“絆馬索”二：無方向中隱藏方向。
新托福閱讀考試中絕大部分題目都是對應具體段落的，這會為考生節省很多時間。但是也不排除有少量題目的范圍比較大或比較模糊，考生在尋找答案時難免一頭霧水，費時費力。其實這些看似沒有明確定位方向的題目都是暗藏玄機的。下面我們就來看一個例子：
Wind power has a significant cost advantage over nuclear power and has become competitive with coal-fired power plants in many places. With new technological advances and mass production, projected cost declines should make wind power one of the world’s cheapest ways to produce electricity. In the long run, electricity from large wind farms in remote areas might be used to make hydrogen gas from water during periods when there is less than peak demand for electricity. The hydrogen gas could then be fed into a storage system and used to generate electricity when additional or backup power is needed。
Wind power is most economical in areas with steady winds. In areas where the wind dies down, backup electricity from a utility company or from an energy storage system becomes necessary. Backup power could also be provided by linking wind farms with a solar cell, with conventional or pumped-storage hydropower, or with efficient natural-gas-burning turbines. Some drawbacks to wind farms include visual pollution and noise, although these can be overcome by improving their design and locating them in isolated areas。
Based on the information in paragraph 3 and paragraph 4, what can be inferred about the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas mentioned at the end of paragraph 1?
A.They rely largely on coal-fired power plants。
B.They contain remote areas where the winds rarely die down。
C.Over 1 percent of the electricity in these states is produced by wind farms。
D.Wind farms in these states are being expanded to meet the power needs of the United States。
這個題目的題干涉及到三個段落，而事實上考生根本不需要去看第一段的內容，因為答案依據的是第三、四段的信息，但是這兩個段落如果都看的話內容也不少，從應試的角度來說太費時間。正確的做法應該是從選項中挖掘一下方向。A項里大家一般都會選擇有連字符的coal-fired作為關鍵詞去定位，B項沒有比較顯眼的詞就只能選名詞短語remote areas，C項選1 percent， D項選the United States。選完關鍵詞我們不難發現除了B項不大好定位以外，其他三個選項的關鍵詞都很醒目。經過定位，A項應該去比對第3段的第一句話，意思明顯矛盾；B項不好找，可以暫且跳過；C項和D項的關鍵詞在這兩段都找不到，這就屬于新托福閱讀中推理題的錯誤答案設計方法之一 —— 無中生有。所以雖然我們沒有去驗證B項的說法是否正確，但經過排除也只能選B了。這樣的做題方法就會省時省力，且答案也是正確的。在考試中，這種情況往往會影響考生的心情，進而影響水平的發揮，但是只要我們了解了ETS出題的套路就能把它們輕松搞定。
考場如戰場，只有知己知彼方能百戰百勝。了解了ETS在設計題目時所使用的“絆馬索”，我們就可以很好地做到事半功倍。
