新GRE改革，讓很多考生都感到望而生畏，下面這篇文章為大家介紹了新GRE閱讀選項(xiàng)遵循的原則，希望能給廣大GRE考生帶來幫助!
2011年8月即將實(shí)施的新GRE中取消了類比反義的考查。新GRE的Verbal部分包括：Reading Comprehension，Text Completion以及Sentence Equivalence三個部分。其中與現(xiàn)行GRE考試的共同點(diǎn)就是閱讀理解不但保留下來，其重要性得到了進(jìn)一步的提升。
如果說Verbal Section是中國考生的噩夢，GRE閱讀便是噩夢中噩夢。原因是中國學(xué)生由于長期以來在英語閱讀理解的訓(xùn)練上一直強(qiáng)調(diào)詞匯的理解和文本的翻譯。所謂的“重翻譯，輕思維”。此種訓(xùn)練理念與與ETS的要求相去甚遠(yuǎn)。其實(shí)，GRE閱讀是借助閱讀考察申請者的邏輯思維和解決問題的能力。另外，中國考生對于GRE閱讀考試中的文章特點(diǎn)和選項(xiàng)編制的原則了解甚微，也導(dǎo)致備考中存在較大的盲目性以及考試中表現(xiàn)不佳。
在此文中，筆者無意對GRE閱讀的文章特點(diǎn)做過多的論述，倒是想就GRE閱讀文章的“最后一擊”---選項(xiàng)，尤其是選項(xiàng)編制的原則， 做一些論述。并會結(jié)合筆者在近10年的教學(xué)經(jīng)歷跟讀者朋友們分享所得。
作為一個標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化運(yùn)作的出題機(jī)構(gòu)多年以來在GRE閱讀的出題方面已經(jīng)沉淀下若干固定的規(guī)則，即ETS用固定的原則來指導(dǎo)閱讀試題的編撰者來編制正確和錯誤的選項(xiàng)。以下筆者將用一篇GRE閱讀文章來剖析ETS 編制選項(xiàng)的規(guī)則，希望對廣大的GRE考生有所裨益。
通過對GRE閱讀的深入分析不難發(fā)現(xiàn)ETS使用了以下原則來編制選項(xiàng)：
1. 正確選項(xiàng)：
(1)同義變換 。即將原文中的某一句話用另一種說法表達(dá)，也就是英文中的paraphrase。如將文章中的"many wind-pollinated species fail to release pollen when wind speeds are low or when humid conditions prevail.”換成選項(xiàng)中的“Pollen is sometimes not released by plants when there is little wind"。
其中包括三種類型：變換同義詞，變換句型，變化同根詞的詞性。以下分別論述，請注意表格中的斜體字。
2.錯誤選項(xiàng)：
對于GRE閱讀文章中更大量的錯誤選項(xiàng)，ETS也形成了一套固定的規(guī)則。以下筆者就用實(shí)例來說明錯誤選項(xiàng)編制的規(guī)則：
(1)混偏反無。
1)混: 此類選項(xiàng)的錯誤可以形象地概括為：“張冠李戴”。 如下例：
文章："...unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses"
題目：The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to
(A) experience frustration but not serious financial harm
(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses (本題問大公司如果沒有使投標(biāo)轉(zhuǎn)化為訂單將引起什么結(jié)果。而這恰恰是小公司的特點(diǎn)。)
(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government
(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors
(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts
2)偏： 意即選項(xiàng)中所包含的邏輯范疇與原文不符。包括”以偏概全“ 以及”以全概偏”。請看下文：
Paule Marshall’s Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959) was a landmark in the depiction of female characters in Black American literature. Marshall avoided the oppressed and tragic heroine in conflict with White society that had been typical of the protest novels of the early twentieth century. Like her immediate predecessors, Zora Neale Hurston and Gwendolyn Brooks, she focused her novel on an ordinary Black woman’s search for identity within the context of a Black community. But Marshall extended the analysis of Black female characters begun by Hurston and Brooks by depicting her heroine’s development in terms of the relationship between her Barbadian American parents, and by exploring how male and female roles were defined by their immigrant culture, which in turn was influenced by the materialism of White America. By placing characters within a wider cultural context, Marshall attacked racial and sexual stereotypes and paved the way for explorations of race, class, and gender in the novels of the 1970’s.
題目：The passage is primarily concerned with
(A) comparing the works of three Black American authors
(B) describing common themes in Black American literature
(C) discussing an important work in Black American literature
(D) providing insights about Black American literature in the early twentieth century
(E) providing historical information about the writing of Black American novels in the second half the twentieth century
分析：此文描述并評價了美國黑人文學(xué)史上一部優(yōu)秀的著作。而其中的D，E選項(xiàng)中的“Black American literature”以及“the writing of Black American novels”無疑擴(kuò)大了原文的邏輯涵蓋的范圍，即屬于“以全概偏”。于是不予選擇。
3)反： 即選項(xiàng)中的內(nèi)容與文章內(nèi)容相反。
文章：“....Paule Marshall’s Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959) was a landmark in the depiction of female characters in Black American literature. Marshall avoided the oppressed and tragic heroine in conflict with White society that had been typical of the protest novels of the early twentieth century. Like her immediate predecessors, Zora Neale Hurston and Gwendolyn Brooks, she focused her novel on an ordinary Black woman’s search for identity within the context of a black community......”
題目：
According to the passage, Hurston, Brooks, and Marshall are alike in that they
(A) did not examine the effects of White culture on their characters’ lives
(B) were heavily influenced by the protest novels of the early twentieth century
(C) used Black communities as the settings for their novels
(D) wrote primarily about the difficulties their characters encountered in White culture
(E) wrote exclusively about female characters and the experiences of women
分析：從文章中得知：“馬歇爾已經(jīng)擺脫了抗議小說所一貫描繪的受壓迫并且?guī)в斜瘎∩实呐魅斯蜗?rdquo;。但是B選項(xiàng)卻說道：“馬歇爾深深地受到二十世紀(jì)早期抗議小說的影響”，明顯與原文意思相反。