重視語篇結構分析，精準破解主旨大意

昝亞娟

《普通高中英語課程標準（2017年版2020年修訂）》指出，英語閱讀理解主要考查學生理解書面語篇的能力，其中包括對語篇內(nèi)容、語篇結構的理解和把握，也包括對語篇內(nèi)容的分析、闡釋和評價。因此，深入研讀語篇，把握主題意義、挖掘文化價值、分析文體特征和語言特點及其與主題意義的關聯(lián)，是同學們培養(yǎng)英語學科核心素養(yǎng)的重要前提。在高考閱讀理解中，主旨大意題是考生容易失分的一個題型，也是考生之間容易拉開檔次的一個題型，對此，本文擬探討從語篇結構分析入手，精準把握文章的主旨大意。

在首段找主題句

眾所周知，每篇英語文章都圍繞一個主題展開寫作，把握文章主旨大意的有效方法就是找到主題句。主題句通常是一個語言簡潔、具有高度概括性的句子，起著統(tǒng)領全文的作用。文中陳述的事實、描述的細節(jié)都為主題句提供支撐。主題句通常出現(xiàn)在文章的首段。因此，我們要特別注意文章的首段。

（一）第一段的首句是主題句

【例】（2020·全國Ⅱ卷，閱讀理解D篇）

I have a special place in my heart for libraries. I have for as long as I can remember. I was always an enthusiastic reader， sometimes reading up to three books a day as a child. Stories were like air to me and while other kids played ball or went to parties， I lived out adventures through the books I checked out from the library.

...

35. Which can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Reading： A Source of Knowledge

B. My Idea about Writing

C. Library： A Haven for the Young

D. My Love of the Library

解題思路：這是一篇記敘文，作者分享了自己的人生經(jīng)歷。通讀全文，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)文章的第一句話“I have a special place in my heart for libraries.”是全文的主題句，揭示了文章的主題和大意。在各個段落中，我們都能找到關鍵詞“l(fā)ibrary”。也就是說，短文的六個段落分別講述了圖書館在作者人生的不同階段對她產(chǎn)生的積極影響，說明了圖書館與她的人生有著密不可分的關系。本文的思維導圖如下。

通過語篇分析可知，本文講述了圖書館對作者的人生產(chǎn)生的積極的影響，分享作者對圖書館的喜愛之情。因此，文章的最佳標題是D項。

研究本文的結構可知，第一段的首句就像是一個“龍頭”，而每個段落合起來就組成了“龍身”。“龍身”的各個部分的主題應與“龍頭”所指的方向一致，“龍身”與“龍頭”密切配合，才使舞龍表演順利進行。

（二）從第一段中提煉文章主題

有些文章的第一段沒有主題句，但是提供了豐富的信息。我們可根據(jù)第一段內(nèi)容，對重要的信息進行提煉。

【例】（2021·新高考II卷，閱讀理解C篇）

A British woman who won a S1 million prize after she was named the World’s Best Teacher will use the cash to bring inspirational figures into UK schools.

Andria Zafirakou， a north London secondary school teacher， said she wanted to bring about a classroom revolution （變革）. “We are going to make a change， ” she said. “I’ve started a project to promote the teaching of the arts in our schools.”

...

31.Which of the following is a suitable title for the text？

A. Bring Artists to Schools

B. When Historians Meet Artists

C. Arts Education in Britain

D. The World’s Best Arts Teacher

解題思路：本文的體裁屬于新聞報道（news report），文章記述了英國一位老師在獲獎后，決定使用她的獎金改革學校的藝術教學。第一段相當于全文摘要（summary），高度地概括了全文的主旨大意;第二段提供了一些重要的細節(jié)信息。由此可知，文章的主旨大意就是“A British woman started a project to promote the teaching of the arts in UK schools”，這與選項A陳述的意思相符，故最佳答案為A。

一般來說，新聞報道類文章多采用倒金字塔（the Inverted Pyramid）模式來組織材料，文章呈現(xiàn)的信息按重要性降序排列，這就使讀者能夠快速閱讀最關鍵的信息，然后決定是否繼續(xù)閱讀這篇文章。

Inverted Pyramid Style

（三）第一段的最后一句是主題句

【例】（2020·全國Ⅱ卷，閱讀理解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 at 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 parents’ income， education and the amount of parent talk， Levine said.

...

27. What is the text mainly about？

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

C. A woman psychologist. ? D. A teaching program.

解題思路：本文采用新聞報道體裁。第一段是全文的摘要，概括了文章主旨大意;第二段提供重要的細節(jié)信息，包括who、what和why等。由第一段中的“but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills”可知，文章是向讀者介紹了一項科學研究的結果——拼圖游戲能幫助孩子掌握數(shù)學相關技能，故最佳答案為B。

在結尾段找主題句

【例】（2021·天津卷，閱讀理解D篇）

Art is everywhere. Any public space has been carefully designed by an artistic mind to be both functional and beautiful. Why， then， is art still so widely considered to be “the easy subject” at school， insignificant to wider society， a waste of time and effort？

Art can connect culture with commercial products in a way that not many other things can; art generates money and holds significant emotional and cultural value within communities...

Furthermore， the arts can bring communities together， reducing loneliness and making people feel safer...

The arts clearly have a pretty positive impact on physical and psychological health...

Children who are involved with the arts make greater achievements in their education...

