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高考英语
专题十 主旨大意
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方法技巧

一、明确主旨大意类题目的常用命题形式
1.The main idea/key point of this passage is that .
2.The passage is mainly about .
3.The best title/headline for this passage is .
4.The topic/subject discussed in this passage is .
5.From the passage we can learn/conclude that .
6.The last paragraph is chiefly concerned with .
7.Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the pas-
sage?
8.Which of the following best states the theme of the passage?
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二、注意选项的突出特点
主旨是文章的核心 , 即文章的中心思想或主题。主旨大意题主要考查考生
能否分辨主题和细节、是否具备提纲挈领的能力 , 即是否能在理解全文的
基础上运用概括、判断、归纳、推理等逻辑方法对文章进行高度概括和
总结。主旨大意题通常涉及概括中心大意、揭示主题、选择标题等形
式。选项的特点 : 正确选项通常不含细节信息和表绝对意义的词 , 且能概括
文章全部内容 ; 错误选项往往是对细节部分的概括 , 常含表绝对意义的词。
三、熟练识别主题句的位置
段落的主题通常由被称为主题句 (Topic Sentence) 的句子来表示。主题句
有两个功能 : 一是介绍段落的主题 (Topic); 二是阐述控制概念 (Controlling
Idea), 控制概念用以控制段落中句子讨论的内容。
主题句通常是一段的第一句或末尾一句 , 偶尔在一段中间。我们在阅读非
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故事性文章如科普文章的时候 , 主题句尤其明显。有的文章无明显的主题
句 , 而是把主题句隐含在段意之中。
1. 主题句位于段首
主题句位于段首是由作者先立论 , 后摆事实讲道理的写作手法形成的。这
种段落称作演绎型段落。在英语议论文或说明文中 , 有 60%~90% 的主题句
是段落的第一句。这样的段落模式可用倒三角 (▽) 来表示。
(1) 寻找主题句
有些段落有明显的引出细节的信息词 , 常见的信息词有 for example,an ex-
ample of,the most important example,first,second,next,then,last,finally,to be-
gin with,also,besides that 等。
在阅读中 , 应尽量利用上述信息词确定主题句的位置。从该段落中的 for
example 可以断定上一句是主题句。如果无明显的信息词 , 可先假设第一
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句为主题句 , 在第二句前面添加一个 for example, 看看第二句是否可以支撑

第一句话 , 如果第二句不能支撑第一句话 , 便在其他地方找出主题句。
(2) 选择答案
先彻底弄懂主题句的句意 , 然后阅读 A 、 B 、 C 和 D 四个选项 , 选择与主题
句
句意相吻合的答案 , 如主题句的再现 , 主题句句意的复述或推论等 , 排除与
主题句句意无关的答案 , 如支撑细节和文章中未曾阐述的事实等。
2. 主题句位于段末
主题句位于段末是作者采用了先摆事实 , 后作结论的手法。这种段落称作
归纳型段落。这种段落的模式可用正三角 (△) 来表示。
3. 主题句位于段落的中间
主题句偶尔也出现在段落的中间 , 但不一定就在正中间。有时第一句并非
主题句 , 而是承上启下的过渡句。在这种情况下 , 第二句便成了主题句。此
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外 , 主题句也可能是段落的倒数第二句。这种段落模式可用菱形 (◇) 来表
示。这种图形可看作△和▽的合二为一 (△▽) 。这种段落是从支撑细节
开始 , 发展到结论 ( 出现主题句 ) 。当主题句出现后 , 又进一步用细节支持说
明 , 其安排顺序是 : 次要—重要—次要。
4. 主题句隐含在段意之中
有些段落没有明显的主题句 , 其中心思想包含在各个句子中 , 这就要求读者
依据已知的细节 , 归纳出段落的中心思想。这种段落模式可用正方形 (□)
来表示。
四、注意标题的要求
标题是段落中心思想的精练表达形式。在阅读中 , 不仅要求读者能够通过
自己已知的信息概括出段落的中心思想 , 而且还要对概括出的中心思想加
以提炼 , 拟定出段落的标题。在测试中要求考生能迅速而准确地选择标题。
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主题句有两个功能 : 介绍段落主题 (Topic) 和阐述控制概念 (Controlling

