SAT机考阅读方法分享：focus

首次SAT机考将在3月份举行。本文是SAT机考阅读方法分享，希望助考生一臂之力。

阅读方法即focus，怎么理解呢？就是读段落（以下或称“文本”）过程中，或者读完段落后，我们要做一件事：关注并提炼重要信息。有时这个重要信息，就是划线部分前面那句话，如图表题（command of evidence：quantitative）和加quotation的题目；有时是句中的连接词（transitions），如text structure and purpose题目和词汇填空题；有时位置不固定，需要考生自己去寻找，比如文本证据题（textual evidence），重要信息有可能就在实验者提出hypothesis的地方。

下面我们看具体实例。

I. focus划线部分前面的信息

实例1：图表题（command of evidence：quantitative）

文本的重点信息就是划线前面的句子，即：In fact, so many films and associated records for the era have been lost that counts of those four figures' output should be taken as bare minimums rather than totals; it's entirely possible.

其重点的重点又是have been lost，和bare minimums rather than totals。中文即为“现有记录不全”，或者说“现有记录总数少于真实数字”。如果结合文本语境，就是：这些艺术家导演、编剧或出演作品的真实数据多于图表中的数字。

下面是题目和选项：

所以哪一个选项说明图中“现有记录总数少于真实数字”，哪一个选项即为正确。

答案是C。

实例2：加quotation的题目1（文本证据题）

“Ghosts of the Old Year” is an early 1900s poems by James Weldon Johnson. In the poem, the speaker describes experiencing an ongoing cycle of anticipation followed by regretful reflection:________.

Which quotation from “Ghosts of the Old Year”  most effectively illustrates the claim?

Choose 1 answer:

A  the snow has ceased its fluttering flight/the wind sunk to a whisper light/an ominous stillness fill the night/a pause---a hush

B  and so the years go swiftly by/each, coming, brings ambitions high/and each, departing, leaves a sigh/linked to the past

C  what does this brazen tongue declare/that falling on the midnight air/brings to my heart a sense of care/ akin to fright

D  it tells of many a squandered day/of slighted gems and reassured clay/of precious stores not laid away/of fields unreaped

同样，文本的重要信息是划线前面的内容，即：In the poem, the speaker describes experiencing an ongoing cycle of anticipation followed by regretful reflection. 其中，重点信息中的重点是ongoing cycle of anticipation 和followed by regretful reflection。中文即为“周而复始的期盼和遗憾”。

选项A,C,D的动作没有形成一个闭环cycle，尽管部分选项也涉及reflection的内容，但依然错误。选项B不仅内容涉及cycle，同时，也有关键信息anticipation的对等词ambitions和followed by regretful reflection的对等信息leaves a sigh。

因此，答案是B。

实例3：加quotation的题目2（文本证据题）

文本阅读应该focus的地方是ability to persuade others of the rightness of her artistic judgments，其中可以提炼的重点信息是persuade。

A，C和D都和关键信息persuade无关。D选项虽然谈到question，但和persuade仅仅是loosely related，并未真正涉及persuade，依然不对。

答案是B。虽然前面内容陈述喜好的相似性，但是后面谈到分歧出现时，迅速会因为M的“force of arguments”（等同于她persuasion的能力）而观点趋同。

II. focus连接词  

实例1：结构和目的题（text structure and purpose）

The following text is from charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1910 poem “The Earth’s Entail”.

No matter how we cultivate the land,Taming the forest and the prairie free;

No matter how we irrigate the sand,Making the desert blossom at command,We must always leave the borders of the sea;The immeasureable reachesOf the windy wave-wet beaches,The million-mile-long margin of the sea.

本首诗中，由于no matter的出现，可知诗歌的重点不是人类可以控制陆地（land，forest），而是人类无法控制大海（sea）。

理解了这一点，答案就显而易见。正确答案是B。

实例2：词汇题（words in context）

这段内容需要我们focus的是although，从句内容陈述评论者认为消费者不愿意自己在农场里采摘，因此空格后面应该陈述Whatley所做的行为相反，就是W并不认同评论者的看法，结合主句本身的didn't，答案是B，hinder。

III. focus位置不固定，关注表示hypothesisi，claim等地方

实例：证据题

Jan Gimsa, Robert Sleigh, and Ulrike Gimsa have hypothesized that the sail-like structure running down the back of the dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus improved the animal's success in underwater pursuits of prey species capable of making quick, evasive movements. To evaluate their hypothesis, a second team of researchers constructed two battery-powered mechanical models of S. aegyptiacus, one with a sail and one without, and subjected the models to a series of identical tests in a water-filled tank.

Which finding from the model tests, if true, would most strongly support Gimsa and colleagues' hypothesis?

A. The model with a sail took significantly longer to travel a specified distance while submerged than the model without a sail did.

B. The model with a sail displaced significantly more water while submerged than the model without a sail did.

C. The model with a sail had significantly less battery power remaining after completing the tests than the model without a sail did.

D. The model with a sail took significantly less time to complete a sharp turn while submerged than the model without a sail did.

因为题目是要求支持G和同事的hypothesis，所以本段文字阅读时应该focus的地方是hypothesized后面内容，即为笔者划线部分。同时，划线部分需要提炼的重点信息是红字体内容：quick，evasive movements。划线部分中文意思是由于这类恐龙背部为“帆”形构造，所以海下捕捉猎物时可以做出快速摆脱动作。

D强调游动的敏捷（make a sharp turn），与原文重要信息关联，所以正确答案是D。

如果掌握阅读focus的方法，在阅读文章时，能快速提炼到段落关键信息，不仅可以提高我们的阅读速度，阅读质量，而且对解题正确率的提升会有非常大的帮助。但是，要提醒考生一点：提炼关键信息并不等同于其他地方完全忽略不读。关键信息的精准理解也是建立在全文本阅读的理解基础之上。