中級口譯考試閱讀理解答題技巧

中級口譯考試閱讀理解答題技巧

對策③：不拘泥於詞或短語的本義，而從其引申義來考慮。

例一：2000年9月試題第23題

23. The phrase "take off (paragraph 4) means _________.
(A) transfer to another vessel 　(B) cause to lose weight
(C) begin to develop markedly (D) cause to leave the ground

請看原文：
Over here, in Britain, Computertowns have taken off in a big way, and there are now about 40 scattered over the country. David Tebbutt thinks they are most successful when tied to a computer club.

　　take off本義爲（飛機）起飛或物體離開地面，選項D即爲take off的本義，但是把D帶到原文中解釋不通，可見，出題者並不是想考我們take off的本義，而是在文中的引申義。請注意原文中緊跟take off的方式狀語in a big way，後面指出已有約40個之多的Computertown散佈在全國各地，後面successful一詞進一步說明Computertown是朝着positive方向發展的, 所以答案明顯爲表示快速發展的C。

例二：2001年3月試題第11題

11. The word "wasteland" (para.1) is used to describe ________.
(A) western badlands (B) average television programs
(C) TV film studios (D) theatrical plays

請看原文：
When the television is good, nothing-not the theatre, not the magazines, or newspapers-nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, or anything else to distract you and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland. You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience-participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, more violence, sadism, murder, Western badmen, Western goodmen, private eyes, gangster, still more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials that scream and cajole and offend. And most of all, boredom. True, you will see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, try it.

　　wasteland本義爲land that is desolate, barren, or ravaged,即荒地，廢地。A中badland即爲wasteland的本義，帶到原文中等於同義替代，並沒有作出解釋，顯然不是出題者的意圖所在。而從wasteland後面的內容可以看出電視節目中充斥着暴力、血腥、謀殺、俗套的喜劇種種格調不高的內容，總之無聊透頂，所以答案不言自明，選B。

　　作者採用了metaphor(暗喻）的手法，對令人失望的電視節目大加諷刺，從另一個側面反映了西方社會精神食糧的匱乏和作者在看似調侃的語調中對電視文化流露出的失望和憤慨。順便賞析一下陰影部分，難道你不覺得作者這樣寫很風趣幽默嗎？我們是否在寫作時也可模仿一下，比如：When money is good, nothing is better. But when money is bad, nothing is worse. If you thank I exaggerate, try it. 你覺得如何呢？

對策④：解釋法。

例：2000年9月試題第29和30題

29. Breeding the hybrid offspring to fix desirable traits is called _________.
(A) naturally selecting (B) inbreeding
(C) pedigree breeding (D) pure-breeding

30. A farmer imported several fine long wool Tomney sheep from Australia to breed with his Debouittet sheep in hopes of increasing the value of the flock's wool. This is an example of _________.
(A) pure-breeding (B) crossbreeding
(C) reproducing (D) cloning

請看原文：
Individual specimens with the desired traits are crossbred. The hybrid offspring are then inbred to preserve and fix the desirable characteristics and eliminate unfavorable characteristics from the stock.

　　29題基本是對原文中inbred(原形inbreed，表近親交配，同系繁殖）的釋義，採用直接下定義法。關鍵是文中此句The hybrid offspring are then inbred to preserve and fix the desirable characteristics與題幹吻合，故答案爲B。

　　30題通過具體例子旨在考查考生對文中提到的幾個術語是否理解，當然並非從專業角度，而是從英語構詞法的角度來考查的。某農民進口優質長毛羊的目的最終是爲了增加收入，這也印證了文中的一句話：The traits usually are selected for convenience, pleasure, or financial gain of individuals.而進口羊同農民家另一品種羊交配從而fix the desirable characteristics的過程當然叫做crossbreed了。從構詞法來看，pure-breed應該是純種繁殖之意，而crossbreed由於cross有交叉之意，故爲雜交繁殖，而reproduce前綴re=again, 應爲複製，再生之意，而clone則是近幾年來高科技發展的產物，意即無性繁殖，通常音譯爲“克隆”。所以30題答案應爲B。

　　對策⑤：大膽跳過。事實上，大多數生詞並不影響你對整篇文章意思的理解。

例一：The deathwatch beetle is thought of as the devil's pest in churches and old houses, but in natural habitats it infests a wide range of decaying hardwoods. It has been found in hornbeam, sweet chestnut, hawthorn, beech, ash, blackpoplar, elm, larch, spruce and yew, but the two most commonly infested species in Britain are oak and willow.

　　首先，如果讀者不是學昆蟲學的話，恐怕很難描述出這種deathwatch beetle是什麼樣子，但至少我們知道它是一種甲蟲，而且我們通過原文還知道它生活在教堂建築物，老房子或者枯朽的硬木上，此外還可以在種種植物上找到它，至於這些植物（劃線部分）具體叫什麼名字我們根本可以不去追究，完全可以大膽跳過。那麼請思考：出題者可能考我們什麼呢？是不是很有可能考我們方框裏的內容呢？

例二：2001年3月試題閱讀理解第一篇Questions1-5, 請看原文：

School phobia is distinguished from other common childhood and adolescent psychological and emotional disorders by the patient's reaction to, and fear of, the idea of going to school. Typically, it begins with fever, sweating, headaches, and diarrhea; it often progresses to complete physical inertia, depression, and even autism.

　　文章對school phobia進行了釋義，然後列舉了種種“症狀”表現。其實當我們看到headaches時，後面的內容可以快速瀏覽過去，不必在意是否認識其中的醫學術語，總之我們知道敘述的是具有厭學情緒孩子的種種表現，完全可以大膽跳過。

例三：1999年3月試題Questions26-30, 請看原文：

NEW YORK-Pythagoras had his theorems, Einstein his theories and Murphy his laws. I have developed the maxim of inverse reciprocals.

　　如果你不知道Pythagoras 和Murphy是誰，但是你肯定知道Einstein和他著名的相對論。由此可以推斷Pythagoras 和Murphy也是兩名科學家。實際上，前者爲畢達哥拉斯，古希臘哲學家、數學家，後者爲墨菲，美國法學家。而且theorem（數學）定理，法則，maxim（格言，座右銘）和 law也是跟theory近似的含義。

　　可見，在做閱讀理解時並不是每個單詞我們都要理解才能看懂文章，關鍵是把握信息點，即作者想要傳達的主要思想，同時我們也要摸清出題者的意圖，並不是要當我們成爲某個領域的專家之後才能讀懂文章，破解專業問題，而是充分利用已有的對英語語言的把握和生活常識來答題。現在你還用爲詞彙障礙痛苦嗎？