總結中心之三法

找出文章的中心，是主題概括題的主要形式之一。此類題目的設問方式一般有以下幾種：

1. What is the passage mainly about?

2. Which of the following best summarizes the passage?

3. What does the passage mainly deal with?

4. What is the main / general idea of the passage?

5. What is the main purpose of the writer?

6. What does the story tell us?

7. This article mainly tells about the story of ______.

8. The writer’s purpose in writing this story is ______.

具體而言，解答此類題目的方法如下：

一、尋找主題句，得出中心

主題句表達了文章的中心思想，它們一般位于文章或某些段落的開頭、結尾處。一般情況下，議論文和說明文中往往有主題句。同學們做題時，可采用瀏覽法，重點搜索文章的首段、尾段或段落的首句和尾句。

如2007年高考英語浙江卷第55題：

Tell a story and tell it well， and you may open wide the eyes of a child， open up lines of communication in a business， or even open people’s mind to another culture or race.

People in many places are digging up the old folk stories and the messages in them. For example， most American storytellers get their tales from a wide variety of sources， cultures， and times. They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education， but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own.

“Most local stories are based on a larger theme，” American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says， “Cinderella(灰姑娘)， or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness， appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world.”

Working with students in schools， Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories. She works with prisoners too， helping them know who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write， direct， and act in their own lives. If they don’t like the story they are living， they can rewrite the story. Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers. “For every advance in business，” she says， “there is a greater need for communication.” Storytelling can have a great effect on either side of the manager-worker relationship， she says.

Pugh spent several years in Nigeria， where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there. The benefits of storytelling are found everywhere， she says.

“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture，” she says， “ What I do is to focus on the value ofstories that people can translate into their own daily world of affairs. We are all storytellers. We all have a story to tell. We tell everybody’s story.”

What is the main idea of the text?

A. Storytelling can influence the way people think.

B. Storytelling is vital to the growth of businesses.

C. Storytelling is the best way to educate children in school.

D. Storytelling helps people understand themselves and others.

點評： 主題句的存在方便了答題。本文的第一段起總領作用，告訴讀者講故事能帶來種種益處，緊接著鮮明地提出： They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education， but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own，也就是說，講故事能幫助人們懂得自身和理解他人，這就是文章的主題句。故答案為D。C項只是文章主題的一個方面；B項談及storytelling 對生意的影響也只是文章主題的一個方面，且vital與原文的說法有出入；A項的說法則從未在文中出現過。

二、 抓住段落大意，總結中心

文章的中心思想是建立在具體段落的中心的基礎上的。如果文中沒有主題句，可以試著總結各段落的大意，將各段落的中心歸納出來再加以整合，就能得到文章的中心思想。

如2006年高考英語浙江卷第44題：

Fat and shy， Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football， tennis， cricket—anything with a round ball， I was useless，” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire， England.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually， Saunders sethis mind on building up his body， increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18， he ran his first marathon.

The following year， he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland， where he learned about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested， Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures， then decided that this would be his future.

In 2001， after becoming a skillful skier， Saunders started his first long-distance expedition(探險) towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite（凍瘡）， ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit， pulling his supply-loaded sled（雪橇） up and over rocky ice.

Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole， and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.

Next October， Saunders， 27， heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back， a 2900-kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis.

What does the story mainly tell us about Saunders?

A. He is a success in sports.

B. He is the best British skier.

C. He is Ridgway’s favorite student.

D. He is a good instructor at school.

點評： 本題要求回答這個故事主要講了關于Saunders的什么事，即總結文章的主題。從全文看，應當先概括各個段落所描述的Saunders的大致情況。文章第一段寫Saunders害羞和肥胖，不擅長運動；第二段寫Saunders獲得了一輛山地自行車，訓練了自己的力量和速度，成功地參加了馬拉松比賽；第三段寫Saunders開始參加冒險運動；……