托福阅读中的否定事实信息

　　在托福阅读中，有一类别致的题型叫作否定事实信息类问题(Negative Factual Information Questions)。这类问题考察考生区别真实信息与虚假信息的能力。要分辨这种题型非常容易，因为题干中会出现大写的拒绝(“NOT”或“EXCEPT”)引起我们的注意。

　　例如：

　　The author’s description of X mentions all of the following EXCEPT...

　　According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of X?

　　当我们看到“EXCEPT”或“NOT”这两个词的时候，就要马上反应过来这道题问的是以下哪个选项为否定事实信息。为了便于理解，我们把这种信息叫做虚假信息，也就是原文中没有说明是正确的信息。

　　下面为大家梳理一下虚假信息的三大套路：自相矛盾、无中生有、答非所问。

　　一、自相矛盾

　　第一种情况是选项信息与原文相矛盾，错误表述文中的信息或观点。例如下题：

　　PASSAGE EXCERPT：“Themost striking characteristic of the plants of the alpine zone is their lowgrowth form. This enables them to avoid the worst rigors of high winds andpermits them to make use of the higher temperatures immediately adjacent to theground surface. In an area where low temperatures are limiting to life, theimportance of the additional heat near the surface is crucial. The low growthform can also permit the plants to take advantage of the insulation provided bya winter snow cover. In the equatorial mountains the low growth form is lessprevalent.”(TPO1: TIMBERLINEVEGETATION ON MOUNTAINS)

　　According to paragraph 6, all of the following statements aretrue of plants in the alpine zone EXCEPT:

　　○ Because they are low, they are less exposed to strong winds.

　　○ Because they are low, the winter snow cover gives them moreprotection from the extreme cold.

　　○ In the equatorial mountains, they tend to be lower than inmountains elsewhere.

　　○ Their low growth form keeps them closer to the ground, where thereis more heat than further up.

　　这道题的选项1改写原文“… avoid theworst rigors of high winds…”;选项2对应原文“…take advantage of the insulation provided by a winter snow cover”;选项4对应原文“…make use of the higher temperaturesimmediately adjacent to the ground surface”;选项3中的“lower”与原文之中“the low growth form is lessprevalent”相矛盾，因此该选项为虚假信息，选作本题的答案。

　　二、无中生有

　　第二种情况是选项信息在原文中没有被提及。同学们可以比较容易地辨别出在原文中完全没有提到的选项，但大家务必注意此类出题方式经常会使点小心机，也就是选项的部分信息是对原文信息的重复，但是另一部分却出现了新概念或脑补了新信息。例如：

　　PASSAGE EXCERPT: “The causes of this population rebound are consequences of otherhuman actions. First, the major predators of deer---wolves, cougar, andlynx--have been greatly reduced in numbers. Second, conservation has beeninsured by limiting times for and types of hunting. But the most profoundreason for the restoration of high population numbers has been the gate of theforests. Great tracts of lowland country deforested by logging, fire, or bothhave become ideal feeding grounds of deer. ”(TPO4: Deer Populations ofthe Puget Sound)

　　Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 5 as a factor that has increased deerpopulations?

　　○ A reduction in thenumber of predators

　　○ Restrictions on hunting

　　○ The effects of loggingand fire

　　○ Laws that protectedfeeding grounds of deer

　　选项1与原文“First, the majorpredators of deer---wolves, cougar, and lynx--have been greatly reduced innumbers”相对应;选项2对应原文“Second, conservationhas been insured by limiting times for and types of hunting”;选项3对应原文“Great tracts of lowland countrydeforested by logging, fire”;选项4中的后半部分信息“feeding grounds of deer”是对原文 “… or both havebecome ideal feeding grounds of deer”中的原词重复，但是选项前半部分新添加了原文没有的信息“laws that protected”，这仍然属于无中生有的虚假信息，因此这道题应该选择最后一个选项。

　　三、答非所问

　　最后一种情况是需要大家特别注意的，即答非所问。选项可能重复文章中的信息，且没有添加原文不存在的信息，然而它却并没有回答问题，因此仍然属于虚假信息的范畴。例如：

　　PASSAGE EXCERPT：“The same thing happens to this day, though on a smaller scale, wherever asediment-laden river or stream emerges from a mountain valley ontorelatively flat land, dropping its load as the current slows: the waterusually spreads out fanwise, depositing the sediment in the form of a smooth,fan-shaped slope. Sediments are also dropped where a river slows on entering a lake or the sea, the deposited sediments are on a lake floor or the seafloorat first……”(TPO1: GROUNDWATER)

　　All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 3 as places thatsediment-laden rivers can deposit their sediments EXCEPT

　　○ A mountain valley

　　○ Flat land

　　○ A lake floor

　　○ The seafloor

　　在做这道题的时候我们很焦灼地发现每一个选项都在原文中出现了(下划线部分)，而且都没有添加任何原文不存在的新信息。此时一定要冷静，将选项与题干进行核对。题目中问的是河流所携带的砂石会在什么地方沉淀，而原文“wherever a sediment-laden river or stream emerges from a mountainvalley onto relatively flat land, dropping its load as the currentslows ”表明水流从mountain valley 流出，流至相对平坦的地面时水流速度减慢从而逐渐沉淀砂石。当我们理解这句话就会知道mountain valley是水流出的地方而不是sediments沉淀的地方，也就是说选项1并不是针对题目的正确信息，因此它是被“EXCEPT”的对象，答案为选项1。

　　总结一下，选项中的虚假信息可能以自相矛盾、无中生有、答非所问的方式出现。这类虚假信息正是否定事实信息类题目的正确答案，而那些能够在原文中找到对应的选项统统都不选。