汪東印

自2011年以來， 17套全國卷共出現(xiàn)18道題考查主旨要義。其中，考查段落大意（main idea， mainly about）題2道，考查文章大意 （main idea， mainly about）題3道，要求考生給文章選標(biāo)題（title）13題。具體考查情況見下表：

由上表可知，全國課標(biāo)Ⅰ卷2013，2014，2015連續(xù)三年未考查主旨要義題，課標(biāo)Ⅱ卷僅2015年未考查主旨要義題。但最近三年，三套題中的每一套題都有1～2題考查主旨要義，且每套題都有一道題要求考生給短文選擇一個(gè)恰當(dāng)?shù)臉?biāo)題。也就是說，主旨要義是近三年來高考英語全國卷的必考考點(diǎn)，且考查重點(diǎn)是要求考生給文章選擇一個(gè)恰當(dāng)?shù)臉?biāo)題。

解題方法技巧

英語中的每篇文章都會(huì)有一個(gè)主旨要義。解答主旨要義題的最主要方法是尋找主題句。多數(shù)文章的主題句在第一個(gè)段，且多為第一個(gè)句子或最后一個(gè)句子，有的在最后一段的最后一句或首尾呼應(yīng)。有時(shí)，作者沒有明示文章的主旨要義，需要讀者從文章的字里行間進(jìn)行歸納和概括。

八年來是否有主題句或主題句的位置如下表所示：

由上表可以看出，近八年來的18套試卷中，只有2018年Ⅲ卷短文大意、2017年Ⅱ卷的段落大意、2017年Ⅰ卷和2014年Ⅱ卷的選標(biāo)題，沒有明顯主題句，需要考生自己歸納概括，共4題，占22%。其余14題均有主題句，占78%，且主題句在第三段的僅1題，在第一段的有13題，占93%。其中，在第一段第一句的有7題，第一段最后一句的有5題，第一段段中1題，其中首段與末段呼應(yīng)的有3題。值得注意的是，在but或though（adv.然而，可是）后的有6題。

高考真題示例

[例1]2017年全國Ⅱ卷C篇

Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight， bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle——named the Transition——has two seats， four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The Transition， which flew at 1，400 feet for eight minutes last month， can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a 23-gallon tank of gas and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground， it gets 35 miles per gallon.

Around 100 people have already put down a $10，000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sal ...

Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s ...

Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administrations decision ...

◆What is the first paragraph mainly about？

A. The basic data of the Transition.

B. The advantages of flying cars.

C. The potential market for flying cars.

D. The designers of the Transition.

思路點(diǎn)撥：第一段第一句是第一段的主題句嗎？有沒有能體現(xiàn)第一段段落大意的主題句呢？如果有，請(qǐng)?jiān)谖闹袠?biāo)出來，如果沒有，請(qǐng)自己概括。

[例2] 2018年全國Ⅰ卷C篇

Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years， but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers， small， tightly knit（聯(lián)系）groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10，000 years ago， when the world had just five to ten million people， they spoke perhaps 12，000 languages between them.

Soon afterwards， many of those people started settling down to become farmers， and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number ...

At present， the world has about 6，800 languages ...

Already well over 400 of the total of 6，800 languages are close to extinction（消亡），with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick， at random， Busuu in Cameroon（eight remaining speakers），Chiapaneco in Mexico（150），Lipan Apache in the United States（two or three）or Wadjigu in Australia（one， with a question-mark）：none of these seems to have much chance of survival.

◆ What is the main idea of the text？

A. New languages will be created.

B. Peoples lifestyles are reflected in languages.

C. Human development results in fewer languages.

D. Geography determines language evolution.

思路點(diǎn)撥：本題為短文大意題。主題句是第____段第____句，請(qǐng)?jiān)谖闹袠?biāo)出來，對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有選_____項(xiàng)正確。

[例3] 2018年全國Ⅲ卷D篇

Adults understand what if it feels like to be flooded with objects. Why do we often assume that more is more when it comes to kids and their belongings？ The good news is that I can help my own kids learn earlier than I did how to live more with less.

I found the pre-holidays a good time to encourage young children to donate less-used things， and it worked ...

For weeks， Ive been thinking of bigger， deeper questions. How do we make it a habit for them？ And how do we train ourselves to help them live with， need， and use less？ ...

We both became absorbed in the simplicity of playing together. He had my full attention and I had his. My little experiment to find joy in a single object worked for both of us.

