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How to Find the Main Idea 如何找出主旨

2020-08-06景一KellyRoell

中学生英语·中考指导版 2020年1期
关键词:陈述篇文章主旨

景一 Kelly Roell

Questions about the “main idea” of a passage are popular on reading comprehension tests, but sometimes, those questions are pretty difficult to answer, especially for students who are not completely sure they understand what the main idea really is. Finding the main idea of a paragraph or longer passage of text is one of the most important reading skills to master, along with concepts like making an inference, finding the authors purpose, or understanding vocabulary words in context.

Here are a few techniques to help understand what exactly a “main idea” is and how to identify it accurately in a passage.

关于文章“主旨”的问题在阅读理解考试中很常见,但有时候,特别是对于那些不完全确定自己是否理解了文章主旨的学生来说,这些问题很难回答。找出一段或一篇较长的文章的主旨是需要掌握的最重要的閱读技巧之一,同时也要掌握一些概念,比如推理,找出作者的写作目的或在上下文中理解词汇。

下面有一些技巧可以帮助你理解什么是“主旨”,以及如何准确地找出一篇文章的主旨。

What Is a Main Idea 什么是主旨

The main idea is the main point or concept that the author wants to communicate to the readers about the topic. Hence, in a paragraph, when the main idea is stated directly, it is expressed in what is called the topic sentence. It gives the overarching1 idea of what the paragraph is about and is supported by the details in subsequent2 sentences in the paragraph. In a multi-paragraph article, the main idea is expressed in the thesis3 statement, which is then supported by individual smaller points.

When an author does not state the main idea directly, it should still be implied4. This requires that the reader look closely at the content—at specific words, sentences, images that are used and repeated—to deduce5 what the author is communicating.

主旨是作者想向读者传达的关于主题的主要观点或概念。因此,在一个段落中,直接陈述主旨的句子叫主旨句。它给出了段落内容的首要观点,并由随后的句子中的细节来支撑。在一篇有多个段落的文章中,主旨会在文章的论点陈述中表达出来,然后由单独的小论点来支撑。

当某一作者没有直接陈述主旨时,主旨仍会隐含在文中。这就要求读者仔细看被反复使用的特定的词语、句子、图,以推断作者所传达的信息。

How to Find the Main Idea 怎样找出主旨

◆Identify the Topic

Read the passage through completely, then try to identify the topic. Who or what is the paragraph about? This part is just figuring out a topic. Dont worry yet about deciding what argument the passage is making about this topic.

◆Summarize the Passage

After reading the passage, summarize it in your own words in one sentence. Pretend you have just ten to twelve words to tell someone what the passage is about—what would you say?

◆Look at the First and Last Sentences of the Passage

Authors often put the main idea in or near either the first or last sentence of the paragraph or article, so seperate those sentences from other sentences to see if they make sense as the central theme of the passage. Be careful: sometimes the author will use words like however, in contrast, nevertheless, etc. that show that the second sentence is actually the main idea. If you see one of these words that negate6 or qualify7 the first sentence, that is a clue that the second sentence is the main idea.

◆Look for Repetition of Ideas

If you read through a paragraph and you have no idea how to summarize it because there is so much information, start looking for repeated words, phrases, or related ideas. What does this paragraph consistently8 talk about? What is it trying to convey? Thats the main idea!

◆确定主题

把这篇文章通读一遍,然后试着找出主题。这一段是关于谁或关于什么的?这一步骤只是用来找出主题。现在不要急着找出这篇文章关于这个主题提出了什么样的论点。

◆总结文章

读完这篇文章后,用你自己的一句话总结一下。如果你只能用10到12个单词来告诉别人这篇文章的内容,你会说什么?

◆看看文章的第一句和最后一句

作者常常把主旨放在段落或文章的第一句或最后一句中或它们的附近,所以要把这些句子单独拿出来,看看它们是不是文章的主题。注意:有时作者会使用“然而”“相反”“不过”这样的词,这些词表明第二句话实际上才是主旨。如果你看到这些词的其中之一否定或限定了第一句话,那就是第二句话是主旨的线索。

◆寻找重复的想法

如果你读完了一个段落,却因为有太多的信息而不知道如何总结,那么你可以开始寻找重复出现的单词、短语或相关的想法。这段话一直在说的是什么?它想表达的是什么?那就是主旨!

Main Idea Mistakes主旨题的错误

Choosing a main idea from a set of answer choices is different than composing a main idea on your own. Writers of multiple choice tests are often tricky and will give you distractor answers that sound much like the real answer. By reading the passage thoroughly, using your skills, and identifying the main idea on your own, though, you can avoid making these 3 common mistakes: choosing an answer that is too narrow; choosing an answer that is too broad; or choosing an answer that is complex but contrary to the main idea.

從一组答案中选出一个主旨,与自己写出主旨不同。选择题的编写者通常很狡猾,会给你一些听起来很像是真正答案的干扰性答案。但是,通过通读这篇文章,运用你的技巧,并自己确定主旨,你可以避免犯这三个常见的错误:选择范围过窄的答案;选择范围过宽的答案;或者选择复杂但与主旨相反的答案。

1. overarching [  ] adj. 首要的

2. subsequent [  ] adj. 随后的 3. thesis [   ] n. 论点

4. imply [    ] vt. 意味;暗示;隐含 5. deduce [    ] vt. 推论,推断

6. negate [    ] vt. 否定 7. qualify [    ] vt. 限定,修饰

8. consistently [    ] adv. 一贯地

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