從2005年起，考研英語閱讀部分增設了“新題型”，旨在“考查考生對諸如連貫性、一致性等語段特征及文章結構的理解”，題量設置為5道題目，總分值為10分。在比較近的幾期班開課伊始，陸續收到學生的郵件，問能否把新題型放在閱讀課堂的比較初幾節課去講，原因是“新題型太難，完全摸不著頭緒，而且分值又高！”——這樣的問題，在我看來，非常具有代表性，反映了相當一部分考生對新題型由于陌生感而產生的恐懼感，由恐懼感而導致的無力感！實際上，考生對新題型部分的控制能力從2005年、2006年新題型部分的平均得分不足4.5分亦可見一斑。

　　那么，對于那些有志于在考研英語的閱讀中“錙銖必較”、力爭高分，面對新題型卻又無所適從的學生，我感到有必要在這里進一言：善用閱讀老方法，破解考研新題型！

　　根據《大綱》，考研新題型共有三種備選形式。在這里，僅就2005年、2006年連續出現的“七選五”或稱之為“完形填段”，也是眾多考生公認比較難的一種進行解析。實際上，“七選五”題型是把一篇完整的文章中的五個段落“挖”出來，要求考生將其合理“歸位”，為了提高難度，額外增加了兩個混淆選擇加以迷惑。

　　考生怎樣才能把看似七零八落的段落重新合理歸位呢？總的來講，必須從上下文內容的連貫性、邏輯的一致性兩方面入手，大膽假設、小心求證，以期一一破解。

　　就以下面的這篇大綱樣題為例：

　　Long before Man lived on the Earth, there were fishes, reptiles, birds, insects, and some mammals. Although some of these animals were ancestors of kinds living today, others are now extinct, that is, they have no descendants alive now. 41）_ ____.

　　Very occasionally the rocks show impression of skin, so that, apart from color, we can build up a reasonably accurate picture of an animal that died millions of years ago. The kind of rock in which the remains are found tells us much about the nature of the original land, often of the plants that grew on it, and even of its climate.

　　42）____ _. Nearly all of the fossils that we know were preserved in rocks formed by water action, and most of these are of animals that lived in or near water. Thus it follows that there must be many kinds of mammals, birds, and insects of which we know nothing.

　　43）____ _. There are also crab-like creatures, whose bodies were covered with a horny substance. The body segments each had two pairs of legs, one pair for walking on the sandy bottom, the other for swimming. The head was a kind of shield with a pair of compound eyes, often with thousands of lenses. They were usually an inch or two long but some were 2 feet.

　　44）__ ___. Of these, the ammonites are very interesting and important. They have a shell composed of many chambers, each representing a temporary home of the animal. As the young grew larger it grew a new chamber and sealed off the previous one. Thousands of these can be seen in the rocks on the Dorset Coast.

　　45）_ ____. About 75 million years ago the Age of Reptiles was over and most of the groups died out. The mammals quickly developed, and we can trace the evolution of many familiar animals such as the elephant and horse. Many of the later mammals, though now extinct, were known to primitive man and were featured by him in cave paintings and on bone carvings.

　　[A] The shellfish have a long history in the rock and many different kinds are known.

　　[B] Nevertheless, we know a great deal about many of them because their bones and shells have been preserved in the rocks as fossils. From them we can tell their size and shape, how they walked, the kind of food they ate.

　　[C] The first animals with true backbones were the fishes, first known in the rocks of 375 million years ago. About 300 million years ago the amphibians, the animals able to live both on land and in water, appeared. They were giant, sometimes 8 feet long, and many of them lived in the swampy pools in which our coal seam, or layer, or formed. The amphibians gave rise to the reptiles and for nearly 150 million years these were the principal forms of life on land, in the sea, and in the air.

　　[D] The best index fossils tend to be marine creatures. These animals evolved rapidly and spread over large areas of the world.

　　[E] The earliest animals whose remains have been found were all very simple kinds and lived in the sea. Later forms are more complex, and among these are the sea-lilies, relations of the starfishes, which had long arms and were attached by a long stalk to the sea bed, or to rocks.

　　[F] When an animal dies, the body, its bones, or shell, may often be carried away by streams into lakes or the sea and there get covered up by mud. If the animal lived in the sea its body would probably sink and be covered with mud. More and more mud would fall upon it until the bones or shell become embedded and preserved.

