一、填空题的重要性
在GRE verbal每个section的38道题当中,填空题占了7道题。国学生感觉头疼的阅读部分比起来,填空是一个相对容易在短时间内提高成绩的部分。对于只想考个合格的分数的学生来说,做对5道题就可以了。
每个section的正确率想要稳定在五个左右,词汇是基础,记住GRE词汇书上的百分之八、九十的词汇之前,谈正确率是没有意义的。
解题技巧多少有些帮助,但不能指望阅读能力奇差的人单凭前人总结的经验技巧就能考到一个够用的分数。
如果想要每个section的正确率总是稳定在六个以上,那需要你的实力(这需要很好的阅读理解能力和清晰的逻辑头脑)而不是什么技巧。考个够用的分数还有些技巧,考高分一般说来是没什么技巧的。
GRE填空题是GRE general test的一部分。general test是对所有不同专业的学生进行的考试,所以为了公平起见,解题点上不能涉及任何背景知识(尽管在句子内容上涉及了大量唬人的背景知识)。因为GRE填空属于语文考试,所以不管填空句的内容涉及到的是什么,在考试中你需要的仅仅是语文知识而已。
先大致地分析推理,猜出应该填什么词(或仅仅猜出应该填什么样的词)之后再看选项,不要直接把选项带入读。这样做通常能够躲掉干扰选项的误导。因为大部分的干扰选项具有这样的特征:你看到它之前很难想到它,但是一旦你看到它,就觉得它好像也很对。
先读句子的主干结构是良好的解题习惯(虽然解题并不一定要读出句子的主干)
二、填空题解题方法
1.根据关键词汇来判断语言上的基本逻辑关系
因果、(because, in that, for, therefore, thus, accordingly, consequently, given, hence, so…that, so...as to, if…then, when...then, as long as……)转折、(albeit, although, though, but, despite, even though, however, in spite of, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, while, whatever, regardless, even if, even though, yet, and yet……)递进、(even, indeed………)对比、(in contrast, on the contrary, far from, on the other hand, rather than, instead of, not…but, paradoxically, ironically, surprisingly, unexpectedly, curiously……)等等。
2.寻找句子中的重复关系
作为研究生院入学的参考考试,也许是为了体现内容有深度,很多句子涉及到了各个学科的背景知识。同时基于对所有学科学生都要公平的原则,所有的题目在解题点上都不涉及背景知识。为了做到这一点,很多时候ETS都是把答案放到句子中,然后用语言上的线索提示你去把它找出来。以下是提供重复线索的几种常见形式:
(1) 简单的直接重复
The eradication of pollution is not merely a matter of ___, though the majestic beauty of nature is indeed an important consideration.
A. economics B. legislation C. cleanliness D. aesthetics E. restoration
尽管大自然的美确实很重要,但污染的消除不仅是什么问题,当然不仅是美的问题。
Comparatively few rock musicians are willing to laugh at themselves, although a hint of----can boost sales of video clips very nicely.
A. self-deprecation B. congeniality C. cynicism D. embarrassment E. self-doubt
摇滚乐手很少自嘲,尽管什么东西能促进录像短片的销售,当然就填自嘲。
Melodramas, which presented stark oppositions between innocence and criminality, virtue and corruption, good and evil, were popular precisely because they offered the audience a world ___of___.
A. bereft.. theatricality B. composed.. adversity C. full.. circumstantiality D. deprived.. polarity
E. devoid.. neutrality
Melodramas这个词不认识也没关系,既然它表现的是无辜与罪行、道德与堕落、善与恶之间的刻板对立,那么它提供给观众什么样的世界呢?当然是刻板对立的世界,只有E选项符合要求。
(2) 解释型重复
The Muses are___deities: they avenge themselves without mercy on those who weary of their charms.
A. rueful B. ingenuous C. solicitous D. vindictive E. dispassionate
冒号后面的内容就是正确选项D这个词的释义,所以不知道缪斯是什么东西也能轻松选对。
Unenlightened authoritarian managers rarely recognize a crucial reason for the low levels of serious conflict among members of democratically run work groups: a modicum of tolerance for dissent often prevents___.
