专业技术人员以英语为工具，主要通过阅读获取相关学科和专业的信息，因此，全国专业技术职称英语等级考试也主要是考阅读理解。从考试题型来看，主要是多项选择题。该题型在职称英语等级考试中占15题，45分(占总分的45％)。另外，全国专业技术职称英语等级考试中还采用了阅读判断、概括大意与完成句子、补全短文和选择填空等题型，它们实质上也是考核阅读能力的题型。由此可见，为了通过全国专业技术职称英语等级考试，必须掌握最基本的阅读技能，努力提高阅读理解能力。
全国职称英语等级考试大纲就阅读理解能力的考核目标作了如下规定：
读者应能综合运用英语语言知识和阅读技能来理解本专业的或一般内容的英语书面材料。阅读能力主要包括下列几个方面：
1．掌握所读材料的主旨和大意；
2．了解阐述主旨的事实和细节；
3．利用上下文猜测某些词汇和短语的意义；
4．既理解个别句子的意义，也理解上下文之间的意义关系；
5．根据所读材料进行判断和推论；
6．领会作者的观点、意图和态度。
根据考试大纲规定的考核目标，我们归纳出相应的六种阅读理解题的类型，并具体地探讨如何答好这些阅读理解题。
1．掌握所读材料的主旨和大意
掌握所读材料的主旨和大意是正确理解全文的关键。对主题思想的提问是阅读理解测试的必考题。但提问方式及用词都有差异，这类题常见提问方式可归纳如下：
1. The main idea of this passage is _______
2. This passage tells us_______
3. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
4. Which of the following sentences best summarizes the author's main point?
5. Which of the following best states the theme of the passage?
6. The subject matter of this selection is ______
7. The passage mainly discusses_______
8. This passage illustrates ______
9. This paragraph centers / focuses on ______
10. This passage mainly deals with ______
11. This passage is chiefly concerned with ______
12. The author's purpose in writing this passage is _______
13. What is the passage mainly about?
14. What is the best title of the passage?
15. The major point discussed in the passage is
解答这一类题目的基本方法如下：
A．找出主题句。首先要读标题，因为标题往往是主题句中的核心词或概括性的词。抓住全文中心思想的最快捷的途径就是找出主题句。主题句一般位于文章或段落的开始，然后围绕主题展开论述。因为许多作者喜欢采用从一般到个别的论证或叙述方式，即演绎法(deduction)。这是一种很常见的文章或段落的写作形式。若作者采用归纳法(induction)，即从个别到一般来论证或叙述，主题旬就会位于段末。除此之外，主题句还有可能位于段落的中间。找到主题句后，就应以它为标准，在解题时，凡是与主题句意思最接近的选项必然是正确的答案。
例1
In rock music there is a distinct and almost overwhelming beat．No single beat is characteristic of the music today. But each song has an easily recognizable rhythm．As you listen to a son9，your foot usually starts to pick up the beat．Before lon9，your entire body seems to be moving with it．Your head pounds with the beat，and there is no room for thought．only the surge of the music is important．In its own way，rock music is as dominant as the rock Gibraltar. Its message is an evergrowing emotional one．
在这一段文章中 "In rock music there is a distinct and almost overwhelming beat." 为主题句。beat则是句子的信息核心。该词在第2、4、6句里重复出现，而第3句中的"rhythm"(节奏)跟"beat"(强烈的节奏)意思基本一致，这就保证了主题平稳而持续的发展。请注意：第8、9句作者重申并总结了主题句，而不是说段末是主题句。
例2
The vegetable and fruit and flower merchants are surrounded by baskets of purple eggplants， green peppers，strings of tiny silvery onions，heads of bitter Indian spinach．and a dozen Indian vegetables for which I don't even know the English names．I had forgotten about the profusion of fruit in India—it is only during the brief intense summer that you see much variety of fruit in Moscow. In Russia，as winter approaches all vegetables except for potatoes and the pervasive cabbage in soup seem to disappear from the menus．
主题句在中间的第二句"I had forgotten about the profusion of fruit in India—it is only during the brief intense summer that you see much variety of fruit in Moscow."
例3
People live in cities today think that meat is something that comes wrapped in cellophane．from the supermarket，potatoes come by the pound in plastic or paper bags，and feather grows in hats. The city dwellers' views are quite different from the views of their ancestors, who knew that? meat is hunted down in the forest，potatoes are planted and weeded，and only birds can produce1eathers. Yet, whether people today realize it or not，they are still as dependent on animals and plants for their existence as their ancestors were．
主题句为最后一句 "Yet，whether people today realize it or not，they are still as dependent on animals and plants for their existence as their ancestors were."
