PETS三級考試中，主旨推斷題不僅頻繁出現在閱讀測試中，還專門設有一個大題(61-65)全部是有關主旨的。主旨推斷題要求考生具有很強的話語篇章把握能力和分析能力，能夠從全域性的角度對文章括以總領，梳清脈絡。可以說，對閱讀理解主旨題的把握能力決定了閱讀這個整體題項的成敗，它也是衡量閱讀水平高低的一個重要標尺。所以，如果我們在這個題上能夠取得突破，就等於是攻克了閱讀當中最頑固的堡壘，其它型別的題也就不在話下了。
所謂主旨大意題指標對段落或短文的subject(主題)、main idea(主題思想)、title(題目)或purpose(目的)擬題。儘管題型或用詞不盡相同，但所針對的.都是段落(或短文)的主旨大意。
以下是針對段落(或短文)的主旨大意所設立的常見題型：
1. What is the main idea of this paragraph(passage)?
2. What is the author′s main point?
3. The main idea (central thought)of the paragraph(passage)is ______
4. Which of the following sentences best expresses the main idea?
5. What does the paragraph (passage)mainly suggest?
6. The main point of the paragraph(passage)is ______
7. The paragraph (passage)centers on the point that ______
8. The author seems to be especially interested in ______
9. The topic sentence of the paragraph(passage)?
10. What topic is treated in this paragraph(passage)?
11. What the paragaph (passage) tells us would be summarized by the sentence ______
12. The best summary of the paragraph (passage)is that ______
13. The paragraph (passage)informs us that ______
14. We can infer from the paragraph (passage)that ______
15. What does this paragraph (passage) imply?
16. What is the subject of this paragraph (passage)?
17. Which of the following can be concluded from the information presented in this paragraph (passage)?
18. What conclusion can be drawn from this paragraph (passage) ?
19. The (main) subject of the paragraph (passage) is ______
20. Which of the following best states the theme of paragraph (passage)?
21. The paragraph (passage) states (illustrates, discusses, deals with, is concerned about, describes) ______
22. The main purpose of this paragraph (passage) is that ______
23. What is discussed (talk about)in this paragraph (passage)?
main (primary)purpose of the paragraph (passage)?
25. What is the author’s main purpose?
26. The primary objective of the paragraph (passage) is ______
27. The paragraph (passage) indicates that ______
28. Which of the following is true?
29. Which of the following would be the best title for this paragraph (passage)?
30. The title of this paragraph (passage) would be ______
31. The title that best expresses the main idea is ______
在各類英語考試閱讀理解題中，推斷主題大意題所佔比例較大，幾乎每一文章都設一個主旨題。出題者意在通過此題考查考生語篇能力。
1. 領會作者的觀點
作者觀點和態度有時是從作者的直接表達中看出來。有時是從批駁他人的觀點中體現的。有時是以具體事例來表明的。而除了與A節有一部分相同的解題技巧之外，B節部分還有它特別要注意的技巧：
(1)把握指示語中包含的資訊
指示語(directions)中包含了文章中涉及的主題內容。考生不要忽視了對指示語的閱讀和其中資訊的把握。
(2)把握每段的中心意思和說話人的態度傾向
由於不同的段落都是關於同一個話題的不同觀點，首先要找出說話人的基本觀點傾向。不要受段落中的一些次要觀點所幹擾。而作者的態度傾向大多時候是從作者的措辭中體現出來。用褒義詞表明作者是持贊成或喜歡的態度，貶義詞則表明作者是持否定或討厭的態度，而使用中性詞則表明作者持不置可否或無所謂的態度。意不同說話人的觀點的細微區別，把握他們觀點在程度上的不同。最後，要把握說話人的言外之意。有時說話人用的是諷刺的語氣，那麼他/她的言外之意可能與他/她的字面意思是相反的。
(3)利用比較法和排除法
由於B節是搭配題，因此可聯絡不同選項用排除法進行選擇。先把觀點相對鮮明的段落和選項搭配好，然後把剩下的選項好好進行比較，再到段落中去進一步尋找直接或間接的證據。
