寻找主题句

阅读技巧:寻找主题句

阅读理解首先是对文章的主旨和大意的理解，是对全文的概括与总结。能否抓住这个中心，体现了读者总结、概括和归纳事物的能力。每篇短文都有主题思想，作者表现主题思想的手法各不相同，而大多数文章的主题思想是通过一个句子来表达的，这就是主题句(topic sentence) 。主题句主要是陈述一个观点，其意义是由提供证据的细节来展开的。主题句一般出现在段落的开头和结尾，也可能出现在段中。

1．主题句放在段首

文章的主题句放在段落的开端，开门见山，接着展开讨论、阐述或论证。这种写作手法也称作“演绎法”，即由抽象到具体，由概述到详解，由一般到个别。在长文章中，这种放在首段首句的主题句能给人极强的感染力，其他段落中的主题句均受该主题句的约束。这样，就要求读者能准确判断第一主题句，其方法是:具体分析段落的首句与第二、三句的关系，如果从第二句开始就对第一句进行说明、论述或描述，那么第一句就是主题句。

请看下面短文:

For large numbers of people，the absence of work is harmful to their health．Retirement often brings many problems surrounding the“What do I do with myself”question，even though there may be no financial cares．Large numbers of people regularly get headaches and other illnesses on weekends when they don’ t have their jobs to go to， and must fend for themselves．It has been observed that unemployment，quite aside from exerting financial pressures，brings enormous psychological troubles and that many individuals deteriorate rapidly when jobless．

短文的第一句就点明了主题“没有工作对人们的健康有害”，随后列举出“retirement ”， “on weekends ”， “unemployment”几个具体例子来说明。

2．主题句放在段尾

文章的主题句放在段尾，前面的描述都是为了得出这一结论，而这一结论就是主题句。这种手法也称作“归纳法”，即由详解到概述，由个别到一般。主题句达到了概括、增强段落说服力的作用，是对整篇文章的一种归纳和总结，起画龙点睛之作用。

请看下面短文:

Do you remember a time when people were a little nicer and gentler with each other? I certainly do．And I feel that much of the world has somehow gotten away from that．Too often I see people rushing into elevators without giving those inside a chance to get off first， or never saying“Thank you”when others hold the door open for them．We get lazy．And in our laziness，we think that something，like a simple “Thank you”，doesn’ t really matter．But it can matter very much．The fact is that no matter how nicely we dress，or how beautifully we decorate our homes，we can’ t be truly elegant without good manners because elegance and good manners always go hand in hand．In fact，I think of good manners as a sort of hidden beauty secret．Haven’ t you noticed that the kindest，most generous people seem to keep getting prettier? It’ s funny how that happens．But it does．Take the long-lost art of saying“Thank you”like wearing a little makeup or making sure your hair is neat．Getting into the habit of saying“Thank you”can make you feel better about yourself．Good manners add to your image while an angry face makes the best dressed person look ugly．

本段先提出一个问题，然后用具体细节来回答，最后用归纳法概述结论。因此主题句就是文章的最后一句。

3．主题句放在段中

文章的主题句放在段中，这种主题句出现之前有一定数量的句子陈述和论述该主题句，之后仍有一定数量的句子陈述、论述或引申这个主题句。段中主题句的段落结构基本是“提问———回答———再解释”，即“引题———主题句———解释” 。

请看下面短文:

People can be addicted to different things—for example，alcohol，drugs，certain foods，or even television．People who have such an addiction are compulsive; that is，they have a very powerful psychological need that they feel they must satisfy．According to psychologists，many people are compulsive spenders; they feel that they must spend money．This compulsion，like most others，is irrational—impossible to explain reasonably．For compulsive spenders who buy on credit，charge accounts are even more exciting than money．In other words，compulsive spenders feel that with credit，they can do anything．Their pleasure in spending enormous amounts is actually greater than the pleasure that they get from the things they buy．

本段前后所引用的细节都是为了证明“．．．they have a very powerful psychological need that they feel they must satisfy”这一主题的。

4．主题句放在段首和段尾

有时作者想要强调主题句，他在文章段首先点明主题，然后在结尾也加上概括性和集结性很强的句子，这样文章就有两个或多个主题句，它们的内容或意思相近，但不是简单的重复。段落主题句要么是前一主题的引申，要么是前面主题句的升华，使主题更加明确。

请看下面短文:

Good manners are important in all countries， but ways of expressing good manners are different from country to country．Americans eat with knives and forks; Japanese eat with chopsticks．Americans say “Hi”when they meet; Japanese bow．Many American men open doors for women; Japanese men do not．On the surface，it appears that good manners in America are not good manners in Japan，and in a way this is true．But in any country，the only manners that are important are those involving one person’ s behavior toward another person．In all countries it is good manners to behave considerately toward others and bad manners not to．It is only the way of behaving politely that differs from country to country．

这段话以主题句“好行为的表达方式在各个国家各不相同”开头，之后举例比较了美国人与日本人的差别，最后得出结论“好行为的表达方式在各个国家各不相同” 。结尾与开头遥相呼应，使主题更加鲜明突出。

当然也有些文章没有明显的主题句，这时需要读者自己去归纳。抓主题句是快速掌握文章大意的主要方法。主题句往往对全文起提示、启迪、概括、归纳之作用。阅读理解题中的主旨大意题、归纳概括题、中心思想题往往可以直接从主题句中找到答案。