以上为叙述的方便并考虑到篇幅的限制，只选单段短文为例。实际上阅读理解题中大部分是多段短文。但主题句一般出现在起始段。
B．概括和归纳出主题思想。实际上，在阅读理解测试部分有的文章是没有主题句的。这是由于文章的体裁不同或是由于阅读的短文是从篇幅较长的文章中节选的。这时就要靠读者自己进行概括或归纳隐含的主题思想了。概括主题可以从归纳每段的要点开始(大部分阅读理解短文都是由数段组成)，最后将各段要点集中概括并归纳出全文的主题思想。下面不妨考察几个例子：
例4
A bus driver must answer questions while guiding a bus through heavy traffic. All day long, the driver answers the same questions without becoming angry. Every few minutes a bus driver has to ask passengers to step to the rear of the bus. In spite of traffic snarls and thoughtless passengers who cause delays, a bus driver is expected to cover his or her route on schedule.
这一段的隐含主题句可概括为"Driving a bus is hard work."
例5
A green I-538 form is used by international students in order to obtain permission from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to transfer from one university to another in the United States. If you are planning to transfer, remember that you must obtain the permission before leaving the university where you are currently studying. You must complete the form I-538, have it signed by the foreign student advisor, and submit it to the District Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service together with the form I-20 from the new school and the small, white form I-94 that was affixed to your passport when you entered the country.
Submitting the signed 1-538 and other documents does not insure permission to transfer. only an official of Immigration can decide each case. Students who have not completed one term of study at the school that issued them their first I-20 are not advised to file for permission to transfer until they have completed one term.
这篇短文的隐含主题旬可归纳为 "What should an international student d0．if he or she wants to transfer from one university to another in the United States.''
2．了解阐述主旨的事实和细节
为了准确理解每篇文章或每段文章的中心思想，我们必须要找到与中心思想有关的事实和细节。一个好的作者必然会引用事实、或分析原因、或对比事物间的关系等以论证自己的论点。常用以提问这类事实和细节的问题有两种。一种是要求找出文章中的重要事实或细节，这些常与wh0，when，where，which或why有关。另一种问题是辨认哪些细节在文章中没被提及。这些问题常有except，not(mentioned／true)，least等。例如：
1. What causes ?2. Some people do sth. because__________3. Sb. is … because ________.4. Why does the author mention ...?5. Which of the following best characterizes the main feature of...?6. Where in the passage does the author describe...?7. Which of the following does the author want to illustrate in discussing ...?8. What time does the writer think is ?9. What does the author pay least attention to?10. Which of the following is not a result of _______?11. All of the following may be ... except ________.12. Which of the following is not mentioned?13. Which of the following statements is true ?14. The author states all of the items listed except_______.
为了正确回答这一类题目，读者往往要采用各种阅读方法和解题技巧，也就是综合解题法。在通读全文、掌握文章的中心大意的基础上，首先要仔细看懂问题，明确问的是什么，然后按照题意进行寻读，找到正确答案的根据。
例1
Ours has become a society of employees. A hundred years or so ago only one out of every five Americans at work was employed, i.e., worked for somebody else. Today only one out of five is not employed but working for himself. And when fifty years ago "being employed" meant working as a factory laborer or as a farmhand, the employee of today is increasingly a middle-class person with a substantial formal education, holding a professional or management job requiring intellectual and technical skills. Indeed, two things have characterized American society during these last fifty years: middle-class and upper-class employees have been the fastest-growing groups in our working population --growing so fast that the industrial worker, that oldest child of the Industrial Revolution, has been losing in numerical importance despite the expansion of industrial production.
Yet you will find little if anything written on what it is to be an employee. You can find a great deal of very dubious advice on how to get a job or how to get a promotion. You can also find a good deal of work in a chosen field, whether it will be the mechanist's trade or bookkeeping. Every one of these trades requires different skills, sets different standards, and requires a different preparation. Yet they all have employeeship in common. And increasingly, especially in the large business or in government, employeeship is more important to success than the special professional knowledge or skill. Certainly more people fail because they do not know the requirements of being an employee than because they do not adequately possess the skills of their trade; the higher you climb the ladder, the more you get into administrative or executive work, the greater the emphasis on ability to work within the organization rather than on technical abilities or professional knowledge.
