(1)文章首段首末句往往出“主旨大意题”。因为，英语文章的开始往往会采取开门见山的形式提出文章的中心思想。有些时候会在首段末句出现转折词，but，however，yet等，转折后所要表述的内容往往是文章的中心思想，通常成为出题人出题点。如：2010 text 1
Of allthe changes that have taken place in english-language newspapers during thepast quarter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inexorabledecline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage.
作者也经常把两个事物、两种观点进行对比，从而论证自己观点的正确性。表示对比的标志性词语有，in contrast， in comparison， compared with ， while等，特别需要指出的是，只要文章第一段中出现对照或对比的内容，往往将在下文中进行具体的议论，并在文章最后的结论，这通常是出题点。如2008 text1
例：“Women areparticularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders inresponse to stress compared to men,” according to Dr.Yehuda, chief psychiatrist at New York’s Veteran’s Administration Hospital. Which of the following is true accordingto the first two paragraphs?
[A]Women are biologically more vulnerable to stress.
[B]Women are still suffering much stress caused by men.
[C]Women are more experienced than men in coping with stress.
[D] Menand women show different inclinations when faced with stress.
4.举例处
句子的作用是为了支持论证作者的观点，这些例子往往与作者的观点和结论有很大关联，又有重要意义，因此成为考试的重点。这种题目在文章的线索非常明显，一般都带有如下标志词：for example，as , such as, like等。
America’s capacity utilization, forexample, hit historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate(5.6% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural rate ofunemployment -- the rate below which inflation has taken off in the past.
Accordingto the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
[A]Making monetary policies is comparable to driving a car
[B] Anextremely low jobless rate will lead to inflation
[C] Ahigh unemployment rate will result from inflation
[D]Interest rates have an immediate effect on the economy