雅思阅读考试中，填空题占据着非常大的比重，也是十分常见的一种题型。其与配对题，判断题一起，在雅思考试中各占四分之一，该题型主要是针对文章某些重要段落，意在考察学生对文章的逻辑和重要细节的把握情况。结合雅思剑桥真题系列5-9和2013年考题回顾，笔者以出题特点和解题方式类似将填空题做一下剖析：
　　一.填空题分为4大类型：
　　1. 无词库summary：该题型在填空题系列中难度系数中等偏上，2013年出题率占14%。该种题型所填词性以“名词和形容词”为主，(剑桥5-9该种题型题目共计63个:名词58个占92%，形容词5个占8%)
　　2. 有词库summary：该题型在填空题系列中难度系数最高，2013年出题率占2.8%。
　　该种题型涉及到名词，形容词，副词，动词(剑桥5-9该种题型题目共计59个：名词38个占64.4%、形容词14个占23.7%、副词3个占5%、动词3个占5%，过去分词表被动1个)
　　3.Flow-chart & diagram & table：该题型在填空题系列中难度系数较低，2013年出题率占2.3%。该种题型所填词性以“名词和形容词”为主。(剑桥5-9该种题型题目共计46个：名词40个占87%、形容词6个占13%)
　　4.Sentence completion:该题型在填空题系列中难度系数中等偏下，2013年出题率占2.8%。该种题型涉及到名词，副词，动词(剑桥5-9该种题型题目共计22个：名词20个占91%、形容词1个占4.5%、动词1个占4.5%)
　　综上所述，剑桥真题系列5-9填空题共考了190道题，名词考了156个占82%，形容词考了26个占14%，动词考了4个占2%，副词考了4个占2%。在2013年的48场考试当中，填空题总共约占总题量的22.5%，而summary摘要填空题约占17%(其中3%为带词库的summary)，其他小题型如完成句子题，图表填空等共占5.5%。
　　二. 填空题的出题特征：
　　1.注重考察细节
　　每一道填空题的题目基本上都是对原文的一句话或者几句话进行的同义改写，不会出现对多句话或者是整段进行的概括归纳，且几乎是针对原文的部分段落进行考察，而并非整篇文章的归纳。
　　2.从原文选词填空(choose)，且所填单词数量有一定限制
　　首先，所有答案均来自于原文或者词库，不需要考生对原词进行改写，如单复数，动词时态。且一般会对填写的单词数字具有特定要求，通常情况下不会超过3个单词，如NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER;或者不超过2个单词，如NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.
　　3. 所填单词以名词为主，形容词为辅
　　雅思阅读所有填空题都会以句子语法结构为出题点，如动词后缺宾语，动词前缺主语，名词前缺定语或其它数字等修饰词，介词后缺名词等。而在雅思阅读填空题这个系列中，出题者会以名词为考察对象的几率占到80%以上，而对于考形容词的考察也达到15%，所以雅思阅读填空题可以理解为“名词为主，形容词为辅”。
　　4.基本按照顺序原则出题
　　除了带选项的段落摘要题比较不稳定之外(剑桥8Test2Q19-22/Test3Q7-10乱序)，其它所有的填空题都比较严格地遵循顺序原则，即出题顺序与原文的顺序一致(除剑桥Test4Q8-13)。另外，如果填空题在原文中是第一个大题，则一般在文章前几段找答案，若是文章的第二个大题，应在原文的文章中部段落去找，若是文章的最后一个大题，应该在文章最后几段去找。(但是注意：要是在原文第一个大题，偶尔会在全文找，如剑桥5Test2 Q28-34)，当然个别题目会具体标出原文的查找段落，如剑桥6Test1Q33-40。
　　掌握这些原则，考生将有效地缩短寻找答案的时间。
　　5.题目之间遵循“间距原则“和“分段原则”(主要针对summary)
　　纵观雅思真题系列5-9，绝大部分summary题目之间的“间距”都很均匀，但部分文章的summary个别题目之间“间距”相对其他题目而言要间隔大些，典型代表以剑桥5Test1Q4-7,(Q5和Q6间距较大，相隔3行);剑桥5Test2Q28-34，(Q28和Q29的间距，相隔3行)，剑桥5Test4Q18-23,(Q21和Q22之间间隔了3行)，说明他们在原文的出题位置也间隔至少一两段。
　　分段原则”即若是题目以分段落形式来考察考生，那么原文出题点则也一定会相应的分段落去定位，如剑桥6Test4Q35-39;剑桥5Test2Q1-3;中Q2，Q3一定不在同一段落出现。
　　三. 填空题的8大“出题点”(无词库)：
　　1. 单复数
　　2. 介词短语
　　3. 定语从句
　　4. 并列/转折/递进关系
　　5. 因果关系
　　6. 特殊属性词性：(人，大写，元素，数字等其他专有名词)
　　7. 动词(比重占据最大)
　　8. 感情色彩
　　纵观剑桥雅思系列5-9的所有填空题，不难发现出题者都会通过以上的8个方面作为出题点，而我们只需要了解到这8个方面的具体特征，在以后的雅思考试中，面对任何一个题目，便可对症下药，轻松应对。
　　出题点1：单复数(考了23个)
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，关于这类考题笔者统计到，关于单数名词共考了17个单数，复数名词考了6个。而对于复数名词而言，根据定位词或者上下题顺序原则，我们只需要在原文相应的段落把所以复数名词找出来，然后结合其他的考点将题目答案找出。而对于单数名词而言，我们只需要在原文把不定冠词“a”，在后再结合其他考点，把答案找出。(笔者整理了剑桥雅思5-9所有单数名词所对应的段落，得出一个结论，即便整个段落，也不会超过5，6个不定冠词a,更何况题目之间是有顺序原则，一般只在两三句中去定位)。
