寧夏

在平時(shí)的常規(guī)教學(xué)中，布置考試是教師不可避免的一項(xiàng)任務(wù)。筆者總會(huì)聽(tīng)到同事說(shuō)：“最近學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)的積極性不高了，應(yīng)該出套簡(jiǎn)單的卷子，讓學(xué)生考好點(diǎn)，給他們打打氣?！被蛘呤恰白罱@些孩子有些飄了，出套難點(diǎn)的卷子打擊一下他們，讓他們收收心。”可是，如果直接使用成卷，試卷的難度不好把控，考試的效果可能會(huì)適得其反。那么，如何根據(jù)學(xué)生的學(xué)情，原創(chuàng)一套難度適宜的試卷呢？下面，筆者就自己的命題經(jīng)驗(yàn)，與各位同仁一起探討如何調(diào)控閱讀理解試題的難度。

一、文本的選擇

以下是一篇選自科學(xué)美國(guó)人網(wǎng)站的科普性文章。文章的內(nèi)容是海洋的噪音導(dǎo)致寬吻海豚采用簡(jiǎn)化叫聲并提高音量的方式來(lái)進(jìn)行交流，而這樣做，對(duì)小海豚的成長(zhǎng)是不利的。該文章原文詞數(shù)為330，比較符合出題的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。這樣的文章在試卷中往往是壓軸的閱讀理解題，很多學(xué)生一看到科普類文章，就會(huì)產(chǎn)生畏難情緒，不知該如何著手。要想降低這篇文章的難度，可以壓縮文章的總詞數(shù)，刪除一些補(bǔ)充性的內(nèi)容以及修飾性的句式，只保留文章的中心含義即可。如果需要保持科普類文本的難度，這篇文章的詞數(shù)是合適的，只需要對(duì)有些專業(yè)性的內(nèi)容進(jìn)行修改即可。

Bottlenose dolphins simplify and raise the pitch of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise.Christopher Intagliata reports.

The oceans are getting louder. And coastal areas are some of the noisiest, as in this underwater recording, captured 17 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.

The noise could be a problem for marine mammals,which, like us, use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, they might have to do that too.”Helen Bailey is a marine biologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

She and her colleagues recorded two months of underwater sounds, in that same area off the coast of Maryland. They used automated software to fish out 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and visually compared the spectrograms.Here’s a normal whistle.

But what they found was that dolphins dumbed down the complexity of their whistles and raised their pitch, when they were competing with shipping noise. Which apparently helps,but could also hurt, their ability to communicate.

“By using simpler calls, yes, there is a risk they’re not communicating as much information as they would if it was quieter. Also for younger dolphins they actually learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”

The results—and a few of those spectrograms—are in the journal Biology Letters. [Leila Fouda et al., Dolphins simplify their vocal calls in response to increased ambient noise]

The survey site is the proposed future home of a wind farm—which could mean lots of noise as the huge towers are installed. Until then, it’s the chronic roar of ships and boats that Bailey wants people to ponder.“I think people think about boats in terms of the emissions, just like with cars. And I think what we need to think about is sound is also an emission.”

簡(jiǎn)單的文本：

Bottlenose dolphins（寬吻海豚）can raise their sounds to be above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.

The oceans are getting louder. Because there is more noise. The noise could be a problem for sea animals, which use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar,we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.” Helen Bailey is a scientist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

She and her team recorded two months of underwater sounds. They used a software to record 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and did some research.

But what they found was that dolphins made their whistles simple and raised their sounds, when they were competing with shipping noise. It helps, but could also hurt their ability to communicate.

“By using simpler calls, there is a risk that they’re not communicating as much information as they would do in the quiet place. Also for younger dolphins they learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”

What’s worse, there will be a wind farm near the coast,which could mean lots of noise. Until then, the sound of ships will go on damaging the dolphins. “I think people think about boats in terms of the emissions, just like with cars. And I think what we need to think about is sound is also an emission.”Helen Bailey said.（245 字）

困難的文本：

Bottlenose dolphins（寬吻海豚）simplify and raise the tune of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.

