年关将近，很多申请美国研究生的同学即将面临递送GRE成绩的最后关头。对于很多同学来说，GRE的阅读部分无疑是在取得高分之路上，最大的一块拦路石。究竟我们应如何来对GRE阅读进行准备？今天iLC小编就带大家一起来对GRE阅读进行一次深度的剖析。
1. 你知道 GRE 的阅读文章都是怎么来的吗？
GRE 阅读文章来源是已经发布的论文，所以体裁上都是「议论文」，符合议论文三要素特点，包含论点、论据和论证。只不过这些原始的论文篇幅都很长（几千甚至上万词），ETS 的出题者们需要对其进行加工，浓缩成 100-400 词的文章。论文的篇幅短了，但其中的逻辑关系得以保留，而且还有可能通过句式的转换变得更复杂。
针对上述出题改写文章的过程和想要达到的目的，ETS 官方发布的一篇研究报告（“Electronic Sources as Input to GRE Reading Comprehension Item Development: Source Finder Prototype Evaluation”）中有具体说明：
Reading comprehension passages generally rely on some kind of “tension” to give them difficulty. A discussion or argument that develops in a linear fashion toward a conclusion is usually too simple to support challenging items. The requisite tension can take various forms: a conflict between different or opposing arguments about something, an unexpected finding that challenges previously established ways of understanding something, a disagreement about what evidence is relevant to the solution of a particular problem, etc. But disagreement or contrast or opposition is not in itself enough to provide the tension: a passage that merely states or describes opposing positions, without discussing in much detail the reasoning behind them, will not support very many or very complex items. For example, instead of saying that Brown believed X and Smith believed Y, a passage might tell us that Brown, heavily influenced by such-and-such school of thought, tended to assume A, and therefore believed X. Smith, on the other hand, had access to information that Brown did not have, namely B and C, and this information led Smith to conclude Y. However, Smith interpreted B in such a way that it seemed logical to conclude Y, when in fact this interpretation was ill founded. The more interdependent details, the more logical twists and turns, the better. Naturally, a passage containing this kind of density can only be created from a source that provides the requisite information, and such sources are not easy to find.
我们重点看加粗的内容：
GRE 阅读文章内在有一种“张力”（tension），体现在观点的对立、对已有观点/研究方法的挑战、对已有解决方案的质疑等。GRE 阅读文章追求观点的多样和其中关系的复杂，所有元素都是相互关联的，不存在独立的个体。为了解释这个特点，上文中还举了一个例子：GRE 阅读文章不会简单地罗列「Brown 相信 X，Smith 相信 Y」，这样的线性关系太简单了。相反，文章可能会说「Brown 以 A 为前提，得出结论 X；Smith 借助 B 和 C，得出结论 Y，但事实上 Smith 由 B 推 Y 是错误的」。通过这个例子中的对比我们可以看出，GRE 阅读文章中的元素不仅多，而且关系复杂，我们不仅要知道这些元素是什么，还要搞清楚它们相互间的关联。
2. GRE 阅读到底在考我们什么能力？
针对这个问题，官方也有一段说明非常经典：
Reading Comprehension questions are designed to test a wide range of abilities that are required in order to read and understand the kinds of prose commonly encountered in graduate school… reading and understanding a piece of text requires far more than a passive understanding of the words and sentences it contains; it requires active engagement with the text, asking questions, formulating and evaluating hypotheses and reflecting on the relationship of the particular text to other texts and information.