　　注意：在剑桥5-9的17个填单数名词的题目中，有3个题目是没有在原文找到不定冠词a的，(剑7T1Q13;剑8T1Q33;剑9T1Q35)，但是这三个题目都有其自身的特点，前两个题目都是”人“，后一个题目为介词on的宾语。
　　剑桥5-9单复数考题统计如下：
　　剑5：
　　1) he took a number of ____4_____,who stood at a long central desk.(单复数、人、定从)(Test1)
　　2) Johnson did not have a ____5_____available to him.(Test1)
　　3) He was granted a _____7_____by the king.(单复数、动词)(Test1)
　　4) ..where ____34____are unpredictable.(单复数)(Test4)
　　剑6 ：
　　5) ...ice ,rock and a few____37_____(单复数)(Test1)
　　6) cell less damaged by disease because fewer _____39_____are emitted.(单复数、因果)(Test3)
　　7) the most important step is to produce a_____35____(单复数)(Test4):
　　剑7:
　　8) Radar is inaccurate term when referring to bats because ___11____are not used in their navigation system.(单复数、因果)(Test1)
　　9) The word “echolocation”was first used by someone working as a ____13____(单复数、人,职业)(Test1)
　　10) Professor Pretty wants....by establishing what he refers to as a ____25___(单复数、专有名词)大写Greener Food Standard(Test2)
　　11) an object which resembled a ____11_____(单复数、定从)(Test4)
　　剑8:
　　12) a ____12___which beats each ____13___(单复数、定从);(Test1)
　　13) involved a person acting as a ___31____who picked out one____32___...and a ___33____who....;___36___were used ...to limit the amount of ___37____(单复数、动词、感情);then subjected to a __38___;(Test1)
　　14) the sense of smell may involve response to ______which do not smell(单复数);(Test2)
　　15) a ____39____(只有2个a)(Test4)
　　剑9：
　　16) the data was recorded on a ____35_____(单复数)(Test1)
　　17) A_____37_____was used to transmit the message at the speed of light(单复数)(Test3)
　　18) When they face a ____24____.(单复数)(Test4)
　　出题点2：介词(非与单词搭配的介词)
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，关于这类考题笔者统计到总共考了4个，但笔者得提醒考试们注意的是：介词在雅思里面还会以与”动词搭配”的形式出现，如be associated with, come up with ,be related to ,be linked to 等，这个时候我就不能只去原文找介词了，还必须得找动词。
　　剑桥5-9介词考题统计如下：
　　剑5:
　　1) ...in the field of ___3___and the search for alternatives to natural resources like ivory.(介词短语)(Test2)
　　剑6:
　　2) Action can be taken through the _____37_____.(介词)(Test4)
　　剑8:
　　3) odours regarded as unpleasant in certain___40___are not regarded as unpleasant in others.(介词)(Test2)
　　剑9：
　　4) T1：the data was recorded on a ___35___

　　出题点3：定语从句
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，关于定语从句，雅思出题难度是最高的，而该题型的出题形式除了考察从句之外，也考了定语从句所修饰的先行词。当然考生们还得注意的是，除了who, which ,that等引导词引导定语从句，还有些题目会考察分词作定语(现在分词和过去分词)如，剑5Test2Q32,剑8Test2Q37。
　　剑桥5
　　1) he took a number of ____4_____,who stood at a long central desk.(定从);(Test1)
　　2) some plastics behave in a similar way to____1___in that they melt under heat and can be moulded into new forms(定从);(Test2)