The oceans are getting louder. And coastal areas are some of the noisiest, as in this underwater recording, captured 17 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.

The noise could be a problem for marine mammals,which, like us, use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.” Helen Bailey is a marine biologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

She and her colleagues recorded two months of underwater sounds, in that same area off the coast of Maryland.They used automated software to fish out 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and visually compared the spectrograms（圖譜）.

But what they found was that dolphins cut down the complexity of their whistles and raised their tune, when they were competing with shipping noise. It apparently helps, but could also hurt their ability to communicate.

“By using simpler calls, yes, there is a risk they’re not communicating as much information as they would if it was quieter. Also for younger dolphins they actually learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”

The results—and a few of those spectrograms—are in the journal Biology Letters.

The survey site is the proposed future home of a wind farm—which could mean lots of noise as the huge towers are installed. Until then, it’s the chronic roar of ships and boats that Bailey wants people to ponder.“I think people think about boats in terms of the emissions, just like with cars. And I think what we need to think about is sound is also an emission.”（314 字）

二、命題的范圍及難度的把控

根據(jù)《考試大綱》對(duì)于考生閱讀能力的要求：1. 理解主旨要義；2.理解文中具體信息；3.根據(jù)上下文推斷單詞和短語(yǔ)的含義；4.做出判斷和推理；5.理解文章的基本結(jié)構(gòu)；6.理解作者的意圖、觀點(diǎn)和態(tài)度。我們可以在試題命制中以前四項(xiàng)要求為主要的命題形式，即細(xì)節(jié)理解題、推理判斷題、詞義猜測(cè)題和主旨大意題。下面筆者以上文中較難的文本為例，介紹命題思路和方法。

1.細(xì)節(jié)理解題

細(xì)節(jié)理解題考查的是考生對(duì)于文本中細(xì)節(jié)內(nèi)容的掌握。通常以when, where, what, which, who, how much/many等疑問(wèn)詞開頭引出問(wèn)題。正確選項(xiàng)的設(shè)置通常是直接使用原文詞句或者使用原文詞句的同義詞句。而干擾項(xiàng)的設(shè)置則包括以下幾點(diǎn)：（1）答非所問(wèn)：選項(xiàng)是原文信息，但不是題目要求的內(nèi)容，或者只是利用原文中的詞匯編造選項(xiàng)；（2）無(wú)中生有：選項(xiàng)符合常理，但無(wú)法在原文中找到語(yǔ)義的來(lái)源和依據(jù)；（3）張冠李戴：把屬于甲的特征放在乙的身上。（4）偷梁換柱：選項(xiàng)所使用的句子結(jié)構(gòu)、詞匯等與原文相似度較高，只是在細(xì)節(jié)地方更換了一兩個(gè)詞，造成句意的改變。

文章第五段第一句為“But what they found was that dolphins cut down the complexity of their whistles and raised their tune, when they were competing with shipping noise.”，其句意為“但他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)海豚在與航運(yùn)噪音進(jìn)行對(duì)抗時(shí)，會(huì)降低哨聲的復(fù)雜性，并提高音調(diào)?！惫P者在此處設(shè)置了一道細(xì)節(jié)理解題：

When will the bottlenose dolphins raise their tune according to the text?

A. When they want to catch more fish in the sea.（無(wú)中生有）

B. When they want to compete with ship noise.（原句）

C. When they want to record their sound.（張冠李戴）

D. When they want to teach the young dolphins.（偷梁換柱）

如果想要降低這道細(xì)節(jié)理解題的難度，可增加無(wú)中生有的選項(xiàng)，如：

When will the bottlenose dolphins raise their tune according to the text?