　　[G] Many factors can influence how fossils are preserved in rocks. Remains of an organism may be replaced by minerals, dissolved by an acidic solution to leave only their impression, or simply reduced to a more stable form.

　　 我們一起來分析41題的做法，按照PART A部分的閱讀方法，通過閱讀該空缺前面的段落，我們能夠抓住的重要信息是：Although some of these animals were ancestors of kinds living today, others are now extinct. 同理，空缺之后的段落告訴我們的重要信息是：Very occasionally the rocks show impression of skin, so that, apart from color, we can build up a reasonably accurate picture of an animal that died millions of years ago.

　　對比空缺前后的兩個重要信息之后不難發現，extinct和a reasonably accurate構成了一對矛盾，要解決這一矛盾，我們可以大膽假設：在空缺的段落處必然發生過一次轉折，否則，文章內容的連貫性和邏輯性就無法保證。基于這一假設，我們去逐一瀏覽選項，會迅速定位到B項一個明確的標志詞Nevertheless，恰好傳遞了“強轉折”的邏輯意味。將B項帶回原文通讀，發現其無論是內容還是邏輯上都符合行文的要求。因此可斷定為正確項。

　　當然，對文章的邏輯性不夠敏感的學生，還可以通過內容的詞匯線索著手。如前所述，通過對比空缺前后的段落我們發現extinct和a reasonably accurate構成了一對矛盾，進一步研讀空缺后面的段落，結合該段主題句，遵循中心詞匯重現原則，不難定位到該段的關鍵詞rock。據此我們可以大膽假設：在空缺的段落處也必然出現過rock這一名詞，而且段落內容與本段具有前后關聯性。基于這一假設，及帶回原文通讀，也可以比較終確定正確項為B。

　　同理，通過對各空缺前后段落的研讀及內容、邏輯關系特征詞的尋找，進而與選項相關特征詞加以匹配，42到45題可逐一破解。在這里因篇幅所限，不再一一展開。

　　從上面的分析不難看出，“七選五”題型不僅考查學生宏觀上把握文章主要內容的能力，比如對段落主題句的把握，同時也考查重點細節的處理能力，比如對轉折詞、關鍵詞的敏感。而這與PART A部分的考查目的本質上是一致的。再看1994年的一篇文章：

　　One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us, the "cashless society" is not on the horizon — it's already here.

　　While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.

　　Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.

　　58. What is this passage mainly about?

　　[A] Approaches to the commercial use of computers.

　　[B] Conveniences brought about by computers in business.

　　[C] Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.

　　[D] Advantages of credit cards in business.

　　這是一道主旨題，而做題的關鍵正如《大綱解析》所說的對“那些出現頻率比較高的詞或短語”或者“隱性路標詞”的把握，即本文中的conveniences，advantages，better and more efficient services等一串詞。

　　事實上，再三強調《大綱》及《大綱解析》作為考研英語比較高綱領性文件的重要性都不為過。凡認真研究過《大綱解析》的人就會發現，對文章主要內容以及重點細節的把握，其中是有非常到位的闡釋的。其針對傳統PART A部分“如何抓住重要信息”提出的閱讀策略概括起來有三點：第一、注意那些出現頻率比較高的詞或短語（如前所述：rock這個詞）；第二、善于判定各段的主題句（如前所述：Although some of these animals were ancestors of kinds living today, others are now extinct 以及Very occasionally the rocks show impression of skin, so that, apart from color, we can build up a reasonably accurate picture of an animal that died millions of years ago）；第三、瀏覽中總結全文的主題。而其針對新題型所提出的閱讀策略為：通過文章中“顯性”（如前所述的Nevertheless類路標詞）以及“隱性”（如前所述：rock這個詞）標志詞去把握文章內容和理順邏輯結構。

　　在考研英語真題中這樣的實例比比皆是，也再次證明閱讀的所謂“新題型”，其考查的實質與PART A部分的老題型如出一轍。同學們所要做的，就是做個有心人，把課堂上所講的方法結合真題強化訓練，切實掌握，并在此基礎上舉一反三。畢竟，古語說得好：“有志者，事竟成，破釜沉舟，百二秦關終屬楚； 苦心人，天不負，臥薪嘗膽，三千越甲可吞吳。”