GRE阅读 | 破解GRE阅读理解系列（十四）

GRE阅读中，直接信息题，说人话就是“找答案”；推断题，说人话就是“推答案”。一个“找（到）”一个“推（断）”。在做题逻辑上有区别。我们先看到底下这个篇章截选的部分：

Blah blah blah blah blah blah But genre painting, especially when it portrayed members of the humblest classes, was never popular in eighteenth-century France. The Le Nain brothers and Georges de La Tour, who also chose such themes, were largely ignored. Their present high standing is due to a different, more democratic political climate and to different aesthetic values: we no longer require artists to provide ideal images of humanity for our moral edification but rather regard such idealization as a falsification of the truth.Blah blah blah blah blah blah

加粗的部分中包含了下面三道题目的答案。

第【一】题（错误答案略去）：

According to the passage, modern viewers are not likely to value which of the following qualities in a painting?

答案： (C) The moral lesson imparted by the painting

判定依据：we no longer require artists to provide ideal images of humanity for our moral edification。原文这句话中的moral edification 对应正确答案选项里的moral lesson。

第【二】题（错误答案略去）：

If the history of Duparc’s artistic reputation were to follow that of the Le Nain brothers and Georges de La Tour, present-day assessments of her work would be likely to contain which of the following?

答案：(A) An evaluation that accords high status to her work

判定依据：Their present high standing … 。原文这句话中的high standing 对应正确答案选项里的high status。

我们发现：这两个题目的正确答案选项都是对原文进行了措辞方面的简单变化。措辞的变化并没有改变信息的完全对等。这一类题就是“（在原文中）找到（完全对等的内容）”，即直接信息题。

第【三】题（错误答案略去）：

It can be inferred from the passage that the term “genre painting” would most likely apply to which of the following?

答案：(D) A portrayal of a servant engaged in his work

判定依据：genre painting, especially when it portrayedmembers of the humblest classes。

原文这句话中的 members of the humblest classes 对应正确答案选项里的 a servant。

我们发现：members of the humblest classes可能包含a servant。虽然并不就是a servant，但是a servant是很有可能的。这时候，members of the humblest classes与a servant并不是简单的措辞不同，而是两个不完全相同但相关性极强的概念。我们可以从members of the humblest classes推算出“有可能是a servant”。类似这一题的题目就是“（根据原文给出的信息）推算（某个很可能的情况）”，即推断题。

如果，你还不明白，我再举个例子：

如果有一篇文章的原文说到minimize the cost，那么：

1） reduce the cost to its lowest level是对应的措辞变化，就是“找答案”，是直接信息题。

2） 而make the price to its lowest level或者make the profitability to the highest level不是措辞变化，而是基于minimize the cost很可能发生的情况，那就是“推答案”，是推断题。

至此，GRE阅读中的直接信息题与推断题是不是可以明确被你区分并因此更有可能答对呢？