四六級閱讀高分關鍵：10個設題點
四六級閱讀也是有技巧的！除了平時的積累與詞彙量，最重要的，是清楚地瞭解出題老師想考什麼！學會這10個設題點你就知道了！
轉折對比處
轉折句或轉折關係常常是文章內容的強調之處，是作者表達觀點或陳述事物的關鍵地方。一般而言，轉折後的內容是語義的重點，它往往是作者的真實意圖所在，所以命題者常對轉折處的內容進行提問。考生應特別注意此處內容。
轉折一般通過however, but, yet, in fact等詞或短語來引出。
強對比也是作者用來強調論證自己觀點的一種方法，常由unlike, until, not so much…as等詞或短語引出。命題者常就被對比者的屬性設題。
例(四級真題）
…likewise, a married man who smokes more than a pack a day is likely to live as long as a divorced man who doesn’t smoke. There’s a flip side, however, as partners are more likely to become ill or die in the couple of years following their spouse’s death, and caring for a spouse with mental disorder can leave you with some of the same severe problems.
Q: It can be inferred from the context that the “flip side” refers to ______.
A) the consequence of a broken marriage
B) the emotional problems arising from marriage
C) the responsibility of taking care of one’s family
D) the disadvantages of being married
文章第二段首先介紹了婚姻的好處，可以幫助彌補身體不健康所產生的不利影響。第四句中使用了表示轉折意義的連詞however，因此推斷下文將會談論婚姻產生的不利影響。所以此處的flip side是指“婚姻導致的弊端”，故答案爲D）。
舉例處
作者在文章中經常引用具體的例子來使文章更有說服力，而這些例子很可能會成爲考點，需加以注意。
文章中常用as, such as, for example, for instance, take…as an example等引出的短語或句子作爲例證。
例 (四級真題）
But privacy does matter—at least sometimes. It’s like health; when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.
Q: According to the passage, privacy is like health in that ______.
A) people will make every effort to keep it
B) its importance is rarely understood
C) it is something that can easily be lost
D) people don’t cherish it until they lose it
作者把隱私同健康進行比較，當人們擁有健康時，不曾注意到它，一旦失去才知其珍貴。D）中的cherish it與原文中的wish you’d done more to protect it意思一致。
數字年代處
數字年代在文章中常常會傳達重要的信息，因此也經常成爲考查的重點，需要說明的是四級考試與其他考試不同，一般很少就數字本身的運算、辨認或推理設題，而往往就數字引出的信息命題。因此，考生在看到數字時還要注意其前後所印證或引出的具體信息。
例(四級真題）
We need economic growth unless we condemn the world’s poor to their present poverty and freeze everyone else’s living standards. With modest growth, energy use and greenhouse emissions more than double by 2050.
Q: Greenhouse emissions will more than double by 2050 because of ______.
A) economic growth
B) wasteful use of energy
C) the widening gap between the Rich and poor
D) the rapid advances of science and technology
文中提到截至2050年，隨着經濟增長，能源利用及溫室氣體排放會加倍增長，A)中的“經濟增長”與原文中的modest growth所指一致，符合題意。
因果關係處
兩個事件內在的因果關係常常成爲出題人的命題點，一般來講，這種選擇題有兩種形式，給出原因推斷結果，或給出結果推斷原因。
例(四級真題）
In the past few years, prominent schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2003, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen “a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position.”
Q: Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard as its vice-chancellor chiefly because ______.
A) she was known to be good at raising money
B) she could help strengthen its ties with Yale
C) she knew how to attract students overseas
D) she had boosted Yale’s academic status
劍橋大學公開強調Alison Richard在以前的工作中負責監督財務，“是耶魯大學財政狀況提升的主要力量”，基於這個才能，劍橋大學聘請她擔任常務副校長一職。A)she was known to be good at raising money表達的與此句相同，故爲答案。
主題句處
文章第一段的段首、段尾或最後一段的段尾處往往是整篇文章的主題所在；每一段的段首或段尾句通常是該段的主題句，因此命題者常常圍繞此處出題。
在四級考試中，文章或段落的主旨常以主題句的形式出現。主題句的特點是：語義完整、形式簡潔、觀點明確。在演繹類的文章中，語篇主題句一般位於篇章的開頭部分；在歸納類文章中，主題句多出現在段末或篇末；不過主題句有時也出現在文章中間部分。找到了主題句，就等於找到了此類題的答案。
例 (四級真題）
“The biggest problem is that couples assume each other knows what’s going on with their finances, but they don’t. There seems to be more of a taboo (禁忌) about talking about money than talking about death. But you both need to know what you’re doing, who’s paying what into the joint account and how much you keep separately. In a healthy relationship, you don’t have to agree about money, but you have to talk about it.”
Q: The author suggests at the end of the passage that couples should ______.
A) discuss money matters to maintain a healthy relationship
B) put their money together instead of keeping it separately
C) make efforts to reach agreement on their family budgets
D) avoid arguing about money matters to remain romantic
文章最後一句提到，要想維持一段健康的婚姻關係，雙方的金錢觀不一定要一致，但一定要彼此溝通。A） “夫妻雙方應該討論錢的問題以維持健康的婚姻關係”是對原文的同義轉述，故爲答案。
定義結論處
很多文章中會出現考生不熟悉的概念，作者往往會對這些概念給出相應的定義，這些定義很容易成爲考查的內容。很多文章都涉及一些調查或實驗，而這些調查、實驗的結果、結論又常常成爲考點，因此考生一定要注意find, show, reveal, conclude等動詞引出的賓語從句以及thus等表示結論的詞語。
例(四級真題）
Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable, but traces of both elements are also present as heavier isotopes. The heaviest rain falls first. As a result, storms that form over the Pacific deliver heavier water to California than to Utah.