1. According to the passage, with the development of modem industry, .A. factory laborers will overtake intellectual employees in number B. there are as many middle-class employees as factory laborersC. employers have attached great importance to factory laborersD. the proportion of factory laborers in the total employee population has decreased
本题具体涉及对第一段的中心意思的理解，尤其是对这段最后一句中losing in numerical importance的确切理解。这一段的大致意思是，当今的社会已经成为一个雇员的社会。大约在100年前，5个美国人中只有1个人是被雇佣为别人干活的。今天，5个人中只有l个人是为自己干而不被雇佣的。50年前，被雇佣就意味着当工厂或农场的劳动力。而今天，越来越多的雇员是接受过正规教育的中产阶层。他们承担了需要智力和技术的职业或管理工作。50年以来，美国社会的确有两个特点：中层和上层雇员成了工薪队伍中人数快速增长的一部分一—其速度之快使得作为工业革命最早的产物的产业工人在人数上相形见绌，尽管工业生产还在扩大规模。所以选项D是正确答案。选项A意思与选项D正好相反。同样，选项B和选项C都不对。
2. According to the writer, professional knowledge or skill is________.A. less important than awareness of being a good employeeB. as important as the ability to deal with public relationsC. more important than employer--employee relationsD. as important as the ability to co-operate with others in the organization
本题考查读者对文章第二段中关于专门知识和技能的重要性的论点的理解。学生可以 从最后一句找出正确答案。这一句指出，"人们失败的原因更多的是不具备当雇员的要素，而不是缺乏本行业的专业技能"。因此选项A是正确答案。选项B说的是公共关系的能力， 是误解，因为文章说的是单位内部开展工作的能力，如内部合作的好(the ability to work within the organization)。选项C把意思颠倒了。选项D说两者同等重要，当然也不对。
例2 To prepare for career in engineerin9, a student must begin planning in high school. Mathematics and science should form the core curriculum．For example，in a school where sixteen credit hours are required for high school graduation，four should be in mathematics，one each in chemistry，biology，and physics．The remaining credits should include four in English and at least three in the humanities and social sciences．The average entering freshman in engineering should have achieved at least a 2.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale in his or her high sch001． Although deficiencies can be corrected during the first year，the student who needs additional work should expect tO spend five instead of four years completing a degree．
1．What is the average grade point that an entering freshman in engineering should have achieved in his or her high school?答案：2．5．(看文章的第五句)
2．When should a student begin planning for a career in engineering? 答案：In high sch001．(看文章的第一句)
3．In normal situations，how many years are needed for a student to complete a degree?答案：Four．(看文章最后一句)
4．How many credits are required for a high school diploma?答案：Sixteen．(看文章第三句)
5．How many credits need a student have in English? 答案：Four．(看文章第四句)
3．根据上下文判断某些词汇和短语的意义 在阅读理解测试中必然要考查对词或词组的意思的理解。这也是测试考生阅读能力的一种方法。在完整的语篇中，单词和词组的意义总是受特定的情景、上下文所限制的，因此可以根据上下文，并利用所掌握的句法、构词法和词汇等知识确定它们的意义。掌握这一基本技能不仅能帮助读者从词或词组的多种义项中选择符合上下文的解释，而且往往还能推测某些生词的大致意思。常见的这类题型有：1. The word "..." in line ... refers to ______.2. The expression "..." (line paragraph ...) is closest in meaning to 3. In line.., the word "..." most probably means ________4. In line.., the word "..." could best be replaced by _________5. By "..." the author means _________6. The word "...", as used by the author, most nearly means ________7. In this passage, the word "..." means 8. "..." in the context of the passage refers to ¬¬¬_________9. "...", as used in the passage, can best be defined as _________
例1 Perhaps the most merciless robber of sleep, researchers say, is the complexity of the day. Whenever pressures from work, family, friends and community mount, many people consider sleep the least expensive item on his program. "In our society, you're considered dynamic if you say you only need 5.5 hours' sleep. If you've got to get 8.5 hours, people think you lack drive and ambition." To determine the consequences of sleep deficit, researchers have put subjects through a set of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. "We've found that if you're in sleep deficit, performance suffers," says Dr. David. "Short-term memory is weakened, as are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate."1. The word "subjects" in line 6 refers to ________.A. the performance tests used in the study of sleep deficit B. special branches of knowledge that are being studied C. people whose behavior or reactions are being studied D. the psychological consequences of sleep deficit
