解密 16 主旨大意题
【考点综述】
主旨大意题是高考阅读理解的主要题型之一， 旨在考查考生对文章大意或者文章中心
思想的把握和归纳能力。此类题数量较大，在 15 个题中约占 2-3 个。
1. 从考查对象上划分，主旨大意题可分为两种
①篇章主旨：针对全文的主题进行提问。主题句出现在首段的居多，其次是末段。
②段落主旨：针对某一段或几段的主题提问。主题句可能是段落的首句、末句，也可能需要
从上下文中寻
找或总结。
2. 考查内容上划分，主旨大意题可分为三种
①主题类(内容)，考查文章或段落的主旨大意；
②目的类，考查文章或段落的写作目的；
③标题类，要求考生选出文章的最佳标题。
在高考阅读理解中，针对短文主旨常见的命题形式如下：
(1) What would be the best title for the text? /What is the topic of the text?
(2) The main topic / subject（主旨） of the passage is _________.
(3) The main idea/ The general idea（大意）is/ The main theme（主题）of this passage is…
(4) The last paragraph ends the passage with an emphasis（强调）on _________.
(5) What is mainly discussed in the text?
(6) What is the main idea of the passage?
(7) What’s the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?
(8) The purpose of this passage is.
(9) Which of the following statements is best supported by the text?
下面哪些陈述得到文本最有利的支持
(10) Which of the following best summarized the passage?
(11) The passage mainly focuses on.
【备考建议】
根据高考对其考查点，在做题时，应该注意其设问特点和常考问题，并且以高度概括法给
阅读文章整体加注标题。对文章主旨大意的考察，不仅可以直接以理解段落及文章的主旨大
意的形式出现，而且也可以用选择或拟定文章标题的形式出现。因此，选择文章标题，首先
可以按照主旨大意的确定方式，先弄清文章的主旨大意，再定标题。
标题位于文章之首，用来高度概括文章内容，点明文章主题。它是段落中心思想最精
练的表达形式。标题可帮助读者迅速推测出整篇文章的主要内容，抓住文章的中心，把握作
者的观点和意图。那么如何选择文章的标题呢？
首先，要考虑标题对文章的概括性或覆盖面如何。一般要求能覆盖全文内容，体现文章
主旨。要避免下列三种情况：①概括不够（多表现为部分代整体，从而导致范围太小）；②
过度概括（多表现为脱离本文章内容的发挥）
；③以事实、细节替代抽象具体的大意。
其次，要考虑标题的针对性，即标题范围要恰当，针对性强。要在阅读原文的基础上，
仔细考虑所选标题与文章主题是否有密切的关系。既不能太大，也不能太小，太大则中心就
不突出，太小也发挥不了应起的作用；精确度高，不能随意改变语言的表意程度及色彩。它
可以是单词、短语，也可以是句子。
再次要注意标题的醒目性，标题的选择要简洁、突出、新颖，标题是文章的点睛之笔，
是文章的灵魂和门面。标题的好坏往往影响了文章的可读性，读者常常从标题上决定文章的
阅读取舍。故标题一般比较醒目，甚至比较离奇，以此来吸引读者对文章的兴趣。
最后要注意，要恰当地选好标题，还需要了解标题的基本拟定方法。一般说来，拟定标
题是以话题为核心，与控制性概念的词按一定的语法浓缩为概括主题句或中心思想的词组。
比如某一文章的中心句为：CHINA issued the first set of stamps depicting the top 128 Chinese
family names on Thursday Nov. 18th 2004 in Beijing.
话题：Stamps
控制性概念：CHINA issued the first set of stamps depicting the top 128 Chinese family
names
标题：China issued 1st set of stamps on family names
【考点精准说】1----→中心主题句出现在文首
开门见山，提出主题，随之用细节来解释、支撑或发展主题句所表达的主题思想。这是
英语中最常见的演绎法写作方式，即由一般到特殊，先提出观点，后举例论证，主题句则出
现在段首的写作方法。
新闻报道通常就采用这种写法。新闻报道的首句通常称为“新闻导语”，“导语”实际上就
是主题句，是对全文内容的高度概括。大意题、标题一般可在第一句话找到答题依据。
【2020·全国新课标 IIIC】
With the young unable to afford to leave home and the old at risk of isolation(孤独), more
families are choosing to live together.