Idea) 。主题句中的主题实际上就是段落的主题。所以 , 有明确主题句的段
落标题的拟定方式是 : 以表示主题的词为核心 , 与表示控制概念的词按一定
的语法浓缩为能高度概括主题句句意或中心思想的词组。
【例 1 】
Smoking cigarettes can be an expensive habit.
主题 :Smoking cigarettes
控制概念 :can be an expensive habit
标题 :The Expensive Habit of Smoking Cigarettes
【例 2 】
Coffee is a universal beverage( 饮料 )that is served in different ways around
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the world.
主题 :Coffee
控制概念 :is a universal beverage that is served in different ways around the
world
标题 :Coffee Around the World
拟定标题 , 不一定完全机械地套用上述公式 , 方法可灵活多样。然而 , 不论
采用何种方式 , 有一条原则应该遵守 : 绝对不能离开主题句所表达的主要概
念。
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五、主旨大意类题目的常用解题方法

【例 1 】
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you're
looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you're in
the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won't arrive in your
life on one day. It's a process. Remember:little steps add up to big dreams.
What does the author mostly want to tell us in the paragraph?
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A.Failure is the mother of success.

B.Little by little, one goes far.
C.Every coin has two sides.
D.Well begun, half done.
解析 本题考查段落大意。最后一句 Remember:little steps add up to big
dreams. 是该段的主题句 , 与选项 B 同义 , 故选 B 项。
答案 B
【例 2 】
Along the river banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that
swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the
stomach of a cow and has claws ( 爪 ) on its wings when young. They build
their homes about 4.6m above the river, an important feature ( 特征 ) for the
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safety of the young. It is called the hoatzin.

In appearance, the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the
back and cream and red on the underside. The head is small, with a large set
of feathers on the top, bright red eyes, and blue skin. Its nearest relatives are
the common birds, cuckoos. Its most striking feature, though, is only found in
the young.
Baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the
end of each wing tip. Using these four claws, together with the beak ( 喙 ),
they can climb about in the bushes, looking very much like primitive birds.
When the young hoatzins have learned to fly, they lose their claws.
During the drier months between December and March hoatzins fly about the
forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in April, when the rainy season begins,
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they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing
purposes.
What is the text mainly about?
A.Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons.
B.The relatives and enemies of hoatzins.
C.Primitive birds and hoatzins of the Amazon.
D.The appearance and living habits of hoatzins.
解析 本题考查全文主旨大意。通读全文可知 , 文章主要介绍了麝雉 (the
hoatzin) 的外表特征以及生活习性 , 故选 D 项。
答案 D
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【例 3 】
Too much TV-watching can harm children's ability to learn and even reduce
their chances of getting a college degree, new studies suggest in the latest ef-
fort to examine the effects of television on children.
One of the studies looked at nearly 400 northern California third-graders.
Those with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math
and language arts tests than children without bedroom TVs.
A second study, looking at nearly 1,000 grown-ups in New Zealand, found
lower education levels among 26-year-olds who had watched lots of TV dur-
ing childhood. But the results don't prove that TV is the cause and don't rule
out that already poorly motivated youngsters ( 年轻人 )may watch lots of TV.
Their study measured the TV habits of 26-year-olds between ages 5 and 15.
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Those with college degrees had watched an average of less than two hours of
TV per weeknight during childhood, compared with an average of more than
2.5 hours for those who had no education beyond high school.
In the California study, children with TVs in their rooms but no computer at
home scored the lowest, while those with no bedroom TV but who had home
computers scored the highest.
While this study does not prove that bedroom TV sets caused the lower scores,
it adds to accumulating findings that children shouldn't have TVs in their
bedrooms.
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What would be the best title for this text?

A.Computers or Television
B.Effects of Television on Children
C.Studies on TV and College Education
D.Television and Children's Learning Habits
解析 本题考查最佳标题。通读全文可知 , 文章主要通过两项研究分析了
看电视对儿童造成的影响。文章第一段为全文的主题句 , 故选 B 项。
答案 B