托福閱讀中比較常見的一種題目，就是修辭目的的題型。這種題目的解題方法是如何支持或者反對一個主旨，在文章中的地位。下面以幾個比較抽象的修辭目的的題為例，分析一下這種題。

一、類細節題目

TPO 27 Crafts in the Ancient near East

Paragraph 4: Objects themselves suggest that they were the work of skilledprofessionals. In the late Uruk period (3500-3100 B.C.E.), there first appeareda type of object that remained characteristic for Mesopotamia throughout itsentire history: the cylinder seal.

This was a small cylinder, usually no more than 3 centimeters high and 2centimeters in diameter, of shell, bone, faience ( a glassy type of stoneware),or various types of stones, on which a scene was carved into the surface.

11. Paragraph 4 suggests which of the following about the significance ofMesopotamian cylinder seals?

○ They were designed more for home than for legal use

○ They demonstrate that their creators were professionals

○ They were the first example of seals made from materials other thanstone

○ They were the first example of carved seals

這個題乍一看是一個細節題，問的是M的重要性，定位原文，并沒有關于它很重要的表述;實質上這屬于一個修辭目的題，問的是例子存在的價值：支持主旨：這樣我們向前找主旨，主旨在段首，關鍵詞是werethe work of skilledprofessionals，也就是技術問題：因此定位答案B.通過這個題目，我們知道，問例子的重要性的，除非原文有專門表達，否則就要考慮修辭目的題。

二、結構類題目變體

以往見到的是：what is the structure of paragraphXX? 或者是 What is the purpose ofparagraph 3? 再或者是 How does paragraph XX relate to XX?根據結構的讀法，我們基本就能確定結構的發展方向。現在我們看一個這樣問的題目:

TPO27 The Formation of Volcanic Islands

Paragraph 3：How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary?The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer. Like many other islandgroups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from theisland of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that thedifferent Hawaii Islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but areprogressively more eroded, and therefore probably older, toward the northwest.Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of platetectonics, Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progressioncould result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixedvolcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain ofvolcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of along-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle.Today’s most northwest island would have been the first to form.

6. In paragraph 3, what is the relationship between the scientificcontribution of James Daly and Tuzo Wilson?

○ Wilson provided an explanation for the observations made by Daly

○ Wilson challenged the theory proposed by Daly

○ Wilson found numerous examples of island chains that supported Daly’stheory

○ Wilson popularized the explanation of volcanic island formationformulated by Daly

乍一看，這是一個細節題，尤其像關系類細節題。但是定位讀完之后，相關專家JD 的理論是“island 分享同樣板塊并且…因此更老older…。”專家TW說 this age progression could result,也就是說這個過程是可以出現的，明顯是支持并進一步說明了前邊專家的理論。因此關系它們的關系實質是一種支持，是個結構題，正確答案A.進一步解釋。專家W沒有用例子證明，無例子一類詞匯，排除C;原文沒有說理論一有什么weakness之類的缺陷詞匯,排除B。原文也沒有說他如何普及之前的學說，排除D。

上面就是給大家帶來的關于托福閱讀中修辭目的的題型分析，更多的關于托福、雅思考試的問題歡迎咨詢我們。