　　3) Scientists associated with____32____set about developing English.(定从)(Test2)
　　剑桥7:
　　4) an object which resembled a ____11_____(单复数、定从);Q8，9，10乱序，Q9定从(Test4)
　　剑桥8：
　　5) tests have shown that odours can help people recognise the ___37___belonging to their husbands and wivies.(动词，定从)(Test2)
　　出题点4：因果关系
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，关于因果关系的题目，首先考生必须了解因果关系可分为“前果后因”和“前因后果”。前果后因：常见because,since ,as,for,the explanation is that+句子;owing to ,due to,thanks to,as a result of,result from+短语;前因后果：常见so,hence,thus,consequently+句子;lead to ,result in,contribute to+短语)。然后，在对应到原文去找相应的因果关系词。剑桥真题除了剑8T1Q38(如下)在原文恩能够找到和题目一样的因果关系词because，其他题型都是被他的因果连接词所取代，如下文，第一题在原文是由“as”引导的表原因的句子，第二题在原文是the explanation for why...,第三题在原文是有since引导的表原因的句子。
　　剑桥5
　　1) It developed again in the 19th century as a result of _____34_____(因果)(Test2)
　　剑桥6
　　2) cell less damaged by disease because fewer _____39_____are emitted.(单复数、因果)(Test3)
　　剑桥7
　　3) Radar is inaccurate term when referring to bats because ___11____are not used in their navigation system.(单复数、因果)(Test1)
　　剑桥8
　　4) certain linguistic groups may have difficulty describing smell because they lack the appropriate__38___(因果)(Test1)
　　出题点5：并列、转折、(递进)关系
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，关于并列，转折，(递进)关系的题目，是最为简单的题型。考生只需要在练习中和考试中明确所填的词性与其的关系即可。
　　(注意：递进关系主要是用于带词库的summary)
　　剑桥5
　　1) .. in the case of mathematicians and ____29____(并列);(Test2)
　　2) ____40____,but socially wider.(转折);(Test2)
　　3) Birds associate longer days with nesting and the availability of ____36_____(并列)(Test4)
　　4) the frequency with which such problems occur is ___23__by glass experts.Furthermore,the crystals cannot be detected without sophisticated equipment.(递进)(Test4)带词库
　　出题点6：特殊属性的词汇(人，职业，组织，数字，元素等其他专有名词)
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，会出现一些表特殊属性的词汇，如：大写，职业，人，职业，元素等。而考生在审题时一定要清楚这类题型，就可以迎刃而解了。
　　剑桥5:
　　1) Stage one resin,called____4_____(专有名词)Novalak大写(Test2)
　　2) .. in the case of mathematicians and ____29____ (人，职业);(Test2)
　　3) Plants which ...are referred to as ___35_____(专有名词)斜体字day-neutral plants(Test4)
　　剑桥6：
　　4) Potential ____38_____of bullying can be trained to be more self-confident.(人)(Test4)
　　剑桥7:
　　5) The word “echolocation”was first used by someone working as a ____13____(单复数、人,职业);(Test1)
　　6) ...change the attitudes of both ____26___and ________(人)(Test2)
　　7) ...from the skill as ___10____(职业，人)(Test4)
　　剑桥9：
　　8) ...a total of ____34_____(数字)(Test1)
