托福阅读之托福阅读句子简化解题技巧

在做托福阅读的时候，相信大多数人最害怕的就是一大段一大段的阅读长句，长难句作为阅读的一大常见难点，首先是将简化的意思过长地表达，用复杂的语法结构让考生混淆意思，不利于考生抓住核心意思。其次是如果不把握技巧而是像平时那样一个单词一个单词阅读的话，会浪费大量的时间。下面我们就给大家看看一道例题，看看遇到长难句应该如何化繁为简。

　　In Britain one of the most dramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution was the harnessing of power.Until the reign of George Ⅲ(1760-1820)，available sources of power for work and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages. There were three sources of power：animal or human muscles;the wind, operating on sail or windmill; and running water. Only the last of these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, and although waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills as well as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage: streams flowed where nature intended them to and water-driven factories had to be located on their banks whether or not the location was desirable for other reasons. Furthermore, even the most reliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappeared in a drought, the new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of both movable and constant power.

心理素质和基础不是很好的考生，估计在看到这个被简化的长难句的时候，内心已经开始崩溃的，先别急着崩溃，不然看到下面的长句选项，可能想死的心都有了…

　○ Running water was the best power source for factories since it could keep machines operating continuously, but since it was abundant only in Lancashire and Scotland, most mills and factories that were located elsewhere could not be water driven.

　　○ The disadvantage of using waterpower is that streams do not necessarily flow in places that are the most suitable for factories, which explains why so many water-powered grain and textile mills were located in undesirable places.

　　○ Since machines could be operated continuously only where running water was abundant, grain and textile mills, as well as other factories, tended to be located only in Lancashire and Scotland.

　　○ Running water was the only source of power that was suitable for the continuous operation of machines, but to make use of it, factories had to be located where the water was, regardless of whether such locations made sense otherwise.

　　这样的长句如果真的就像平时阅读一样，一字一句地读完原文和所有选项，那么，第一，你用时过多，影响答其他题目;第二，晕头转向，不知所云，很可能还是选不对。所以，做句子简化题，对考生的基础和答题技巧都有较高的要求。
　　基础问题就是指考生对长难句的理解，这个是个漫长的提高过程，暂且不表。我们说说技巧问题。做简化题，首先我们要对这个长难句分层，分了层次后我们就不会脑子混乱。然后我们就提取主干，也就是句子的中心意思。最后我们找到在层次与主干上与原句最接近的选项就好了。以上题为例，……machines, and 这就表明该句分为两层在叙述;然后提取主干，and前面的一句主干是“the last of these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines”， 其中“the last of these”指的是running water。第二层主干是“it had one great disadvantage”，“it”也指的是“running water”，然后介绍了这个缺点是，工厂只能位于有水的地方，无论其他方面是否合理。
　　我们得到主干后，来核对备选项，只有D选项比较完整地表达了原文的意思。

通过这个题目的分析，相信你对阅读长句简化已经有了一定的概念。简化和提炼，长句简化的两大关键点。