本题考了一个熟悉的词subject。它是一个多义词，可以表示"题目"、"科目"等。但这些义项在这里都不合适。要确定它的意思，最关键的是要准确弄清它所在句子前后部分的意思和关系。这句话前一部分说，要确定睡眠不足引起的后果，研究人员让subjects通过一系列的心理和能力的测验，要求them将几栏数字加起来或回忆几分钟前所听到过的文章。所以，这里subjects是人，是"正在被研究的对象"。选项C是正确答案。
例2 Labor's concern over automation arises from uncertainty about the effects on employment, and fears of major changes in jobs. In the main, labor has taken the view that resistance to technical change is unfruitful. Eventually, the result of automation may well be an increase in employment, since it is expected that vast industries will grow up around manufacturing, maintaining, and repairing automation equipment. The interest of labor lies in bringing about the transition with a minimum of inconvenience and distress to the workers involved. Also, union spokesmen emphasize that the benefit of the increased production and lower costs made possible by automation should be shared by workers in the form of higher wages, more leisure, and improved living standards. To protect the interests of their members in the era of automation, unions have adopted a number of new policies. One of these is the promotion of supplementary unemployment benefit plans. It is emphasized that since the employer involved in such a plan has a direct financial interest in preventing unemployment, he will have a strong drive for planning new installations so as to cause the least possible problems in jobs and job assignments. Some unions are working for dismissal pay agreements, requiring that permanently dismissed workers be paid a sum of money based on length of service. Another approach is the idea of the "improvement factor", which calls for wage increases based on increases in productivity. It is possible, however, that labor will rely mainly on reduction in working hours in order to gain a full share in the fruits of automation.1. The idea of the "improvement factor" ( line 7, paragraph 2) implies roughly______.A. wages should be paid on the basis of length of serviceB. the benefit of the increased production and lower costs should be shared by workers C. supplementary unemployment benefit plans should be promotedD. the transition to automation should be brought about with the minimum of inconvenience and distress to workers 本题要求学生根据上下文理解improvement factor(增值因素)的含义。在文章的第二段第七行，提出"增值因素"是要求随着生产率的提高，工资也要相应地提高；而生产率的提高就是增加生产降低成本(第一段最后一句)。因而选项B是正确答案。选项A，把解雇金协议(dismissal pay agreements)，即根据服务期长短给长期解雇者一笔钱(第二段第四句)，与"增值因素"的内容混淆起来，说明有时文章和题目并不难，但粗心大意会使你答错题。选项C是讲另一种劳工利益保护措施的，即失业者补助金计划；而选项D是讲工人们对自动化带来的种种影响所关切的问题 (第一段第六行)。
例3 Before the nineteenth century, scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings, but he was reluctant to go to sea to further his work. For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, let alone to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that the question "What is at the bottom of the oceans?" had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the route to estimate the length of cable that had to be manufactured. It was to Maury of the US Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in 1853, for information on this matter. In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings were taken to investigate the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Later, some of his findings aroused much popular interest in his book The Physical Geography of the Sea. The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent and reliable. At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs it was found to be covered in living growths, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper parts of the sea.