The doorway to peace and quiet, for Nick Bright at least, leads straight to his mother-in-law,
she lives on the ground floor, while he lives upstairs with his wife and their two daughters.
Four years ago they all moved into a three-storey Victorian house in Bristol — one of a
growing number of multigenerational families in the UK living together under the same roof.
They share a front door and a washing machine, but Rita Whitehead has her own kitchen,
bathroom, bedroom and living room on the ground floor.
“We floated the idea to my mum of sharing at a house,” says Kathryn Whitehead. Rita cuts in:
“We spoke more with Nick because I think it’s a big thing for Nick to live with his
mother-in-law.”
And what does Nick think? “From my standpoint, it all seems to work very well. Would I
recommend it? Yes, I think I would.”
It’s hard to tell exactly how many people agree with him, but research indicates that the
numbers have been rising for some time. Official reports suggest that the number of households
with three generations living together had risen from 325,000 in 2002 to 419,000 in 2013.
Other varieties of multigenerational family are more common. Some people live with their
elderly parents; many more adult children are returning to the family home, if they ever left. It is
said that about 20% of 25-34-year-olds live with their parents, compared with 16% in 1991.The
total number of all multigenerational households in Britain is thought to be about 1.8 million.
Stories like that are more common in parts of the world where multigenerational living is
more firmly rooted. In India, particularly outside cities, young women are expected to move in
with their husband’s family when they get married.
31. What is the text mainly about?
A. Lifestyles in different countries.
C. A housing problem in Britain.
B. Conflicts between generations.
D. A rising trend of living in the UK
【对点模拟练】1
Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has
been less coming and a lot more going. When the the world was still populated by
hunter-gatherers,small, tightly knit (联系)groups developed their own patterns of speech
independent of each other.Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had
just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their
languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centres, trade,industrialisation.
the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education. Especially
glbalisation and better communications in the past few decades,all have caused many Languages to
disappear,and dominant languages such as English．Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking
over.
At present, the world has about 6 800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely
uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages. Often spoken by many
people while hot. wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers.Europe has only around 200
Languages: the Americas about 1,000. Africa 2 400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of
which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number (中位数)of
speakers is a mere 6.000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people
than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of, 6,800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only
a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining
speakers),Chiapaneco in Mexico(150). Lipan Apache in the United States(two or three)or Wadjigu
in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
31. What is the main idea of the text?
A. New languages will be created.
B. Peoples lifestyles are reflected in languages
C. Human development results in fewer languages
D. Geography determines language evolution.
【考点精准说】2--→主题句出现在文尾
在细节后，归纳要点、印象、结论、建议或结果，以概括主题。这是英语中最常见的归
纳法写作方式，即细节表述的句子在前，概括性的句子居后，主题句则常位于末段。
【真题对点析】2
【2020·全国新课标 ID】
The connection between people and plants has long been the subject of scientific research.
Recent studies have found positive effects. A study conducted in Youngstown，Ohio，for example,
discovered that greener areas of the city experienced less crime.
In another，employees were shown to be 15% more productive when their workplaces were
decorated with houseplants.
The engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)have taken it a step further
changing the actual composition of plants in order to get them to perform diverse，even unusual
functions. These include plants that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they’re
short of water and a plant that can detect harmful chemicals in groundwater. ＂We’re thinking
about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the things that we use every day,＂
explained Michael Strano, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT.
One of his latest projects has been to make plants grow(发光)in experiments using some
common vegetables. Strano’s team found that they could create a faint light for three-and-a-half
hours. The light，about one-thousandth of the amount needed to read by，is just a start. The
technology, Strano said, could one day be used to light the rooms or even to turn tree into
self-powered street lamps.
in the future，the team hopes to develop a version of the technology that can be sprayed onto
plant leaves in a one-off treatment that would last the plant’s lifetime. The engineers are also
trying to develop an on and off＂switch＂where the glow would fade when exposed to daylight.
Lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US. Since lighting is
often far removed from the power source(电源)-such as the distance from a power plant to street
lamps on a remote highway-a lot of energy is lost during transmission(传输). Glowing plants
could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy.
32．What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A．A new study of different plants.
B．A big fall in crime rates.
C．Employees from various workplaces.
