时髦, 那么他迟早会感到疲惫, 因为时尚的脚步永远不会停住。

3. 识别修辞手段及其含义

从作者的角度讲, 使用修辞手段是为了增强语言的表现力, 增加话语的形象性和趣味性。而从阅读者的角度讲, 要完全把握语句的深层次含义, 就必须在理解其字面意义的基础上, 进一步识别其所使用的修辞手段及其含义。而修辞与文化和语境有着非常密切的关系。同一种表达方式 (尤其是隐喻) 在不同的文化和上下文中可以有不同的含义。因此, 语用知识的缺乏往往会导致阅读者在识别修辞含义方面出现失误。比如:

(7) Steve is a pig.

这句话使用了暗喻, 如果根据汉语的修辞习惯, 我们很可能把这句话的含义理解为:斯狄夫像头猪一样笨。而事实上, 在英美文化中, “pig”这个词一般是用来比喻某个人很贪婪, 这是不同的文化所产生的修辞差异。而如果结合了上下文, 这个词又可能产生其他的含义, 比如:

(8) Look at this room!Steve is a pig.

结合这一语境, 我们不难推导出, “pig”在这里的喻义是:斯狄夫像猪一样脏。

4. 补全缺省环节, 建构语篇连贯

连贯构建是理解语篇的基础, 它是读者重建语篇深层次含义的过程。而这一过程需要读者利用自己的语用知识, 对语篇中省略的信息进行推断和补充。而这种推断和补充在跨文化的阅读中显得尤其重要。这是因为, 对于跨文化语篇来说, 母语作者和目的语读者之间所具有的认知环境不同, 也就是说, 母语作者所拥有的文化知识、社会经验、百科知识等有时在目的语读者的认知环境中并不存在。这样, 当母语作者将自己认为与本族语读者共享的、众所周知的某些认知信息省略时, 目的语读者往往会因为不具备相关的语用知识而无法补全作者缺省的信息, 从而无法获得句与句之间、段与段之间的语义连贯。事实上, 我们在阅读英语语篇时的理解失误中有很多都属于此类。在此仅举一例:

(9) “...And supposing you preserved in your obstinate fast, and died by that means, and they refused to bury you in the precincts of the kirk?”I said, shocked at his godless

indifference.[6] (“如果你硬要任性地绝食, 并且因此死去, 人家又拒绝把你埋在教堂的墓地呢?”我说道, 对他这样漠视神明大为震惊。)

这段话出自《呼啸山庄》, 故事中的希思克利夫因为恋人凯瑟琳的死而悲痛欲绝, 便开始绝食以求早日死去, 好与凯瑟琳同葬一穴。但在旧时的英国, 根据基督教的观点, 自杀者不配埋在教堂的墓地, 只能埋在十字路口。这对于信奉基督教的读者来说, 他们不难对文中省略的语用信息进行填补和推断, 而对于宗教信仰不同的读者来说, 由于他们的认知环境里根本不存在可供激活的有关背景信息, 就难以在“绝食”与“墓地”之间建立因果关系, 语义连贯也就出现了空缺。

(三) 课文文意重建阶段

课文文意重建是阅读理解的最高级阶段, 它是阅读者以深层次的信息加工为基础, 依据自己的理解对课文文本进行的意义重构 (陈光伟, 1999) 。[2]被重构的可以是某个句子的含义, 也可以是某个段落或整篇文章的含义。本环节的运行需要有两种背景信息的支持, 一种是刚刚被阅读者深层次加工过的信息, 另一种是与阅读材料有关的语用知识 (文化背景、专业知识、百科知识等) 。

由于不同的读者拥有的这两种背景信息不一定相同, 所以, 不同的读者对同一篇文章的文意重构也不一定相同。成功的文意重建应当是与作者表达的原始意义最接近的。读者拥有的与文章相关的语用知识越少, 他在重建课文文意时就越困难, 他所重建的文意与原始文意相差越大。下面这段经常被认知语言学家用来做试验的文字, 可以说明读者所拥有的语用背景知识对文意重建和信息输出有着多么大的影响。这段话是这样的:

(10) The procedure is quite simple.First, you arrange things into different groups.Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do.It is important not to overdo things, that is, it is better to do too few things than too many.In the short run, this may not seem too important but complications can easily arise.A mistake can be expensive as well.At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated.Soon, however, it will just become another facet of life.After the procedure is completed, one can arrange the materials into different groups again.Then, they can be put into their right places.[7]

参加试验的学生先把这段文字看一遍, 然后研究者要求他们在不看原文的情况下, 凭记忆把它写出来。结果, 几乎所有的受试者都没有完全读懂这段话的意思, 他们的理解也出现了很大的偏差, 有的把这段话理解成了整理文件, 有的理解成了做饭, 有的理解成整理房间等等。然后, 学生被要求重新看一遍, 并且被告知:这段文字的标题是“Washing Clothes”, 由于有了这一背景知识, 这一次学生全部读懂了这段话的意思。

