理解作者的意图、观点和态度是近几年考试的热点题目,考生在做此类题时要把握这样的判断原则:既纵观全文,掌握主题思想有要注意文章的措辞,把握文章的基调或主旨(tenor),又要分清文章的话语范围(field)及话语方式(mode)。太奇考研提醒大家,该题型常问作者对某事是什么态度:主观(subjective)还是客观(objective) ;肯定(positive)还是否定(negative) ;赞成(approval)还是反对(opposition)等等。解题的关键是要看作者在文中用了什么样的口气。若用褒义词,显然是赞成。若用贬义词,显然是反对。若客观陈述,则是中性的立场,不偏不倚。注意:作者态度常常在转折词后表明出来。所以,but一词至关重要(还有类似的yet, however, although,nevertheless等)。
该题型常见的提问形式有:
1) The tone of the passage can best be described as ____
2) The tone of the passage would be _____
3) Which of the following best describes the tone of thepassage____
4) What is the attitude of the author towards____
5) How does the writer feel about______
6) The writer is of the opinion that_____
7) The author seems to be _____
情感和态度在考研中大致可分为三类:happy/unhappy;security/insecurity; satisfaction/
dissatisfaction, 它们作为标记语反映出作者对某个现象采取的姿态,并从情感的角度评价该现象。因此,考生既要依靠文章的中心思想作为前提,又要注意作者的措辞,尤其是作为修饰语的形容词。
我们以2003年的阅读Text 4为例具体说明这一点:
Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit.As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffectiveand painful. I also know that people in Japanand Sweden,countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthierlives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikelycures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improvepeople‘s lives.
59. In contras to the U.S.,Japan and Sweden are funding their medicalcare .
[A] more flexibly
[B] more extravagantly
[C] more cautiously
[D] more reasonably
作者用limits,ineffective, painful这些消极的词语暗示了美国医疗卫生系统的缺憾,通过把握这些词语,我们就能得出D为正确选项。所以我们对语言的理解是有一定差异的,又如尼克松签订1972年公报时,对“一个中国”原则,他手下的修辞专家用了acknowledge 而不用recognize.因为后者是正式的,外交的,打心底里的承认,而前者是一种模糊,对某种既成事实的有限度接受,但在中文里出现的就是我们理解的 “承认”。
可见考生在平时的单词理解中要结合不同的语境,不同的文章体裁,综合地认知寓意,才能透彻地理解作者的意图。