專四英語閲讀的關鍵
在信息社會的今天，閲讀是人們獲得科學發展最新信息的重要途徑。從學生畢業後的實際需要來看，他們要從浩如煙海的外語資料中獲得有關信息，沒有較強的英語閲讀能力不行。對學生來説，要順利完成大學英語學習，達到大綱的要求，特別是真正地學會把英語作為獲取信息的工具，加強閲讀訓練，提高英語閲讀能力是十分重要的。在閲讀過程中，抓文章的主題思想，是對文中具體內容理解的關鍵。
主題思想（the Main Idea）是作者在文章中要表達的核心內容，也是作者自始至終要説明的問題。能否抓住一篇文章的主題思想，體現了讀者總結、概括和歸納事物的能力。可以説，找出主題思想是一項十分重要的閲讀技能。
一、抓主題思想，我們首先要學會識別文章中那些最根本、最具有概括力的信息。這種信息應能歸納和概括文中其他信息所具有的共性。例一：
Directions：Choose the most general sentence．
A．The hotel offers complimentary coffee from 7to 10a．m．daily．
B．There are many reasons why guests feel at home at the Glorietta Bay Inn．
C．The coin-operated laundry room has an ironing board．
D．There are a number of extra services at the Glorietta Bay Inn including baby-sitting．
A、C、D都是從不同的側面説明旅館的服務情況，相互間並無聯繫。而B卻概括了A、C、D的共性的東西，即：為什麼旅客住在這家旅館裏有賓至如歸的感覺。因此，B符合題意，倘若在一段文章中包含了以上A、B、C、D幾條信息，那麼，B就是該段的中心思想。出於同樣的道理，如果在一篇文章中，作者分段敍述幾方面的'內容，那麼，這些段落所圍繞和要説明的問題就是該文的中心思想。例二：
Directions：Choose the main idea of the article．（Following are the topic sentences of an article．）
1）A mounting body of evidence suggests that fighting violence with violence rarely deters a crime in progress and greatly increases the chances of changing a robbery into a violent attack on the victim．．．．
2）One report shows that at least 100 thousand handguns are stolen from private owners each year，the vast majority during burglaries．．．．
3）Moreover，a study of robberies in eight American cities states that in less than 4 percent of the crimes did the victim have the opportunity to use a weapon．．．．
Which of the following best reflects the main idea of the article？
A．What happens to the victims of crime？
B．Is your family safe？
C．Should you arm yourself against crime？
二、主題思想應能恰如其分地概括文中所闡述的內容。面不能太窄，即：不足以概括全部內容；但是面也不能太寬，即：包含了文中沒有闡述的內容。例三：
Directions：Read the following and choose the title that best expresses the ideas of the passage．
There is a simple economic principle used to determine prices．It is called the law of supply and demand．Supply means the amount of，or access to，certain goods．Demand represents the number of people who want those goods．If there are more goods than wanted，the price of them falls．On the other hand，if the demand for those goods is much greater than the supply， then the price rises．Of course，manufacturers prefer to sll more goods at increased price．
A．Economic Principles
B．Law of Supply and Demand
C．M ore Goods，Lower Prices
D．Fewer Goods，Higher Prices
該問題，A泛指經濟規律，面過寬；C和D只是供需規則的二個單獨的方面，不能包含全部，面太窄。正確的答案是B，因為這正是該短文自始至終談論的主題。
