你的閱讀問題,真的在於題型嗎?

大家好,我是J2. 前幾個禮拜T同學來我機經班顧問時間,說她閱讀很不穩定, 也說到會用考滿分分題型的方式練習,發現自己比較不穩定的是細節、排除、推理題。


剛好當天有多的時間了解她的狀況,於是稍微詢問一下背景。這位同學其實 實力不錯,多益9xx分。 T也有申請考滿分帳號紀錄自己的答題狀況,索性就直接開個幾個她曾經做 錯的題目,幫同學解答一下。

我們先看了細節題,T同學固定10題會錯2題,其實正確率有高達八成。 以下的題目同學也可以先試做看看,看會不會碰到跟這位同學同樣的問題: 

TPO24 Breathing During Sleep 
paragraph5: Other respiratory regulating mechanisms apparently cease functioning during sleep. For example, during wakefulness there is an immediate, automatic, adaptive increase in breathing effort when inhaling is made more difficult (such as breathing through a restrictive face mask). This reflexive adjustment is totally absent during NREM sleep. Only after several inadequate breaths under such conditions, resulting in the considerable elevation of carbon dioxide and reduction of oxygen in the blood, is breathing effort adjusted. Finally, the coughing reflex in reaction to irritants in the airway produces not a cough during sleep but a cessation of breathing. If the irritation is severe enough, a sleeping person will arouse, clear the airway, then resume breathing and likely return to sleep. 

7. According to paragraph 5, what happens during NREM sleep when inhaling is difficult? 
A) There is an immediate, automatic, adaptive increase in breathing effort. 
B) The sleeping person takes several inadequate breaths before the breathing effort is adjusted. 
C) The coughing reflex causes the breathing effort to adjust. 
D) The airways become cleared as the blood removes irritants. 

這位同學作題的方式跟很多同學一樣,先看題目問什麼,再用題目問的關鍵 字去定位回去文章找答案,她看這題題目問的是when inhaling is difficult, 就直接選了 A) There is an immediate, automatic, adaptive increase in breathing effort. 
但並沒有仔細看題目問的其實 是during NREM, 所以答案應該是 B) The sleeping person takes several inadequate breaths before the breathing effort is adjusted. 
文章有 提到This reflexive adjustment is totally absent during NREM sleep. Only after several inadequate breaths under such conditions, resulting in the considerable elevation of carbon dioxide and reduction of oxygen in the blood, is breathing effort adjusted. 

看到這裡,或許有些同學已經知道我想表達的重點是什麼。這位同學她覺得 自己的問題在於細節(因為考滿分就是這樣分類的),但其實跟T同學一起 重新看過就知道,這位同學在這題所犯的錯誤就是太急著要用題目的關鍵字 找答案,而忽略了重點,其實跟這題是「細節題」沒有太大的關聯。我先聲 明不代表看題目回文章找答案的方式不好,只是很多同學都會有因此只看 「片段」資訊的問題,因而沒有得到完整資訊而選錯答案。 

簡單來說,這個題目並非是因為細節題而錯,只是同學漏看了訊息而錯,如 果是這樣,就算是以題目來找答案的作法,還是要把段落盡量看完, 
不要只有看關鍵字那附近的幾句話。 
不要只有看關鍵字那附近的幾句話。 
不要只有看關鍵字那附近的幾句話。 
很重要所以說三遍 

接下來這位同學找出了另外一題問我,同學也可以試做看看,如下: 

TPO4 Petroleum Resources 
Paragraph 4: As oil becomes increasingly difficult to find, the search for it is extended into more-hostile environments. The development of the oil field on the North Slope of Alaska and the construction of the Alaska pipeline are examples of the great expense and difficulty involved in new oil discoveries. Offshore drilling platforms extend the search for oil to the ocean’s continental shelves—those gently sloping submarine regions at the edges of the continents. More than one-quarter of the world’s oil and almost one-fifth of the world’s natural gas come from offshore, even though offshore drilling is six to seven times more expensive than drilling on land. A significant part of this oil and gas comes from under the North Sea between Great Britain and Norway. 

