托福阅读之插空题浅析

在托福考试里面，插空题在每一篇阅读当中都会有出现，这种题目应该如何处理，才能更加有效呢？
我们先来看一下插空题的形式：

DESERT FORMATION
Paragraph 7:■The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation. ■The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil. ■This is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion.■
Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.
This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing.
Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage.

题目要求我们选择最好的位置，把黑体字的这一句话放到文中去。实际上这种题目考查的是什么呢？考查的是我们对文章连贯性的把握。所以，要做好这种题目，我们必须来看一下使文章变得连贯的方法：
1）在意思上保持文章前后的连贯，段落里主题一致，不东扯西扯；
2）运用连接词，把文章逻辑有效连接在一起；
3）利用代词的连接，例如they, she, he, it, this, those等词取代前面出现了的名词；
4）利用冠词a,the的使用，前者表第一次出现，后者为第二次出现或二次以上出现时候使用。
而对于托福的插空题，第二点与第三点最常用。

根据以上的特点，我们首先需要在目标句中找以上相关的特征并进行推测分析。如在This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing中，前面的This economic reliance on livestock出现代词this，即表明economic reliance在前面出现过一次，我们选的时候，肯定是要把此句接在前面提到economic reliance的信息点后面。

另外，我们要知道一点，托福阅读里的插空题目标句是具有承上启下的功能的，句子前面对应着前面的信息，句子后面对应的是后面的信息。如本句中This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing中，句首This economic reliance on livestock对应的是前面的economic reliance，句子后面的makes large tracts of land susceptible to overgrazing则对应的是后面的信息，后面的信息肯定在解释如何使得土地受放牧的伤害或者是过渡放牧的结果。这里的economic reliance与susceptible to overgrazing都是意思连贯上关键词。

了解这一点后，我们便可以在文章中找相对应的特征了。在文中第一句划线部分The raising of livestock is a major economic activity可以看出，这就是一种对牲口的经济依赖。后面一句——The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil——表示的是过渡放牧的后果，这一句很好的切合了目标句的特点，所以我们应当把目标句子插入在第二个空。
这一步完了之后，便是对答案进行检验。把句子插入后，重读一下该信息，看前后是否连贯。连贯则跳过进入下一题；不连贯则再分析，继续寻找答案。

例二：Paragraph 5: The Psychodynamic Approach. Theorists adopting the psychodynamic approach hold that inner conflicts are crucial for understanding human behavior, including aggression. Sigmund Freud, for example, believed that aggressive impulses are inevitable reactions to the frustrations of daily life. Children normally desire to vent aggressive impulses on other people, including their parents, because even the most attentive parents cannot gratify all of their demands immediately. ■Yet children, also fearing their parents' punishment and the loss of parental love, come to repress most aggressive impulses. ■The Freudian perspective, in a sense: sees us as "steam engines." ■By holding in rather than venting "steam," we set the stage for future explosions. ■Pent-up aggressive impulses demand outlets. They may be expressed toward parents in indirect ways such as destroying furniture, or they may be expressed toward strangers later in life.
11. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.
According to Freud, however, impulses that have been repressed continue to exist and demand expression.
Where would the sentence best fit?
目标句中，出现了转折词however，表示与前面信息不一致，持不同的观点。句子后面impulses that have been repressed continue to exist and demand expression. 表示被抑制的冲动会持续存在并需要释放，所以前面的相反信息应该是有人会压抑冲动，不令其释放。而根据承上启下的原则，词句的后面肯定会讨论为什么需要释放这种冲动，以及如何释放。在这里，前面的impulses与后面的expression便是意思连贯的关键词。
下一步是找文章相符合特征的信息，Yet children, also fearing their parents' punishment and the loss of parental love, come to repress most aggressive impulses.表明孩子们会压抑冲动。而在下一句The Freudian perspective, in a sense: sees us as "steam engines.By holding in rather than venting "steam," we set the stage for future explosions. 都是在解释为什么需要释放冲动。所以根据目标句句首句尾内容分析，我们要选择B，第二个空。

总结
插空题解题步骤：
一．找特征，推测分析：
1）意思连贯（句首句尾关键词，此类词与前后对应）
2）逻辑词
3）代词
4）冠词
二．找文章相符合特征的信息
三．验证。

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