托福阅读的考试时间对于大部分中考生来说比较紧张，如果要在短时间内理清文章架构、内容主旨等等还要计划正确率，那么就一定要有托福“思维”——顺着西方人的逻辑习惯去思考，在日常备考中去了解资料文章的架构，分析托福阅读中常见的问题或内容等等，明确哪些答案一定不用选哪些可以选，在托福阅读考中会回答的更得心应手。
朱雯Jannie
国际备考中心学术带头人
托福阅读、雅思阅读、雅思写作、GRE填空主讲。英语科班出生，英语专业八级证书，英语高 级口译证书
修辞目的题，作为托福阅读的题型之一，有着它很独特的提问方式，我们可以一起看一下：
l Why does the author mention X?l The author provide information about X in order to?l The author mention X as an example of ... ?
如果同学们一起归纳一下这个题型的共性的话，大家会发现，它总是会这样问：作者为什么要提到某一个特定的例子或者事物。所以教学中，我也总喜欢把这个题型叫做“作者目的题”。
进一步仔细观察以上提问方式的话，大家会发现，第三个问法中，题干的表达非常直接，“作者提及X作为以下哪一个选项的例子？”说起例子，大家想必并不陌生，在日常写作当中，我们经常会用例子来证明自己想要表达的观点。所以其实修辞目的题的本质，其实就是在问作者通过提及的信息，也就是论据，想要表达的观点是什么，这是一个找观点的题型。
而作为论据最常见的例子，为什么我会觉得它非常“可爱”呢？因为它总是能帮助同学们快速地找到答案。在写作的时候，同学们用例子去证明自己的观点时，总是会倾向于这样的结构：“观点+例子”，托福阅读的篇章也不例外，大多数情况下，出现例子时，我们能在它的前面，找到作者想要表达的观点，也就是题目的答案啦。
我们先来看一下例题1:
Normally, the constantly changing levels of an animal's activity—sleeping, feeding, moving, reproducing, metabolizing, and producing enzymes and hormones, for example—are well coordinated with environmental rhythms, but the key question is whether the animal's schedule is driven by external cues, such as sunrise or sunset, or is instead dependent somehow on internal timers that themselves generate the observed biological rhythms. Almost universally, biologists accept the idea that all eukaryotes (a category that includes most organisms except bacteria and certain algae) have internal clocks. By isolating organisms completely from external periodic cues, biologists learned that organisms have internal clocks. For instance, apparently normal daily periods of biological activity were maintained for about a week by the fungus Neurospora when it was intentionally isolated from all geophysical timing cues while orbiting in a space shuttle. The continuation of biological rhythms in an organism without external cues attests to its having an internal clock.
In paragraph 1, the experiment on the fungus Neurospora is mentioned to illustrate
A. the existence of weekly periods of activity as well as daily onesB. the finding of evidence that organisms have internal clocksC. the effect of space on the internal clocks of organismsD. the isolation of one part of an organism's cycle for study在这个题目当中，论据是“ the experiment on the fungus Neurospora”，所以我们会回原文去定位它。而这里也有非常明显的特殊词定位词“Neurospora”，那么我们很快就能回原文定位到这样一句话：“For instance, apparently normal daily periods of biological activity were maintained for about a week by the fungus Neurospora when it was intentionally isolated from all geophysical timing cues while orbiting in a space shuttle.”乍一看，句子很长，需要我们头疼地去理解，但是很快同学们就可以发现，这个句子的开头，出现了“for instance”这个短语，它的意思是“例如”，所以例子证明的观点大概率就在它的前面，那么我们也就不需要花过多的时间，去弄明白这个例子到底在说什么。往前去寻找答案，我们可以看到这样一句话：“By isolating organisms completely from external periodic cues, biologists learned that organisms have internal clocks.”这句话的意思是“通过把有机体和外界的暗示完全隔绝，生物学家们发现有机体有内在的生物钟”。所以我们很快可以看出答案选C，它几乎跟原文中的答案句一模一样哦。
表示举例的标志词有很多：for instance, for example, such as, like ...。通过对于题干当中论据的定位，回到原文找到句子，而通过这样的标志词，我们可以迅速确定论据就是我们常见的例子。这样一来，往前定位观点，我们很快就可以找到答案。大家也可以实战操练一下。
Sensitivity to physical laws is thus an important consideration for the maker of applied-art objects. It is often taken for granted that this is also true for the maker of fine-art objects. This assumption misses a significant difference between the two disciplines. Fine-art objects are not constrained by the laws of physics in the same way that applied-art objects are. Because their primary purpose is not functional, they are only limited in terms of the materials used to make them. Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution, and stress. Paintings must have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut, and the paint must not deteriorate, crack, or discolor. These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in the early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support the weight of the leg. In other words, the demands of the laws of physics, not the sculptor's aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural compromise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when sculptors learned how to strengthen the internal structure of a statue with iron braces (iron being much stronger than bronze).Why does the author discuss the bronze statues of horses created by artists in the early Italian Renaissance?
A. To provide an example of a problem related to the laws of physics that a fine artist must overcome
B. To argue that fine artists are unconcerned with the laws of physics
C. To contrast the relative sophistication of modern artists in solving problems related to the laws of physics
D. To note an exceptional piece of art constructed without the aid of technology通过题干信息“the bronze statues of horses created by artists in the early Italian Renaissance”的定位，原文中我们可以看到“For example, in the early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof.” 这个句子当中的“for example”提示我们迅速地往前看，有这样的句子：“These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work.”，这句话的意思是：“这些是艺术家们必须解决的问题，因为这些问题将会侵扰他/她的作品的构想”。所以我们可以选出正确答案A。
总结一下
举例作为最常见的论证方法之一，我们可以通过它快速地往前去找到作者想表达的观点，而我们的例题当中，作者的观点基本都出现在例子的前一句话中啦，所以理解前一句话，答案很容易就会得出。当然，也会出现往前找并不能找到观点句的情况，这种时候我们要怎么处理呢？同学们可以在课堂上听老师进一步讲解。祝大家考试顺利。