1．"Defied" in the last sentence probably means ________.A. 'doubted' B. '9ave proof to' C. 'challenged' D. 'agreed to '本题考查的是根据上下文进行词义猜测的能力。defied是defy的过去式，根据最后一句可以推测它的词义，但必须完全读懂defied前后部分的意思：前一部分是说从海底捞出的电缆上覆盖着各种各样的生物，后一部分是当时的科学观点认为海底深处是没有生命的。由此可见，前一部分的"事实''(…，a fact which…)是"批驳"后一部分的"观点"。所以，答案是选项C，"challenged"。这个词的原意是"向……挑战"，因而有"对……持异议"、"反对"的意思，其宾语常常是针对某种意见、观点或权威。
例4 We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching．On the contrary， both their knowledge and experience are enriched．We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming pupils．It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates．It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not—SO-bright child．After all，it Can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!1．By "held back"(1ine l)the author means"¬¬¬________"．A. made to remain in the same classB. forced to study in the lower class C. drawn to their studiesD. prevented from advancing 本题考的是对词组holdback的理解。根据上下文，它的意思是"阻挡，阻碍"，选项D是答案。当然holdback还可以表示(1)"犹豫"，如：I have noticed that you do not holdback in our discussion．(我发觉你在讨论时并不犹豫)；(2) "控制"，如：The dam was not strong enough to hold back the flood waters．(大坝不够坚固，挡不住洪水)；(3)"保留、不公布"，如： I think he's holding something back；he knows more than he admits．(我认为他还隐瞒了一些事情，他知道的比他承认的多)。对照上下文，选项A、B、C都不能表达hold back的意义。
例5In the workplace，men have long had well—defined precedents and role models for achieving Success．It has been otherwise for women．A good many women in the business world are uncertain about the appropriate mixture of ''masculine'' and "feminine" attributes they should convey by their professional clothing．The variety of clothing alternatives to women has also been greater than that available for men．Male administrators tend to judge women more favorably for managerial positions when the women display less "feminine" grooming—shorter hair．moderate use of make—up，and plain tailored clothing．As one male administrator confessed，"An attractive woman is definitely going to get a longer interview，but she won't get a job."1．The word "precedents" in line l probably refers to __________.A. early acts for men to follow as examplesB. particular places for men to occupy especially because of their importance C. things that men should agree uponD. men's belief that everything in the world has already been decided
本题要求考生推测precedents的意思。这个题目比较难，需要构词法的知识并通过上下文的帮助，才能答对。从第一、二句可以看出，precedents在意义上与role models是并列的。而且，它的前缀pre- 有"先"，"前"的意思，实际上它是precede(先行、领先)加后缀-ent构成的，意思是"先例，惯例"。所以只有选项A才是正确答案。
4．既理解个别句子的意义，也理解上下文之间的意义关系 阅读理解不能仅仅停留在句子水平上。有的读者对一篇文章的一些个别句子好像是理解的，但由于不能理解它们与上下文中其他句子的逻辑关系，因而整篇文章讲的是什么则不能准确掌握。在阅读理解测试中，考核这一阅读技能的题目是大量的，而且题干的形式和措词没有固定形式，但从考核目标和内容来看，这一类题目往往要求读者准确理解一些有关联的句子之间的种种逻辑关系(例如概括和举例说明、前因后果、行为动机、比较、条件或让步等)。例如：
1. Which of the following may cause/lead to ... according to the passage? 2. Sb. is asked/advised to do sth. Because ________.3. The aim of... is/was ______.4. The best solution for ... seems to be ________5. is specifically mentioned in paragraph ... as an example of _______.6. The author argues that a teacher's chief concern should be ________7. According to the passage/author, people differ in their opinions about .8. … encourages the use of sth. so that _______9. According to the passage the new device proved to be _________10. Which of the following best characterizes the main feature of... ?
例1Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.During the hours when you labor through your work you may say that you're "hot". That's true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues as: "Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to.If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or concentration for your sharper hours.1. If a person finds getting up early a problem, most probablyA. he is a lazy personB. he refuses to follow his own energy cycle C. he is not sure when his energy is lowD. he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening 本题在形式上是一个条件句，但实质上是要读者搞清楚人们能否早起同什么有关。也就是说，本题要求找到文章的第一句(Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful?)和其他有关句子的联系。文章的第二句说，"有人可能会把这说成是懒散，但 Kleitman博士却另有解释。" 因此选项A显然不对。再根据文章第二段中John的自言自语，以及紧接着的解释：John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening．依此推理，不能早起，则很可能和这个人的能量周期有关。因此选项D应是正确答案。
2. Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage? A. Unawareness of energy cycles.B. Familiar monologues.C. A change in a family member's energy cycle.D. Attempts to control the energy cycles of other family members. 本题的关键是看懂文章第二段的最后一句(即："Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean，and which cycle each member of the family has．")，同时联系本段的第四旬和第五旬(即："For some people the peak comes during the forenoon．For others it comes in the afternoon or evenin9．")的意思。该旬的直接意思是"如果丈夫和妻子能明白能量周期是怎么回事，以及家庭每个成员有什么样的周期，很多家庭争吵就会停止。"也就是说，家庭争吵的发生是因为丈夫和妻子不了解能量周期是怎么回事，更谈不上了解每个家庭成员有什么样的能量周期了。因此A项：Unawareness of energy cycles(不知道能量周期)应是正确答案。