　　9) this is known as ____26___(非大写);(Test3)
　　10) Marie Curie found that the element called ____7____had the same property.(非大写)(Test4)
　　11) The radioactivity of mineral known as ____8____(非大写)(Test4)
　　出题点7：动词(填空题90%要和动词扯上关系)
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，关于动词作为出题点占据了较高的比重。根据前面的分析，我们清晰了解填空题几乎都是以名词为主，那么一句话中，名词往往充当主语，宾语和介词短语的角色。而涉及到主语和宾语，就不得不涉及到动词。严格来讲，一段话中动词应该是最少的，所以对于考生而言，即便把原文整段看完，也能很快把多有的动词找出来，尤其是及物动词，顺理成章的就会把与之对应的动词找出来即可。
　　剑桥5:
　　1) Johnson’s principal achievement was to bring ____6____to the English language.(及物动词、主语);(Test1)
　　2) He was granted a _____7_____by the king.(单复数、动词，主语)(Test1)
　　剑桥6:
　　3) ..give up their _____38_____lifestyle(动词);(Test1)
　　4) Potential ____38____of bullying can be trained to be more self-confident.(人，动词)(Test4)
　　剑桥7:
　　5) the ability comes from perceiving ____7___through the ears.(动词)(Test1)
　　6) ...calculated the ____8_____of the seabed.(动词)(Test1)
　　7) ...application in devices for finding _____9_____(动词)(Test1)
　　剑桥8:
　　8) __36___were used ...to limit the amount of ___37____(单复数、动词、感情);(Test1)
　　9) tests have shown that odours can help people recognise the ___37___belonging to their husbands and wivies.(动词，定从);(Test2)
　　出题点8：感情色彩
　　雅思真题系列5-9中，通过前面7种类型，大部分考生可以很迅速的找出出题点，但是对于某些题型，即便翻译，考生也没办法找出答案，尤其是动词后面跟宾语的情况，如下Q23和Q37，考生在原文中几乎找不到与之对应的动词。而在这种情况下，我们可以通过感情色彩来思考，因为出题方很多时候会在动词，名词，形容词上面赋予一种感情，即：好/坏。如下文Q23题，前面动词reduce，我们可以清晰知道填空处应该是一个“不好的”或者“负面”的词，而在原文中，the damage of intensive farming中damage就是表示“负面的”，所以答案为intensive farming。而Q37题，在原文中也能定位动词minimize。
　　剑桥7:
　　1) Britain should reduce its reliance on ____23______(感情色彩)(Test2)
　　剑桥8：
　　2) __36___were used ...to limit the amount of ___37____(单复数、动词、感情色彩)(Test1)

　　小试牛刀：
　　The most crucial way, however, of improving the labour cost structure at SAH was to find better, more productive ways of providing customer service. SAH management concluded this would first require a process of 'benchmarking'. The prime objective of the benchmarking process was to compare a range of service delivery processes across a range of criteria using teams made up of employees from different departments within the hotel which interacted with each other. This process resulted in performance measures that greatly enhanced SAH's ability to improve productivity and quality.
　　The information collected was used to compare .. . (7) .. . processes which, in turn , led to the development of .. . (8) .. . that would be used to increase the hotel's capacity to improve .. . (9) .. . as well as quality.
