第二节 长篇阅读

2013年12月六级考试部分题型调整之后，原来的快速阅读改为段落信息匹配的长篇阅读。新题型要求考生阅读一篇长度在1,200词左右的文章（阅读速度要求每分钟约120词），并完成后面的10道题目。阅读时间较原来的15分钟更短，答题时间更加紧迫，而题目难度又相对增加，原来的选择加填空形式调整为信息匹配题，不但要求考生理解整篇文章的大意，还要求考生快速把握文章的一些细节。也就是说改革后的新题型要求考生不仅能读懂文章，还要根据题干内容对原文进行匹配。在备考过程中，考生务必要有意识地训练自己的快速阅读及定位、解题能力，以便有效地应对该部分的测试。

下面这篇新六级考试样题中的长篇阅读是一篇长度为1,201词的文章，主要讨论了人口老龄化的问题。

编者研究发现，这篇长篇阅读文章选编自国外网站（http://www.economist.com）上一篇主题为人口老龄化的社会类文章。其原文如下（命题者没有删减或者增加原文内容，只是改写了原文中难度较高的单词和个别文字的格式，括号内标底纹的部分是命题者添加或改编的内容，蓝色字体为设题点）：

Into the Unknown

The world has never seen population ageing before. Can it cope?

A) Until the early 1990s nobody much thought about whole populations getting older. The UN had the foresight to convene a“world assembly on ageing”back in 1982. but that came and went. By 1994 the World Bank had noticed that something big was happening. In a report entitled“Averting the Old Age Crisis”, it argued that pension arrangements in most countries were unsustainable.

B) For the next ten years a succession of books, mainly by Americans, sounded the alarm. They had titles like“Young vs Old”, “Gray Dawn”and“The Coming Generational Storm”, and their message was stark（blunt）: health-care systems were heading for the rocks, pensioners were taking young people to the cleaners, and soon there would be intergenerational warfare.

C) Since then the debate has become less emotional, not least because a lot more is known about the subject. Books, conferences and research papers have proliferated（multiplied）. International organisations such as the OECD and the EU issue regular reports. Population ageing is on every agenda, from G8 economic conferences to NATO summits. The World Economic Forum plans to consider the future of pensions and health care at its prestigious Davos conference early next year. The media, including this newspaper, are giving the subject extensive coverage.

D) Whether all that attention has translated into sufficient action is another question. Governments in rich countries now accept that their pension and health-care promises will soon become unaffordable, and many of them have embarked on reforms, but so far only timidly. That is not surprising: politicians with an eye on the next election will hardly rush to introduce unpopular measures that may not bear fruit for years, perhaps decades.

E) The outline of the changes needed is clear. To avoid fiscal（财政的）meltdown, public pensions and health-care provision will have to be reined back severely and taxes may have to go up. By far the most effective method to restrain pension spending is to give people the opportunity to work longer, because it increases tax revenues and reduces spending on pensions at the same time. It may even keep them alive longer. John Rother, the AARP's head of policy and strategy, points to studies showing that other things being equal, people who remain at work have lower death rates than their retired peers.

F) Younger people today mostly accept that they will have to work for longer and that their pensions will be less generous. Employers still need to be persuaded that older workers are worth holding on to. That may be because they have had plenty of younger ones to choose from, partly thanks to the post-war baby-boom and partly because over the past few decades many more women have entered the labour force, increasing employers'choice. But the reservoir of women able and willing to take up paid work is running low and the baby-boomers are going grey.

G) In many countries immigrants have been filling such gaps in the labour force as have already emerged［and remember that the real crunch（shortage）is still around ten years off］. Immigration in the developed world is the highest it has ever been, and it is making a useful difference. In still-fertile America it currently accounts for about 40% total population growth, and in fast-ageing western Europe for about 90%.

H) On the face of it, it seems the perfect solution. Many developing countries have lots of young people in need of jobs;many rich countries need helping hands that will boost tax revenues and keep up economic growth. But over the next few decades labour forces in rich countries are set to shrink so much that inflows of immigrants would have to increase enormously to compensate: to at least twice their current size in western Europe's most youthful countries, and three times in the older ones. Japan would need a large multiple of the few immigrants it has at present. Public opinion polls show that people in most rich countries already think that immigration is too high. Further big increases would be politically unfeasible.

I) To tackle the problem of ageing populations at its root,“old”countries would have to rejuvenate（使年轻）themselves by having more of their own children. A number of them have tried, some more successfully than others. But it is not a simple matter of offering financial incentives or providing more child care. Modern urban life in rich countries is not well adapted to large families. Women find it hard to combine family and career. They often compromise by having just one child.

