一般說來，文章的主旨大意指的是一篇文章的中心思想或主題。主旨大意類試題主要考查學(xué)生正確辨別語篇主題的能力。這種能力要求學(xué)生們能夠在充分理解語篇大意的基礎(chǔ)上，通過概括、演繹、推理等方法來找出語篇的主旨，即文章的中心思想或主題?？忌虢獯鸫祟愒囶}最主要的就是要抓住文章的主題句?？v觀近幾年英語高考試題，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，每套試題的閱讀理解題中通常有一到兩個主旨大意類題目，而且涉及考查主旨大意的題目一般包括以下幾個方面：1.文章標(biāo)題類；2.段落大意類；3.文章主題類。筆者結(jié)合近幾年的高考真題，談?wù)劷獯鹬髦即笠忸愒囶}的技巧，希望對學(xué)生的學(xué)習(xí)有所幫助。

一、歸納標(biāo)題類

標(biāo)題對文章的重要程度就像眼睛對人的重要程度一樣。換句話說標(biāo)題就是文章的點(diǎn)睛之筆。一般說來，語篇的標(biāo)題必須能夠準(zhǔn)確地概括整個語篇的主旨或中心內(nèi)容。此類試題常見的命題形式有以下幾種：

1.Which of the following can be/might be the best title for the passage？

2.What can be the best /a suitable title for the text？

3.The suitable/ best /most suitable headline /title of this passage may be __________

【名校聯(lián)考試題部分內(nèi)容】

When I was growing up， I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard， but was always very kind.

When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives， he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle： “No pain， no gain”. He hardly watered his new trees， an attitude which flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive.

He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how， if they were not watered， trees would grow deep roots in search of water.

Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then， I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some 25 years ago. They were tall and strong.

I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew， their branches trembled. Adversity seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb’s trees in ways comfort and ease never could.

Every night before I go to bed， I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to encounter hardship. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots， so when the rains fall and the winds blow， we won’t be torn apart.

35. Which of the following is the best title for the article？

A. Deep roots count

B. Prayers for my sons

C. Doctor Gibbs and his trees

D. Trees need no water

【語篇解讀】本語篇是一篇記敘文。作者小時候發(fā)現(xiàn)他的鄰居醫(yī)生在給病人看病之余，喜歡植樹。作者發(fā)現(xiàn)他的醫(yī)生鄰居植樹與別人植樹有所不同：他很少給樹澆水。作者向醫(yī)生請教，醫(yī)生解釋到：如果經(jīng)常給樹澆水，可能會造成根系腐爛，導(dǎo)致樹長得矮小，生命力不強(qiáng)。如果不經(jīng)常給樹澆水，樹就會把樹根扎得很深，從而汲取地下水。后來作者成為父親后，他把醫(yī)生的植樹哲理應(yīng)用到教育自己的孩子身上，多讓孩子們在成長過程中經(jīng)歷苦難，從而像樹一樣變得堅強(qiáng)，經(jīng)受得起風(fēng)吹雨打等惡劣天氣，從而茁壯成長。

【答案詳解】 A。此題為主旨大意題，需要選擇最佳標(biāo)題。根據(jù)What we need to do is to pray for deep roots及deep roots在文章中多次出現(xiàn)，用它來表明樹的成長要扎深根，人們成長要經(jīng)歷風(fēng)雨，故選項A（深根很重要）為正確答案。

【方法點(diǎn)撥】語篇的標(biāo)題是對語篇的中心思想或主旨的闡述。文章標(biāo)題的選項，一般具有“短而精”“概括性強(qiáng)”“醒目”等特點(diǎn)。在解答此類試題時，我們要運(yùn)用略讀法（skimming）了解文章大意，以最快的速度跳躍式地瀏覽整個語篇，在理解語篇內(nèi)容的基礎(chǔ)上運(yùn)用歸納、概括等方法對語篇的中心思想或主題進(jìn)行提煉。

二、段落大意類

英語語篇的每個自然段都有一個中心，我們可以通過找到段落的主題句來確定段落的中心思想。一般來說，每個自然段的主題句多數(shù)在段首或者段尾；有時段落主題句也可能出現(xiàn)在段落的中間。對于在語篇中沒有寫出明顯的主題句，這就需要我們根據(jù)段落的內(nèi)容概括出段落的主題句。段落大意類主旨大意題主要命題形式有：

1.The main idea of the third /second paragraph probably is that ____.