3. If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point in the morning, he should _______.A. change his energy cycleB. overcome his lazinessC. get up earlier than usual D. go to bed earlier 本题要求读者找出文章第三段中的最后两句，并联系本段开头两旬的意思，作出正确判断。 文章第三段开头说，"虽然你无法改变自己的能量周期，但你可以使你的生活适合这一周期。Dr. Kleitman认为经常性的行为(对你的能量周期)能起作用。"最后两句又说，"…rise before your usual hour…work beaer at your low point．"("如果你在上午处于能量的低潮，但你有重要的工作要在上午做，那么你就要比平时早起。这并不改变你的周期，但你可以在低潮时得到能量，工作得更好。")因此选项C是正确答案。
4. You are advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will ______.A. help to keep your energy for the day's workB. help you to control your temper early in the day C. enable you to concentrate on your routine work D. keep your energy cycle under control all day 本题问的是因果关系。回答这一问题的关键是看懂文章最后一段的第二句和其他句子的联系。首先要注意这一段的第一句"Get off to a slow start which saves your energy"，也就是说早上慢慢起床可以节省能量。紧接该句的三个句子都是慢慢起床的具体做法。因此选项A是正确答案。
例2We all know that the normal human daily cycle of activity is of some 7-8 hours' sleep alternating with some 16-17 hours' wakefulness and that, broadly speaking, the sleep normally coincides with the hours of darkness. Our present concern is with how easily and to what extent this cycle can be modified.The question is no mere academic one. The ease, for example, with which people can change from working in the day to working at night is a question of growing importance in industry where automation calls for round-the-clock working of machines. It normally takes from five days to one week for a person to adapt to a reversed routine of sleep and wakefulness, sleeping during the day and working at night. Unfortunately, it is often the case in industry that shifts are changed every week; a person may work from 12 midnight to 8 a.m. one week,8 a.m. to 4 p.m. the next, and 4 p.m. to 12 midnight the third and so on. This means that no sooner has he got used to one routine than he has to change to another, so that much of his time is spent neither working nor sleeping very efficiently.The only real solution appears to be to hand over the night shift to a number of permanent night workers. An interesting study of the domestic life and health of night-shift workers was carried out by Brown in 1957. She found a high incidence of disturbed sleep and other disorders among those on alternating day and night shifts, but no abnormal occurrence of these phenomena among those on permanent night work.This latter system then appears to be the best long-term policy, but meanwhile something may be done to relieve the strains of alternate day and night work by selecting those people who can adapt most quickly to the changes of routine. One way of knowing when a person has adapted is by measuring his body temperature. People engaged in normal daytime work will have a high temperature during the hours of wakefulness and a low one at night; when they change to night work the pattern will only gradually go back to match the new routine and the speed with which it does so parallels, broadly speaking, the adaptation of the body as a whole, particularly in terms of performance. Therefore, by taking body temperature at intervals of two hours throughout the period of wakefulness it can be seen how quickly a person can adapt to a reversed routine, and this could be used as a basis for selection. So far, however, such a form of selection does not seem to have been applied in practice.1. The best solution for implementing the 24-hour working system seemsA. to change shifts at longer intervals B. to have longer shiftsC. to employ people who work on night shifts onlyD. to create better living conditions for night workers本题考核读者对文章具体内容的理解。这需要联系和概括第三段的第一句和第四段第一句的意思。第三段第一句说，"要真正解决这个问题似乎只有把夜班活固定地交给一批长夜班的工人去干"。第四段第一句又说，"这种专人干长久的夜班的方法看来不失为最佳的长远之计"。所以选项C是正确答案。
5．根据所读材料进行一定的判断和推论
判断和推理的能力对深刻理解一篇文章十分重要。特别是对理解作者字里行间的言外之意以及作者的观点、写作意图和态度十分重要。所以这也是阅读理解测试中常见的题目内容。这类题常要求考生推断文章的含义和引申意思；根据文章所提供的部分信息或文章的含义进行归纳；判断所节选文章的某一部分的内容要点；有时甚至要求推断作者的身分。下面是判断、推理的一些常见的表达方式：
1. What is implied in the sentence(s) ... ? 2. It is implied in the passage that3. The passage implies / suggests that4. It can be inferred/seen/concluded from the passage that5. Which of the following can be inferred from this passage?6. Which of the following can be concluded from this passage?7. Which of the following conclusions could best be drawn from the passage? 8. based on the passage, we can assume that9. We can learn from the passage that the author is10. In Which of the following publications would this passage most likely be printed? 11. The paragraph following the passage would most probably discuss12. What would the paragraph preceding this passage probably discuss?