这段文字涵盖了 GRE 阅读考查的两项能力：
读句子的能力：即单词认识，基本语法也知道，能够读懂基本的句子含义。
理关系的能力：在读文章的过程中，能够梳理出句子之间的逻辑关系（如因果、对比、递进等），而且能够对下文内容作出预测，并且不断修正自己的预测，从而形成对文章整体结构的把握。
这样问题就逐渐明晰了，想要读懂一篇 GRE 文章，仅仅能看懂句子的语义是不够的，更重要的是能够梳理出句间逻辑关系，从而把握文章的逻辑主线。如果做不到第二点，在具体做题目的时候，就算我们能够根据关键词定位到原文，但如果搞不清楚其中的逻辑关系，依然做不对题，这个后面会结合真题具体展开说。
3. 到底怎么读文章最有效？
想要为接下来做题做好准备，在一开始读文章的时候，要遵循四个原则：
“提取核心概念”
“梳理逻辑关系”
“判断论点视角”
“预测下文要点”
我们结合一篇真题文章给大家做具体说明。在看讲解之前，建议你先读一下这篇文章，然后自己试着梳理下其中的逻辑主线。（建议用时 1 分钟）
Many critics of Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights see its second part as a counterpoint that comments on, if it does not reverse, the first part, where a romantic reading receives more confirmation. Seeing the two parts as a whole is encouraged by the novel’s sophisticated structure, revealed in its complex use of narrators and time shifts. Granted that the presence of these elements need not argue for an authorial awareness of novelistic construction comparable to that of Henry James, their presence does encourage attempts to unify the novel’s heterogeneous parts. However, any interpretation that seeks to unify all of the novel’s diverse elements is bound to be somewhat unconvincing. This is not because such an interpretation necessarily stiffens into a thesis (although rigidity in any interpretation of this or of any novel is always a danger), but because Wuthering Heights has recalcitrant elements of undeniable power that, ultimately, resist inclusion in an all-encompassing interpretation. In this respect, Wuthering Heights shares a feature of Hamlet.
读完了吗？
如果没有经过系统的训练，相信大多数人读完这篇文章后，印象最深的是专有名词和自己不认识的单词，也就是下面这些加粗的内容。
Many critics of Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights see its second part as a counterpoint that comments on, if it does not reverse, the first part, where a romantic reading receives more confirmation. Seeing the two parts as a whole is encouraged by the novel’s sophisticated structure, revealed in its complex use of narrators and time shifts. Granted that the presence of these elements need not argue for an authorial awareness of novelistic construction comparable to that of Henry James, their presence does encourage attempts to unify the novel’s heterogeneous parts. However, any interpretation that seeks to unify all of the novel’s diverse elements is bound to be somewhat unconvincing. This is not because such an interpretation necessarily stiffens into a thesis (although rigidity in any interpretation of this or of any novel is always a danger), but because Wuthering Heights has recalcitrant elements of undeniable power that, ultimately, resist inclusion in an all-encompassing interpretation. In this respect, Wuthering Heights shares a feature of Hamlet.
这些内容都是散的，对于抓取文章逻辑主线一点用处也没有，你可能还会因为有生词影响语义理解而大惊失色。这里插一句，其实 GRE 阅读是允许有 5% 的生词的，这就意味着一篇 100 词的文章有 5 个生词是很正常的，千万不要因为有生词而心慌。当然了，退一步讲，词汇量越大、生词越少当然是好事，只是不要将这个目标作为攻克 GRE 阅读的关键。关键还应该是对「文章逻辑主线」的把握，我们一句句解读。
1. Many critics of Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights see its second part as a counterpoint that comments on, if it does not reverse, the first part, where a romantic reading receives more confirmation.
critic 认为，WH 前后两部分不一样（第一部分可以从浪漫主义角度解读）
读完第 1 句，我们要敏感的捕捉到上述核心概念。就算 Emily Brontë、WH 你不知道是什么也没关系（其实后面有说 WH 是一本小说）。掌握了核心概念，进一步的话，你还可以推断第二部分肯定不是浪漫主义的解读，至于到底是什么我们不知道，下文可能会解释。这样就对下文内容有了预测。
2. Seeing the two parts as a whole is encouraged by the novel’s sophisticated structure, revealed in its complex use of narrators and time shifts.
因为结构，所以把小说的两部分看作一个整体。
这句话中存在因果逻辑关系，小说的 structure 让人将小说看作是 whole。至于 sophisticated 这个单词，如果不认识其实关系不大，因为它是修饰 structure 的，不影响对句子核心的把握。同样的道理，后面的 complex use of narrators and time shifts 属于文学领域的专业概念，不知道是什么意思也没关系，只要知道这也是修饰 structure 的就可以。
3. Granted that the presence of these elements need not argue for an authorial awareness of novelistic construction comparable to that of Henry James, their presence does encourage attempts to unify the novel’s heterogeneous parts.
