托福閱讀中的否定事實信息

　　在托福閱讀中，有一類別致的題型叫作否定事實信息類問題(Negative Factual Information Questions)。這類問題考察考生區(qū)別真實信息與虛假信息的能力。要分辨這種題型非常容易，因為題干中會出現(xiàn)大寫的拒絕(“NOT”或“EXCEPT”)引起我們的注意。

　　例如：

　　The author’s description of X mentions all of the following EXCEPT...

　　According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of X?

　　當我們看到“EXCEPT”或“NOT”這兩個詞的時候，就要馬上反應過來這道題問的是以下哪個選項為否定事實信息。為了便于理解，我們把這種信息叫做虛假信息，也就是原文中沒有說明是正確的信息。

　　下面為大家梳理一下虛假信息的三大套路：自相矛盾、無中生有、答非所問。

　　一、自相矛盾

　　第一種情況是選項信息與原文相矛盾，錯誤表述文中的信息或觀點。例如下題：

　　PASSAGE EXCERPT：“Themost striking characteristic of the plants of the alpine zone is their lowgrowth form. This enables them to avoid the worst rigors of high winds andpermits them to make use of the higher temperatures immediately adjacent to theground surface. In an area where low temperatures are limiting to life, theimportance of the additional heat near the surface is crucial. The low growthform can also permit the plants to take advantage of the insulation provided bya winter snow cover. In the equatorial mountains the low growth form is lessprevalent.”(TPO1: TIMBERLINEVEGETATION ON MOUNTAINS)

　　According to paragraph 6, all of the following statements aretrue of plants in the alpine zone EXCEPT:

　　○ Because they are low, they are less exposed to strong winds.

　　○ Because they are low, the winter snow cover gives them moreprotection from the extreme cold.

　　○ In the equatorial mountains, they tend to be lower than inmountains elsewhere.

　　○ Their low growth form keeps them closer to the ground, where thereis more heat than further up.

　　這道題的選項1改寫原文“… avoid theworst rigors of high winds…”;選項2對應原文“…take advantage of the insulation provided by a winter snow cover”;選項4對應原文“…make use of the higher temperaturesimmediately adjacent to the ground surface”;選項3中的“lower”與原文之中“the low growth form is lessprevalent”相矛盾，因此該選項為虛假信息，選作本題的答案。

　　二、無中生有

　　第二種情況是選項信息在原文中沒有被提及。同學們可以比較容易地辨別出在原文中完全沒有提到的選項，但大家務必注意此類出題方式經(jīng)常會使點小心機，也就是選項的部分信息是對原文信息的重復，但是另一部分卻出現(xiàn)了新概念或腦補了新信息。例如：

　　PASSAGE EXCERPT: “The causes of this population rebound are consequences of otherhuman actions. First, the major predators of deer---wolves, cougar, andlynx--have been greatly reduced in numbers. Second, conservation has beeninsured by limiting times for and types of hunting. But the most profoundreason for the restoration of high population numbers has been the gate of theforests. Great tracts of lowland country deforested by logging, fire, or bothhave become ideal feeding grounds of deer. ”(TPO4: Deer Populations ofthe Puget Sound)

　　Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 5 as a factor that has increased deerpopulations?

　　○ A reduction in thenumber of predators

　　○ Restrictions on hunting

　　○ The effects of loggingand fire

　　○ Laws that protectedfeeding grounds of deer

　　選項1與原文“First, the majorpredators of deer---wolves, cougar, and lynx--have been greatly reduced innumbers”相對應;選項2對應原文“Second, conservationhas been insured by limiting times for and types of hunting”;選項3對應原文“Great tracts of lowland countrydeforested by logging, fire”;選項4中的后半部分信息“feeding grounds of deer”是對原文 “… or both havebecome ideal feeding grounds of deer”中的原詞重復，但是選項前半部分新添加了原文沒有的信息“laws that protected”，這仍然屬于無中生有的虛假信息，因此這道題應該選擇最后一個選項。

　　三、答非所問

　　最后一種情況是需要大家特別注意的，即答非所問。選項可能重復文章中的信息，且沒有添加原文不存在的信息，然而它卻并沒有回答問題，因此仍然屬于虛假信息的范疇。例如：

　　PASSAGE EXCERPT：“The same thing happens to this day, though on a smaller scale, wherever asediment-laden river or stream emerges from a mountain valley ontorelatively flat land, dropping its load as the current slows: the waterusually spreads out fanwise, depositing the sediment in the form of a smooth,fan-shaped slope. Sediments are also dropped where a river slows on entering a lake or the sea, the deposited sediments are on a lake floor or the seafloorat first……”(TPO1: GROUNDWATER)

　　All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 3 as places thatsediment-laden rivers can deposit their sediments EXCEPT

　　○ A mountain valley

　　○ Flat land

　　○ A lake floor

　　○ The seafloor

　　在做這道題的時候我們很焦灼地發(fā)現(xiàn)每一個選項都在原文中出現(xiàn)了(下劃線部分)，而且都沒有添加任何原文不存在的新信息。此時一定要冷靜，將選項與題干進行核對。題目中問的是河流所攜帶的砂石會在什么地方沉淀，而原文“wherever a sediment-laden river or stream emerges from a mountainvalley onto relatively flat land, dropping its load as the currentslows ”表明水流從mountain valley 流出，流至相對平坦的地面時水流速度減慢從而逐漸沉淀砂石。當我們理解這句話就會知道m(xù)ountain valley是水流出的地方而不是sediments沉淀的地方，也就是說選項1并不是針對題目的正確信息，因此它是被“EXCEPT”的對象，答案為選項1。

　　總結一下，選項中的虛假信息可能以自相矛盾、無中生有、答非所問的方式出現(xiàn)。這類虛假信息正是否定事實信息類題目的正確答案，而那些能夠在原文中找到對應的選項統(tǒng)統(tǒng)都不選。