由2008年考研英语完型再看文章结构的重要性

　　上海新东方学校 考研词汇与完型明星教师 陈文笠

　　在今年的考试中，Use of English(即完形填空部分)考察了一篇关于人类智能的文章。

　　首先，就文章题材而言，本文属生命科学类，与95年关于睡眠的完型相仿。 其写作思路也基本一致，都是理论结合实践的体系，以事实举例来证明理论的常规套路。95年关于睡眠一文以rat的例子阐述了睡眠的意义，而本文以Ashkenazim的例子说明了人与人智商间的差别及其导致原因和副作用等。

　　其次，从文章结构来说，还是一如既往地秉持了结构明晰的特点，所以仍然以文章逻辑为主导考察考生通过寻找线索来解决问题的能力。

　　The idea that some ethnic groups may be more intelligent than others is one of those hypotheses that dare not speak its name. But Gregory Cochran is prepared to say it anyway. He is that rare bird, a scientist who works independently of any institution. He helped popularize the idea that some diseases not previously thought to have a bacterial cause were actually infections, which arouse much controversy when it was first suggested.

　　第一段中就以一个But连接了文章手将speak前的dare not与say前的is prepared to构造成鲜明转折关系，所以考生可以通过But与dare not直接推得答案is prepared to。接着文中又用了一个表示弱转折含义的actually来引导考生对previously一词的把握。

　　类似independent of之类的词组中介词考察的考点在近几年倒是罕有发生，不过考生可以在94年完型第1题of utmost importance以及98年完型第18题specialists in等题中找到渊源。

　　Even he, however, might tremble at the thought of what he is about to do. Together with another two scientists, he is publishing a paper which not only suggests that one group of humanity is more intelligent than the others, but explains the process that has brought this about. The group in question are Ashkenazi Jews. The process is natural selection.

　　本段开篇一个however就形成与上文的转折，故可直接排除表结果的So与Hence选项，而上文说GC区别于众多敢想不敢言的人挺身而出(由第一段But可知)，所以在第二段再次转折后，说明GC与众人仍有共性，故可排除Only一词，从而选择Even作为段首词。之后，文中一组not only … but …，使suggests赖explains而生。

　　Ashkenazim generally do well in IQ tests, scoring 12-15 points above the mean value of 100, and have contributed disproportionately to the intellectual and cultural life of the West, as the careers of Freud, Einstein and Mahler, pictured above, affirm. They also suffer more often than most people from a number of nasty genetic diseases, such as Tay-Sachs and breast cancer. These facts, however, have previously been thought unrelated. The former has been put down to social effects, such as a strong tradition of valuing education. The latter was seen as a consequence of genetic isolation. Even now, Ashkenazim tend to marry among themselves. In the past they did so almost exclusively. Dr Cochran, however, suspects that the intelligence and the diseases are intimately linked. His argument is that the unusual history of the Ashkenazim has subjected them to unique evolutionary pressures that have resulted in this paradoxical state of affairs.

　　末段中以also连接了第一、二句，从而促成了disproportionately与more often than的呼应。之后又以The former与The latter这样简单的对应结构促成了put down to与as a consequence of的呼应关系。文末，一个however将GC观点与之前former、latter对立观点进行转折，从而不难推导出linked一词的选择，继而后一句中对GC观点详细阐述中paradoxical一词也就不难从“矛盾统一论”中获得证明。

　　最后，从文章整体措辞风格看，作者的一些惯有风格不难捕捉，文中3次用到however插入主谓结构间，2次将现有情况与先例或先见进行比较，均用到表示转折的actually和however等词，且指代“之前“时2次使用previously一词。经过仔细的观察，不难发现这些多次的重复与作者用词习惯、思维习惯以及表达习惯等都息息相关，因此善于从文章总体脉络入手的同学在解这类题中也不免占点小便宜。

　　考研考试与完型题型本身向来秉承严谨逻辑思维的特点在本次考试中再次得以完美体现，所以笔者认为考研完型解题仍需从大的文章框架结构体系入手，以庖丁解牛之技沿逻辑脉络肢解全文，挖掘相应线索，方能做到游刃有余。