1.When a paragraph starts with detail information

当段落以细节信息开头时，即首句出现细节性时间、地点、事件等概念时，作者通常是要以细节信息来说明一个问题、观点、或者引出一个判断。所以该段落的重点信息往往会在段落的末尾出现。

在阅读一个段落时，如果发现首句中出现了和文章标题中的概念相比非常细分的时间、地点和事件等词汇时，可以略过细节，直奔尾句寻找该段落的主题。下面以几个例子来说明。

例1：On 2nd August 1999, a particularly hot day in the town of Cirencester in the UK, a large pane of toughened glass in the roof of a shopping centre at Bishops Walk shattered without warning and fell from its frame. When fragments were analysed by experts at the giant glass manufacturer Pilkington. which had made the pane, they found that minute crystals of nickel sulphide trapped inside the glass had almost certainly caused the failure.

以上例子中，下划线的语汇是细节信息的标记词，和文章标题 The problem with toughened glass 相比是很细节化的。段落尾句中的黑体字是该段落的核心，是作者通过一个具体的事件引出的主题。

雅思考题经常围绕重点信息而出。就该段重点信息而出的考题是T/F/NG判断题：

24、Little doubt was expressed about the reason for the Bishops Walk accident. （T）Little doubt 对应almost certainly

例2：Other doom-laden estimates suggest that, while tropical areas will become drier and uninhabitable, coastal regions and some low-lying islands willl in all probability be submerged by the sea as the polar ice caps melt. Popular exotic destinations now visited by countless tourists will become no-go areas. Today's holiday hotspots---too hot to live in or cisit. With the current erratic behaviour of the weather, it is difficult not to subscribe to such despair.

这个例子中的下划线部分和文章标题Adam's wine(water)相比较，是一些细节性的地点等概念。而文章最后一句话是针对细节的总结和判断。

所以我们在阅读是可以规避许多细节中的生词和复杂的句子结构，从而节省时间，迅速为该段落匹配到正确的标题：A pessimistic view of the future.

例3：In 2002, many parts of Europe suffered severe flood damage running into billions of euros. Properties across the continent collapsed into the sea as waves pounded the coastline wreaking havoc with sea defences. But it was not just the seas. Rivers swollen by heavy rains and by the effects of deforestation carried large volumes of water that wrecked many communities.

上面段落的正确标题是Rivers and seas cause damage。大家不妨可以从该段中体会一下迅速把握重点信息的技巧。

2.Distinguish between general and specific informaton

段落中的概括性信息经常是一般的, 普通的, 综合的, 概括的, 全面的, 大体上的的归纳和总结。段落中的细节性信息是对概括性原则、规律、判断及陈述的展开和细化，表现为举例、分类、阶段性描述或者举证。所以，概括性信息通常是重点信息。

概括性信息不必然在段首或者段尾出现，这时就给考生的阅读能力提出了挑战。有一种办法不一定总是有效，但是一旦掌握，对于把握重点信息还是有很大帮助的。就是比较段落当中名词概念的种属关系。通常而言，属概念所在的句子是概括性信息，种概念所在的句子是细节性信息。找到概括性信息并仔细阅读是正确处理list of headings 的关键。

Through the ages, great floods alternated with long periods of drought have assaulted people and their environment, hampering their fragile fight for survival. The dramatic changes to the environment that are now a feature of our daily news are not exactly new: fields that were once teeming with life are now long gone; savannah has been turned to desert. What perhaps is new is our naive wonder when faced wifth the forces of nature.

就以上段落给出了两个待选的headings：1、The destructive force of water in former times. 2. Environmental change has always been with us（正确）

尽管Through the ages与former times在时间上相呼应，尽管assaulted 和hampering 与destructive force 在语义上相呼应，但是，与The dramatic changes to the environment 相比较，great floods 和drought是两个细节性概念，表明第一句话是细节性的。第二句话才是概括性的。因为，洪水和干旱是急剧的环境变化的具体表现，是后者的种概念。

找到重点信息之后，通过仔细阅读发现，句子The dramatic changes to the environment that...are not exactly new 是个表达观点判断句，由此可见段落第一句话的段落功能是个细节性证据，因为各个时期都发生洪水和干旱，所以这样的环境变化对于我们来说不新鲜了。毫无疑问，选项二是正确的。

下面我们以剑桥5 test4 的第一篇The Impact of Wilderness Tourism 的secton C 为例，解释上述技巧在list of headings 中的应用。

section C 共有五个段落，第一段中间出现了fragile enviroments，第五段中出现了fragile enviroments。而第一段后半段出现了Sherpas of Nepal's khumbu valley和Alpine villages，第二、三、四段中分别出现了Swiss Alps\Arctic destinations, Alaska\ American Southwest 等细节性概念，显然，这些细节性概念是fragile enviroments的举例。所以要给section C 选出正确的标题，只需要阅读第一段的第二句话和第三句话，以及第五段中含有fragile enviroments的句子。

从第一段的第二句话和第三句话 Yet it does not have to be a problem....可预知下文要解释为什么不必然是个问题。

第五段第三句：Instead, communities in fragile environments must achieve greater control over tourism ventures in their regions, in order to balance their needs and aspirations with the demands of tourism.

Yet 和 Instead 两个转折性词汇，说明由它们引导的句子是重点信息。表明它们所在的段落是典型的“but”paragragh。这样我们不难知道section C的主体是在讲述不同的fragile environments 地区如何“balance their own needs with the demands of wilderness tourism。