高考閱讀理解中純實證研究類文章的考點探究

羅麗雯

純實證研究類的文章在近三年的考題中出現了兩篇。事實上，我們就讀大學后進行研究時，免不了需要參考外文文獻。因此了解此類文章的結構特點，對我們的高考或未來的深造都有所幫助。下面我們先來看看這兩篇文章的相似考點。

一、高考真題

2019年全國Ⅲ卷D篇

Monkeys seem to have a way with numbers.

A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys to associate 26 clearly different symbols consisting of numbers and selective letters with 0-25 drops of water or juice as a reward. The researchers then tested how the monkeys combined—or added—the symbols to get the reward.

Heres how Harvard Medical School scientist Margaret Livingstone， who led the team， described the experiment： In their cages the monkeys were provided with touch screens. On one part of the screen， a symbol would appear， and on the other side two symbols inside a circle were shown. For example， the number 7 would flash on one side of the screen and the other end would have 9 and 8. If the monkeys touched the left side of the screen they would be rewarded with seven drops of water or juice; if they went for the circle， they would be rewarded with the sum of the numbers—17 in this example.

After running hundreds of tests， the researchers noted that the monkeys would go for the higher values more than half the time， indicating that they were performing a calculation， not just memorizing the value of each combination.

When the team examined the results of the experiment more closely， they noticed that the monkeys tended to underestimate（低估）a sum compared with a single symbol when the two were close in value—sometimes choosing， for example， a 13 over the sum of 8 and 6. The underestimation was systematic： When adding two numbers， the monkeys always paid attention to the larger of the two， and then added only a fraction（小部分）of the smaller number to it.

“This indicates that there is a certain way quantity is represented in their brains，”Dr. Livingstone says.“But in this experiment what theyre doing is paying more attention to the big number than the little one.”

32. What did the researchers do to the monkeys before testing them？

A. They fed them. B. They named them.

C. They trained them. D. They measured them.

33. How did the monkeys get their reward in the experiment？

A. By drawing a circle. B. By touching a screen.

C. By watching videos. D. By mixing two drinks.

34. What did Livingstones team find about the monkeys？

A. They could perform basic addition.

B. They could understand simple words.

C. They could memorize numbers easily.

D. They could hold their attention for long.

35. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear？

A. Entertainment.? ?B. Health.? ?C. Education.? ?D. Science.

2020年全國Ⅱ卷B篇

Some parents will buy any high-tech toy if they think it will help their child， but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills.

Psychologist Susan Levine， an expert on mathematics development in young children the University of Chicago， found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition（認知）after controlling for differences in parentsincome， education and the amount of parent talk， Levine said.

The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child-parent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age.

“The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not， on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate（旋轉）and translate shapes，”Levine said in a statement.

The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would， and about half of children in the study played with puzzles at one time. Higher-income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently， and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills. However， boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls， and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than parents of girls.

The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.

24. In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play？

A. Building confidence. ? B. Developing spatial skills.

C. Learning self-control. D. Gaining high-tech knowledge.

25. What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment？

A. Parentsage.? B. Childrens imagination.

C. Parentseducation. D. Child-parent relationship.

26. How do boy differ from girls in puzzle play？

A. They play with puzzles more often.

B. They tend to talk less during the game.

C. They prefer to use more spatial language.

D. They are likely to play with tougher puzzles.

27. What is the text mainly about？

A. A mathematical method. B. A scientific study.

C. A woman psychologist D. A teaching program.

二、考點分析

第一篇是研究猴子是否能進行計算，第二篇則是研究拼圖對孩童成長的影響。兩篇閱讀都考查了研究前的準備工作。第一篇是第32題，研究者在進行測試前先要做什么，根據第二段最后兩句“A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys ... The researchers then tested...”可知，選C項。第二篇第25題問研究者在設計實驗時考慮了什么因素。由第二段的最后一句“Puzzle play was found to be ... after controlling for differences in parentss income， education and the amount of parent talk”可知選C項。

第一篇34題考查實驗結果，由第四段最后一句的“indicating that they were performing a calculation”可知選A項，猴子可以進行簡單的計算。第二篇的第24題，孩童從玩拼圖中可以獲得什么好處，根據第一段最后一句，第二段第一句“found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills”可知選B項。

考查細節的差別在于，第一篇文章的第33題考查考生對實驗方法的理解，即實驗過程中猴子如何得到獎勵。根據第三段的內容可知選B項。而第二篇的第26題則考查了男孩與女孩在實驗過程中的差異性，由最后一段的“However， boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls”可知選D項。雖然這兩題的考查方向有所差異，但實質都是考查學生對實驗過程的把握。

此外，第一篇的第35題考查文章出處，問“這篇文章可能會出現在報紙的哪個部分”，顯然是D項正確，“娛樂”“健康”“教育”與本文無關。第二篇的第27題，考查文章的主旨要義，顯然選B項，這是一項科學研究。“一種數學方法”“一位婦女心里學家”“一個教學項目”均與本文無關。

三、語篇結構

實證類研究報告的語篇結構一般為：研究目的、研究對象、研究過程和研究結果。研究過程一般要將研究對象進行分組實驗，通過組別間的差異驗證預想是否正確。在這個過程中會涉及研究對象的某些背景條件，比如年齡、性別、收入、受教育程度等，看這些條件是否會對研究結果有所影響。

讓我們來梳理一下這兩篇文章的結構，開篇都是介紹“預想或實驗目的”：第一篇Monkeys seem to have a way with numbers;第二篇but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills。第二段則是對實驗團隊、實驗前的準備做了介紹。第三段至結尾則是介紹實驗方法、過程和實驗結論等。實驗前準備、實驗過程、研究結論或結果、分組實驗的差異，都是高考考查的重點。

責任編輯 蔣小青