思培阅读中的“双S技能” 之小S(scanning)
思培阅读,需要思培考生综合运用多种技能,方可获得一个比较好的成绩。其中,最基本的两个技能,我们称之为“双S技能”,每个思培考生必须熟练掌握,才可以从容应对思培阅读考试。
红枫叶思培教育,在上一期思培备考全攻略(二十一)中介绍了skimming,在本期思培备考全攻略(二十二),将会对双S技能的小S,scanning进行系统分析。
What is scanning?
Scanning is a reading technique to be used when you want to find specific information quickly. In scanning you have a question in your mind and you read a passage only to find the answer, ignoring unrelated information.
scanning在我们的日常生活中,每天都再用。比如你到了机场,要看飞机的信息,你会scanning这个航班信息牌(flight information board),然后找到你搭乘的飞机航班信息。你到餐馆点餐,也会scanning菜单。每周的商场flyer,你也需要scanning。你在工作中查看工作手册,你需要scanning,比如IT软件行业,你需要找到某个class的某个method的某个参数用法,你需要scanning。
因此,scanning是一种生活和工作必备的技能,而对于思培阅读考试来说,更需要将这种技能用到熟练,才可以非常快速的定位到你需要的具体信息。
理解scanning的关键是要理解scanning的目的,就是快速找到具体信息(specific information)。
在思培阅读考试中,大部分的题目都需要运用到scanning的技术,才能够快速准确定位到这道题的Key。找到这个Key,这道题才可以做得对。当然scanning本身并不是告诉你正确答案,而是告诉你正确答案所在的位置。
How to scan effectively
很多学生知道,skimming和scanning是两个必须要掌握的基础技能,但是却并不是很清楚,如何才能够有效的去skimming和scanning,而对于更深层次的问题,skimming和scanning如何去配合使用的策略,就更是比较模糊。
要想快速有效的进行scanning,需要做好两件事,第一,就是要明确目的,就是你scanning的目标是什么,这个时候你需要明确你要scanning的关键字和关键信息,并记在脑子里。第二,就是明确你如何去scanning的策略。
1. 明确scanning的关键字和关键信息。
选择关键字这一步非常重要,需要根据经验,选择出有效的关键字(valid key words),关键字很有可能不是一个词,可能需要是多个词的组合。关键信息指的是你需要的信息是5W2H, 即what, where, when, why, who, how and how many.
比如下面这道题,关键字的选择,就是Maria’s mother,以及和地点相关的词,在scanning文章的时候,我们需要抓的具体信息,就是Maria’s mother在哪里。关键信息就是where。我们最好不用in这个词作为关键字,因为原文中很容易对这个表地点的介词做一个替换,所以我们在原文中找in,不是一个好的选择。
1. Maria’s mother is now
a.in Chile.
b.in Calgary.
c.in Vancouver.
d.in Victoria.
原文中,有出现After the celebrations, we took the family sightseeing here in Vancouver,但这个不是答案,是一个干扰项。而答案恰恰是They left yesterday for Victoria. 而且用they代词包含了Maria’s mother.
2. Scanning的策略
a) Scanning的目标是,关键字以及关键信息,关键字在原文中很有可能是同意替换,关键信息在原文中给出的形式,会是多变的。下面这道题的关键字是male female,而关键信息就是what,physical differences。
E.g.
Reading Part 3: Reading for Information有一道题:
题目:There are physical differences between Narwhal males and females.
解析:是说male和female有这种物理上的差别。我们可以选择关键字males and females。关键信息是physical differences,在下面的段落中,我们看到了关键字male和female,同样,我们也找到了关键信息,在文中具体描述了female的tusk, shorter, straighter,表明了差别。
原文:The narwhals’ distinctive characteristic lies in the presence of a long 2.5 meter spiralling tusk that protrudes from the males' foreheads, resembling a unicorn. The horn-like formation, however, is a long left tooth. The right tooth remains embedded in the skull and measures roughly 30 centimeters. Female tusks have a more regularly defined morphology. They are much shorter, straighter, and do not collect as much algae on the surface, thus appearing whiter.
b)Scanning到了关键字,关键信息可能会是在这个句子的前后,通常在后面。因为题目的设计通常不是那么straightforward的。所以,通常找到关键字之后,文章后面的内容也许就是对这个关键字主题的一个进一步讨论,所以关键信息也很可能在那里。
E.g.
Reading Part 4: Reading for Viewpoints有一道题:
题目:Mr. Gordon’s intervention
a. is part of a medical treatment for overweight children with ADHD.
b. was inspired by his own successful experience as a student.
c. was designed to make students lose weight in one year.
d. diminished exercising to focus on academic performance.
解析:这道题的关键字我们会选择Mr. Gordon’s intervention。在下面的原文中,我们也看到了Gordon和intervention。但是问题的答案不在这句,而是在下面的一段,对于这个intervention的进一步说明。所以看到答案应该是b。
原文:
Mr. Gordon came up with an innovative intervention to address both. He decided to infuse academic studies with physical activity in his own classroom.
The idea came to Gordon after a personal experience in university while working on his bachelor's degree. "I didn't have time to schedule a separate slot for exercise, and my health deteriorated rapidly," said Gordon. "After feeling sick and fatigued for months, I decided to couple my studying with my workouts. To my surprise it proved incredibly helpful. My grades started improving and so did my overall fitness and health."
——第一思培原创,请勿转载
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