◆What can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Take it or Leave it B. A Lesson from Kids

C. Live More with Less D. The Pleasure of Giving

思路點(diǎn)撥：本題要求考生選擇恰當(dāng)標(biāo)題。主題句是第____段_____句，請(qǐng)?jiān)谖闹袠?biāo)示出來，然后對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有____項(xiàng)正確。

[例4] 2016年全國Ⅱ卷C篇

Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now the website BookCrossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.

Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share ...

Bruce Pederson， the managing director of Book Crossing， says，“The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read ...

People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. ...

BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the“real”and not the virtual（虛擬）. The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty five countries.

◆ What is the best title for the text？

A. Online Reading： A Virtual Tour

B. Electronic Books： A New Trend

C. A Book Group Brings Tradition Back

D. A Website Links People through Books

思路點(diǎn)撥：本文的主題句是第_____段____句和_________段_____句，對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有選項(xiàng)_____正確。

[例5] 2017年全國Ⅰ卷C篇

Some of the worlds most famous musicians recently gathered in Paris and New Orleans to celebrate the first annual International Jazz Day. UNESCO（United Nations Educational， Scientific and Cultural Organization）recently set April 30 as a day to raise awareness of jazz music， its significance， and its potential as a unifying（聯(lián)合）voice across cultures.

Despite the celebrations， though， in the U. S. the jazz audience continues to shrink and grow older， and the music has failed to connect with younger generations.

Its Jason Morans job to help change that. As the Kennedy Centers artistic adviser for jazz， Moran hopes to widen the audience for jazz， make the music more accessible， and preserve its history and culture.

“Jazz seems like its not really a part of the American appetite，”Moran tells National Public Radios reporter Neal Conan. “What Im hoping to accomplish is that my generation and younger start to reconsider and understand that jazz is not black and white any more. Its actually color， and its actually digital.”

Moran says one of the problems with jazz today is that ...

Last year， Moran worked on a project that... says Moran， “So I want to continue those dialogues. Those are the things I want to foster.”

◆ Which of the following can be the best title for the text？

A. Exploring the Future of jazz. B. The Rise and Fall of jazz.

C. The Story of a jazz Musician. D. Celebrating the Jazz Day.

思路點(diǎn)撥：本文前_____段只是提供背景，主題句是第_____段第_____句，對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有選項(xiàng)A正確。

參考答案與解析

例1. A 段落大意題。本段沒有表達(dá)段落大意的主題句，需要考生歸納。第一句是導(dǎo)語，扼要地提示全文的核心內(nèi)容。第二句簡要介紹了該汽車的構(gòu)造；第三、四句介紹了相關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)，僅阿拉伯?dāng)?shù)字就達(dá)5處，即本段主要是介紹了這種汽車的基本數(shù)據(jù)，對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有選項(xiàng)A正確。本段并沒有指出其優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)，更未提及其潛在市場和設(shè)計(jì)者，故排除選項(xiàng)B、C和D。遇到“難題”可用排除法。

例2. C 主旨?xì)w納題。主題句是第一段第一句Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years， but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going （語言的產(chǎn)生或消失已有幾千年了，但是在當(dāng)代，產(chǎn)生的少，失去的更多），其中but后的內(nèi)容是作者要說明的重點(diǎn)：失去的更多。接著講隨著社會(huì)的發(fā)展，許多語言都消失了。對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有選C項(xiàng)正確，人類的發(fā)展導(dǎo)致語言的減少。

例3. C 標(biāo)題選擇題。主題句是第一段最后一句The good news is that I can help my own kids learn earlier than I did how to live more with less，對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有C項(xiàng)正確。

例4. D 標(biāo)題選擇題。本文的主題句是第一段最后一句和最后一段最后一句，對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有選項(xiàng)D正確。

例5. A標(biāo)題選擇題。本文前兩段只是提供背景，主題句是第三段第一句（前段說Jazz觀眾下降且老齡化，與年輕人脫節(jié)；第三段第一句說Jason在努力改變這種現(xiàn)狀，如何改變？接下來的三段都是他的觀點(diǎn)和嘗試，即探索），對(duì)比各選項(xiàng)，只有選項(xiàng)A正確。順便提提，本題用排除法較容易，因本文并沒有講爵士樂沉浮，特別是沒有提到rise，可排除選項(xiàng)B；也不是講述爵士樂音樂家的故事，可排除選項(xiàng)C；更不是具體介紹慶祝爵士樂節(jié)情況，可排除選項(xiàng)D，只有選項(xiàng)A正確。

責(zé)任編輯 蔣小青