在做雅思閱讀圖表題時,除了常規方法尋找定位詞外,還要特別注意圖表里的一些隱藏關系,找到這些隱藏關系,通常可以幫我們大大節省時間去定位到答案句。現在我們拿劍橋雅思真題8 Test2 Passage1的第1-5題舉例。

題目長這樣:Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

拿到題目,
(1)先預判定位題目在文章中的大概位置,看標題,有"Early methods",則意味著文章可能是按照時間順序行文,表格標題包含"早期方法",所以題目出處可能是在文章前部。通過特殊詞"Ribbon"和數字"20%"定位,我們發現題目的出處在文章前兩段。

(2)重點來了,表格里有沒有暗含一些隱藏關系呢?當然有。首先,我們發現列"Method"下方有兩個方法,第二個方法已給出,是"Ribbon"這個方法,那么就表明個方法,也就是第1題跟Ribbon 之間可能會形成對比的關系;然后注意表頭,有"Advantages"和"Disadvantages",那么必然第2題和第3題以及第4題和第5題形成了一個轉折關系,所以他們的答案句之間一定有表示轉折的連接詞。

(3)接下來,細讀前兩段尋找答案。

Glass, which has been made since the time of the Mesopotamians and Egyptians, is little more than a mixture of sand, soda ash and lime. When heated to about 1500 degrees Celsius (°C) this becomes a molten mass that hardens when slowly cooled. The first successful method for making clear, flat glass involved spinning. This method was very effective as the glass had not touched any surfaces between being soft and becoming hard, so it stayed perfectly unblemished, with a ‘fire finish’. However, the process took a long time and was labour intensive.

Nevertheless, demand for flat glass was very high and glass makers across the world were looking for a method of making it continuously. The first continuous ribbon process involved squeezing molten glass through two hot rollers, similar to an old mangle. This allowed glass of virtually any thickness to be made non-stop, but the rollers would leave both sides of the glass marked, and these would then need to be ground and polished. This part of the process rubbed away around 20 per cent of the glass, and the machines were very expensive.

我們發現,第二段開頭一個大大的Nevertheless(然而),由于之前已經定位到Ribbon方法在第二段,所以第1題的方法必然出現在段。我們的欣喜地發現段就有method這個定位詞,所以第1題答案就是spinning。再往后細讀,找到一個轉折詞"However","however" 前面是優點,第2題答案缺一個形容詞,答案是(perfectly)unblemished, "however"后面是缺點,第2題缺一個形容詞,答案是 labour intensive。

繼續讀第二段,找到段中有個不"but",經過推理,"but"前是優點,第4題缺一個名詞,答案是thickness,"but"后是缺點,第5題缺一個形容詞,答案是marked。

這道圖表題里隱藏的轉折對比關系在其他雅思閱讀真題中也比較常見,同學們要多加注意。