第二节 正确理解作者真正的观点
在一篇文章里，作者在陈述自己的观点时，有时直接了当，有时先介绍某一观点，而接着在后面却提出了相反的观点，表明自己的态度。因此，要正确判断作者的观点时，必须把上下文联系起来看，文章中所陈述的内容并非都代表了作者的观点。只有认真细心的阅读，才能从一句话、一个段落或一篇文章中找到已提到过的或暗示的各种观点。在论证作者的观点时要弄清作者说了些什么，写这篇文章有什么目的，文章中的事实是否支持作者的论点等。
常见的命题形式请见第一节中所列举的1～7。
例1.(1995年考题第1篇53、54题)
Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices, thereby establish a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labor, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the cost of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would lost four times as much, the price of your television license would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more.
And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a guarantee of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Apart from the fact that twentyseven acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for mercifully the public has the good sense not to buy the inferior article more than once. If you see an article consistently advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it represents good value.
Advertising does more for the material benefit of the community than any other force I can think of.
There is one more point I feel I ought to touch on. Recently I heard a wellknown television personality declare that he was against advertising because it persuades rather than informs. He was drawing excessively fine distinctions. Of course advertising seeks to persuade.
If its message were confined merely to information-and that in itself would be difficult if not impossible to achieve, for even a detail such as the choice of the color of a shirt is subtly persuasive-advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention. But perhaps that is what the wellknown television personality wants.
53. The author deems that the wellknown TV personality is _____ .
［A］ very precise in passing his judgment on advertising
［B］ interested in nothing but the buyers' advertising
［C］ correct in telling the difference between persuasion and information
［D］ obviously partial in his views on advertising
54.In the author's opinion, _____ .
［A］ advertising can seldom bring material benefit to man by providing information
［B］ advertising informs people of new ideas rather than wins them over
［C］ there is nothing wrong with advertising in persuading the buyer
［D］ the buyer is not interested in getting information from an advertisement
这两题都是询问作者的观点和看法。53题询问作者认为那位著名的电视工作者怎样?该题可以从第四、第五段中找到答案。那位著名的电视工作者反对广告，理由是广告"persuades rather than informs"，而作者则认为这位著名的电视工作者"was drawing excessively fine distinctions. Of course advertising seeks to persuade"，由此来看，作者不同意那位电视工作者对广告的看法，在作者来看，广告这两方面很难严格地区别开来。仅从"excessively"一词中就能看出作者认为那位电视工作者对广告的看法具有片面性，故正确答案为D。
54题是询问作者对于广告的看法，解题思路基本同上。作者认为广告会劝诱消费者，这是毫无疑问的，"If its message were confined merely to information-and that in itself would be difficult if not impossible to achieve,..."。因此，选项C："广告劝诱购买者无可厚非"就是作者的观点。而A项与"Advertising does more for the material benefit of the community than any other force I can think of"不符；B项与作者的观点"Of course, advertising seeks to persuade"恰好相反；D项所述内容也与原文意思不符。
例2.(1992年考题第1篇35题)
It is all very well to blame traffic jams, the cost of petrol and the quick pace of modern life, but manners on the roads are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men become monsters behind the wheel. It is all very well, again to have a tiger in the tank, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter altogether. You might tolerate the odd roadhog, the rule and inconsiderate driver, but nowadays the wellmannered motorist is the exception to the rule. Perhaps the situation calls for a `Be Kind to Other Drivers' campaign, otherwise it may get completely out of hand.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most coolheaded and goodtempered of drivers to resist the temptation to revenge when subjected to uncivilized behavior. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards relieving the tensions of motoring. A friendly nod or a wave of acknowledgment in response to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of goodwill and tolerance so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such acknowledgments of politeness are all too rare today. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who brakes violently to allow a car to emerge from a side street at some hazard to following traffic, when a few seconds later the road would be clear anyway; or the man who waves a child across a zebra crossing into the path of oncoming vehicles that may be unable to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they care to. It always amazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies.
A veteran driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if motorists learnt to filter correctly into traffic streams one at a time without causing the total blockages that give rise to bad temper. Unfortunately, modern motorists can't even learn to drive, let alone master the subtler aspects of roadsmanship. Years ago the experts warned us that the carownership explosion would demand a lot more giveandtake from all road users. It is high time for all of us to make this message to heart.
In the writer's opinion, _____ .
［A］ strict traffic regulations are badly needed
［B］ drivers should apply road politeness properly
［C］ rude drivers should be punished
［D］ drivers should avoid traffic jams
判断作者的观点必须把上下文联系起来，特别是理解作者的写作意图。作者的观点可以从本文的主旨句"Perhaps the situation calls for a ‘Be Kind to Other Drivers' campaign, otherwise it may get completely out of hand"及第三段的主题句"However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous"中看出来。作者认为司机们应该理解并回敬同行们向自己表示的礼貌，并且要适中。因而，正确选择是B项：司机们应恰当地表示行路礼貌。