2.What does the____ paragraph chiefly talk about？

3.What dose the writer try to express in paragraph 6？

4.Which of the following can best summarize paragraph 2？

5.What can we learn from paragraph 4？

【名校聯(lián)考題部分內(nèi)容】

I remember doing the household chores to help my mother when I was nine .I hated changing the vacuum cleaner bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up. Twenty years later， in 1978， with this lifelong dislike of the way the machine worked， I decided to make a bagless one.

Easier said than done， of course. I didn’t realize that I would spend the next five years perfecting my design，a process that resulted in 5，127 different prototypes.… These were tough times， but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.

……

2.What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us？

A. The help from the author’s wife.

B. The financial problems of the family.

C. The tough process of the new invention.

D. The procedures of making a bagless cleaner.

【語篇解讀】本文是一篇記敘文，屬于“人與自我”的主題，內(nèi)容為創(chuàng)新意識。語篇講述了作者發(fā)明無袋吸塵器的經(jīng)歷與過程，向我們揭示了“失敗是成功之母”的哲理。

【答案詳解】本題是主旨大意類試題，屬于考查段落大意類的題目。由語篇第二段首句“Easier said than done， of course. ”和最后一句“These were tough times， but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.”可知，本段主要講作者發(fā)明無袋吸塵器的過程中遇到的一些困難。故C項為正確答案。

【方法點(diǎn)撥】解答段落大意類主旨大意題的關(guān)鍵是抓住段落主題句。段落主題句出現(xiàn)在段首或段尾的頻率較高，在段首的主題句多為段首的前一兩句話；在段尾的主題句多為結(jié)論或總結(jié)的話。但有時主題句也可能在段落中間，此時前面的話是為了引出主題。

三、文章主題類

每篇文章都有個中心。 找文章的主題句是獲取文章中心思想的有效方法。我們知道，語篇的主題句在語篇中起統(tǒng)領(lǐng)全文的作用。主題句一般具有“簡潔性”“概括性”的特點(diǎn)。文章主題類主旨大意題的命題形式主要有以下幾種：

1.What is the main theme /topic /idea/ of this passage？

2.The passage/text is mainly about________

【名校聯(lián)考試題部分內(nèi)容】

Britain’s streets are becoming increasingly crowed with throwaway facemasks and protective gloves ，a survey has found ， and councils warn that they are battling with mountain of personal protective equipment litter.

……

Scientists ， however， have warned that even if masks are dealt with properly ， 124，000 tons single-use facemasks could end up in landfills if people do not switch to reusable coverings.

4.What is the text mainly about？

A. The benefits of wearing facemasks .

B. The way of dealing with rubbish.

C. The problem of handling personal protective equipment litter.

D. The importance of protecting individuals.

【語篇解讀】本文為說明文，涉及的是“人與自然”語境下的的保護(hù)環(huán)境方面的內(nèi)容。調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，英國街道上的一次性口罩和防護(hù)手套越來越多，許多地方的議會正在應(yīng)對堆積如山的個人防護(hù)裝備垃圾。一些科學(xué)家認(rèn)為使用可重復(fù)使用的個人防護(hù)裝備更好。

【答案詳解】本題屬于主旨大意類題 。通讀整個語篇，我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，第一段為語篇的主旨段，根據(jù)第一段最后一句“and councils warn that they are battling with mountain of personal protective equipment litter. ”可知，語篇的主要內(nèi)容是處理PPE垃圾的問題，所以答案為C項。

【方法點(diǎn)撥】在語篇中找主題句是歸納中心思想最有效的方法之一。語篇的主題句一般出現(xiàn)在首段或者結(jié)尾段，因此在解答此類試題時我們尤其要注意語篇的首段或結(jié)尾段。除此之外，任何語篇的中心思想一般會貫穿整個語篇，這就需要學(xué)生通讀全文并抓住每個自然段或每個層次的主要含義，并對從語篇中獲取的信息進(jìn)行加工提煉。通過對語篇的分析，把握語篇內(nèi)部的邏輯關(guān)系，將每段的主題貫穿起來從而快速準(zhǔn)確地找出語篇的中心思想。

總之，閱讀理解題中的主旨大意類題考查的是對文章內(nèi)容的深層次理解。它要求學(xué)生在充分理解全文的前提下，對整篇文章的主旨大意有一個較為清晰的認(rèn)知。主旨大意類試題既考查了學(xué)生們的閱讀理解能力又考查他們的深層次推理和概括能力。要想在此類試題上獲得高分，學(xué)生要能很好地運(yùn)用概括、判斷、歸納以及推理等邏輯方法來解題。此外，弄清文章的體裁也有助于總結(jié)出語篇主題。對于不同體裁的語篇，我們要根據(jù)語篇體裁的特點(diǎn)，運(yùn)用不同的方法快速準(zhǔn)確理解語篇的中心思想。