A. When they want to catch more fish in the sea.（無(wú)中生有）

B. When they want to compete with ship noise.（原句）

C. When they want to sing loud songs with others.（無(wú)中生有）

D. When they feel angry with the ships.（無(wú)中生有）

2.推理判斷題

推理判斷題主要考查考生的批判性思維能力以及較深刻的理解能力，考生不僅僅要讀懂文章的字面意思，還要體會(huì)作者在文章中所隱含的真實(shí)意圖。這樣的試題通常其題干中會(huì)出現(xiàn) infer, imply, indicate, suggest, show 等詞匯，考查內(nèi)容有推斷寫作目的和意圖、作者的觀點(diǎn)和態(tài)度、文章的深層含義；判斷文章的出處。而干擾項(xiàng)的設(shè)置包括以下幾點(diǎn)：（1）自以為是：以自己的觀點(diǎn)代替作者的觀點(diǎn)；（2）過(guò)猶不及：推理過(guò)頭，夸大原文中的細(xì)節(jié)；（3）曲解意圖：歪曲作者的目的和意圖；（4）答非所問(wèn)：直接照搬原文中的信息，并非按照題干要求進(jìn)行推理判斷。

根據(jù)文章第六段內(nèi)容“By using simpler calls, yes, there is a risk they’re not communicating as much information as they would if it was quieter. Also for younger dolphins they actually learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”可知 ,如果一直使用簡(jiǎn)單高亢的聲音，那么寬吻海豚就會(huì)面臨危機(jī)，不會(huì)像安靜的時(shí)候那樣交流更多的信息，而年幼的海豚是通過(guò)傾聽(tīng)來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)的，即如果這種情況一直持續(xù)下去，寬吻海豚的能力就會(huì)退化。筆者設(shè)置的推理判斷題如下：

What will happen to the bottlenose dolphins if the situation continues?

A. More and more bottlenose dolphins will love to make loud noise.（自以為是）

B. People will lose the bottlenose dolphins forever.（ 過(guò)猶不及）

C. They will have to make long journeys in the ocean.（過(guò)猶不及）

D. They will lose the ability to convey complicated information.（深層閱讀，合理推斷）

如果要簡(jiǎn)化推理判斷題，可以考查學(xué)生對(duì)文本體裁的理解或者對(duì)作者觀點(diǎn)態(tài)度的判斷。如：

What is the author’s attitude towards the wind farm?

A. Negative.

B. Positive.

C. Ambiguous.

D. Supportive.

根據(jù)文章最后一段最后兩句可知，作者認(rèn)為噪音也是一種污染，而該段第一句提到風(fēng)力發(fā)電站會(huì)產(chǎn)生大量噪音，由此可知作者對(duì)于建設(shè)風(fēng)力發(fā)電站的態(tài)度是消極的，故答案為A。

如果要增加試題的難度，可以考慮在干擾項(xiàng)中增加自以為是的選項(xiàng)，混淆考生的思維。如：

根據(jù)文章第三段第二句“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.”可知，Helen Bailey以人們?cè)卩须s的酒吧里通過(guò)提高音量來(lái)進(jìn)行交流為例，說(shuō)明在噪音大的環(huán)境中，寬吻海豚也會(huì)像人類一樣無(wú)法輕聲細(xì)語(yǔ)地進(jìn)行交流。試題可以設(shè)為：

What can we infer from Helen Bailey’s remarks in the third paragraph ？

A. Loud noise may damage the hearing of Bottlenose dolphins.（自以為是）

B. Noise may make the bottlenose dolphins have trouble listening to each other.（合理推理）

C. Bottlenose dolphins may move away from the noisy coastal areas.（自以為是）

D. Bottlenose dolphins may only communicate with each other by sound.（自以為是）

3.詞義猜測(cè)題

猜測(cè)詞義有兩種，一種是猜測(cè)生詞生義，一種是猜測(cè)熟詞生義。詞義猜測(cè)題往往在文章的上下文中有提示，考生可以根據(jù)上下文的語(yǔ)境進(jìn)行推理。有難度的詞義猜測(cè)題可以考查短語(yǔ)、熟詞生義等。而干擾項(xiàng)的設(shè)置可以通過(guò)熟詞的基本含義來(lái)誤導(dǎo)學(xué)生。筆者在文章第四段設(shè)置了一道詞義猜測(cè)題：

She and her colleagues recorded two months of underwater sounds, in that same area off the coast of Maryland. They used automated software to fish out 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and visually compared the spectrograms （圖譜）.

What does the underlined phrase“fish out”mean in the fourth paragraph?

