雅思阅读考试真题的四大特点

　　分析发现，雅思阅读考试A类文章大多选自国外人文类、经济类和科学类的知名报纸、杂志或政府各部门(UK及世界各国)的社会发展报告。如：经济学家杂志(Economist)，金融时报(FinancialTimes)，卫报(Guardian)，美国国家地理杂志(National Geographic)，New Scientist，Science，PopularScience和 Nature等。

　　G类文章从09年5月份开始，考察的内容导向有所变化，从原来的以“培训”为导向逐步转变为以“工作”为导向。这一背景材料的转变值得引起考生的关注。以下是摘录自雅思考试官方网站的相关内容：

　　‘From 1 May 2009,we are making a small but important change to the GeneralTraining Reading paper.

　　Currently, Section2 of the General Training Reading paper focuses on thetraining context. From 1May 2009, this section will focus on the work context(e.g. applying for jobs,company policies, pay and conditions, workplacefacilities, staff development etc).

　　The General Training module is increasingly recognised by employers,professional bodies and immigration authorities. This change will ensure thatthe module will more closely meet the needs of candidates who take IELTS foremployment or immigration purposes.

　　The other sections of the General Training Reading paper will remainunchanged.’

　　在了解了以上雅思阅读考试的题源出处之后，考生平时进行泛读的时候，可以多选择上面提到的报刊杂志的内容作为材料。这样可以在帮助考生扩大相关背景知识的同时，使得考生能够了解雅思阅读文章的行文风格和常见结构。

　　G类的考生在平常准备考试的过程中一定要重视这个自09年5月1日起开始的‘small butimportant’的变化。重点补充一些工作类型的文章，例如申请工作、公司政策、工作环境等等。并且有条件的话，多做一些关于商务英语和职场英语方面的训练。

　　当然，这里老师要向考生说明的是，如一些考试文章在上述网站上搜索起来有困难，考生可以在维基百科上搜索相关的词条内容。拿澳洲考拉举例，这是我们雅思考试中考过的有关澳洲的较有特色的动物。很多考生对于这个名字不陌生，但是具体细节谈论起来，相关的知识就比较匮乏了。那么现在只要在搜索框内输入‘Koala’则会出现很多相关内容，以下仅为部分摘录：

　　The koala is found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia,from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. Populations alsoextend for considerable distances inland in regions with enough moisture tosupport suitable woodlands.The koala is not found in Tasmania or WesternAustralia.

　　通过此段，考生可以大致了解考拉的分布主要在澳洲东部及南部沿海地区，从阿德莱德到约克角半岛南部。而在塔斯马尼亚及西澳地区则没有发现考拉。

　　A baby koala is referred to as a joey and is hairless, blind, and earless.At birth the joey,only a quarter of an inch long, crawls into thedownward-facing pouch on the mother's belly (which is closed by adrawstring-like muscle that the mother can tighten at will) and attaches itselfto one of the two teats.

　　这一段主要介绍考拉宝宝的主要情况，出生时候只有四分之一英寸长，生活在妈妈的育儿袋里。

　　The koala lives almost entirely on eucalypt leaves. This is likely to be anevolutionary adaptation that takes advantage of an otherwise unfilled ecologicalniche,since eucalypt leaves are low in protein, high in indigestible substances,and contain phenolic and terpene compounds that are toxic to most species. Likewombats and sloths, the koala has a very low metabolic rate for a mammal andrests motionless for about 16 to 18 hours a day, sleeping most of that time.

　　本段讲到考拉的饮食几乎完全依赖桉树叶生存，并且考拉的新陈代谢非常慢，一天可以16-18个小时不动。