SAT阅读：修辞目的类题目(Purpose)
SAT阅读文章当中出现的目的题有的是基于整篇文章的，问的是这篇文章的目的是什么。有的是基于段落或句子的，询问段落或句子的目的是什么。此处我们探讨基于篇章的目的题。同理，涉及到整篇文章的题目，我们都要掌握文章的大意脉络，并在此基础上问自己：文本的目的是要说服读者吗?还是为了反驳什么观点?抑或只是介绍一种新观点?可以先试着自己描述下文本的目的。
请看下面的例子：
President Richard Nixon resigned his office on August 9, 1974. His decision followed the revelation that five men connected to the Nixon administration were caught breaking into the headquarters of the opposing political party. At the time of Nixon’s resignation, proceedings had already begun in Congress to impeach him and seemed likely to succeed.
Good evening. This is the 37th time I have spoken to you
from this office, where so many decisions have been made
that shaped the history of this Nation. Each time I have done
so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the
national interest. Throughout the long and difficult period of
Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere—to make
every possible effort to complete the term of office to which
you elected me. In the past few days, however, it has become
evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political
base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long
as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary
to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion;
that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that
deliberately difficult process, and a dangerously destabilizing
precedent for the future. But with the disappearance of that
base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been
served. And there is no longer a need for the process to be
prolonged.
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish,
whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my
family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interests of
the nation must always come before any personal
considerations. From the discussions I have had with
Congressional and other leaders I have concluded that
because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support
of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the
very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office
in the way the interests of the nation will require.
I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my
term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body.
But as President, I must put the interests of America first.
America needs a full-time President and a full-time
Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at
home and abroad. To continue to fight through the months
ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally
absorb the time and attention of both the President and the
Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the
great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation
at home. Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at
noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as
President at that hour in this office.
By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the
start of that process of healing which is so desperately
needed in America. I regret deeply any injuries that may
have been done in the course of the events that led to this
decision. I would say only that if some of my Judgments
were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what
I believed at the time to be the best interest of the Nation.
As I recall the high hopes for America with which we
began this second term, I feel a great sadness that I will not
be here in this office working on your behalf to achieve those
hopes in the next two and a half years. But in turning over
direction of the Government to Vice President Ford, I know,
as I told the nation when I nominated him for that office ten
months ago, that the leadership of America would be in good
hands.
So let us all now join together in affirming that common
commitment and in helping our new President succeed for
the benefit of all Americans. I shall leave this office with
regret at not completing my term but with gratitude for the
privilege of serving as your President for the past five and a
half years. These years have been a momentous time in the
history of our nation and the world. They have been a time of
achievement in which we can all be proud, achievements that
represent the shared efforts of the administration, the
Congress and the people. But the challenges ahead are
equally great. And they, too, will require the support and the
efforts of the Congress and the people, working in
cooperation with the new Administration.
May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead.
题目：
Nixon’s primary purpose in delivering this speech was most likely to
(A) ask the American public for their forgiveness for his mistakes.
(B) announce his resignation and offer an explanation to the public.
(C) condemn the press for trying him in the court of public opinion before all the facts were available.
(D) express his full confidence in Vice President Ford.
解析：其实从文本斜体字的介绍内容部分，就可以得知这篇演讲与尼克松辞去美国总统职务相关。文中也在多出提及不得不辞去总统职务的局面，选项B合适。
Practice
This passage is adapted from Edith Wharton, The House of
Mirth, originally published in 1905.
Selden paused in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the
Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the
sight of Miss Lily Bart.
It was a Monday in early September, and he was
returning to his work from a hurried dip into the country; but
what was Miss Bart doing in town at that season? If she had
appeared to be catching a train, he might have inferred that
he had come on her in the act of transition between one and
another of the country-houses which disputed her presence
after the close of the Newport season; but her desultory air
perplexed him. She stood apart from the crowd, letting it
drift by her to the platform or the street, and wearing an air
of irresolution which might, as he surmised, be the mask of a
very definite purpose. It struck him at once that she was
waiting for someone, but he hardly knew why the idea
arrested him. There was nothing new about Lily Bart, yet he
could never see her without a faint movement of interest: it
was characteristic of her that she always roused speculation,
that her simplest acts seemed the result of far-reaching
intentions.
An impulse of curiosity made him turn out of his direct
line to the door, and stroll past her. He knew that if she did
not wish to be seen she would contrive to elude him; and it
amused him to think of putting her skill to the test.
“Mr. Selden—what good luck!”
She came forward smiling, eager almost, in her resolve to
intercept him. One or two persons, in brushing past them,
lingered to look; for Miss Bart was a figure to arrest even the
suburban traveler rushing to his last train.
Selden had never seen her more radiant. Her vivid head,
relieved against the dull tints of the crowd, made her more
conspicuous than in a ball-room, and under her dark hat and
veil she regained the girlish smoothness, the purity of tint,
that she was beginning to lose after eleven years of late hours
and indefatigable dancing. Was it really eleven years, Selden
found himself wondering, and had she indeed reached the
nine-and-twentieth birthday with which her rivals credited
her?
“What luck!” she repeated. “How nice of you to come to
my rescue!”
He responded joyfully that to do so was his mission in
life, and asked what form the rescue was to take.
“Oh, almost any—even to sitting on a bench and talking
to me. One sits out a cotillion—why not sit out a train? It
isn't a bit hotter here than in Mrs. Van Osburgh's
conservatory—and some of the women are not a bit uglier.”
She broke off, laughing, to explain that she had come up to
town from Tuxedo, on her way to the Gus Trenors' at
Bellomont, and had missed the three-fifteen train to
Rhinebeck. “And there isn't another till half-past five.” She
consulted the little jeweled watch among her laces. “Just two
hours to wait. And I don't know what to do with myself. My
maid came up this morning to do some shopping for me, and
was to go on to Bellomont at one o'clock, and my aunt's
house is closed, and I don't know a soul in town.” She
glanced plaintively about the station. “It is hotter than Mrs.
Van Osburgh's, after all. If you can spare the time, do take
me somewhere for a breath of air.”
He declared himself entirely at her disposal: the
adventure struck him as diverting. As a spectator, he had
always enjoyed Lily Bart; and his course lay so far out of her
orbit that it amused him to be drawn for a moment into the
sudden intimacy which her proposal implied.
题目1：
Which of the following provides the most reasonable summary of the passage?
(A) Two close friends meet to spend the day together.
(B) A traveler notices a woman acting suspiciously.
(C) Two acquaintances unexpectedly run into one another.
(D) A couple prepare to board a train for a romantic getaway.
题目2：
Selden’s attitude towards Lily Bart is primarily one of
(A) attraction.
(B) fascination.
(C) disdain.
(D) pity.
题目3：
Over the course of the passage, the main focus of the narrative shifts from the
(A) grim and suspicious attitude of one character to the gregarious behavior of another.
(B) meticulous plans laid by one character to the carefree adventures enjoyed by another.
(C) appreciation of abstract beauty to the enjoyment of living in the moment.
(D) private thoughts of one character about another to a friendly interaction between the two.
答案：CBD
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