在四级考试中,阅读理解所占比重较大,因此阅读理解成绩的好坏直接影响着整个考试的成败。通过对近几年四级真题的分析,我们不难发现,阅读理解部分通常有一篇教育题材的文章,可见教育题材越发受到出题专家的青睐和关注。教育题材的文章内容主要有三类:学校教育、家庭教育和网络教育。无论属于哪一类教育题材,阅读的测试主要集中在两类题型上:推断(推理)题和细节理解题。
　　1. 推断(推理)题
　　教育题材的文章一般以教育学生和孩子为主,考试题目不会直接给出答案,而是让考生猜测句子暗含的意思,因此推断题很常见。阅读中,切忌不要"只见树木不见森林",过多地被文字所纠缠。此类题目常见的提问方式如下:The first paragraph indicates that ______. / It can be inferred from the passage that ______. 解答此类题目的关键是从文中找出关键词。一般情况下,虽然文章没有直接给出答案,但是答案会隐藏在某句话或某几个词后面,如连词but, because等或动词suggest, infer, indicate等。
　　例如:2007年12月的试题。
　　The attraction for students might at first seem obvious. Primarily, there’s the convenience promised by courses on the Net: you can do the work, as they say, in your pajamas (睡衣). But figures indicate that the reduced effort results in a reduced commitment to the course. While the dropout rate for all fresh-men at American universities is around 20 percent, the rate for online students is 35 percent. Students themselves seem to understand the weaknesses inherent in the setup. In a survey conducted for eCornell, the DL division of Cornell University, less than a third of the respondents expected the quality of the online course to be as good as the classroom course.
　　Q: According to the passage, distance learning is basically characterized by ______.
　　A) a considerable flexibility in its academic requirements
　　B) the great diversity of students’academic backgrounds
　　C) a minimum or total absence of face-to-face instruction
　　D) the casual relationship between students and professors
　　此段选自一篇网络教育题材的文章,主要讲网络教育的趋势和特点。本题主要定位在前两句话,其中关键词是primarily, 句意是起初网络教育对学生的吸引力似乎是显而易见的,主要是因为网上提供的课 程很方便:正如他们所说的那样,你可以穿着睡衣上课。由此推断网络教育的特点是学生很少或完全不用和老师面对面地交流、学习。故选C)。
　　2. 细节理解题
　　细节理解题是四级阅读理解中最常见的考试题型,因此教育题材的阅读题型也不例外。在回答此类题目时,应采用查读法(Scanning)。这类题目常以以下疑问代词或疑问副词提问,如who, what, when, where, why以及how等。这些题目往往不采用文章的原话提问,而是使用同义词语、同义转述等。因此,在选择答案前应首先看准题干、看清题目所问；然后,查读时注意寻找与题目相关的关键词；最后,在充分理解原文和题干的基础上确定正确答案。
　　例如:2005年1月的试题。
　　Some Japanese parents believe that if their young children attend a university-based program, it will in-crease the children’s chances of eventually being admitted to top-rated schools and universities. Several more progressive programs have introduced free play as a way out for the heavy intellectualizing in some Japanese kindergartens.
　　Q: Why do some Japanese parents send their children to university-based kindergartens?
　　A) They can do better in their future studies.
　　B) They can accumulate more group experience there.
　　C) They can be individually oriented when they grow up.
　　D) They can have better chances of getting a first-rate education.
　　 此段选自一篇学校教育题材的文章,主要是对比美日两国的儿童教
　　育。此题是典型的细节题,根据题设中的university-based,答案可定位在第一句。if 引导的条件从句可看作结果,而其后的主句就是原因,只要将选项和主句进行对比,就可以选出D)。
　　综上所述,如果考生平时对以上的教育问题有一定的了解,那么再阅读此类文章时就易于把握整体大意,从而更好地解答题目。因此,考生平常在学习英语时,应该注重英美文化,尤其要关注教育方面的背景知识,从文化的角度入手轻松地学习英语以提高做题的准确性。

　　Try out
　　If you want to teach your children how to say sorry, you must be good at saying it yourself, especially to your own children. But how you say it can be quite tricky. If you say to your children"I’m sorry I got angry with you, but ...", what follows that"but"can render the apology ineffective:"I had a bad day"or"your noise was giving me a headache"leaves the person who has been injured feeling that he should be apologizing for his bad behavior in expecting an apology. Another method by which people appear to apologize without actually doing so is to say "I’m sorry you’re upset"; this suggests that you are somehow at fault for allowing your-self to get upset by what the other person has done. Then there is the general, all-covering apology, which avoids the necessity of identifying a specific act that was particularly hurtful or insulting, and which the person who is apologizing should promise never to do again. Saying "I’m useless as a parent" does not commit a person to any specific improvement. These pseudo-apologies are used by people who believe saying sorry shows weakness. Parents who wish to teach their children to apologize should see it as a sign of strength, and therefore not resort to these pseudo-apologies. But even when presented with ex-amples of genuine contrition, children still need help to become aware of the complexities of saying sorry. A three-year-old might need help in understanding that other children feel pain just as he does, and that hitting a playmate over the head with a heavy toy requires an apology. A six-year-old might need reminding that spoiling other children’s expectations can require an apology. A 12-year-old might need to be shown that raiding the biscuit tin without asking permission is acceptable, but that borrowing his/her parents’ clothes without permission is not. (CET-4, 2005年12月)
　　1. If a mother adds "but" to an apology, ______.
　　A) she doesn’t feel that she should have apologized
　　B) she does not realize that the child has been hurt
　　C) the child may find the apology easier to accept
　　D) the child may feel that he owes her an apology
　　2. According to the author, saying "I’m sorry you’re upset "most probably means "______".
　　A) You have good reason to get upset
　　B) I’m aware you’re upset, but I’m not to blame
　　C) I apologize for hurting your feelings
　　D) I’m at fault for making you upset
　　3. It is not advisable to use the general, all-covering apology be-cause ______.
　　A) it gets one into the habit of making empty promises
　　B) it may make the other person feel guilty
　　C) it is vague and ineffective
　　D) it is hurtful and insulting　　
　　答案&解析
　　1. D)。细节理解题。参见第二段可知，如果你对孩子说“对不起我对你发脾气了，但
　　是……”，那么“但是”后面 的内容，如：“我今天不高兴”，“你的吵闹声让我头痛”，会使道歉变得无效，而且让受到伤害的人觉得应该为自己的错误行为道歉。故选D)。
　　2. B)。推断题。参见第三段可知，人们似乎在道歉而实际并没有那么做的另一种方式是说“你生气了，我很抱歉”，这意味着你要为别人的所做所为生气那是你自己的错。故选B)。
　　3. C)。细节理解题。参见第四段第一句话可知，笼统的道歉看不出那种特别具有伤害性和侮辱性的具体行为，也不能使道歉者真正做出决不再犯的承诺。故选C)。