D．Benefits from green plants.
35．Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A．Can we grow more glowing plants?
B．How do we live with glowing plants?
C．Could glowing plants replace lamps?
D．How are glowing plants made pollution-free?
【对点模拟练】2
Vinegar makes salad，fries and dumplings taste better， and you can even use it to clean your
windows．And now，according to scientists，it may even the planet's population survive climate
change．
Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science （CSRS） in Japan
found that growing plants in vinegar makes them more resistant to droughts． This could mean
that in the future， worries about climate change affecting the world's supply of food will be much
lower． The discovery was made after the researchers studied the Arabidopsis， a plant known for
its ability to survive in dry weather． It was found that when the plant was placed in drought﹣like
conditions， it produced a chemical called acetate（醋酸盐）﹣the main component of vinegar．
After discovering this， the scientists experimented further by adding acetate to the soil of
other plants， before they stopped giving them water completely． After leaving the plants for
14days， they found that the ones treated with acetate had survived， while the untreated plants
had dried up and died．
It's hoped that this simple method of survival could soon be used to help farmers in dry
countries keep their crops alive． "In the experiment， we targeted the staple foods of the world
﹣rice， wheat and maize﹣and the basic plant of breeding species， rapeseed（油菜籽）
，" Jong
Myong Kim， co﹣author of the study， told Popular Science magazine．
Kim also told the magazine he's already been in touch with people all over the world who are
interested in trying this simple and cost﹣effective method out for themselves from flower
growing companies to amateur gardeners． Although at this point keeping thirsty plants alive isn't
as easy as just pouring vinegar over them， Kim said he and his team are working on making the
process as simple as possible． "Now we are trying to cooperate with some farmers， and also
some companies， to make a method to apply this system， "he said． And for those of us who
always forget to ask our neighbors to water our plants when we goaway， hopefully this means the
end of returning home from a trip to find our favorite flowers have died．
8．What is the article mainly about？
A．The world's food supply will be increased．
B．Plants better survive droughts．
C．The Arabidopsis is resistant to droughts．
D．Vinegar could be used to fight droughts．
【考点精准说】3----→首尾呼应的写作方法
为突出主题，作者先提出主题，结尾时再次点出主题，这种首尾呼应的写作方式也较为
多见。通常，前后表述主题的句子不是简单的重复，后面的往往有进一步的引申或发展的意
味。
【真题对点析】3
（2020·天津高考真题） After years of observing human nature, I have decided that two
qualities make the difference between men of great achievement and men of average
performance curiosity and discontent.
I have never known an outstanding man who lacked either. And I have never known an average man
who had both. The two belong together.
Together, these deep human urges (驱策力) count for much more that ambition. Galileo was
not merely ambitious when he dropped objects of varying weights from the Leaning Tower at Pisa
and timed their fall to the ground. Like Galileo, all the great names in history were curious and asked
in discontent, “Why? Why? Why?”
Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don’t have to be learned. We are born with them and need
only recapture them.
“The great man,” said Mencius (孟子), “is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of
us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And
the crowd desires restful average. It encourages us to occupy our own little corner, to avoid foolish
leaps into the dark, to be satisfied.
Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked
them, we think how terrible it would have been, had we missed the chance. We will probably have to
force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent and keep them awake.
How should you start? Modestly, so as not to become discouraged. I think of one friend who
couldn’t arrange flowers to satisfy herself. She was curious about how the experts did it. How she is
one of the experts, writing books on flower arrangement.
One way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You haven’t any special ability? Most people
don’t; there are only a few geniuses. You haven’t any time? That’s good, because it’s always the
people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin while cooking. You’re too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published
his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78.
However you start, remember there is no better time to start than right now, for you’ll never be
more alive than you are at this moment.
5．What could be the best tile or the passage?
A．Curious Minds Never Feel Contented
B．Reflections on Human Nature
C．The Keys to Achievement
D．Never Too Late to Learn
【对点模拟练】3
Lacrosse (曲棍球) is a popular sport in Canada. The Indians in Canada invented it. They used
it to train for war. They invented this game before Columbus arrived in the New World.
