【总结中心之三法】放缩法技巧全总结

　　找出文章的中心，是主题概括题的主要形式之一。此类题目的设问方式一般有以下几种： 　　1. What is the passage mainly about? 　　2. Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
　　3. What does the passage mainly deal with?
　　4. What is the main / general idea of the passage?
　　5. What is the main purpose of the writer?
　　6. What does the story tell us?
　　7. This article mainly tells about the story of ______.
　　8. The writer’s purpose in writing this story is ______.
　　具体而言，解答此类题目的方法如下：
　　
　　一、寻找主题句，得出中心
　　主题句表达了文章的中心思想，它们一般位于文章或某些段落的开头、结尾处。一般情况下，议论文和说明文中往往有主题句。同学们做题时，可采用浏览法，重点搜索文章的首段、尾段或段落的首句和尾句。
　　如2007年高考英语浙江卷第55题：
　　Tell a story and tell it well, and you may open wide the eyes of a child, open up lines of communication in a business, or even open people’s mind to another culture or race.
　　People in many places are digging up the old folk stories and the messages in them. For example, most American storytellers get their tales from a wide variety of sources, cultures, and times. They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education, but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own.
　　“Most local stories are based on a larger theme,” American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says, “Cinderella(灰姑娘), or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness, appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world.”
　　Working with students in schools, Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories. She works with prisoners too, helping them know who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write, direct, and act in their own lives. If they don’t like the story they are living, they can rewrite the story. Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers. “For every advance in business,” she says, “there is a greater need for communication.” Storytelling can have a great effect on either side of the manager-worker relationship, she says.
　　Pugh spent several years in Nigeria, where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there. The benefits of storytelling are found everywhere, she says.
　　“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture,” she says, “ What I do is to focus on the value ofstories that people can translate into their own daily world of affairs. We are all storytellers. We all have a story to tell. We tell everybody’s story.”
　　
　　What is the main idea of the text?
　　A. Storytelling can influence the way people think.
　　B. Storytelling is vital to the growth of businesses.
　　C. Storytelling is the best way to educate children in school.
　　D. Storytelling helps people understand themselves and others.
　　点评： 主题句的存在方便了答题。本文的第一段起总领作用，告诉读者讲故事能带来种种益处，紧接着鲜明地提出： They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education, but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own，也就是说，讲故事能帮助人们懂得自身和理解他人，这就是文章的主题句。故答案为D。C项只是文章主题的一个方面；B项谈及storytelling 对生意的影响也只是文章主题的一个方面，且vital与原文的说法有出入；A项的说法则从未在文中出现过。
　　
　　二、 抓住段落大意,总结中心
　　文章的中心思想是建立在具体段落的中心的基础上的。如果文中没有主题句，可以试着总结各段落的大意，将各段落的中心归纳出来再加以整合，就能得到文章的中心思想。
　　如2006年高考英语浙江卷第44题：
　　Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket―anything with a round ball, I was useless,” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.
　　It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders sethis mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.
　　The following year, he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, then decided that this would be his future.
　　In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition(探险) towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite（冻疮）, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled（雪橇） up and over rocky ice.
　　Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.
　　Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis.
　　
　　What does the story mainly tell us about Saunders?
　　A. He is a success in sports.
　　B. He is the best British skier.
　　C. He is Ridgway’s favorite student.
　　D. He is a good instructor at school.
　　点评： 本题要求回答这个故事主要讲了关于Saunders的什么事，即总结文章的主题。从全文看，应当先概括各个段落所描述的Saunders的大致情况。文章第一段写Saunders害羞和肥胖，不擅长运动；第二段写Saunders获得了一辆山地自行车，训练了自己的力量和速度，成功地参加了马拉松比赛；第三段写Saunders开始参加冒险运动；第四段写Saunders变成了成功的滑雪冒险家。以上内容归结到一点，主要表明了Saunders在运动方面是个成功者，故选A。
　　
　　三、 抓住主线和关键词语，归纳中心
　　当遇到没有主题句且难以总结各段落大意的文章时，同学们可以从其内在逻辑着手，分析、概括出文章的主线或关键词，从而归纳出文章的中心。
　　如1999年高考英语全国卷第51题：
　　Tom Brennan was working in a Philadelphia office building when he noticed a black bag. The bag contained a book.
　　This chance discovery ended a 12-day search by the Library Company of Philadelphia for a historical treasure―a 120-page diary kept 190 years ago by Deborah Logan， “a woman who knew everybody in her day，”James Green， the librarian told the magazine American Libraries.
　　Most of the diary is a record of big events in Philadelphia. It also includes a description of British soldiers burning Washington， D.C. in the war of 1812. She describes President James Madison on horseback as “perfectly shaking with fear” during the troubled days. George Washington， she writes， mistook her for the wife of a French man， and praised her excellent English．
　　The adventure of the lost book began on September 4 when Cory Luxmoore arrived from England to deliver the diary of his ancestor(祖先) to the Library Company， which he and his wife considered to be the best home for the diary.
　　Green told American Libraries he had the diary in his possession “about f ive minutes” when Luxmoore took it back because he had promised to show it to one other person. On returning to his hotel after showing the precious book to Green， Luxmoore was shocked to realize that he had left it in the taxi.
　　Without any delay， Green began calling every taxi company in the city， with no luck， “I’ve felt sick since then，”Luxmoore told reporters.
　　According to Green， no one has yet learned how the diary came to the office building.
　　Tom Brennan received a reward(奖励) of $1，000， Philadelphia gained another treasure for its history， and Luxmoore told reporters， “It’s wonderful news. I’m on high.”
　　
　　This article mainly tells about the story of ______.
　　A. a lost diary
　　B. Deborah Logan
　　C. Cory Luxmoore
　　D. the Library Company
　　点评： 解题时，可以先理顺文章中一些重要事件发生的时间顺序：
　　（1） Deborah Logan kept a 120-page diary 190 years ago.
　　（2） Cory Luxmoore delivered the diary to the Library Company.
　　（3） James Green， the librarian， had the diary in his possession about f ive minutes.
　　（4） Cory Luxmoore left the diary in the taxi.
　　（5） Tom Brennan noticed a black bag，which contained a book (the diary).
　　从以上顺序中，可以清楚地看到整个时间段内所发生的事情均与the diary有关，故选A。