托福阅读之”为什么‘读懂了’却做不对题”

各位备战托福的考生们，你们是否面临着这样的困惑：托福阅读读懂了，为什么题目做不对啊？其实，你真的读懂了吗？从下面的例子中来分析一下吧！

首先说一下所谓的”文章已经读懂了”，有时，这个读懂只是感觉读懂，但实际并未读懂。

The water was always laden with pebbles, gravel, and sand, known as glacial outwash, that was deposited as the flow slowed down. (TPO1-Groundwater)

The phrase “glacial outwash” in the passage refers to

A: fast rivers

B: glaciers

C: the huge volumes of water created by glacial melting

D: the particles carried in water from melting glaciers

翻译1：水通常满载着鹅卵石，碎石和沙子，被称之为glacial outwash(由于考题问到，笔者在此不做翻译)，被沉积下来，当水流缓慢的时候。

不知看了这个翻译后有何感觉。虽然基本翻译出了文字的意思，但这就是感觉读懂!只有如上的翻译，信息之间没有明确的关系。很多同学甚至会出现信息混合搭配的幻觉。

请先独立思考以下两个问题：1. glacial outwash到底指的是谁? 2. 水流缓慢下来的时候，什么东西被沉积下来?

这两个问题是上述中文翻译中完全无法回答的。那么我们回到原文重新看一下，原文实际上应该翻译为?

翻译2：水通常满载着鹅卵石，碎石和沙子，(鹅卵石，碎石和沙子)被称之为glacial outwash，(沙子)被沉积下来，当水流缓慢的时候。

看了翻译2也许会感到很惊讶，但这才是真正的读懂了。

翻译2比翻译1多考虑了什么呢?实际上，就是语法。

对于第一个问题：glacial outwash指的是谁?本质是在问非谓语动词结构known as 的逻辑主语是谁?

根据非谓语动词中过去分词的特点，做修饰成分时，优先考虑就近名词成分作逻辑主语。就近名词成分有两种可能性：第一、可以是sand;第二、也可认为是pebbles, gravel, and sand构成的名词整体，没有其他语法语义的特殊要求，则应该先考虑整体，因此known as 的逻辑主语为pebbles, gravel, and sand。

所以刚才的题的答案为第4个选项。

对于第二个问题：什么东西被沉积下来?本质是在问that was deposited中的that代替谁?

首先，that不能代替就近的glacial outwash。我们曾经在中学都学过定语从句，定语从句分为限定性定语从句和非限定性定语从句。限定性定语从句中that和先行词之间不能有逗号，说明that不能代替glacial outwash。那么跳过”, known as glacial outwash,”这一分隔结构，that等于直接连接在pebble, gravel, and sand后。但为何没有代替pebble, gravel, and sand而只代替sand呢?因为that后连接的是was，根据主谓一致，that必须代替单数或不可数成分，所以不能整体代替，只能代替sand。

那么要想真正的读懂一句话，我们不仅要翻译出字面意思，更应该根据出现的语法结构，认清句子各部分信息之间的关系。只有这样才是真的懂。

第二，原文字面翻译正确，但隐含意思并未理解。

Inequalities of wealth and rank certainly exist, and have probably existed in most pastoralist societies, but except in periods of military conquest, they are normally too slight to generate the stable, hereditary hierarchies that are usually implied by the use of the term class. Inequalities of gender have also existed in pastoralist societies, but they seem to have been softened by the absence of steep hierarchies of wealth in most communities, and also by the requirement that women acquire most of the skills of men, including, often, their military skills. (TPO14-Pastoralism in Ancient Inner Eurasia)

According to the paragraph, all of the following are true of social inequality in pastoralist societies EXCEPT:

A: It exists and has existed to some degree in most pastoral societies.

B: It is most marked during periods of military conquest.

C: It is expressed in the form of a rigid hierarchy based largely on heredity.

D: It is usually too insignificant to be discussed in terms of class differences.

(注意：本题是否定事实信息题，排除三个描述正确的选项，选择一个描述错误的选项)

本题最容易误选的是第2个选项，但正确答案是第3个选项，词汇的难度相对较大，建议考生多背单词，并理解单词的本质意思。

答案为何不是第2个选项?

请看相关原文”but except in periods of military conquest, they are normally too slight to generate the stable, hereditary hierarchies that are usually implied by the use of the term class”

字面意思是：但是除了在军事征战时期，不平等一般太微弱而未产生稳定的(用术语”阶级”来暗示表达的)世袭等级。

原文”除了军事征战时期”，所说的实际上就是”非军事征战时期”

所以得出下表：

显然，军事征战时期，不平等不是太微弱。

两个时期相对而言，军事征战时期就成为了不平等相对最显著地时期。因此选项2是描述正确的选项，故排除。

该选项的排除，运用到的是托福考试中常见的一个推断思路。也就是说，我们不仅要理解字面意思，还需要理解作者暗示的内容。

第三，原文确实读懂，但没有仔细审题。

Efforts to control Spartina outside its natural environment have included burning, flooding, shading plants with black canvas or plastic, smothering the plants with dredged materials or clay, applying herbicide, and mowing repeatedly. Little success has been reported in New Zealand and England; Washington State’s management program has tried many of these methods and is presently using the herbicide glyphosphate to control its spread. Work has begun to determine the feasibility of using insects as biological controls, but effective biological controls are considered years away. Even with a massive effort, it is doubtful that complete eradication of Spartina from nonnative habitats is possible, for it has become an integral part of these shorelines and estuaries during the last 100 to 200 years. (TPO22-Spartina)

According to the paragraph, each of the following methods has been used in attempts to control Spartina EXCEPT

A: flooding plants

B: cutting plants down repeatedly

C: applying herbicides

D: introducing predatory insects

本题答案为4个选项，容易误选的是第2个选项，错选2还是因为单词量不够，mow不清楚是什么意思。

本题选对的关键点在于题干的时态，has been used应该翻译为已经被使用，第4个选项虽然原文提及，但并非已经被使用的控制方法。

第四，没有仔细看选项，感觉读懂，与原文感觉相近产生的误选。

The weather, in its many forms, is the main agent of erosion. Rain washes away loose soil and penetrates cracks in the rocks. Carbon dioxide in the air reacts with the rainwater, forming a weak acid (carbonic acid) that may chemically attack the rocks. The rain seeps underground and the water may reappear later as springs. These springs are the sources of streams and rivers, which cut through the rocks and carry away debris from the mountains to the lowlands.

Why does the author mention Carbon dioxide in the passage?

A: To explain the origin of a chemical that can erode rocks

B: To contrast carbon dioxide with carbonic acid

C: To give an example of how rainwater penetrates soil

D: To argue for the desirability of preventing erosion

本题正确答案为第1个选项。容易误选的是第3个选项。请观察：penetrates这一动作在原文作用的对象是谁?对，是cracks in the rocks而非soil，对于soil的动作应该是washes away.本质意思并不相同。打个比方，”买书，看猩猩”，改成”看书，买猩猩”，完全不是一个意思。

综上，看原文、理解字面和隐含意义、审题，看选项，任何一个环节出现理解不准确都有可能造成选错。所以，真正的读懂，不只是针对原文单词的翻译，还应该包括语法，逻辑以及隐含之意的全面理解。