　　“出题点”分析：
　　三个题目都是建立在“动词”的基础上为出题点，第二题还涉及到“定语从句”;第三题涉及到“并列关系”。
　　解析：对于Q7，首先左边有个动词compare，则应该在原文中去找原词或者同意词，其次根据右边的process，则明确该空应该是修饰成分。结合这两个点，直接到原文第一句开始去找一个及物动词，第一句两个：find和provide，第二句concluded和require，第三句compare，则应该在第三句子”compare a range of service delivery processes“，由于该空修饰process，则答案为：service delivery。
　　对于Q8，首先将 ”the development of .. . (8) .. .“当成一个整体来看，所以其为led to 的宾语，则应该到原文去找动词。按循序原则，应该在原文Q7的出题位置之后去定位动词，那么可能的动词分别为：interacted和resulted in ,而resulted in=led to,则答案 performance measures.
　　对于Q9，首先左边动词improve，该空为其宾语，则在原文找动词。根据右边”as well as quality“，那么该空应该和quality并列，则在原文找quality，答案在最后productivity。
　　另：对于Q8，可以根据Q9来做。根据Q8右边来看，Q9是在其定语从句中，也就是说，Q8为Q9的先行词，那么在”performance measures that greatly enhanced SAH's ability to improve productivity and quality.“中，Q8一定在that之前，则为：performance measures.
　　真题模拟一：
　　PAPER RECYCLING
　　Paper is different from other waste produce because it comes from a sustainable resource: trees. Unlike the minerals and oil used to make plastics and metals, trees are replaceable. Paper is also biodegradable, so it does not pose as much threat to the environment when it is discarded. While 45 out of every 100 tonnes of wood fibre used to make paper in Australia comes from waste paper, the rest comes directly from virgin fibre from forests and plantations. By world standards this is a good performance since the world-wide average is 33 per cent waste paper. Governments have encouraged waste paper collection and sorting schemes and at the same time, the paper industry has responded by developing new recycling technologies that have paved the way for even greater utilization of used fibre. As a result, industry’s use of recycled fibres is expected to increase at twice the rate of virgin fibre over the coming years.
　　Already, waste paper constitutes 70% of paper used for packaging and advances in the technology required to remove ink from the paper have allowed a higher recycled content in newsprint and writing paper. To achieve the benefits of recycling, the community must also contribute. We need to accept a change in the quality of paper products; for example stationery may be less white and of a rougher texture. There also needs to be support from the community for waste paper collection programs. Not only do we need to make the paper available to collectors but it also needs to be separated into different types and sorted from contaminants such as staples, paperclips, string and other miscellaneous items.
　　Questions 30-36
　　Complete the summary below of the first two paragraphs of the Reading Passage. Choose ONE OR TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
　　In that firstly it comes from a resource which is ... (1) ... and secondly it is less threatening to our environment when we throw it away because it is ... (2) ... Although Australia’s record in the re-use of waste paper is good, it is still necessary to use a combination of recycled fibre and ... (3) .. to make new paper. The paper industry has contributed positively and people have also been encouraged by ... (4) ...to collect their waste on a regular basis. One major difficulty is the removal of ink from used paper but ... (5) ... are being made in this area. However, we need to learn to accept paper which is generally of a lower ... (6) ... than before and to sort our waste paper by removing .. (7) .. before discarding it for collection.
