托福阅读难点解析：句子简化题怎么破解

### 句子简化题考查的能力 句子简化题要求考生选出一个句子，其句意要与原文中某个句子的主要意思相同。并不是每一篇文章都设有这种题目，一篇文章一般最多只会有一道此类题目。(以上内容来自《托福考试官方指南》) 根据《托福考试官方指南》的对句子简化题的介绍，我们清楚地知道这类题型考查的重点：<u>对句子的理解</u>。 ### 句子简化题的题目特点（怎样判断是否为句子简化题）及提问方式 所有简化句子类问题都是一样的。在文中会有一个句子用阴影标示出来，然后在题目中考生将会被问到： > Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important way or leave out essential information. ### 句子简化题的解题要点 根据句子简化题所考查的能力（对句子的理解）和提问方式，我们可以总结出句子简化题包含两个基本元素：<u>逻辑（结构相关）；语义（相关语义——参与构成逻辑关系；无关语义）</u>。综上，**句子简化题本质上考查的就是句内逻辑关系，尤其是隐含逻辑的判断**。 ### 句子简化题的解题步骤 **1. 确定题干中句子的逻辑关系（根据关联词和谓语动词来确定）** > 常考逻辑：因果，比较，最高级，否定 **2. 确定与逻辑相关的语义：最简化原则** > 因果：原因和结果 > > 比较：比较三要素 > > 最高级&否定：作用对象 **3. 选择与题干逻辑和相关语义一致的选项（先逻辑，后语义）** **示例：「Timberline Vegetation on Mountains」** > 原文：There is still no universally agreed-on explanation for why there should be such a dramatic cessation of tree growth at the upper timberline. Various environmental factors may play a role. Too much snow, for example, can smother trees, and avalanches and snow creep can damage or destroy them. Late-lying snow reduces the effective growing season to the point where seedlings cannot establish themselves. <u>Wind velocity also increases with altitude and may cause serious stress for trees, as is made evident by the deformed shapes at high altitudes.</u> Some scientists have proposed that the presence of increasing levels of ultraviolet light with elevation may play a role, while browsing and grazing animals like the ibex may be another contributing factor. Probably the most important environmental factor is temperature, for if the growing season is too short and temperatures are too low, tree shoots and buds cannot mature sufficiently to survive the winter months. > > 题目：Which of the sentences below best express the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? In correct choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information. > > A. Because of their deformed shapes at high altitudes, trees are not likely to be seriously harmed by the strong winds typical of those altitudes. > B. As altitude increases, the velocity of winds increase, leading to a serious decrease in the number of trees found at high altitudes. > C. The deformed shapes of trees at high altitudes show that wind velocity, which increase with altitude, can cause serious hardship for trees. > D. Increased wind velocity at high altitudes deforms the shapes of trees, and this may cause serious stress for trees. 根据句子简化题的解题步骤，我们第一步要做的是确定题干句子「Wind velocity also <u>increases with</u> altitude and may <u>cause</u> serious stress for trees, as <u>is made evident by</u> the deformed shapes at high altitudes.」中的逻辑关系，总共存在三个逻辑关系：三个因果关系，均为相关语义（正确答案中必须有所体现）。第二步，确定与逻辑相关的语义：altitude 越高→↑wind velocity；由 cause 体现出来的因果关系，Wind velocity also increases with altitude →serious stress for trees；as…引导的定语从句，这里是隐含逻辑，是通过语义看出来了，即 the deformed shapes at high altitudes 是由 wind velocity 导致的，是Wind velocity also increases with altitude and may cause serious stress for trees 的一个体现。分别来看四个选项。A 选项中体现出来逻辑关系总共有三个：因果关系 (their deformed shapes at high altitudes→trees are not likely to be seriously harmed by the strong winds typical of those altitudes) ，否定 (trees are <u>not likely</u> to be seriously harmed by the strong winds typical of those altitudes) 和因果关系 (the strong winds typical of those altitudes → trees are seriously harmed)，逻辑关系总数与题干句子中的逻辑关系总数一致，但第一个因果关系和否定关系在题干句子中并未体现，故排除；B 选项中体现出来逻辑关系总共两处，均为因果关系：(altitude increases → ↑the velocity of winds) → serious ↓the number of trees found at high altitudes，第一个因果关系与题干句子一致，第二个因果关系并未体现在题干句中，题干句说的是树木变形，并未提及数目减少，故排除该选项；C 选项体现出来逻辑关系总共有三个，且均为因果关系，其中两处比较明显：(↑altitude→↑wind velocity)→serious hardship for trees；另外一处为 show，为隐含因果关系，show 后面的内容为原因，前面为结果，即「 (↑altitude→↑wind velocity)→serious hardship for trees」→deformed shapes of trees at high altitudes，该选项体现出来的逻辑关系总数和类别与原文一致，且语义一致，故可确定该选项为本题答案。再看 D 选项，体现出来逻辑关系总共有三个，均为因果关系，其中两个比较明显：Increased wind velocity at high altitudes → deforms the shapes of trees，increased wind velocity at high altitudes deforms the shapes of trees → serious stress for trees，；根据 increased wind velocity at high altitudes 可推断出其中的隐含的因果关系，即 ↑altitudes → ↑wind velocity。其中，第二个因果逻辑在题干句中并不存在，因为 deforms the shapes of trees 是 serious stress for trees 的一个体现，二者都是由 increased wind velocity 所导致的结果。此外，这里还将原文的非主要成分「as is made evident by the deformed shapes at high altitudes」变成了主要成分，改变了原文的结构，也可根据这点排除该选项。 > 题干句：Wind velocity also increases with altitude and may cause serious stress for trees, as is made evident by the deformed shapes at high altitudes. > 参考翻译：另外，风速会随着海拔的升高而增加，增加树木承受的压力，很明显，正是这种风速带来的压力导致树木在高纬度地区发生变形。