一、主要内容型

[技巧点拨]弄清文章的大意，关键是找到主题句。

主题句的位置：主题句通常在文首、文末或首尾呼应，有时也在文中，或没有主题句，需根据文章所述内容进行归纳。各段的主题句也常在该段的首句或尾句。议论文和说明文一般有主题句，但记叙文通常没有主题句，需要归纳。

找主题句的方法：用浏览法(skimming)，即快速阅读文首、文尾，或每段的首句和尾句等，搜索主题线索和主题信息。

找主题句的四个小窍门：

1.段落中出现表转折的词语(如however, but, in fact, actually, while, on the contrary, in contrast等)时，其后的句子很可能是主题句。

2.首段出现疑问句时，对该问题的回答很可能就是主题句。

3.作者有意识地反复强调的观点，通常是主旨;反复出现的词语，一般为体现文章主旨的关键词。

4.表示总结或结论的话常有therefore，thus， in short，conclude， conclusion等。

经典例题

1. That’s when Jack arrived on the scene. He was different from any other guy I’d dated. He could sit for hours on the piano bench with my mother, discussing some composers. My brother Rick loudly announced that Jack wasn’t a turkey like the other guys I’d brought home. Jack passed my family’s test. But what about Dad’s?

What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A. Jack got the family’s approval except Dad’s.

B. Jack was different from any other boy.

C. Jack was getting on well with Mother.

D. Jack knew a lot about piano.

答案：A

解析：通过第二段的内容可知Jack赢得了作者全家人的欣赏，但由于作者的父亲已去世，作者不知道Jack在父亲那儿是否也能通过，故A正确。

2. Have you ever been to the world’s smallest bookstore?

The world’s smallest bookstore, whose official name is just these three words, sits quietly about 100 miles northeast of Toronto.

What’s the passage mainly about?

A. The world’s smallest bookstore.

B. A strange way of selling books.

C. The popular books nowadays.

D. The popular bookstores in the world

答案：A

解析：文章第一段用一个问句引出了本文的主题：你去过世界上最小的图书馆吗?后文对该图书馆做了详细的描述，所以本文的主题就是A项。

3. It’s generally believed that people act the way they do because of their personalities and attitudes. They recycle their garbage because they care about the environment. They pay S5 for a caramel brul6e latte because they like expensive coffee drinks.

It’s undeniable that behavior comes from our inner dispositions (性情)，but in many instances we also draw inferences about who we are, as suggested by the social psychologist Daryl Bern, by observing our own behavior. We can be strangers to ourselves. If we knew our own minds，why would we need to guess what our preferences are from our behavior? If our minds were an open book, we would know exactly how much we care about the environment or like lattes. Actually，we often need to look to our behavior to figure out who we are.

Moreover, we don’t just use our behavior to learn about our particular types of character. We infer characters that weren’t there before. Our behavior is often shaped by little pressures around us, which we fail to recognize. Maybe we recycle because our wives and neighbors would disapprove if we didn't. Maybe we buy lattes in order to impress the people around us. We should not mistakenly believe that we always behave as a result of some inner disposition.

Whatever pressures there can be or inferences one can make, people become what they do，though it may not be in compliance (符合)with their true desires. Therefore, we should all bear in mind Kurt Vonnegufs advice： “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. ’’

What does the author mainly discuss in the passage?

A. Personalities and attitudes.

B. Preferences and habits.

C. Behavior and personalities.

D. Attitudes and preferences.

答案：C

解析：本文的第一段提出普遍观点“行为来自个性和态度”，第二段含but的首句才是本文要提出的观点，“行为来自个性这是不可否认的，但在许多情况下，我们会作出推论：我们是谁”，第三段和第四段说“我们的行为还来自于我们周围人的压力，可能并不是我们真实的愿望”即“行为不一定来自个性”，因此，全文是说“行为与个性之间的关系”。 另外，文中不断复现的词即为本文的关键词，是讨论的中心。behavior (行为)共出现了8次(act一次, behavior六次, behave一次)，personalities(个性)以近义的形式复现了6次(inner dispositions, character, characters, inner disposition, true desires)，因此，本文主要讨论的是behavior和personalities，故选C。