例1
"Do you believe in life after death?" Jack's boss asked Jack.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, then, that makes everything just fine," the boss went on. "about an hour after you left yesterday to go to your grandfather's funeral, he dropped in to see you."
1. What do you suppose Jack did the day before?A. He attended his grandfather's funeral.B. He told a lie to get the day off.C. He meant to attend a funeral but didn't.D. He did nothing special; he worked as usual.
2. What do you suppose happened to Jack's grandfather the day before?A. He had been dead for some days but suddenly came to life again.B. He was well and alive but his family thought he was dead and planned a funeral.C. He learned that Jack had cheated his boss and came to expose him.D. Nothing special happened to him; he was going about his usual business.
3. When the boss said, "That makes everything just fine", he _______A. meant he was glad that Jack' s grandfather was still alive B. meant he was glad that Jack believed in life after death C. was, in fact, telling Jack that everything was OKD. was, in fact, telling Jack that he had been found out
4. Who does the writer want to say was a real believer in life after death?A. Jack. B. Jack's boss.C. Jack' s grandfather. D. No one.
这是一个幽默故事，它的幽默点往往不会直接说出来。读者应该领悟其隐含的核心信息："杰克撒谎然后被揭穿"。
这四个问题的答案如下：1．13； 2．D； 3．D； 4．D
例2
Ours has become a society of employees. A hundred years or so ago only one out of every five Americans at work was employed, i.e., worked for somebody else. Today only one out of five is not employed but working for himself. And when fifty years ago "being employed" meant working as a factory laborer or as a farmhand, the employee of today is increasingly a middle-class person with a substantial formal education, holding a professional or management job requiring intellectual and technical skills. Indeed, two things have characterized American society during these last fifty years: middle-class and upper-class employees have been the fastest-growing groups in our working population --growing so fast that the industrial worker, that oldest child of the Industrial Revolution, has been losing in numerical importance despite the expansion of industrial production.
1. It is implied that fifty years agoA. eighty per cent of American working people were employed in factoriesB. twenty per cent of American intellectuals were employeesC. the percentage of intellectuals in the total work force was almost the same as that of industrial workersD. the percentage of intellectuals working as employees was much smaller than that of industrial workers
本题问的是文章隐含的意思，要求读者把脑力劳动的雇员和产业工人人数进行比较。正确答案可以从最后一句找到：做脑力劳动的雇员人数增长"其速度之快使得作为工业革命最早的产物的产业工人在人数上与其相形见绌"。所以选项D是正确答案。此题要求读懂整个第一段，以便有信心地排除其他三个选项。这一段说到当今美国社会中5个人中只有1人不是雇员，即80％的人是受雇佣为他人干活。但问题问的是50年前的情况。选项A用当前的统计比例回答50年前的状况，因此是错误的。选项B也是误解，文章提到50年前1／5(即20％)的人被雇佣，是一个总体的比例，不能类推出说20％的美国知识分子是雇员。选项C认为劳动大军中脑力劳动者和产业工人的比例一样高。这显然没有看懂文章的最后～句，产业工人是工业革命的最早产物。
例3
What does a scientist do when he or she "explains" something? Scientific explanation comes in two forms: generalization and deduction. Most psychologists deal with generalization. They explain particular instances of behavior as examples of general laws. For instance most psychologists would explain a pathologically strong fear of dogs as an example of classical conditioning. Presumably, the person was frightened earlier in life by a dog. An unpleasant stimulus was paired with the sight of the animal (perhaps the person was knocked down by an exuberant dog) and the subsequent sight of dogs evokes the earlier response -- fear.
1. Which of the following is most clearly analogous to the example in the passage of the person who fears dogs?A. A child chokes on a fish bone and as an adolescent is reluctant to eat fish. B. A person feels lonely and after a while b~s a dog for companionship.C. A child studies science in school and later grows up to become a teacher. D. A person hears that a snowstorm is predicted and that evening is afraid to drive home.
本题要求读者在准确理解文章的基础上，从四个选项中找出一个适当的例子，补充说明心理学家是如何解释某种行为或心理现象的。本题的正确答案是A项。
例4
.., Yet you will find little if anything written on what it is to be an employee. You can find a great deal of very dubious advice on how to get a job or how to get a promotion. You can also find a good deal of work in a chosen field, whether it will be the mechanist's trade or bookkeeping. Every one of these trades requires different skills, sets different standards, and requires a different preparation. Yet they all have employeeship in common. And increasingly, especially in the large business or in government, employeeship is more important to success than the special professional knowledge or skill. Certainly more people fall because they do not know the requirements of being an employee than because they do not adequately possess the skills of their trade; the higher you climb the ladder, the more you get into administrative or executive work, the greater the emphasis on ability to work within the organization rather than on technical abilities or professional knowledge.
