突破ＧＲＥ填空题

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　在GRE语文部分每个section的38道题中，填空题占了7道。和阅读部分相比，填空是相对容易在短时间内提高成绩的部分。通常考生只需要做对5道题，就可以拿到一个合格的分数。由于填空题是GRE general test的一部分，所以为了公平起见，在解题点上不会涉及任何背景知识（尽管在句子内容上涉及了大量背景知识）。也就是说，不管填空句的内容是什么，考生答题时需要的仅仅是语文知识而已。在做填空题时，考生应先对题干进行初步分析，推断出空格处应该填什么词（或仅猜出应该填什么类型的词），然后再看选项。这样可以减小干扰选项的误导，因为大部分干扰项都有这样的特征：在看到它之前很难想到它，但是一旦看到它，就觉得它好像也是正确的。所以考生一定要养成先读题干的好习惯。
　　解答GRE填空题主要有以下几种方法：
　　
　　寻找句子中的重复关系
　　
　　GRE考试是研究生院的入学考试，ETS为加大考试的难度，在很多句子中加入了各个学科的背景知识。但是基于公平对待所有学生的原则，所有题目在解题点上都不涉及背景知识。为了做到这一点，ETS通常会把答案放到题干中，然后用语言线索来提示考生找出答案。以下是提供重复线索的几种常见形式：
　　
　　1. 简单的直接重复
　　例：The eradication of pollution is not merely a matter of ______, though the majestic beauty of nature is indeed an important consideration.
　　A. economics
　　B. legislation
　　C. cleanliness
　　D. aesthetics
　　E. restoration
　　“尽管大自然的美确实很重要，但污染的消除不仅是_____问题，”当然此处不仅是“美”的问题。
　　
　　例：Comparatively few rock musicians are willing to laugh at themselves, although a hint of _____ can boost sales of video clips very nicely.
　　A. self-deprecation
　　B. congeniality
　　C. cynicism
　　D. embarrassment
　　E. self-doubt
　　“摇滚乐手很少自嘲，尽管什么东西能促进录像短片的销售”，从语义上看当然就填“自嘲”。
　　例：Melodramas, which presented stark oppositions between innocence and crimina-lity, virtue and corruption, good and evil, were popular precisely because they offered the audience a world ____ of ________ .
　　A. bereft... theatricality
　　B. composed... adversity
　　C. full... circumstantiality
　　D. deprived... polarity
　　E. devoid... neutrality
　　考生即使不认识Melodramas这个词也没关系，既然它表现的是无辜与罪行、道德与堕落、善与恶之间的刻板对立，那么它提供给观众什么样的世界呢？当然是刻板对立的世界，只有E选项是正确答案。
　　
　　2. 解释型重复
　　例：The Muses are ____ deities: they avenge themselves without mercy on those who are weary of their charms.
　　A. rueful
　　B. ingenuous
　　C. solicitous
　　D. vindictive
　　E. dispassionate
　　冒号后面的内容就是正确选项D的释义，所以考生即使不知道缪斯，也能轻松选出正确答案。
　　例：Unenlightened authoritarian managers rarely recognize a crucial reason for the low levels of serious conflict among members of democratically run work groups: a modicum of tolerance for dissent often prevents ________.
　　A. demur
　　B. schism
　　C. cooperation
　　D. compliance
　　E. shortsightedness
　　冒号后面的内容解释了民主方式运作的工作团体中为何少有严重的冲突，所以考生即使看不懂 a modicum of tolerance for dissent，也能推断出是它避免了严重冲突，故选B。
　　
　　3. 根据语法结构推断重复：
　　例：The valedictory address, as it has developed in American colleges and universities over the years, has become a very strict form, a literary ________ that permits very little __________.
　　A. text... clarity
　　B. work... tradition
　　C. genre... deviation
　　D. oration... grandiloquence
　　E. achievement... rigidity
　　a literary ____ that permits very little _______是a very strict form的同位语，所以第一个空格处应该填入form的同义或近义词，that permits very little____中的空格处应填入strict的反义词，故选C。
　　例：Many more eighteenth-century novels were written by women than by men, but this dominance has, until very recently, been regarded merely as ____ fact, a bit of arcane knowledge noted only by bibliographers.
　　A. a controversial
　　B. a statistical
　　C. an analytical
　　D. an explicit
　　E. an unimpeachable
　　在这道题中，a bit of arcane knowledge noted only by bibliographers是对前面的______ fact的同义重复，所以空格应填入文献学家关注的事实，已知的五个选项里只有B选项的statistical（统计的）是文献学家的份内工作。
4. 凭借具有指示作用的形容词或代词来寻找重复
　　例：Longdale and Stern discovered that mitochondria and chloroplasts ____ a long, identifiable sequence of DNA; such a coincidence could be ______ only by the transfer of DNA between the two systems.
　　A. manufacture... accomplished
　　B. reveal... repeated
　　C. exhibit... determined
　　D. share... explained
　　E. maintain... contradicted
　　下半句的such a coincidence说明第一个空格所在的句子描述了一种巧合，即mitochondria和chloroplasts _____了一个长的、可以认为是一模一样的DNA序列，只有D选项的share可以表述这样的意思。
　　例：Laws do not ensure social order since laws can always be _____, which makes them ______ unless the authorities have the will and the power to detect and punish wrongdoing.
　　A. contested... provisional
　　B. circumvented... antiquated
　　C. repealed... vulnerable
　　D. violated... ineffective
　　E. modified... unstable
　　Which指代逗号前面的那句话，也就是“法律不保障社会秩序”，这就使得法律怎样呢？当然只有D选项的ineffective符合句意。
　　
　　判断句子的语气
　　
　　对于含义晦涩的句子，判断语气或感情色彩是有效的解决方法，有时甚至是惟一的方法。
　　例：Johnson never _____ to ignore the standards of decent conduct mandated by company policy if ______ compliance with instructions from his superiors enabled him to do so, whatever the effects on his subordi-nates.
