欢迎订阅高中英语写作精品专栏，内容包括12篇话题写作满分佳作，一天写一篇，高考妥妥拿高分
理解主旨和要义
——段落大意题和全文大意题
一、段落大意题
★常见的设问方式
1. What"s the main idea of the first / second / ... paragraph?
2. Paragraph 1 / 2 / ... focuses on / is mainly about _____.
3. What is stressed / does the author stress in Paragraph 1 / 2 / ...?
4. What is the key message of the first / second / ... paragraph?
5. What does the first / second / ... paragraph mainly discuss? / What is the first / second / ... paragraph mainly about?
★解题技巧
段落大意题主要考查考生对某一段落的理解程度及把握该段落在整个语篇中所起作用的能力，一般针对该段落的主旨或目的设题。做这类题的关键在于抓住该段落的内容要点。常用的技巧有：
1. 寻找主题句。有的文章中段落的主题句在段首或段尾。这类文章一般段内层次较为 分明，多采用“总——分”或“分——总”结构。但有时主题句会出现在段落的中间，这时段落结构一般是：细节——主题——细节。要把握住段落的逻辑结构，就要特别关注段落内起过渡作用的词汇，如however, but, and, also, for example, in conclusion, on the contrary等。
2. 通过关键词概括。有些段落没有明确的主题句，需要考生依据已知的细节自己归纳段落大意。这时可通过略读筛选出最能表达作者意图的关键词，进而确定作者要表达的真正意思。
二、全文大意题
★常见的设问方式
1. What is the text mainly about?
2. What"s the main idea of the text?
3. What does the author mainly discuss in the text?
4. The text mainly deals with _____.
5. The passage is mainly about _____.
6. The author writes the text mainly to _____.
★解题技巧
全文大意题考查考生能否分辨主题和细节，是否具有提纲挈领的能力。做这类题时，要求考生能理解全文细节，然后运用概括、判断、归纳、推理等逻辑方法对文章进行总结。常用的技巧有：
1. 寻找主题句。文章的主题句通常出现在文章第一段或最后一段，而有些文章的主题句需要通过归纳总结每段的段落大意获得。
2. 抓住高频词。选项形式为一两个单词或一个短语时，文中被反复提到的概念或名称多是正确选项。
3. 看选项特点。正确选项通常不含表示绝对意义的词，而且不能只是概括某个细节或表述局部观点，也不能包括文章没有提及的内容。
三、真题分析
以下内容均选编自高考真题，我们将结合上面提到的解题技巧对各题进行分析解答。
A
Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight, bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle — named the Transition — has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The Transition, which flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes last month, can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a 23-gallon tank of gas and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.
Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don"t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost $279,000. And it won"t help if you"re stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.
Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry expert. But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government has already permitted the company to use special materials to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The Transition is now going through crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.
Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration"s decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft, which are lower than those for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a requirement pilots would find relatively easy to meet.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A. The basic data of the Transition.
B. The advantages of flying cars.
C. The potential market for flying cars.
D. The designers of the Transition.
（节选自全国卷II阅读理解C篇）
【分析】
本文是一篇新闻报道。文章主要介绍了国外一家公司研发飞行汽车的最新进展。
解答本题需运用“通过关键词概括”法。本段提到了飞行汽车的两个座位、四个轮子以及车翼、飞行速度、油耗等情况。根据这些细节我们可归纳出该段是在介绍飞行汽车Transition的基本数据，故选A项。
B
After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.
Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.
The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations — major food sources (来源) for the wolf — grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park"s red foxes, and completely drove away the park"s beavers.
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park. They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today, the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk, deer, and coyote populations are down, while beavers and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
2. What is the text mainly about?
A. Wildlife research in the United States.
B. Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area.
C. The conflict between farmers and gray wolves.
D. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park.
（节选自全国卷III阅读理解C篇）
【分析】
本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了灰狼被重新引入黄石国家公园。
解答本题可运用“寻找主题句”法。文章第一段第一句即为主题句。接下来的第二、三、四、五段讲述了重新将灰狼引入黄石国家公园的原因及过程。第二段主要讲以前在黄石地区随处可见的灰狼消失了。第三段讲灰狼的消失引发了一系列生态问题。第四段讲生物学家建议政府考虑重新将灰狼引入黄石公园，但附近农场主反对。第五段讲政府花了近30年的时间研究计划重新引入狼群，此案例对其它地区也有借鉴意义，故本题的正确答案为D项。
