谈大学英语四级考试仔细阅读部分主旨题的解法（二）

划线部分就是需要阅读的句子，黑体字部分是重点标志性词汇。其中，第一段的两句话根据标点符号，采用了跳读。其余各段中举例等细节部分信息也跳过不读。

通过阅读主题信息，我们发现，这篇文章的每一段都谈到了描述或识别人的一个方面，全文的主旨需要把各段的主题综合起来，经过总结概括而形成。这种结构模式我们称之为综合型结构。这样，考查各段主题，我们可以得出正确答案应该是 B。

2、开门见山型

Most episodes of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room-are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded it deeply.”

Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe (衣柜). “Your memory itself isn’t failing you.” says Schacter. “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.”

Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago.” says Zelinski, “may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.” Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that.

Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness says Schacter. “But be sure the cue is clear and available.” he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication (药物) with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.

Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time.” says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember. (2002年6月四级真题)

30. What is the passage mainly about?
A) The process of gradual memory loss.
B) The causes of absent-mindedness.
C) The impact of the environment on memory.
D) A way of encoding and recalling.

本文讲述的是心不在焉这种心理现象形成的原因——缺乏注意力。首段即提出了这个主题，其余四段分别从几个具体的方面来印证这个主题：第二段谈的是没有给记忆系统提供其所需的信息而导致心不在焉;第三段谈到了缺乏兴趣也可以导致心不在焉;第三段说视觉提示也可以防止心不在焉;最后一段通过一个具体的例子来说明，如果将注意力集中到一个方面，便会忽略其它方面。划线部分即为要读的主题信息，一些标点符号处、举例论证处、引用论证处等都跳过不读。

我们看到，这篇文章开篇即提出这篇文章的主旨，后面几段是对这个主旨的分述，全文构成总分结构模式，这种模式便是开门见山型的结构。由此，我们很容易选出 B 为正确答案。

3、对比型(C)

Americans are proud of their variety and individuality, yet they love and respect few things more than a uniform, whether it is the uniform of an elevator operator or the uniform of a five-star general. Why are uniforms so popular in the United States?

Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the fi