People play lacrosse outdoors. The lacrosse field is seven meters long. At each end of the
field there is a goal. The goal is a net. There are ten players on each team. Each player has a stick
called “ cross”. The player hit a ball into the net as many times as possible. Lacrosse is a very fast
game because the players can catch and pass the ball at a high speed with their sticks. Players
often get great fun it playing lacrosse.
There are many lacrosse clubs and lacrosse teams all over Canada. Every night Canadians
can watch the lacrosse games on TV or listen to the lacrosse games over the radio.
At one time lacrosse was the national summer sport in Canada. Today it is still popular with
Canadians.
1.The passage is mainly about ___________.
A. How to Play Lacrosse
B. Lacrosse in Canada
C. The History of Lacrosse
D. Lacrosse—A Popular Game in Canada
【考点精准说】4---→中心主题在文章中或隐含在全文之中无明确的主题
句
通常前面只提出问题，文中的主题由随之陈述的细节或合乎逻辑的引申在文中导出，而
后又作进一步的解释、支撑或发展。阅读这样的文章，就要求考生根据文章的细节来分析，
概括出段落的主题，从而推导出文章的主旨。分析的方法是，先弄清该段落主要讲了哪几个
方面的内容，这些内容在逻辑上有什么联系，然后加以归纳形成主题。该类型的试题则迎刃
而解。
【真题对点析】4
【2020 全国卷 2D】
I have a special place in my heart for libraries. I have for as long as I can remember. I was
always an enthusiastic reader, sometimes reading up to three books a day as a child. Stories were
like air to me and while other kids played ball or went to parties, I lived out adventures through
the books I checked out from the library.
My first job was working at the Ukiah Library when I was 16 years old .It was a dream job
and I did everything from shelving books to reading to the children for story time.
As I grew older and became a mother, the library took on a new place and an added meaning
in my life. I had several children and books were our main source(来源) of entertainment. It was a
big deal for us to load up and go to the local library, where my kids could pick out books to read
or books they wanted me to read to them.
I always read ,using different voices ,as though I were acting out the stories with my voice
and they loved it !It was a special time to bond with my children and it filled them with the
wonderment of books .
Now, I see my children taking their children to the library and I love that the excitement of
going to the library lives on form generation to generation.
As a novelist, I’ve found a new relationship with libraries. I encourage readers to go to their
local library when they can’t afford to purchase a book. I see libraries as a safe haven(避风港) for
readers and writers, a bridge that helps put together a reader with a book. Libraries, in their own
way, help fight book piracy(盗版行为) and 1 think all writers should support libraries in a
significant way when they can. Encourage readers to use the library. Share library
announcements on your social media. Frequent them and talk about them when you can.
35．Which can be a suitable title for the text?
A．Reading: A Source of Knowledge
B．My Idea about writing
C．Library: A Haven for the Young
D．My Love of the Library
【对点模拟练】4
Handshaking, though a European practice is often seen in big cities of China. Nobody knows
exactly when the practice started in Europe. It is said that long long ago in Europe when people
met, they showed their unarmed (无武器的) hands to each other as a sign of goodwill. As time
went on and trade in cities grew rapidly, people in cities began to clap each other’s hands to make
a deal or to reach an agreement. This practice was later changed into shaking hands among friends
on meeting or leaving each other. “Let’s shake (hands) on it” sometimes means agreement
reached.
Do the Europeans shake hands wherever they go and with whomever they meet? No.
Sometimes the Chinese abroad reach out their hands too often to be polite. It is really very
impolite to give your hand when the other party, especially when it is a woman, shows little
interest in shaking hands with you and when the meeting does not mean anything to him or-her.
Even if, for politeness, he holds out his unwilling hand in answer to your uninvited hand, just
touch it slightly. There is generally a misunderstanding (误解) among the Chinese that westerners
are usually open and straightforward, while the Chinese are rather reserved (保守的) in manner.
But in fact some people in western countries more reserved than some Chinese today. So it is a
good idea to shake hands with a westerner only when he shows interest in further relations with
you.
65. The first paragraph mainly tells us ______.
A. where handshaking was first practised
B. how handshaking came about
C. about the relationship between handshaking and trade
D. about the practice of handshaking both in Europe and in China
67. The main purpose of the text is ______.
A. to tell us some differences between the East and the West
B. to offer us some important facts about handshaking
C. to introduce us to some different customs in the West
D. to give us some advice before we travel abroad