深度解析托福阅读中的同义替换

纵观托福阅读，诚然，对于词汇量有一定要求，但考察根本不局限于此。 从阅读本质上，无论雅思，托福还是SAT，ACT等国际性语言考试，考察根本在于两点：一点就是位置的定位(referring)，亦即找到考察所针对的语言位置;另外一点就是句子的同义替换(paraphrasing)，也就是识别出语言相近相反。而很多考生就是在阅读时没办法准确判断paraphrasing(同义替换)，从而导致失分严重。ETS甚至针对这一语言现象专门出了 “sentence simplification”这一题型。那么对于这一考察，究竟应该怎么做呢? 接上海新航道托福网络课程小编下来就来细数一下所谓的paraphrasing 现象究竟有哪几种。

以TPO为例，来看一下一篇文章中究竟会出现多少种同义替换。

种：单词替换

这一类型替换其实是语言中最容易辨别的，也就是单词会以原形进行不同的变化。总共有两种不同的变化;

1. 同义词/近义词

原文：The first steps toward change were taken by Solon in594B.C.,when he broke the aristocracy's strangle hold on elected offices by establishing wealth rather than birth as the basis of office holding...

题目：According to paragraph3.an important effect of making wealth the basis of office holding was to

[A]make fewer people qualified to be members of the assembly

[B]make it possible for non-aristocrats to hold office

[C]help the aristocrats maintain power

[D]Increase economic opportunities for all Athenian citizens

原句中的broke the aristocracy’s strangle hold on elected offices 这句话中的broke 为否定词，替换成近义词否定，成为否定前缀non-， 而aristocracy 则替换成同义词，替换成aristocrats。

TPO40 P1T9中也考察了类似变化

原文：Cleisthenes' principal contribution to the creation of democracy at Athens was to complete the long process of weakening family and clan structures...

题目：According to Paragraph 4. one effect of making the demes the point of entry for civic life was to

[A]ensure that every region had the same number of commissioners

[B]distribute the population more equally throughout the Athens region

[C]limit the number of aristocratic clans

[D]reduce the importance of family connections

不难发现原文中的weakening 同义替换成D选项中的reduce，近义词变化，因此答案选D。

这一类型同义替换最主要是考察对于单词的认知，最常见就是相近相似单词的变化，所以在辨识度上面比较容易，对于这样的同义替换现象，其实只要针对固定的单词进行背诵，也就是托福常考的单词类型背诵，其实就可以大大避免错误量。

2. 词组同义替换

TPO40P1T8

原文：By the end of the century,the time was ripe for more change: the tyrants were driven out,andin508B.C.a new reformer, Cleisthenes gave final form to the developments reducing aristocratic control already underway.

题目：The tyrants were driven out, and in 508B.C. Cleisthenes put in place the structures that completed the weakening of the aristocracy

本题中出现的同义替换是词组的同义替换，gave final form替换成completed the weakening , 虽然单词不是特别的难，但是重点在于阅读时不能只阅读单词，而是要以意群式阅读，以词组或者是短语为阅读单位，这样就不容易被此类干扰项混淆。

第二种：逻辑关系词变化

这一种同义替换经常出现在逻辑关系的句子中，也就是句子主语和宾语在单词上并不会有很大的变化，但是关系词变化比较明显，一般在平行结构(and, but,or )或者在因果关系上最为明显。

如：TPO33P3T3

原文：However, no group or species can maintain its dominance indefinitely, and when, after over 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end about 65 million years ago, mammals began to flourish, evolving from relatively few types of small terrestrial animals into the myriad of diverse species, including bats and whales, that we know today.

题目：3.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage?

A.The dominance of dinosaurs came to an end 65 million years ago, at which time mammals began to flourish and diversify.

B.Because no group of species can remain dominant forever, mammals became the dominant group when dinosaurs became extinct.

C.After being the dominant group for more than 200 million years, the age of dinosaurs came to a dramatic end 65 million years ago.

D.The diverse group of mammals that we know today, including bats and whales, evolved from small terrestrial forms that had been dominated by dinosaurs.

该长句其实是2个长句的并列;主要分成2个意思：是没有任何一种生物能永远地统治，第二是恐龙灭亡之后，哺乳动物开始发展统治，且两层意思之间可以构成因果关系。所以只有B选项满足所有条件。从此题不难发现在备考过程中一定要熟悉句子内部的逻辑关系，如让步，转折，对比还有因果等关系等。

这一类型的同义替换最重要是能判别出前后二者的关系为何，一旦明确关系后就可以根据逻辑连接词进行干扰项的排除，快速解题。

第三种：句子信息概括

这一类型的同义替换是所有变形中最难也是托福阅读中最难的一部分，大多数情况下这类型句子原文会比较长，甚至有可能是两句话， 而答案会稍短一些，将两句话中的内容综合就可以得出答案。

举例说明：

TPO 40 P1T1

原文：One of the most important changes in Greece during the period from 800B.C.to500B.C.was the rise of the polis, or city-state,and each polis developed a system of government that was appropriate to its circumstances.

题目：Paragraph 1 supports which of the following statements about the Greek city-states?

A. Most city-states followed the model provided by Athens.

B. Most city-states were based on aristocratic rule.

C. Different types of government and organization were used by different city-states.

D. By 500B.C.the city-states were no longer powerful.

题目中的句子是针对原文中那么长的一句内容进行概括， 每一个城邦有一种适应其特征的政权概括起来就是不同的城邦有不同的政权，因此答案应该为C。

本题的概括性其实并没有很难，重点在于了解句意， 并且知道该句的重点内容究竟在何。

如果遇到更长一点的句子，那么重点就在反复讨论的内容和重点细节为何，这一点在TPO31P3T3上特别明显：

原文：In many characteristics, savanna soils are similar to those of some rain forests, though more extreme. For example, savanna soils, like many rain forest soils, are typically oxisols (dominated by certain oxide minerals) and ultisols (soils containing no calcium carbonate), with a high acidity notably low concentrations of such minerals as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, while aluminum levels are high. Some savannas occur on wet, waterlogged soils; other dry, sandy, well-drained soils. This many seem contradictory, but it only means that extreme soil conditions, either too wet or too dry for forests, are satisfactory for savannas. More moderate conditions support moist forests.

According to paragraph 3. rain forests and savannas differ in that

A.the soils in rain forests contain fewer minerals than savanna soils do.

B.savannas affect soil conditions more than rain forests do.

C.unlike rain forests, savannas prefer sandy, well-drained soils to soils that are very wet.

D.unlike rain forests, savannas may develop under both very dry and very wet soil conditions.

本题的答案其实就是根据该段中的for example一句内容进行概括后得出，不难发现原句句子很长且单词比较具体，而答案中信息则是简洁明了。这就是典型的概括性同义替换，同时题目难度也增加了。应对这一类型题目，需要了解句子中的相关关系，摈弃过于细节的内容，抓主干即可。