A. demur B. schism C. cooperation D. compliance E. shortsightedness
冒号后面的内容解释了民主方式运作的工作团体中为何少有严重的冲突,所以即使看不懂a modicum of
tolerance for dissent是什么东西,也应该知道这个东西避免了严重冲突,故选B。
(3) 根据语法结构推断重复:
The valedictory address, as it has developed in American colleges and universities over the years, has become a very strict form, a literary ___ that permits very little ___.
A. text.. clarity B. work.. tradition C. genre.. deviation
D. oration.. grandiloquence E. achievement.. rigidity
a literary ___ that permits very little ___. 是前面的a very strict form的同位语,所以第一空格填form的同义或近义词,that permits very little___. 这个从句完成后应为strict的同义或近义词。
Many more eighteenth-century novels were written by women than by men, but this dominance has, until very
recently, been regarded merely as ___ fact, a bit of arcane knowledge noted only by bibliographers.
A. a controversial B. a statistical C. an analytical D. an explicit E. an unimpeachable
这道题同样,a bit of arcane knowledge noted only by bibliographers.是前面的___ fact的同义重复,所以空格应填入文献学家关注的事实,已知的五个选项里显然只有B选项的statistical(统计的)是文献学家的份内工作。
(4) 凭借具有指示作用的形容词或代词来寻找重复
Longdale and Stern discovered that mitochondria and chloroplasts ___ a long, identifiable sequence of DNA; such a coincidence could be ___ only by the transfer of DNA between the two systems.
A. manufacture.. accomplished B. reveal.. repeated C. exhibit.. determined
D. share.. explained E. maintain.. contradicted
下半句的such a coincidence说明第一空格的动词填入后应体现为是一种巧合,两个看不懂是什么的、只知道是不一样的东西(非相关专业的绝大部分学生是不太可能认识mitochondria和chloroplasts这两个词的)怎样了一个长的、可以认为是一模一样的DNA序列就是一个巧合呢?当然只有D的share表示了这个意思。
Laws do not ensure social order since laws can always be ___ , which makes them ___ unless the authorities have the will and the power to detect and punish wrongdoing.
A. contested.. provisional B. circumvented.. antiquated C. repealed.. vulnerable
D. violated.. ineffective E. modified.. unstable
Which指代逗号前面的那句话,也就是“法律不保障社会秩序”,这就使得法律怎样呢?当然只有D选项的ineffective符合句意。
3. 对于含义晦涩的句子,判断语气或感情色彩是有效地解决方法,有时候甚至是唯一的方法。
Johnson never ___ to ignore the standards of decent conduct mandated by company policy if ___ compliance with instructions from his superiors enabled him to do so, whatever the effects on his subordinates.
A. deigned.. tacit B. attempted.. halfhearted C. intended.. direct
D. scrupled.. literal E. wished.. feigned
这句话对于英语阅读能力较差的学生来说,通过正常的阅读理解来做还是有些难度的。但是如果注意到whatever the effects on his subordinates(无论对下级产生什么影响)的语气,就可以判断第一空格填入后应表示johnson干的不是什么好事,唯一符合这一判断的是D选项。
Ironically, the party leaders encountered no greater ___ their efforts to build a progressive party than the ___ of the progressives already elected to the legislature.
A. support for.. advocacy B. threat to.. promise C. benefit from.. success
D. obstacle to.. resistance E. praise for.. reputation
如果知道encounter的正确用法,就可以判断第一空格应填入一个负面色彩的词,这样就轻松排除了A、C、E三个选项,结合后面的意思来看,只能选D。
Although ___ is usually thought to spring from regret for having done something wrong, it may be that its origin
is the realization that one's own nature is irremediably ___.
A. contrition.. resilient B. certitude.. confident C.skepticism.. innocent
D. remorse.. flawed E. resignation. frivolous
第二空格被副词irremediably(不可救药地)修饰,根据这个词带出的语气可以判断第二空格应填入一个负面色彩的词,符合这一判断的只有D、E两个选项。第一空格remorse的意思完全地对应“regret for having done something wrong”,故选D。
Any language is a conspiracy against experience in the sense that it is a collective attempt to ___ experience by reducing it into discrete parcels.
