辨析文章的中心主旨是阅读理解的一个非常重要的目标，是六级考试常见的题型。要求考生有较高的综合理解能力，不能很清楚地分辨文章的主旨，就意味着未能充分透彻理解全文。

　　作者写文章总有一定的目的，总要传达某一中心信息，这就是文章的主旨。任何一篇文章都是一个有机的整体，依靠主旨把各段落串连起来，而精心组织的各个段落是用来显示主题的，大多数句子都支持、描述或解释其主题。作者展示中心的方式也不尽相同，只要掌握规律，分辨概括中心也不是十分困难的事情。

　　在阅读中，如何能迅速辨别文章的主题句？判断是否为主题句，那就要看其他句子是否围绕它来写，也就是论点和论据的关系，论据为论点服务。辨别文章的中心主旨通常不是很快就能回答出来的，要求考生在理解整篇文章的基础上，把握文章的整体结构，思考、分析、判断、归纳，理解作者最终要表达的中心思想。

　　1.展示中心主旨的方式

　　作者阐述中心的方式多种多样，在写作时，总会用几句话来点明正在论述的问题。常见的主题句有时位于段首，用一两句话引出一个要论述的话题，然后围绕这一论题层层展开论述。例1：

　　It is natural for young people to be critical of their parents at times and to blame them for most of the m is understandings between them .They have always complained,m ore or less justly,that their parents are out of touch with modern ways; that they are possessive and dominant;that they do not trust their children to deal with crisis;that they talk too much about certain problems and that they have no sense of hum our,at least in parent-child relationships.

　　Q：The paragraph is mainly about _______ .

　　A.the teenagers' criticism of their parents

　　B.misunderstandings between teenagers and their parents

　　C.the dominance of the parents over their children

　　D.the teenagers' ability to deal with crisis

　　第一句指出年轻人批评和责备他们的父母，认为他们的父母应对他们之间的误解负责，这是很正常的事。然后用五个that引导的宾语从句来阐述他们对父母不满的原因。故A是正确答案。

　　主题句有时位于段尾，常用表总结性的信号词总结论点。例2：

　　Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy.Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier,have better marriages and have m ore respectable occupations.Personal consultants give them better advice for finding jobs.Even judges are softer on attractive defendants.But in the executive circle,beauty can become a liability.

　　Q：The author writes this passage to _______ .

　　A.discuss the negative aspects of being attractive

　　B.give advice to job-seekers who are attractive

　　C.demand equal rights for women

　　D.emphasize the importance of appearance

　　But引出的句子与上文意思发生转折，是即将讨论的内容。A中beauty ,become ,

　　liability这些信号词总结了论点，故是正确答案。

　　主题句有时位于段落中间，起承上启下的作用。例3：

　　Cyberspace(网络空间),data super- highways,multimedia-for those who have seen the future,the linking of computers, televisions and telephones will change our lives for ever.Yet for all the talk of a forth- coming technological utopia(乌托邦)little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor.As with all new high technology,while the West concerns itself with the"how",the question of"for whom"is put aside once again.

　　Q：It can be inferred from the passage that _______ .

　　A.international trade should be expanded

　　B.the interests of the poor people have not been given enough consideration

　　C.the exports of the poor countries should be increased

　　D.communications technology in the developing countries should be modernized

　　Yet是信号词，引出的句子是文章的中心，起转承作用。故B是正确答案。

　　主题句是统率全篇的句子，阅读时适当放慢速度，充分理解这些句子。只要能找出段落的中心，加以综合分析，就能理解整篇文章的中心。

　　2.常见的考查题型

　　阅读文章的考查题型不外乎是考标题的，考主题的，考作者写作目的的这几种形式。常见的提问方式有：

　　(1)The best title for this passage would be ______ .

　　(2)The title below that best expresses the ideas of this passage is ______.

　　(3)Which of the following would be the best title?

　　(4)Which of the following can best sum up the passage?

　　(5)In this passage,the author argues that ______.

　　(6)With what subject /topic is the passage mainly /primarily concerned?

　　(7)The topic discussed in the passage is ______.

　　(8)The article can be best summarized as that ______.

　　(9)What does the passage mainly discuss?

　　(10)What is the main idea of the passage?

　　3.答题方法

　　针对作者表达中心的不同写作方法，采用不同的解决办法。

　　在阅读中，要特别留心文章的关键句，段首句，段尾句，段中句，表因果、对比、总结性的句子，承上启下的句子，带有特殊标点符号(如冒号表解释、举例，破折号表解释、因果、论证)的句子，注意判断前后句间的关系，紧抓一些抽象或概括性的名词，如approach，chance，opportunity，concept等。掌握一些显示作者思路的信号词，有助于了解作者推进主题的方式，有利于快速抓住文章的脉络，布局框架结构。如：

　　表因果的信号词：as a result,consequently,since,originate from

　　表举例的信号词：such as,in fact,for instance,for example

　　表转折的信号词：but,yet,despite, however

　　表递进／并列的信号词：and,also, what's m ore ,in addition

　　表总括的信号词：in a word,in a brief, in short,on the whole

　　表对比的信号词：on the one hand,on the other hand,instead,rather than,on the contrary,in a similar way

　　表序列的信号词：in the beginning,at the start ,next,then,soon,at birth,in childhood,as an adult

　　通过抓住信号词来理解、辨析文章的中心主旨是很可取的方法，然而干扰项仍用它

　　自身的特点来影响判断，我们不妨加以总结。(1)概述局部信息，是某一段落的要点，而非全篇的中心。(2)概述范围不当，或内容过宽，超出文章阐述的部分；或过于狭窄，局限于某一方面，以点代面。(3)概述与文章信息无关，文章未涉及。(4)概述的是文章的细节事实，误把他们当作主旨和结论来归纳。

　　正确的答题方法和干扰项可能出现的特点，上文都已进行讲解、介绍。下面请通过一篇短文阅读来加以实践练习。

　　Whether the eyes are"the windows of the soul"is debatable;that they are intensely important in interpersonal communication is a fact.During the first two months of a baby's life,the stimulus that produces a smile is a pair of eyes need not be real：a m ask with two dots will produce a smile.Significantly,a real hum an face with eyes covered will not motivate a smile,nor will the sight of only one eye when the face is presented in profile.This attraction to eyes as opposed to the nose or mouth continues as the baby matures.In one study,when American four-year-olds were asked to draw people,75 percent of them drew people with mouths,but 99percent of them drew people with eyes.In Japan,however, where babies are carried on their m other's back,infants do not acquire as much attachment to eyes as they do in other cultures.As a result,Japanese adults make little use of the face either to encode or decode meaning.In fact,Argyle reveals that the"proper place to focus one's gaze during a conversation in Japan is on the neck of one's conversation partner".

　　Q：The author is convinced that the eyes are ______.

　　A.of extreme importance in expressing feelings and exchanging ideas

　　B.something through which one can see a person's inner world

　　C.of considerable significance in making conversations interesting

　　D.something the value of which is largely a matter of long debate(A)

　　(文/安徽交通职业技术学院赵茹；英语通大学英语六级考试版2003年第11期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)