透析托福阅读目的题（二）

　　第二种类型依然是找作者观点，但是答案却不像上文那样而是向后寻找，比如这篇文章：

　　Much of the world's great architecture has been constructed of stone because of its beauty, permanence, and availability. In the past, whole cities grew from the arduous task of cutting and piling stone upon. Some of the world's finest stone architecture can be seen in the ruins of the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu high in the eastern Andes Mountains of Peru. The doorways and windows are made possible by placing over the open spaces thick stone beams that support the weight from above. A structural invention had to be made before the physical limitations of stone could be overcome and new architectural forms could be created. That invention was the arch, a curved structure originally made of separate stone or brick segments. The arch was used by the early cultures of the Mediterranean area chiefly for underground drains, but it was the Romans who first developed and used the arch extensively in aboveground structures. Roman builders perfected the semicircular arch made of separate blocks of stone. As a method of spanning space, the arch can support greater weight than a horizontal beam. It works in compression to divert the weight above it out to the sides, where the weight is borne by the vertical elements on either side of the arch. The arch is among the many important structural breakthroughs that have characterized architecture throughout the centuries.

　　Why does the author include a description of how the "doorways and windows" of Machu Picchu were constructed?

　　A.To indicate that the combined skeletons and skins of the stone buildings of Machu Picchu were similar to igloos and adobe structures.

　　B.To indicate the different kinds of stones that had to be cut to build Machu Picchu.

　　C.To provide an illustration of the kind of construction that was required before arches were invented.

　　D.To explain how ancient builders reduced the amount of time necessary to construct buildings from stone.

　　我们可以利用题干中的“doorways and windows”of Machu Picchu 定位至段落第四行，按照之前的方法阅读会发现前文并不难理解，讲述了最早的建筑都是由石头构成还有石头盖房的好处，并且在秘鲁的安第斯山脉上有很不错的石头建成建筑的遗迹。但是，悲伤的事发生了，在选项中并没有一个合适的。所以，在 ETS 出题的过程中有些作者目的题的答案是在例子的后面。于是就可以往后阅读，会发现文章中有这样的描写“A structural invention had to be made before the physical limitations of stone could be overcome and new architectural forms could be created. That invention was the arch,...” 也就是“（设计师们）必须在克服石头的物理限制以及新建筑形式发展之前发明出建筑结构，这就是拱形结构，……”那么，结合上下文之后作者为什么要提“马丘比丘的门和窗”呢？选择答案易如反掌是 C。常规类型的第三种是观点和例子结合成了一句话，如：

　　The astrolabe had long been the primary instrument for navigation, having been introduced in the eleventh century. It operated by measuring the height of the Sun and the fixed stars: by calculating the angles created by these points, it determined the degree of latitude at which one stood (The problem of determining longitude, though, was not solved until the eighteenth

　century.) By the early thirteenth century, Western Europeans had also developed and put into use the magnetic compass, which helped when clouds obliterated both the Sun and the stars. Also beginning in the thirteenth century, there were new maps refined by precise calculations and the reports of sailors that made it possible to trace one's path with reasonable accuracy.

　　Certain institutional and practical norms had become established as well. A maritime code known as the Consulate of the Sea , which originated in the western

　　Mediterranean region in the fourteenth century, won acceptance by a majority of sea goers as the normative code for maritime conduct; it defined such matters as the authority of a ship's officers, protocols of command, pay structures, the rights of sailors, and the rules of engagement when ships met one another on the sea-lanes. Thus by about 1400, the key elements were in place to enable Europe to begin its seaward adventure. Why does the author include the information that Western Europeans had developed and put into use the magnetic compass?

　　A.To provide an example of an instrument that was developed after caravels had begun traveling across oceans.

　　B.To provide an example of an improvement that resulted directly from the invention of the astrolabe.

　　C.To identify one of the technological advances that made sea trade with the East possible.

　　D.To explain how the problem of determining longitude was solved.

　　根据问题中的关键词 magnetic compass 可以定位到文章的第五行，但是由于句中的also，可知磁针罗盘和星盘是并列关系，即两者都是重要的航海定位工具，所以 C 选项是正确答案。此题即例子和观点合成一句话。此次分享了常规的作者目的题的做法，希望能够帮助大家在托福考试的过程中取得好的成绩！

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