托福听力main idea的三大做题误区

朗阁海外考试研究中心

在托福听力考试中，通常我们认为main idea作为lecture和conversation的题，应该是必须要做对的。但是事实上，我们往往容易错的就是题。为什么？有什么理由整篇文章都感觉听懂了，居然做错了题？下面和朗阁托福一起看看做题的几个误区：

误区一

从OG的题型分类上大家可以看到main idea属于basic comprehension的，包括两种：gist content & gist purpose。我们要先弄清楚这两个之间有什么区别？看看OG的解说：

内容主旨题：内容主旨题要求考生理解讲座或对话的主旨大意。材料有时会明确地提出主旨，有时则会很含蓄。内容主旨题会要求考生对所听到的信息进行归纳总结。

• 典型问法：
•   What problem does the man have?
•   What are the speakers mainly discussing?
•   What is the main topic of the lecture?
•   What is the lecture mainly about?
•   What aspect of X does the professor mainly discuss?

目的主旨题：目的主旨题主要考查的是对话的目的而非内容。此类问题较有可能出现在对话中，但偶尔也会出现在讲座中。

• 典型问法：
•   Why does the student visit the professor?
•   Why does the student visit the registrar’s office?
•   Why did the professor ask to see the student?
•   Why does the professor explain X?

OG典型的提问法里我们会看到，不管是conversation还是lecture都有可能考查content，提问法里以what开头；反过来，purpose都是以why来提问的且以conversation为主的，所以同学在做题的时候要记得看清楚题到底是问what还是why，what则通常选内容，答案可能是在开头也可能自己归纳，why则选目的通常在开头。

同学们可能会觉得都是main idea都是主旨，应该没什么区别？举个例子来看看，假如我和A同学start a conversation说，A能不能借100块给我？然后开始七聊八聊恒大踢球赢了，各种兴奋……问目的我们要答的是借钱，问内容我们要答的是恒大。That’s the difference. 所以我们在做题的时候要区分清楚what和why。

误区二

不是所有的lecture都要问content，TPO经常是换着来问的What is the main purpose of the lecture?

比如：

12. What is the main purpose of the lecture? (TPO10 L2)

• To describe the trade in food crops between Europe and Americas
• To describe the introduction of American food crops to Europeans
• To describe the influence of American food crops on traditional Europeans
• To describe the difficulties of growing American food crops in European climates

解析：这是一道同学们很容易做错的题目，大部分都爱选C，选完还特别肯定自己没错，题目要求是purpose，而C项表达的是文章的后半部分的内容，food对欧洲历史的影响，而非题干所要的purpose。整个lecture讲述的是美国食物被引入欧洲的情况，正解就只有B。

误区三

总选择清晰的detail，失分！用排除法。

从上述的OG给出的说法，我们知道main idea有时候会明确给出，有时候比较含蓄，要自己总结归纳。大家心里犯愁了以为听得清楚的，或者反复听到过的内容就一定对了，其实不然。

例1 why does the man go to see his professor? (OG第二版P157 track1)

• To borrow some charts and graphs from her
• To ask her to explain some statistical procedures
• To talk about a report he is writing
• To discuss a grade he got on a paper

正解是C，有些同学总是选B，他们分得清楚文章开头没有出现过A/D两项，觉得C概括得太厉害，感觉听到了statistical procedures，其实听到的是：

S: Uh, excuse me, Professor Thompson. I know your office hours are tomorrow, but was wondering if you had a few minutes free now to discuss something.

P: Sure, John. What did you want to talk?

S: Well, I have some quick questions about how to write up the research project I did this semester about climate variations.

把research project听成procedure了。听错了是硬伤，继续精听！巧的同学是听how to write来判断的，而且没有ask to explain的迹象。

例2 What is the purpose of the lecture? (TPO1 L1)

• To explain the difference between two artistic styles
• To describe a new art gallery to the class
• To introduce an artist’s work to the class
• To show how artists’ styles can evolve over time

正解C。A是大家 容易选的，套回笔记看看全文有没有对比过异同点，没有，只介绍了两幅画，同样的，B、D都没有。

例3 What is the main purpose of the lecture? (TPO18 L3)

• To explore the use of spices in cooking in the Middle Ages
• To explain the significance of spices for medieval society
• To describe how the spice trade evolved in medieval Europe
• To examine changes in the role that spices played in the Middle Age

正解B。A讲cooking是细节点，C讲trade是细节点，D可以排除spices的role没有change，spices change了欧洲人的生活。

以上总结的是做主旨题的三大误区。我们有时候很难自己归纳出主旨，大家可以使用排除法，明确三项是错误的，选那个我们不太确定的。

排除以后还可以检验我们不确定的那一项是否一定是正确答案。1 该选项是否带有概括性，是否存在带有summary性质的词，这个词能不能概括整篇文章，还是只能概括其中一个清晰的detail；2 选项有summary是不是有具体的限定成分，限定成分表述往往是有误的。

例What is the professor mainly discussing? (OG第二版P166 track5)

• The development of motor skills in children
• How psychologists measure muscle activity in the throat
• A theory about the relationship between muscle activity and thinking
• A study on deaf people’s problem-solving techniques

正解C。A、D没有提过，B项限定成分in the throat，C项有概括性质。