由此可见, 语用知识在阅读理解的过程中所起的作用是多么重要。在某些情况下, 造成我们理解失误的并不是语言方面的障碍, 而是语用知识的缺乏。既然如此, 我们在中学英语课的教学上, 应当采取哪些手段来帮助学生减少英语阅读中的语用失误呢?下面笔者将具体讨论这个问题。

三、如何减少英语阅读理解中的语用失误

英语阅读理解中的语用失误是由于学生缺乏相应的语用知识和必要的语用推理技巧而造成的, 因此要减少学生阅读理解中的语用失误, 就必须从这两方面着手。

(一) 充分利用语境策略

广义的语境包括语言语境和非语言语境, 语言语境主要指的是语篇内部的语境, 即由词汇、句子和段落等构成的上下文语境;非语言语境又分为社会文化语境和情景语境 (周明强, 2003) 。[8]在阅读活动中, 语境所起的作用主要是帮助阅读者从笼统的意义推断出具体意义, 从字面意义推断出话语的言外之意, 从歧义句中获取准确的信息等。当我们遇到理解障碍时, 就要借助于语境来推断话语的正确含义。上文所讨论的种种语用失误, 不管是出现在阅读活动的浅层次阶段还是深层次阶段, 都跟阅读者缺少必要的语境知识有关。因此我们在阅读教学中要引导学生加强语境意识, 使学生有意识地利用语境去理解语篇的意义。在运用语境策略进行阅读教学时, 教师要引导学生采用“自上而下, 从整体到部分”的方法理解语篇, 把对词汇和句子的理解放在上下文当中, 这样就可以有效地减少理解失误。

此外, 在进行英语阅读教学时, 我们应结合课文的不同内容, 向学生补充必要的背景资料, 如果能让学生通过各种渠道收集背景语境资料, 并且让他们在课堂上相互交流补充, 就会收到更好的教学效果。

(二) 加强文化背景知识的导入

语言是文化的载体, 与文化联系密切。绝大多数的英语文章都或多或少的涉及到英美文化背景知识。文化背景知识的缺乏必然会阻碍学生阅读理解能力的提高。教师在阅读课上通过书面或口头的方式向学生介绍一些必要的文化背景知识, 绝不是浪费时间, 而是“磨刀不误砍柴工”。

(三) 培养学生的语用推理能力

语篇理解包括语篇解码和语篇推理两个过程。语篇解码是指对文章字面意义的理解, 语篇推理则是在理解字面意义的基础上推导文章的深层含义, 属深层理解, 它需依赖读者的语用推理能力和阅读技巧来完成。因此, 语用推理能力在阅读理解中占据很重要的位置。文章的作者有时并不明确陈述观点, 而是通过暗示让读者从字里行间悟出言外之意。因此在阅读过程中, 读者需要借助自己的逻辑思考和语境背景知识对文章的主题、作者的意图等作出合乎逻辑的推断。培养学生的语用推理能力应从以下两方面着手:

1. 让学生了解基本的语用原则

基本的语用原则包括言语行为原则 (Speech Act Theory) 、合作原则 (Cooperative Principles) 和关联原则 (Relevant principle) 等。必要的语用推导原则能对理解语篇的整体意义及作者的言外之意起到一定的作用。如果学生缺乏相关的知识, 就不能领会文中暗藏于表层语句中的深层意图, 从而引起阅读理解中的空白和断层。

2. 让学生了解基本的逻辑知识

推断包括演绎和归纳。要推导出合乎逻辑的结论, 学生还应具有基本的逻辑推理知识和逻辑思维能力。教师应当在课堂教学中注意向学生渗透逻辑推理知识, 这对提高学生的阅读理解能力会有很大的帮助。

四、结语

本文指出了英语阅读理解中经常出现的几类语用失误并提出了具体的应对策略。需要强调的是, 在英语阅读理解教学中, 很多教师一味强调英语语言知识和阅读技巧对提高学生阅读理解能力的重要性, 而忽略了语用知识在英语阅读理解中的重要作用, 原因是他们没有认识到很多阅读理解错误属于语用层面的失误, 而不单单是语言层面的。语用知识的匮乏不仅会导致语言产出时出现失误, 使得我们说出或写出不得体的句子, 同时, 它将会导致语言理解过程中的失误, 包括口头语言的理解失误和书面语言的理解失误。笔者希望通过本文能引起广大中学外语教师对这一问题的重视, 采取有效的策略来帮助学生减少英语阅读理解中的语用失误, 最大限度地提高学生理解的准确率。

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