补全短文分析 如何巧读首句？

补全短文分析 如何巧读首句？

解题思路

该题型的英语短文的特点：

（1）主题句一般出现在句首和句尾。有些短文，通过阅读文章标题、首句以及尾句，就能够找到文章的主旨。如：

［经典范例］

How to Interview People?

Interviewing (采访) is one of those skills that you can only get better at. You will never again feel so ill at ease as when you try it for the first time, and probably you'll never feel entirely comfortable trying to get from another person answers that he or she may be too shy to reveal. 　1　 The rest is instinct, which can all be learned with experience.

［答案解析］文章的标题为疑问短语，可以清楚地提示大家这篇短文的主旨在于解释“如何进行采访”，故仅从标题就可以知道文章论述的主题。

（2）如果空白处紧跟文章开头，答案很有可能与文章的主题是相关的。

［经典范例］

Development in Newspaper Organization

One of the most important developments in newspaper organization during the first part of the twentieth century 　1　, which are known as wire services. Wire-service companies employed reporters, who covered stories all over the world. Their news reports were sent to papers throughout the country by telegraph.

A. to play an important role in newspaper operations

B. was the growth of telegraph services

C. and they usually enjoy great prestige

D. they are usually operated by a single owner

E. in order to survive under the pressure of rising costs

F. owned by a single person or organization

［答案解析］本文主旨在于陈述报业组织的发展，而文章首段的最后一句（Their news reports were sent to papers throughout the country by telegraph.）已经指出在发展过程中最引人注目的就是电报。故B选项正确。

除此之外，了解文章的主题，能够排除与文章不相关的选项。

接下来我们就通过真题来感受一下巧读首句的重要性。

真题回放

Rising Tuition in the US

Every Spring, US university administrators gather to discuss the next academic year's budget. They consider faculty salaries, utility costs for dormitories, new building needs and repairs to old ones. They run the numbers and conclude—it seems, inevitably—that, yet again, the cost of tuition must go up.

According to the US's College Board, the price of attending a four-year private university in the US rose 81 percent between 1993 and 2004. 　46　 In 2005 and 2006, the numbers continued to rise.

According to university officials, college cost increases are simply the result of balancing university checkbooks. "Tuition increases at Cedarville University are determined by our revenue needs for each year," said the university's president, Dr. Bill Brown. "Student tuition pays for 78 percent of the university's operating costs." Brown's school is a private university that enrolls about 3,100 undergrads and is consistently recognized by annual college ranking guides like US News and World Report and The Princeton Review. 　47

Tuition at private universities is set by administration officials and then sent for approval to the school's board of trustees (董事).　48　This board oversees (监管) all of a state's public institutions.

John Durham, assistant secretary to the board of trustees at East Carolina University (ECU), explains that state law says that public institutions must make their services available whenever possible to the people of the state for free. Durham said that North Carolina residents only pay 22 percent of the cost of their education.　49　State residents attending ECU pay about $10,000 for tuition, room and board before financial aid.

Amid the news about continued increases in college costs, however, there is some good news. Tuition increases have been accompanied by roughly equal increases in financial aid at almost every university. To receive financial aid, US students complete a formal application with the federal government. The federal government then decides whether an applicant is eligible (有资格的) for grants or loans.　50

A. The application is then sent to the student's university, where the school itself will decide whether free money will be given to the student and how much.

B. At public universities, however, tuition increases must also be approved by a State education committee, sometimes called the board of governors.

C. The school currently charges $23,410 a year for tuition.

D. Many American people are simply unable to pay the growing cost of food.

E. That's more than double the rate of inflation.

F. The state government covers the rest.

［答案解析］

46．E。［解析］通读全文后可以发现，文章的题目简单明了地给出了本文的话题核心，即美国学费上涨的状况。空格前面一句话讲的是1993年到2004年间四年制私立大学学费上涨的情况，后面一句讲的是2005年和2006年上涨的情况，可以推断出填入的内容很可能是对学费上涨的一种说明或比较，故答案为E。

47．C。［解析］这一段的后半段讲的是一所大学即Cedarville University的收费和支出情况。在六个选项中只有C以The school开头，也就是说这句话是针对某一所大学的。就其内容而言，也符合本段的需要。

48．B。［解析］这一段很简短，先讲了私立大学的学费标准是怎么制定的。选项B讲的是公立大学的学费标准是怎么制定的，中间还包含了however这个词，表示了转折，即讲过私立，下面要讲公立了。故答案为B。

49．F。［解析］这段讲的是州政府对大学的投入。按理，一个州的公共机构应该尽可能为这个州的居民提供免费的服务。北卡罗莱纳州的居民只支付教育费用的22％，下面一句话自然就该讲州政府出多少钱了。

50．A。［解析］文章的最后一段讲的是学生如何向联邦政府申请资助。空格的前一句话说联邦政府决定学生是否有资格申请奖学金或贷款，然后将该申请送到学生所在的学校，由学校决定该学生是否可以得到资助。

Achilles' heel

某些文章首句并非是主旨句，而是简单的陈述；同时要注意首句后面是否出现了转折。

［经典范例］

From early times man has used garlic (大蒜). The Bible speaks of it. The Israelites (古以色列人) were once far from home. They cried out to Moses, their leader, for the foods they loved: leeks (韭菜), onions, and garlic. The Romans, like the Israelites, loved to eat garlic. And they hung bags of garlic around their necks.　1　They also thought it would keep them from getting sick.

［答案解析］

从短文的第一句From early times man has used garlic来看，读者只能大概了解文章与大蒜有关，并不能正确地判断出文章的主旨，故需要进一步的阅读。