在四級考試中,閱讀理解所占比重較大,因此閱讀理解成績的好壞直接影響著整個考試的成敗。通過對近幾年四級真題的分析,我們不難發現,閱讀理解部分通常有一篇教育題材的文章,可見教育題材越發受到出題專家的青睞和關注。教育題材的文章內容主要有三類:學校教育、家庭教育和網絡教育。無論屬于哪一類教育題材,閱讀的測試主要集中在兩類題型上:推斷(推理)題和細節理解題。
　　1. 推斷(推理)題
　　教育題材的文章一般以教育學生和孩子為主,考試題目不會直接給出答案,而是讓考生猜測句子暗含的意思,因此推斷題很常見。閱讀中,切忌不要"只見樹木不見森林",過多地被文字所糾纏。此類題目常見的提問方式如下:The first paragraph indicates that ______. / It can be inferred from the passage that ______. 解答此類題目的關鍵是從文中找出關鍵詞。一般情況下,雖然文章沒有直接給出答案,但是答案會隱藏在某句話或某幾個詞后面,如連詞but, because等或動詞suggest, infer, indicate等。
　　例如:2007年12月的試題。
　　The attraction for students might at first seem obvious. Primarily, there’s the convenience promised by courses on the Net: you can do the work, as they say, in your pajamas (睡衣). But figures indicate that the reduced effort results in a reduced commitment to the course. While the dropout rate for all fresh-men at American universities is around 20 percent, the rate for online students is 35 percent. Students themselves seem to understand the weaknesses inherent in the setup. In a survey conducted for eCornell, the DL division of Cornell University, less than a third of the respondents expected the quality of the online course to be as good as the classroom course.
　　Q: According to the passage, distance learning is basically characterized by ______.
　　A) a considerable flexibility in its academic requirements
　　B) the great diversity of students’academic backgrounds
　　C) a minimum or total absence of face-to-face instruction
　　D) the casual relationship between students and professors
　　此段選自一篇網絡教育題材的文章,主要講網絡教育的趨勢和特點。本題主要定位在前兩句話,其中關鍵詞是primarily, 句意是起初網絡教育對學生的吸引力似乎是顯而易見的,主要是因為網上提供的課考試&大程很方便:正如他們所說的那樣,你可以穿著睡衣上課。由此推斷網絡教育的特點是學生很少或完全不用和老師面對面地交流、學習。故選C)。
　　2. 細節理解題
　　細節理解題是四級閱讀理解中最常見的考試題型,因此教育題材的閱讀題型也不例外。在回答此類題目時,應采用查讀法(Scanning)。這類題目常以以下疑問代詞或疑問副詞提問,如who, what, when, where, why以及how等。這些題目往往不采用文章的原話提問,而是使用同義詞語、同義轉述等。因此,在選擇答案前應首先看準題干、看清題目所問；然后,查讀時注意尋找與題目相關的關鍵詞；最后,在充分理解原文和題干的基礎上確定正確答案。
　　例如:2005年1月的試題。
　　Some Japanese parents believe that if their young children attend a university-based program, it will in-crease the children’s chances of eventually being admitted to top-rated schools and universities. Several more progressive programs have introduced free play as a way out for the heavy intellectualizing in some Japanese kindergartens.
　　Q: Why do some Japanese parents send their children to university-based kindergartens?
　　A) They can do better in their future studies.
　　B) They can accumulate more group experience there.
　　C) They can be individually oriented when they grow up.
　　D) They can have better chances of getting a first-rate education.
　　 此段選自一篇學校教育題材的文章,主要是對比美日兩國的兒童教
　　育。此題是典型的細節題,根據題設中的university-based,答案可定位在第一句。if 引導的條件從句可看作結果,而其后的主句就是原因,只要將選項和主句進行對比,就可以選出D)。
　　綜上所述,如果考生平時對以上的教育問題有一定的了解,那么再閱讀此類文章時就易于把握整體大意,從而更好地解答題目。因此,考生平常在學習英語時,應該注重英美文化,尤其要關注教育方面的背景知識,從文化的角度入手輕松地學習英語以提高做題的準確性。
　　Try out
　　If you want to teach your children how to say sorry, you must be good at saying it yourself, especially to your own children. But how you say it can be quite tricky. If you say to your children"I’m sorry I got angry with you, but ...", what follows that"but"can render the apology ineffective:"I had a bad day"or"your noise was giving me a headache"leaves the person who has been injured feeling that he should be apologizing for his bad behavior in expecting an apology. Another method by which people appear to apologize without actually doing so is to say "I’m sorry you’re upset"; this suggests that you are somehow at fault for allowing your-self to get upset by what the other person has done. Then there is the general, all-covering apology, which avoids the necessity of identifying a specific act that was particularly hurtful or insulting, and which the person who is apologizing should promise never to do again. Saying "I’m useless as a parent" does not commit a person to any specific improvement. These pseudo-apologies are used by people who believe saying sorry shows weakness. Parents who wish to teach their children to apologize should see it as a sign of strength, and therefore not resort to these pseudo-apologies. But even when presented with ex-amples of genuine contrition, children still need help to become aware of the complexities of saying sorry. A three-year-old might need help in understanding that other children feel pain just as he does, and that hitting a playmate over the head with a heavy toy requires an apology. A six-year-old might need reminding that spoiling other children’s expectations can require an apology. A 12-year-old might need to be shown that raiding the biscuit tin without asking permission is acceptable, but that borrowing his/her parents’ clothes without permission is not. (CET-4, 2005年12月)
　　1. If a mother adds "but" to an apology, ______.
　　A) she doesn’t feel that she should have apologized
　　B) she does not realize that the child has been hurt
　　C) the child may find the apology easier to accept
　　D) the child may feel that he owes her an apology
　　2. According to the author, saying "I’m sorry you’re upset "most probably means "______".
　　A) You have good reason to get upset
　　B) I’m aware you’re upset, but I’m not to blame
　　C) I apologize for hurting your feelings
　　D) I’m at fault for making you upset
　　3. It is not advisable to use the general, all-covering apology be-cause ______.
　　A) it gets one into the habit of making empty promises
　　B) it may make the other person feel guilty
　　C) it is vague and ineffective
　　D) it is hurtful and insulting　　
　　答案&解析
　　1. D)。細節理解題。參見第二段可知，如果你對孩子說“對不起我對你發脾氣了，但
　　是……”，那么“但是”后面考試&大的內容，如：“我今天不高興”，“你的吵鬧聲讓我頭痛”，會使道歉變得無效，而且讓受到傷害的人覺得應該為自己的錯誤行為道歉。故選D)。
　　2. B)。推斷題。參見第三段可知，人們似乎在道歉而實際并沒有那么做的另一種方式是說“你生氣了，我很抱歉”，這意味著你要為別人的所做所為生氣那是你自己的錯。故選B)。
　　3. C)。細節理解題。參見第四段第一句話可知，籠統的道歉看不出那種特別具有傷害性和侮辱性的具體行為，也不能使道歉者真正做出決不再犯的承諾。故選C)。