托福考试
新托福考试阅读部分约为60到100分钟，包括3到5篇文章，每篇650至750个单词，每篇对应12至14道试题。
In the 1600's when the Spanish moved into what later was to become the southwestern United States, they encountered the ancestors of the modern-day Pueblo, Hopi , and Zuni peoples. These ancestors, known variously as the Basket Makers, the Anasazi, or the Ancient Ones, had lived in the area for at least 2,000 years. They were an advanced agricultural people who used irrigation to help grow their crops. The Anasazi lived in houses constructed of adobe and wood. Anasazi houses were originally built in pits and were entered from the roof. But around the year 700 A.D., the Anasazi began to build their homes above ground and join them together into rambling multistoried complexes, which the Spanish called pueblos or villages. Separate subterranean rooms in these pueblos known as kivas or chapels were set aside for religious ceremonials. Each kiva had a fire pit and a hole that was believed to lead to the underworld. The largest pueblos had five stories and more than 800 rooms.
The Anasazi family was matrilinear, that is, descent was traced through the female. The sacred objects of the family were under the control of the oldest female, but the ritual ceremonies were conducted by her brother or son. Women owned the rooms in the pueblo and the crops, once they were harvested. While still growing, crops belonged to the man who, in contrast to most other Native American groups, planted them. The women made baskets and pottery, the men wove textile and crafted turpoise jewelry.
Each village had two chiefs. The village chief dealt with land disputes and religious affairs. The war chief led the men in fighting during occasional conflicts that broke out with neighboring villages and directed the men in community building projects. The cohesive political and social organization of the Anasazi made it almost impossible for other groups to conquer them.
复述题
这是最简单的题型，但也是托福阅读部分除词汇题外出现得最多的定位原文，问题就迎刃而解。题目问的内容中都已经在原文直接提到，只是用同义词或者不同的语言组织改写而已。常见的改写方式有形容词与副词之间的改写，动词与动名词之间的改写。技巧在于寻找词根。好，我们现在开始看第一道题。
1. The Anasazi people were considered "agriculturally advanced" because of the way they (A) stored their crops(B) fertilized their fields. ( C) watered their crops.(D) planted their fields.
读完题干，顺便浏览一下选项，接下来该如何下手呢?或许刚才你浏览原文掌握文章大意时已经有了初步的印象。但不管你是否记住了这个细节，我们还是应该定位原文，以确保准确无误。那么，从哪儿开始?从文章的开头，即第一段开始。带着关键?quot;agriculturally advanced"和"because of"，我们回到文章的第一段。在第一句和第二句我们没有发现关键词或者与之相似的词。但在第三句，我们看到了"advanced agricultural people "，同时我们也看到了修饰他们的定语从句"who used irrigation to help grow their crops "。虽然并没有出现because of或者相似的词，但我们先来看选项。选项C中的动词water与题干中的irrigation相近，即water作动词时是irrigate(灌溉)的同义词。但是，我们是否可以确认它就是正确答案呢?绝对可以!理由有二：首先，ETS出题时是按照文章的顺序来出的，也就是说第一道问题不会问及文章的最后一段(虽然在GRE和GMAT中，ETS经常颠倒顺序出题，但在TOEFL中决计不会这样。)。第二，TOEFL是一种标准化考试，容不得答案存在着异议。也就是说，每一道题都只有唯一的答案，不存在着"可能对"，"比较对"的情况。在这一题中，只要你认识"irrigation"这个单词，我相信你一定会把它和正确答案相联系起来，这你已经完成的一半，而另一半就是你是否会果断地根据第三句来选择这个答案。所以，这一题的正确答案是C.
词汇题
词汇题在托福阅读中出现的频率最高，平均每10道阅读题就有3道词汇题。大部分考生认为，应对词汇题最好的办法就是平时的记忆和针对性的背诵。我本人也赞同这个观点，所以在本书的后半部分，我们总结了托福历年考试中出现的词汇，并附上了关联记忆法，即词根词缀关联记忆法。但是误区在于，不少考生一看到认识的词汇题就毫不犹豫地选择了自己最熟悉的那一个，却忘了每个英语单词都有多种意思。最危险的情况出现在当问题的正确答案在后(C或者D)，而错误选项在前(A或者B)。
2. The word "pits" in line 7 is closest in meaning to (A) stages(B) scars(C) seeds(D) holes.
对比一下选项，你就能确认pits是pit的复数形式。如果你平时背过pit这个词，你就知道它有"深坑，陷阱，深渊"的意思。现在，我们在选项中寻找与它意思最相近的词：选项A中，stage有"舞台，阶段"的意思，意思离得太远，应该不是;选项B中，scar是"伤疤"的意思，也太远;选项C，seed有两个意思，一个是名词"种子"，另外一个是动词"播种"的意思，意思也离得太远;选项D中，对于单词hole，我们最常见的意思是"洞，孔"，似乎和pit有点像，但不能确定。该怎么办呢?题干问的是第七行的那个pit，所以我们得求助于原文。回到文章的第七行，在寻找pit这个词的同时，我们看到了句子"Anasazi houses were o riginally built in pits and were entered from the roof"，大概意思是说Anas azi的房子最初建在***里，而人要进入时必须从屋顶上进入。常识告诉我们，这种房子盖在地面以下(如现在的地下室)。所以选项D最接近这个意思，它应该是正确答案。有幸的是，在这一题里，即使你不认识pit这个词，你也同样可以用上述办法推导出pit的大致意义来，因为如果房子盖在地面以上却从房顶进入实在太滑稽。
词汇题
3. The word "stories" in line 12 is closest in meaning to (A) articles(B) tales(C) levels(D) rumors
同理，stories应该是story的复数形式。我们十分肯定，story有"故事，小说"的意思，如果这时浏览选项，你马上就会眼睛一亮，看到了tale(s)这个词，它是"神话，传说，谣言"的意思。那么，就选择B吧。如果这样做的话，你就踏入了ETS所设的陷阱。我们回到原文的第12行，在寻找单词stories时，你看到了"The largest pueblos had five stories an d more than 800 rooms"这个句子。仔细一看，单词"room(s)"完全能让你对自己刚才的判断产生怀疑。"最大的pueblos有5个故事和800个房间"，这话是怎么说的?(根据room这个词，我们可以判断pueblos是某种建筑物，印第安人村庄)。所以，我们还得认真看选项。A中，article的意思很多，我们常见的意思是"文章，条款"(还有"惯词"的意思)，不像;D中，rumor是"谣言"的意思，虽然又是一个陷阱，却给了我们一个提示，即rumor和tale都不可能是正确答案，因为正确答案只有一个，如果你认为两个都正确的话，那就是两个都不正确。所以，正确答案的希望在选项B中，虽然level常见的意思是"水平，如英语水平"，但稍一细想，你就会记起它的另一个意思，即"楼层"。如果level确实是"楼层"的意思，那么原句"The largest pueblos had five stories and more than 800 rooms"就很理所当然，符合常理。恭喜你找到了正确答案。
ETS的伎俩：出考题是一件既费时间也费财力的事情，即便对于ETS这样的专业出题机构也是如此。想象一下把自己当成TOEFL的出题者。你必须出一些"难题"，拉开考生的分数距离，以区别考生的所谓英语能力。而在4个选项中只有一个正确，其他的都是"垃圾"选项。 |
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