標題解題法
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
The best title for this passage would be .
做這種題和做文章主旨大意題是一樣的，只要抓住文章中心思想，就不難對上答案。所不同的是推測文章大意題的選項是一個句子，或較長的片語，因而較易理解，較易和文章的中心思想對上;而推測文章標題的選項只有幾個詞，是對文章中心思想的高度概括，因而較難理解。一般說來，一篇閱讀理解文章要麼出現推測文章標題的`問題，要麼出現推測文章大意題，不可能兩種問題同時出現，因此，可放在最後，等做完這篇閱讀理解的所有問題後再做，這樣可以依靠前幾題提供的線索來判斷。
1.文章標題題目相當於文章主旨題
問標題的題也是一種主旨題，與主旨題的做題方法和技巧完全一樣。二者的差別主要體現於選項的形式：主旨題的答案通常以一句話表示，而問標題的答案大多為一個名詞片語。
例
The origin of America's colour problem today lies in a great crime against humani-ty,committed long ago. The black population is a little over twenty million, or one-tenth of the whole. Nine tenths of the black people are the offsprings of Africans brought to American as slaves in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Nearly all their offsprings were kept in legal slavery in the south until 1865. The background of complaints cannot easily be wiped out,and it has been kept alive by unpleasant memo-ries from a more recent period. During the last hundred years of British rule steady and increasing flow of Africans were carried across the Atlantic to the West Indies and the American mainland, there to be sold as slaves. The ships were designed so as to provide space for the greatest possible number of human beings on the westward journey,and
to carry freight on the return. The colonies protested constantly against this immoral activity but their attempts to stop it were in vain. The census of 1790 reported a total of about 700,000 slaves in the United States, of whom 300,000 were in Virginia, 200,000 in the Carolines 100,000 in Maryland. Before 1800 every state had prohibited the traffic,though it continued illegally. In 1763--1767 a line had been drawn by two English surveyors, Mason and Dixon, dividing the commercial or farming states to the north from the plantation states to the south. The main part of the line followed the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, though Delaware was included in the northern region. In the states north of the Mason-Dixon line slavery had been effective-ly abolished by 1800 ,but it continued in the southern states.
The best title for this passage might be
A. Slavery in the Southern States of America by 1800
B. A Great Crime against Humanity
C. Descendents of Black People in America
D. The Background of the Colour Problem in America
顯然文章第一句The origin of America’s colour problem today lies in a great crime against humanity，committed long ago.(美國種族問題的根源是很久以前他對人類犯下的極大罪行。)是全文中心思想旬。對照選項， Background of the Colour Prob-lern in America這一標題概括了這一中心思想。
2.歸納各段落大意
例
A rapid means of long-distance transportation became a necessity for the United States as settlement (新拓居地) spread ever farther westward. The early trains were impractical curiosities, and for a long time the railroad companies met with trouble- some mechanical problems. The most serious ones were the construction of rails able to bear the load, and the development of a safe, effective stopping system. Once these were solved, the railroad was established as the best means of land transportation. By 1860 there were thousands of miles of railroads crossing the eastern mountain ranges and reaching westward to the Mississippi. There were also regional southern and west-ern lines.
The high point in railroad building came with the construction of the first trans-continental system. In 1862 Congress authorized two western railroad companies to build lines from Nebraska westward and from California eastward to a meeting point, so as to complete a transcontinental crossing linking the Atlantic seaboard with the Pa-cific. The Government helped the railroads generously with money and land. Actual work on this project began four years later. The Central Pacific Company, starting from California, used Chinese labor, while the Union Pacific employed crews of Irish labourers, The two groups worked at remarkable speed, each trying to cover a greater distance than the other. In 1869 they met at a place called Promontory in what is now the state of Utah. Many visitors came there for the great occasion. There were joyous celebrations all over the country, with parades and the ringing of church bells to honor the great achievement.
The railroad was very important in encouraging westward movement. It also helped build up industry and farming by moving raw materials and by distributing products rapidly to distant markets. In linking towns and people to one another it helped unify the United States.
The best title for this passage would be
A. Settlements Spread Westward
B. The Coast-to-Coast Railroad: A Vital Link
C. American Railroad History
D. The Importance of Railroads in the American Economy
A為本文細節，因此不對。C說的是美國鐵路史，而本文僅從一個側面反映美國鐵路的發展，因此C也是錯的。D泛指美國鐵路，而原文三段只是指transcontinental rail-way在美國經濟上有重要作用，所以也錯了。只有B可以做本文的標題，因為它恰如其分地涵括了本文的中心思想：橫貫美國的鐵路在開發西部、發展工農業生產和統一美國等方面起到了紐帶作用(a vital link)。
標題必須反映文章的中心大意，而且只能反映文章的中心大意，這就要求選項的歸納範圍要恰如其分，既不能只提及文中的一個細節，也不能將文章以外的內容概括其中。
3.總結
做標題的關鍵是能找出恰如其分概括文中所闡述的內容的題目，不能以偏概全。
要提高解答這類題目的能力，可以從以下幾個方面人手。
(1)樹立大局觀念。閱讀理解就像下圍棋，要從大處著眼，小處著手。注意不要糾纏於個別的字句，大可大刀闊斧，進行巨集觀俯視。要交叉使用略讀(skimming)和查讀(scanning)兩種方法，把握文章的中心思想。
(2)分析結構特點。文章都有一定的結構，諸如演繹法、歸納法、層層深入法等等。
在把握文章大意的基礎上，注意分析文章各個部分之間的邏輯關係，有助於發現作者的真正意圖，從而找出最恰當的標題。
(3)增強判別能力。作者在論證一個觀點時，有時會從反面或側面提供證據;或者找到一個相反的觀點，進行分析駁斥，先破後立;或者引經據典，他山之石可以攻玉;或者在繞了很大圈子後才亮出最終觀點等等。這時需要提高警惕，沉著應戰，去偽存真，去粗存精，正確理解文章的主旨。
