托福阅读中的句子插入题目考察考生对句子之间关系的理解能力。我们知道常见的一些句间关系，例如因果、转折和举例等逻辑词，以及代词指代关系和概念重复都可能是解题思路。但同时，还有一些似是而非的解题原则可能会导致在做题时先入为主，排除正确选项后在错误选项中徘徊并最终选出一个不太合适的错误答案。下面是一些常见的误区。
- 误认为两个转折不能连用。之前有同学认为，如果插入句本身含有“but”或“however”，那么这个插入句肯定不可能放在另一个转折句的前后，否则会转换得太快。但实际上，许多托福阅读原文甚至是句子插入题本身就有两个转折连用的情况。这么写好不好另说，但也不是不行。例如下面这个题目：Forests dominated by deciduous trees (trees with leaves that fall off at the end of the growing season) are found around the world.■But they were not always so widespread, and there are unanswered questions about their evolution.■The ancestors of deciduous trees can be traced back to the Cretaceous Period, 113-65 million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the land and the continents occupied different positions from today.■At this time, extensive deciduous forests existed only at very high latitudes, near the north and south poles.■
However, we do know with some certainty when and where they originated.
转折后面说我们确实还是知道一些，既然是转折，很可能前面就是说不太清楚的。因此，插入句B前面的“unanswered”恰好符合这个条件。更妙的是，这句话本身的“when”与后面的时间、“where”与最后一句的地点相对应。既能承上又能启下，所以是最合适的答案。另外，B前面确实有一个“but”转折，这句话本身也是转折，因此不应该因为有两个转折连在一起就排除答案。
2. 第二个迷思跟第一个相关。会觉得转折不能连用，是因为想着既然都大张旗鼓转折讲个新的事儿，不得展开展开，否则浪费了一个好的点子。也就是说会有人认为一个抽象的观点后面一定要展开说说。但或许是有的作者好点子太多没办法全部铺陈，或许是ETS只截取了部分文段，有的题呈现出来就是没有展开。有展开固然好，不展开也不是不行。而且对于某个句子算不算对前面信息作展开还取决于他们之间在概念上的关联。因此，像下面这个题目就需要仔细判断。Cities, then, are warmer than the surrounding rural areas, and together they produce a phenomenon known as the urban heat island. Heat islands develop best under particular conditions associated with light winds, but they can form almost any time.■The precise configuration of a heat island depends on several factors.■For example, the wind can make a heat island stretch in the direction it blows.■When a heat island is well developed, variations can be extreme; in winter, busy streets in cities can be 7℃warmer than the side streets.■Areas near traffic lights can be similarly warmer than the areas between them because of the effect of cars standing in traffic instead of moving. The maximum differences in temperature between neighboring urban and rural environments is called the heat-island intensity for that region. In general, the larger the city, the greater its heat-island intensity. The actual level of intensity depends on such factors as the physical layout, population density, and productive activities of a metropolis.
Another possibility is for the heat island to be stretched along the course of major rivers, since large waterways typically have a warming effect on the air directly above them.
这题因为是说另一种可能性，意味着前面讲了一种可能性。而且B前面说several factors，for example显然是在展开第一个，所以答案在CD之间。但因为我们所说的第二个迷思，有同学觉得既然讲了第一个因素wind，而且很简短，那得用C后面那句话展开一下，所以就要放在D接着说another possibility。但问题是C后面讲的东西首先跟wind没有半毛钱关系，其次C后面讲的是热岛形成之后的事了，所以不是对wind的展开。所以答案就是C。作者只是简单地列举了两个影响热岛形成的原因而没有具体展开。后面讲的是热岛形成以后内部的差异，D后面也是在讲之后的差异，所以D前后联系很紧密，本身也可以被排除。
3. 第三个迷思是有同学觉得原文有的地方逻辑不连贯，加一个句子进去才会通顺，所以答案就放在那里。其实就我搜过原文的插入题而言，有一部分本身就没有那个插入句在文中，它纯粹是ETS自作聪明创作出来并要求我们加进去的，就假定是有原文的那些，摘出来的插入句一般也是跟前后重复的信息，不会说缺了就出现多大的矛盾/断裂。所以做题的时候不要想着只看原文就能机灵地发现什么漏洞。所谓的漏洞可能只是作者的行文逻辑不同于我们的习惯而已。
4. 还有一个迷思就是有同学会觉得判断答案一般看出了空格的本段就可以了。其实有的题虽然四个格子都在一段话里面，但答案有可能会是从上一段最后一句话，或者下一段第一句话判断出来的。比如下面这个题。One can turn the question around and ask why we see tool use at all in capuchin monkeys.■Like other primates, capuchins possess the necessary sensory and anatomical characteristics for using objects as tools.■They have a well-articulated hand with anatomical adaptations that favor the fine manipulation or precise positioning of objects, and they have sufficiently long limbs, postural control, and strength to generate considerable forces (when pounding, for example).■This, however, does not distinguish them from most other monkeys, especially those in Africa and Asia, although all other monkeys use tools less often than capuchins.■
Capuchins possess two behavioral characteristics that are less widely shared with other primates and that are particularly relevant to using objects as tools…
So, what makes capuchins different?
这题选D有两个原因。首先是C前面说了capuchin的一个特征，然后说但是别的动物也有这个特征，所以本质上还是算相似之处。放在D的话，so那种很不耐烦的感觉就来了：既然前面说了一个又不算区别，那到底有何不同？还有一个原因是跟下一段开头完美对应。插入句提问区别，下一段开头呼应说有两个特点是less widely shared也就是跟别人不一样的地方。
总的来说，类似上面提到的想法对解题弊大于利。最好还是先根据承上或者启下的原则去找逻辑和概念接得上的答案，一般来说这样已经可以确定唯一选项了，如果还是不好区分的时候可以考虑把几句话连起来读一下，看哪种句间关系更通顺，在实际意思上跟关联更紧密。
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