in the 1970s. In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past.
Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price. Energy conservation, a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energy-intensive industries have reduced oil consumption. Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or car production. For each dollar of GDP (in constant prices) rich economies now use nearly 50% less oil than in 1973. The OECD estimates in its latest Economic Outlook that, if oil prices averaged $22 a barrel for a full year, compared with $13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich economies by only 0?25%～0?5% of GDP. That is less than one-quarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980. On the other hand, oil-importing emerging economies—to which heavy industry has shifted—have become more energy-intensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed.
One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economist’s commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%. (2002年 Text 3)
We can draw a conclusion from the text that . [A] oil-price shocks are less shocking now
[B] inflation seems irrelevant to oil-price shocks [C] energy conservation can keep down the oil prices
[D] the price rise of crude leads to the shrinking of heavy industry 文章前面两段描述出一种现象，指出最近石油价格大幅上涨；接着在文章中间部分提出文章主旨“这次油价上涨不会造成经济衰退的原因”，并在以后各段分别论述这些原因。正确答案为[A]选项。这里涉及的阅读技巧是当有but,however,yet,while之类的转折连词出现时，该篇/段/意群/句的中心往往是这些词后面的部分。
（3）文章末段或段落末句对全文或全段进行总结归纳，得出中心思想。 Example
Scattered around the globe are more than 100 small regions of isolated volcanic activity known to geologists as hot spots. Unlike most of the world’s volcanoes, they are not always found at the boundaries of the great drifting plates that make up the earth’s surface; on the contrary, many of them lie deep in the interior of a plate. Most of the hot spots move only slowly, and in some cases the movement of the plates past them has left trails of dead volcanoes. The hot spots and their volcanic trails are milestones that mark the passage of the plates.
That the plates are moving is now beyond dispute. Africa and South America, for example, are moving away from each other as new material is injected into the sea floor between them. The complementary coastlines and certain geological features that seem to span the ocean are reminders of where the two continents were once joined. The relative motion of the plates carrying these continents has been constructed in detail, but the motion of one plate with respect to another cannot readily be translated into motion with respect to the earth’s interior. It is not possible to determine whether both continents are moving in opposite directions or whether one continent is stationary and the other is drifting away from it. Hot spots, anchored in the deeper layers of the
earth, provide the measuring instruments needed to resolve the question. From an analysis of the hot-spot population it appears that the African plate is stationary and that it has not moved during the past 30 million years.
The significance of hot spots is not confined to their role as a frame of reference. It now appears that they also have an important influence on the geophysical processes that propel the plates across the globe. When a continental plate comes to rest over a hot spot, the material rising from deeper layers creates a broad dome. As the dome grows, it develops deep fissures (cracks); in at least a few cases the continent may break entirely along some of these fissures, so that the hot spot initiates the formation of a new ocean. Thus just as earlier theories have explained the mobility of the continents, so hot spots may explain their mutability (inconstancy).（1998年 Passage 5）
The passage is mainly about . [A] the features of volcanic activities
[B] the importance of the theory about drifting plates [C] the significance of hot spots in geophysical studies [D] the process of the formation of volcanoes
文章总共三段，第一段对热点下定义：热点及其火山痕迹是板块移动的标志。第二段和第三段主要论述热点理论的作用。全文主旨句是第三段的前两句，它们承上启下，指出热点不仅有参照作用，还对推动板块移动的地质物理学过程提供了解释。正确答案为[C]选项。
（4）文章或段落中不明确给出中心，考生要根据各段中心或各句的内容进行总结，自己推出主旨。
Example
A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the world’s best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.
It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea’s LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America’s machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America’s industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.
How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious
causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride. “American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted,” according to Richard Cavanaugh, executive dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,” says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as “a golden age of business management in the United States.”（2000年 Passage 1）
What can be inferred from the passage?
[A] It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride. [B] Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.
[C] The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation. [D] A long history of success may pave the way for further development. 答案：B
解析：文章的主题既不在首段，也不在末段，需要考生综合各段内容得出。从全文看，文章叙述了美国经济从繁荣到衰败再到繁荣的过程，且特别强调竞争给美国带来90年代的经济复苏。[B]选项“激烈的竞争可能促进经济的发展”正合全文大意。
5?主旨题的解题技巧
根据上述这四种情况，制定如下解题对策：
第一，因为考生需要读完全文才能把握文章主题，所以在解答此类题时，考生不要急于去找答案，不论它出现在什么位置都把它作为最后一道题来做。在做完另外几道题后，无疑会有助于考生加深对整个文章的理解。
第二，看到文章主旨型题目，考生要着重理解首段或末段，同样，段落主旨题也要重视首末句。这是英语文章中出现中心思想最频繁的位置。
第三，文章主旨出现在中间的比较少见。这样的主旨句一般兼起承上启下的作用。遇到文章中前后段意思转折时，考生应该提高警惕，它往往是主旨所在。段落中情况也类似。
第四，如果文章中没有明确的主题句，主题思想要通过各段的主要内容进行归纳。这时考生就要着重看各段的首末句。试题中的Title 题也属于该种情况。考生必须通读全文，才能得出答案。
解题中还有一些具体实用的解题技巧：
首先，关于主题句的判断方法。第一，段落主题句的判断要看该段的第二句或第三句。如果它们是对第一句进行阐述，那么第一句就是主题句；如果是对第二句进行阐述，那第二句就是主题句；主题句也可能出现在末句。当最后一句是对全段进行总结时，该句就是主题句。对于主题句在句中的情况，当段落中出现转折时，该句很可能是主题句。文章主旨所在段落的判断与此相同。第二，作者有意识地反复重复的观点通常是主旨。第三，首段出现疑问句时，该问题就是全文探讨的内容，对该问题的解答就是文章主旨。第四，作者提出文章主旨时，常常伴有文字提示，如therefore，thus，but，however，in short 等等。
其次，选项特点。正确选项特点：(1)不出现细节信息；(2)不含过分肯定或绝对意义的词。干扰项特点：(1)一般以偏概全，只是文章的细枝末节，不能涵盖全文内容；(2)出现细节性的名词信息；(3)过于笼统。
（二）作者观点题和态度题
在一篇文章中，不管作者对某一观点是支持、反对还是中立，是同情、冷漠还是失望，是批评还是赞扬，主观还是客观，都表达了作者一定的观点和态度。只是这些观点态度的提出有的直截了当，有的隐含在字里行间，有的通过所用词语的褒贬来体现，有的则需要通读
全文，把握主旨才能领会。一般情况下，所选的文章不带有强烈的感情色彩，因此不会引起太大的争议和分歧。
此类题型可细分为作者态度题（表明作者的好恶）和作者观点题（表明作者对某事物的观点）。题干中的关键词或词组有attitude，opinion，tone等等。其命题模式如下。
1?作者态度题
（1）What is the tone (mood) of the passage?
