托福阅读｜修辞目的题，定位一定在前面吗？

托福阅读修辞目的题，定位一定在前面吗？在平时的刷题训练中，很多同学有一个定势思维，那就是遇到了修辞目的题，如果考察例子的，就会自然的定位到例子或者细节信息的前句去找答案。这种方法大部分时候选出来的答案是正确的，但也有时候答案是不正确的，找来找去，结果答案定位在例子本身或者在后面一句。

这时候小伙伴们就会有点蒙，到底应该定位在哪里呀？在这里，以我的经验来看，定位到底在哪里，这个还要看例子或细节的具体作用来定。大部分情况下，在议论文中，例子的作用是呼应上文，帮助我们更加具体更加直观的理解作者前面提到的道理。就好比以前的数学课本中，讲了一个抽象的定义，往往需要配上例题来验证一样。

这种情况在托福阅读中非常常见，因此如果文章中出现了例子的信息，绝大多数情况下都是可以通过找寻其对应的解释信息就可以解决的，因此可以理解成在“例子前句找答案”这样的情况。

例如：

As impressive as the quality of Roman pottery is its sheer massive quantity. When considering quantities, we would ideally like to have some estimates for overall production from particular sites of pottery manufacture and for overall consumption at specific settlements. Unfortunately, it is in the nature of the archaeological evidence, which is almost invariable only a sample of what once existed, that such figures will always be elusive. However, no one who has ever worked in the field would question the abundance of Roman pottery, particularly in the Mediterranean region. This abundance is notable in Roman settlements (especially urban sites) where the labor that archaeologists have to put into the washing and sorting of potsherds (fragments of pottery) constitutes a high proportion of the total work during the initial phases of excavation.（TPO29-1-4）

The author mentions the work of archaeologists in paragraph 3 in order to

○ support the idea that pottery was produced in large quantities by the Romans

○ illustrate how hard it is for archaeologists to find complete pieces of Roman pottery

○ contrast archaeological sites in Roman urban areas with other sites in the Mediterranean

○ explain why the quantities of pottery found vary significantly from one site to another 本题答案选A。在此题中，题干中提到了the work of archaeologists，我们通过定位可以发现这是一个例子，在本段的最后一句话。通过阅读可以理解成“考古学家在挖掘的初始阶段，工作重心放在了清理处理陶罐碎片，这个是罗马陶器数量多的一种证明”。当然，回看前一句，也可以得到这样的理解“在野外工作的人没人会质疑罗马陶器的丰富程度，特别是在地中海地区”。这两句，解释和例子部分讲的都是“罗马陶器数量特别多”这样的信息。因此如果题目问“为什么作者要提到考古学家的工作”，我们自然而然的去看这个例子的解释部分来定位，这个是非常正确的，因为本文中例子和解释讲述的信息意思是一致的，只不过一个抽象，一个具体而已。

但是例子就只有一个呼应上文的作用吗？在TPO中，我们也能看到种种的例外。比如说

The astrolabe had long been the primary instrument for navigation, having been introduced in the eleventh century. It operated by measuring the height of the Sun and the fixed stars: by calculating the angles created by these points, it determined the degree of latitude at which one stood (The problem of determining longitude, though, was not solved until the eighteenth century.) By the early thirteenth century. Western Europeans had also developed and put into use the magnetic compass, which helped when clouds obliterated both the Sun and the stars. Also beginning in the thirteenth century, there were new maps refined by precise calculations and the reports of sailors that made it possible to trace one's path with reasonable accuracy. Certain institutional and practical norms had become established as well. A maritime code known as the Consulate of the Sea, which originated in the western Mediterranean region in the fourteenth century, won acceptance by a majority of sea goers as the normative code for maritime conduct; it defined such matters as the authority of a ship's officers, protocols of command, pay structures, the rights of sailors, and the rules of engagement when ships met one another on the sea-lanes. Thus by about 1400 the key elements were in place to enable Europe to begin its seaward adventure. （TPO17-1-9）Why does the author include the information that Western Europeans haddeveloped and put into use the magnetic compass 

○To provide an example of an instrument that was developed after caravels had begun traveling across oceans

○To provide an example of an improvement that resulted directly from the invention of the astrolabe

○To identify one of the technological advances that made sea trade with the East possible

○To explain how the problem of determining longitude was solved本题答案选C。在这个段落中，我们可以清晰的看出，这一段讲述了3块内容，分别是“the primary instrument for navigation”，“new maps”以及“A maritime code”。这三块之间可以说是相互独立的，而本题中出现的定位位置，很明显在个意群“the primary instrument for navigation”中。如果按照之前的方法，定位前句，很多同学会发现根本对不上，也没有选项与之匹配。最后通过比较发现，其实是“The astrolabe”与“the magnetic compass”这两种导航仪器的介绍来体现技术上的更新，而且本题题干中没有提到“According to paragraph 4”，因此可以从前面的段落找寻信息，我们通过对于段主旨的判断，可以得到答案C而排出B选项。讲解完题目，我们再看看段落中关于该定位信息的内容。可以清晰的看出来，这个磁罗盘的例子，其实并不是用来具体化前面的解释的。前面是另外一个具体化的信息“The astrolabe”的描述。因此我们可以看成这两个例子是一个类似于递进的用法，主要作用是分别介绍不同时代所使用的导航工具而已。

看了上面的内容，可以总结为：修辞目的题，最根本的是要看例子的作用，而不能非常草率的直接看到前句去找答案。不然很有可能会导致错过了正确定位点。上面讲的内容，希望对小伙伴们的托福备考有一点启发和帮助。受限于篇幅原因，这里我仅举这两个例子作为抛砖引玉，更多的小技巧还等着同学们在刷题中发现呢。加油奥利给！

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