7.Which of the following strategies for oil exploration is described in paragraph 4? 
A) Drilling under the ocean’s surface 
B) Limiting drilling to accessible locations 
C) Using highly sophisticated drilling equipment 
D) Constructing technologically advanced drilling platforms 

這題剛好是無法「從題目關鍵字找答案」的一個例子。題目問的是oil exploration, 但同學應該可以很快的發現到在文章中找不到oil exploration完全一樣的字眼,所以這題簡單來說其實就是在問讀者:「根 據第四段,以下何者正確?」而已,所以難以用定位的方式找答案,必須把 整段都看完,才能確定哪三個選項是錯的或未提及的,哪一個是正確的。 

T同學因為覺得自己閱讀速度不夠快,快速的掃了一下後選了 B) Limiting drilling to accessible locations, 她解釋雖然有講到 the search for oil is extended into more-hostile environments, 但North Slope of Alaska, construction of Alaska pipeline還有offshore drilling platforms既然已經能建造完成,不是就是到的了(accessible)的地方嗎? 所以她覺得B選項是對的。同學可能已經知道B說的Limiting drilling to accessible locations指的是原本可到的了(accessible)的地方,很顯然跟 文章的概念是相反的。T同學也說他有看考滿分下面的解答解釋,也只有說 跟文章意思相反,讓她百思不解,直到我跟他解釋了才懂。 

看到這邊同學有抓到T同學犯了什麼錯誤了嗎?第一個問題跟前面一樣,同 樣是很急著找答案,根本沒把文章看完,所以漏掉後面的 A significant part of this oil and gas comes from under the North Sea between Great Britain and Norway.

但第二個問題就是卡在accessible這個字!沒錯,這位同學其實整段文章都 看得懂,畢竟實力不差,但就是卡在這個字的意思!這個字相信大多數同學 一定都認得,但是在消化後的資訊卻每個人都會不太一樣。 這樣的問題其實很多同學都有,已經有太多同學找我來問問題, 後來發現就是那「一字之差」誤會了整句話的意思,當然就會選錯答案。

同學這時候當然就會想問:那該怎麼辦?為何會誤會一個字、或一整句話的 意思呢?要怎麼「解決」這個問題?我想也別無二法,就是一直多看,漸漸 地自己理解的意思就能夠跟作者原意更接近,也沒有其他方法了。這當然需 要時間,不過同學至少要因此能自己找出問題的所在!快速一點的方式當然 就是不確定就找人問,找老師、同學都可,一定要釐清自己在這題錯誤的點在哪裡!

T同學隨後問了最後一個「細節題」:
TPO31 Savanna Formation
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 and notably low concentrations of such minerals as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, while aluminum levels are high. Some savannas occur on wet, waterlogged soils; others on dry, sandy, well-drained soils. This may 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

T同學直接把正確選項 D) 排除掉,因為她覺得both very dry and very wet soil conditions是同時存在的情況,也就是savannas可以同時在很乾 跟很溼的情況發展,誤會了其實原句要表達的意思是savanna可以在很乾或 很溼的「兩種情況」下都可以存在,所以也只是誤會了both的意思而已。 這類問題跟第二個問題很像,是對於某個字的理解不同,這題更可惜的是T 同學整段也看完了,沒有漏掉什麼資訊,原段落意思也都完全理解,但誤會 了「選項」的其中一個字的意思,而導致誤會而選錯答案。

上述問題雖屬T同學個案,無法代表所有同學,但根據自己教學經驗,某位 同學有的問題,有極大可能性就是其他同學也有的問題,所以特別寫了這篇 文章分享給大家。同學往後在看文章、作題不妨想想:你的答題率真的是因 為題型而有所影響嗎?細節題?推論題?排除題?依照上述例子追根究柢, 找到自己真正問題在哪,才有解決問題的可能性、一次一次的解決,方能持 續進步!