（2）The author’s attitude towards...might be summarized as(seems to be) . （3）Which of the following can best describe the attitude of the author towards...? （4）The author is most critical of . 2?作者观点题
（1）According to the author, . （2）In the author’s opinion, .
（3）What is the author’s opinion (idea) about?
（4）The author thinks (believes, suggests, deems, asserts) that . (5) In the author’s eyes...
态度题的选项一般是形容词，按照作者对所阐述问题的态度进行分类，可以分为： 积极类：objective（客观的）, impartial（公正的），helpful(有帮助的)，positive（正确的），supporting(支持的)，admiring(羡慕的)，interesting(引起兴趣的)，unbiased（没有偏见的），concerned（关心的），confident(自信的)，impressive（给人印象深刻的），optimistic（乐观的）等；
中立类：detached（超然的）, factual（实际的）, indifferent（无关紧要的），impassive（冷漠的），uninterested（不感兴趣的），ambivalent（矛盾的），apathetic（无动于衷的），neutral（中立的，不确定的），impersonal（不带个人色彩的）等；
消极类：disgusting(令人厌恶的)，critical(批评的)，negative(否定的)，intolerable(不能忍受的)，disappointed(失望的)，subjective（主观的），biased(有偏见的)，doubtful(怀疑的)，compromising（折中的），worried(担心的)，pessimistic（悲观的），hostile（敌对的）等。
历年作者态度题： 年份 2007 Text 2 正确选项 [B] skeptical(消极类) 干扰项 [A] Supportive（积极类） [C] Impartial（中立类） [D] Biased（消极类） [A] is supportive of both sides(积极类) [B] favors the townsfolk’s view(积极类) [C] takes a detached attitude(中立类) [B] Confused. (消极类) [C] Carefree. (积极类) [D] Panicked. (消极类) [A] strong disapproval(消极类) [C] slight contempt(消极类) [D] enthusiastic support(积极类) [B] sensitive (中立类) [C] gloomy (消极类) [D] scared(消极类) 2006 Text 2 [D]is sympathetic to the RSC(积极类) [A] optimistic（积极类） 2004 Text 4 2003 Text 4 [B] reserved consent(积极类) T2002 Text 3 [A] optimistic(积极类) 2001 Passage 4 [B] objective (积极类) [A] optimistic(积极类) [C] pessimistic(消极类) [D] biased(消极类) 3?作者态度题的解题技巧
第一，某一事物是好是坏。作者对它是支持还是反对，态度都非常明确，而带中立色彩的词最不可能是正确答案。问作者对某事物的态度时，表示“客观”的词多为正确选项，如：objective, impartial, unbiased等；问作者对其提到的人们的观点的态度时，答案只能是肯定或否定，支持或反对。如：critical, approval, opposition, supporting等。
第二，既然写了文章，那么作者的态度就不可能漠不关心，因此见到indifferent，uninterested这类词可以首先排除。
第三，注意不要把考生自己的好恶态度糅进其中，要注意区分作者本人的态度和作者引用的观点的态度。
第四，当作者的态度没有明确提出时，考生要学会根据作者使用的词语的褒贬性去判断作者态度，如：wonderful(y)，successful(y)，positive(ly)，active(ly)，negative(ly), unfortunate(ly), doubtful(ly)等。
Example
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death probably by a deadly injection or pill—to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks, ” he says.（1997年 Passage 1）
The author’s attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of . [A] opposition [B] suspicion [C] approval [D] indifference 作者通过living without the haunting fear of his suffering这一肯定性词语表达出自己的态度是[C] approval。
解答态度观点题应注意两点： 第一，区别作者的态度与其他人的态度。问文中某人对某事物的态度一般归入事实细节题。
第二，选项可能不再是态度明确的肯定或否定的形容词，而改为带有程度限制的形容词。一般带有绝对化或过于强烈的表示态度的词必错,如strong/complete/entire/enthusiastic等。而有保留的态度比较客观，因此常常是正确选项，如reserved(保留的)/qualified (有限制的，有条件的)/tempered (有所控制的)/guarded（慎重的）／consent (赞同)等。
4?作者观点题的解题技巧
第一，文章陈述的内容并非都是作者的观点。作者引用别人的观点时，是作为支持或抨击的对象，因此别人的观点是为了证明作者观点的论据。
第二，作者观点一般与文章主旨相关联。 （三）词义/句意题
命制的试题中经常有要求考生对词语和句子做出解释的题目。两者都主要侧重于考查考生通过上下文去判断词义、句意的能力。词义题的考查有两种：一是超纲词含义的推断，另一个是熟词僻义或是在特定场合的意思。