托福的文章長(zhǎng)度大多在300-400字之間。以平均每篇讀10分鐘計(jì)算，按照每分鐘閱讀150字的速度，一篇文章從頭到尾通讀，至少需2-3分鐘。這可了解文章的大意，但不一定保證讀得透徹。在第一遍通讀的過(guò)程中，考生不要期望每個(gè)字都一定要理解，遇到不懂的字不必多逗留或苦思冥想可能的意思，這樣會(huì)浪費(fèi)時(shí)間的。只需一直往下看，用前面介紹到的skimming原則，掌握文章的主旨即可。這個(gè)過(guò)程中，文章的第一段，尤其是每段的第一句話(huà)往往起著提綱挈領(lǐng)或起承轉(zhuǎn)合的作用，是閱讀時(shí)要多留心的地方。以下面的考題為例:
Questions 1-9
Line
In 1903 the members of the governing board of the University of Washington. in Seattle. engaged a firm of landscape architectsspecialists in the design of outdoor environments——OImsted Brothers of Brookline Massachusetts——to advise them on an Line appropriate layout for the university grounds. The plan impressed the university officials 5 and in time many of its recommendations were implemented. City officials in Seattle the largest city in the northwestern United States were also impressed for they employed the same organization to study Seattle＇s public park needs. John Olmsted did the investigation and subsequent report on Seattle＇s parks. He and his brothers believed that parks should be adapted to the local topography utilize the area's trees and shrubs and be available to 10 the entire community. They especially emphasized the need for natural serene settings where hurried urban dwellers could periodically escape from the city. The essence of the Olmsted park plan was to develop a continuous driveway twenty miles long that would tie together a whole series of parks playgrounds and parkways. There would be local parks and squares too but all of this was meant to supplement the major driveway15 which was to remain the unifying factor for the entire system. In November of 1903 the city council of Seattle adopted the Olmsted Report and it automatically became the master plan for the city's park system. Prior to this report Seattle's park development was very limited and funding meager. All this changed after the report. Between 1907 and 1913 city voters approved special funding measures 20 amounting to ＄4,000,000. With such unparalleled sums at their disposal with the Olmsted guidelines to follow and with the added incentive of wanting to have the city at its best for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909 the Parks Board bought aggressively. By 1913 Seattle had 25 parks amounting to 1400 acres as well as 400 acres in playgrounds pathways boulevards and triangles. More lands would be added in the 25 future but for all practical purposes it was the great land surge of 1907-1913 that established Seattle's park system.
通讀過(guò)一遍之后，即使沒(méi)能記住很多細(xì)節(jié)問(wèn)題，也應(yīng)對(duì)出現(xiàn)多次的city's park system，plan等字有較深的印象。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的閱讀者會(huì)對(duì)文章中頻頻出現(xiàn)的年代概念比較敏感。一般年代的順序出現(xiàn)，通常文章的主題都是在描述某件事物的發(fā)展過(guò)程?？梢曰玖私獾氖?，這篇文章是講述有關(guān)城市公園發(fā)展歷程的。
讀提綱，把握題型，找到中心詞
接下來(lái)一步，就需要快速地瀏覽一下9道選擇題的題干了。閱讀題干可做到對(duì)第二次閱讀目的了然于胸。托福的考查方面一般來(lái)說(shuō)有幾點(diǎn):文章主旨、文章細(xì)節(jié)、詞匯理解。從近幾年的托福題中不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，大約30%甚至更多的考查重點(diǎn)都是詞匯方面的，而真正的細(xì)節(jié)或主旨考查題最多占到40%.也就是說(shuō)，考生可以根據(jù)題目將第二次閱讀的重點(diǎn)有所機(jī)動(dòng)。
Questions 1-9
Line
In 1903 the members of the governing board of the University of Washington. in Seattle. engaged a firm of landscape architectsspecialists in the design of outdoor environments——OImsted Brothers of Brookline Massachusetts——to advise them on an Line appropriate layout for the university grounds. The plan impressed the university officials 5 and in time many of its recommendations were implemented. City officials in Seattle the largest city in the northwestern United States were also impressed for they employed the same organization to study Seattle＇s public park needs. John Olmsted did the investigation and subsequent report on Seattle＇s parks. He and his brothers believed that parks should be adapted to the local topography utilize the area's trees and shrubs and be available to 10 the entire community. They especially emphasized the need for natural serene settings where hurried urban dwellers could periodically escape from the city. The essence of the Olmsted park plan was to develop a continuous driveway twenty miles long that would tie together a whole series of parks playgrounds and parkways. There would be local parks and squares too but all of this was meant to supplement the major driveway15 which was to remain the unifying factor for the entire system. In November of 1903 the city council of Seattle adopted the Olmsted Report and it automatically became the master plan for the city's park system. Prior to this report Seattle's park development was very limited and funding meager. All this changed after the report. Between 1907 and 1913 city voters approved special funding measures 20 amounting to ＄4,000,000. With such unparalleled sums at their disposal with the Olmsted guidelines to follow and with the added incentive of wanting to have the city at its best for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909 the Parks Board bought aggressively. By 1913 Seattle had 25 parks amounting to 1400 acres as well as 400 acres in playgrounds pathways boulevards and triangles. More lands would be added in the 25 future but for all practical purposes it was the great land surge of 1907-1913 that established Seattle's park system.
通讀過(guò)一遍之后，即使沒(méi)能記住很多細(xì)節(jié)問(wèn)題，也應(yīng)對(duì)出現(xiàn)多次的city's park system，plan等字有較深的印象。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的閱讀者會(huì)對(duì)文章中頻頻出現(xiàn)的年代概念比較敏感。一般年代的順序出現(xiàn)，通常文章的主題都是在描述某件事物的發(fā)展過(guò)程?？梢曰玖私獾氖?，這篇文章是講述有關(guān)城市公園發(fā)展歷程的。
讀提綱，把握題型，找到中心詞
接下來(lái)一步，就需要快速地瀏覽一下9道選擇題的題干了。閱讀題干可做到對(duì)第二次閱讀目的了然于胸。托福的考查方面一般來(lái)說(shuō)有幾點(diǎn):文章主旨、文章細(xì)節(jié)、詞匯理解。從近幾年的托福題中不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，大約30%甚至更多的考查重點(diǎn)都是詞匯方面的，而真正的細(xì)節(jié)或主旨考查題最多占到40%.也就是說(shuō)，考生可以根據(jù)題目將第二次閱讀的重點(diǎn)有所機(jī)動(dòng)。