A. To separate.

B. To record the sound.

C. To catch.

D. To swim like a fish.

根據(jù)該段內(nèi)容可知，研究者們記錄了海底的聲音長(zhǎng)達(dá)兩個(gè)月，這其中包含了各種噪音，他們?cè)倮密浖褜捨呛ｋ嗟穆曇魪母鞣N噪音中“提煉，分離”出來(lái)，進(jìn)行視覺(jué)化的圖譜比較。故答案為A。

而考查指示代詞的詞義猜測(cè)題就比較簡(jiǎn)單了，干擾項(xiàng)可以是范圍過(guò)大、過(guò)小或錯(cuò)誤等，如文章的第三段內(nèi)容：The noise could be a problem for marine mammals, which, like us, use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.” 可以設(shè)題如下：

What does the underlined word“they”refer to?

A. Marine mammals.（指代上文）

B. The dolphins.（范圍過(guò)?。?/p>

C. Human beings.（范圍錯(cuò)誤）

D. Sea animals. （范圍過(guò)大）

該段第一句表明，噪音對(duì)于像人類一樣使用聲音來(lái)交流的海洋哺乳動(dòng)物而言，是一個(gè)問(wèn)題，故答案為A。

4.主旨大意題

主旨大意題通常考查考生對(duì)文章通篇的理解能力。常見(jiàn)的考查方式包括考查篇章主旨（概括全文的主題）、段落主旨（某一自然段或某幾自然段的主題）和文章的最佳標(biāo)題。而干擾項(xiàng)的設(shè)置通常包括以下幾點(diǎn)：（1）以偏概全：用某一自然段的大意來(lái)概括整篇文章的中心思想 ；（2）斷章取義：以事實(shí)、細(xì)節(jié)替代全文或某段的主要觀點(diǎn)；（3）過(guò)度概括：選項(xiàng)歸納概括的范圍過(guò)大，超出文章闡述的內(nèi)容；（4）捏造事實(shí)：與文章內(nèi)容毫不相干或與文章內(nèi)容相悖。因?yàn)榭忌ㄟ^(guò)閱讀文章的第一段或者最后一段來(lái)對(duì)文章總體內(nèi)容進(jìn)行概括，那么，命題人在命題時(shí)，反套路而為之，就會(huì)增加試題的難度。此外，考生常會(huì)選擇簡(jiǎn)短的選項(xiàng)，那么在命制文章標(biāo)題概括題的干擾項(xiàng)時(shí)，反其道而行，容易讓考生掉入“陷阱”。如：

What is the best title for the text?

A. Sound Is Also an Emission

B. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune

C. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune to Teach the Young

D. Bottlenose Dolphins Make Easy Calls to Compete with Ship Noise

根據(jù)文章主要內(nèi)容可知，寬吻海豚通過(guò)簡(jiǎn)化叫聲并提高音量的方式來(lái)進(jìn)行交流，是為了對(duì)抗船舶的噪音，故答案為D。

而要降低這種題型的難度，命題人可以按照考生的常規(guī)思維，對(duì)文章的大意進(jìn)行總結(jié)，使選項(xiàng)符合文章標(biāo)題簡(jiǎn)短、醒目、概括的特點(diǎn)，四個(gè)選項(xiàng)長(zhǎng)度相當(dāng)，干擾項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤明顯一些，這樣可以讓考生信心大增。如上述試題，可以設(shè)為：

What is the best title for the text?

A. How to Protect the Marine Mammals—Bottlenose Dolphins?

B. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune to Help the Wind Farm

C. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune to Communicate with Ships

D. Bottlenose Dolphins Make Easy Calls to Compete with Ship Noise

總而言之，在命制閱讀理解試題的時(shí)候，簡(jiǎn)單或者困難，都是為了檢驗(yàn)教師的教學(xué)效果，以便更好地為學(xué)生服務(wù)，更好地改進(jìn)教師的教學(xué)方略，教師不能為了難住學(xué)生而刻意出偏、難、怪的試題。而應(yīng)該以整套試題為綱，合理配比，以期達(dá)到預(yù)設(shè)目的。