　　“出题点”分析：
　　Q1涉及到“定语从句”和“单复数”;Q2涉及到“因果关系”;Q3涉及到“并列关系”和“动词”;Q4涉及到“动词”;Q5涉及到“单复数”和“感情色彩”;Q6涉及到“单复数”和“定语从句”;Q7涉及到“动词”和“感情色彩”
　　解析：对于Q1，其在定语从句中，则到原文去找前面的先行词resource，在文章中“sustainable resource: trees”，答案为sustainable 。“trees”为复数名词，语法不搭配。对于Q2，其在原因从句中，则原文回去找“因果关系”的词，根据定位词environment，可以定位于原文第三句“Paper is also biodegradable, so it does not pose as much threat to the environment when it is discarded. ”，然后找到因果关系词so，原因在so之前，答案为biodegradable。对于Q3，首先根据空的左边and，能确定答案与recycled fibre并列，则到原文去找其原词或同义词;根据右边的动词make,则该空是用来制作纸的。根据该题的定位词Austria，定位在“While 45 out of every 100 tonnes of wood fibre used to make paper in Australia comes from waste paper, the rest comes directly from virgin fibre from forests and plantations”，根据语法法则，该句为”一个从句+一个主句”的形式，也就是说有两个主语45%wood fibre 和the rest(55%wood fibre) ，两个宾语(waste paper 和virgin fibre),然后在这四个词中找recycled fibre的原词，发现其同义词waste paper,原文中virgin fire 与之并列，则答案为virgin fibre.通过右边make检验，的确原文是waste paper 和virgin fibre去制作纸。对于Q4，题目被被动语态结构，则by后为encourage的逻辑主语，则到原文中午找encourage这个词或同义词，原文中“Governments have encouraged...”,则答案为government。对于Q5，根据右边的are,则该答案为复数，再根据定位词removal of ink ,答案定位于原文第二段第一句”Already, waste paper constitutes 70% of paper used for packaging and advances in the technology required to remove ink from the paper have allowed a higher recycled content in newsprint and writing paper. “，再根据语法法则，我知道原文由两个单句组合而成，主语和宾语分别为：waste paper ，70% of paper，advances, recycled content 。根据 ”单复数原则“，答案为advances.(另：该题也可以通过”感情色彩“来做，根据题目中”One major difficulty is the removal of ink from used paper but ... (5) ... are being made in this area“的difficulty,我们知道but之前的句子是表示
　　”不好的“，则but 后面是 ”好的“感情色彩，所以原文的主语和宾语中：waste paper ，70% of paper，advances, recycled content，只有advances是”好的“感情色彩。
　　对于Q6，其在定语从句中，修饰paper，其次该空填单数名词
　　四.填空题4大“出题点”：(带词库)
　　1.个别乱序(剑7Test3Q7-13;剑8Test2Q19-22/Test3Q7-10)
　　2.词性分析：名词，副词，动词，介词(despite)
　　3.会出现同意转换(个别,如剑6T2Q14-22)
　　4.上下句逻辑关系(转折，递进,如：剑5T4Q23)
　　5.可以通过词库定位，尤其是词库中的名词(剑8Test2Q18/19)
　　真题模拟二：
　　They tried to ... (1) ... burning logs or charcoal ... (2) ... that they could create fire themselves. It is suspected that the first man-made flames were produced by ... (3) ...
　　The very first fire-lighting methods involved the creation of ... (4) ... by, for example, rapidly ... (5) ... a wooden stick in a round hole. The use of ... (6) ...or persistent chipping was also widespread in Europe and among other peoples such as the Chinese and ... (7) ... . European practice of this method continued until the 1850s ... (8) ... the discovery of phosphorus some years earlier.
　　List of Words
　　Mexicans random rotating
　　despite preserve realising
　　sunlight lacking heavenly
　　percussion chance friction
　　unaware without make
　　heating Eskimos surprised
　　until smoke
　　解析：该题型可以通过分析空缺处所填单词的词性来做题，如Q1为动词原形，则选型中我们能得出3个动词：preserve，smoke, make然后根据“burning logs or charcoal”在原文定位找到动词stored，所以答案为preserve。而其他解题技巧和之前的无词库填空的方法技巧类似。
　　注意的是，带词库的summary有时会乱序，如剑7T3Q7-13;剑8T2Q19-22/T3Q7-10，在这种情况下，考生可以通过词库中的名词来定位，因为带词库的填空题，名词尤其是实名词是绝对的原词，也就是说在原文绝对能定位(常见被替换的是形容词和动词)，如剑桥剑8Test2Q19-22中的Q18/19两题，其为并列关系的两个名词，那么我们根据词库中的名词定位就能找到答案，ice cores 和tree rings.同理,剑8Test3Q7-10中的Q9，填的也是名词，那么就在词库中去找名词，就在原文中找到rockets.
　　所以，考生只需记住这几个出题点，雅思填空题全对便不是问题了。
　　【参考文献】
　　[1] 剑桥雅思真题系列(5-9)