1. From the passage it can be seen that employeeship helps one ________A. to be more successful in his career B. to be more specialized in his field C. to solve technical problemsD. to develop his professional skill
本题要求读者对文章的意思进行推理，准确掌握employeeship一词的含义。在这段中关于当好雇员的表达方式有"what it is to be all employee"，"have employeeship"，和"the requirements of being all employee"等等。第6—8行就明确指出，具备雇员要素，比专门的职业知识和技能，更能影响一个人的成就。所以选项A是正确答案。其他三个选项，文章里都没有提到，故都不正确。
6．领会作者的观点、意图和态度 与掌握所读材料的主旨和大意类似，领会作者的观点、意图和态度也是阅读理解题中较难解答的问题。回答这类题首先要在阅读过程中注意体会和觉察作者的观点、意图和态度。这种信息有时是直接表达的，但更多的是间接、含蓄的流露。不过，作者的这种主观情感和态度往往和全文的主题和要点相关联。所以，在根据主题和主旨的同时，应注意揣测作者的观点、意图和态度。下面是这类题的一些常用的提问方式：1. The author's main purpose in this passage is2. The author's purpose of writing this passage is __3. In this passage the author's attitude toward ...could best be described as 4. What is the author's attitude toward5. The author's main thought is that __ 6. The author probably feels that7. The author appears to feel that8. Which of the following does the author want to illustrate in discussing ...? 9. In this passage the author looks on ... with an attitude of10. What is the tone of the passage?11. What is the author's opinion about ...?12. The author uses the example of... to show that ________
例1I entered the hotel manager's office and sat down. I had just lost £50 and I felt very upset. "I left the money in my room," I said, "and it's not there now." The manager was sympathetic, but he could do nothing. "Everyone's losing money these days." he said. He started to complain about this wicked world but was interrupted by a knock at the door. A girl came in and put an envelope on his desk. It contained £50. "I found this outside this gentleman's room." she said. "Well, "I said to the manager, "there is still some honesty in this world!"1. What did the writer believe had happened to his money?A. He had left his money in the manager's office. B. Someone had stolen his money.C. The manager had the money. D. The girl had stolen the money. 作者说："I left the money in my room，and it's not there now"，这句话的含义就是 "He believed that someone had stolen his money"。因此，选项B是正确答案。
例2We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is appropriate. We encour~/ge our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can do advanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.
1. In the passage the author's attitude towards "mixed-ability teaching" is ________A. critical B. questioning C. approving D. objective 本题考核学生是否读懂作者对混合编班的态度。要回答该问题，首先要清楚四个选项的不同含义。选项A表示作者持"批评的"态度，选项B表示作者持"怀疑的"态度，选项C表示作者持"赞同的"态度，选项D表示作者持"客观的"态度。根据文章的第一段内容，可以看出作者是持"赞同的"态度，所用的人称代词也是we，因此答案是选项C。如果是持"客观的"态度的话，则人称代词不会用we。
2. The author argues that a teacher's chief concern should be the development of the student's _______.A. personal qualities and social skills B. total personalityC. learning ability and communicative skills D. intellectual ability 本题要求根据文章的意思推测作者的观点。根据第二段的内容，可以看出学生的total personality(总体素质)包括了academic ability or intellectual ability, personal qualities和 social skills。也就是说这些能力都是total personality的方方面面。再看一下这一段的第二；三两句，可以得出正确的答案应该是选项8。其他几个选项的意思都不全面，都不能反映作者的充分开发学生的全面能力的主张。
3. The author's purpose of writing this passage is to______.A. argue for teaching bright and not—SO-bright pupils in the same class B. recommend pair work and group work for classroom activitiesC. offer advice on the proper use of the libraryD. emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching 本题要求读者了解作者写这篇文章的意图是什么。文章讨论了两种上课的方式： streaming pupils把学生按能力分班进行教学，和mixed—ability teaching把程度不齐的学生混班上课。并对比列举了前者的弊端和后者的种种优点。因此A项是正确的答案。而选项B、c、D中提到的几种做法均为mixed．ability teachin9的具体做法，都不能看做是作者写这篇文章的目的。这个题目要看懂全文才能够答对。