A. extrapolate B. transcribe C. complicate D. amplify E. manage
这句话如果没有看过相关背景的书籍几乎是不可理解的,但是我们可以通过语气和感情色彩的判断来排除错误的选项,最终剩下一个看不出错的选项,也就是正确选项了。因为语言是对抗经验的阴谋(conspiracy against),所以空格应填入一个负面色彩的动作,只有C选项(使复杂化、使变得麻烦)和E选项(manage除了中性的经营管理之外,还可以表示负面的操纵控制)符合这一判断。结合方式状语by reducing(减少、分解、简化)来看,C选项应被排除,最后剩下仍然看不懂句意的E选项就对了。
4.推理判断时注意避免发散思维
Natural selection tends to eliminate genes that cause inherited diseases, acting most strongly against the most severe diseases; consequently, hereditary diseases that are ___ would be expected to be very ___, but, surprisingly, they are not.
A. lethal.. rare B. untreated.. dangerous C. unusual.. refractory
D. new.. perplexing E. widespread.. acute
根据consequently提示的上下因果关系我们可以判断第一空格应填入severe的同义或反义,表示严重或不严重的词只有A选项。B选项表示未曾治疗的,D不用说了。C、E两个选项其实和是否严重没有关系,很多时候干扰选项的设置上利用了我们的习惯思维不缜密的、容易想当然的弱点。很多人会认为不寻常的、很少见的疾病就是严重的,寻常的、随处可见的疾病就是不严重的。但是只要稍微想一下就知道这里面没有任何必然的关系。
Although ___, almost self-effacing in his private life, he displays in his plays and essays a strong ___ publicity and controversy.
A. conventional.. interest in B. monotonous.. reliance on C. shy.. aversion toward
D. retiring.. penchant for E. evasive.. impatience with
第二空格根据转折关系显然只能选A、D两个选项,第一空格会有很多人觉得A选项可以选,因为觉得传统的人就是不喜欢抛头露面的,不喜欢与人争吵的。同样只要想想就该知道这里面没有任何必然的关系,并且即便我们中国传统的人真是这样,这里也没说他是中国人。这种干扰选项的设置路数和上一道题的感觉是完全一样的。
Considering how long she had yearned to see Italy, her first reaction was curiously ___.
A. meditative B. tepid C. categorical D. unoriginal E. insightful
干扰选项的设置和上两道题完全一样,A选项的沉思冥想并不表示她所应具有的高兴振奋的态度的相反,正确选项应为B选项(微温的,缺乏热情或激情的),直接表明了与兴奋激动的态度的相反特征。
5.ETS总是倾向于把词义的对应上最为直接的、形同废话的选项设为正确选项
The hierarchy of medical occupations is in many ways a ___ system; its strata remain ___ and the practitioners in them have very little vertical mobility.
A. health.. skilled B. delivery.. basic C. regimental.. flexible
D. training.. inferior E. caste.. intact
医疗职业的等级(hierarchy)在许多方面是一个等级体系(caste system)
The natural balance between prey and predator has been increasingly ___, most frequently by human intervention.
A. celebrated B. predicted C. observed D. disturbed E. questioned
被掠食者和掠食者之间的自然平衡被人类的干扰(intervention)干扰(disturbed)了
Poe's ___ reviews of contemporary fiction, which often find great merit in otherwise ___ literary gems, must make us respect his critical judgment in addition to his well-known literary talent.
A. thorough.. completed B. petulant.. unpopular C. insightful.. unappreciated
D. enthusiastic.. acclaimed E. harsh.. undeserving
爱伦坡有判断力的(insightful)现代小说评论使得我们佩服他的判断力(critical judgment)
Aptly enough, this work so imbued with the notion of changing times and styles has been constantly ___ over the years, thereby reflecting its own mutability.
A.appreciated B. emulated C. criticized D. revised E. reprinted
十分恰当的是,这部充满了变迁(changing)的时代、变迁的风格的作品多年以来一直被改变(revise),从而反映了它自身的可变性(mutability)
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