结构和 HJ 的创作类似。
这句话在逻辑线上没有向前推进，还是在说小说的结构可以将不同的部分看作一个整体。但要注意，核心概念的英文表达有更新，本句的 construction 对应前文的 structure，unify 对应前文的 whole，在这个语境中，这两组属于逻辑上的同义词。（GRE 阅读文章中永远存在这种在逻辑上同义的情况，如果你能识别出来，这样就算你只认识其中一个单词，也能根据逻辑推断出另一个的含义。例如这句话中的 heterogeneous 这个单词，相信大多数人都不认识。但我们知道它是修饰 parts 的，这样就对应到前面的 two parts，进而推断出 heterogeneous 还是在说“不同的”部分。）
至于 authorial awareness 到底从专业上是什么意思，HJ 到底是谁其实并不重要，只要我们知道这句话的核心是说结构和 HJ 的创作类似，结构让我们可以将小说不同部分看作整体。
4. However, any interpretation that seeks to unify all of the novel’s diverse elements is bound to be somewhat unconvincing.
但是整体的解读不让人信服。
在 GRE 阅读中，however 是最关键的逻辑关系标志词，没有之一。它表明前后内容存在对比，且后面的内容是重心。（此外，这句话的观点发生转折，但没有明说观点的视角是谁，这种情况都默认是作者本人，所有的 GRE 阅读文章都适应。）读完这句话，我们就可以推测，既然作者反对「整体」的解读方式，那后面很有可能会给出持这一观点的依据。
elements 和前面的 parts 是逻辑上的同义词，diverse 和前面的 heterogeneous、two 也是逻辑上的同义词。
5. This is not because such an interpretation necessarily stiffens into a thesis (although rigidity in any interpretation of this or of any novel is always a danger), but because Wuthering Heights has recalcitrant elements of undeniable power that, ultimately, resist inclusion in an all-encompassing interpretation. In this respect, Wuthering Heights shares a feature of Hamlet.
WH 有某种力量，所以不能从整体去解读。
undeniable 是修饰力量（power）的，不认识不用在意。recalcitrant 修饰 elements，所以和前面的 diverse、heterogeneous、two 是逻辑上的同义词。这种力量"反对"（resist）all-encompassing 的解读方式，说明 all-encompassing 就是前面所说的“看作整体”的解读方式，这样就算这个单词不认识也知道其含义，这就是理清逻辑关系的魅力。
另外这句话还有两个核心概念之外的信息：1）整体的解读对所有小说都是有害的；2）WH 有某种力量拒绝整体解读，这一点和 Hamlet 类似。
结合上面的讲解，我们读完一篇文章之后，就能够提炼出下述核心概念和逻辑关系：
Many critics of Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights see its second part as a counterpoint that comments on, if it does not reverse, the first part, where a romantic reading receives more confirmation. Seeing the two parts as a whole is encouraged by the novel’s sophisticated structure, revealed in its complex use of narrators and time shifts. Granted that the presence of these elements need not argue for an authorial awareness of novelistic construction comparable to that of Henry James, their presence does encourage attempts to unify the novel’s heterogeneous parts. However, any interpretation that seeks to unify all of the novel’s diverse elements is bound to be somewhat unconvincing. This is not because such an interpretation necessarily stiffens into a thesis (although rigidity in any interpretation of this or of any novel is always a danger), but because Wuthering Heights has recalcitrant elements of undeniable power that, ultimately, resist inclusion in an all-encompassing interpretation. In this respect, Wuthering Heights shares a feature of Hamlet.
由此可知，这篇文章的逻辑主线是：就 WH 这本小说的不同部分能不能看作一个整体，批评家和作者观点对立，且各有依据（structure vs power）。
以上就是iLC小助手今天为大家带来的GRE阅读文章分析。欢迎大家持续对我们的专栏进行关注！更多关于GRE的备考信息，欢迎大家在后台进行留言，或者关注我们的微信公众号与二维码。更多GRE备考资料，请在公众号回复“GRE资料”进行获取！
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