SAT阅读基本理解题
理解题考查学生回忆与理解所读文章的能力。
SAT阅读不仅仅是简单的回答问题，官方希望考生充分理解文章，并可以用不同的形式复述文章。
在这一部分，基本的理解题是要求学生回忆文章的内容，但稍有难度的理解题就考察学生对文章的理解能力。
例如，先看下面的几句话：
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1 Well, we were not all sure in those days if that 2 was what we wanted; after all, perhaps it was 3 some sort of scandalous trick or knavery. Still, 4 we persisted, putting up with the long hours, 5 destitute working conditions, abysmal pay, 6 and dangerous environment in the hope that 7 perhaps someday we too could improve our 8 lives and move beyond this social abyss. |
Who is the speaker addressing? （听众是谁？）每篇文章都是由某人写成的，对于上面的一小段话，可能我们猜不出作者的名字，但可以对作者做一个大致的描述：很显然，作者有同情心，忍受着艰苦的工作条件，希望生活水平可以提高。Who is speaking? （谁在说？）阅读这一小段后，你是否能理解它的意思。接着，你要回答下面的问题：
大家要知道听众是哪些人。例如，一篇文章选自传记或是演讲稿，这就很正式，需要认真严肃。这样我们就知道，听众是严肃而且成熟的人。
What is the speaker’s main point?（讲话人的主要观点是什么？）
大家需要关注整篇文章的中心点。不要概述文章，而是要思考文章的主要目的。这篇文章想要告诉读者什么？需要注意的是，文章的中心不会是讲述一段不好的经历。
How does the speaker articulate his point?（作者如何表达自己的观点？）
大家要注意作者描述信息的方式。在上一段话中，作者运用悲伤及苦难的词汇使读者产生共鸣。在其他文章中，作者也许仅描述科学的观点并用事实加以论述。
这些都是阅读文章时的引导性问题。但一些题目仅仅考察对文章信息或意思的理解。
Based on lines 1-8, who does the author speak on behalf of?
A) Workers in poor working environments
B) Mothers of disabled children
C) Newly wealthy members of society
D) Sportsmen at retirement age
E) Environmental ecology advocates
刚看问题及选项的时候可能会觉得而有些抽象，笼统，大家要仔细思考一下。 “Speak on behalf of”就相当于“Who’s talking?”，也就是who is the “we” in the passage?既不可能是母亲，也不可能是运动员。这段话讲述的是一个穷困潦倒的人，因此C项也不正确。尽管文中用了"environment"这个词，但指的是工作环境。
有时，理解题只是要求大家重复文中已有的信息。
下面再来看一个例子:
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1 Ask any modern astrophysicist and he will tell 2 you that the future of physics is found in 3 string theory. Ask that same physicist to 4 justify how string theory works and he will 5 undoubtedly come up short. See, string theory 6 is one of those hyped-up, overrated movies 7 that are endlessly promoted and may very 8 well flop. Sure, it’s a great idea on paper, but 9 it is still a theory and there exist many logical 10 inconsistencies with string theory. Just take 11 what “experts” tell you with a grain of salt. |
B) In science, there are many questions to be asked but few are answered.A) Superstring theory has yet to mature.On the paragraph from lines 1-11, the main idea or focus is that
C) Science is hyped-up and overrated
D) Superstring theory is fundamentally flawed
E) Superstring theory is only a theory
答案是E。
A项，虽然可以推断出这一理论尚未成熟，但文章中并没有明确说明。
B项，虽然表述正确，但不是这段话的中心。
C项，尽管拿这一理论跟一部电影相比较，但作者并没有批判所有的科学。
D项，作者对超弦理论持批判态度，但没有明确批评这一理论缺少价值。
1. Unwilling to admit that they had been in error, the researchers tried to ____ their case with more data obtained from dubious sources.
A. ascertain B. buttress C. refute
D. absolve E. dispute
2. Archaeology is a poor profession; only ____ sums are available for excavating sites and even more ____ amounts for preserving the excavations.
A. paltry - meager B. miniscule - substantial C. average - augmented
D. judicious - penurious E. modest - generous
3. The student was extremely foolhardy; he had the ____ to question the senior professor's judgment.
A. wisdom B. temerity C. interest
D. trepidation E. condescension
4. The formerly ____ waters of the lake have been polluted so that the fish are no longer visible from the surface.
A. muddy B. tranquil C. stagnant
D. pellucid E. rancid
5. After the accident, the nerves to her arm were damaged and so the muscles ____ through disuse.
A. atrophied B. contracted C. elongated
D. invigorated E. dwindled
6. Some critics maintain that Tennyson's poetry is uneven, ranging from the ____ to the ____.
A. sublime - elevated B. trite - inspired C. vacuous - inane
D. succinct - laconic E. sonorous - voluble
7. After grafting there is a ____ of lymphocytes in the lymph glands; the newly produced lymphocytes then move in to attack the foreign tissue.
A. diminution B. proliferation C. obliteration
D. paucity E. attraction
8. One ____ the new scheme is that it might actually ____ just those applicants that it was intended to encourage.
A. highlight of - stimulate B. feature of - attract C. problem with - induce
D. attraction of - intimidate E. drawback of - daunt
9. Corruption is ____ in our society; the integrity of even senior officials is ____ .
A. growing - unquestioned B. endangered - disputed C. pervasive - intact
D. rare - corrupted E. rife - suspect
10. In their day to day decision making, many senior managers do not follow the rational model favored by orthodox management experts, but rather rely on intuitive processes that often appear ____ and ____.
A. cerebral - considered B. heretical - judgmental C. conscientious - logical
D. irrational - iconoclastic E. capricious - deliberate
答案请戳：9天搞定SAT阅读-Day 2 Basic Comprehension Questions 【练习答案】
上期文章：9天搞定SAT阅读-Day 1. Reading a Passage
下期文章：9天搞定SAT阅读-Day 3 Analytical Questions
