北京新航道學(xué)校 李傳偉
第十九天：中國式陷阱---閱讀之過度推理
仿照莎士比亞的話來敘述考研閱讀的第二個陷阱，可以說“推理還是不推理，這是考研閱讀的重要問題。”在四個選項中，直接表達的選項與經(jīng)過推理的選項哪個應(yīng)該成為答案？推理少的選項與推理多的選項哪個應(yīng)該成為答案？這些方向性的問題對于選擇答案影響很大。例如，
People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
Which of the following is true of the text?
[A] Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.
[B] Art provides a balance between expectation and reality.
[C] People feel disappointed at the realities of modern society.
[D] Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.
本題是一道判斷題，可以將選項與原文一一進行比較，然后確定答案。A“宗教一度提醒人們苦難的存在”符合原文意思，從上面的段落中，尤其是最高級the most powerful…就能判斷出這一點，因此A為正確答案。B“藝術(shù)提供了期望和現(xiàn)實之間的平衡”為干擾選項。為何選A而不選B呢？原因是A為原文直接表達的選項：過去的人們被苦難的提示所包圍，而教堂就是其中之一。B在原文沒有直接表達，只有經(jīng)過推理才能得到類似的內(nèi)容。如何找到原文的直接表達呢？原文的特殊語言現(xiàn)象，如本文的最高級就可以起提示作用。
由此可見，無論是推理題，還是其他帶有推理性質(zhì)的問題，其答案不過是將對應(yīng)原文換個說法而已，不能進行過度推理。又如，
It’s a rough world out there. Step outside and you could break a leg slipping on your doormat. Light up the stove and you could burn down the house. Luckily, if the doormat or stove failed to warn of coming disaster, a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles. Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s, when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers’ misfortunes.
What were things like in 1980s when accidents happened?
[A]Customers might be relieved of their disasters through lawsuits.
[B]Injured customers could expect protection from the legal system.
[C]Companies would avoid being sued by providing new warnings.
[D]Juries tended to find fault with the compensations companies promised.
這是一道事實細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)問題中的關(guān)鍵詞1980s定位一段末句：…(顧客因使用某一產(chǎn)品受到傷害后)陪審團一般會讓有關(guān)公司對顧客的不幸負(fù)責(zé)。這等于說法律保護受傷害的顧客。B“受傷害的顧客可以受到法律保護”符合此意，為正確答案。C選項和D選項的內(nèi)容明顯與原文不符。A“顧客可以通過訴訟免除自己的災(zāi)難”屬于過度推理，因為一段四句指出：成功的訴訟可以使顧客獲得損失賠償(a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles)，但是可以獲得損失賠償不等于免除了災(zāi)難。例如，一個人因使用某公司產(chǎn)品而受到傷害，他可以通過訴訟獲得賠償，但是傷害本身無法通過訴訟免除。