J) And if fertility in ageing countries does not pick up? It will not be the end of the world, at least not for quite a while yet, but the world will slowly become a different place. Older societies may be less innovative and more risk-averse（strongly disinclined to take risks）than younger ones. By 2025 at the latest, about half the voters in America and most of those in western European countries will be over 50—and older people turn out to vote in much greater numbers than younger ones. Academic studies have found no evidence so far that older voters have used their clout（power）at the ballot box to push for policies that specifically benefit them, though if in future there are many more of them they might start doing so.

K) Nor is there any sign of the intergenerational warfare predicted in the 1990s. After all, older people themselves mostly have families. In a recent study of parents and grown-up children in 11 European countries, Karsten Hank of Mannheim University found that 85% them lived within 25km of each other and the majority of them were in touch at least once a week.

L) Even so, the shift in the centre of gravity to older age groups is bound to have a profound effect on societies, not just economically and politically but in all sorts of other ways too. Richard Jackson and Neil Howe of America's CSIS, in a thoughtful book called“The Graying of the Great Powers”, argue that, among other things, the ageing of the developed countries will have a number of serious security implications.

M) For example, the shortage of young adults is likely to make countries more reluctant to commit the few they have to military service. In the decades to 2050.America will find itself playing an ever-increasing role in the developed world's defence effort. Because America's population will still be growing when that of most other developed countries is shrinking, America will be the only developed country that still matters geopolitically（地缘政治上）.

Ask me in 2020

N) There is little that can be done to stop population ageing, so the world will have to live with it. But some of the consequences can be ameliorated（alleviated）. Many experts now believe that given the right policies, the effects, though momentous（grave）, need not be catastrophic. Most countries have recognised the need to do something and are beginning to act.

O) But even then there is no guarantee that their efforts will work. What is happening now is historically unprecedented. Ronald Lee, director of the Centre on the Economics and Demography of Ageing at the University of California, Berkeley, puts it succinctly（briefly and clearly）:“We don't really know what population ageing will be like, because nobody has done it yet. ”

下面我们将从如何删改原文和如何设题、解题这两个方面分析命题人的出题思路，破解六级长篇阅读的制胜之道。

如何删改原文

从上文可以看出，原文是一篇社会类议论文，为了使选文更加适合作六级段落信息匹配题的考查文章，命题者对原文进行了一些修改，主要为改写原文中过难的单词：

stark、proliferated、crunch、clout、ameliorated和momentous这几个单词对于大多数考生来说都是生词，为了便于考生理解，命题者将上述单词分别换成了blunt、multiplied、shortage、power、alleviated和grave。此外，命题者对原文中的risk-averse进行了改写，用strongly disinclined to take risks代替该词；原文中的succinctly被命题者改为briefly and clearly，降低了文章的难度。

如何设题和解题

从原文蓝色字体部分的位置可以看出，设题点分布得较为平均，需要考生注意的是相对于之前快速阅读的题文同序原则，新题型的难度加大，即题目不是依照文章的段落顺序依次出题。另外，命题者所选取的设题点基本上都是细节信息，大部分题目都可以根据题干中的信息词定位到原文相关段落，进而确定答案。具体题目如下：

46.Employers should realise it is important to keep older workers in the workplace.

解题：根据题干信息词Employers和older workers定位到F段第二句，题目是对文章原句的同义转述，其中，题干的Employers should realise同义转述了原文的Employers still need to be persuaded that；题干的important to keep同义转述了原文的worth holding on to。

47.A recent study found that most old people in some European countries had regular weekly contact with their adult children.

解题：根据题干信息词A recent study和European countries可以定位到K段最后一句，题目是对原文的同义转述，题干的some European countries对应原文的11 European countries；题干的most old people和their adult children对应原文的the majority of them，题干的had regular weekly contact对应原文的were in touch at least once a week。

48.Few governments in rich countries have launched bold reforms to tackle the problem of population ageing.

解题：根据题干信息词governments in rich countries和reforms可以定位到D段第二句，题目是对原文信息的归纳。文中的句子理解起来较简单，其中many of them have embarked on reforms, but so far only timidly可以理解为Few governments have launched bold reforms；而their pension and health-care promises will soon become unaffordable则被抽象概括为the problem of population ageing。

49.In a report published some 20 years ago, the sustainability of old-age pension systems in most countries was called into doubt.