　　A. deigned... tacit
　　B. attempted... halfhearted
　　C. intended... direct
　　D. scrupled... literal
　　E. wished... feigned
　　对于英语阅读能力较差的考生来说，要想通过理解来做对这道题还是有些难度的。但是如果注意到whatever the effects on his subordinates（无论对下级产生什么影响）的语气，就可以判断第一空格填入后应表示Johnson干的不是什么好事，惟一符合这一判断的就是D选项。
　　例：Ironically, the party leaders encountered no greater ____ their efforts to build a progressive party than the _____ of the progress-ives already elected to the legislature.
　　A. support for.. advocacy
　　B. threat to... promise
　　C. benefit from... success
　　D. obstacle to... resistance
　　E. praise for... reputation
　　如果知道encounter的正确用法，就可以判断第一空格应填入一个负面色彩的词，这样就轻松排除了A、C、E三个选项，结合后面的意思来看，只能选D。
　　例：Although _____ is usually thought to spring from regret for having done something wrong, it may be that its origin
　　is the realization that one’s own nature is irremediably ______.
　　A. contrition... resilient
　　B. certitude... confident
　　C. skepticism... innocent
　　D. remorse... flawed
　　E. resignation... frivolous
　　第二空格被副词irremediably（不可救药地）修饰，根据这个副词的语气可以判断第二空格应填入一个带有负面色彩的词，符合这一判断的只有D、E两个选项。第一空格remorse完全对应“regret for having done something wrong”，故选D。
　　例：Any language is a conspiracy against experience in the sense that it is a collective attempt to ______ experience by reducing it into discrete parcels.
　　A. extrapolate
　　B. transcribe
　　C. complicate
　　D. amplify
　　E. manage
　　如果没有读过相关背景的书籍，是很难理解这道题，但是，我们可以通过判断语气和感情色彩来排除错误的选项。因为，语言是对抗经验的阴谋（conspiracy against...），所以空格应填入一个负面色彩的动作，只有C选项（使复杂化、使变得麻烦）和E选项manage（除了中性的经营管理之外，还可以表示负面的操纵控制）符合这一判断。结合方式状语by reducing（减少、分解、简化）来看，C选项应被排除，最后剩下仍然看不懂的E选项就是正确答案。
　　
　　推理判断时注意避免发散思维
　　
　　例：Natural selection tends to eliminate genes that cause inherited diseases, acting most strongly against the most severe diseases; consequently, hereditary diseases that are ______ would be expected to be very _____, but, surprisingly, they are not.
A. lethal... rare
　　B. untreated... dangerous
　　C. unusual... refractory
　　D. new... perplexing
　　E. widespread... acute
　　根据consequently提示的上下因果关系可以判断第一个空格应填入severe的同义次或反义词，表示严重或不严重的词只有A选项。B选项表示未曾治疗的，C、E两个选项也和“是否严重”没有关系。很多时候干扰选项的设置是钻了我们思维不缜密、容易想当然的空子。如本题中“很多人会认为不寻常的、很少见的疾病就是严重的，寻常的、随处可见的疾病就是不严重的。”但是只要细想一下就会发现这两者其实没有任何必然的关系。
　　例：Although _______, almost self-effacing in his private life, he displays in his plays and essays a strong ________ publicity and controversy.
　　A. conventional... interest in
　　B. monotonous... reliance on
　　C. shy... aversion toward
　　D. retiring... penchant for
　　E. evasive... impatience with
　　Although提示我们，空格所在的两个分句之间存在转折关系，所以答案只能在A、D两个选项之中，很多考生看到第一个空格会选A选项，因为传统的人通常不喜欢抛头露面的，不喜欢与人争吵的，其实这两者没有任何必然的联系，这种干扰项的设置路数和上一道题是完全一样的。
　　
　　寻找正确选项的捷径
　　
　　ETS总是倾向于把在词义对应上最直接的，甚至形同废话的选项设为正确选项。
　　例：The hierarchy of medical occupations is in many ways a _____ system; its strata remain ____ and the practitioners in them have very little vertical mobility.
　　A. health... skilled
　　B. delivery... basic
　　C. regimental... flexible
　　D. training... inferior
　　E. caste... intact
　　简译：医疗职业的等级（hierarchy）在许多方面是一个等级体系（caste system）。
　　例：The natural balance between prey and predator has been increasingly ______, most frequently by human intervention.
　　A. celebrated
　　B. predicted
　　C. observed
　　D. disturbed
　　E. questioned
　　简译：被掠食者和掠食者之间的自然平衡被人类的干扰（intervention）干扰（dis-turbed）了。
　　例：Poe’s _____ reviews of contemporary fiction, which often find great merit in otherwise ______ literary gems, must make us respect his critical judgment in addition to his well-known literary talent.
　　A. thorough... completed
　　B. petulant... unpopular
　　C. insightful... unappreciated
　　D. enthusiastic... acclaimed
　　E. harsh... undeserving
　　简译：爱伦坡有判断力的（insightful）现代小说评论使得我们佩服他的判断力（critical judgment）。
　　例：Aptly enough, this work so imbued with the notion of changing times and styles has been constantly _______over the years, thereby reflecting its own mutability.
　　A. appreciated
　　B. emulated
　　C. criticized
　　D. revised
　　E. reprinted
　　简译：十分恰当的是，这部充满了变迁（changing）的时代、变迁的风格的作品多年以来一直被修订（revise），从而反映了它自身的可变性（mutability）。