托福阅读句子插入题中重复信息的使用方法

　　█Watt's steam engine soon showed what it could do. █It liberated industry from dependence on running water. █The engine eliminated water in the mines by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining. █The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and a half.

　　Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

　　The factories did not have to go to the streams when power could come to the factories.

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　老司机们看到段首可爱的小方格心里就有数了，这是我们在每篇文章倒数第二题位置上都会遇到的句子插入题。

　　我们今天就来跟大家聊一聊，句子简化题这个题目到底应该怎么做。

　　“You need to understand the logic of the passage as well as the grammatical connections (like pronoun references) between sentences.”

　　上面是托福官方指南中对这道题目的说明，这句话已经将解答句子简化题的关键线索呈现给大家了，即“grammatical connections”语法连接和“logic”逻辑。其中语法连接还给大家提供了最常见的一种应用，连词指代。既然有了方法，那我们一起来完成以下上面这道例题。

　　首先先看题干句子，然后我们就傻眼了，这题干里也没有逻辑，也没有指代，没有可用的线索，我该怎么办?此时很多同学无奈之下只能选择回到原文，开始逐个阅读选项句子，挨个带入，靠所谓的“语感”想把题目解答出来。最终往往会陷入到花费大量时间，题目还做不对的尴尬境地中。

　　其实在句子简化题中，我们可以使用的线索，除了官方指南中给我们提供的逻辑和指代之外，还有另外一个，就是重复信息。

　　现在我们来重新看一下题干句子，

　　“The factories did not have to go to the streams when power could come to the factories.”

　　这句话说的是当动力可以来到工厂的时候，工厂就不用建在河流边上了。主要信息有三点：工厂，动力，河流。然后我们回到原文中，看看选项句子中哪一句和以上三个信息有对应关系。

　　A选项，瓦特的蒸汽机很快显示出它能干什么。没有信息点对应，排除。

　　B选项，它将工业从对流水的依赖中解放出来。这句话中对应了我们题干句子中工厂和河流两个信息点。可以被视为是我们的备选选项，继续往下看，有没有更好的信息对应。

　　C选项，蒸汽机通过驱动高效的水泵，排除矿井的水，使得矿越挖越深称为可能。只对应动力这一点，排除。

　　D选项，煤的可获得性刺激了WM在1790s发明了夜间照明的新方式。没有信息对应，排除。

　　所以选项中和题干句子信息关联最紧密的应该是B选项的句子。但是别着急，此时我们距离正确答案仍然还差一步判断，题干句子到底应该放在B选项句子的前面还是后面呢?这时候我们重新来看一下B选项句子，

　　“It liberated industry from dependence on running water.”

　　这句话主语是代词it，指代的是应当是A选项中的蒸汽机，A,B两个选项因为代词指代的关系，中间不能插入句子，从而排除掉B选项，这道题的正确答案是C。

　　这道题目是一道非常经典的是用重复信息来确定句子关联手段的例题，总结上面完整的做题过程，我们会发现，在使用重复信息解答句子简化题的时候，我们在找到题干句子和选项句子的关联后，还需要判断题干句子和选项句子之间的前后位置关系。

　　接下来，我们就再通过几个例题，给大家展示一下，题干句子和选项句子之间前后位置关系判断的方法。

　　Few of the cultural traditions and rules that today allow us to deal with dense populations existed for these people accustomed to household autonomy and the ability to move around the landscape almost at will. █And besides the awkwardness of having to share walls with neighbors, living in aggregated pueblos introduced other problems. █For people in cliff dwellings, hauling water, wood, and food to their homes was a major chore. █The stress on local resources, especially in the firewood needed for daily cooking and warmth, was particularly intense, and conditions in aggregated pueblos were not very hygienic. █

　　Look at the four squares[█]that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

　　Performing everyday household tasks required more effort.

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　先看题干句子，完成每天的家务劳动需要很多努力。我们要和题干句子对应的信息是“household tasks”家务劳动。对应“household tasks”这个信息，答案应该对应到第三句话的“chore”家务，那么正确答案应该选B还是C呢?

　　此时我们应该按照“观点→阐述”的原则进行，即观点性的，概括的，抽象的表达在前;描述性的，细节的，具体的表达在后。对比两句话，选项句子中提及了具体的家务劳动的内容，是更加细节的表达，因此这道题应该放在选项句子的前面，正确答案为B。

　　再看一道例题：

　　█Ecologists are especially interested to know what factors contribute to the resilience of communities because climax communities all over the world are being severely damaged or destroyed by human activities. █The destruction caused by the volcanic explosion of Mount St. Helens, in the northwestern United States, for example, pales in comparison to the destruction caused by humans. █We need to know what aspects of a community are most important to the community’s resistance to destruction, as well as its recovery. █

　　Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

　　In fact, damage to the environment by humans is often much more severe than damage by natural events and processes.

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　先看题干句子，由人类造成的对环境的破坏通常比由自然进程造成的破坏更严重。题干句子中对比了两种破坏造成的影响，因此我们对应的信息应该是“damage by humans”和“by natural events and processes”，对应选项句子，应当是第二句话“The destruction caused by the volcanic explosion of Mount St. Helens, in the northwestern United States, for example, pales in comparison to the destruction caused by humans.”

　　同样的问题，题干句子应当放在这句话之前还是之后呢?我们发现选项句子中包含for example，是举例的内容，属于具体细节的内容，根据我们刚才提到的“观点→阐述”的原则，题干句子应当放在这句话的前面，正确答案为B。

　　关于使用重复信息解答句子插入题的内容就给大家说到这里，句子插入题，题干句子有明确的逻辑或指代线索的时候，大家就按照线索，跟选项进行对应;如果没有相应的线索，也不要慌张，根据重复信息这个线索，对应题干句子和选项句子中的相同信息进行选择，最后注意两句话的前后关系，按照“观点→阐述”的原则，选出正确答案即可。