Vital to human life， art is celebrated and used by nations across the world for various purposes. Life without art would be boring and dead still， for art is a part of what makes us human.

55. What is the best title for this passage？

A. How Art Cures Our Hearts

B. Art： A Blessing to Humankind

C. How Art Benefits Communities

D. Art： A Bridge Between Cultures

解題思路：本文屬于典型的三段式文體（three-paragraph essay）。第一段把讀者的注意力引向“Art”這個話題，然后提出問題（Is art still so widely considered to be “the easy subject” at school， insignificant to wider society， a waste of time and effort？）。中間的四段陳述藝術的功能或重要性。最后一段給出結論（art is celebrated and used by nations across the world for various purposes），回答了第一段提出的問題。結合短文內(nèi)容可知，藝術對人類有重要意義，故最佳標題是B項。

如下圖所示，大多數(shù)的英語應用文、議論文、說明文和描寫文通常為三段式結構。

introduction

body

summary/conclusion

同學們?nèi)缱x到此類文章，可試著從最后一段（即結論段）尋找解題的依據(jù)，從而準確把握文章的主題。

在文章的中間段找關鍵詞

有的文章的主題句不在第一段，也不在最后一段，這類文章的主題分散在文章各個段落中，需要我們?yōu)g覽全文，尋找關鍵詞，據(jù)此來確定文章的主題。

【例】（2021·浙江卷，閱讀理解B篇）

We live in a town with three beaches. There are two parks less than 10 minutes’ walk from home where neighborhood children gather to play. However， what my children want to do after school is pick up a screen—any screen—and stare at it for hours. They are not alone. Today’s children spend an average of four and a half hours a day looking at screens， split between watching television and using the Internet.

In the past few years， an increasing number of people and organizations have begun coming up with plans to counter this trend. A couple of years ago， film-maker David Bond realised that his children， then aged five and three， were attached to screens to the point where he was able to say “chocolate” into his three-year-old son’s ear without getting a response. He realised that something needed to change， and， being a London media type， appointed himself “marketing director for Nature”. He documented his journey as he set about treating nature as a brand to be marketed to young people. The result was Project Wild Thing， a film which charts the birth of the Wild Network， a group of organisations with the common goal of getting children out into nature.

...

27. What can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Let Children Have Fun

B. Young Children Need More Free Time

C. Market Nature to Children

D. David Bond： A Role Model for Children

解題思路：文章第一段描述了一個社會現(xiàn)象——作者住在有三個海灘的小鎮(zhèn)上，步行幾分鐘就能到達兩個公園，鄰居家的孩子們會在那里玩耍。但是，作者的孩子們放學后不是看電視，就是玩手機。現(xiàn)在的孩子們平均每天花四個半小時看屏幕，一半時間看電視，一半時間上網(wǎng)。

作者在第二段陳述了“近年來，越來越多的人開始制定計劃來對抗這種趨勢”。而后，作者講述電影制作人David Bond針對孩子們沉迷電視和網(wǎng)絡這一問題所做的事情。David Bond是倫敦的一名媒體人，他任命自己為“自然的營銷總監(jiān)”。他拍攝自己的旅程，把自然作為一個品牌，向年輕人進行推銷，鼓勵孩子們走進大自然。根據(jù)第二段中的“...appointed himself ‘marketing director for Nature’”，文章的最佳標題是C項。

根據(jù)各段大意提煉主題

有時，受篇幅所限，三段式的文體被命題人刪掉了開頭（introduction）和結尾（conclusion），只保留正文部分（body）。這樣的文章往往開門見山，從不同方面逐段呈現(xiàn)關于某個話題的細節(jié)信息，需要我們對信息進行概括和提煉，才能找到主旨大意。

【例】（2020·新高考Ⅱ卷，閱讀理解D篇）

Rainforests are home to a rich variety of medicinal plants， food， birds and animals. Can you believe that a single bush（灌木叢）in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the whole of Britain！ About 480 varieties of trees may be found in just one hectare of rainforest.

Rainforests are the lungs of the planet—storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant amount of the world’s oxygen...

35. What can be a suitable title for the text？

A. Life-Giving Rainforests B. The Law of the Jungle

C. Animals in the Amazon D. Weather in Rainforests

解題思路：通讀全文，我們可發(fā)現(xiàn)這是一篇說明文，介紹了“rainforests”。短文的四個段落講述了熱帶雨林的不同功能。本文的思維導圖如下。

據(jù)此我們可推斷，本文的話題就是“rainforests”。A項“孕育生命的熱帶雨林”這一表述能夠揭示全文的主旨大意，故最佳標題是A項。

由此可見，此類說明文，每段論述一個分論點，就像是一張桌子的幾條腿，共同支撐桌面這個“大觀念（big idea）”，即全文的主旨大意。

總之，近年的高考英語試題越來越重視在語篇層次設題。整體理解語篇，提煉語篇大意，概括文章的標題，顯得尤為重要。認真研讀語篇，有助于同學們能多層次、多角度地分析語篇所傳遞的意義，依據(jù)語篇的主題意義、文體風格、語言特點和價值取向，判斷文章的主旨大意和作者要傳遞的信息。同時，同學們可利用作者視角、寫作背景和時間等信息來深刻理解語篇，把語言學習與意義探究融為一體，實現(xiàn)深度學習，促進閱讀能力的提高。