SAT阅读中之字面和引申义解读

很多同学反映SAT阅读不能理解文意，一般来说这是由SAT阅读中的字面和引申义的不同而导致的。在做SAT阅读试题时，往往会碰到单词或语句中包含引申义，从而影响判断。

首先我们来了解一下什么是字面含义，什么又是引申含义：

　　字面含义(literal meaning): 只要按照英文单词逐字逐句翻译，就知道句子的意思。

　　引申含义(underlying meaning): 即使按照英文单词逐字逐句翻译，也不知道句子的意思;需要通过字里行间的某种联系，才能知道作者的意图和所表达的含义。

　　SAT阅读不能理解文意往往是由引申含义不理解导致的。

　　在新SAT阅读试题中，考察到引申含义的形式大概分为三种：

　　(1)各种修辞手法

　　(2)“不相关”句子

　　(3)按照不同的文体，引申含义的句子的比重不一样

　　引申一：各种修辞手法

　　用一些实例来展示，相信同学们看了会好理解一些：

　　(1)引经据典direct quotation

　　Critics couldn't resist reviewing them together, mocking the pair, even then, as "The Hair Poets," "The Braids of the East," and "The New Asian Poe-tresses."评论家用了三个名号来表示这两个人的相似性。

　　(2)设问句/反问句Rhetorical question

　　But what do these words mean? How do they create magic?请看下文，下文有实质性内容

　　(3)比喻Metaphor

　　We have gazed at one another across the transatlantic divide like a child seeing itself in the mirror for the first time.我们互相凝望。

　　(4)类比Analogy

　　Since my command of the crayon was greater than my command of writing, in a sense my drawings became my poems.我喜欢绘画和诗歌。

　　(5)排比Parallelism

　　She had waded through snow-drifts and been trenched in pouring rains, she had been frozen with the cold and prostrated with the heat, she had been blown about by Chicago wind until it was strange there was any of her left in one piece…她受了不少苦。

　　(6)拟人Personification

　　Stars winked on in a darkening sky.夜空有星星。

　　引申二：“不相关”句子

　　这里说的不相关，是指乍看起来与文章中心内容毫无瓜葛，但是，考试文章无废话，所有这些貌似“不相关”的语句，都是考察理解程度的考点。如下：

　　例1：直接引语(direct quotation)：支持原文的言论或者主张。

　　A Kikongo proverb states, "A tree cannot stand without its roots." It seems such obvious wisdom now, a well-worn cliché in our era in which everything truly insightful has already been said. But all clichés derive their endurance from their truth, and my ancestors who coined this adage were sending a clear and powerful message to their descendants: a people cannot flourish without their life-giving foundations in the past.

　　例2：文中排比(Parallelism) 多用来拓充文章篇幅，所有排比句共同支持一个中心思想或者主张，不必拘泥于任何一处排比分句的具体含义。

　　As she wrote a final letter on her typewriter—she did hate letting the old machine go—Georgia did considerable philosophizing about the irony of working for things only to the end of giving them up. She had waded through snow-drifts and been trenched in pouring rains, she had been frozen with the cold and prostrated with the heat, she had been blown about by Chicago wind until it was strange there was any of her left in one piece, she had had front doors—yes, and back doors too—slammed in her face, she had been the butt of the alleged wit of menials and hirelings, she had been patronized by vapid women as the poor girl who must make her living some way, she had been roasted by—but never mind—she had had a beat or two!

　　引申三：不同文体，引申含义的句子的比重不一样

　　新SAT的五篇阅读文章体裁不同， 大致分为：自然科学(natural science)， 社会科学(social science)，议论文(argument)， 小说(fiction) 。不同体裁的文章在引申含义的句子的比重上是不一样的。如图所示：

　　如图所示：在小说和议论文中，考生应该着重捕捉和理解引申含义的句子，因为他们将是解题的关键。

　　在议论文中，引申含义的句子的理解重点是：作者的态度和意图。

　　在小说中，引申含义的句子的理解重点是：人物特征，叙述人视角，情境差别等。