解题：根据题干信息词In a report和sustainability可以定位到A段，题目是对原文最后两句话的归纳和转述。原文中的时间是1994年，题目用some 20 years ago来转述，这是设题者惯用的伎俩（题干中的时间表达一般不会照搬原文，而经常会换一种方式表达，以增加定位难度）。另外，题干的the sustainability of old-age pension systems是对原文pension arrangements...were unsustainable的转述；call into doubt（对……表示异议）同义转述了原文的argued。

50.Countries that have a shortage of young adults will be less willing to send them to war.

解题：根据题干信息词a shortage of young adults可以定位到M段第一句话。题目是对原文的同义转述，出题点在举例处，题干的less willing to同义转述了原文的more reluctant to；send them to war同义转述了原文的commit the few they have to military service。

51.One-child families are more common in ageing societies due to the stress of urban life and the difficulties of balancing family and career.

解题：根据题干中的信息词urban life和family and career可以定位到I段的最后三句话，题目是对原文的总结概括，原文提到，发达国家的都市生活不适合大家庭，女人们发现很难兼顾家庭和工作，她们经常以只要一个孩子作为妥协，由此可知，由于城市生活的压力以及很难平衡工作与生活，发达国家很多家庭只要一个孩子。由此可得答案。

52.A series of books, mostly authored by Americans, warned of conflicts between the older and younger generations.

解题：根据题干信息词books和by Americans可以定位到B段，题目是对原文的同义转述。原文的主语中的a succession of换成了它的近义词组A series of；mainly by Americans换成了另外一种说法mostly authored by Americans；sounded the alarm换成了其同义表达warned of；原文中的intergenerational warfare则被替换为conflicts between the older and younger generations。

53.Compared with younger ones, older societies tend to be less innovative and take fewer risks.

解题：根据题干信息词older societies和less innovative可以定位到J段第三句话，题目是对原文的同义转述，题目中的tend to对应原文中的may；题目中的take fewer risks对应原文中的strongly disinclined to take risks。

54.The best solution to the pension crisis is to postpone the retirement age.

解题：根据题干信息词The best solution和pension crisis可以定位到E段第三句话，题目是对原文的同义转述，题目中的The best solution对应原文中的the most effective method；pension crisis即文章中的pension spending；postpone the retirement age即文章中的work longer。

55.Immigration as a means to boost the shrinking labour force may meet with resistance in some rich counties.

解题：根据题干信息词Immigration、means和resistance可以定位到H段，题目是对原文的总结推断，H段的第一句提到“在应对劳动力不足的问题上，移民似乎是完美的解决方案。”这句话对应题目的前半句话，而本段最后一句话又提到“民意测验显示，大多数富裕国家的人已经认为移民太多，移民人数继续增加可能会引起政治动荡。”这暗指了在一些富裕国家，移民政策会遇到一些阻力。原文中的unfeasible意为“难实施的”，对应题干中的meet with resistance。

解题技巧汇总

一、攻克词汇关

词汇是阅读的基石。在长篇阅读中，词汇量的重要性进一步凸现。很难想象如果没有词汇量的支持，如何能在这么短的时间里完成阅读任务。所以考生平时应该注意积累词汇，只有在每个单词上停留的时间少了，才能有更多的时间来把握整个句子乃至整个文段。

二、攻克思想关

在准备六级的过程中，考生必须达到的状态是——做题时注意力能高度集中。看文章时要撇开私心杂念，摆脱畏难心理，做到心无旁骛，也就是说，要把自己的思想融入到正在看的文章中。集中注意力不是说出来的，而是练出来的，考生一定要在平时做阅读练习时严格要求自己。一篇文章要一口气看完，不要断断续续，更不要养成边看边默念的习惯。

三、攻克阅读技巧关

阅读的技巧包括跳读、略读等很多种。最简单的做法就是，试着连句或者一目几行。读文章时注意不要逐字看，或是一句句地看，要把两个或三个句子连起来，一气呵成把它们看完。培养这种能力的关键，就是要拓宽自己阅读时的视幅，这要下很大的苦功，但是只要持之以恒，就会取得效果。

四、攻克阅读量关

进行大量的阅读练习也是很重要的。从根本上讲，阅读速度的提高是个日积月累的过程。只有通过大量阅读英文材料，阅读速度乃至阅读能力才会有质的飞跃。建议考生连续半年保持每天8～10篇英文散文或议论文的阅读量，只要能坚持下来，阅读速度自然会有飞跃。