Q: What is said about the rainfall in America’s West?
A) There is much more rainfall in California than in Utah.
B) The water it delivers becomes lighter when it moves inland.
C) Its chemical composition is less stable than in other areas.
D) It gathers more light isotopes as it moves eastward.
在太平洋上形成的風暴給加利福尼亞州帶來的雨水要比帶給猶他州的更多。 B) The water it delivers becomes lighter when it moves inland （雨水由沿海進入內陸地區時會變小），加州屬沿海地區，猶他是內陸地區，因此，該選項是對原文的概括，故爲答案。
列舉並列處
列舉並列處是指用First(ly)… Second(ly)… Third(ly)… Finally…; Not only…but also…; In addition; Furthermore; Moreover; Above all; On the one hand…, on the other hand…等表示順承關係或遞進關係的詞語列舉出的事實。列舉並列處是設置事實細節題的主要出處，若爲正面出題，則與原文內容相同的選項爲正確答案；若題幹爲反面設題，則與原文意思相反的選項爲此題的正確答案。
例(四級真題）
Being sociable looks like a good way to add years to your life. Relationships with family, friends, neighbours, even pets, will all do the trick, but the biggest longevity (長壽) boost seems to come from marriage or an equivalent relationship. The effect was first noted in 1858 by William Farr, who wrote that widows and widowers (鰥夫) were at a much higher risk of dying than their married peers. Studies since then suggest that marriage could add as much as seven years to a man’s life and two to a woman’s. The effect holds for all causes of death, whether illness, accident or self-harm.
Q: William Farr’s study and other studies show that ______.
A) social life provides an effective cure for illness
B) marriage contributes a great deal to longevity
C) women benefit more than men from marriage
D) being sociable helps improve one’s quality of life
本文論述社交生活對人壽命的影響，開頭列舉了可能導致長壽的因素：善於與他人交際以及與家人、朋友、鄰居甚至寵物保持良好關係。但馬上轉折後提到能夠導致長壽的最主要的因素似乎在於婚姻或者是類似的關係。然後，提到這一結果最早由威廉·法爾於1858年記錄。B） 中的contributes…to是對第二句中的boost的同義轉述，故爲答案。
比較級/最高級處
在文章中經常會對不同的對象進行某方面的比較，而這些比較經常成爲考查的目標，尤其是在文章中的最高級出現之處。
例(四級真題）
“Retailers who’re responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren’t so friendly,” said Professor Stephen Hoch. “Maybe something as simple as a greet at the store entrance would help.”
Q: What contributes most to smoothing over issues with customers?
A) Manners of the salespeople.
B) Hiring of efficient employees.
C) Huge supply of goods for sale.
D) Design of the store layout.
對顧客態度友善、反應迅速的商家更容易解決好問題，從這裏可以看出態度友善和反應迅速都屬於銷售人員的舉止問題。A) “銷售人員的舉止”最符合題意，故爲答案。
指代處
寫作、講話時爲了簡潔、明晰地表達事物及其邏輯關係，常用各種代詞通過指代進行信息傳遞，當同時出現好幾個事物時，這種。指代關係往往不容易區分，故常成爲命題點
例(四級真題）
At Penn, students are not asked to indicate race when applying for housing. “One of the great things about freshman housing is that, with some exceptions, the process throws you together randomly,” said Undergraduate Assembly chairman Alec Webley. “This is the definition of integration.”
Q: What does Alec Webley consider to be the “definition of integration”?
A) Students of different races are required to share a room.
B) Interracial lodging is arranged by the school for freshmen.
C) Lodging is assigned to students of different races without exception.
D) The school randomly assigns roommates without regard to race.
原文倒數第四段最後一句提到，“This is the definition of integration.”而This指代的具體內容出現在前一句中，即with some exceptions, the process throws you together randomly（除特殊情況外，宿舍的安排一般是隨機的）。因此，所謂“融合的定義”實際上是指“隨機安排學生住宿”，故答案爲D)。
特殊標點處
特殊標點符號處，尤其是段首的特殊符號所引出的內容往往表達了作者的觀點，闡述了全文的主題，因此也成爲主旨大意題的高發命題點。
此處所說的特殊標點符號包括：
(1) 破折號(表解釋)；
(2) 括號 (表解釋)；
(3) 冒號 (表解釋)；
(4) 引號 (表引用或有其他特殊含義)；
(5) 分號 (表進一步的解釋說明) 等。
在主題段落或主題句中，特殊標點符號所引出的內容往往是出題點，因此在解答這類題時，一定要特別注意對特殊標點所引出內容的把握。
例(四級真題）
Many African-American blogs have written about what they’d like to see Michelle bring to the White House—mainly showing the world that a black woman can support her man and raise a strong black family.
Q: What do many African-Americans write about in their blogs?
A) Whether Michelle can live up to the high expectations of her fans.
B) How Michelle should behave as a public figure.
C) How proud they are to have a black woman in the White House.
D) What Michelle should do as wife and mother in the White House.
第五段第二句使用了破折號，表達了美國黑人希望看到米歇爾可以向這個世界展示一個黑人婦女既可以支持她的丈夫，也可以支撐起一個強大的家庭的形象。D) “作爲妻子和母親，米歇爾在白宮應該做什麼”與原文意思相符，故D） 正確。
